Easter 2024
Notes
Transcript
He is risen!
Our entire faith rests on the fact that Jesus is alive. If he never came back to life, our faith is worthless, because there is no hope. We know that Jesus is who he said he is because he came back to life.
Each of the Gospels records the amazing story of Jesus’ resurrection, well at least the side of the disciples finding the tomb.
This morning, during the sunrise service, we read Mark 16. Let’s read it again.
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ”
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Praise God, the tomb is empty.
Pray
1. The Tomb Is Empty
1. The Tomb Is Empty
This is what we discussed this morning. The fact that the tomb is empty is based upon another fact.
A. Jesus was dead
A. Jesus was dead
All the history books agree on the fact that Jesus was dead. All the history books agree on the fact that Jesus actually died.
Roman soldiers knew about death. They knew when someone was not dead yet and when they were dead. Just to make sure, they would break the legs of convicts on the cross to ensure a quick death. However, when Jesus was hanging there. These experts in death knew that he was dead. They didn’t go to the trouble of breaking his legs, but instead shoved a spear into his side. The water and blood that came out, proved that he was dead. The body showed that he had been dead for a bit.
Now, just for the sake of argument. Perhaps the Roman soldiers didn’t notice that Jesus was dead. Perhaps he was just unconscious of the shock. He had just experienced los of blood circulation and coronary failure on the cross, not to mention suffocation because he couldn’t pull or push his body up to take a breath. Severe trauma!
So, perhaps he was unconscious. You would think that the transport from the cross to the tomb would wake him up. They wouldn’t have been the most gentle. You would think also, that all the care to wrap his body up and cover him with spices, someone would have noticed and said that Jesus was still alive! Call the doctor!
Okay, perhaps they didn’t notice. He is still unconscious. So they wrap him up in clothes and put 75 pounds of spices intermixed, probably myrrh and aloe. This was a sign of respect to the body.
They place Jesus in that tight wrapping, a lot of those spices being wrapped into the cloth tightly wrapped around his head.
Then they roll a stone over the opening of the grave, and seal it.
There is not much air going in and out of that tomb.
If Jesus had been alive when they took him down off the cross. He wouldn’t be alive any longer.
Science and history has proven that Jesus died. No one of any clout denies that fact.
B. He is now alive
B. He is now alive
Which brings us to the empty tomb.
The women walk up to the tomb:
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
John goes into more detail about what the inside of the tomb appeared like.
After a moment of catching their breath and their wits, the women finally tell the rest of the disciples about the empty tomb.
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen.
I wish I could have been there to see the shock on their faces. They couldn’t understand. They were confused. As I mentioned in the sunrise service, these disciples might have believed so many different possibilities.
The biggest of which is the oldest story about the disappearance of Jesus. The pharisees told the Roman soldiers at the tomb to lie and say that the disciples had stolen the body.
But, where would they have placed the body?
The fact is, over 500 people saw Jesus alive after he was dead. These people talked with Jesus. These people ate with Jesus. These people touched Jesus.
Like Thomas:
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
The story of 500 witnesses cannot be easily discounted. In fact, many people have tried to discount the resurrection, but in the process have come to faith in Jesus.
C. He demands a response
C. He demands a response
The tomb is empty. And this fact demands a response. What will we do with the empty tomb?
The women that morning initially ran away from the truth. It scared them.
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Then, they shakingly told the disciples, and Peter and John ran to look at the tomb.
John looked at the empty tomb and believed.
Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.
Mary met Jesus and believed. Thomas touched Jesus and responded:
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Two disciples walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus and then ate with him. And believed.
Other’s saw Jesus and interacted with the truth and did not believe.
Everyone has a choice with what they will do with the empty tomb. But, we all have to make the choice.
John wrote
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
The simple gospel is this. We are all sinners and our sin separates us from our creator, whom we were created to worship and enjoy. Our sin, breaking God’s perfect standard, demands punishment, an eternity in hell.
God loves us and sent Jesus to earth to live among us and die on the cross for our sins. He suffered and then cried “It is finished!” breathing his last. He was buried, and then he rose again on the third day, proving that he had conquered sin, death, and the devil. Offering his forgiveness and salvation to whomever believes.
Jesus’ sacrifice was complete on that cross 2000 years ago. He died for all sin, once. We don’t have to earn it, all we have to do is receive in faith.
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Have you made that decision to trust Jesus for your salvation? If you have not, today is the day of salvation!
2. Does Our Life Show It?
2. Does Our Life Show It?
Now, if we have placed our faith in Jesus, sometime in the past, and we have dutifully done the Christian thing by attending church from time to time.
Does our lives show that the tomb is empty?
What do I mean?
A. Loving a dead body
A. Loving a dead body
Well, do we act like we are loving a dead body?
Everyone here has been to a visitation. We have all been affected by death, and we have attended that visitation of our loved one. And everyone is crying and sad, as they should be, and they reflect upon the life that was and the emptiness that will be. And those are important conversations to have in the journey of grief.
However, many times, we treat the Christian life as a visitation. Like Jesus is still in the grave. We are somber, broken down by the sin and chaos around us, by horrible politics that are happening, by persecutions and natural disasters.
We weep and we wail as if there is no hope.
We look at our life, at our challenges, at our sins, at our addictions, and think that we must muscle through on our own power.
We look at our life priorities and goals and we shape them as if this world is the only thing, because if Jesus did not rise from the dead, our faith is futile. There is no hope for the after life. So, we must do the best we can right now.
There are many people who live as if Jesus had not risen from the dead. They have no hope. They have no joy. They have no victory. They live according to their sinful passions and desires. The make everything else God, instead of the one true God.
And yes, I do that too often then I want to admit.
B. Loving a risen Lord
B. Loving a risen Lord
But, the tomb is empty. He is alive. We are not at a funeral service but a divine celebration!
If we are living to show that the tomb is empty, our lives will be drastically different.
We won’t be loving a dead body, but a risen Lord.
a. Loving by worship
a. Loving by worship
We will love by worshiping him.
Worship is an act of expressing devotion, reverence, and adoration towards God.
Strangely enough, the women’s response was an act of worship.
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Their fear and alarm was at the angel was in response to understanding the awe of the divine. The fear at what the angel said was in response to the act of God, not comprehending it, because of they had no box to put it in.
However, when they met the risen savior, they responded in worship, falling on their face before him, declaring him their Lord and Savior. Their life.
Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.
Our Lord is alive. Every day we get to meet him and we should respond with worship. Waking up, before we do anything else important, we should meet our savior, confessing him as Lord.
I think about the disciples. After Jesus interacted with them for those 40 days, they went out to Bethany, up on the mountain, blessed them, told them to be witnesses, and then ascended to heaven as he said that he was coming back.
Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
That should be our life. Because we serve a risen savior, we live lives of worship, before during, and after our tasks during the day.
In fact, this life of worship is supposed to completely define our lives, that we start our weeks with an intensive time of worship.
And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
The early church was marked by coming together every week to worship God, in order to set the tone and be equipped to worship God individually every day.
b. Loving by community
b. Loving by community
Which brings me to the second point of how we love a risen Lord.
We love by seeking community.
This isn’t a popular concept. But, do you know how Jesus was able to interact with so many people during those 40 days after the resurrection? Because his followers were spending time together.
After Jesus met with the two men on the road to Emmaeus, the men quickly stopped their journey and went back to Jerusalem.
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”
The followers of Jesus Christ are called the family of God. If we love Jesus, we will love his family.
In fact, Jesus said:
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
How did Jesus love?
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
He gave up his life for us.
In the same way, we are love one another. There are many people who say that they are too busy to spend time with other Christians, whether it is coming to church, or just spending time with other believers.
However, if we say that we are too busy to spend time with Jesus’ family, we have not really been impacted by the empty tomb, and we do not remember the amazing truth that Jesus is coming back.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
He is coming back and he will ask us how we did in loving his family.
Jesus said
You are my friends if you do what I command.
We love the risen Lord by leading lives of worship. We love by seeking community.
b. Loving by evangelism
b. Loving by evangelism
Finally, we love the risen Lord by evangelism.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave his disciples a charge, which each of the Gospel writers related to us in their own way.
Simply, at the end of Mark, we read:
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
And then the last verse summarizes all the book of Acts:
Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
If we truly believe that Jesus is risen, we will understand the world-shaking impact and we will want to share the news.
I appreciate the Sunday school class that Brook has been leading. Truthfully, we all struggle with fear around evangelism, telling people about Jesus. We believe the lies of Satan, so having a class, learning some tools, is a good thing to do.
The fact that the disciples did travel throughout the known world, braving persecution, suffering from natural elements and exposure, even to the point of dying in brutal ways, just to proclaim that Jesus is alive and provides salvation. This is proof of the resurrection. Because that many people would not knowingly go through all of that pain and torture for a lie.
How do you do it?
Well, you can join us for the last Sunday school as we think about evangelism, and gain some great tools. You can invite someone to church, we’ve got invitation cards in the back of the room. You could invite someone to study the Bible with you. I’ve got a simple format that even a child could do.
Or, you could just ask someone if you could pray for them. If you do that often enough, people will ask you why you are doing this, and you can tell them, it’s because Jesus is alive. Do you want to know him?
If Jesus is alive, it will impact all of us.
It will impact how we think, what we prioritize, as we seek to live lives of worship.
It will impact what we do, as we spend time with the family of God.
It will impact what we say, as we seek every opportunity to join the ranks of the women and disciples on that morning:
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
He is risen!
Glory Hallelujah!