Easter Sunday 2024

INTRO

BODY

20 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.

This Mary Magdalene is someone that is very important in our story today. And if you are unfamiliar with her, she is one of Jesus’ disciples that he cast out seven demons out of. So, in case you don’t know, if you had seven demons in you, you were living a wild life. But Jesus changed that and she started to follow Him. She has walked with Jesus throughout his whole ministry and just saw him die on a cross. She loved Jesus. She cared deeply about who Jesus is. She was all in.

But now her whole world has come crashing down in multiple ways. She not only just lost her Lord and teacher, now she thinks someone has stolen the body! Someone has taken away the one who changed her life. So what does she do?

2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.

This facecloth is a very important piece of information for the disciples and for us. You see, if someone stole the body, as Mary, John, and Peter were thinking could have happened, then this face cloth would not be folded up. If you are stealing something, you don’t care what the scene looks like. You want to grab and go. You won’t take time to fold up some simple face cloth. Yet, there it laid, all neatly folded up, not lying with the linen cloths, but just on its own. The statement John wants you to feel in this statement is that Jesus was not stolen, there is something more going on.

8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.

Isn’t that interesting, they went back to their home. Since they didn’t understand what had happened, they are still in this tension and confusion, they just went home. See we can’t just make this an easter story guys, this is a bout real people that were completley confused and grieving that their friend, Lord, teached, and what they thought was the messiah, just died. They didn’t leave singing “Up from the grave he arose!” They didn’t start ministry. They just went home. This is important because that is where we meet Mary again, in this pain, confusion, and grief. She has come back to the tomb and is clearly upset as we can see in this text.

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 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.”

Okay, pause. Did you just hear what I read? Who is Mary talking to? Angels. And she is talking to them like they are old friends, there is no fear or kind of reverence or awe that they are angles like we see with other situations in the Bible. She is so full of grief and pain and tears that she can’t even see that there are angels in front of her.

Pain can do that to us, right? A difficult situation, a hard relationship, a frustrating doctor report, or whatever it is, we get blinders on. We are so consumed with the pain that we are experiencing we could be talking to angels and not even know it. We get sidelined by the hurt and the grief of this life. And while this pain and sorrow is real, because she still doesn’t know that Jesus is alive. She thinks people have stolen Jesus. And then something happens.

14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 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.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

If you were the God of the universe, who became a man, walked on the very earth you created, just suffered an incredibly crushing death and then rose from the dead, who would you reveal yourself to first? Wouldn’t it be the lead pharisees who just accused you of false things? Saying something like “Look at me sukas!” Wouldn’t it be the soldiers that beat you merciless? Don’t you want to show off your power to those who just mistreated you? But not Jesus. In all of his majesty of a resurrected God who defeated death, sin, and the grave, he gently shows up to a grieving woman in a garden. And how do you reveal yourself to her that you are alive? By speaking her name. Mary. So tender and gentle and showing that he knew her. And you know once she realized it she runs and clings to Jesus. Gives him the biggest hug ever. And then he says this.

17 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.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

I have seen the Lord. Can you imagine the smile on Mary’s face. Can you picture the joy that she had? I have seen the Lord, and i need to tell everyone I know that He is alive. And what Jesus did for Mary, I believe he wants to do for all of us today. You see this isn’t just a fun easter story, here at Living Rock, we believe that we folow a living God. That he is not some athereal God that stopped working a long time ago. He is still working, moving and changing people’s lives still today. And so for some of you, this may be new, for others this may be a review, but it is crucial to remember so that we can stay the course. So what is this resurrected Jesus doing today?

The Resurrected Jesus is…

1. Calling you by name

There is something powerful, intimate, and holy about knowing someones name. It takes them from, hey dude, to hey John. Hey Mike. You are speaking not to just their face, but to their soul. Jesus left his glory and took on flesh and walked among us. But didn’t just walk around flaunting his godliness, Go out into the crowd? He became one of us and was closer than a brother. Today he is calling you and I by name to remind us that he sees us in our pain, confusion and turmoil just like Mary was. See, he wasn’t there to make sure Mary had a perfect life after this, because she and the disciples didn’t. He showed her that he was alive and that was enough. He calls us by name to remind us that, despite being the God of resurrection power and glory and majesty, he knows us intimately and cares for us. Because he lives!

2. Restoring relationship with God the Father

“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.’ ”

This is the heartbeat of easter. This i why Jesus came. To take away your sins, my sins, and restore us back into a relationship with the father. We could not do it on our own, we tried to be our own God and our own father or tried to find it in other people or in other things. But nothing could work. So Jesus comes, perfect, innocent and blameless. Takes our sin and gives us His righteousness so that we can live in this loving relationship with God our father. It is what we were created for, to be in fellowship with God who loves us and cares for us. This is grace. If you have been wayward and not following Jesus, not walking in fellowship with God but walking in sin, hear the grace that is offered to you today. Because of nothing that you could do, Jesus came and did the work and you are invited in to this fellowship with God the father. He tells you to put aside everything that you are clinging to and to find your hope in him, your life in him, your joy in him. And if you are a believer here and you have lost sight of grace, maybe you have been striving or wondering does God still love me? Today the resurrected Jesus wants you to hear loud and clear, yes! Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Receive the invitation!

3.Commissions us

For those of you who have been called by name, and have this relationship with God the father through Jesus Christ. You know that he has given us His Spirit to walk in power and boldness to proclaim His name. And just like Mary, we are commissioned to tell others that we have seen the Lord. We have seen the Lord work in our lives, he has pulled us out of sin time and time again, he has provided time and time again.

What would your response be to how you have seen the Lord? I know we have believers who can testify. What would you say?

He is alive!

He has restored and made new things in our lives over and over. And today we get to see and hear how someone has seen the Lord recently. How he has resurrected her and wants to boldly proclaim it today in our gathering today.