He Is Risen!

Good morning! I’m Pastor Jared Trotter, and I’m excited to share a message of hope from God with you this morning!

This morning - there is no other morning so hopeful as this morning! This morning is a celebration of God’s mercy, His hope from ashes, forever freedom from inescapable chains.

I don’t know what chains bind you - past, present, or future. But I know that what this day is about is the hope you need. To bring joy and deliverance. To print on your heart and life a story so amazing that people wont believe it.

Consider with us this morning the wonder of Easter!

Pray

The Story Is True

What is the story of Easter? It is a story so profound that it would be a challenge to believe without some convincing evidence.

The story of Easter is the story of a man who died, and came back to life. It’s the story of the resurrection of Jesus. It’s an old story from the very beginning of the Christian church.

Some claim this story was concocted later or it had swollen from embellishment over time.

1 Corinthians 15:3–5 ESV

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

A follower of Jesus named Paul was writing a letter to a church in the city of Corinth. He wrote the letter around 54 or 55 AD. Jesus was crucified around 30 AD - maybe 25 years for a story like this to develop?

But Paul didn’t write this passage, he is referencing something he was taught that he knew they had been taught. This was a statement of certainty for the very early followers of Jesus after His death - within 20 years - that made four statements of fact.

Christ (Jesus) died for our sins

That He was buried

That He was raised from the dead on the third day

That His followers saw Him after this.

I might be able to claim that my grandparents saw something, but they aren’t around any more to confirm it. Within 20 years of Jesus’ death, many of his followers were around to confirm or deny these claims.

Does it make any since that the faith of Christians would have spread in those years if they could have easily asked the primary sources?

But then, later, every one of those primary sources would die for the very reason they would not recant these four facts. Does it make since to die for what you know is a lie? Would it make sense for 12 people to ALL die because of a made up story?

Finally, what is the power of a made up story? Can millions of lives be transformed from hopelessness to hope by a made up story? Made up stories lift your spirits until the credits roll. This story is powerful because it is true. It was true in history. And it’s true today.

Let’s hear the story...

Luke 24:1–12 ESV

1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

The Women Encountered It.

Death is reversed

They arrived in mourning, having lost a beloved teacher and friend.

Jesus had died - beaten, battered, crucified, pierced. Not fainted or swooned. Not a CPR situation.

But the tomb was empty. This is ‘very early’ on the day after the Sabbath. The Romans wanted it sealed, the Jews would not have touched a dead body or done work on the Sabbath.

But the body was not there! What could have happened? Have you been there? Maybe a house fire, or a car burglary… it take you a moment to process what your seeing when you stumble on the unexpected.

Then, two angels appear.

This is was not on their calendar for the morning.

Luke is intentionally pointing us to another encounter. There are multiple parallels to the Garden of Eden - that place where we lived with God before our rebelion and sin separated us from Him.

These women were the first to find Jesus was raised from the dead, the first to tell others this unbelievable story.

The first message of Easter is to take the time to encounter the Risen Jesus.

The Angels Announced It.

Life is restored - Life is relationship with God.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

Those who visited Jesus tomb on Sunday morning expected to see a dead body. We would expect the same thing at a funeral or cemetery.

But Jesus had told them all He must die and be raised to life again… They just didn’t think he meant literally!

The angels called them to remember Jesus promise, and drew their attention to the empty tomb. The evidence was right there - Death didn’t have power over Jesus!

Sometimes death isn’t what it looks like.

Rose of Jericho - Is this plant

Jericho Plant

Same plant. Add water and this will turn into that.

Jesus said HE was living water. That living water first gives life, then produces life. Then overflows with the blessing.

If you pull this green plant out of the water, it turns back into this. If we have been brought to life through faith in Jesus, but then set Him aside - removed ourselves from His living water - we will dry up too. Its been said the toughest life to live is as a Christian who isn’t following Jesus. We might feel dried up and brittle. We might look dead from the outside.

But let me urge you this morning - return to the living water. Seek to follow Jesus today, and the brittle and dried edges of your heart will find new growth.

The story of Easter is the story of life from death. Jesus first, then when we believe, trust, and follow Jesus, we have the promise of eternal life from death. That spring of life is for here too! Today. It is for healing of hurts, righting of wrongs. It is hope for today.

If you are seeing hopelessness or despair in your life, or maybe just just the hardness of not loving others, I would suggest we are not living in that life Jesus intends for us.

I invite you to consider the question from the Angels: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?”

Jesus is alive, and He promises new life to you!

The Disciples Proclaimed It.

We are given a new purpose.

Jesus had a purpose. That God would dwell among His people again. He fulfilled that purpose in two ways.

First, as Jesus spent His live on earth, He was both God and man in the same person. God literally walked with us.

Second, is that God could live with us by dying. He was without sin, but we could not escape our sin. Sin always leads to death. But Jesus offered to pay that penalty on our behalf - our crime of sin, but the punishment given to an innocent person.

This would be tragic if it wasn’t voluntary. But Jesus laid His life down voluntarily. He did this because He had a purpose beyond His days in the body. He had an eternal purpose. And that eternal purpose involved paying the price to win our freedom from OUR sin. So that we might find our life in His death.

What Jesus received after His resurrection was far, far better than what He gave up. He offers us a far better life than whatever we might give up to follow Him.

When the women found that Jesus had victory over death, they went and told the other disciples - Jesus is Alive!

When the disciples heard this news, their lives changed forever. Everything else in their lives became secondary to the truth that Jesus was alive. That His death was payment for their sin. And that believing in this message was all that was required to be forgiven of your sin.

Jesus would appear to the disciples several time in the next 50 days. During that time He told them this:

Luke 24:45–49 ESV

45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

They proclaimed the message of forgiveness of sin until they were all killed except one. They gave up their life willingly. It’s remarkable to think that the message of life that you have heard, even this morning, has been passed down from one person to another - and it came through one of Jesus disciples.

We can have a vibrant relationship with the God who created us and loved us enough to send Jesus to die for us.

New life is made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus that we celebrate today.

It is recieved by believing and repenting of our rebelion and sin.

It is powerful in our lives today when we follow Jesus - just like His disciples them - that we seek to be like Jesus.

I am proclaiming an old message to you today. I ask you to receive it. Just like this Jericho Plant, you are never to dried out to receive the living water. If you want proof, come back next Sunday to see this plant come back to life.

There is a far, far better life ahead following Jesus than trying our own way. I invite you into it.

As we sing this last song, I ask you to consider the offer of Jesus. If there is brokenness or hurt that needs new life, will you offer that to Him this morning? I would like to pray with you about that. You can come up next to me during the last song and I’ll pray with you now. You can let me know after service. You can reach me at the contact information in the bulletin. But if you feel God’s message of hope this morning, please don’t keep it to your self - let us come along side to encourage you and pray with you.

Pray