Sermon for Easter Day 2026

preached by Dr Bethany Sollereder, Associate Professor in Science and Religion at the University of Oxford

Christ is Risen! (He is Risen indeed!)

One of the most striking things about John’s resurrection accounts is that Mary Magdalene does not recognise Jesus. In Mark and Luke’s accounts, the women at the tomb only see angels. In Matthew’s account, the women see Jesus and immediately recognise him and hold on to him. It is only in John where you find Mary alone at the tomb, after Peter and John have left, mistaking Jesus for the gardener.

There is irony here. Mary has been the first one to the tomb. She has been the one seeking Jesus the most fervently. She is the one hanging behind at the tomb, talking to the strangers she meets (they happen to be angels) about where Jesus might be. You can feel the desperation of her search. And suddenly Jesus is right there in front of her, and in the desperate passion of her search she still can’t find him. So she pleads to Jesus to “please show me Jesus”.

I groan internally when I read this, wondering how many times I have missed God standing right in front of me. How many times have I begged to know where God is, to God’s face? How many times have I come to this table, trying to find the God who is already present?

Jesus does not leave Mary in her confusion. He cuts through all her turned-in-upon-itself grief with the simple sound of her name. And suddenly she can see, light breaks through her darkness. The dark night of the soul becomes the dawn of joy. And Mary is sent to be the apostle to the apostles, the first witness of the Risen Lord.

If you have been searching for God, don’t despair. God is nearer than you can know. And this morning, it is the joy of the Church worldwide to proclaim and celebrate the presence and life of God in the world. And we don’t just do that with the people who are alive today—we join a great throng of witnesses stretching from that first witness Mary Magdalene to all the people around the world today who have searched, and heard, and believed in the risen Lord.

Dear Friends, we have made it. The feast is here. Love is risen from the grave. The darkness is pierced, the faithless are found faithful, and the doubting see Jesus.

This is the moment of joy!

The story of Easter is that the old hierarchies of power are reversed. That the power of tyrants loses to the power of love. That the suffering of innocents does not go unredeemed. That the outsiders are now insiders, whether Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, both or none. That there is forgiveness for all the weight of our wrongs—that stinking burden of our sin was put to death on the cross, and new life is here.

Easter is the proclamation of all the reversals our hearts long for. Jesus, rising from the dead, is the proclamation that peace triumphs over war, that love triumphs over hate, that holiness triumphs over sin, that light triumphs over darkness, that gentleness triumphs over tyranny, that all the long, dark, hard road to Calvary is not the end of the story. That even death is not the end of the story. Christ rising from the dead is God’s guarantee that there is new life beyond the grave. That sorrows will be turned to joy, that mourning will be turned to dancing, that in the presence of God every tear will be wiped from our eyes. Death, that great spectre that stands over our existence, has been and will be destroyed. And this is true even if like Mary, we cannot quite recognise it, if we struggle to see the Lord of Life before us.

Today, we stand in the presence of God. Don’t go away hungry or thirsty—let everyone take part in the bread of life and the cup of faith.

Christ has risen from the dead, and we are forgiven.
Christ has risen from the dead, and the angels rejoice.
Christ has risen from the dead, and life is liberated.
Christ is Risen (He is Risen indeed)
To Him be glory and honour and power forever and ever. Amen.