Even in the Dark, Joy Is Coming (Easter) |04.20.25| Holy Week 2025
We’ve spent the last few services together reflecting on Jesus’ words to his first followers in the Upper Room. It’s where Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Passover meal, but Jesus transformed it into the foundation of what was to come.
It’s also where Jesus gave a final stretch of teaching to his disciples. And what we just heard him say in that clip, about grieving being turned to rejoicing, is Jesus talking about a work that God has been up to since the very beginning.
And when I say this has been the work of God since the beginning, I literally mean since THE BEGINNING.
In the beginning, God had created everything there is, the light, the land, the animals, and humanity. And he invited humanity to partner with him in overseeing all of creation. We were created to bear God’s image, to be his representatives and care for the rest of creation.
But right from the beginning, the story of what was perfect and GOOD, is shot through with grief when the first humans choose to turn away from God and try to take control for themselves.
[Genesis 3:15]
But even after Adam and Eve had chosen a path that led to separation from God, their story ended with a PROMISE that God would turn such grieving to rejoicing. The enemy that had deceived the humans would eventually be defeated by a son of man that God would send.
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From then on, we see over and over these stories of humanity who are NOT QUITE able to follow in God’s plan, and so they experience grief and loss.
Abraham and Sarah were too impatient for the son God had promised, so they took matters into their own hands, which ended with an affair with a slave and a son that gets abandoned. But God hadn’t given up on them, and still brought about a miracle baby in their old age.
We see God’s work in the story of Joseph, who knew he was destined for leadership, but had to go through so many seasons of loss and betrayal and waiting before God finally turned the grieving to rejoicing when Joseph was able to be a part of saving his family from a drought, along with the entire country he oversaw.
[God’s work…]
Since the beginning, this has been the work of God: to turn grieving into rejoicing.
Even when the people of Israel suffered in slavery for centuries, God had not forgotten them, and rescued them from slavery.
And even in the string of disappointing kings that we looked at last week, Israel experienced oppression and war and defeat, and eventually kidnapping and exile from their homes.
But then God brought them back!
God has always been working to turn grieving into rejoicing. And it wasn’t just in the Old Testament. As soon as Jesus arrived on the scene, he continued this work.
Whether he is saving the day at a wedding that ran out of wine, or he’s connecting with a woman who was an outcast in her town, he’s always working to bring rejoicing.
Whether he’s healing a man who had been paralyzed for decades, or he’s feeding thousands and thousands of people with just a few loaves of bread, he’s demonstrating that wherever God is, grief can turn to joy.
And even when a close friend of his died, Jesus still entered into that situation. He went to Lazarus’ house. He spoke with his sisters. He grieved with them.
But then he went to the tomb and called Lazarus’ name and raised him from the dead. Grief turned to joy as they experienced God’s resurrection power and hope-filled LIFE.
This has been the work of God SINCE THE BEGINNING: to enter into darkness, to enter into grief, and to bring joy…and life.
The work usually took some time. It wasn’t always immediate. It usually involved some loss. There was often doubt and mystery in the middle of it. But throughout the Old Testament and into the unfolding story of Jesus, there was God, always turning grieving into rejoicing.
[John 16:20]
All of this brings us to the Upper Room late on a Thursday night, and those words from Jesus we heard in the video clip: “Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn…but your grief will turn into joy.”
Jesus knew, of course, what was about to happen. He knew that he was about to be betrayed, arrested, brutally mistreated, and ultimately killed.
And I’m sure his disciples could barely believe that was true. There was no way that their teacher, the Son of God, who had performed incredible miracles and even raised someone from the dead – there was NO WAY he was about to meet his end!
And yet, Jesus is saying to them, “You are about to experience deeper grief that you have ever experienced. And it’s going to be made all the worse because the “world” will be rejoicing over your grief. People who are AGAINST you and me will think it’s a victory. That our movement has been squashed.
And that’s going to get you to even start BELIEVING that it IS over. But I say to you that your grieving will be turned to joy.
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And then he marched onward to his death on that Friday. And his disciples’ deepest fears came true. Rome had won. Death had won. Grief set in.
And I wonder what it was like for them the rest of that day, into Saturday, into the earliest hours of Sunday morning.
Everyone was terrified that the soldiers would come for them next. Jesus was executed as a rebel leader. Maybe the same punishment was coming for anyone else connected to him.
So they were back in that Upper Room where they had recently celebrated together. But there were no songs this time. There was no joyous chatter.
It was quiet, mostly, except for the occasional sound of weeping as another of them realized again that Jesus was gone. Silent except for the sound of GRIEVING.
I wonder if any of them remembered Jesus’ words: “Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn…but your grief will turn into joy.”
I wonder if any of them turned that into a sort of prayer they said to themselves, “Your grief will turn to joy. Your grief will turn to joy.”
They were grieving, and they were TRYING to believe. They were trying to believe Jesus. And then…
[John 20:1]
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.”
It was early. Still dark. Mary probably hadn’t been able to sleep, and so the darkness of the morning matched the darkness that she felt in her heart.
She came to the tomb, and saw…she HAD to go to the tomb in order to see what Jesus had done. She wouldn’t have known otherwise. And for us listening today, we need to know that we can’t avoid the tomb, we can’t avoid death…if we want to see resurrection.
Some of you listening are avoiding the place of darkness in your life where God wants to bring joy and resurrection.
[John 20:2-3, 8-10]
“So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. [...] 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.”
They saw and believed that Jesus was GONE, but they didn’t necessarily know that he had resurrected… “Then the disciples returned to their homes.”
[John 20:11-13]
“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb.”
Mary didn’t go home. She stayed. Where else would she go? Jesus WAS home to her.
“As she wept, she bent over to look[a] into the tomb, 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other 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.”
[John 20:14]
“When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.”
Have you ever seen someone but not really seen them? Mary saw Jesus, but she didn’t really recognize him. She had too much grief. Too much tears.
Because when you’re in a dark pit in your life, it’s hard to actually SEE reality. You’re too clouded with grief. What you need is someone else to reach down and help pull you out of the pit.
[John 20:15]
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir,[b] if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him…”
[John 20:16]
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
Jesus called her by NAME. She’s not just some generic “woman.” She’s not defined by what she looks like or even what she’s done.
She’s not BROKEN, or FORGOTTEN, or LEFT BEHIND. She’s not abandoned or unwanted. She’s MARY!
Jesus knows her by name because he loves her enough to draw close to her. And that makes all the difference for her, and she can finally look up and NOTICE him and fully SEE him.
How many of you know that sometimes the only way out of grief, sometimes the only way out of the pit, is for someone who loves us to lean in CLOSE enough to say our name.
[John 20:17-18]
“She turned and said to him in Hebrew,[c] “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her…But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her.”
Mary, not Peter or James or John…MARY was the one entrusted with the news that Jesus was raised from the dead. She was the FIRST Easter Sunday Resurrection preacher!
Mary, the WOMAN, who had at one time been plagued by 7 demons, who had spent her whole life as someone looked down upon and taken advantage of. Mary is the one Jesus gives the first message of good news to.
And she’s given the MISSION of delivering that good news to the rest of the disciples.
And so I don’t know if you think that you don’t deserve to be a part of Jesus’ family, but right here we see that NO ONE is excluded from Jesus’ family. No one is excluded from his mission of spreading the good news.
[John 20:19-20] (let’s keep reading)
“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews,”
They’re still afraid. Even though Mary has told them what she saw, they’re still uncertain. Then Jesus shows up like, Surprise!
“Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.”
I told you that this has been the work of God since the beginning: to turn grieving into rejoicing. And it’s the same work that God has continued since the NEW BEGINNING after Easter – to turn our grieving to rejoicing.
Because even though Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection was the key moment of God’s work – because it was the moment that our greatest enemies, sin and Death, were defeated – it was not the END of God’s work.
[Resurrection…]
Jesus’ resurrection was not the end of God’s work of turning our grieving to rejoicing. Even though we believe that sin was fully paid for on that cross. Even though we believe that Death was fully beaten… we know there is still evil in the world. We know that the influences of evil on our world and in our lives still runs deep.
The resurrection FINISHED the work, but it is still FULLY getting worked out.
It’s like when the clock strikes midnight, a new day has begun. And over time, light stretches and reaches into every corner. Day has come, but the full reality of the day still has yet to be realized in the dark of the early hours. But God continues his work to bring that day about.
And so, Jesus’ resurrection was not the end of God’s work, because we’ve seen him continue his work of turning grieving to rejoicing.
We saw it when Jesus restored and forgave Peter for his denial on the seashore. We saw it when Saul was met on the road to Damascus and given a new mission and the new name of Paul. We see it as God’s redemptive love reached beyond the Jewish people to the Ethiopian eunuch and the Philippian jailor, bringing them into the family of God through the waters of baptism.
[Jesus, Risen One]
Jesus, the Risen One, turns our deep grieving to rejoicing. And it’s not just in the Bible. We see it when Martin Luther brought Scripture into language the everyday person could read. We see it when God prompted believers to seek out religious liberty in America.
We’ve even seen it in the history of our church, when what seemed like a church split or a church death actually led to the beginning of New Life. We’ve seen it when we’ve raised up leaders from within our church and then sent them out to follow God’s leading around the world, as far as Vietnam. It’s not a loss but a multiplication of God’s spreading good news!
Jesus, the Risen One, turns our deep grieving to rejoicing.
And I don’t know if you are realizing that truth in your own life? Maybe you feel like you’re still stuck in that Upper Room and the day is Saturday and you’re wondering if God is actually working?
Will he turn this grieving I’m experiencing into rejoicing? Can he heal that?
All I can say to you is what Jesus promised his disciples: “Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world will rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”
All I can say to you is what we’ve been saying from the start, proven true again and again by stories of old and stories from today: This is the work of God: to turn our grieving to rejoicing.
His work usually takes some time. It’s not always immediate. It usually involves some loss. There is often doubt and mystery in the middle of it. But God is ever and always turning grief to joy.
And one day, the work of God will have been completed and there will be an ending to our grieving altogether. It will be all rejoicing and no grieving.
What the disciples didn’t even know when they sat at that supper table with Jesus the night he was betrayed was that it was giving a foretaste of the celebration feast at the end of all things, mentioned in John’s book of Revelation.
[Revelation 19:6-9]
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out,
“Hallelujah! For the Lord[c] God the Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready;
[...] 9 And the angel said[d] to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
This is the image at the end, of a wedding feast, a huge party, because Jesus has taken us as his bride, flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone, and everything – heaven and earth and all of creation – are restored and reunited.
And so there’s going to be a feast to celebrate. Because the old has gone and the new has come. Because the work that God has been doing since the beginning has been completed.
Because at the end there is only rejoicing, and there is no more grieving, because there is no more suffering.
[Revelation 21:1-4]
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home[a] of God is among mortals.
He will dwell[b] with them; they will be his peoples,[c]
and God himself will be with them and be their God;[d]
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more…”
This has been the work of God since the beginning – to turn our grieving to rejoicing. He’s continued this work since the NEW beginning of Easter – to turn our grief to joy.
[Jesus, Risen One]
This is the good news: Jesus, the Risen One, turns our deep grieving to rejoicing. And one day, the work of God through Jesus will have been completed and there will be an ending to our grieving altogether.
And so, if life feels dark for you right now, know that dawn is coming.
If you feel broken, know that HEALING is coming.
If you feel forgotten or abandoned, know that Jesus chooses YOU to join his family and spread his good news, so that ALL may know that pain and sorrow may last through the night, but JOY comes in the morning.
And we KNOW that to be true because – He is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!