Clinging

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Awake, my heart with gladness, / See what today is done; / Now, after gloom and sadness, / Comes forth the glorious sun.” Awake, o ye faithful! Awake and arise from the sleep of death, for the glorious sun of righteousness has dawned upon the never-ending day of the new creation in our resurrected Lord Jesus. See what today is done – how our Lord conquered the powers of sin, death, and the devil, and rose victorious over cross and grave!

Awake, be attentive to the Wisdom that comes down from on high! Be attentive to the Lord who appears to His people to fulfill the blessed visions of the Prophets and the testimony of the Evangelists. Be attentive to the Wisdom of God revealed unto salvation for mankind. Be attentive to the voice of God calling you from weeping to rejoicing at the blessed vision of your Lord and your God.

Mary Magdalene stands weeping in the Garden early on the first day of the week. She and the other women have seen the angelic messengers. She has told the apostles what she saw – the empty tomb, the folded burial cloths. She now stands weeping because her Lord is gone. She does not know where they have taken Him. She wants Him back. She wants things back to the way they were. Mary has not yet seen the Lord of whom Moses and the Prophets spoke, whom they also longed to see. She has not yet seen the coming of her salvation.

But then the vision dawns upon her. Her eyes are opened, and she sees the Lord of Glory there before her. Jesus, the Christ, is alive and standing before her in the flesh. Who would not rush to hold the one greatly beloved by all the faithful? Who would not press to the flesh of the Lord of Hosts, the Prince of Life who died and now reigns immortal?

But “Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the 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.”'” What an odd and enigmatic statement - “Do not cling to me.” Why should Mary not cling to the flesh of her Savior? Jesus would soon present His flesh to be touched and handled by all the apostles – why not Mary, why not now?

St. Augustine argues that it is because Mary has not yet fully comprehended the mystery that stands before her. She believes that this man before her is Jesus, who was crucified. She believes that somehow He was raised from the dead to the glory of the Father. She even believes that He is going to the Father in heaven. But she does not yet believe that Jesus is truly the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Therefore, she may not cling to Him, because she has not the faith to do so. And do you? Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One of God? Do you believe what you confess? “I believe … in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God … God of God … and was made man.” Do you believe that the Second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God, took on human flesh and blood and died your death upon a cross? And do you believe that this same Jesus, whom you crucified, God the Father raised again to life for your justification?

Hogwash, says the world! Rubbish, says your intellect! Nonsense, says reason! Humans are not gods. Gods do not become men, and gods do not die. Perhaps Jesus was in suspended animation, or perhaps He only appeared to die, or perhaps He only rose in spirit.

Begone, these lies of the deceiver! For Christ Jesus our Lord is truly God and truly Man, crucified for the sins of the whole world, bearing your sins and dying your death. He is truly the Lamb of God who was sacrificed, but who now lives and reigns to all eternity. He is the God who has saved humanity by taking human nature into the Godhead not to lower the majesty of God but to elevate the dignity of all mankind.

Our Lord Christ has been raised from the dead, and He stands before Mary, that she may see and believe, and believing have life in His Name. And so also He stands before you this day, that you may see and believe. He stands before you not in the Garden, where He walks with you and He talks with you. He stands before you on the Altar, where He feeds your hungry soul and quenches your thirsty spirit. He stands before you in His Word, proclaimed to kill your old sinful nature and raise you to new life in Christ.

Now I will cling forever
To Christ, my Savior true;
My Lord will leave me never,
Whate'er He passes through.
He rends death's iron chain;
He breaks through sin and pain;
He shatters hell's grim thrall;
I follow Him through all (LSB 467.6).

Cling not to the flesh of Christ, as a child wrapped around his father's ankle. You cannot keep Christ here with you anymore that His disciples could prevent His passion or ascension. But cling to Christ in faith. The Holy Spirit has created in you the faith that lays hold of the Word of God and makes diligent use of it. Cling to Christ, the Word of God Incarnate, and never let go of Him or His gifts. Be attentive to Wisdom – Christ, the Power of God and the Wisdom of God!

In the Name of Jesus. Amen

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!