Look Into Easter

ANNIVERSARY TODAY!

Easter Sunday, March 31, 1952 - 72 years ago

Introduction

Cool story, bro.

We do not have the right to make up reality.

Any skeptics in the house today?

How do you respond when you hear something that sounds incredible?

People respond in different ways:

disbelief, indifference, defensiveness, or . . . belief.

ILLUST - popular conspiracy theories??

We’ve been following the life of Peter, one of Jesus’ closest followers.

We’ve seen how the major events in the life and ministry of Jesus affected Peter and shaped him - really, transformed him from a fisherman to a leader in the church who would die for Jesus.

1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they [the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee] went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

They fully expected to find a body.

There was no expectation that Jesus would be resurrected.

The ancient Jews believed in a resurrection at the end of the age but had no understanding of bodily resurrection in this age.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Intertestamental Views)

At the time of Jesus, the Sadducees believed that only the Torah was authoritative and denied the resurrection, which was not explicitly taught there. Thus, they opposed the Pharisees (compare Matt 22:23; Acts 24:20–21). The Essenes affirmed an immortality of the soul akin to Greek notions of the soul’s release from the fleshly body (Josephus, Jewish War 8, 11).

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.”

Two men = two angels

They give the explanation as to why there was no body. Jesus is risen!

8 And they remembered his words,

Talk about an AHA moment!

Luke 9:22 (ESV)

22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

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,

Mary Magdalene = Jesus cast seven demons out of her. She was one of Jesus’ followers throughout his ministry. She was at the foot of the cross and there when Jesus was buried.

They run back to tell the disciples that Jesus is risen from the dead.

How did the disciples respond? “No way!” “I knew it!” “I remember what Jesus wrote to us in Luke 9:22!” Nope. They thought the women were crazy, believing some conspiracy theory.

11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

Don’t miss this: The first skeptics of the resurrection were Jesus’ disciples!!

No, we had a good run but he didn’t turn out to be who we thought.

Following Jesus didn’t turn out the way I expected.

Following Jesus didn’t turn out to be a win for me.

I’m actually worse off then when I started this journey.

We thought all those things we saw were miracles but we must have been mistaken.

*Can you identify with any of those sentiments?

IF SO, IT’S TIME TO LOOK INTO EASTER!

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.

BUT = de, connective not contrasting.

Peter did something different than the rest. What did he do?

Rose and ran. . . Stooped and looked. . . went home marveling.

Rose & Ran

Peter had some urgency.

His life had hit bottom. Things were looking bad

The last time he had seen Jesus, it was right after he swore he never knew him.

BUT, if it is true, than this changes everything!

IF Jesus is alive then I can have a relationship with him!

IF Jesus did rise from the dead, then what he said, everything he said, is TRUE!

IF Jesus is alive, then my life is not over, I can have real meaning and purpose. There is HOPE!

The same is true for us!

I have no real urgency to:

Find Amelia Earhart’s plane

Catch Bigfoot

Discover who created Stonehenge

Find Lochness monster

While these may be interesting and cool to know, they have little effect on my life.

IF it is true that Jesus rose from the dead, then this changes everything!

1 Corinthians 15:17–19 (ESV)

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

If it’s true, I want to know.

Illust - if aliens are real I need to make a tinfoil hat. (That’ll be the instagram story of my message for sure)

Peter recognized this urgency so he. . .

We are not told how far Peter was from the tomb where Jesus had been, but I imagine it was enough time for him to wonder what happened? - To ask some of the same questions people today ask when thinking about Jesus’ empty tomb:

Maybe the women went to the wrong tomb.

It happens. They went to the wrong tomb and found that one empty.

No, the women were there when Jesus was put into the tomb so they would certainly know which one to go to. Besides, my first reaction would be that I had gone to the wrong tomb

ILLUST - It would be similar to thinking your spouse is in one room and you go to look and don’t find them there, and being convinced that aliens had beamed them up.

Maybe Jesus never really died.

I mean, to be fair, I never really saw him on the cross or being placed in the tomb. True, I was hiding, but maybe didn’t really die.

No, Joanne and the Marys WERE there. They saw Jesus on the cross, and they saw him in the tomb. They would have known if Jesus wasn’t dead.

Illust - I cant walk on a lego without screaming like a girl and limping for a week, and somehow we are supposed to believe that Jesus walked several miles with holes in his feet. 

Besides, the Romans know what they are doing - they were experts at death. There has never been a case of crucifixion where someone made it through.

Maybe the women hallucinated the angels.

I know how tough this is on all of us. Perhaps they dreamed an angel just to make themselves feel better or help us to all look good.

No, I could understand if ONE of them had a hallucination, but three or more? that would almost impossible.

ILUST - guy with religious experience of flying around a stadium of people. I asked what was happening at the time — He told me he was at a Grateful Dead concert and had just dropped acid. Maybe the acid had more to do with the experience than Jesus! BUT if there were ten more who also saw the same thing I’d still be concerned but I might listen.

Maybe someone stole the body.

Well, I know it wasn’t any one of us — the disciples — I’ve been with them these past several days. I know it wasn’t the women — they took spices fully expecting to find Jesus’ body.

Besides, why would anyone steal the body and make up a story that Jesus rose from the dead?! As far as I know, the Messiah is not even supposed to die the way Jesus did, let alone rise from the dead. Although, it is starting to make sense with some of what Jesus had told us, but I never would have pieced that together then.

One top of all this, the Romans were guarding the tomb. There is no way we could steal the body without them knowing.

Stooped & Looked

Peter stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves;

Peter examined the tomb - He didn’t look like your children look for things - he noticed details.

He wanted to know if Jesus really did rise from the dead because if he did, then it changes everything.

I want to encourage you to do the same. LOOK INTO EASTER.

Go ahead and ask the tough questions, Jesus is big enough to handle them. But do it honestly.

LOOK INTO EASTER.

Don’t come to church only because your spouse is bugging you / it’s an empty tradition / you’re hoping church attendance will gain you points with God.

Come to church because your convinced Jesus is ALIVE

What WOULD it take for you to believe Jesus rose from the dead?

What would it take for you to live like it is true? What would change?

LOOK INTO EASTER.

and you’ll need to make sense of at least six facts about which everyone (who is honest agrees) - Even atheist scholars!

A man named Jesus of Nazareth lived in the first century AD and died by crucifixion at the hands of Roman officials.

No one argues this point.

(It’s not as though the ancients did not understand science. The reason Joseph was worried when he learned of Mary’s pregnancy was not because he did not know where babies came from but because he did. )

The disciples claimed to have seen what they believe was the risen Jesus.

The lives of Jesus’ followers were transformed to the point of being willing to die for the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.

It is conceivable that someone might die for what they believe to be true, but inconceivable that someone would die for what they know to be a lie.

The resurrection message was taught very early.

Many believe even the same year Jesus died.

We have external evidence of these statements and creeds.

This is way too early for legends and myths to develop. The very people who could (and would want to!) refute the disciples message if it was a lie would still be around.

Joanna was one of the women who saw the empty tomb and heard the angel’s message. She was also the wife of Chuza, who was Herod’s household manager (which means Herod would likely receive the news pretty quickly)

The conversion of skeptics such as Paul and James the brother of Jesus give evidence that what changed their mind was actually true.

“Your brother is the son of god.” What’s your reaction? Yeah right!

These men had every reason to NOT believe and yet they were willing to even die for their belief that Jesus was the Son of God and that he died and rose again.

Remember, EVERY disciple was a skeptic to start.

[Peter] went home marveling at what had happened.

Marveled

Peter’s marveling was not “wondering.”

All throughout the Gospels this word is used to describe people who were thinking about the implications of a fact — oftentimes the fact of a miracle.

Matthew 8 the disciples marveled when Jesus stilled the wind and the waves

Later in Matthew the disciples marveled when Jesus caused a fig tree to wither right in front of them.

Luke 9 people marveled when Jesus cast a demon from a young boy

Marveling doesn’t mean Peter (or you or I) do not still have questions:

What did the angels look like?

What was Jesus wearing when he came out of the tomb?

Did he say anything to the guards?

Did the guards wet their pants?

Marveling means you have enough evidence to make a reasonable conclusion that will guide your next steps.

Peter was convinced before he ever saw the risen Jesus!

The empty tomb was enough.

We do not need to see Jesus with our physical eyes to believe he rose from the dead.

If you are making excuses to not believe in light of this evidence, then you will always look for and find excuses.

And Peter knows THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!

(16 min)

Since JESUS REALLY DID RISE FROM THE DEAD THEN IT:

Proves we are not idiots!

1 Corinthians 15:14–19 (ESV)

14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Church family, we need to not be shy about living as people who believe the Bible is actually true!

We need to live like we believe Jesus has given us new life.

We need to not be ashamed to say there is a God. Jesus was fully God and fully man. Jesus lived and died and rose again. There is an afterlife - a heaven and a hell. There are ways to live that are good

We need to live like Jesus is ALIVE! WE can do so without being jerks, but we need to do so without being wimps.

WE need gracious grit. Bold humility.

Parents, our kids are watching us.

We need to live as though the resurrection is more than a story they hear in their Sunday School classes.

It’s not a story - it’s HISTORY!

Proves you can be changed.

What is a bigger change than dead to life?

Perhaps changing from Democrat to Republican or vice versa?

Romans 6:4 (ESV)

4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Where do you need newness of life?

anxiety, depression, anger, lust, unforgiveness, addiction - these are all effects of sin. Jesus broke the power of sin on the cross and gave victory through the resurrection.

Jesus died for our sin and to redeem the world from the effects of sin. WE will realize this fully when Jesus returns, but the reality is NOW and the process of all the sad things becoming untrue begins now.

Jesus defeated death and sin not that we would go through our days like dying sinners but that we might go though life living a hopeful victory!

Good Friday is good, but Sunday is great!

ILLUST - cop wants to give you a ticket for a broken taillight but doesn’t - good. Instead, he gives you a brand new car - victory!

Romans 6:11 (ESV)

11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Anchors your hope in the future.

If you are guaranteed to never die, what would you NOT attempt?

Drive a car on a racetrack as fast as I could.

Swim with sharks.

I would jump out of an airplane with no parachute.

Run with scissors.

I would be bolder.

Christ’s resurrection guarantees our eternal life, why do we find it so hard to live like it?

We act as if the difficulties of this life will always affect us. Or that they are somehow the most important.

20 times in NT - we will be raised

Romans 8:11 (ESV)

11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Rom 8:11 He will change our soma to be like his soma not nouma

Recent survey of atheists 30% believe in afterlife (habermas)

(Gives Jesus authority in and over your life)

This is probably the number one arguments against the truth of the resurrection of Jesus. It’s rarely said out loud.

IF Jesus rose from the dead, then he is who he said he is and EVERYTHING he said is true. Including:

No one can serve two masters

No one comes to God except through trust in him

Following Jesus means denying ourselves and taking up our own cross

“The evidence for Jesus' resurrection is so strong that

nobody would question it except for two things: First, it is a very

unusual event. And second, if you believe it happened, you have to

change the way you live.”—Wolfhart Pannenberg

Conclusion

As we see from Peter’s story,

There are enough reasons to we should look into Easter.

The empty tomb is enough to believe the resurrection.

It is not enough to hear about the resurrection, you must respond to the resurrection.

ILLUST - kids can ignore the obvious. Dishes, homework, trash, shoes by the door (8 people in the house with AT LEAST 1 pair of shoes by the door is at least 16 shoes just to get in the house!), etc.

There was a period of time when Peter (and the other disciples) were living as though they were alone even though Jesus had already risen!

Don’t go one more day living as though you are alone, that Jesus is not real AND ALIVE. It’s not just a cool story, IT CHANGES EVERYTHING!

It is time to be bold in your belief that Jesus is ALIVE!

It is time to accept and believe that Jesus died and rose again for you.

It is time to start living as thought Jesus IS alive - there is victory! There is hope no matter what this world throws at you!