Startled Awake

I grew up with two brothers. The three of us shared a bathroom that was like a locker-room. There were two stalls with a toilet and a shower in each. In the middle there was a big vanity that went all the way around the room with three sinks. In the mornings, I often found it difficult to wake up on time. After snoozing my alarm repeatedly, I would stumble into the bathroom bleary eyed, where my much-more-disciplined brother would be waiting, standing on the vanity, to jump out at me and scare me! It was awful. That’s not a fun way to wake up. I always thought my mornings would be much more peaceful once I moved out of that house. And they sort of were, until I got married.

My wife Janie loves to jump out and scare me. I don’t know if you’re the spouse who does the scaring, or the one who is constantly waiting to be startled anytime they walk into a dark room, but, on account of scaredy-cats everywhere, can we stop this? I seem to fall for this all the time, jumping like a frightened kitten. I’m expecting to walk into the bathroom, not a haunted house!

Look at one of the most startling moments in Scripture from John 20:11-18:

“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him. Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’”

When you read these passages, it’s obvious that no one was really expecting Jesus to come back to life. They’re startled by what is happening– it’s a surprise!

After all, they saw Jesus die. They thought the movement was over. It seemed like the end of Jesus, the end of His miracles, and the end of what He was teaching them. They felt like their worst fears were confirmed: Jesus wasn’t who they thought He was. He died. They were not expecting him to come back to life – after all, Mary is in the garden looking for the body. Even when she sees angels, it doesn’t occur to her that God might have done the unthinkable. She’s startled by what Jesus has done.

When I think back to those moments when my brother used to jump out of the sky to terrify me in the early morning – I was shocked awake. In a lot of ways, that’s what’s happening in John 20. We’re reading the moment where these followers of Jesus are shocked awake! They’re awaking to the understanding that Jesus was not the conquering king who would show up and overthrow the oppressive Romans, but He IS the conquering King who has shown up to overthrow the oppression of sin and death! Jesus has come to overthrow our selfish hearts and lead us into real relationship with God! Through this startling resurrection, Jesus is awakening Peter to His true identity. He’s waking Mary up to the reality of who He really is!

There’s a weird moment in here. Mary sees Jesus, but she doesn’t recognize Him. Maybe it’s just the confusion of the moment or the unexpectedness of seeing a dead man alive again, but Jesus shows up and Mary thinks He is the gardener. The gardener! What is going on here? Mary, how are you missing this?! Look closely at the point where things turn, in John 20:16:

“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned to him and said to him in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher).”

When do things change for Mary? When does she recognize Jesus? When Jesus says her name.

Think about how personal this is. Jesus is God Himself. He has enough power to raise from the dead. He has conquered sin. He has conquered death. He is in control. He is all powerful. And yet here he is in this garden, full of care, speaking to this woman, using her name. This is a personal moment. And when the lips of Jesus form the syllables of her name, she recognizes Him.

I don’t know how close (or far away) Jesus feels to you. Maybe God feels so big that He could never possibly care about what’s going on in your life. Maybe you feel like if God really did care there wouldn’t be so much difficulty in your life. Think about this moment with Mary. Jesus could have risen from the dead with fireworks in the sky as Jesus rose from the earth with lightning shooting from His fingertips.Everyone would have looked up into the sky to see Him ascending as an all-powerful being. No one could miss that or deny it. But that’s not what happens.

We see God continuing a personal connection with His followers – even to the point of quietly walking in the garden, using the personal names of His friends. I often wonder if we realize that God wants to be close to us. God wants a relationship with you!

Not only that, but Jesus gave up His life to bring you into that relationship. Jesus took on your sins. He knows you, and He loves you.