The Greatest Answer Ever: Accepted Into the Family
Easter 2023 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 40:40
0 ratings
· 11 viewsResurrection reveals the greatest answered prayer: relational reconciliation that receives YOU as a relative.
Files
Notes
Transcript
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.
And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
Prayer
Today we celebrate Resurrection Sunday.
It’s the day that we celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, and is alive today and forever.
John 17:1 (ESV)
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
Today we are going to see the answer to Jesus’ prayer he uttered.
Resurrection reveals the greatest answered prayer: relational reconciliation that receives YOU as a relative.
I want us to consider a passage today that will hit us not from the mind, but through the gut.
A passage, which is less about an argument and more about an experience.
As a way to frame our time together, I wanna tell us a story.
The story is as old as time, because the story is the story that God is writing.
And it begins in the garden.
The Garden of Creation
The Garden of Creation
“God Planted A Garden”
In the beginning, God created and formed all of the world.
He created man and placed him in a garden.
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Gardens are beautiful.
We never have to read a book to inform us that the garden is beautiful.
You know this if you have ever walked in the cool of the day through beautiful flowers, elegant trees, and soft soil beneath your feet.
Gardens are beautiful, and they reflect the beauty of God himself.
Created for Life
Created for Life
“Everything Pleasant”
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Now you know how the story goes.
God told Adam and Eve that they could eat from every tree, but must not eat of one particular tree.
We know that they eventually disobey God.
They instantaneously died when they disobeyed.
They were separated from God RELATIONALLY.
But not only were they separated from God relationally, they needed to be separated from him physically as well.
Kept Out
Kept Out
“Removed As Death”
In his mercy, God removed Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden.
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”
therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
The angel which guarded the garden of Eden, kept Adam and Eve from returning.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke (5. Gethsemane (26:36–46))
In the first garden “Not your will but mine” changed Paradise to desert and brought man from Eden to Gethsemane.
The great tension of Scripture is that the relationship which was MOST FUNDAMENTAL to humanity has been broken.
How will this relationship be mended?
This leads us to the second garden....
The Garden of Exile
The Garden of Exile
“Death Valley”
You and I have only ever experienced life in the second garden.
The “natural” disposition of all humanity finds itself in this second garden.
Every baby born into this world is born into the garden of exile.
All throughout the Old Testament, we see that this exiled garden is the position of all humanity.
It’s where the blood of man is spilt.
It’s where sin and rebellion runs rampant.
It’s where every injustice, calamity, and evil have ever taken place.
But God promised to restore humanity out of this garden of exile.
How would God bring humanity out of the garden of exile?
We see in the Old Testament when God placed his presence among his people.
We call this the temple.
The temple was the meeting place with God and man.
Pictured the garden of Eden
God’s VERY presence would come and dwell in this place.
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Mercy Seat in the Temple
And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you.
There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.
God promises that he will come for his people.
“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.
As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.
I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
This leads us to our third garden...
The Garden of Life
The Garden of Life
“God Restores Life” (John 20:10-18)
The way that God restored life in this third garden is through death.
It is the divine paradox of the Christian life:
Death is put to death in the death of Christ.
Our enemy, Satan, death, and hell were defeated in the death of Christ.
In the death of Christ, we hear Christ utter…
John 19:30 (ESV)
“It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
As we consider Easter, we stand here today, and know that the tomb is empty.
But we need to consider....
How it felt for the people who first found the empty tomb.
The utter shock and surprise that it would’ve been to find the tomb empty.
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
Mary returns and tells Peter and John that the tomb is empty.
They see the empty tomb and turn and run.
But then returns to the tomb to “figure out” what has happened.
Then the disciples went back to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.
Mary Magdalene was the person we were told had seven demons cast of her.
Luke 8:2 (ESV)
Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
She was saved out of great promiscuity and darkness
This woman would’ve been deeply committed to Christ.
It’s interesting to note her response to seeing the empty tomb.
Rather than turning around, she lingers around the tomb...
She lingers, likely befuddled at the situation before her.
She lingers, to weep and mourn the fact that her Lord is gone.
She lingers, NOT because she believes yet, but because she thinks that Jesus had been taken.
In her grief that her Lord is NOT found, she returns to the tomb to see if she can find answers.
Her desire is to figure out what happened to Jesus.
She peers into the tomb and this is what she sees...
And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
Encountering Angels
Encountering Angels
“Welcomed In”
Without even knowing it....
We see in Mary’s experience that something radical has changed.
Pay attention to the way that John describes where are the angels are sitting.
And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
Why the specific details here?
Remember, in the garden of Eden when our parents were removed, angels stood at the entrance and kept them from returning.
And all throughout the Old Testament, we are told to stay away from the presence of God.
Not because God does not want to be near, but because if we came near, we would be destroyed.
When we were kicked out of the garden angels, guarded the way.
The mercy seat in the tabernacle, which was in the presence of God was “guarded by Angels”
But here, Mary is not told to leave from the angels.
The angels welcomed her in.
These two angels stand as a fulfillment of the mercy seat, we see in the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament, the mercy seat is where atonement was offered.
It is where the presence of God himself with Dwell.
But now we see these two angels, sitting at his head and his feet of the new mercy seat.
The new mercy seat that no longer required an offering for sin.
And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
The angels question is meant to be an invitation.
An invitation to a deeply flawed, deeply sinful, deeply unworthy person.
Brothers and sisters, we need to hear this same question to us this morning.
To all who are weak and needy, “Why are you weeping?”
To all who are hurting and helpless, “Why are you weeping?”
Mary stands as a kind of picture of all humanity that we see even in the book of Revelation.
Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”
Who is worthy?
Who is worthy fulfill all the OT prophesied of?
Who is worthy to break the seals?
And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it,
and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
See if Christ remained in the grave, then we are of most to be pitied.
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins.
If Christ stayed in the grave, there would remain angels guarding the way to God.
But these angels that Mary encounters welcome her in.
And we are meant to see in the same way Mary was welcomed in, we are welcomed in.
We AREN’T welcome because we are great.
We AREN’T welcomed because we are worthy.
We ARE welcomed in because Christ has been worthy.
And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
The worthiness of Christ is the grounds for what he’s about to tell Mary which is we are adopted into the family.
Resurrection reveals the greatest answered prayer: relational reconciliation that receives YOU as a relative.
This doesn’t fix it for Mary though....
Mary still doesn’t get it.
Her grief of the loss of her Lord is too much.
She still is NOT seeing what the angels are telling her.
John 20:13–15 (ESV)
They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
Encountering the Risen Lord
Encountering the Risen Lord
In this moment, Mary is a kind of example of all of humanity.
As Eve disobeyed in the garden and entered into a state of confusion for all humanity, Mary stands parallel to her.
Confused,
grief stricken
and overwhelmed by loss she doesn’t even recognize the Lord.
John 20:15 (ESV)
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
Since his resurrection, Jesus has shown himself to one human being on earth.
It’s Mary.
The same woman who was rescued out of her depravity by him.
The same woman who couldn’t get enough of his teaching on earth.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
Familiar Voice
Familiar Voice
“The Voice of the Shepherd”
In a moment...
Mary went from confusion to clarity.
From grief to joy.
From sorrow to celebration.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
The great shepherd of the sheep has come.
The great shepherd has come to reconcile us to God.
Resurrection reveals the greatest answered prayer: relational reconciliation that receives YOU as a relative.
John 20:17 (ESV)
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father;
Don’t Cling To Me
Don’t Cling To Me
“I Am Here”
Jesus exhorts Mary do not cling to him not because he does not want to be touched.
But because she’s grasping at him in such a way that she believes he’s going to leave again.
You can imagine how a person would feel if they received back the dead from the grave.
She is so overjoyed, but Jesus is exhortation shows that he is not going anywhere.
He has been raised, and he is here to stay.
Not ONLY to stay on this earth.
John 20:17 (ESV)
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father;
But the greater promise is what He is going to fulfill.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
For Jesus to tell Mary not to cling to him he is saying that it is to her advantage that he’s going away.
She has only ever known him face-to-face.
But Jesus says don’t cling to me because the promise is that the Holy Spirit is going to come and dwell inside of Mary.
That’s NOT all he tells her...
Invited In
Invited In
“Adopted Into the Family”
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
The offer that Jesus gives to his followers is this...
that by repenting of their sins and trusting Christ
they may actually be received as adopted children into the family of God.
Adoption is even more wonderful than justification. In justification we are pronounced right with God the Judge; in adoption we are declared to be loved and cared for by God the Father as his children.
Derek Prime
Through trusting Christ alone, Jesus is inviting us to call God our very father.
Because of the resurrection, all who have trusted in Christ come to share in the sonship of Christ.
With Jesus, being our elder older brother, the firstborn over the new creation.
The firstborn from the dead.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke 5. Gethsemane (26:36–46)
In the first garden “Not your will but mine” changed Paradise to desert and brought man from Eden to Gethsemane. Now “Not my will but yours” brings anguish to the man who prays it but transforms the desert into the kingdom and brings man from Gethsemane to the gates of glory.
Resurrection reveals the greatest answered prayer: relational reconciliation that receives YOU as a relative.
Have you trusted in the Son of God?
Can you honestly say that the Holy Spirit has done a work in you?
But Jesus commissions Mary with a task...
Sent to Proclaim
Sent to Proclaim
“Go Tell Your Brothers”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
Resurrection reveals the greatest answered prayer: relational reconciliation that receives YOU as a relative.
The resurrection we saw in Christ is but a FORETASTE of the resurrection we are hoping for ONE DAY.
The Garden of Healing
The Garden of Healing
“Healing for the Nations” (Rev 22:1-5)
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
We DON’T come to Jesus to get the healing.
The HEALING is a BYPRODUCT of our restored relationship with God.
No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.