Resurrection Sunday 2025

Bottom line

It is time to get moving!

Opening Line

What happens to a vehicle if you let it sit for too long?

interaction

Introduction

Inevitably, the battery dies, right? If you let it sit outside in the cold, the battery dies quicker. But regardless of the conditions, your battery will die.

I just went through this recently. Michelle came back from Saskatoon a while back, and upon arrival we tried to open the garage door. We discovered that the spring had snapped, and that door was no longer opening. So behind the broken garage sat my truck. So my truck sat, and it sat, and it sat.

Recently, dad came over and got the door fixed with a spare spring he had in the trailer, and we were able to get the truck out. Small problem: When I went to start the truck, there was nothing.

Now I assumed that it was a bad battery, and I was in the process of pulling out the battery when, once again, my dad came to the rescue and suggested we try boosting it first. So, after clearing a path in my garage, in came the van and the booster cables. Sure enough, after no time at all, the truck fired up and hasn’t skipped a beat since. Which is good because the day after we got it boosted, Michelle took off with the truck to her retreat, and it would not have been good if the truck died on that trip.

Main Point

The reason I start with this story is that I wonder how many people fall into the same category as my truck. Whether we are talking about life or faith, the reality is that you’ve been sitting in one spot for a really long time, and it doesn’t seem like you’ll ever get moving again. It might feel like you need a complete overhaul of your life, but I want to suggest that maybe you just need a spark.

Why it matters

If that is you this morning, and I believe that describes more people than you realize, I’m glad that you are here, because I have good news for you. The same way that the Holy Spirit breathed life back into Jesus, Jesus wants to breathe new life into you. Whatever it is that caused you to stop moving, and we are going to look at a few of those this morning, that thing doesn’t have the final word. Jesus has the final word, and because he is alive and sitting at the right hand of the father, he wants to take that thing away, and replace it with life.

The uncomfortable truth about life is that the longer you remain stationary, the more it is going to take to get moving again. It is the difference between a truck that sat too long and the battery died, and a truck that sat long enough that there’s more rust than truck left. But good news, if you feel like the rusty truck, Jesus can still get you up and running, even no one else could.

Scripture

This morning we are in John 20. I want to read the whole chapter this morning, and you are going to hear 5 different stories unpacked over the course of the morning. We read John’s account of the Triumphal Entry, so it only felt fitting to read the resurrection story from John.

Story #1: The Empty Tomb

John 20:1–10 NLT

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home.

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Now I want to start off by inviting you to insert yourself into the story, but not as a 21st century Christian, but a first century Jew. See it is easy for you who knows what happens next to look down on the disciples and their foolishness. Jesus told them repeatedly that he would come back from the dead, but they still didn’t believe. In fact, the disciples often had trouble understanding Jesus’ teaching, and it was only after the resurrection that things started to make sense.

The reason that you can understand scripture so easily and the disciples have such a hard time is because of the Holy Spirit. See Jesus said that until he left, aka ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit couldn’t come. After he ascended, the Holy Spirit became available to everyone. I believe that it is easy to take for granted how intuitive the Bible seems, forgetting that it is the Holy Spirit working in us that makes it intuitive.

This is also why you will have trouble explaining matters of faith to an unbeliever. 2 Cor 4:4

2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

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Due to Satan’s influence and the consequence of sin, an unbeliever will struggle to understand the things of God. Spiritual matters simply will not make sense to unspiritual people. Remember, even the disciples who lived with Jesus for three years had trouble understanding. Do not assume that just because you come to church that you understand what is going on. It takes an intentional commitment to Jesus, followed by the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

So Mary and the disciples assume that Jesus’ body has been taken away...

Story #2: Jesus and Mary

John 20:11–18 NLT

Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

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So the guys pick up, go home, and leave poor Mary behind. The woman is not only mourning the death of her Lord and teacher, but now she doesn’t even know where the body is so she can go visit. She has this encounter with the angels, but like most encounters with angels, it just seems to confuse her. I imagine that after she pokes her head in the tomb, she falls to her knees in grief. She is so overcome with grief that she doesn’t even recognize Jesus’ voice when he comes up behind her and speaks to her. It is only after he calls her by name does she respond.

How does Mary respond? How would you respond if someone you thought was dead turned up behind you very much alive?

interaction

She runs up and hugs him. The emotions that Mary is no doubt experiencing are all over the map. So she runs up, wraps her arms around Jesus, and probably wants to stay in this moment. Everything was wrong in the world, and now everything is right.

But Jesus tells her that she can’t stay in this moment, but she needs to get moving. Now that may seem harsh and abrupt, but I want you to see just how beautiful it actually is. In a way that only Jesus can, he meets Mary in her hurt, takes her mourning, and replaces it with mission: she needs to go to the disciples because he has a message for them. So she gets up and goes.

Resurrection Sunday is a reminder for those of you that are in a season of mourning. Maybe something happened recently, or maybe you are still grieving something that happened a while ago. The devil wants you to stay in that posture of mourning because it is hard to move when your hurting like that. But Jesus wants to take your mourning, and replace it with his healing, and get you back on mission.

Story #3: Jesus and the Disciples

John 20:19–23 NLT

That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

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The disciples are hiding from the Jews, and for good reason. If the religious leaders were willing to kill Jesus, how far would they be willing to go to snuff out all that Jesus stood for? Not only that, Peter and John have probably told them that Jesus’ body is missing, and despite Mary’s message to them, they are no doubt worried that they will be blamed and punished for this. The other little fact you need to remember is that in Matthew’s account of the resurrection, he said a detail of Roman guards were watching the tomb, and when the ladies came, they were all playing dead out of fear. That will not go well if the disciples are blamed for taking out the guards.

Then Jesus appears in their midst. He doesn’t call them out for hiding. He doesn’t voice any kind of disapproval. Jesus comes to them in their fear, and he offers peace. The same peace that Jesus, the prince of peace, exhibited to the world in the midst of his arrest and trial.

I believe that some of you have stopped pursuing your mission because like the disciples, you are afraid. You are afraid of what people might do or say if you lived out your faith. You are afraid to lose your friends if you take a stand against immoral behavior. The list goes on and on but the heart of the matter is that fear has snuck in. Like the disciples, Jesus wants to take that fear away and replace it with his perfect peace, fueled by the deep well of love that Jesus has for you.

If you continue into Acts, you see the Apostles living in peace. No matter what trial came, no matter what prison they were thrown into, they faced it head on with an unshakable peace. The same is available to you. Jesus wants to take your fear, and give you his perfect peace.

Story #4: Jesus and Thomas

John 20:24–29 NLT

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

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The church has historically ragged on Thomas for his doubting in this moment. Recently, the church has lightened up, acknowledging that if we were in a similar situation and missed the appearing of Jesus, I would want some proof too. When Jesus does arrive, he doesn’t scold Thomas for doubting, or take the opportunity for the teaching moment. He simply accommodates Thomas, showing his hands and side. Like the disciples before him, Jesus meets Thomas in his doubts and questions and offers him proof and answers.

I believe that the church has presented a version of faith that leaves no room for doubt. It is almost as if we think God is afraid of the questions that might surface out of doubt, or he is afraid of the answers that might come about. The reality is that God is not afraid of your doubts or questions; he welcomes them because they are an opportunity for growth and understanding. I believe that sometimes it is the leaders and elders of the church that are afraid of questions because the answers might no fit in the boxes they want them to fit in. I’ll include myself in that category. I’m starting to realize that life and faith is not always neat and tidy, and sometimes it the mess that scares, all the while God sees the beauty in it.

Thomas comes to Jesus with questions, and Jesus gives him answers.

Transition to Application

Story #5:

John 20:30–31 NLT

The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

Story #5: Your Story

The final story that we are going to look at is the one still being written. It is your story. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but at some point in your life, you will experience pain, fear, and doubt. You will. When you experience these things, you will want to stop moving, and you probably will. The same way you don’t move your arm after you break it, you will want to stop moving in life when you hurt emotionally and psychologically. I believe that some, if not most of you, are in a space where you’re not moving. There was a time when you were active in your community, your work, or your church, but something happened, and it has caused you to stop. I would dare say that you’ve been stopped for so long that it is almost too embarrassing or hard to get going again.

The good news of Resurrection Sunday is that the same way that Jesus conquered sin and death, he has conquered the thing that is holding you back as well.

Main To Do

So here is what you need to do, and I want you to do it now. Not later in the week because I know you, you will forget to do it later.

Jesus is here, and he wants to meet you where you are. You don’t have to come up with any answers or solutions, you simply need to meet with him in this moment. Then I need you to give Jesus whatever it is that has been holding you back. It might be your fear, it might be pain or guilt, you might have doubts, or it might be something else. If there is something that has caused you stop moving in life, you need to give it to Jesus so that he can replace it with something that gives life.

Why it matters

If you are willing to do that, you will discover the life and mission that Jesus has called you to. The same way that Jesus took the disciple’s fear, replaced it with peace, and they went on to change the world. The same way Jesus took Thomas’ doubts, replaced them with answers, and Thomas went on to change the world in Asia. Jesus wants to take your thing, and replace it with life and mission.

If you don’t give up your thing, it will become harder and harder to let it go, and it will take more then a boost to get you going. It will hard an entire overhaul and it will be unpleasant. The thing that you need to understand is that your fear, your doubts, your pain; if you don’t give them to Jesus, they will slowly but surely sap your life away.

Closing Line

This morning, the risen and ascended Jesus wants to meet with you and give you a spiritual boost. What are you waiting for?

Discussion Questions

What stood out from the message?

How can you identify areas in your life where you feel stagnant or unmotivated?

What practices can you implement to stay spiritually active and avoid becoming 'rusty' in your faith?

What 'spark' do you think you need from Jesus to help you start moving again?

In what ways has fear held you back from pursuing your mission or calling?

How can you apply the story of Mary Magdalene to your own experiences of grief or loss?

How can you relate to the feeling of being 'stuck' in your life or faith?

What 'boost' do you think Jesus wants to give you to help you move forward?

How can the example of Jesus offering peace to the disciples help you handle your own fears?

What does it mean to you that Jesus welcomed Thomas’ questions and doubts?

How can you apply the resurrection story to encourage a friend who feels discouraged or stuck?