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“WHY ARE YOU WEEPING?”

1 Corinthians 15:51–57



Twice in our text today, the exact same question is posed to Mary Magdalene: “Woman, why are you weeping?” The first time it is asked, the question comes from the angels sitting inside the tomb. The second time, it is none other than the Lord Himself Who is asking the question of her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

Perhaps our inclination is to come to this poor woman’s defense and ask, “Why shouldn’t she be weeping?” After all, she was still mourning the loss of her Lord. She could be weeping because of witnessing the horror of the betrayal, the torture of Jesus, and His crucifixion. Perhaps she might have said, “I’m weeping because I don’t see any reason to go on living in a world as cruel and senseless as this one has shown itself to be.” But at that moment, with what appeared to be the ultimate act of evil staring her in the face, the last act of sacrilege, the apparent desecration of Jesus’ grave, the only answer that Mary can muster is to say, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

If it had been you standing by that tomb, what answer would you have given? I guess that all depends upon whether we knew then what we know now.

Nevertheless, we can identify. We know what it’s like to stand next to the bedside, the casket, or the graveside of those whom we have lost. We have shed our own tears. We recall the importance which that individual had in our lives; the many years and memories that we shared together. We have a hard time conceiving of what it’s going to be like to go on without them. Perhaps the specific manner in which they ended their days makes the moment all the more difficult. The bottom line is that death, so often, can seem to be so senseless and cruel.

It’s like the subject of our Old Testament reading for today—Job. Here was a man who went through so many different hardships in such a brief amount of time, including the sudden, tragic loss of all of his children in one fell swoop. It seemed to make no sense. Where was the rhyme or the reason behind what had taken place? Where was the love and compassion of God, Who had allowed this tragedy to take place? After all, Job had lived an upright life. Certainly there were other more heartless people around him that were more deserving of that kind of pain than Job was.

Sometimes the logic of it all leaves us grasping at straws.

Well, in the Epistle reading for today, St. Paul offers a little commentary on the matter of death—a brief insight as to its purpose and cause. He writes, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” “The sting of death is sin.”

I remember when I was just a little kid I spent a lot of time over at my aunt and uncle’s house, because they had a swimming pool. It was the perfect place to spend those hot summer days. One of the other people who spent a lot of time over there was a friend of my aunt and uncle’s by the name of Jerry. Jerry was a big, strapping guy who bore an uncanny resemblance to Jonny Weissmuller. Do you remember him—the Olympic swimming star who later became a movie star, most notably for his portrayal of Tarzan? Well, Jerry was quite a swimmer in his own right, cutting through the water just like Johnny Weissmuller. In fact, it was Jerry who first taught me how to dive off of a diving board.

Well, sometime later, Jerry died very unexpectedly. He died from, of all things, a bee sting. He was one of those individuals who had an allergic reaction to that small stinger and he went into anaphylaxis; his lungs shut down. It killed him. Again, if you had seen the man, you would have shaken your head in disbelief that such a big guy could die from such a tiny sting.

That, St. Paul says, it what sin is like. “The sting of death is sin.” The tiniest sin, the smallest transgression on our parts, is enough to bring about our death. In His Word, God declares, “Behold, all souls are mine… the soul who sins shall die,” (Ezek. 18:4). And that is because, as St. Paul said in our text, “the power of sin if the law.” God’s Law says that our soul belongs to Him. We are His possession. Therefore, He has expectations of us. We are to be holy. Therefore, if we give ourselves over to sin—even to just one seemingly minor infraction—the judgment is death.

So, when you hear people lament the seemingly senseless death of anyone, questioning why a person would have to die at this or that time in their lives, don’t look for a whole host of reasonable or rationale explanations that would appeal to our own sense of reason. Rather, look no further than the simple question of, “Was that person a sinner?” And you will have all of the explanation that you will need for their demise.

Don’t care for that explanation? Does it sound a little shallow? In that case, you might want to try to explain how it is that the Son of God would be willing to take our place on the cross. Where is the sense in that? What wrong had He committed? The truth is there was not the slightest hint of wrongdoing on his part. He was and is holy. Out of all the people who ever lived upon this earth, Jesus was the only One of whom it could rightly be said, “He didn’t deserve to die.”

But, die He did—the sinless One for us sinners. And, in doing so, He took the curse of God’s Law away from us. Without the uncompromising Law, there is no sin. And without sin, there is no death. And, therefore, because Jesus kept God’s Law for us, and because He suffered the punishment of all of our sins, death no longer becomes a senseless and cruel event over which we mourn hopelessly.

Rather, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet… “the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” Death is the way that we leave this sinful nature and this veil of tears behind us and, in an instant, are resurrected and changed into the holy people that God always meant us to be—the imperishable saints that the grace of God has declared us to be!

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”

It’s as if Job couldn’t bear the joy and excitement—“my heart faints within me,” he says, in anticipation of the glory that awaited him for the sake of His Redeemer Who conquered His own tomb, so that He might be victorious over Job’s death, and your death, and the death of all your loved ones and all people who have died in that saving faith as well.

Why are you weeping? Perhaps, it’s because ultimately those are tears of joy that we are shedding. That, in the midst of all of the pains that we experience, the tribulations that we endure, the seemingly senseless and cruel events that come upon us, our Lord promises us peace and the hope of life everlasting. Oh, what comfort this sweet sentence gives!



He lives to silence all my fears;

He lives to wipe away my tears;

He lives to calm my troubled heart;

He lives all blessings to impart.



Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our living Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!



Job 19:23–27

23“Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! 24Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! 25For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”



1 Corinthians 15:51–57

51Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.



John 20:1–18

1Now 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. 2So 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.” 3So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples went back to their homes. 11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13They 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.” 14Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus 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.’” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.