The Great Plot Twist - Easter

Welcome

Well, good morning Lifepoint!

Happy Easter, everyone! For almost 2,000 years, Followers of Jesus have had a special greeting for one another on Easter Sunday—a call and response of He is Risen—He is risen indeed. Let’s put that in to practice today!

He is Risen!

Wait for response

If we haven’t met yet, my name is Dan and I serve as the teaching pastor for our Worthington campus! I’m glad you are with us this morning to celebrate what we believe is the single most important moment in human history! The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead! In many ways, Easters celebrates the pinnacle moment of the Christian story and is in fact the very reason why we believe we have anything to celebrate as followers of Jesus at all!

Of course, we actually talk about this every week; because what we see in the Bible is that if there was no resurrection of Jesus from the dead, then we are wasting our time here! If there is no resurrection, then we have constructed a whole system of beliefs and practices that really has no power to do anything but keep us unnecessarily busy! Of course, if Jesus really has been Resurrected—brought back to life from the dead—then this...changes…everything! More important for our time today, it is the Resurrection that changes how we see everything around us.

Introduction

M. Night Shyamalan is a world renown movie producer. He has worked on some of the classics that even if you haven’t watched them yourself, you’ve heard of them. Signs, The Village, or his most popular film, The Sixth Sense…a movie which has been identified by American Film Institute as one top 100 movies of all time.

But the thing M Night Shyamalan is most known for is his ability to throw in these incredible plot twists at the end of the movie that are so powerful, that you will never see the movie the same way again.

Take the Sixth Sense, for example. You watch this movie, and you’re left with this feeling of how did I not see that coming?! How did I miss that? Because all of the details for the plot twist are right in front of you the whole time. They are hiding in plain sight…you just didn’t recognize them for what they were. It’s not until you get the final key that you can make sense of them. The plot twist gives you this perspective to recognize that those details were infused with a profound meaning! And, again, you’ll never rewatch his movies same way twice, right? Like you cannot not see those details for what they really point to.

But the reason I’m bringing this up is because, in some ways, the story of Easter is a plot twist.

And what we’re going to see is that it’s a plot twist that makes sense of Jesus’ own words and it makes sense of the whole Old Testament. But it’s not just a plot twist in some ancient story that we read about in the Bible, it is the plot twist in each one of our stories, perhaps in ways we’ve never ever considered before. And my hope is that we walk away seeing that the story of Easter and the resurrection is so much more than just a story…but that, if true, meets us at every point in our lives, even the most painful ones we struggle to understand, and forever alters the way we see those experiences.

So, if you’re not there yet, open with me to Luke 24. Luke 24 and we’re going to cover the whole chapter today. And here’s how we’re going to spend out time today. We’ll look first at the plot twist of the resurrection and \ then we’ll look at our stories and the resurrection.

Let me pray, and then we’ll get started.

PRAY

The Resurrection Plot Twist for Jesus’ Words

Alright, let’s get started. Look with me at Luke 24, stating at v.1 (Luke 24:1). This is where we see the first experience of the Resurrection Plot Twist.

Luke 24:1 ESV

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

This is the third day since Jesus was brutally executed by the Roman government. His body was placed in a tomb, but because it was the Sabbath, a day set aside for rest, nothing was done with Jesus’ lifeless body.

But on the morning of the third day, a group of women who had been following Jesus for a while are the first to take care of his body.

And that’s an interesting detail.

Because what it tells us is that even among some of his closest followers, these women expected to find a body. They watched him die. They had seen his corpse taken down from a cross.

Look at v. 2 (Luke 24:2-3).

Luke 24:2–4 ESV

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 …They were perplexed about this…

And I love how Luke describes their reaction.

He says, they were ‘perplexed’. It’s an interesting word for him to choose. In the original language of the NT, Greek, not English, it’s a word that means something like suspicious. And I think that’s a very real response; one that we could all resonate with.

See, this small group of women, just like rest of Jesus’ followers had a whole set of expectations for what Jesus was going to do. They understood that he was the Messiah, the one the Old Testament had been talking about—He was supposed to liberate God’s people from Roman rule…he was supposed to be THE king who would set the world right.

But now…they’ve going to his body…and they can’t find it.

They don’t know who took it. They don’t know why it’s gone. They don’t know what happened. They don’t even get why everything has gone down the way it did.

And then, in the midst of all their questions and suspicions, they encounter two men, Luke says they’re angels, who begin to explain what’s going on.

Look at the end of v. 5 (Luke 24:5-7).

Luke 24:5–7 (ESV)

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

These angels point out they shouldn’t be surprised by any of this…there’s no need to be suspicious! In fact, what happened is exactly what Jesus Had told them would happen!

And they’re right. Jesus had made it abundantly clear what was going to happen to him. He told them point blank several times. Let me give you a few examples:

Luke 9:22 ESV

22 “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.”

Luke 18:32–33 ESV

32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”

And is several other places, in Jesus’ own words, he explained to his followers what was going to happen to him…you can’t really find details hiding in more plain sight than that.

And they didn’t get it.

Not until these angels who are standing out side the empty tomb remind them of what he said that it’s like the lights are turned on for what Jesus really meant by all this.

It’s the resurrection plot twist that makes sense of Jesus’ words for his followers. And if you think about it, so much of what Jesus talked about really doesn’t make much sense outside the the resurrection, right?

I mean you think about some of Jesus most famous words in the Sermon on the Mount, about loving thy neighbor…or blessed are you when they persecute you…expand…I mean if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, then everything he ever said is just advice and a lot of it is not even very good advice by itself. Honestly, what’s the value in living for anyone else other than yourself.

But because of the Resurrection…you see that this is so much more than just advice! Because of the Resurrection you are actually empowered to love your neighbor, because you see that Jesus first loved you as neighbor so sacrificially that He gave his life for you!

It is the plot twist of the resurrection that makes sense of Jesus’ own words.

And right after the Angels explain all this to this group of women, they get it. He has risen. The tomb is empty because there is no body! Look at v. 8 (Luke 24:8-9)

Luke 24:8–9 ESV

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.

The Resurrection Plot Twist for Israel’s Story

But it’s not just that, the resurrection plot twist actually makes sense of the whole Old Testament story. So much so that it’s not possible to fully understand the Old Testament apart from the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Without the plot twist, the Old Testament may drop some wisdom…but at the end of the day its just outdated book.

Let me show you what I mean. Look with me at v. 13 (Luke 24:13-14)

Luke 24:13–14 ESV

13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

The news of Jesus’ execution was everywhere. It was public, it took place on a holiday weekend and these two men who had been following Jesus are traveling back to what was probably their home town. And while they’re walking, someone joins and and starts talking with them.

They don’t realize it’s actually the Resurrected Jesus…v. 16 says they didn’t recognize him.

And they explain to him, again not know that they’re actually talking to Jesus, that they had been following this “prophet” but that he had been convicted by the courts and crucified. That they had hoped he would redeem Israel, but that it had been three days since he died and it looked like it was all over.

They had hopes and dreams about what Jesus was going to do, but from their perspective, it turned out he was just revolutionary. He got a following, made some promises…but ultimately, it looks like he was a fraud.

But look at Jesus’ response to them, v. 25 (Luke 24:25-27).

Luke 24:25–27 ESV

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

It’s all the stuff that they missed. The details hiding in plain sight were in the whole Old Testament story that these two guys, and really all the people of Israel at the time had missed!

Jesus is showing them that the Old Testament story was pointing forward to what had just happened in the preceeding days! That Jesus was not a failure but the fulfillment!

He could have gone to passages like Genesis 3 and show them there was coming one who would one day crush the head of the head of the serpent in the garden.

Or Isaiah 53, the great prophet who spoke of a suffering servant would be crushed and killed on behalf of the people.

He would have gone to Psalm 111 that spoke of this same promised servant who would then be seated by the Father’s side.

And so many others, showing that Jesus death and the claims of his resurrection were not just fairy tales…they were really the whole point of the story itself! It was all building up to Him and his life, death, and resurrection!

And these men, are walking, talking, and listening to what Jesus has to say without realizing who’s actually in front of them…not until they are seated, having a meal together. Look at v. 31 (Luke 24:31-32).

Luke 24:31–32 ESV

31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

You see, it’s when they recognize the resurrected Jesus…that they are awakened to the full story of the Old Testament, that they see it for what it actually is point to…that they see it’s telling the story of Jesus and pointing to his life, death, and resurrection. And in that light, they now see that the OT is not just a creating rules for people to follow, but is articulating a whole worldview, it’s beautiful masterpiece of human tragedy and redemption…a story with longings for and expectations of a world in need and a world made right.

More than that, it is the resurrection that shows the Old Testament story to be a true story! One, that today, is filled with mystery and wonder…not dry and empty but living and active. A story that does not, in fact, cannot fully make sense outside the resurrection of Jesus. This is the plot twist that changes everything.

And again, just like with the M Night Shyamalan movies, you can’t read this book the same way twice. The resurrection plot twist makes sense not just of Jesus’ own words, but of the entire Old Testament.

The Resurrection Plot Twist for Our Experience

Now, I can get excited about that stuff—but I think the question that many of us have is simply this…does the Resurrection have anything to do with me? Does it have any impact on my life now?

And yet, I think there are details hiding in plain sight in our own lives—things that seem to be embedded deep within our cultural and even common to all humanity. Friends, on Easter Sunday, what we need to see is that this plot twist makes sense of our own stories…it makes sense of the things that we experience in this life.

Justice

Think about the last several year and everything that’s been going on in our country, from marches, rallies, protests, and riots in every major city. Justice is the word that has come to the forefront for everybody across age, race, religion. Now we can sit here and have a conversation about what is just…what true justice looks like…and I’m sure we’d have different ideas thrown around here.

But, when you pause for a moment, I think the universal cry for justice that is common to all people points to the undeniable truth that deep down, we instinctively know and believe that there is a way the world is supposed to be. There is a right and wrong. We all crave a world made right.

Do you see that it is the reality of the resurrection, this plot twist that brings true meaning for this cry! The resurrection shows us the longing for justice is good and right because there is a God who is good, right, and true. There is a God who, in Christ, is making the world right. The God of the bible is not one who is absent and removed from evil in this world—sitting back and letting happen whatever happens. No!

What we actually see in the scriptures is that evil is not simply a problem with them and others, but it is a personal problem. The bible teaches us that none of us have lived the way God has created us to live. We have all fallen short of His standard. We are all part of the problem. But Easter is the story of how God, in the person of Jesus has stepped down into the world he created to take on evil once and for all! That he lovingly and willingly took our evil…our injustice…our brokenness and sin on himself…being counted guilty in our place…and was crucified, nailed to a cross on our behalf. It’s on the cross where we see God’s first response to injustice—that it demands death. And yet we also see HIS great love and that he does not demand OUR death.

As Jesus rose again from the dead so that those who put their trust in him…who pledge their allegiance to Him and Him alone…would receive the gift of new, everlasting life. So that now, as God’s people, we would be those who, as Jesus said, truly hunger and thirst for Justice…because we know it is a longing that WILL be satisfied!

See, this resurrection plot twist shows us our desire for justice points to the God OF Justice! The resurrection makes sense of why we have the longing at all! And more than that, it shows that this longing will one day be satisfied!

Suffering

Or think of the common experience of suffering and pain; what all of us will experience at some point in our lives…what many of us are far too aquatinted with even now.

What holds us together, even in some of the worst moments of our lives is even the faint hope that somehow...someway...something will pull through for us. Hope sustains us—it carries us through some of the darkest seasons of life.

And yet, it just may be that hope itself is one of those details hiding in plain sight…that the mere experience of hope may be pointing to something far greater and truer than we have realized. And it is the Resurrection Plot twist causes us to see this!

Friends, this is why Christians suffer differently. Because there is a palpable hope; a hope that by faith in the person and work of Jesus, this is not the only life. That what we experience right now is not the end all be all, the sum total of our existence.

The Christian faith does not promise a life free from pain…nor even an explanation of the pain. But because of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, it does promise is a real, tangible, living hope through the pain! The Resurrection shows us that, in Jesus, there is life after death. That death does not have the final word, it is not the end.

Conclusion

If you are here today and you are not a follower of Jesus, what I want you to see is that there are details, hiding in plain sight in your experience, that are eager to tell you a better story. They are eager to show there is more to life. That your desire for Justice exists because there is a God OF Justice who has put there…and that in Jesus, that desire can and one day will be perfectly satisfied. That, in any experience of suffering, you can have real hope because there is a God of Hope who has created you with the capacity to hope!

It is the resurrection plot twist that helps us see that these desires, and so many more, are good, real, and true because the one who put them there is good, real and true! And so I urge you, today, that by placing your faith in Jesus, this can be the day your eyes are opened and you see everything differently.

I think author and Philosopher, C.S. Lewis, who himself started as an Atheist and Skeptic of Christianity, has put it best when he wrote:

I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun. Not because I can see it, but by it, I can see everything else.

The resurrection plot twist leads us to see everything different…and you cannot live the same way as before…you cannot unsee what this plot twist reveals.

Friends, on Easter Sunday, we celebrate the greatest plot twist…that not even M Night Shyamalan himself could top. We celebrate the reality of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. An event that radically alters the way we see and engage in the world around us…it shows the details hiding in plain sight…it is the Resurrection that makes sense of Jesus’ own words, the Old Testament story, and even our own stories. The Resurrection is the Great Plot Twist.

Let’s pray.