2008. 3. 30 Rev. Kim, Young Bong

The Gospel According to John Sermon Series
“The Gospel of Life (94)”
Somebody’s Calling My Name
John 20:11-18

1.

Last week, we went over the events that happened on the morning of Jesus’ resurrection. Mary Magdalene, who discovered that the tomb of Jesus Christ was empty, went to Peter and John to inform them, and they quickly ran to the tomb to confirm it. After carefully looking at the clues left in the tomb, the Apostle John came to believe the words of Jesus regarding his resurrection. On the other hand, Peter failed to reach a faith like John’s even after looking at the same scene as John did. Both disciples fully looked inside the tomb and went back to where they were. Again, outside the tomb, Mary Magdalene was left alone.

Mary Magdalene was still thinking that someone had stolen Jesus’ body. According to church tradition, Mary Magdalene was rumored to be a prostitute; however, there is no such mentioning in the Bible. She had been suffering from a severe illness, and after being healed by Jesus, she followed Him as His disciple from then. Because she loved Jesus and Jesus had a special love for her, Mary Magdalene has been known as ‘Jesus’ lover’ since the time of the early churches. That, too, is a groundless tale, however. What is apparent is that Mary Magdalene’s love for Jesus was especially profound. Because her love was so profound, her sorrow for losing the beloved must have been especially deep, too. Imagine how much more painful it must have been for her, thinking His body was stolen! Even after the two disciples left the tomb, Mary cried for a long time, standing outside the tomb.

For how long did she cry? Mary wanted to look into the tomb one more time. She didn’t dare to go in like the male disciples; instead, she just stooped down and looked into the tomb. She knew that there was no one inside, but she looked again, hoping. Then, Mary was startled. Some people were sitting at either end of where Jesus’ burial cloths had been laid. They had the appearance of human beings, but they did not quite look like those who belong to this world. Although Mary had often heard of angels, she was not sure whether such beings really existed or not. However, when she saw two people sitting inside the tomb, she could sense by intuition, “Oh, these are the very beings that people call angels.”

They ask Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping?” (Verse 13). Hoping that she could receive some answers, Mary replies, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Mary waits for them to offer some kind of answer; however, there is none. Yet, the angels give a signal to her as if saying ‘Look behind you.’ When Mary looks behind her, she sees a man standing. The man asks Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” (Verse 15)

Mary doesn’t recognize that He is Jesus. Is it because of the tears in her eyes? She thinks that He is the keeper of the garden. Mary asks Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” At this, the Man calls her in a familiar voice: “Mary!” (Verse 16) As soon as she hears the voice calling her name, Mary realizes that the Man is not the gardener but the very Jesus she has been looking for. Overjoyed, Mary tries to embrace Him, calling Him ‘Rabboni,’ meaning ‘Teacher.’

Stopping Mary from embracing Him, Jesus tells her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.” (Verse 17) Mary, withdrawing her extended hands, looks at Jesus with happiness on her face. She feels as if only flinging her arms around Him can truly satisfy her, but looking at Him for a while fills her heart with happiness. Now, the empty spot in her heart seems to be filled up with something. Her heart is warmed. While her face shows obvious traces of tears, now her expression is completely filled with happiness.

Some time later, Mary returns to the disciples as Jesus told her to do and tells them what had happened to her. The disciples were probably surprised to see Mary’s expression, words, and behavior. Some may have thought, ‘She had loved Him so greatly and followed Him everywhere, has she now lost her mind?’ Perhaps Peter and John might have blamed themselves thinking, ‘We should have brought her back with us. Why did we leave a woman by herself at the tomb? We are the ones who left her to lose her mind!’ But looking at her carefully, she is too sane to be considered crazy. On the other hand she is too strange to be considered normal. She is standing on the ground, yet seems to be floating in mid- air. The disciples may have been able to understand Mary’s feelings only after they saw the resurrected Jesus. The reason why she looked so happy! The reason why she looked so different!

2.

Last week, we went over the events that happened on the morning of Jesus’ resurrection. Mary Magdalene, who discovered that the tomb of Jesus Christ was empty, went to Peter and John to inform them, and they quickly ran to the tomb to confirm it. After carefully looking at the clues left in the tomb, the Apostle John came to believe the words of Jesus regarding his resurrection. On the other hand, Peter failed to reach a faith like John’s even after looking at the same scene as John did. Both disciples fully looked inside the tomb and went back to where they were. Again, outside the tomb, Mary Magdalene was left alone.

Mary Magdalene was still thinking that someone had stolen Jesus’ body. According to church tradition, Mary Magdalene was rumored to be a prostitute; however, there is no such mentioning in the Bible. She had been suffering from a severe illness, and after being healed by Jesus, she followed Him as His disciple from then. Because she loved Jesus and Jesus had a special love for her, Mary Magdalene has been known as ‘Jesus’ lover’ since the time of the early churches. That, too, is a groundless tale, however. What is apparent is that Mary Magdalene’s love for Jesus was especially profound. Because her love was so profound, her sorrow for losing the beloved must have been especially deep, too. Imagine how much more painful it must have been for her, thinking His body was stolen! Even after the two disciples left the tomb, Mary cried for a long time, standing outside the tomb.

For how long did she cry? Mary wanted to look into the tomb one more time. She didn’t dare to go in like the male disciples; instead, she just stooped down and looked into the tomb. She knew that there was no one inside, but she looked again, hoping. Then, Mary was startled. Some people were sitting at either end of where Jesus’ burial cloths had been laid. They had the appearance of human beings, but they did not quite look like those who belong to this world. Although Mary had often heard of angels, she was not sure whether such beings really existed or not. However, when she saw two people sitting inside the tomb, she could sense by intuition, “Oh, these are the very beings that people call angels.”

They ask Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping?” (Verse 13). Hoping that she could receive some answers, Mary replies, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Mary waits for them to offer some kind of answer; however, there is none. Yet, the angels give a signal to her as if saying ‘Look behind you.’ When Mary looks behind her, she sees a man standing. The man asks Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” (Verse 15)

Mary doesn’t recognize that He is Jesus. Is it because of the tears in her eyes? She thinks that He is the keeper of the garden. Mary asks Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” At this, the Man calls her in a familiar voice: “Mary!” (Verse 16) As soon as she hears the voice calling her name, Mary realizes that the Man is not the gardener but the very Jesus she has been looking for. Overjoyed, Mary tries to embrace Him, calling Him ‘Rabboni,’ meaning ‘Teacher.’

Stopping Mary from embracing Him, Jesus tells her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.” (Verse 17) Mary, withdrawing her extended hands, looks at Jesus with happiness on her face. She feels as if only flinging her arms around Him can truly satisfy her, but looking at Him for a while fills her heart with happiness. Now, the empty spot in her heart seems to be filled up with something. Her heart is warmed. While her face shows obvious traces of tears, now her expression is completely filled with happiness.

Some time later, Mary returns to the disciples as Jesus told her to do and tells them what had happened to her. The disciples were probably surprised to see Mary’s expression, words, and behavior. Some may have thought, ‘She had loved Him so greatly and followed Him everywhere, has she now lost her mind?’ Perhaps Peter and John might have blamed themselves thinking, ‘We should have brought her back with us. Why did we leave a woman by herself at the tomb? We are the ones who left her to lose her mind!’ But looking at her carefully, she is too sane to be considered crazy. On the other hand she is too strange to be considered normal. She is standing on the ground, yet seems to be floating in mid- air. The disciples may have been able to understand Mary’s feelings only after they saw the resurrected Jesus. The reason why she looked so happy! The reason why she looked so different!

3.

There are two points in today’s story that we need to focus on. The first is where Mary, who was not able to recognize the risen Jesus, responded; “Rabboni!” only after Jesus called out her name, “Mary!” In Aramaic, ‘Rabboni’ means ‘teacher’.

A name has a meaning that goes beyond a mere label. There is one common confession that is made by the people who had ever been imprisoned. When a prisoner receives a number and is called by that number and not by his name, they say this is a miserable dehumanizing experience. Then, when someone calls him by his name, they say that it feels like becoming human once again. Thus, a name is deeply meaningful. Therefore, letting another person know one’s name means opening oneself to the other person, and calling another person by his name from one’s heart means expressing desires to get closer to the person.

At this juncture, many of you might recall the famous Korean poem, “The Flower” written by Kim Choon-Soo. “Until I called his name, he had been no more than a mere gesture. When I called his name, he came to me and became a flower.” Calling one’s name means beginning a relationship with the person, and only when the relationship is established, we know the person truly, and when we establish the interpersonal relationship, the relationship affects me. The famous Jewish philosopher Martin Buber also wrote in his book “I and Thou” about how necessary the true interpersonal relationship is in recovering true humanity.

In this aspect, we need to ponder upon the fact that only when the resurrected Lord called the name of Mary Magdalene, she was able to recognize the Lord. Even before Mary called His name, Jesus was already beside her and had called her name. At the moment when Mary heard Him calling her name, she knew who He was. Through this, a true encounter, an interpersonal encounter came about.

The second point we need to pay attention to is that Jesus stopped Mary, who was about to embrace Him, and replied “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.” Commentators were troubled over what this meant. Because we cannot know all of Jesus’ inner thoughts, we’d better off by giving up the desire of commentating all of His words. But, everyone would agree that Jesus wanted to teach Mary to change the way she acted toward Him. This means the way she treats the resurrected Jesus should be different from the way she treated Him when He was in the flesh. That means the resurrected Jesus was not one to be confirmed through touch. He is one to know through the feeling in one’s heart. He is not visible to naked eyes, but to spiritual eyes.

Therefore, Jesus was elevating Mary Magdalene to a spiritually higher level. Jesus, who showed Himself to Mary by calling her name, was teaching her how to have a fellowship with Him. She should have forgotten about the memories they had together while wandering in Galilee. She should have newly met Him, who was spiritual and untouchable, and have transformed spiritually by the fellowship with Him. Mary Magdalene came to see the world anew by experiencing this, and entered into a spiritual fellowship with the risen Lord.

Mary Magdalene became a very important person that could not be ignored in the first church. Although her name couldn’t be listed among the twelve apostles, she likely played a greatly important role as much as Peter did. She was likely considered as a very important person to the people of first church as a witness of His death and His tomb, and as the person who found the empty tomb first, and who met the resurrected Jesus first. However, more than these, she might have been respected because she had a deep fellowship with the resurrected Lord and the power of the resurrection shone out in her life. She was not only the witness of the resurrection, but also the witness of the power of the resurrection.

The resurrected Lord appeared not just to Mary Magdalene. Later He appeared to the eleven disciples, and also to many other people. Sometimes He appeared in a form that could be touched, but these were exceptions. Most of the time, He appeared in a form n which He could not be touched. The Lord visited and called the names of those who believed in the resurrection, who loved Him and waited for Him. Those who tried to listen carefully to the small whispers in their ears were able to hear the voice of the risen Jesus. Then they were able to enter into a relationship with Him and were able to live as one spirit. Through this the power of the resurrection was able to penetrate into their lives and live and move within them.

This event will continue until the end of this world. The resurrected Lord gives us the same message in Revelations: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.’ (3:20). A spiritual relationship can start when we recognize His voice calling one’s name and open the door. He comes into my life and He eats with me and I eat with Him. A shared life begins. It means becoming one with the resurrected Lord. Thus a change can occur in our lives, the life that used to be like Mary Magdalene crying outside of the tomb. The life we had that was influenced by the power of death now becomes governed by the power of the resurrection, and the power of life. The gloomy, grave-like life becomes a festive event.

4.

Dear Congregation, have you met Him who calls your name? By any chance, is Jesus Christ still afar like a stranger? Or is there anybody that knows Him and respects Him as just one of the three great saints of the world, just remaining at this point? If your faith is such, what is it for? Is it just to receive comfort? Is it to cultivate your character? If our faith just remains there, it would be like a person who has been given a present, taking satisfaction with just the wrapping paper.

We need to meet Him who has risen, who within our hearts is calling out our names. All of us have heard His voice since a long time ago. Some have recognized the voice, without hesitation responded, and opened the door and received Him into their hearts. Some heard the voice but ignored and neglected it for a while, then later surrendered and received Him into their lives. Still others may still be refusing to respond. Their bodies may be in church but their hearts may not be responding to His voice. Though he may say he believes, in his life the power of death may be more active than the power of life.

Personally I like African-American gospel songs. The mood of the gospel songs is very similar to our traditional Korean music. In addition, the lyrics of the songs seem to touch the depths of our souls. Some songs tend to deal too much about after-life, but I can understand this considering the hard life of slavery. Except for that, often I am quite surprised by the fact that the lyrics of those songs that were made and sung by uneducated slaves carry the quintessence of faith. Do you remember that I mentioned that faith has nothing to do with how educated a person is? Gospel songs of those uneducated slaves are sometimes more profound than the writings of renowned theologians.

One of the gospel songs is “Hush, hush, Somebody’s Calling My Name.” Listen to Kathleen Battle’s voice singing this song.

Hush, Hush, somebody’s calling my name,
Hush, Hush, somebody’s calling my name,
Hush, Hush, somebody’s calling my name,
Oh, my Lord, Oh my Lord, What shall I do, what shall I do

Sounds like Jesus, somebody’s calling my name,
Sounds like Jesus, somebody’s calling my name,
Sounds like Jesus, somebody’s calling my name,
Oh, my Lord, Oh my Lord, what shall I do, what shall I do.

(In African aboriginal language;)
I’m so glad, troubles don’t last always,
I’m so glad, troubles don’t last always,
I’m so glad, troubles don’t last always,
Oh, my Lord, Oh my Lord, what shall I do, what shall I do.

Hush, Hush, somebody’s calling my name,
Hush, Hush, somebody’s calling my name,
Hush, Hush, somebody’s calling my name,
Oh, my Lord, Oh my Lord, What shall I do, what shall I do.

What should you do? I encourage you to answer to His calling. Just as Mary Magdalene heard the voice of the resurrected Jesus’ voice and met Him, I encourage you to respond to His voice. I encourage you to start a life of meeting Him and making friends with Him. Let’s live and eat with Him; and let Him eat with you. It will change our lives. It will transform us just like Mary Magdalene who cried at Jesus’ tomb but later ran toward Jesus’ disciples with joy. Our cry will change into uncontrolled joy. That is faith. That is salvation. That is eternal life. That is heaven.

5.

In the process of counseling those who were going to be baptized during this Easter, I had few special experiences. Each person to be baptized had a story to tell and each one was special, emotional, and mysterious. I would like to share one of those stories with you.

Growing up, this one individual did not have any memories of her mother’s love. Therefore, she had a deep longing for love. She tried many different things in order to satisfy that longing, but none of them gave her any extraordinary answers. Then, at a later stage in her life, she came to the United States with her children. She began to attend our church, and embarked on her spiritual journey. At first, everything was unfamiliar but through Sunday services and other courses, she learned about her spiritual life. As she practiced what she heard and learned, she began to be showered in God’s grace.

Then, one day, she was reading the Bible and praying alone. As she put her hands together and prayed, she noticed her hands were moving involuntarily. One hand was touching her face and, at the same time, she felt in her heart someone say, “I love you. I love you.” For a moment, her hand had become the hand of God. God used her hand to touch her face and speak to her heart. It may have been for just a moment, but during that experience, that sister felt, for the first time, “This is what it feels to receive someone’s love!” That emptiness she felt for decades was finally filled, and she received comfort and peace. Don’t you think it was at that moment that she met God? Just like Mary Magdalene.

Let us remember. Just as the resurrected Lord did to Mary Magdalene, He calls to us with a low voice, barely audible, calling our names without giving up on us. He invites us to live with Him, to play with Him, to rest with Him, to eat with Him, to work with Him, to be with Him. He’s calling our names. He’s calling us to live with Him and thereby enjoy a faithful and eternal life with Him. What are you going to do with that call?

O Lord, who calls our names in love,
We ask that we will hear that call and answer it.
Let us invite you into our hearts and live in Your presence
Fill our lives with you Life
Overcome our falsehood with Your Truth
Transform our despair into joy
and our tears into smiles
Shine the power of the resurrection into our lives.
Amen.