Download Audio File
The church year is pretty much built around three major events: Â Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. Â Today, for example, is the 8th Sunday after Pentecost. Â But the church year is also peppered with a number of minor festivals. Â These always occur on a fixed dateâlike April 25 or December 26. Â July 22 is the Feast of St. Mary of Magdaleneâand that is how it happened that we are reading about the resurrection today.
The reading for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene goes like this. Â Mary Magdalene is standing outside of Jesusâ tomb. Â She is sobbingâinconsolablyâbecause the tomb is empty. Â (Of course, you and I would have good reason to cry if a body was found in Jesusâ tomb; but Mary is crying because his body is not there.) Â She has not yet recognized the signs. Â A few days ago, Jesus said, âDestroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up.â Â But Mary hasnât caught on to his meaning yet.
She looks into the tomb. Â Two angels are insideâclothed in gleaming white robes. Â Mary obviously sees them; but St John the Evangelist records no reaction. Â As far as we can tell, she may not have realized they were angels! Â âWoman, why are you weeping?â one asks. Â âThey have taken his body.â
Mary turns to leave the tomb and runs smack into a man. Â Itâs Jesus; but she does not yet recognize him. Â It hasnât occurred to her to expect a living Lord. Â Her thoughts are only of what she has lost: his corpse. Â Mary thinks the man before her is a gardener.
But Jesus says to her, âMaryâ.  And finally the moment comes.  The eclipse passes.  The sun bursts across her memory, and the old familiar face of her Lord is paired with the man that just spoke her name.  Recognition.  It happened just as Jesus had said 10 chapters before:  âthe shepherd calls his sheep by nameâŠand they know his voice.â
Recognition is something we find essential. Â The ability to recognize faces allows us to make friends, to recognize patterns, allows us to learn, to recognize danger, allows us to survive.
It took Mary a couple of tries to recognize Jesus.  But some people never did.  In the book of Actsâin todayâs EpistleâPaul said that the people of Jerusalem never recognized Jesus; and because they did not recognize him, they fulfilled the Scriptures by condemning him.  What an awful mistakeâŠ
Every human being has had Mary Magdalene moments: when you hear a familiar voice on the phone but donât make the connection or when youâre staring at some batch of information and canât see the pattern. Â Many of our Mary moments are pretty benignâthey just make us feel sillyâbut what a tragedy: to be unable to recognize something so eternally important: to be unable to recognize Jesus. Â Todayâs readings about recognition and unrecognition have made me wonder: would I have recognized Jesus? Â Would you?
The Jews in Jerusalem did not recognize Jesus because they expected him to be a king! Â They did not recognize the Son of God whom Isaiah said âhad no beauty or majesty to attract us to him.â Â Iâve been raised on pictures of a Jesus 6 feet tall and trim, a Caucasian who wore clean clothes and had a neatly trimmed beard. Â Would I have recognized the Son of God who âhad no beauty or majesty?â Â Would you? Â For that matter, how can anyone be sure of recognizing Jesus?
Paul says in Romans 1 that Godâs invisible qualities can be deduced from creationâthat men ought to know that thereâs a God, and that they are therefore without excuse for their sinfulness. Â If you can make a case for God from the evidence for intelligent design or from the existence of conscience, you may prove that there is a godâa fact that even the demons must admitâbut you have not yet recognized Him.
Luke says in Acts 13 that many witnesses saw Jesus after Easter. Â And we know that some of these men and women died insisting on their testimony. Â Itâs obvious that the chief priests had only to produce the body of Jesus to destroy Christianity. Â But they could not. Â You may prove the empty tombâa fact even the Jews were forced to admitâbut you have not yet recognized the Son of God.
David says in Psalm 3, âtaste and see that the Lord is good.â  Once a week, an elder hands you a piece of bread: a small disc that has little flavor, just a slight saltiness.  And then you are given a sip of port: a strong, sweet wine.  Once a week, you taste GodâŠbut even an unbeliever can eat this meal (thoughâas Paul saysânot to his benefit).  You may taste the body and blood of Jesus and still not yet recognize the Son of God.
Jesus says repeatedly, âhe who has ears, let him hear!â Â God indeed revealed himself in his Wordâhe has privileged our ears above every other organ. Â As Paul says, âfaith comes from hearing.â Â Nevertheless, Luke points out in todayâs Epistle that the very rulers who rejected Jesus read the Scriptures every week! Â They knew the Scriptures; but they did not understand them; and they failed to recognize Jesus.
It is critical then, that we understand the Scripturesâthat we read them, learn them, mull over them, memorize them, study them, and wrestle with them. Â But it would take more than a hundred lifetimes to exhaust our study of the Scriptures. Â How then, can we be certain of recognizing God?
Itâs simple actually. Â He has given us a sign by which we may know him. Â He has chosen to reveal himself in a certain way. Â He is always The-God-Who-Saves. Â He made himself known to the Israelites by bringing them out of Egyptâand even that was just a foreshadowing of Good Friday and Easter. Â God ordained only one name under heaven by which we may recognize him: Â Jesusâwhich quite fittingly means âYahweh Savesâ. Â And you will always find Jesus on the cross: giving his life for you, giving his righteousness to you, giving you the peace that passes understanding. Â In fact, that is how you can recognize God. Â He is always the one giving himself for you.
And that brings usâfinallyâback to Mary.  Because, in the end, we know God only when he calls us by name.  And he does that in the Word and Sacraments.  When you hear the words, âI baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spiritâ or the words, âYour sins are forgivenâ or the words, âThis is my body, given for youââyou are being addressed personallyâand you can be sure that you are hearing the voice of Jesus. âŠAnd then the moment comesâŠRecognition.  The eclipse passes.  The sun bursts across your memory, and the old familiar words are paired with the living God whom you already knowâŠvery well.