Easter Sunrise
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He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed
When I say “He is Risen”, you say “He is Risen, Indeed!”
But here’s the deal. We want to start a bit calm. A bit quiet. No sense in waking up everyone on the mountain.
But each time we’ll get a bit louder. So by the end, we want to shout with the sunrise, shout to the city, “He is Risen, indeed!” But… wait for it. Pace yourselves! Let’s build to it.
Why do we celebrate? Why do we get up at dawn… that must be something worth a lot, right? The sunrise is pretty, but who gets up for it everyday?
Okay, there’s always some. “Morning people.” We pray for you.
We celebrate his resurrection for so, so many reasons. But let us remember some together. Let us behold our Lord, the Resurrected Jesus.
We celebrate the resurrection because…
He Foretold His Resurrection
He Foretold His Resurrection
Not just vague references like:
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
Or metaphors like:
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
He said:
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Specific. So specific that even his enemies knew the prediction, and they set guards to protect the tomb:
63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’
64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.”
Jesus clearly and specifically and repeatedly predicted his own death and resurrection.
We celebrate the resurrection because…
They Found the Tomb Empty
They Found the Tomb Empty
1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
Those Marys ran to tell the disciples, John and Peter raced together to the tomb to see it for themselves. John got there first and:
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.
8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;
They saw the inexplicably empty tomb, though the Romans had guarded it diligently, by the hand of God: the tomb was empty!
He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!
We celebrate the resurrection because…
He Appeared to 100s of Eye Witnesses
He Appeared to 100s of Eye Witnesses
He appeared first to Mary Magadalene.
He appeared to the ten. In the midst of a locked room.
He appeared to Thomas, and let him touch the scars:
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
He appeared to two men on the road to Emmaus, talked with them for hours, and then opened their eyes to recognize him as the Resurrected Jesus.
He appeared to them in Galilee, over the course of 40 days he appeared again and again, teaching them of the Kingdom of God.
3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
How many?
In perhaps the very first written testimony, the letter to the Corinthians, Paul claims hundreds of witnesses to the Resurrection:
6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!
We celebrate the resurrection because…
It is the Foundation of our Faith
It is the Foundation of our Faith
All our bets are in on the Resurrected Jesus. Paul says it well when he says:
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
BUT…
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
This is the foundation of our faith… and it is a sure and certain foundation. It is worth the great bet of your life, all the chips in the middle. In fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!
We celebrate the resurrection because…
He is the First Resurrection
He is the First Resurrection
As Paul said there, he is the firstfruits. The first to be truly and fully resurrected. Every other resurrection in Scripture is temporary, they died again. But Jesus was raised to a glorified body, an eternal body… never to die again.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
So, on this day almost 2000 years ago, they discovered Jesus had done what he said he would do. The tomb was empty, he was alive in the flesh, and they would follow him one day in resurrected glory. And so we celebrate. And so we worship.
Three final times:
He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!
He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!
He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!
