In the name of Jesus Christ, who is indeed the Resurrection and the Life, dear friends: During the past six weeks of Lent, some of you know that I have been preaching in the Wednesday services from the point of view of one who was there, at the scene of the suffering and death of Jesus. This morning again I wish to speak to you in a first-person style, taking the part of one who was there, Mary Magdalene. Please listen, then to what I say, not as a sermon by a pastor, but as a message from a woman who knew Jesus well, and who was the first to see him on that day when he rose in triumph from the grave.

Oh, it’s good to see so many of you here this morning! I’m just delighted to share with you the joy I felt that first Easter morning, when I saw Jesus myself, alive, and risen from the grave!…