The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead

Hope

A beautiful and wonderful Easter morning to you all!

If you are able and/or willing, would you stand with me as I read our scripture this morning… John 20:1-18

John 20:1–18 CSB

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 she went running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!” At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then, following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. The wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself. The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw, and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying. But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’s body had been lying, one at the head and the other 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’ve put him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus. “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?” Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”—which means “Teacher.” “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that 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 she told them what he had said to her.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. You may be seated. Thank you.

Me

The hopelessness of Mary, Peter, and John are so palpable. Jesus’ body is gone. What does this mean? What are they to do with this?

Hopelessness and a disorienting sadness sets in when those things we put our hope do not bear the weight our hope and expectation places on them. It can have devastating consequences on relationships and even our own well being.

Sadly we are in such a state even today. According to Psychology Today, “the average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950s.”

From 2009 to 2021, the share of American high-school students who say they feel “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” rose from 26 percent to 44 percent, according to a new CDC study. This is the highest level of teenage sadness ever recorded.

The government survey of almost 8,000 high-school students, which was conducted in the first six months of 2021, found a great deal of variation in mental health among different groups. More than one in four girls reported that they had seriously contemplated attempting suicide during the pandemic, which was twice the rate of boys. Nearly half of LGBTQ teens said they had contemplated suicide during the pandemic, compared with 14 percent of their heterosexual peers. Sadness among white teens seems to be rising faster than among other groups.

The divisiveness that continues to pull at the seams of the nation’s fabric is leaving many feeling hopeless about the future. According to a new survey, two-thirds of Americans don’t believe they’ll see positive social change during their lifetime.

The survey of 2,000 people reveals that 67 percent are not optimistic about seeing changes occur, but they still want to leave a better world for the next generation. When asked which social issues they currently find to be the most important, health care (43%) topped the list, followed closely by gun violence (41%).

Rounding out the top five are racial injustice and domestic violence (tied for third, at 39%) and poverty and homelessness (38%). It’s worth noting that the top five issues respondents identified are all within five percent of each other, showing that many of these challenging issues are viewed with an almost equal level of importance.

We

We can look at these statistics and run for the hills. We can grab our guns, ice cream, our favorite Rom-Com’s, crawl into our bunkers, and wait this out until the Lord comes back… OR we can look around and see how the good news of the life, death, resurrection (and subsequent ascension and inevitable return of Jesus) informs our opportunities before us. (please no emails about the stigma around Rom-Com’s)

The resurrection of Jesus put an exclamation point on the truth that All of our hopes and dreams are realized in Jesus.

God

This depiction of the resurrection in John’s gospel is one of my favorite. Mainly because as of recent I have found great personal value, depth, and comfort between Mary and Jesus.

Jesus as a gardener should give us imagery of a garden, which should hyperlink us back to Eden. God wanting relationship with his creation. Eden, that beautiful paradise created for humanity to thrive, to cultivate and care for, lost due to rebellion and sin.

Here is paradise lost, now regained, now entrance into the garden is allowed through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

As a leader in the community, as a leader in the church, as a leader in my family, and part of a larger group in many ways within the larger Christian community, my success is summarized in the interaction of Mary and Jesus.

Mary clings to Jesus. Mary did not want to let go. Church, we are to cling to Jesus with this ferocity.

I’m convinced that to the degree we understand of what we have been forgiven is in direct proportion to our need, love, longing, and embracing of Jesus. The Bible would put it this way…

Luke 7:36–50 CSB

Then one of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume and stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to wash his feet with her tears. She wiped his feet with her hair, kissing them and anointing them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—she’s a sinner!” Jesus replied to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” He said, “Say it, teacher.” “A creditor had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Since they could not pay it back, he graciously forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one he forgave more.” “You have judged correctly,” he told him. Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she, with her tears, has washed my feet and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet since I came in. You didn’t anoint my head with olive oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume. Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

My success as a pastor, as a husband, as a dad, as a brother, as a son, as a friend is not tied to any worldly metric, but how Jesus informs my relationships and interactions with others. Is Jesus well pleased? Am I humbling myself to his leading and serving Him? That is the metric. My indicators and quality controls will be what is the wake I’m leaving… is it loving, caring, serving… or hurt, selfishness, and anger?

Is my posture genuinely towards seeing others flourish, working within my unique capability and influence God has given me to help make that happen.

All of this stems from clinging to Jesus.

A friend pointed this out when thinking and working through what faithfulness looks like… they pointed me to Song of Solomon 3:1-4 “In my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him, but did not find him. I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and the plazas. I will seek the one I love. I sought him, but did not find him. The guards who go about the city found me. I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love?” I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held on to him and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother’s house— to the chamber of the one who conceived me.”

Do you see it… this intimate picture of the woman and the man in the Song of Songs and then Mary here in the garden?

Asking the angels where he was laid… the woman in the song asking the guards if they had seen her love.

This is what eternity will be like. Seeing Him, knowing Him, clinging to Him.

You see, “that although he will not come to her mother’s house, Mary—along with others—will go to his, to a heavenly paradise where God is Father and Jesus is Son.” Like the beloved in the Song of Songs, Mary has a sense of “paradise regained.”

Longman, T. (2001). Song of Songs (p. 128). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

This is the piece of heaven we start to experience here on Earth.

You

How do you suppose this would affect you if you allow the hope and the truth of the resurrection affect every area of your life? If pleasing Jesus was at the central focus of church, school, relationships, family, work, etc.?

Relationships: God has fearfully and wonderfully made us with unique personalities. Therefore, while relationships take work, we have the opportunity to model and extend the grace, kindness, forgiveness, and love that God has shed abroad in our hearts in the unique way that he has designed us.

Striving at work/school: You are accepted and loved for who you are, not for what you can do. Therefore, work becomes an outward expression of the confidence you have as a son/daughter of God, wanting to glorify Him with the work of your hands.

Life at home: You have a home in Jesus where you are celebrated for who you are. You are safe to "be a work in progress" and not always "on" trying to please those around you. Therefore, you can live an authentic life with those in your sphere, giving from the deep well that God supplies of acceptance, love, and kindness. Others are welcomed in this space.

Life-goals: You have a Lord and Savior who wants to expand your understanding of His goodness and great grace. He desires to do above what you can ask or think. Therefore, you can live in obedience to Jesus that is not always rational but opens you to the experience of seeing lives transformed eternally. That what Jesus has is far better than what we could come up with for ourselves, but often this looks like communing with him and trusting him in the good, the bad, and the mundane. In the small acts of obedience a habit of obedience is formed in us and our hearts stay soft and attentive to Jesus’s voice.

What seemed insignificant in the grand scheme of things, Jesus telling the disciples to wait in Jerusalem would eventually be an outpouring and baptism of the Holy Spirit that would subsequently turn the world upside down. Even in that… some would wait tables, some would sell possessions and give to the church, some would preach, some would serve the poor, some would be a deep well of encouragement than many would draw from.

Our hopes and dreams are realized in Jesus.

Us

Mary would go and tell the disciples of the risen Lord. This message of extremely good news would be the beginning of a proclamation that still goes out today. That message of, “I have seen the risen Lord” is still good news to those who are being saved.

May we continue to be a people of the resurrection. All of our hopes and dreams are realized in Jesus.

There is a lot to be sad about and grieve in our community today. But let us not despair as the world despairs. We have a hope that changes everything. We have a God that has turned death on it’s head.

Genesis ends with Joseph’s death.

Deuteronomy ends with Moses’ death.

Joshua ends with Joshua’s death.

The Gospels end with Jesus’ resurrection… it changes everything.

May God help you see that our deepest longings are truly found in him. Not in relationships, not in marriage, not in business ventures, not in likes, clicks, or mentions, not in our politic being advanced, or our freedoms being upheld/denied… all of our hopes and dreams are realized in Jesus. This is good news.

Would you stand with me.

Because Christ has risen, the message is the same today as it was then… “Peace be with you”… our God, our Savior, He is risen (He is risen indeed). May this Peace of God, the God who has overcome all things, rule and reign in your hearts.

Let us pray.

Give opportunity for those to receive Christ during prayer.

If you prayed that prayer, to surrender all to Jesus, would you let us know as we want to celebrate with you and walk with you on this new hope-filled journey with Jesus.