Oh, man. You guys look better than normal. Some
of you got sports coats. I didn't even know you
owned them. So starting with my son, I was like,
what? He came through the door and spoke. And
I was like, what is that? Well, we are here to
celebrate that the tomb is empty. The stone is
rolled away and Jesus is alive. All right. So
for Christians, though. Every time we go to church,
we say this around here all the time, every time
we go to church, the church gathers together
to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. So I'm
not sure how you came in here this morning. Maybe
you were drug in by a friend. Maybe you just
said, I haven't been to church in a long time.
I don't know how you came here, but I'm just
saying, I just want to tell you that Jesus wants
to meet you right where you're at. Maybe life
is tough for you. Maybe you feel like you just,
It's all you can deal with. I'm here to tell
you today, because of the resurrection, you have
hope. And so, as we look, as I look out at all
of you, you're all in different places, I know
that. Jesus wants to meet you right where you
are at today. And so, today, we're going to look
at the resurrection of Jesus. and a few of the
encounters and responses to that resurrection
and one of the things that we will see is that
jesus meets them meaning the people he encounters
he meets them right where they are he does the
same with us as well so today for most of us
many of us in this room you won't hear any new
information you've been down this road when it
comes to the resurrection What we, though, need,
every one of us in this room, is a divine revelation.
We need God's Spirit to press in. I can give
great information. We can read that scripture,
and it can bounce off you and deflect off you.
But what we all need is a divine revelation from
God. And so I'm going to start off by praying
for just that. And I don't care who you are.
You need the same thing. I need it, too. So let's
start off together. And I'm just going to talk
to God about that. And then we'll jump into this
text. Lord, starting with myself, I need you.
I need a divine revelation. I need the empowering
of the Holy Spirit to work through me today.
So will you grant that? And Lord, for the rest,
all of us in this room, I pray that no matter
where we're at, that you meet us right where
we sit. I pray for many in this room maybe that
this is a time that you want them to surrender
their lives to you. I pray, Holy Spirit, that
you will work in that too. And for us, many of
us in this room, we need to just awaken to the
way you come to us, the way you approach us,
how you come to us in relationship. So I pray
for that this morning as well. Lord, will you
take this text and you just make it come alive
to us by the power of your Spirit. Amen. So now
we're going to be in John. Now, if you didn't
get one of those little blue books, little blue
Bibles, not this one, but one in the back there,
I encourage you to just jump up, go grab it.
But we are going to be in chapter 20, although
we just started the Gospel of John, and we'll
go back to chapter 2 next week. But we're in...
In that section. So if you need a Bible, Bob's
going to hand you one. He's standing in the back
there. Just raise your hand. He'll grab one of
those for you. I just volunteered him. I think
call that voluntold or something like that. But
in chapter 20, what we're looking at in chapter
20 is that it's been three days since the burial,
crucifixion, and death of Jesus. So Jesus willingly
went to the cross where he became our substitute.
I want to expand this for a minute because it's
real important that even if you've heard it before,
that you remember it as we go into this. The
purpose and significance of Jesus going to the
cross, which is what we celebrate on Good Friday,
his purpose in doing that was to end the separation
that sin had caused. You and I, because of our
sin and because of all the sin of mankind, has
separated us from a holy God. And there was nothing
we can do. In fact, most of this Bible, half
of your Bible is pointing to Jesus because of
the problem that we got into back in the very
beginning in Genesis chapter 3 where he said
sin separates. The world's jacked up problems
all stem back to sin. And so Jesus had to come
because you and I couldn't do it. And so he came,
which was what we discover in John chapter 1.
As we looked at in the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
That whole section there in the few verses of
John is all pointing to the fact that Jesus came
on a rescue mission. So he came to fix it, to
fix our problem. Like there was this massive
cavern between us and God. And Jesus knew that
he was the only way to fix it. So he came, entered
into our world. totally God, totally man, entered
into our world, walked, lived a sinless life.
But then that day on the cross, as he hung there,
on that cross, all of our sin was dumped upon
him. And the anguish that he experienced on our
behalf, and his blood was shed, and his body
was broken for you and me. And so... Why did
he do that? Because he loves you, and so much
that you needed a substitute that you might have
a way to God. So Jesus was raised up on that
cross for all of us. With great suffering, Jesus
died. In John chapter 19, if you just want to
flip back there a little bit from what we read,
it says in verse 30 that when Jesus had received
the sour wine, which is basically just giving
somebody to stuff a stick up in his mouth, he
said, it is finished. And then bowing his head,
he gave up his spirit. He died. Christ was dead.
And for those who knew and loved Jesus, the unthinkable
had happened. And I want to challenge you to
enter into what they must have been feeling,
those who were close to Jesus. The Gospel of
Matthew tells us what happened immediately when
Christ died. And it's a crazy text, and I thought
we'd just read it because it should twist with
your brain a little bit, of what actually happened
in that moment. Matthew chapter 27, it'll be
up on the screen for you. It's starting in verse
51. It says this. Suddenly, this is right after
his death. Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary
or temple. This is where God was at, right? For
the Jewish people, that's where he hung out.
Notice that it's not torn from the bottom up,
but from the top to the bottom. Suddenly, the
curtain of the sanctuary, the temple, was torn
in two from top to bottom. The earthquake. There's
a massive earthquake. And the rocks were split
and the tombs were opened. And this is where
it gets crazy. And many bodies of saints who
had fallen asleep were raised. And they came
out of the tombs after his resurrection and entered
into the holy city and appeared to many. I don't
even know how to explain that. But something
supernatural happened in that moment. Then the
centurion and those with him who were keeping
watch over Jesus saw the earthquake and they
were terrified and said, Truly, this man was
the Son of God. So what a crazy, overwhelming,
supernatural experience that happened in that
moment. And put yourself in the shoes of one
of those followers of Jesus. So as for one of
those that saw Jesus, who loved Jesus, it was
over. Jesus is dead. They were probably full
of intense grief and maybe disoriented and maybe
overwhelmed and maybe scared for their own lives.
Jesus was dead. And this is what happened next.
Look at verse 38. After this, that's after his
death, Joseph of Arimathea, he's a very rich
man. Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple
of Jesus, but secretly because of his fear of
the Jews, which is reassuring for some of us
who struggle with boldness to step out as followers
of Jesus. You see a man right here going, ooh,
I'm hiding it. But he believed. And he went and
asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus' body.
And Pilate gave him permission. And so he came
and he took. his body away. And Nicodemus, another
one of those wealthy men who had previously came
to him at night, that's part of pointing back
to what we're going to cover when we get to John.
He also came bringing a mixture of about 75 pounds
of myrrh and olive. They took Jesus' body and
wrapped it in linen cloths with a fragrant spice
according to the burial customs of the Jews.
There was a garden in the place. where he was
crucified, and a new tomb was in the garden that
no one had been placed in yet. They placed Jesus
there because the Jewish day of preparation and
since the tomb was nearby. So Jesus is placed
in a tomb, and a very large stone is placed in
front. And three days now have gone by. And you
know what happens to a body after three days.
You know? It's rough. That's why they put all
that stuff around him. Make it smell better.
Three days had gone by since Jesus' death. It
was a sad, heavy, and confusing three days. It
is now early Sunday morning as we look at John
chapter 20, verse 1. Did you guys see the sunrise
coming up today? Isn't it beautiful? I always
picture this scene as kind of that moment where
it starts creeping up on Sunday morning. This
is what it says. On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it
was still dark. She saw that the stone had been
removed from the tomb. So we know from the other
Gospels that There actually were a few women
that showed up at this. But what John does, and
this is really important, John wants to hone
in on this person, Mary. Probably they estimate
maybe three or four ladies were with him based
on the other synoptic gospels, the gospels that
work together. But John wants us to focus on
Mary. See, Jesus had freed Mary from possession
of seven demonic evil spirits and from sickness.
She was a jacked up mess. And Jesus heals her,
rescued her from a life of destruction. That's
really important to understand because you're
looking into the heart of Mary. You can imagine
the love and devotion that Mary had for Jesus.
I mean, you pick somebody that has actually rescued
you. It saved you from a life of destruction
and brought you to hope and purpose and health
again. You actually feel connected to that person.
And this is where Mary's at. So Mary and a few
of the other women come to the tomb to finish
this burial process, right? And putting more
fragrance and spices on. And we could go into
a lot of the detail that's surrounded. But basically,
it says in there, as the custom of Israel, the
Jewish custom. And that is, they have a process
of observing the body and then putting it into
a smaller little nook inside this tomb. And they
were coming to do that. But when they get there,
Jesus' body is gone. Look at verse 2. So she
went running to Simon Peter. Notice something.
If you're underlining stuff right here, underline
the word running. Everything in the Gospel of
John is like pregnant with meaning. It means
all the words matter. And so here's a good one.
It's like he's running. She just turns and runs.
Why? Because you need to know there's a sense
of urgency here. So she went running to Simon
Peter and to the other disciple, the one that
Jesus loved. Underline that. We're coming back
to that. And said to them, They've taken the
Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where
they put him. John, the author of this book,
describes himself in this event as the one that
Jesus loved. Now, a lot of people laugh about
this, because it is kind of funny. I mean, I
become like, I'm the one that Jesus loved. Like,
he loves you all. But John wants to make sure
you know that he was special. Okay, whatever.
But I think this tells us a lot about how John
felt about how Jesus viewed him. John knew that
Jesus was the creator of all things and the one
who came to us. John had walked with him. John
had watched him die. John is late in his life
when he's writing this and he's seen Jesus rise
from the dead and he knew that he was deeply
loved by Jesus. When you read the Gospel of John,
you cannot miss how much you are loved by Jesus.
Jesus loves you and wants to be in relationship
with you. John has experienced the love of Jesus.
And my question this morning for you is, have
you? I don't care if you've been to church on
and off your whole life. Have you experienced
the love of Jesus? So Peter and John hear that
Jesus' body is missing. Look at verses 3 and
4. At that, Peter and the other disciple, that's
John, went out heading for the tomb. The two
were running. There we go again. They were running
together. But the other disciple outran Peter
and got to the tomb first. Another funny part
in this. Man, you just cannot read some of this
and laugh. Like, what is he saying? Like, I'm
faster. I'm faster than Peter. I don't know why,
maybe Peter's old like me. Like, you understand
that, like, you can't, like, you know, like,
Brandon over there is way faster than me because
he's half my age. You hear that, Brandon? Like,
maybe that's what's going on. I don't know, but
he just, they're telling you this detail that
there's a sense of urgency. They're running to
the tomb as fast as they can get there. Oh, and
by the way, I'm faster than Peter. For some reason,
that's what John wants us to know. Look at verse
five. And stooping down, so Peter gets there,
right? Finally, John gets there and Peter gets
there too. So watch, this is what's happening.
Stooping down, he saw the linen clothes lying
there, but he did not go in. That's John. Then
following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered
the tomb and saw the linen clothes lying there.
And the wrapping that had been on his head was
not lying with the linen clothes, but was folded
up in a separate... place by itself. The disciples
show up and they discover something strange.
Jesus' body is gone, but his grave clothes are
still there and they don't appear to be disturbed.
If someone had simply stolen his body, It is
most likely that the clothes would be gone or
at least thrown on the floor or somewhere else.
And to see them perfectly lain, John says, that's
a detail you need to know. But here's a scene
in which the body is missing, but the clothes
seem to be undisturbed. Jesus' body had simply
been left behind. Now, verse 8. is significant
for John. Look what it says. The other disciple,
that's John, who had reached the tomb first,
wants you to know he's faster. Then he also went
in and he saw and believed. Underline that. He
saw and believed. Two things. John wants you
to know, again, that he's faster than Peter and
that he saw the empty tomb and what happened,
he believed. Now, if you remember back three
weeks ago, if you were here three weeks ago,
and you remember the illustration that we talked
about in John chapter 1, when I used the chair,
for some of you that were here, and you probably
remember this, and I said, you know, there's
a difference in the fact that if you believe
that this chair will hold you, that's believing
that it will, but believing in is the fact that
I would actually sit and say, yes, I actually
trust it. To sit in this chair. So what John
is saying, he says, in this statement, he believes
in. It's not to believe that. That's information.
But it is to believe in the person of Jesus.
And then in verse 9, he says this. For they did
not understand the scriptures. that he must rise
from the dead. So here's what is a really important
piece to understand when it comes to believing
in Jesus. You don't have to fully understand
to believe. John believes, but he doesn't fully
understand. He doesn't understand the big picture
of the resurrection, even though most of this...
The Bible's been pointing this, and there's lots
of texts that would have been pointed, and Jesus
had talked about it, but it had not yet. Dots
had not connected. All the details weren't all
there, but it was still enough for him to believe.
John chapter 20, verse 10. Then the disciples
returned to the place where they were staying.
So the boys go home. Basically, they turn around
going, whoa. Almost like, we don't know what
to do next, so we're going to go home. But what
we see is that Mary, who's come back to the tomb,
stays. Look at verse 11. But many stood outside
the tomb. But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying.
As she was crying, guys, they understand something
about Jewish custom too. When they're grieving,
it wasn't a quiet. It wasn't a sniffle over in
the corner. It was a wailing. It was great grief
being poured out. Mary stood outside the tomb
crying, and as she was crying, she stooped to
look into the tomb. She saw two angels in there,
sitting where Jesus' body had been laying, one
at the head and one at the feet. They said to
her, woman, why are you crying? Because they've
taken away my Lord, she told them. And I don't
know where they put him. I don't know if you've
been so overwhelmed with grief. If you have been,
you might understand a little bit about what
Mary's going through. She's so overwhelmed that
all she's living in is hopelessness and despair.
She feels like the whole world is just crashing
in on her, even so much so that as she stoops
to look into the tomb, she sees two angels. Now,
that would mess with me a little bit, but it
doesn't affect her. When you're dealing with
grief, when you know you've been overwhelmed
with grief, everything just kind of is not important.
She sees two angels with her, and it doesn't
even faze her. The angels ask her, why are you
crying? This question means to ask, like, why
are you sorrowful, Mary? Why are you struggling?
It's almost like there's something different
going on here. Why are you crying? He's like,
duh, have you not seen it? They've taken the
body away. Mary explains that her grief is because
Jesus is gone. And she could not locate his body
like she wanted closure, she wanted to the end,
but now it's gone and she can't even have that.
She wanted Jesus alive in her life, but now Jesus
seems to be gone and she can't handle that. Then
the most unexpected encounter Mary could have
ever imagined. John tells us about in verse 14.
Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus
standing there, but she did not know who he was.
Mary is so consumed with her life, with her pain,
that she did not know Jesus. Is this true for
us today? Is this true for you, that where you're
living in is what you're consumed with? John
goes on, he says in verse 15, Woman, Jesus said
to her, Why are you crying? Who are you seeking?
Supposing he was a gardener, she replies, Sir,
if you've carried him away, tell me where you've
put him that I may take him away. Now, it's important
to understand here that I think in that moment
she just kind of turns her head and moves over
here to the corner in her grief. Jesus said to
her, Mary. Wow. Turning around, she said to him
in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher. It
seems that when Jesus said her name, Mary, that
the scales fell off of her eyes and she recognized
him. The other parts in John talks about the
fact that his sheep will know his voice. In the
minute, as soon as she says his name, it comes,
it happens. She realizes who he is. It reminds
me of a story from my own life. Some of you know
I grew up in the village of Ruby on the Yukon
River for most of my young years, up through
my teenage years. And one day at a camp I was
sitting at, I went down. So you've got to understand,
I believed that God existed. I believed that.
but I was sitting in the front seat of the boat
that we had parked on the edge of the river,
and I had my Bible open, and I was just kind
of like trying to talk to God, and I was like,
and honestly what was going on in there is I
didn't feel real close to God. See, I had the
information of God all over me. I had the information
of who Jesus was, but I hadn't really, in my
thinking, hadn't really received the transformation
or the revelation of God. And so while I sat
there in the boat, it wasn't a loud, audible
voice, but it was definitely an internal voice
that I heard God say to me, Caleb, I want a relationship
with you. I'm not a transaction, Caleb. I don't
want you to look at me like transactionally.
I want you to look at me relationally. I can
still see it so vividly today as I sat in the
boat. That changed everything. All of a sudden,
the Jesus who loved me was asking for me to be
in relationship with me. Have you ever heard
him call your name? Have you ever gone from belief
that to belief in Jesus? That's what he wants
for us today. Like John, many, Mary, have believed
Jesus is alive and he loves her and has come
for her. And of course, what would her response
be? She embraces Jesus like everything. And then
Jesus has this to say. So don't, this next part
can seem a little, little like, that's kind of
not very nice. But understand what she's doing.
She's just, she has lost Jesus. She clings to
Jesus, wraps her, and she says this in verse
17, don't cling to me. Now, I won't go into a
lot of this, but don't cling to me is not a harsh
term. It's almost a term of compassion in it.
Mary, don't cling to me. Jesus told her, since
I have not yet ascended to the Father, he said,
I got more to do. I got more plans. It's not
over. But go to my brothers and tell them that
I am ascending to the Father and your Father,
to my God and to your God. Mary Magdalene went
and announced to the disciples, I have seen the
Lord. Now what happened with Mary? She got excited
because life change, revelation, transformation
happens. And so he says, I want you to go and
tell the disciples that I have seen the Lord.
And she told them what he had said to her. And
I can just imagine she just turns in the book
and says, I've got to tell you what's happened.
Mary was hanging on to Jesus because she thought
she had lost him, but now she had him back. So
Jesus says, it's okay. You can let me go. Mary,
I have a mission for you. I want you to go and
tell others that I'm alive. Wow. Isn't that our
mission, church? That's what we're called. If
you're a follower of Jesus, that's your mission.
Don't just hold it to yourself. You're not a
bucket. You're a conduit. You get to tell the
good news to others. As we close today, I have
three questions for us to consider. Number one
is this. Has Jesus called your name? Is Jesus
drawing you to himself? Like I said at the beginning,
I don't know where you're at. I don't know your
journey. But God does. Friends, it's not a mistake
that you're here today. Jesus wants to be in
relationship with you. You don't have to have
it all figured out. The cross of Jesus shows
us that Jesus' love for you is real. It's not
lip service. There's action behind this love.
On the cross, Jesus took our sin, and he paid
for it. The resurrection shows us that there
is a newness of life for those who put their
faith into Jesus. The hope is there. A very famous
verse that many are aware of says this, John
3. We'll take it through 17 and 18. It says this.
For God loved the world in this way. He gave
his one and only son so that everyone who believes
in him will not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his son into this world
to condemn the world. That's what sin already
did. But to save the world through him. This
is what Easter is all about, guys. So today Jesus
is inviting you to come to him. That's what Easter
is. That's what every time we gather together
is to remember that Jesus has invited us in.
And today he's inviting you to come to him wherever
you are at. So that's the first one. And the
second question is this. Do you believe in Jesus?
Not believe that. But believe in. John chapter
3 verse 18 continues. It says this. Anyone who
believes in him is not condemned. But anyone
who does not believe is already condemned. Because
he has not believed in the name of the one and
only Son of God. Believing in Jesus means that
he is both now your Savior and your Lord. Savior
is what he did for you when he went to the cross,
suffered in your place, and he rose again from
the dead. He did that for you, and that's the
thing that gets us. You are saved by him, but
when you are saved by him, he then becomes absolute
Lord and Savior of your life. He is your life.
Your life rotates around him. That's what it
means to be Lord. Believing in Jesus means that.
And then the last question is this. We see it
with John and Peter. Are you running to Jesus?
Are you running to him? Peter and John didn't
hesitate or casually approach Jesus. What did
they do? They ran. Now there's place for those
who are skeptical. In fact, if you keep reading
in this, I don't have time to do this, but if
you keep reading, you're going to read about
a guy named Thomas who is very skeptical and
Jesus meets him right where he's at. So if you're
skeptical today, I get it. That's okay. You're
welcome here. But my question to you is, are
you ready to run to Jesus? I'm not just talking
about those who have not yet put their faith
in Jesus. I'm talking about running to Jesus
with all of your life. All of the time. So run
to Jesus today. C .S. Lewis famously presents
his argument, I think it's on mere Christianity,
about Jesus. He says, Jesus is either a liar,
a lunatic, or he's your Lord. Someday we will
all answer to what we believe in, truly. From
the things Jesus said and did, from his crucifixion
to his resurrection, the only conclusion is that
he is Lord. So how do you need to respond to
him today? Band, you guys can come up. Would
you bow your heads with me for a minute? Think
about those three questions. If you are here
today, And you have not confessed that Jesus
is Lord and Savior. And he is calling your name.
And you believe. Even if you don't have all the
answers. If that's you today. If you are ready
to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord of your life.
I just want to encourage you right where you
sit. Be bold. Raise your hand for a second. Nobody
else looking around. Right where you sit, I'm
going to encourage you just to pray to God right
now. Pray this way, then I'll help you walk you
through. But just talk to him. He hears you.
Father, here I am. I admit that I am a sinner.
I believe that when Christ died on the cross,
that it counted for me. I confess Jesus Christ
as my Lord and Savior. Let's pray together. Lord,
we asked you at the beginning to bring revelation,
to bring transformation by your spirit. Pray
that you'll continue to do that work in our hearts
no matter where we're at this Easter. That you
will, for those that raised their hand and prayed
that today, I just pray that you will help them
now in the next steps as they say, I want to
follow Jesus. Help us as a church to come around
them and to encourage them. For those of us who
need to get, instead of casually walking to you,
need to begin to run to you, will you help us
with that? Those who are struggling with their
belief, will you help us with that? So thank
you, Jesus, for rising from the dead and conquering
Satan, sin, and death and giving us a hope. Amen.
We, in our church here, do what we call a time
of response, which is basically we're going to
sing three songs. And it's a time for you just
to kind of reflect where you're at. And so if
you put your faith in Jesus today, The guy, Bob,
that was up here, he doesn't know this is coming.
He's one of our elders, one of our pastors. He's
going to be on that side of the room. Are you
doing communion? Okay, I'll be in the back. I'll
be in the back by that machine there. I'd love
to talk with you. Just to help you take the next
steps with that simple confession that you want
to follow Jesus. I'll walk with you. I'll talk
with you. If you're already a follower of Jesus,
we invite you to take communion. Let me explain
this real quick, how we do it here. There's going
to be two groups of people back with trays. If
you're new to us, if you are a follower of Jesus,
if you're not a follower of Jesus, just don't
worry about it. Please don't take it. Because
what communion represents for us is that Jesus'
body was broken, I believe. And his blood was
shed for me. And I consume this like I need Jesus.
Like he is the only answer. He's the only fix
for anything. And so when I go up there and I
take the bread that looks as represents Christ's
body broken for me and a drink of the cup which
represents his blood shed for me, I am saying
I'm about Jesus. And so we practice this every
week. So if you're new with us, we want to invite
you during any time during the next three songs
that we sing just to make your way out of the
chair, go to the back. You can take it, go back
to your chair, wherever, and just say thank you,
Jesus, for what you've done for me. And then
we're going to stand. So stand with me. We're
going to sing. If you need to sit there, you
can. But if you want to stand, this is a celebration
service. So let's rock it out, all right, church?
We've got three good songs. Let's go.