The Old Adam and the New Adam, in the Garden

[00:00:02] Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia. [00:00:10] The gospel reading this morning, it's from the Gospel of John, of course. [00:00:16] Each of the Gospels has its own account of the resurrection. John's is unique, brings a lot of neat meaning and flavor in kind of a hidden way. John's Gospel starts off in the beginning was the Word, and it recalls Genesis. We go all the way back to the beginning because really the story of Jesus and his birth and teaching, his death and resurrection and ascension into heaven, it's the completion of the story of Genesis. [00:00:53] It's the fulfillment of it. [00:00:58] So in the beginning, you start off with darkness. [00:01:04] The earth was void and formless and darkness was over the face of the earth. And then God said, let there be light right there at the beginning of the Gospel of John, John says that the true light, which enlightens everyone was coming into the world. You have that image of darkness to light. [00:01:27] And that's how the gospel reading plays out. On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. She actually finds an empty void. [00:01:44] But by the end of the gospel reading, we're in the light and Jesus is there speaking with Mary Magdalene. [00:01:57] Mary doesn't recognize Jesus at first. [00:02:01] Mary mistakes him for the gardener. Right? That brings us back to Genesis as well. [00:02:12] The gardener, who was the original gardener? [00:02:15] Adam. [00:02:16] So just like our epistle reading says. [00:02:25] Actually, you know what, I confess, that's the epistle reading for the next service. If you come at 8:30, I've got them all floating around in here. Okay? [00:02:35] But as in Adam all died, so in Christ also be made alive. Right? In the second Adam, Jesus Christ is the second Adam. [00:02:46] So Jesus is there, and it's even in a garden. [00:02:50] John says that where Jesus died, there was a garden. And in that tomb, in that garden, a tomb in which no one had ever been laid. So we've got this empty tomb, this fresh tomb in a garden. Just takes us back to the Garden of Eden. But this is a remaking of that, where the perishable now is going to put on the imperishable. In Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the new Adam. The first fruits of the new creation in whom we are recreated. [00:03:21] So we come this morning in darkness. We started out with darkness and then the light came. But the darkness, the darkness exists in our hearts where there's confusion or where we don't see or we don't see clearly. Christ has come to clear things up. [00:03:43] It is Truly a dark world in which all die, in which there is mortality. [00:03:52] It's a dark world in which people suffer without hope. [00:03:58] There's darkness where there's confusion. When was the last time that you experienced, let's say, spiritual darkness? [00:04:08] When you were down or depressed or unsure? [00:04:15] Or maybe where you found yourself seeking life in a place that it isn't. [00:04:22] That's darkness. [00:04:25] Jesus Christ has come with the light. Jesus Christ has come so that we would look to him and truly know life. [00:04:35] He's come, and where he is, there's an empty tomb. [00:04:42] No death anymore, but only life and hope. [00:04:46] He scatters the darkness and and he breaks the gloom. He brings life and hope and joy, but it doesn't come in a way that's visible. Jesus says to Mary, don't hang on to me. Don't cling to me. I haven't yet ascended to the Father. [00:05:05] What's he talking about? [00:05:08] What's the difference here? Jesus has come and he's preached. He's gotten to know people. They've seen him. They've spent time with Him. [00:05:17] He's come in the flesh so that they could see him and get to know him and hear him, learn from Him. So they could see him risen from the dead. But when he rises from the dead, they don't see him. Mary doesn't even recognize Him. [00:05:31] That's interesting. [00:05:36] What makes Mary understand? When does Mary realize who he is? [00:05:43] When he calls her by name, which actually recalls John 10 when he's talking about calling his sheep by name and they know him. [00:05:52] She comes to know not by seeing the empty tomb, she comes to know him with his voice. [00:06:02] Again, back to Genesis, the Word of God which brings everything into existence. The Word of God to which Adam and Eve should have listened to know everything they needed to know. [00:06:13] They should have looked to the Word in faith, but didn't. Well, now here comes Jesus Christ, the Word in the flesh, and he speaks a word to Mary and it transforms her. [00:06:25] He calls her by name, and then he tells her to go to her brothers, to Jesus. Brothers. He says, go to my brothers. [00:06:37] He calls them his brothers because they're in God's family. The Son of God has made his brothers sons of God, by which he means male and female. He's just using the term brothers. [00:06:55] I flipped too far. [00:07:04] He says, do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. The Father. But then he calls him your Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father to My God and your God. A restoration to life in the garden and faith in God. He's our God again. He's our Father again in Jesus Christ. [00:07:30] And the Mary goes and says, I have seen the Lord and told them about this. [00:07:38] Our Easter celebration is just getting started. For one thing, we've got food coming after this. [00:07:45] We've got more Easter to celebrate. And not just today, but in the coming weeks. And in the readings. People begin to discover more and more as Jesus comes and speaks his word to them. But you and I, we have more to discover. We know that Christ has been raised from the dead. That Christ is risen. [00:08:08] He is risen indeed. Hallelujah. [00:08:11] We know it. [00:08:13] But the light is still dawning. There's more to know. As we go about our day and our week, this next year, our life, we continually, well, are challenged to look to Jesus in faith and to hear his voice. To hear him saying our name and calling us part of his family, our brother, sister, making us children of God. So that we call God our God and our Father. [00:08:46] We're tempted to. To look at the world and see death and mortality, to see struggle and hopelessness. But Jesus Christ is there not for us to see with our eyes. We don't go home and oh yeah, Jesus, but to remember by faith, to hear his word, to hear him calling you by name, calling you part of the family. [00:09:12] And that's something that endures beyond death. Of course, here on Easter, we remember in the end, in the end of our life. [00:09:23] My grandfather just died on Thursday. [00:09:30] It's beautiful to see and hope in the resurrection of Jesus here in Holy Week for him. But you and I as well, we. We will get there. If Jesus doesn't come first, we will, well, fall asleep in Christ. Keep the faith. We will fall asleep in Christ. But we know that in Christ, death is temporary. It's nothing. It's sleep. Jesus has risen from the dead, the new Adam. And we all recreated in him in Jesus name. Amen. [00:10:09] Please stand. [00:10:11] We will confess our Christian faith with the words of the Apostles Creed. [00:10:17] I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen. [00:11:04] We pray. [00:11:12] Almighty God, we thank youk for sending Jesus Christ into our darkness to be the light of the world, to be our light, to make all things new. Give us faith to remember Jesus as we go through the darkness. Keep. Keep us from the darkness, Lord, by the presence of your Son, Jesus Christ, the light. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Bless all of those who experience darkness. Send them, your people, you, all of us. Lord, send us to those experiencing darkness. Send Christ with us. Christ in our hearts and on our lips, for the sake of those around us. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Father, today on Easter Sunday, as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, Bless the preaching of your word and also our speaking of your word to our neighbors and to the world. Bring hope and life through your word. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Father, we ask that you would bless our community, our nation, all those who serve us, that today would be joyous and that more would come to faith in you. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Father, you sent out your apostles to the earth, and they gave up their lives for the Word. They gave up their lives knowing that they had life in Jesus Christ. [00:12:46] Lord, give us strength and courage through the witness of your people. Martyrs throughout the ages, even today, bless the witness of those who give up life and home comfort for the sake of the Gospel, that many more would come to know you and the power of Christ's resurrection. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Father, bless the rest of our Easter celebration. This morning and throughout this week, the rest of our lives, grant that we would one day. [00:13:23] Well, if we die, if Jesus doesn't come back, first, grant that we might attain the resurrection. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. All these things we ask through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who. Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen. [00:13:47] Please be seated for the offering.