WEBVTT 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:08.960 Special thanks to all of the music folks of this 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:12.359 church, the praise team, all of the extra music 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:14.380 that we have today. Thank you so much. It is 00:00:14.380 --> 00:00:19.399 a wonderful Easter gift. So that question, why 00:00:19.399 --> 00:00:22.500 do you seek the living among the dead, has always 00:00:22.500 --> 00:00:26.440 been a question that I wish I was there to get 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:28.800 that firsthand. Getting courtside seats that 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:32.340 we read it in the Gospel of Luke when the women 00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:35.039 are there. and these men in dazzling clothes, 00:00:35.179 --> 00:00:37.439 every tense and purpose we could think they're 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:41.640 angels, that is fine, that they ask a very important 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:46.579 question. Because we have to remember the last 00:00:46.579 --> 00:00:51.060 couple days. The last couple days for the women, 00:00:51.259 --> 00:00:54.759 for the disciples, for the kind of network of 00:00:54.759 --> 00:00:57.179 Jesus, that inner network, if you will, it has 00:00:57.179 --> 00:01:02.759 been brutal. And just a week ago, We talked about 00:01:02.759 --> 00:01:05.859 it, that Jesus is coming in on the foal of a 00:01:05.859 --> 00:01:09.060 donkey, a horse, a ride of peace, right? Not 00:01:09.060 --> 00:01:11.239 a war horse like the emperors would have done 00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:13.040 or a Pontius Pilate would have done. We've talked 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:16.340 about that. And everything's great. Maundy Thursday, 00:01:16.579 --> 00:01:19.739 it starts to take a turn. The Garden of Gethsemane, 00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:22.879 it takes another turn. And then he's arrested. 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:26.500 He's beaten. He's flogged. He's lied about. Mistrial 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:30.480 after mistrial. And then that early morning Friday. 00:01:31.530 --> 00:01:35.769 He's put on a cross. But now, and I always think 00:01:35.769 --> 00:01:39.150 about what was that Saturday like? I don't know 00:01:39.150 --> 00:01:43.569 what you all did yesterday, but there's a heaviness 00:01:43.569 --> 00:01:47.930 to Saturday. Now, in a post -resurrected society 00:01:47.930 --> 00:01:50.670 that we live in, we know what's coming. Barring 00:01:50.670 --> 00:01:53.849 the Lord coming back yesterday, we knew that 00:01:53.849 --> 00:01:58.489 we were going to come and celebrate Easter. We 00:01:58.489 --> 00:02:02.859 get that every year. But there's still a wait. 00:02:04.359 --> 00:02:07.420 But for this moment, everything seems silent. 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:12.159 The cross had done its work. The body was laid 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:15.539 in a tomb. The stone was rolled away. And what 00:02:15.539 --> 00:02:18.639 do we see? We see these women following Jewish 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:22.680 burial practices. They were going to be let in 00:02:22.680 --> 00:02:27.120 just to put the anointing spices and oils and 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:30.819 perfumes on the body. Because at that fourth 00:02:30.819 --> 00:02:35.580 day, it would have been a legitimate death. Now, 00:02:35.580 --> 00:02:38.539 some of you go, wait, how did I know that? You're 00:02:38.539 --> 00:02:41.819 all deep biblical scholars that have gone to 00:02:41.819 --> 00:02:45.919 Lazarus. He has been dead in there four days 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:48.979 because it was a legitimate death. Now, I don't 00:02:48.979 --> 00:02:51.520 know why. I think on day two, you're just as 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:54.159 dead as day four, but that's not for me to figure 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:58.969 out. But understanding that they were... Just 00:02:58.969 --> 00:03:00.830 doing the work they thought they needed to do. 00:03:01.449 --> 00:03:03.930 Is it a lack of faith, a lack of understanding? 00:03:04.169 --> 00:03:10.409 Who knows? But all that was left was to move 00:03:10.409 --> 00:03:14.889 on, right? Jesus is gone. We saw him die, right? 00:03:14.949 --> 00:03:17.250 Joseph of Arimathea, we got to use his tomb. 00:03:17.430 --> 00:03:21.509 The body's in there, and now we wait. They didn't 00:03:21.509 --> 00:03:24.759 have any answers. There was no resolution. The 00:03:24.759 --> 00:03:26.800 movement that they were all excited about with 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:29.479 Jesus, that movement of a mere seven days ago, 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:35.400 seemed to be gone. It's okay to be in that space, 00:03:35.539 --> 00:03:38.780 friends. I'm even getting that space if I were 00:03:38.780 --> 00:03:41.539 them. Because that is the human perspective. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:47.259 Friday looked absolutely final. I don't know 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:50.139 how more final you get when you die on the cross. 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:54.530 When the spear is stabbed into his side. And 00:03:54.530 --> 00:03:57.090 his body laid down. Saturday felt empty, but 00:03:57.090 --> 00:04:01.210 then something happens. So we're going to look 00:04:01.210 --> 00:04:04.629 at kind of specific pieces of this account this 00:04:04.629 --> 00:04:08.330 morning. First is the stone. The stone moved, 00:04:08.689 --> 00:04:14.330 but not for Jesus. Luke tells us what happened. 00:04:14.409 --> 00:04:17.350 On the first day of the week at early dawn, the 00:04:17.350 --> 00:04:20.610 detail is not accidental. The first day at dawn 00:04:20.610 --> 00:04:26.019 means something new. Like in Genesis, when God 00:04:26.019 --> 00:04:29.600 spoke light into darkness, now again light is 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:32.639 going to break into a dark world. And notice 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:37.720 who comes. The women. Faithful, present, still 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:43.379 grieving. They come with spices, prepared not 00:04:43.379 --> 00:04:48.920 for resurrection, but for decay. They are not 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:52.740 expecting victory this morning. They're expecting 00:04:52.740 --> 00:04:57.459 death. And then they find the stone rolled away 00:04:57.459 --> 00:05:00.459 from the tomb. Luke doesn't tell us how it happened. 00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:06.879 No drama, no explanation. Because the point is 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:10.420 not how the stone moved, but what is revealed. 00:05:10.980 --> 00:05:13.720 And when they enter, what does Luke tell us? 00:05:13.819 --> 00:05:16.240 They did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:22.649 Not just Jesus. Luke calls him the Lord. Even 00:05:22.649 --> 00:05:28.509 in death, he is still Lord. Death did not dethrone 00:05:28.509 --> 00:05:31.810 the Savior of the world. And the empty tomb does 00:05:31.810 --> 00:05:35.569 not immediately explain everything. Right? They 00:05:35.569 --> 00:05:38.589 don't get a whole lot of answers here. There's 00:05:38.589 --> 00:05:41.550 that tension and that pressure comes back. Because 00:05:41.550 --> 00:05:45.430 the tomb is empty, just that alone raises a bunch 00:05:45.430 --> 00:05:47.889 of questions, doesn't it? What kind of questions? 00:05:48.029 --> 00:05:50.569 Just don't go super deep with it. What questions 00:05:50.569 --> 00:05:53.730 come for these women, or for us if we're there, 00:05:53.829 --> 00:05:56.410 when we see that the body is no longer there? 00:05:56.490 --> 00:05:58.709 What questions arise? If you're new to us, I 00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:00.709 ask questions, we get a little back and forth 00:06:00.709 --> 00:06:02.910 going, so it's not just me talking to you for 00:06:02.910 --> 00:06:07.269 45 minutes, just kidding, in half an hour. What 00:06:07.269 --> 00:06:11.350 questions would arise? Go simple with it. Who 00:06:11.350 --> 00:06:13.829 took it, right? Like, he's gone, we saw him die. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:18.639 Who took the body? Any other questions? That's 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:21.319 basically it. Good. You passed. That's basically 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:26.980 it. But then another question comes. A question 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:30.699 that disrupts everything. What does Luke tell 00:06:30.699 --> 00:06:32.980 us? Let's work with the text this morning. Luke 00:06:32.980 --> 00:06:37.470 tells us they were perplexed. I don't know how 00:06:37.470 --> 00:06:40.670 many times we use that word actually in our lives, 00:06:40.750 --> 00:06:43.310 right, to be perplexed about something. Someone 00:06:43.310 --> 00:06:45.629 else give me a definition of perplexed. When 00:06:45.629 --> 00:06:47.410 you think of the word perplexed, what comes to 00:06:47.410 --> 00:06:52.350 mind? Puzzled, okay. Confusion, absolutely. My 00:06:52.350 --> 00:06:54.889 wife said it. She looks at me perplexed a lot, 00:06:55.009 --> 00:06:57.370 don't you? Well, you didn't have to answer that 00:06:57.370 --> 00:07:03.470 quick, but okay. Anything else? Confusion? Ooh. 00:07:05.290 --> 00:07:08.649 Intrigued. To be perplexed is to be intrigued. 00:07:08.829 --> 00:07:11.850 I think, Katie, that's really good. I think we 00:07:11.850 --> 00:07:17.129 lean in on that fact. They're intrigued. They're 00:07:17.129 --> 00:07:20.930 confused. They're disoriented. Their categories, 00:07:21.129 --> 00:07:23.670 the things that they had that they planned to 00:07:23.670 --> 00:07:26.370 do isn't going to work. They brought spices to 00:07:26.370 --> 00:07:28.610 bless a body. The body's not there. What do we 00:07:28.610 --> 00:07:32.930 do? Because resurrection doesn't fit human expectation. 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:38.819 Though we see churches filled today. If I'm being 00:07:38.819 --> 00:07:41.540 honest, more than they're filled any other Sunday 00:07:41.540 --> 00:07:45.060 that ends in Y. They're filled more today for 00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:48.779 something that we don't fully understand. Because 00:07:48.779 --> 00:07:52.300 resurrection is not a human expectation. Why 00:07:52.300 --> 00:07:56.300 is that? Why is resurrection not a human expectation? 00:07:56.439 --> 00:08:01.319 Don't go deep with it. Thank you, Henry. Because 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:04.379 we don't do it, right? Now, Henry, after his 00:08:04.379 --> 00:08:07.360 surgeries, is now part bionic, but he still can't 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:11.800 resurrect. None of us can resurrect. Henry's 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:14.519 more like the Terminator than anything else as 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:16.839 far as resurrection. I'm done with that, Henry. 00:08:16.899 --> 00:08:19.459 Don't worry. We'll leave it there. But understand, 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:23.060 we don't understand resurrection because we can't 00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:28.569 have it. We don't resurrect. So do you see where 00:08:28.569 --> 00:08:31.089 the tension really comes? The human expectation 00:08:31.089 --> 00:08:34.870 of the moment to everything that God is intending 00:08:34.870 --> 00:08:39.389 to happen. The angels speak. Why do you seek 00:08:39.389 --> 00:08:42.250 the living among the dead? They don't say Jesus. 00:08:42.389 --> 00:08:48.610 They say the living. That's who he is now, right? 00:08:48.690 --> 00:08:52.850 He's the living Jesus. The living one. The question 00:08:52.850 --> 00:08:56.639 exposes something way deeper. They were not wrong 00:08:56.639 --> 00:08:59.399 to come. They were not wrong in what they expected. 00:08:59.539 --> 00:09:02.360 They came to honor a body, good Jewish tradition, 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:05.940 but the body's no longer there. They came prepared 00:09:05.940 --> 00:09:10.480 for death, but death no longer has the final 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:17.419 authority. And if we're honest, that's us. In 00:09:17.419 --> 00:09:20.519 our reality, in our humanness, that is us. We 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:24.929 don't reject Jesus. We just expect less from 00:09:24.929 --> 00:09:28.370 him at times. We believe in him, but still look 00:09:28.370 --> 00:09:32.950 for places that are dead to live. Let me say 00:09:32.950 --> 00:09:35.090 that again. We still look for places in our life 00:09:35.090 --> 00:09:37.750 that should be dead. We look at those things 00:09:37.750 --> 00:09:40.009 to live in our lives. It's called sin. We go 00:09:40.009 --> 00:09:44.250 back to it time and time again. We still live 00:09:44.250 --> 00:09:48.870 as though sin has the final word. We still carry 00:09:48.870 --> 00:09:51.879 burdens that have already been lifted. Today 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:55.720 is the great burden lifting day, yet tomorrow 00:09:55.720 --> 00:09:59.419 we'll lean right back into it. That's why the 00:09:59.419 --> 00:10:04.700 declaration of what they say is huge. He is not 00:10:04.700 --> 00:10:10.320 here, but he has risen. Not might be, not will 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:12.720 be, not I think that's what happened. No, it 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:15.379 is certain, it is final. And the angels say, 00:10:15.500 --> 00:10:20.429 remember how he told you. Now, if I'm one of 00:10:20.429 --> 00:10:24.110 the women and I hear that, there's a whole mix 00:10:24.110 --> 00:10:26.929 of emotion, isn't there? Whole mix of emotion. 00:10:27.529 --> 00:10:30.230 They came to do a job. Now you've got two people 00:10:30.230 --> 00:10:33.309 in dazzling pajamas talking to me, right? They're 00:10:33.309 --> 00:10:35.370 asking me questions that I should know the answers 00:10:35.370 --> 00:10:38.649 to. But I'm probably still very just stunned. 00:10:40.269 --> 00:10:42.470 They say it with such certainty. And then they 00:10:42.470 --> 00:10:45.850 put it back on us. Remember how we told you. 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:49.139 Because at the end of the day, they should not 00:10:49.139 --> 00:10:53.799 have been surprised. They should have seen this 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:59.700 as fulfillment. Yet, they miss it. Jesus had 00:10:59.700 --> 00:11:02.139 already said, the Son of Man must suffer, must 00:11:02.139 --> 00:11:05.980 be crucified, and on the third day rise. The 00:11:05.980 --> 00:11:10.600 word must matters here. It had to happen. It 00:11:10.600 --> 00:11:13.240 means that this was not accidental. This was 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:18.289 not reactive. This was not chaotic. This was 00:11:18.289 --> 00:11:25.149 the plan that God was unfolding since when? Let's 00:11:25.149 --> 00:11:27.710 go a little more specific. Let's go a little 00:11:27.710 --> 00:11:35.230 more specific. Nope. The plan unfolds from when? 00:11:37.830 --> 00:11:42.190 I'm looking for a specific place. Genesis chapter 00:11:42.190 --> 00:11:46.090 3, right in the garden. This is exactly what 00:11:46.090 --> 00:11:49.570 Genesis chapter 3 starts. This is a process that 00:11:49.570 --> 00:11:51.909 goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. 00:11:51.950 --> 00:11:55.250 Genesis chapter 3 now unfolding. This is something 00:11:55.250 --> 00:11:57.710 that these women, the disciples, would have heard 00:11:57.710 --> 00:12:02.909 over thousands of years. This is the Messiah. 00:12:03.330 --> 00:12:07.590 Yet they act like they've missed it. This is 00:12:07.590 --> 00:12:12.000 everything actually coming together. And now 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.240 we see the change in the women, don't we? What 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:16.940 does Luke tell us? The remembering. They remember 00:12:16.940 --> 00:12:21.159 his words. And this is where Easter makes our 00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:25.460 faith come alive. And they remembered his words. 00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:28.259 So they just got kind of punked out a little 00:12:28.259 --> 00:12:31.200 bit by these angels. Now they're kind of perplexed, 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:35.269 confused. Now they're like, oh yeah, right? I 00:12:35.269 --> 00:12:39.389 liken that to after the 19th time I tell my boys 00:12:39.389 --> 00:12:41.970 to do something or I tell them to remember something, 00:12:42.149 --> 00:12:43.669 then all of a sudden you see that, right? That, 00:12:43.789 --> 00:12:47.450 oh, dad was right. It doesn't happen often, right? 00:12:47.529 --> 00:12:52.929 It's mostly mom. But understand, whoa, now they're 00:12:52.929 --> 00:12:55.809 remembering. Now they're looking back. Now it's 00:12:55.809 --> 00:12:59.909 starting to make sense. And that's the turning 00:12:59.909 --> 00:13:04.080 point. Not the empty tomb, not the angels. It's 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:08.379 the word. They had heard it before. But now they 00:13:08.379 --> 00:13:12.799 understand. Because resurrection reframes everything. 00:13:13.259 --> 00:13:16.159 They had a certain understanding. And they thought 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:17.759 he was dead. They thought it was it. They thought 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:19.799 the silence had won. They thought that they were 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:21.980 going to have to stay in hiding. Who knows what 00:13:21.980 --> 00:13:24.100 this meant politically. All of these things. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:28.620 But now it's becoming clearer. Friends, we are 00:13:28.620 --> 00:13:31.240 literally seeing your faith and my faith walked 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:35.909 out. This is how we come to faith. It's not built 00:13:35.909 --> 00:13:38.990 on emotions first, not built on sight alone, 00:13:39.269 --> 00:13:43.789 but built on remembering, trusting the Word of 00:13:43.789 --> 00:13:48.809 God. That's why the Word of God is so powerful. 00:13:50.509 --> 00:13:53.250 As the Heidelberg Catechism reminds us, faith 00:13:53.250 --> 00:13:56.570 is the sure knowledge and wholehearted trust. 00:13:57.389 --> 00:14:00.929 in what God has revealed to you and for me. Pastor, 00:14:01.009 --> 00:14:05.509 what has he revealed? Why are we here? He revealed 00:14:05.509 --> 00:14:09.389 that he has the final say. And in that moment, 00:14:09.450 --> 00:14:13.809 their faith begins to awaken. And then they respond. 00:14:14.570 --> 00:14:19.179 True faith has a response. Right? If you are 00:14:19.179 --> 00:14:21.220 brought to that faith, what we call in the Reformed 00:14:21.220 --> 00:14:23.740 tradition, we call that the regeneration of the 00:14:23.740 --> 00:14:25.820 heart. When that faith, all of a sudden the scales 00:14:25.820 --> 00:14:28.960 on your eyes fall and you go, now it starts to 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:32.340 make sense. There is always a response. I don't 00:14:32.340 --> 00:14:34.759 know anybody that has ever been brought to the 00:14:34.759 --> 00:14:38.019 cross, brought to the tomb and seen the resurrection 00:14:38.019 --> 00:14:43.700 for their life and go, neat. No. This is life 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:47.879 changing. This means everything. For the believer. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.000 The response, too good to be true, right? They 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:58.340 run to tell the disciples. I love that. They 00:14:58.340 --> 00:15:01.179 run, right? This is the first kind of missionaries 00:15:01.179 --> 00:15:03.059 of the gospel. What are they doing? They're going 00:15:03.059 --> 00:15:05.860 to tell about the resurrection of Jesus. What 00:15:05.860 --> 00:15:11.159 is that called? Anybody? The good news. This 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:13.879 is the good news of Jesus. We don't need to take 00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:16.320 him all through the systematic theology. We don't 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.759 need to take him to Bible class. Those are all 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:21.679 good things, but the mere fact that they now 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.919 see that the tomb is empty, they are remembering 00:15:24.919 --> 00:15:26.860 his words and they're going to tell somebody. 00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:31.200 This is exactly what you guys could have done 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:33.580 this morning in your neighborhoods. This is exactly 00:15:33.580 --> 00:15:35.759 what you could tell your family when you're having 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:39.129 your ham or whatever it is you eat, right? You 00:15:39.129 --> 00:15:41.549 could say, Jesus isn't in the tomb. He's alive, 00:15:41.750 --> 00:15:44.250 and I have new life in him. Guess what you get 00:15:44.250 --> 00:15:48.809 to be? Missionaries. That's exactly what a missionary 00:15:48.809 --> 00:15:52.070 does. They go back to the word of God. A missionary 00:15:52.070 --> 00:15:53.970 is not good because they have their own words. 00:15:54.590 --> 00:15:56.450 Missionaries are good because they have the word 00:15:56.450 --> 00:16:03.830 of God. But even then, oh, the disciples. And 00:16:03.830 --> 00:16:06.629 if I'm being honest, oh, Jim, oh, insert your 00:16:06.629 --> 00:16:11.460 name here. These words seem like an idle tale. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:15.080 Maybe you've been there in your life. Maybe you 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:16.679 get excited about your faith. You want to tell 00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:18.960 somebody about it. And they look at you and go, 00:16:19.100 --> 00:16:23.740 you're nuts. How can you believe that? I need 00:16:23.740 --> 00:16:29.139 evidence. All the things. They call it nonsense. 00:16:29.340 --> 00:16:31.600 Too good to be true. Too impossible to believe. 00:16:33.769 --> 00:16:36.009 And let's be honest, some of us, maybe all of 00:16:36.009 --> 00:16:37.789 us, we've had that moment in our life. Maybe 00:16:37.789 --> 00:16:41.049 we're still there. Maybe we go, this sounds okay. 00:16:41.110 --> 00:16:43.750 I mean, I have a lot of fun on Sundays, but I 00:16:43.750 --> 00:16:46.090 don't know about every other day. I don't know 00:16:46.090 --> 00:16:48.570 about this Jesus thing. And maybe it's because 00:16:48.570 --> 00:16:50.929 you look at the church and how we make a mess 00:16:50.929 --> 00:16:53.710 of it time and time again. Maybe you look at 00:16:53.710 --> 00:16:56.549 pastors or preachers, Bible study leaders or 00:16:56.549 --> 00:16:59.570 whatever and go, they're not that special. What's 00:16:59.570 --> 00:17:04.589 so great about this? Well, let's get there. Resurrection 00:17:04.589 --> 00:17:07.309 doesn't fit our categories. Dead people don't 00:17:07.309 --> 00:17:12.490 rise. Graves don't open. Unless Jesus is who 00:17:12.490 --> 00:17:15.390 he says he is. Isn't that the question we've 00:17:15.390 --> 00:17:17.910 all had to wrestle with? And maybe here you're 00:17:17.910 --> 00:17:21.210 young in faith or you don't have faith yet. You're 00:17:21.210 --> 00:17:23.170 still wrestling with it. That's the question, 00:17:23.250 --> 00:17:27.430 isn't it? Is this Jesus who he said he was? Because 00:17:27.430 --> 00:17:31.269 on the other side of that answer is eternal life. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:34.359 And the thing that keeps us from that answer 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:36.900 more times than not is ourselves and our desire 00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:41.519 to control, to want to have the final say. But 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:43.720 hear me again. Dead people don't rise. Graves 00:17:43.720 --> 00:17:47.799 don't open. But this Jesus is who he says he 00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:53.920 is. I love Peter's response. He hears it. It 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:57.440 makes him confused. And what does he do? I got 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:00.819 to see it for myself. Let's be honest. That's 00:18:00.819 --> 00:18:03.900 all of us, isn't it? I got to see it for myself. 00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:08.579 I need my own experience here. I can't come to 00:18:08.579 --> 00:18:10.160 faith because of these other people's experience 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:13.500 or because of that movie or whatever or that 00:18:13.500 --> 00:18:16.359 sermon. I get it. I need it for myself. So what 00:18:16.359 --> 00:18:18.900 does Peter do? He runs. He stoops down. He looks. 00:18:19.019 --> 00:18:23.259 He sees. And what does Luke tell us? He leaves 00:18:23.259 --> 00:18:27.259 marveling. Wait a minute. Isn't this the same 00:18:27.259 --> 00:18:31.299 Peter that literally three nights ago? He denied 00:18:31.299 --> 00:18:34.839 this guy three times. I am not with that man. 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:37.660 I don't know that man. For the love of me, I 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:42.339 don't know it. I don't know him. The cock crows, 00:18:42.339 --> 00:18:46.539 he's now denied his rabbi three times. Meaning, 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:50.140 he doesn't have a rabbi anymore. Because when 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:53.700 a disciple denies three times their rabbi, that 00:18:53.700 --> 00:18:57.839 relationship is severed. That rabbi gone. That 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:03.799 disciple orphaned. Isn't that all of us? Haven't 00:19:03.799 --> 00:19:06.339 we done that maybe even more in this last week? 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:09.920 Denied that God exists, deny our relationship 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:14.700 with Jesus, go the earthly way. But Peter sees 00:19:14.700 --> 00:19:17.460 and leaves marveling. Not fully understanding 00:19:17.460 --> 00:19:21.779 yet, but knowing something has changed. Knowing 00:19:21.779 --> 00:19:26.500 that this isn't the norm. Guess what? Jesus isn't 00:19:26.500 --> 00:19:29.779 the norm. And that's what resurrection changes. 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:32.420 This is where everything starts to come together, 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:35.019 right? Because Easter is not just about an empty 00:19:35.019 --> 00:19:39.380 tomb. It is about what the empty tomb means for 00:19:39.380 --> 00:19:43.019 you, for me, for the world. It means three things 00:19:43.019 --> 00:19:45.380 this morning. Take this with you, friends. That 00:19:45.380 --> 00:19:51.619 sin is truly paid for. Your sin is paid for. 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:53.980 Now, I know exactly what you're thinking. Cool. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:57.859 Right? My sin's paid for. So what are we going 00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:01.069 to do with that? Let's be honest. What do we 00:20:01.069 --> 00:20:05.069 do with that? Some brave souls respond. What 00:20:05.069 --> 00:20:10.089 do we do? What? What was that? We abuse it. So 00:20:10.089 --> 00:20:12.049 Katie's going right there. We're not even going 00:20:12.049 --> 00:20:13.549 to flirt around this, right, Katie? We're going 00:20:13.549 --> 00:20:16.470 to go right there. Hey, my sin is forgiven. So 00:20:16.470 --> 00:20:24.630 what do I get to do? Sin more. Nope. Paul calls 00:20:24.630 --> 00:20:27.589 that out. Should we continue to sin that we might 00:20:27.589 --> 00:20:32.809 get heaped on more grace? Absolutely not. Good 00:20:32.809 --> 00:20:35.490 Friday declares it. Easter confirms it. If Jesus 00:20:35.490 --> 00:20:38.910 stays in the grave, we wonder, was he enough? 00:20:39.109 --> 00:20:43.509 I guess not. But the resurrection is God's answer. 00:20:43.549 --> 00:20:50.289 Yes, your sin paid in full. Done. Second thing, 00:20:50.410 --> 00:20:54.799 death is no longer final. For all of you type 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:57.319 A's that want to know and control everything 00:20:57.319 --> 00:20:59.059 about your life, and I'm looking at the mirror 00:20:59.059 --> 00:21:05.180 first, death is no longer final. The grave is 00:21:05.180 --> 00:21:08.500 no longer the end because Christ walked out of 00:21:08.500 --> 00:21:12.640 it. Death is not removed yet. It is defeated. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:16.960 The power of death is broken. The future is sealed. 00:21:17.140 --> 00:21:19.759 And this should be all of the hallelujahs, all 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:23.210 of the right hands raised amens, right? Yet we 00:21:23.210 --> 00:21:27.130 still freak out about death. And I'm not saying 00:21:27.130 --> 00:21:30.890 you shouldn't. Death is a weighty thing. We look 00:21:30.890 --> 00:21:32.849 back at this last year and think of all the people 00:21:32.849 --> 00:21:36.289 we've lost. How for some it's going to be the 00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:41.450 first Easter without that person. But isn't there 00:21:41.450 --> 00:21:45.390 great hope and peace in knowing they're with 00:21:45.390 --> 00:21:50.130 the risen Savior? Well, I just, I don't know. 00:21:50.250 --> 00:21:52.009 It makes me uncomfortable. I don't like to think 00:21:52.009 --> 00:21:53.849 about death. I think I'm going to live forever. 00:21:55.210 --> 00:21:59.950 I love you enough to say you're not. Austin Clarks 00:21:59.950 --> 00:22:02.650 loves you enough to say he's in med school. Do 00:22:02.650 --> 00:22:07.069 we live forever? No. We can prolong it. Insert 00:22:07.069 --> 00:22:10.569 Henry in new parts. But understand, at one day, 00:22:10.730 --> 00:22:13.289 it's going to be done. It's going to be final. 00:22:13.650 --> 00:22:18.049 Finite. Done. Over. End scene for all of us. 00:22:20.299 --> 00:22:22.960 I don't know about you, I would much rather hold 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:25.799 on to a hope that there is something after this 00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:28.660 life. And guess what? That's exactly what the 00:22:28.660 --> 00:22:33.640 empty tomb shows us. Death is defeated. The power 00:22:33.640 --> 00:22:36.500 of death is broken. Our future in Christ is sealed. 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:40.900 So this should teach that final thing, that Jesus 00:22:40.900 --> 00:22:44.890 is who he says he is. He's not just a teacher, 00:22:45.089 --> 00:22:47.670 he's not just a prophet, not just an example, 00:22:47.789 --> 00:22:52.390 but he is Lord, he is risen, and he is victorious. 00:22:54.410 --> 00:23:00.789 Amen. He is your king, he is my king. So what 00:23:00.789 --> 00:23:05.170 do we do with this? Munster Church, friends, 00:23:05.369 --> 00:23:09.210 family, online, let's stop standing at the tomb. 00:23:09.769 --> 00:23:13.730 The women came expecting death. They left encountering 00:23:13.730 --> 00:23:17.250 life. And the question for us is this. Are you 00:23:17.250 --> 00:23:19.650 still standing at the tomb? Are you still trying 00:23:19.650 --> 00:23:22.410 to figure it out? Are you still expecting defeat? 00:23:26.529 --> 00:23:29.490 Where are you living in your life where you think 00:23:29.490 --> 00:23:33.670 Friday had the final say? Because guess what? 00:23:33.950 --> 00:23:39.029 It didn't. The stone is rolled away. The grave 00:23:39.029 --> 00:23:44.269 is empty. The king is alive. Everything has changed. 00:23:44.390 --> 00:23:47.089 I'll make it super simple, and then we'll get 00:23:47.089 --> 00:23:52.109 out of here. Pastor, what's changed? Death no 00:23:52.109 --> 00:23:55.029 longer has the final say in your life. Death 00:23:55.029 --> 00:23:58.490 no longer has a final say in my life. That gives 00:23:58.490 --> 00:24:02.650 me a reason to live because I'm not waiting on 00:24:02.650 --> 00:24:06.470 death. Friends, stop standing at the tomb. Everything 00:24:06.470 --> 00:24:10.190 is changed and go bring that change to a world 00:24:10.190 --> 00:24:17.490 that desperately needs it. Final declaration 00:24:17.490 --> 00:24:23.390 as we go into a brand new week. He is not here. 00:24:23.869 --> 00:24:29.829 He has risen just like he said. And because he 00:24:29.829 --> 00:24:36.359 lives, so do I, so do you, so do we. So let's 00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:37.839 get out there and tell.