Four Reasons to Behold the Resurrected Christ - Easter 2024
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Opening Illustration: Last week my family and visited my wife’s home in Indiana. We pulled in late at night, and as I got out of the car, I looked up and for just a moment, I was totally caught off guard by the number of stars in the sky. Out in the country, where there are no lights, the stars shine incredibly bright. I hadn’t seen that many stars in a long time. And then as I looked, a shooting star went right across the sky. I hadn’t seen one of those in probably ten years. It was one of those sweet beholding moments, where I didn’t want to take my eyes away from the beauty of that sky. I called my kids out and had them look up and just enjoy it with me.
Personal: Today is Easter, and our task today is to behold Christ with a wonder that leaves us breathless, that leaves us lingering in the awesome reality of the resurrection. This of course is the task every Sunday that we come together, but on this particular Sunday each year we dedicate a time to truly linger in the unfathomable, earth-shaking, life-altering reality, that Christ rose from the grave. And I want to begin with a question to you. When was the last time you were overwhelmed the wonder of Jesus, by the power of his resurrection, by the splendor of his majesty? When was the last time you truly beheld Christ? I pray this morning might be that time for each of us.
Context: Today’s text is out of the gospel of John, chapter 20. In the preceding chapter, Christ had been arrested, falsely accused, beaten, flogged, mocked, and crucified. After his death they placed his body in a tomb. In the opening verses of chapter 20. Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John, the writer of this account of Christ’s life, go to the tomb on the third day and discover it empty. We’re told in verse 10 that they went back home. But Mary Magdalene came back to the tomb and that’s where we pick up our story. I’ll read the text, and then from the text I would like to draw out four reasons why we can behold Christ, this Resurrection Sunday.
John 20:11–18 “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 …”
Meaning & Application
Meaning & Application
I THE RESURRECTED CHRIST IS PROOF THAT CHRIST’S TEACHINGS ARE TRUE
The first reason to behold Christ, is that the resurrected Christ is the evidence that Christ’s teachings are true. Where is this in the text? To see this you have to understand this narrative.
A Mary’s in Despair: When this text opens up, Mary Magdalene is weeping outside of the tomb where Jesus body had been laid. She is so overcome with grief that she doesn’t recognize the two people she is speaking to are angels. Mary has succumbed to despair. She had followed Jesus for a few years. In fact, the earliest account of Mary is in Luke chapter 8, where we read:
and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
Mary had her life radically altered by Jesus. He not only healed her, but gave her a new purpose, a whole new life. She sat underneath his teachings for a few years. She got to watch as he healed others, and celebrate with them as their lives were turned around.
B Christ’s Prediction of Resurrection: It is interesting that there was one of teaching of Christ, that Mary and the Disciples didn’t believe. And that was his teachings that he, the Savior—the Christ, would be killed and rise from the dead. He said this on multiple occasions.
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
The irony of this scene outside the tomb on resurrection Sunday, is that all of the disciples ought to been standing there first thing in the morning with wide eyes, and eager anticipation for Christ’s resurrection. But they weren’t. She was overcome with despair.
C Turn It On Us: Just to relate to Mary for a moment. Don’t we all do this all the time. In this life there are many reasons to despair. As a human, I have all my own personal hardships in life that I have to navigate. I am familiar with pain and worry. But as a Pastor I get the joy of walking intimately with so many of your own hardships: marriage problems, health problems, worries about our children, worries about our singleness, worries about our careers, financial hardship, addictions, broken relationships. Isn’t it true, that if we were to live out with perfect faith all that Jesus taught, then we would not be overcome with grief and despair, at least in the ways we often are, but we would face them with an eager hunger and prayer-filled dependence, to figure out what is Jesus going to do through this? What’s he forming in me in this, O God let me know! But we are so often blinded by our circumstances, that we can’t see the resurrected Christ when he’s standing in front of us.
D “Teacher”: In verse 16, Jesus calls Mary. And in that moment, when she hears his voice, she turns and the first word out of her mouth is “Rabboni!”, which means teacher. There are many words Mary could have said, but she cried out “Teacher.” I think in this moment Mary’s mind is swimming in Christ’s teachings, and the pieces are coming together, and in her heart she says, “It’s true! All of it! Everything he taught! Not only about ethics and how we are to live. But about who Christ is. About what he would accomplish. It’s all true!”
E Cherry Picking: Many secular minded individuals love portions of what Jesus taught and what the Bible teaches about Christ. We love to cherry pick to get a version of Jesus that fits our current cultural climate. But Jesus’ resurrection from the dead confirms, we don’t have that option. If Christ truly was killed, and truly rose from the grave as he said he would, then everything he taught must be true. What are the claims of Christ. Many people don’t even know this. Let me give you just two simple claims that will forever change your life.
Oneness with the Father: First, Jesus said in John 10:30,
I and the Father are one.”
This is an ontological claim about his being. Jesus never claimed to simply be a good teacher. He never claimed to simply be an enlightened one. He claimed to be one with the God of the Bible. He claimed to be God in the flesh. You can love Jesus’ teaching or hate his teachings, but one thing nobody has the privilege of doing is simply calling Jesus a good man. Good men don’t claim to be God, and then back it up by rising from the dead.
Give His Life as a Ransom: Number 2, Jesus said in Mark 10:45,
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
You see the claim of the Bible, and what Jesus taught, is that every one of us has fallen short of God’s standard. Rather than loving God and loving our neighbor according to God’s terms of how to do that, we have redefined love to mean the exact opposite of what Jesus taught. We’ve turned the great ethic of love into a self-absorbed form of narcissism. This is sin. Each of us carry the weight of our sin before God. Each of us are guilty before God. And if we were to die today and stand before God (without Christ in our life), we would be condemned as guilty and separated from God as a result. But Christ claimed that his death, would not just be a martyrs death on a cross, but would be payment for your release, a ransom for your life. On the cross, God the Father permitted the wrath of God to fall on Christ, instead of on you. That’s what Jesus taught. And the resurrection says, “It’s true! Teacher! He taught correctly!”
“Christ took your cup of grief, your cup of the curse, pressed it to his lips, drank it to its dregs, then filled it with his sweet, pardoning, sympathizing love, and gave it back for you to drink, and to drink forever.”
F Believe: If Christ truly died, and truly rose from the grave, then we must take these teachings seriously. We will all either stand before God on our own, and carry the weight of our sins into our judgment, or we will receive the free gift of grace offered to us by Jesus, who paid our penalty on our behalf. There is no other option, and the resurrection is the proof.
II THE RESURRECTED CHRIST KNOWS YOU INTIMATELY AND PERSONALLY
The second reason to behold Christ this Resurrection Sunday is because the Christ knows you intimately and personally.
A The Text: Look at the text with me again, Jesus is in the garden with Mary. This is a precious scene. She doesn’t realize that she is standing in the garden with him.
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 is not playing with her, he’s ministering to her. Here in this moment, he allows her grief to come to the very center of her mind. And then, he says one word, “Mary.” And its that one word, her name, spoken in a way that Jesus probably said her name hundreds of times prior over the past few years. The intonation of voice, Mary’s heart leapt out of her chest.
B Personal: At the center of the Christian religion is a relationship with God through Christ. It’s intimacy with God, through Christ. Just as Christ spoke Mary’s name in a way that was personal, and that breathed life into her, so does speak every Christian’s name, as he speaks words of comfort and power and beauty and rest over us. In the busy caucophany of living in Chicago, it can be difficult to find quiet space to be still and know that God holds you and sustains you. But this Easter, I want us to behold Christ, as Mary did.
C Put It In Practice: In fact, let’s put it in practice. If you are in Christ by faith, this excercise is for you. I want you to bring whatever is heavy on your soul this morning, or in this season to the forefront of your mind, just as Mary did. Each of us have something we are concerned with. Now as that lingers in your mind, instead of reading of Christ saying Mary’s name, I want you to hear your Savior say your name, into your inner being! O how his voice ministers to our weary souls. He who defeated death stands ever the ready to comfort, protect, strengthen, and guard. Again, Octavius Winslow says it so wonderfully.
“God is near at hand when you do approach him in prayer. Oh, comforting truth! A God at hand to hear the softest breath of prayer, to listen to every confession of sin, to every cry of need, to every utternace of sorrow, to every wail of woe, to every appeal for counsel, strength, and support. Arise, O my soul! and give yourself to prayer; for God is near at hand to hear and answer you.”
D Final Thoughts: I want to ask you a few questions before I close this point. Questions of reflection for you to take home and wrestle with.
Has your Christianity lost the personal, intimate, relationship with Christ?
Are you delighting in prayer in this season, in pouring your heart out to God, and being ministered to by the resurrection power of Christ?
Are you struggling through life feeling like your on your own, and forgetting he who has promised to go before you and with you?
May I encourage you, come back to Christ. That same voice that called Mary, invites you to receive the comfort that only he can give.
III THE RESURRECTED CHRIST HAS ASCENDED TO THE FATHER & THUS SECURED OUR OWN RESURRECTION
Third and finally, the resurrected Christ has ascended to the Father and thus secured our own resurrection.
A The Text: If you to turn in the text with me to verse 17, there is a fascinating moment where Mary clings to Jesus. We read,
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.’ ”
What’s happening here in this text is understandable. Mary thought she had lost Christ once already, and here she clings to his feet, almost as if to say, I won’t lose you again. But again, she doesn’t understand fully. For if she understood, she would know that she could never lose Christ. Upon Christ’ ascension he sent his Holy Spirit to be with each and every Christian forever, so that each Christian in every moment walks with Christ, communes with Christ, has intimacy with Christ.
Doctrine: Christ’s resurrection, prepares him for his ascension, which secures the power of the resurrection for you and me. There is a wonderful verse in Philippians chapter 3 that reads,
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
What is the “power of the resurrection.” It has been said that to raise the dead body of our Lord from the tomb was as great a work as creation itself. It was the greatest miracle the world has ever seen. He who was dead, breathed again. This is not an event of simply spiritual meaning, a dead body came to life. Everything we think we know about the world says, that can’t happen. But it did. What’s amazing is that Christ himself, as part of the Trinity, was responsible for raising himself from the dead. He said as much in John 2:19,
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Then again in John 10:18,
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.”
Christ has mastery over death. Not one of his precious children, his beloved saints, will be left behind after their own death. He has secured not only his own resurrection but yours as well. And while that might seem so far off for many of you, I assure you, that day will come. And there is only one person in all of history, who has the power to secure your eternity, and it is Christ.
Conclusion
Conclusion
What Happens to a Life: Look at what happens to a life that understands this. At the end of our passage, Mary is a changed person. Resurrection power has transformed her life, from weeping to announcing Christ. All of the disciples, save Judas the betrayer, had a life altering experience when they met the resurrected Christ. They became bold amabassadors for Jesus. How could they not? This was the power of the resurrection at work in them.
Personal: And this is the power of the resurrection in you, O faithful saint, if you have placed faith in Christ. Your eternity is secure, because he holds your eternity in his hand has declared it so. Your life, whatever you will face, is now bound up in the reality of the resurrection. And on that day when you take your last breath, if your faith is in Christ, you will breathe anew on the other side, where with physical eyes you will behold the center of your faith, Christ himself. This is what we celebrate on Easter, nothing less!