The Hardest Part (5)

On the outside of the walls of ancient Jerusalem there was a place everyone knew about called Golgotha. They didn’t necessarily know about this place because it showed up on maps or in travel logs. It was a place of great shame; a landmark of fear that just happened to be located on one of the most travelled roads into the city. They knew about this place because it’s where the Roman Empire decided to carry out its most brutal form of execution, crucifixion.

Now the word golgotha is the Greek translation of an aramaic word gulgulta. The latin form of this is calvaria, which is translated into English as Calvary, but they all mean the same thing, which is “the place of the skull.” And there’s some debate about why it’s called this. Some references say it’s because the hillside looked like a skull from a distance, but what’s more likely is that it’s called this because it’s known as an execution site. This is a place where criminals met the end of their road at the hands of the Roman soldiers. It’s in this place that death was routine, so routine, in fact, that this is the reason why it’s called “the place of the skull.” It’s a place of great shame and humiliation, all of this orchestrated very intentionally by the Roman Empire.

Because for the Empire, crucifixion is not just a method of execution. It’s meant to instill terror into the people living under the occupation of the ruling government. And this method is reserved for those people society might consider “the lowest of the low.” Slaves, rebels, outsiders. And it’s meant to do more than just end someone’s life, it’s meant to send a message. The idea is to dehumanize the person being crucified as a way to stop others from also breaking the law. But more so…it’s meant to remind people who is in charge and that rebellion, in any way, will not be tolerated.

A dice game breaks out between some soldiers who were stationed near the area known as “the place of the skull.” The prize on the line was the clothing of some prisoners. Clothing that was being treated as the spoils of war. There are three men hanging on crosses this day, one of which is Jesus of Nazareth. And there’s a crowd gathered around and some of the leaders who have assembled there are mocking Jesus. “Well, if He truly is God’s Chosen One, and he’s been able to save so many others, why doesn’t he just save himself?” The soldiers who were there were also hurling insults his way, even going so far as to offer Him a drink of wine, knowing He was in no position to be able to drink it. They, too, mocked Him, hanging a sign above Him on the cross that said, “This is the King of the Jews.”

And if that wasn’t enough, one of the criminals hanging beside, a person who was about to die as well, started in on him. “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself–and us, too, while you’re at it!” The criminal on the other side of Jesus spoke up…”Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” And he asked Jesus to remember him when he came into His Kingdom…what he didn’t understand was that the Kingdom was already there, so Jesus assured him that it was in fact on that day that he would be with Him in paradise.

Then, the light from the sun vanished and darkness fell over the land. The curtain in the Temple was torn down the middle and Jesus shouted to God that He trusted that His spirit was in his hands. Then Jesus took His last breath.

Upon seeing this, The Roman official in charge of the execution of Jesus became convinced of Jesus’ innocence, dropped to His knees and worshiped the Lord…and the crowd that was gathered there started to disperse, experiencing a deep distress at the loss of Jesus. Pounding on their chests as they walked away. This was a sign of sorrow and mourning. This, again, is not what they expected. It wasn’t too long afterwards that some men arranged to take possession of Jesus' body, not something that was normally done in this circumstance. They prepared it for burial and placed it into a new tomb that had been carved out of rock. Darkness and confusion had set in for those close to Jesus who were holding onto the idea that He would come down off the cross and take His rightful place as their King.

But as the late pastor S.M. Lockridge said famously…It’s only Friday…but Sunday’s coming.

Our teaching passage today takes us today to John 20:11-18. This is the story of the resurrection seen primarily through the eyes of Mary Magdalene, who woke up early on Sunday morning and made her way to the tomb where Jesus was laid. When she gets there, she finds that the stone in front of the entryway has been rolled away from the entrance. She runs away from the tomb until she finds Simon Peter and, the other disciple…the one whom Jesus loved…that’s John, and she tells them what she thinks she saw when she says, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have put him!”

And Peter and John take off for the tomb to see what’s going on for themselves. This is one of my favorite parts of this story, because John, who’s writing this, thinks it’s necessary to let the reader know how fast he can run and it says this, “but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.” It’s kind of a weird flex in the midst of the most significant moment in human history, but hey, if I was fast I can’t guarantee I wouldn’t do the same thing.

Just a side note about this…what I really like about it is that it adds a uniquely human moment to the story. For me, it makes John’s account of this story all the more credible because he’s adding his own experience as context. And he keeps going with this thread because he goes on to say, “He stopped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside.” Almost saying, “Not only did I beat him to the tomb, but I didn’t wait for him to get there. I saw everything first.”

Then again in verse 8, he reminds us that he smoked Peter in a footrace saying, “Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed.” Alright, man. We get it. You’re faster than Peter…but did you hear that? “He saw and he believed.” Up until this point the disciples weren’t exactly sure how any of this was going to go down. This is the first time they start to understand the Scriptures indicated that Jesus must rise from the dead. And something that leads them to this way of thinking is the fact they see the linen wrappings laying there. If someone would’ve come to steal Jesus’ body from this tomb…why would they take the time to unwrap him first? He certainly wouldn’t be easier to carry that way. They would’ve just grabbed him up and hightailed it outta there. So for John, because of all this, he’s starting to believe that Jesus is alive. So he and Peter go home.

Mary must not have made it back by the time Peter and John left. So when she gets back, she’s still reluctant to go inside. And she’s standing outside of the tomb, weeping because she thinks someone has come and stolen the body of Jesus. But what Mary doesn’t understand quite yet is that this is not a moment for mourning. Her response of sorrow is unfounded. And at this moment she looks up and sees two angels dressed in the brightest white robes you can possibly imagine. The gospel of Matthew gives a little more detail about the angel who spoke to Mary, saying there was an earthquake and the angel sat on top of the stone that served as a door to the tomb. His face shined like lightning. The guards standing around the tomb shook with fear and they fainted. Then the angel, as they normally say in the bible, looks at Mary and says, “Do not be afraid.” Comforting her as all of this is happening. He continues by saying, “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. And I’m here to tell you He isn’t here…just as he said would happen, He has conquered death. Yes, in fact…He. Is. Risen.

At the heart of the gospel is the resurrection of Jesus—a moment that embodies one of the central messages of Christ: Hope. Because of Jesus, we have hope. Hope of a dignified life. Hope for restoration…that all things will be made new. Hope that suffering will end. Hope to be reunited with our Creator. Hope keeps us steady as it pulls us toward a future we can’t fully see yet. Think about how the people following Jesus felt on the day before his resurrection. They couldn’t see what was yet to come. But some of them held onto his promises just enough to go and take a look at what was going on at the tomb after he was placed inside. The promise of a new future was so badly needed that what looked like a sure ending for Jesus wasn’t still enough to completely destroy the yearning for redemption, for restoration, for a hope that refuses to die.

The brokenness of the world, of our bodies, of our institutions, or even of our relationships causes us to desire much more than what the world has to offer. And let’s be honest—we all have our Saturdays, don’t we? That in-between day, stuck between death on Friday and resurrection on Sunday. The day when nothing makes sense, and everything we were working towards just seems like it gets thrown out the window and all we can do is throw up our hands and say, “What is happening here?”

It’s tough living through those moments. But in those times, we have to remember—this isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. Jesus played the long game. His consistent call to faithfulness wasn’t just about surviving the moment, but about pointing us toward the unshakable hope found in His resurrection. The aching we feel for things to be better than they currently are and to experience what it feels like to live in the completeness that God wants for us is all tied to this moment. This is not “living your best life now” or a version of a prosperity gospel that serves only those at the top. This is about the deep, world-shaking hope that even in the face of death, injustice, and despair, God is not done. Resurrection is coming. Healing is possible. And Jesus is making all things new.

Here’s the deal, man…from an outsider's point of view, this is an insane story. We are a group of people who believe God embodied a man, called the Son of God, and that man died and came back to life to crush sin so that we could live without the fear of death through the promise of an eternal life. If this is true, and I believe it is…our response to this reality should not be passing or casual. It should be radical. Full stop. We should want to live out the teachings of Jesus with such conviction, such grace, so full of humility, compassion and empathy, with our hearts tuned towards justice, generosity, and equity in such a way that other people can’t help but lean in.

The access point to this generous gift requires nothing more of us than to accept what God is offering us through Jesus Christ. But hear this, the resurrection invites us not just to believe, but to walk in the way of Jesus—because that’s where its power truly comes alive. For those of us who have experienced a life changing encounter with Jesus, there is an invitation to follow Him down a path towards righteousness. Righteousness is one of those words that tends to carry a heavy burden. I think a lot of that comes from how modern religiosity has reduced it to moral performance or a pursuit of legal perfection. But I believe there’s a different way to understand righteousness—one that’s lighter, more relational, and deeply hopeful. And that matters, because it’s hard to get around the idea that the resurrection is tied to the idea of righteousness. And it’s good to examine this because the last thing we want to do is to live a life of checking spiritual boxes when the opportunity exists to walk in a deep, transformative relationship with Christ. The kind of relationship that can fuel our hope.

So let’s talk about that a little bit. I’ve got three things for us to consider when thinking about what it looks like to walk a path of righteousness:

Righteousness is relational.

Often when we think about the word righteousness, we are prone to think about walking a tightrope of faith. That we need to be perfect and very careful so that God doesn’t come get us. We’re not talking about the Boogeyman here. He’s not hiding under your bed waiting for you to fall asleep at night and He’s not going to jump out of your closet and scare you.

Here’s a little something I learned from the bible scholar, Tim Mackie. The Hebrew word that gets translated into righteousness has a far richer context than just being about morality. Ancient people reading the scriptures would have understood the concept of righteousness to be one of genuine connection to God, to people, and to their communities.

And the Hebrew word for righteousness would often be paired with the one that gets translated as justice. What’s really interesting about this is together they point to a vision of the world as it is meant to be. Where people treat each other with dignity, fairness, and compassion, especially amongst those who are vulnerable and marginalized.

This happens in numerous places throughout the Psalms and the Prophetic books of the Old Testament.

Check this out from Psalm 33:5 “The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.”

This is not a call to legalism. When Jesus came to earth He was ushering in a new covenant for us to live under. What we get in the bible, especially through the teachings of Jesus is an example of covenantal living. Or living in such a way that we honor our relationships with other people because we truly believe that God has woven us all together through Christ.

So we’re not just talking about avoiding doing what’s wrong, here. We’re talking about pursuing what is good and right for everyone. Seeking to make things as they were in the Garden. Remember, Jesus didn’t come preaching a message of moral superiority. He came and restored broken people. He healed fractured relationships. And He brought the Kingdom of Heaven to earth in the form of mercy, justice, and showing us what it looks like to love His people.

I have a second thing for us to consider and it’s this. Righteousness is a gift.

Maybe one of the hottest takes from the gospel message is that righteousness is not something that’s earned…it’s something we receive. The Apostle Paul talks about righteousness through faith in his letter to the Romans and he says this chapter 3 verse 22

“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

And this really upends typical thinking for some of us because basically what Paul is trying to convey in this chapter is righteousness is not something that can be earned by chasing moral superiority. It’s freely given because of what Jesus has done.

This is a shift from how many of us have learned to think about religion. It’s not, “Get your life together and then you belong.” It’s, “You’re already welcomed—now grow into that identity.” Following Jesus isn’t about climbing a moral ladder to reach God. It’s about receiving the grace of the One who came down to meet us right where we are.

And just real quick, I’ve got something for those of you who might be super bible nerds out there today. This whole concept is something called imputed righteousness, which basically means we are credited with Jesus right standing before God. In other words, we are good with God because Jesus is good with God.

And just knowing that, for me, creates an incredible feeling of freedom. We’re relieved of the crushing pressure to have to measure up. We don’t have to fake anything. There’s no need for it. There’s no fear of being exposed or rejected…The resurrection tells us that Jesus has already conquered sin and death—and when we place our trust in Him, His victory becomes ours.

Long story, short: We don’t live righteous lives to be loved by God—we live righteous lives because we already are. And this shifts everything. From earning to receiving…From shame to grace…from fear to freedom. We are being invited into living a presence-based life, one that’s grounded in the love and closeness of a God who gives us more than we could ever deserve.

Here’s the third thing. Righteousness is about becoming who we were meant to be.

I gotta level with you guys…standing here, in this church, preaching on Easter Sunday is not a place I ever saw myself. This was not part of my plan and me telling you otherwise wouldn’t be the truth. It’s been a long road back into ministry for me. I wasn’t sure that it was ever going to happen and I’m not even sure that I wanted it to happen.

I left Jamestown for Cincinnati back in 2001 and I didn’t really have any plans to come back to this area. But there were some things that happened and it was really my wife who led the charge to move up here so we could be closer to my mom and be around more family. So we moved to Yellow Springs in October of 2023.

I started getting restless late last summer and started praying as hard as I’ve ever prayed for God to give me something new. I wasn’t sure what it was I was praying for, but I had full confidence that God was going to put me where He thought I could be helpful. I kind of thought it might be a ministry role. Maybe something at a local mission or I thought maybe I could use some connections I had to some other Christian organizations in order to get a ministry support role. But nothing was quite working out and I got fed up with it, so I stopped looking altogether. And I just said, “God…this is on you.” I’m gonna need you to bring something to me because I’m not looking anymore…

I mean it wasn’t three days later when I got a phone call from Kevin Basinger when I was just minding my own business taking a nap. And he goes, “Hey Seth. You might’ve heard that our minister has taken another job.” I had not heard that. And I just thought maybe Kevin was calling me to see if I knew anyone who might be interested when he said, “The elders were kinda wondering if you might be interested in either interviewing for it or preaching here for a while until somebody comes along.”

Hmmm…You know…I hadn’t thought about that…However, I did pray for something to come along, but I wasn’t thinking about this. And so I told Kevin I would think about it and talk it over with Michelle and my kids, because it’s a weighty decision to step into something like this. But things came together and here we are. I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Here’s what I believe about calling…as believers we are all called to the same thing as read in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

And Micah 6:8, “the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

It’s not about a certain job or role, or being in a certain place or time…it’s about responding to the will of God when the opportunity presents itself.

At the end of the day, righteousness is an invitation to come fully alive. To become who we were created to be from the very beginning: people made in the image of God, reflecting His character in the way we live, love, and serve.

What we’re really after when it comes to following Jesus is alignment with God. And that means being aligned with the values of His Kingdom, This looks like love in action. Like humility in leadership. Like seeking justice for the vulnerable. Like peace in a world of conflict. And like mercy in the face of failure.

Jesus didn’t just tell us what righteousness looked like—He lived it. Every word, every act of compassion, every challenge to injustice was a glimpse of what it means to be truly human. He shows us that righteousness isn’t about being religious—it’s about being real. Whole. Rooted in love.

The more we follow Jesus, the more we discover that righteousness isn’t something foreign or forced—it’s something planted in us by God, growing over time as we walk with Him. It’s not about perfection. It’s about transformation.

So instead of asking, “Am I doing enough?” we begin to ask, “Am I becoming more like Jesus?”

Thinking about what righteousness means and the potential loss of all of this is why we find Mary Magdalene outside the tomb crying. Before she understands that Jesus has been resurrected, she’s under the impression her hopes and dreams for a new creation have been stolen along with Jesus’ body. In the bible, she’s portrayed as a person who actively listens and has a deep understanding of what Jesus is teaching.

It’s through her tears we see the light start to flicker a little bit…as if Saturday wasn’t enough, now he’s completely gone. But just as that light is about to go out…He shows up.

And what does Jesus say to her? Not a sermon. Not a rebuke. Just her name. “Mary.” That’s all it takes. In that moment, her identity is restored. Her hope is resurrected. And what was once a crushing moment of grief becomes the beginning of a brand new story. That’s what righteousness looks like—it’s relational, it’s a gift, and it’s deeply personal. It’s not about proving ourselves. It’s about being known by the risen Christ and stepping into the life we were always meant to live. He is risen—and that changes everything.

Let’s Pray