How the Final Day of Jesus Affects our Everyday

Opening Illustration

Sceptics

There’s an old saying .. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!

There’s an old saying .. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!

get burnt a few times and don’t believe what people say .. Sure I’ll come around and give you a hand

Kids are not like that ate they .. they can tend to believe what you say .. filled with wonder .. sort of refreshing .. not like talking to adults who tend to be DEFENSIVE and JUSTIFY themselves a lot

Being SCEPTICAL is part of life. The longer you live the more SCEPTICAL you generally become. We know we live in a world where people don’t necessarily tell the truth. People are trying to RIP YOU OFF. You get burnt a few times. People take advantage of you. Lies. Broken promises. Eroded hope

Of course it’s a GENUINE ONE OWNER car .. 2 yrs old .. 200,000 kms .. a steal for $10,000

Of course you’ll lose weight with Lite & Easy meals

You’ll halve your housework with this Kirby vacuum cleaner with it’s affordable finance plan

Just Nimble it and move on

ING and being SCEPTICAL

And here today is the classic case of UNBELIEF .. which I think is fair enough .. the claim is that someone who has been confirmed DEAD is now ALIVE! Oh really .. well I’d like a little PROOF!

You might have the expression DOUBTING THOMAS .. but is that a bad thing? I like this quote :

Coz .. if you read the gospel of John, as we’ve been doing for the past weeks, you know that this is where the FOCUS has been .. not just the resurrection but .. these last 19 chapters describe the life of Jesus .. what He said and did .. John expects a healthy dose of SCEPTICISM .. he and the other gospel writers are witnesses and they want you and I to consider the body of EVIDENCE .. the conclusion is clear … John wants us to BELIEVE that Jesus is the Son of God and we see it at the end of this chapter .. vv.30-31

Kids are not like that ate they .. they can tend to believe what you say .. filled with wonder .. sort of refreshing .. not like talking to adults who tend to be DEFENSIVE and JUSTIFY themselves a lot

Now .. if you read the gospel of John, as we’ve been doing for the past weeks, you know that this is where the FOCUS has been .. not just the resurrection but .. these last 19 chapters describe the life of Jesus .. what He said and did .. the conclusion John wants us to come to is that Jesus is the Son of God and we see it at the end of this chapter .. vv.30-31

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe  that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe x that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

When it comes to thinking about a lot of things in our world .. surely considering Jesus .. and His final days, has got to be very important .. coz this is a matter of ETERNAL LIFE or ETERNAL DEATH

Let’s consider what was happening on that first Easter Sunday

JOHN Believes

Putting the facts together we know that Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb. It had been freshly chipped out of stone and belonged to Joseph of Arimathea… a rich man .. member of the Jewish council who becomes a convinced follower of Jesus .. he takes down the body of Jesus on Friday and puts it in his family grave. A 2 ton stone disk is rolled in the entrance. There’s a bunch of women who follow and go with Joseph. They all rest on Saturday (Jewish Sabbath) and now the women have come back on Sunday, to anoint Jesus’ body with spices and perfumes. Jewish burial custom.

John mentions one woman in particular .. Mary Magdalene .. who’s mentioned in as one of the women at the foot of the cross as Jesus is crucified. The only other fact we know about her is mentioned by Luke in his gospel. She is released from 7 evil spirits in ’m not sure exactly what that looks like but I’m sure that socially she would have been given a wide berth .. mentally disturbed .. obsessed. She meets Jesus. Who forgives and heals. Those FORGIVEN MUCH tend to LOVE MUCH. Mary is a devoted follower and is an unlikely WITNESS. She sees that the tomb is EMPTY. Stone rolled away. And runs to tell the disciples. Simon Peter and “the disciple Jesus loved” = John, our humble author, have a race to the tomb. John wins the race .. Peter runs straight into the tomb

Yep .. Mary is right. NO BODY! Just grave clothes lying there. Head cloth to one side

So what had happened? Someone moved the body? Really .. why would you take off the grave clothes? If you read the other gospels the Jewish authorities had asked for the tomb to be sealed and a guard posted at the entrance. Coz there is the issue of RESURRECTION. The Sanhedrin .. the Jewish council that had Jesus put to death, wanted to make sure the disciples of Jesus didn’t steal the body of Jesus and say He rose from the dead! I mean to say .. dead people don’t come back alive do they?! Unless Jesus is significantly different to you and I

For John he had joined all the dots .. simple statement from the man who had seen Jesus .. walked with Him .. laughed with Him .. listened to Him seen miraculous signs .. in fact John had stood with the crowd as Jesus commanded his friend Lazarus .. dead 4 days .. to come out of the tomb. John had seen the DEAD rise. As John looks around the tomb .. no Jesus .. he’s seen it all before .. John saw and BELIEVED. Jesus is alive .. freed of His graveclothes

MARY Believes

Mary can’t stay away .. grief has overtaken her. Yes Jesus is a much loved friend. A respected and wise teacher. Rabbi. We know the devastating sense of loss .. hollowness with the death of a loved one .. but it’s more.

Jesus was also there great hope for the future. Their Messiah who would establish peace. It’s all gone!

Mary sobs and sobs. Not even a body to anoint and honour. BUT .. through the blurr of her tears she sees 2 white blobs .. angels seated where Jesus had been laid .. and they ask a seemingly obvious question “Woman .. why are you crying?” She turns and sees another figure .. is that the gardener? He asks the same question .. “Why the tears? Who are you looking for?”

“Oh sir .. if you’ve taken Him away tell me where you have put him and I’ll get Him” .. that’s more grief than rational thought

Not quite sure why Mary didn’t instantly recognise the “gardener” .. was it her tears .. her grief .. was Jesus appearance a bit different in this resurrection body BUT .. then He spoke!

The New International Version Chapter 20

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Mary Believes .. there’s no mistaking His voice .. it’s the voice of deliverance that caught her attention .. the AUTHORITY and TENDERNESS .. this is her LORD that sent demons scattering never to return.

This is the voice of ASSURANCE … FORGIVENESS .. it it UNMISTAKEABLE .. this is the voice of WISDOM YES .. this is the TEACHER!

Not yet ascended and ALIVE! Physically there in front of her. And as much as she wanted to give Him a hug Jesus says instead to go to the BROTHERS .. tell the DISCIPLES .. and Mary .. the social outcast .. a woman .. is the first witness “I HAVE SEEN THE LORD!!

THOMAS Believes

The action moves to SUNDAY NIGHT. The disciples had abandoned Jesus. Cowering in the UPPER ROOM behind locked doors. Knees knocking. Wondering when the Jewish authorities would burst in and arrest them. Wipe them out as the followers of Jesus. Scared and HOPELESS! They were so confident that there trust was in the ULTIMATE REDEEMER. Israel’s SAVIOUR. And then, despite locked doors Jesus appears .. they are overjoyed .. no need for fear .. Mary is right. Jesus is RISEN

21 .. “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

No mistake .. this is Jesus their leader .. their rabbi .. the CRUCIFIED KING .. you can still see the holes in his wrists and fist-sized hole in his side

CRUCIFIXION WAS NOT THE END .. it was the BEGINNING … the followers of Jesus were being SENT .. in the POWER of the PROMISED Holy Spirit. The MISSION? To point people to the ASSURANCE of FORGIVENESS

Now .. enter the sceptic. Thomas was not there, that first EASTER EVENING. The brothers assured him they had seen the Lord.

“Yeah right .. sure! You just WANT to believe your saw Him .. you minds are playing tricks .. the grief is making you hallucinate. He’s dead! Crucified people DON’T come back to life. Huge nails through your wrist .. spear through your heart .. no way! You want me to BELIEVE??! I’d have to be able to SEE Him and TOUCH Him .. put my fingers in His side .. my fist in the spear hole

A week later .. Jesus fully aware of the sceptic, once again enters the locked room and obliges Thomas

“Here I am Thomas .. reach out and STOP DOUBTING. You want some evidence? Here it is .. BELIEVE!!

Thomas crumbles to the floor .. “MY LORD AND MY GOD!” Thomas the sceptic believes.

There is challenge as Jesus looks down on Thomas .. you have your evidence .. you’ve seen and believed BUT blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

What about YOU .. Do you believe?

blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

SO what does it mean to BELIEVE?

When they die some people had their bodies .. or just their head, put in DEEP FREEZE because they believe that one day the cure for whatever killed them will be found and can be applied to them

Some people are convinced that aliens have visited our planet and continue to take people as specimens .. they believe aliens will overtake our world once we’ve killed each other off