A Different Advent
Notes
Transcript
If we did normal advent Sundays, this Sunday would be peace. Last Sunday would have been hope. We don’t do those normal advent Sundays though, because I am not normal. And we as a church are not normal.
But, our passage today is the basis, the proof, of all 4 Sundays of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Christmas is the season of them, because Jesus came. Births happen all the time though. Without our passage, Jesus’ birth would have been just another day. But, it isn’t.
Jesus, born of a virgin, lived the sinless life and died the sinner’s death.
But, he didn’t stay dead. And he didn’t stay silent. The world has disregarded him. But, the risen king, though disregarded is in charge.
Before we dive in, will you pray with me?
1. The Dead Has Risen
1. The Dead Has Risen
We left this historical narrative after Jesus had breathed his last, the Roman soldier had declared that Jesus must have been the Son of God, Joseph of Arimathea had placed Jesus in his tomb, and the religious leaders had sealed the tomb to make sure that no one stole the body.
Well, no one did.
We read in Matthew 28:1-10
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
No one stole the body, because raised himself from the dead. No one in the history of the world ever did that.
Which is why Paul could write in Romans 1 2-4
the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus was died. History proves that fact. Evidence is there. But, the kicker is, even though so much evidence is there that Jesus lived and died. We have no evidence of his body, because his body is not there.
No other religion has a God who died and came back to life. So many speak of so-called gods who died for the good of their followers. None came back to life.
He proved who he is. And he proved what he came to do. When he blasted that stone from the tomb, causing the hardened soldiers to faint in fear, he proved that he had defeated sin, death, and the devil.
Sin, because it has no power over us anymore.
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Death, because we who were slated to die will actually live.
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
The devil, because he will be ultimately destroyed.
When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Sin, death, and the devil have no power over the followers of Jesus Christ, because he destroyed their power and their influence when he rose from the grave.
This is our God. This is our king.
As the hymn says:
I serve a risen Savior
He’s in the world today.
I know that He is living,
Whatever men may say.
Because we have the evidence, the proof. And if you want it, come and have a conversation with me.
The dead has risen!
2. The Ignored Is Proclaimed
2. The Ignored Is Proclaimed
The ignored is proclaimed.
We keep reading:
While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
In the face of Jesus’ resurrection, many people still refuse to believe. They think up so many excuses.
Here, the Jewish leaders refuse to believe and they make up a story that the disciples did exactly what the leaders were afraid that they would do. They convinced Pilate to place a guard at the tomb because they thought the disciples would steal the body. In the face of clear evidence of a resurrection, they convince the soldiers to lie.
The Jewish leaders, in trying to squash the ministry of Jesus, they bribe Judas to betray him, they bribe witnesses to testify against him, they bribe soldiers to lie about the body, and they probably will have to bribe Pilate not to kill the soldiers.
They are not acting very godly. But, what they spread worked. We have evidence of this theory over a hundred years later, during the time of Justin Martyr.
The thing is, though, if the body was just stolen, why were they talking about him over a hundred years later?
The world tries to ignore Jesus, but they cannot help but proclaim him.
The world gives other theories about the resurrection, but they equally do not work.
Matthew Exegesis and Exposition
One such theory has the women visiting the wrong tomb. Another posits Jesus merely swooning on the cross and later reviving. Perhaps the most fanciful is that the disciples’ wishful thinking led to a collective hallucination of seeing the risen Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus can be dismissed only by a priori worldview considerations that rule out supernatural events. The resurrection of Jesus makes far better sense than any of the theories that attempt to explain it away.
No matter how often people try to ignore Jesus, they cannot help but proclaim him.
I love the stories of people like Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel. One a lawyer, the other a journalist. Both atheist. Both tried to prove the idiocy of faith in Jesus Christ. Both ended up placing their faith in Jesus because the proof was too much for them.
Josh McDowell wrote Evicence that Demands a Verdict about his findings. Lee Strobel wrote the Case for Christ, which was made into a movie. If you want to borrow either of these, please let me know.
Others who are not as high profile as these two men experience the same phenonemon. People who grew up anti Christian suddenly experience the presence of God through some hurt, life change, difficulty, and they cannot help but realize that the one they ignored is real.
The world is without excuse. Even those who refuse to believe in Jesus know, deep down, who he is. And one day they will be judged for their refusal to follow.
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
One day, they will stand before the judgment seat of God and on that day
Phil 2 9-11
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
They might ignore in this life, but they cannot ignore in the next. The risen king, though disregarded.
The dead has risen.
The ignored is proclaimed.
3. The King Has Commanded
3. The King Has Commanded
Well, while the religious leaders are trying to cook up the biggest scam in the history of the world, Jesus goes ahead of the disciples to Galilee.
Matthew actually skips about 40 days. Jesus appears to over 500 people: a pretty good sample size for those who think Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. You have the story of doubting Thomas, you have Peter on the seashore. You have the two men on the road to Emmaus. All sorts of famous accounts of people who were proven that Jesus actually came back to life.
After that 40 days, Jesus brings the disciples to a mountain in Galilee
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The risen king, though disregarded, is in charge.
Jesus leaves the disciples with three statements that should define our lives. If we truly believe that Jesus has risen from the dead. That fact should change our lives. We shouldn’t ignore: we should be impacted by it.
A. Submission
A. Submission
First, we should acknowledge Jesus as our king. He is our authority.
I said earlier that if Jesus said something we must either take it as the truth or call him a liar. Most people will agree that Jesus is a good teacher, but for some reason, they won’t accept what he says but they are also very uncomfortable with calling him a liar.
Jesus said:
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
If he has all authority everywhere, we should acknowledge his authority in our lives. We should readily confess: my life is not my own I have been bought with a price.
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
This affects everything. I challenge you, in the morning, before you start your day, ask God to have control, to help you follow him in what you do and say, in your choices, priorities, and desires. He is our authority, proven by rising from the dead.
B. Discipleship
B. Discipleship
As we submit to him with our lives, our priorities should change. All of sudden, what we care about is not our ideals, our dreams, our plans, our security, our comfort, but it is what Jesus has commanded us to do.
The last instructions that Jesus gave on this earth was what we consider the Great Commission. So many people have preached on it. Missions conferences have pushed these verses down our throats.
The call is still real.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Each one of us is called to take the faith that we have, proven by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and pass that faith on to others. To call them to swallow their pride, give up, and turn to Jesus.
This rarely happens quickly. Discipleship is a process. It is slow. It is painful. It is messy. And because of that, we do not like it in Western Christianity. We are in the age of fast food and fast news. When we don’t like something, we just hit the power button.
Discipleship requires intentionality, a push outside our comfort zone, a reordered priority list, and a remembered reality of how sinful we were before Christ called us.
If we have submitted to Christ, even though we might be uncomfortable, and sometimes we really don’t want to have anything to do with it, we will seize every opportunity to tell someone about the amazing person who died for us and rose again.
E. Relationship
E. Relationship
The awesome thing is that, as we pursue a life of discipleship, we are pushed back into relationship with our creator. Our stagnant faith becomes revitalized because we realize again what he did for us. We realize again that we cannot live this life without him. We realize again, that though we go through pains in this life, he is worth it. He will strengthen, he will protect, he will comfort.
As Jesus said:
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
We never have to be alone when we are following the king of kings and the Lord of lords.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
the risen king, though disregarded is in charge. Let us follow him and find what we have been longing for.
