WEBVTT 00:00:18.209 --> 00:00:21.089 Hey friends, welcome back to the Semiseminarium, 00:00:21.129 --> 00:00:23.710 where theology sounds like late night radio and 00:00:23.710 --> 00:00:27.609 smells faintly of sawdust and resurrection. I'm 00:00:27.609 --> 00:00:30.460 your buddy Pastor Jim, and tonight, well... Tonight, 00:00:30.539 --> 00:00:33.100 we're not passing the plate or tuning the piano. 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:36.939 We're opening the crypt. See, the story we're 00:00:36.939 --> 00:00:39.259 diving into ain't one they cover in Sunday school, 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:41.600 at least not unless your teacher had a thing 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:44.979 for ghost stories and unexplained holiness. This 00:00:44.979 --> 00:00:47.380 tale doesn't get flannel -graphed. It gets whispered 00:00:47.380 --> 00:00:50.340 like gospel over a campfire, like static from 00:00:50.340 --> 00:00:54.020 a far -off station, too clear to ignore and too 00:00:54.020 --> 00:00:58.539 strange to forget. Matthew chapter 27 verses 00:00:58.539 --> 00:01:03.700 52 -53 says that when Jesus gave up his spirit, 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.379 the veil in the temple tore top to bottom. The 00:01:07.379 --> 00:01:14.120 earth quaked. Tombs cracked open. And then, days 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:18.079 later at his resurrection, the dead saints got 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:23.180 up and walked into town. You heard that right. 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:29.280 Old saints. Buried long ago. Raised from the 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:33.400 dead. And just strolling into Jerusalem like 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:35.680 the opening scene of a holy horror flick. But 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:38.980 this ain't the walking dead. This is the walking 00:01:38.980 --> 00:01:43.219 redeemed. These were folks who died with their 00:01:43.219 --> 00:01:45.459 hope in God. And when Jesus broke the back of 00:01:45.459 --> 00:01:47.560 death, their graves couldn't stay closed any 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:52.030 longer. They were the preview, the trailer. A 00:01:52.030 --> 00:01:54.030 foreshadowing of what's promised to all of us 00:01:54.030 --> 00:01:56.849 who die in faith. So tonight, we're going to 00:01:56.849 --> 00:01:59.909 sit a spell with the bones. We're going to ask 00:01:59.909 --> 00:02:02.750 what it means when even the grave starts shaking 00:02:02.750 --> 00:02:04.730 at the name of Jesus. And we're going to wonder 00:02:04.730 --> 00:02:08.969 out loud. Maybe some of us saints ain't been 00:02:08.969 --> 00:02:13.409 buried by dirt so much as by despair. And if 00:02:13.409 --> 00:02:20.379 so, maybe tonight's the night we get up. So go 00:02:20.379 --> 00:02:24.099 on, turn with me, Matthew 27, verses 50 through 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:26.400 53. Let's walk with the dead who wouldn't stay 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:36.659 buried. I'll see you on the other side. Well, 00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:43.520 I'm going to begin. I have sometimes, not always, 00:02:43.699 --> 00:02:46.479 sometimes I have one that I'm like really excited 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:49.689 to do. I like, I read it over and I think. all 00:02:49.689 --> 00:02:51.430 right, this is going to be so much fun. And I'm 00:02:51.430 --> 00:02:55.710 like, how can I describe that anticipation in 00:02:55.710 --> 00:02:58.110 a way that you guys might relate to? And I'm 00:02:58.110 --> 00:03:01.689 like, I can't think of it, but like, maybe this 00:03:01.689 --> 00:03:04.710 will, I have the anticipation of like, right 00:03:04.710 --> 00:03:06.789 before I walked into Mazio's, you know, when 00:03:06.789 --> 00:03:10.530 I'm about to get Mazio's pizza buffet, that excitement 00:03:10.530 --> 00:03:14.310 about what's about to happen. That's how I feel. 00:03:14.370 --> 00:03:20.210 Right. So. There are stories in the Bible that 00:03:20.210 --> 00:03:26.270 reveal a lot about the reality of God in a very 00:03:26.270 --> 00:03:32.689 real world. Sometimes, while chock full of truth 00:03:32.689 --> 00:03:38.069 and grace and beauty, they often will leave us 00:03:38.069 --> 00:03:44.110 with more questions than answers. And those stories 00:03:44.110 --> 00:03:48.840 rarely get talked about because... I suspect 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:52.659 the preachers just don't like to say, I don't 00:03:52.659 --> 00:03:57.560 know the answer. But I have no shame. I don't 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:00.500 mind saying I don't know all the answers at all. 00:04:01.639 --> 00:04:04.199 So let's jump in this one together. Pull up a 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:08.139 chair, friends. Lean in close because tonight's 00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:10.479 story is not the kind of story that they teach 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:14.319 at VBS. Not on a felt board. It's not on Easter 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:17.490 greeting cards. And it sure. does not end with 00:04:17.490 --> 00:04:20.009 a bow tied neatly around it. This is a story, 00:04:20.009 --> 00:04:23.529 sounds like it wandered in from the edge of a 00:04:23.529 --> 00:04:28.430 folk horror tale, but it's in the gospel, and 00:04:28.430 --> 00:04:33.189 it's very real. Heading straight into the shadows 00:04:33.189 --> 00:04:36.209 of Good Friday, not to just sit beneath the cross, 00:04:36.350 --> 00:04:40.670 but to watch what happens around it. Because 00:04:40.670 --> 00:04:46.360 when Jesus breathes his last, The whole world 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:51.019 responds. And not just with wind and thunder, 00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:56.579 with graves breaking open, with dead getting 00:04:56.579 --> 00:05:01.699 up. Now, I know all you good people know your 00:05:01.699 --> 00:05:06.680 Bible front to back. But let's take it slow and 00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:10.660 let's listen to it like someone who's never heard 00:05:10.660 --> 00:05:15.980 this before. It's Matthew chapter 27. And it's 00:05:15.980 --> 00:05:21.420 just four verses, 50 through 53. Then Jesus cried 00:05:21.420 --> 00:05:24.079 again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:28.000 At that moment, the curtain of the temple tore 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:32.240 in two, top to bottom. The earth shook and the 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:35.800 rocks were split. Tombs also were opened and 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:39.759 many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:46.620 were raised. After his resurrection, they came 00:05:46.620 --> 00:05:50.259 out of their tombs and entered the holy city, 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:56.980 appearing to many. Now, we are going to stop 00:05:56.980 --> 00:06:04.319 so we don't rush past what we just heard in the 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:08.079 Bible. That's not filler. That's not metaphor. 00:06:08.300 --> 00:06:12.290 That's not a hallmark resurrection glow. That 00:06:12.290 --> 00:06:16.389 is bodies of the saints, righteous dead people, 00:06:16.629 --> 00:06:21.129 raised to life and walking around Jerusalem. 00:06:22.930 --> 00:06:27.829 Imagine the sound of those tombs breaking open. 00:06:28.990 --> 00:06:34.129 Imagine the sight, someone's great -grandmother 00:06:34.129 --> 00:06:37.110 stepping across the threshold with dirt under 00:06:37.110 --> 00:06:42.920 her fingernails and light in her eyes. And imagine 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:45.680 the words spreading like wildfire throughout 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:51.519 the city streets. I saw Ezekiel. No, I'm serious. 00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:55.339 He walked past the temple. He looked right at 00:06:55.339 --> 00:07:01.600 me and called me by name. And Matthew just drops 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:07.139 this off here. No names. No follow -up to the 00:07:07.139 --> 00:07:12.120 story. No post -resurrection tour. It's like 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:17.680 it's a sacred ghost story stitched into the fabric 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:23.720 of the gospel. So what's going on here? Why would 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:26.800 Matthew include this story when none of the other 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:31.300 gospel accounts do? And what does this story 00:07:31.300 --> 00:07:35.300 mean for us today? Well, let me start off with 00:07:35.300 --> 00:07:40.709 who were the saints? Before we dive deeper, Let's 00:07:40.709 --> 00:07:46.050 take a quick look at that word, saints. In Greek, 00:07:46.089 --> 00:07:51.569 it's hegeos. Hegeos. And hegeos pops up all over 00:07:51.569 --> 00:07:54.689 the New Testament. It's the exact same word Paul 00:07:54.689 --> 00:07:58.889 uses to describe everyday believers, early Christians 00:07:58.889 --> 00:08:02.449 in Rome, in Corinth, in Ephesus, in Philippi, 00:08:02.449 --> 00:08:08.569 ordinary people, made holy, hegeos, by God's 00:08:08.569 --> 00:08:12.509 call. It's the word also in the New Testament 00:08:12.509 --> 00:08:17.910 for Holy Spirit, hegeos pneuma, for the Holy 00:08:17.910 --> 00:08:19.930 Scriptures, for the Holy Temple, for the holy 00:08:19.930 --> 00:08:24.709 calling on your life. So when Matthew uses hegeos 00:08:24.709 --> 00:08:28.269 here, he's not just talking about maybe the famous 00:08:28.269 --> 00:08:30.370 prophets who have a book in Hebrew Scripture. 00:08:31.089 --> 00:08:34.750 He's actually pointing to the ordinary, everyday 00:08:34.750 --> 00:08:40.500 faithful, the set -apart ones. who died still 00:08:40.500 --> 00:08:45.120 clinging to God's promise. And they weren't ghosts. 00:08:46.259 --> 00:08:50.659 They were covenant keepers. They were people. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:54.220 These are old covenant people, okay? But these 00:08:54.220 --> 00:08:57.399 are people who trusted that the story of God 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:02.620 is not over, even though the story of their life 00:09:02.620 --> 00:09:09.289 is. And when Jesus tore the veil, and death flinched. 00:09:09.570 --> 00:09:13.169 These were the first to sit up and say, told 00:09:13.169 --> 00:09:18.269 you so. Let's start with the text. Many bodies 00:09:18.269 --> 00:09:20.269 of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 00:09:20.330 --> 00:09:23.850 Again, in Greek, hegeos, saints, referring to 00:09:23.850 --> 00:09:27.929 holy ones, the faithful or righteous dead. They 00:09:27.929 --> 00:09:30.370 weren't just also, they weren't just anonymous 00:09:30.370 --> 00:09:34.710 souls or spirits or cartoon Casper ghosts, right? 00:09:35.129 --> 00:09:40.940 Floating upwards. They were bodies, once buried, 00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:47.299 now breathing again. Who were they? We're not 00:09:47.299 --> 00:09:54.279 told. But the context calls us to imagine prophets, 00:09:54.820 --> 00:09:59.700 elders, anonymous faithful women and men who 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:02.440 lived under the old covenant in anticipation 00:10:02.440 --> 00:10:08.519 of a day like this to come. It just didn't come 00:10:08.519 --> 00:10:12.899 during their earthly lifetime. Abraham's descendants, 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:18.799 Hannah's sisters, Isaiah's colleagues, people 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:23.039 who trusted Yahweh, longed for his coming, and 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:26.480 now find themselves walking down the streets 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:32.399 of Jerusalem again. Now, question I had, why 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:37.720 just then? I mean, Why them and not everyone? 00:10:39.340 --> 00:10:44.879 Because this isn't the final resurrection. This 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:49.440 is just the first ripple. It is the opening note 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:55.740 of a song that ends eventually with every grade 00:10:55.740 --> 00:11:00.200 being undone. This resurrection is a sign of 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:06.929 things to come, a not yet conclusion. They rose 00:11:06.929 --> 00:11:11.289 to bear witness to something, not to themselves, 00:11:11.509 --> 00:11:17.590 but to him, to be living proof that Jesus didn't 00:11:17.590 --> 00:11:22.009 just conquer death personally. This, friends, 00:11:22.090 --> 00:11:28.529 is like Discipleship 101. This is Jesus ABCs, 00:11:28.549 --> 00:11:33.070 okay? One of the things we learn we need to understand 00:11:33.070 --> 00:11:37.799 early on is that, The story of Jesus' resurrection 00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:41.879 isn't just a really neat story about one dude. 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:46.519 It's that power that raised him is now inside 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:55.720 of every other dude and dudette. Right? So, he 00:11:55.720 --> 00:12:02.850 cracked open this grave for them to show. that 00:12:02.850 --> 00:12:05.090 eventually the grave will be cracked open for 00:12:05.090 --> 00:12:13.070 everyone else as well. Now, slowly, the graves 00:12:13.070 --> 00:12:18.110 opened at his death. When did he die? Friday. 00:12:19.529 --> 00:12:24.470 But they waited to walk until his resurrection, 00:12:24.669 --> 00:12:31.460 because he is the firstborn from the dead. He 00:12:31.460 --> 00:12:37.960 is the new Adam, the pioneer of new life. Again, 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:41.919 this was a select resurrection, not a universal 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:48.139 one. Just as Moses seeing the burning bush, Elijah 00:12:48.139 --> 00:12:51.840 hearing the still small voice, right? Those were 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:56.519 singular events. They were but glimpses of God's 00:12:56.519 --> 00:13:00.580 real power. The Bible then says they entered 00:13:00.580 --> 00:13:05.100 the holy city and appeared to many, which means 00:13:05.100 --> 00:13:13.259 people saw and no doubt people remembered. So, 00:13:13.340 --> 00:13:17.179 what is the theological fallout of all this? 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:22.740 Well, Jesus cries out and breathes his last. 00:13:24.700 --> 00:13:30.090 In that last moment, Heaven and earth start breaking 00:13:30.090 --> 00:13:35.330 protocol. The curtain in the temple that separated 00:13:35.330 --> 00:13:40.750 us from the holy of holies, torn from top to 00:13:40.750 --> 00:13:44.610 bottom. And that's not by coincidence. That's 00:13:44.610 --> 00:13:50.470 God himself ripping the veil apart, saying access 00:13:50.470 --> 00:13:55.490 is now granted. The division between sacred and 00:13:55.490 --> 00:14:00.879 secular. Priest and people, presence and absence, 00:14:01.179 --> 00:14:10.019 gone. And then the earth shakes. But it's not 00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:15.299 just any earthquake. It's like the whole world 00:14:15.299 --> 00:14:22.080 groaning in real time. Like the very ground under 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:26.919 our feet knows something cosmic. has just shifted. 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:33.320 The tectonic sin and separation are breaking 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:40.100 loose. This passage, four verses in Matthew 27, 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:45.440 is one of the most haunting and holy cracks in 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.759 Scripture, where the veil tears, the earthquakes, 00:14:48.980 --> 00:14:54.460 and the dead rise in silence. Now, like I said, 00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:59.039 right, I don't have all of this explainable because 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:03.840 this isn't news reporting. This is revelation. 00:15:05.419 --> 00:15:09.059 Matthew, writing with apocalyptic imagination, 00:15:09.740 --> 00:15:15.200 shows us that Jesus' death does not signal the 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:20.960 end of a life, signal the end of the world as 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:25.700 it once was. The curtain of the temple ripped 00:15:25.700 --> 00:15:30.740 open, creation convulsed, and the tombs of the 00:15:30.740 --> 00:15:35.279 righteous cracked, not as a sideshow, not as 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:39.879 some magic trick, but as a sign that death has 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:47.539 been bethroned. The saints don't speak. Their 00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:52.679 names aren't given. Because this moment isn't... 00:15:53.049 --> 00:15:57.370 About them. It's about what Jesus' death now 00:15:57.370 --> 00:16:02.429 makes possible. The unsealing of all that binds 00:16:02.429 --> 00:16:07.429 us up. And the detail that they walk into Jerusalem, 00:16:07.570 --> 00:16:13.450 that's Matthew's way of saying, Jesus isn't just 00:16:13.450 --> 00:16:17.370 the crucified one. He is the forerunner to freedom. 00:16:17.929 --> 00:16:23.210 The first arrives, leading a jailbreak. from 00:16:23.210 --> 00:16:27.850 the grave so when we read this passage we don't 00:16:27.850 --> 00:16:32.110 need to explain it as much as let it shake us 00:16:32.110 --> 00:16:36.649 because the truth of it is some of us aren't 00:16:36.649 --> 00:16:41.230 dead but we've already been buried and this scene 00:16:41.230 --> 00:16:44.950 reminds us that the same breath that left christ's 00:16:44.950 --> 00:16:49.210 body could still rattle graves call the dead 00:16:49.210 --> 00:16:56.700 to walk Then the quiet balm of the verse. Tombs 00:16:56.700 --> 00:16:59.899 also opened and many bodies of saints who had 00:16:59.899 --> 00:17:03.360 fallen asleep were raised. Notice again the phrasing. 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:06.920 The tombs open at the moment of Jesus' death. 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:12.059 Don't walk out after his resurrection. It's like 00:17:12.059 --> 00:17:17.420 their graves were unlocked, unsealed, but ready. 00:17:18.339 --> 00:17:22.589 And they waited. Because even in resurrection, 00:17:23.009 --> 00:17:28.910 Jesus leads. He's not just a participant. He's 00:17:28.910 --> 00:17:32.589 the firstborn amongst the dead. Colossians 1 00:17:32.589 --> 00:17:37.210 and 18. He doesn't just escape death. He cracks 00:17:37.210 --> 00:17:41.430 the foundation of death. And when he walks out, 00:17:41.630 --> 00:17:47.890 he brings others with him. Now, what would that 00:17:47.890 --> 00:17:50.859 have meant? I love doing historical context. 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:55.779 That's my jam, right? So I can't help have to 00:17:55.779 --> 00:17:59.099 force you to now too. You're here. Imagine the 00:17:59.099 --> 00:18:03.500 implications. What does it mean to live in a 00:18:03.500 --> 00:18:05.680 world where Jesus' death not only tore a veil 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:09.200 but opened up graves? What does it mean to the 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:13.859 people who saw someone they buried walking again? 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:18.880 Did they run? Did they fall down? Did they embrace? 00:18:19.140 --> 00:18:23.039 Did they believe? And here's the haunting truth. 00:18:23.779 --> 00:18:28.559 We don't know. It's not in there. Matthew doesn't 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:32.619 tell us what happened next. Maybe that's the 00:18:32.619 --> 00:18:37.420 point. Maybe the question isn't what happened 00:18:37.420 --> 00:18:44.339 to them. Maybe it's what happens to us once we 00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:50.099 know tombs have been opened. Because that detail 00:18:50.099 --> 00:18:53.460 isn't just some freaky Bible nerd side note. 00:18:54.220 --> 00:18:59.259 It's the gospel on full display. Jesus dies and 00:18:59.259 --> 00:19:03.859 death loses jurisdiction. Jesus rises, other 00:19:03.859 --> 00:19:07.880 graves shake loose. Jesus enters hell, the dead 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:11.599 start dreaming again. And that's not hyperbole. 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:16.559 That's eschological foreshadowing. What? That's 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:20.970 heavenly thinking. That's theological fireworks. 00:19:21.930 --> 00:19:25.970 That's a holy jailbreak. And it begs the question, 00:19:26.250 --> 00:19:30.609 or it should, what tombs are we still lying in? 00:19:31.950 --> 00:19:37.150 But Jesus is already open for us. We talk about 00:19:37.150 --> 00:19:41.289 resurrection like it's a future hope. But Matthew 00:19:41.289 --> 00:19:46.470 reminds us it's in the present tense. You don't 00:19:46.470 --> 00:19:49.440 have to stay buried in things that... Jesus conquered 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:53.720 a long time ago. You don't have to keep hiding 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:58.539 your shame. You don't have to walk around like 00:19:58.539 --> 00:20:03.480 the cross almost worked. He didn't rise alone, 00:20:03.819 --> 00:20:07.059 and he's still calling people from the dust. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:14.339 Just imagine. What would have been like if resurrection 00:20:14.339 --> 00:20:19.759 broke out around us today? What if folks we thought 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:23.039 were long gone, spiritually dead, relationally 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:28.859 buried, emotionally embalmed, what if they showed 00:20:28.859 --> 00:20:34.640 up again, full of life and new breath, right 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:39.079 in the middle of your normal? Would we welcome 00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:44.259 them or fear them? Would we believe it or run 00:20:44.259 --> 00:20:51.299 the other way? What if you're the one called 00:20:51.299 --> 00:20:54.819 to walk back into someone's holy city, your family, 00:20:54.859 --> 00:20:59.619 your church, your friend group, and be that sign 00:20:59.619 --> 00:21:03.039 that grace still raises people from the dead? 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:07.859 Maybe you're not the one still buried. Maybe 00:21:07.859 --> 00:21:10.099 you're the testimony someone else is just waiting 00:21:10.099 --> 00:21:14.960 to see. Matthew never tells us what happens to 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:18.880 the resurrected saints and what they said. Maybe 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:22.480 they didn't need to say anything. Maybe it was 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:28.180 just enough to show up a lot. You can do that 00:21:28.180 --> 00:21:35.920 too. In fact, maybe you already have. Maybe someone 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:38.500 saw you walk out of your own spiritual grave 00:21:38.500 --> 00:21:40.880 and thought, I didn't think anyone could survive 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:44.920 that. And maybe that's how resurrection still 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:51.279 spreads. But before we close tonight, sit with 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:56.660 this. If you had been in Jerusalem that day and 00:21:56.660 --> 00:21:59.200 you saw someone you loved, someone long gone, 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:03.099 walk through your doorway, what would you do? 00:22:04.420 --> 00:22:06.700 Would you fall to your knees, wrap them in your 00:22:06.700 --> 00:22:12.000 arms? Would you shout for joy or crumble in disbelief? 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:17.460 And now let's bring it in closer. What if someone 00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:21.319 sees you tomorrow and they can't believe you're 00:22:21.319 --> 00:22:27.220 still standing? What if your healing is what 00:22:27.220 --> 00:22:30.940 convinces someone else that Jesus is still cracking 00:22:30.940 --> 00:22:35.740 open the tombs of the dead? Because we are resurrection 00:22:35.740 --> 00:22:39.779 people. Now, that doesn't mean we always feel 00:22:39.779 --> 00:22:44.059 triumphant. It means we carry the memory of death. 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:48.859 and the miracle of breath in the same body. We 00:22:48.859 --> 00:22:51.680 remember the earthquake even after the dust settles. 00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:57.680 We live torn veil lives, open to God, open to 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:01.059 others, and open to the strange, beautiful possibility 00:23:01.059 --> 00:23:04.619 that today might be the day the dead come home. 00:23:05.740 --> 00:23:10.660 So tonight, don't just remember the cross. Remember 00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:14.859 the quake. Remember the veil. Remember those 00:23:14.859 --> 00:23:18.700 graves splitting open? And no, that wasn't just 00:23:18.700 --> 00:23:21.779 a moment. That, friends, was the beginning of 00:23:21.779 --> 00:23:25.059 a movement. Because Jesus didn't rise alone. 00:23:25.420 --> 00:23:30.380 He brings the dead with him, even ones like us. 00:23:32.180 --> 00:23:35.539 And if he's calling your name tonight, something's 00:23:35.539 --> 00:23:39.950 rattling the door of your tomb. If your shame's 00:23:39.950 --> 00:23:42.970 cracking and the light is finally breaking through, 00:23:43.049 --> 00:23:46.990 I want you to hear this. You can come out. You're 00:23:46.990 --> 00:23:51.549 not too late and you're not too lost. You are 00:23:51.549 --> 00:23:55.890 not too far gone to walk again. Because grace 00:23:55.890 --> 00:24:00.470 still raises the dead. And you, friends, are 00:24:00.470 --> 00:24:05.490 still beloved. So, when you walk out that door 00:24:05.490 --> 00:24:07.990 tonight, maybe someone sees you and whispers, 00:24:08.680 --> 00:24:11.940 I didn't think anyone could survive that. And 00:24:11.940 --> 00:24:17.339 when they do, and they will, don't point at yourself. 00:24:18.839 --> 00:24:22.140 Point to the one who tore the veil, shook the 00:24:22.140 --> 00:24:25.400 earth, and is still calling the saints to stand 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:31.099 up and walk again. Amen? Amen. Thanks, guys. 00:24:40.250 --> 00:24:42.930 Friend, if your faith's been feeling cold and 00:24:42.930 --> 00:24:46.710 six feet under, I got good news. Same Jesus who 00:24:46.710 --> 00:24:48.690 tore that curtain and cracked those graves open 00:24:48.690 --> 00:24:50.789 is still in the business of waking folks up. 00:24:50.950 --> 00:24:53.630 And I don't just mean someday in the sweet by 00:24:53.630 --> 00:24:58.549 and by. I mean now. He doesn't just wait to the 00:24:58.549 --> 00:25:00.910 end of history. He breaks into the middle of 00:25:00.910 --> 00:25:04.430 it, into your story, into your sorrow. And when 00:25:04.430 --> 00:25:07.730 he shows up, even the tombstones start to tremble. 00:25:09.019 --> 00:25:11.240 Matthew tells us that after Jesus rose, those 00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:13.720 saints went into the holy city and appeared to 00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:16.619 many. They didn't just stretch, blink in the 00:25:16.619 --> 00:25:19.720 light, and go back underground. No. They walked 00:25:19.720 --> 00:25:23.099 into town. They showed up. They bore witness. 00:25:23.220 --> 00:25:26.579 They said, the kingdom has come, y 'all, and 00:25:26.579 --> 00:25:31.160 the grave ain't the end. So maybe the call tonight 00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:35.599 isn't just to believe in resurrection. Maybe 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:37.920 it's to have the courage to live like we've already 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:41.900 tasted. To go ahead and walk out of whatever 00:25:41.900 --> 00:25:44.599 spiritual graveyard we've been holed up in, shame, 00:25:44.819 --> 00:25:50.700 regret, cynicism, maybe fear, and show up, scars 00:25:50.700 --> 00:25:55.019 and all, as living proof that grace simply just 00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:59.380 does not give up. You ain't dead yet, beloved. 00:26:00.099 --> 00:26:04.599 And if Jesus has anything to say about it, you 00:26:04.599 --> 00:26:08.859 won't ever really be. I'll see you next time.