The Empty Tomb and the Wounded Savior

20 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 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.”
John 20:1-2
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The Empty Tomb and the Wounded Savior
Early in the morning, while it is still dark, Mary goes to the tomb. Her grief shapes what she sees: not resurrection, but loss. The stone moved can only mean one thing to a broken heart, someone has taken the body. Sin trains us to expect absence, theft, and death, not victory. Yet the risen Christ does not first correct Mary with glory. He will soon meet her with wounds. The resurrection does not erase the cross; it confirms it. The same Jesus who was crucified now lives, still bearing the marks of our salvation. As Luther teaches, we know God not by speculation but by the cross. Here, too, the empty tomb preaches the same sermon: the Crucified One has finished His work. Like Mary, we often run with fear before we understand. But the cross stands firm. Christ has not been taken away. He has risen, for you.