Resurrecting Hope

Good morning, Church! I am so thankful you have chosen to worship with us this the Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Today we are filled with a renewed hope because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is risen! (He is risen indeed.)

Have you ever thought about the fact that before that Sunday morning was a celebration of life, it was a time of mourning for Jesus’ death? It would have been only a few days before that that the disciples watched their friend, the one they believed to be the long-awaited Messiah, be crucified on a Roman cross.

They had placed all their hopes and dreams in the coming Kingdom that Jesus was going to bring into the world. But on that Friday, they were crushed as Jesus was brought down from the cross and laid inside of a tomb.

It was the finality of Jesus’ death that would have been the knockout blow to any hope that the disciples had for a world where God would finally rule and reign. Where He would free them from the sin that had corrupted everything.

Illustration: Unrealized hope may be one of the most painful things that we go through in life. Sometimes that disappointment comes from things that are rather insignificant, while other times it comes from life-altering trials. I want to show you what disappointment looks like and the different places in life where we encounter it.

Empty Cookie Box

Sad football player

Standing by gravestone

Each one of these pictures carries with it all kinds of emotions. If you have ever found yourself in one of these situations, perhaps you can relate to how the followers of Jesus felt on that Easter morning. After three days of deep sorrow, they were in need of a resurrected hope.

If we are honest this morning, some of us came here today in need of renewed hope as well. Life has not been easy, and some of us have faced great challenges.

Maybe you have experienced a devastating loss this year. Maybe your closest relationships have suffered recently. Some of us have had to come to terms with a diagnosis that makes our future uncertain.

And all of this with the backdrop of a pandemic that continues to threaten many parts of our lives. These things and more can be so heavy that it may make us question if God still cares about us and is still working in the world.

But the Gospels tell us that right in the middle of the disciples’ darkest hour comes the light of hope.

HOPE APPEARS WHEN WE LEAST EXPECT IT

Early in the morning on the third day after Jesus’ death, a woman named Mary Magdalene made her way to the tomb.

Other places in the scriptures tell us that she has come to anoint his body for burial. When she arrives, she finds the tomb is empty. What must have been adding insult to injury, Mary concludes that someone must have come and taken Him away. She is devastated.

John 20:11–14 NKJV

11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.

As Mary looks into the tomb where Jesus had been laid, all she can see is what is missing, and she fails to see what IS there. She is so focused on the fact that Jesus’ body is nowhere to be seen, that she misses the two angelic beings who are seated where Jesus was.

Through her tears, she tells the angels that she is heartbroken because not only is Jesus dead, but now His body has disappeared.

This is what can happen to us when we lose hope. When our dreams are shattered and our future becomes unclear, it becomes all too easy to fixate on what has NOT happened, what we DON’T have, what THEY did not do, and what is MISSING.

After Mary speaks to the angels, she turns to leave and comes face-to-face with the resurrected Jesus. But listen to what verse 14 says: “She did not realize it was Jesus.”

Resurrection hope was standing right in front of her, and she was unable to see it because of the fog of despair. After all, Mary had not come to the tomb expecting Jesus alive, she came expecting to find His lifeless body.

Jesus’ resurrection is a reminder that God is in the business of awakening hope within us. He does this in many different ways that can be subtle and can be missed if we aren’t careful.

Maybe hope comes through a simple conversation with a friend. Maybe hope is sparked by a small answered prayer.

Hope can be found in an unexpected text or a letter in the mail. It could come by noticing the beauty of a sunrise or the smile of a child. Hope can be found in taking time to be grateful for what we do have rather than frustrated by what we don’t have.

The key is our expectation level.

JESUS’ RESURRECTION COMES AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME

It is Jesus’ compassion for those He loves that caused Him to sacrificially give up His life. It is His compassion that causes Him to resurrect from the dead as well.

As He meets Mary in the doorway of the now empty tomb, Jesus’ immediate concern are the tears streaming down Mary’s face.

John 20:15–18 NKJV

15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

Just as Mary has given up all hope, Jesus meets her in her tears. “Why are you crying?” he asks.

John, the author of this book, tells us that Mary thinks Jesus is a gardner tending the grounds around the tombs.

John offers this information on purpose. And its not just that Mary is confused and mistaken, although she is, but also because she is also absolutely correct; Jesus is tending to the broken places of life – he is in fact repairing the brokenness that began in the Garden of Eden long ago in the book of Genesis.

The Bible tells us that in the beginning God created a garden of perfection for His creation to reside in. He had perfect relationship with them, and they experienced life to the full.

But the man and woman God created disobeyed Him and ate fruit from a tree they were forbidden to eat from. Instantly, sin and death was introduced to the world, and everything was broken.

Genesis 3:8–10 NKJV

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

God came searching for His creation but could not find them because of their shame. They were naked and so they hid.

The story of the resurrection is about a God who re-enters a garden to search for those He loves and to offer life to them once again.

As soon as Jesus speaks Mary’s name, she recognizes Him and calls Him “teacher.” In the middle of her darkest moment, the resurrection came just in time.

STORY: With Easter often comes the long-awaited birth of spring. In some places around the country, the winters are harsh and bitter. Sure, it can be fun to have that first snow, maybe shovel the driveway a bit and build a snowman. But after weeks and months of cold weather, it can grow old. Trees without leaves and ground covered in ice and snow cause people to count down the days until things begin to warm up and everything comes back to life. Even so, when that day finally comes, it is always unexpected. We grow so accustomed to the world without life that we are shocked when we finally see the first signs of life bud out on the trees or the grass begin to green. But spring always comes just at the right time to bring life to a barren land.

It is like Martin Luther once said: “Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in the books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.”

The seasons of life remind us that God brings life from death. He can bring life in our most hopeless of places. God is always right on time.

You can feel the shift in tone in this story as Mary recognizes that Jesus is alive. Her hope is resurrected. She comes back to life. The dream of restoration and healing is once again a possibility.

I wonder what would happen if today you were able to see Jesus all around you, maybe even in the places you have been missing Him. This resurrection Sunday is when we look at Him face-to-face and hear Him call us by name and know that we can hope again because Jesus is alive.

THE RESURRECTION IS VICTORY OVER DEATH

You see, what Mary discovered early at the tomb was that the thing that she believed to be most final was not the end, but only the beginning.

Jesus rising from the dead meant that sin, and its ultimate outcome which is death, could not overcome Jesus Christ. He held power and sway over it. Death did not have the last word and final say: He did.

The powerful revelation that comes with this truth is that if Jesus can overcome death, there is nothing in our lives that He cannot defeat and overcome. Earlier in the book of John, Jesus made this audacious claim.

John 11:25 NKJV

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

Jesus said to His followers then, and to us now, He is the resurrection and the life. He is the hope of life eternal and the key to true life now. It is our belief, not just an intellectual exercise but a deep trust in Him, that ensures that the worst things that may happen to us in life will not be the last things that happen to us. We have hope that is resurrecting all around us for a full life in Jesus now and forevermore.

And so, this Resurrection Sunday, I want to invite you to believe in the resurrected Christ. I want to invite you to give Him your life and allow Him to birth new life within you and the world around you.

PRAY

Jesus, thank You for the hope we find in the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The story of His resurrected life renews our spirits and invites us to believe in You with all that we are. I don’t want to miss You today. I want to see You in Your fullness and trust in Your grace for all people, including me. I give You all of the dead places within me, all of the hopeless thoughts in my mind, and all of my feeble prayers. I look forward to Your work in my life. Amen.