Resurrection Sunday: While it Was Still Dark

Good morning, children of God! I am excited this morning! There is no greater day for the believer than Resurrection Sunday. It is our High Holy Day! It is the day that Christ proved that He was, is, and will always be. That Jesus the Christ is Yeshua Hamashiach, the Messiah, and YHVH; the Great I AM!

Today’s teaching is “while it was still dark.” Like our ancient brothers and sisters, like Jesus himself, we all face times when it is dark in our lives. Many times, breakthrough happens “while it is still dark.” Those are the times we see the mercy of God in full force!

I don’t know how much thought you have given to this, but in Genesis Chapter 1, there was darkness before the light. In Luke chapter 2, we see that the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, was born in the dark. At the crucifixion, when Jesus became sin for all of humanity, for you and for me, it happened in the dark.

Mark 15:33–34 NIV

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

All throughout Scripture, darkness was a symbol of Divine Judgement. When Jesus became sin for humanity, God turned away from the Son. The darkness represents God’s response to the crucifixion - His divine wrath and the forsaking of the Son because of the sin of man.

Darkness fell over the land in the most painful and darkest hours of Jesus’ life on earth. In those three hours, Jesus experienced the loss of his Father, the loss of God, something he had never known, in all of eternity. He did that so you and I would never have to be alone.

Ask yourself this question:

“When darkness comes, am I receiving and living in the victory over this world and the enemy that Jesus went to the cross to secure for me?”

Jesus was at the lowest point of his life in those hours of pain and agony. We are often at our lowest in our times of pain and agony. The enemy wants to convince you that it ends there, in the dark. Jesus says and proves otherwise!

Please pay close attention to what I am about to say. True worshippers are REDEEMED because, in those three hours of darkness on the cross, the sin of the world, of you, and of me, was transferred to Christ. That is the only reason we can claim to be saved through the blood of the Perfect Lamb.

When you face the darkness, when it seems the darkness has overtaken you, remember that it IS NOT God’s divine judgement over you, God is not punishing you. Jesus took that on for you so that you would not have to.

To think or believe that God is punishing you somehow is to not just minimize what Christ did for you at the cross, it is to completely dismiss what he did at the cross for you!

He alone created a path to the Father for you. That includes salvation through Him, hope in Him, and Victory over the world and the enemy through Him! Your True Father in Heaven is with you, ALWAYS! In the darkness and in the light.

We are going to look at what happened first thing in the morning on Resurrection Sunday. I need to share a little encounter I had with the LORD this past Monday morning first.

I was in a bad place mentally last weekend. I was hurting, fighting depression, and angry. I was experiencing some real darkness inside.

So, Monday morning, I walked out of the house to head to work. It is dark outside when I leave for work. The first thing I did was get mad at the weather. It was cold out. I said, “When is it going to warm up!” “I HATE THE COLD, IT’S STUPID!”

On my way to work, this slow moving car got in front of me, and I said “YOUR SUBARU IS STUPID, IT’S A STUPIDRU; IT CAN’T EVEN GET UP TO THE SPEED LIMIT!”

I was only 20 minutes into the ride to work, and I got angry that it was still dark outside, "I HATE THE DARK, IT’S STUPID, WHERE IS THE SUNSHINE!”

Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit in that moment, in the dark. Just five words: “While it was still dark.” “While it was still dark.”

God was showing me something that I had missed. Something most of us have probably missed. We have seen it, we have read it, but probably have not payed much attention to it. Check this out. In John 20:1, on the morning of Christ’s resurrection, we read:

John 20:1 NLT

1 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.

They went to the tomb WHILE IT WAS STILL DARK! It was literally dark outside, but the women at the tomb and the disciples were in a dark place, mentally! A place I think we all have been at some point.

For some of us, it is hours, days, or even years. For different reasons, but a darkness we are all familiar with.

For Mary Magdalene, Jesus was the first person who didn’t use her up and throw her out like garbage. Jesus was the one who was there for her through her darkness, and he brought her into His light. And now he was dead. He left her, just like everybody else.

Mary and the disciples had to grapple with tough questions, with life changes, with doubts, with hurts, anger, and with circumstances they never even imagined they would be in! Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Now, the women had prepared spices and ointments to anoint the body of Jesus Christ. As dark as their lives had just become, they travelled through that darkness, focused on serving their Lord. To show one final act of love for Jesus.

Instead, they found the stone rolled away. Where they were going to show a final act of love for Jesus, they were met with the ultimate act of God’s love for us. Our Savior had risen! He had conquered sin and death!

THE STONE WAS ROLLED AWAY, WHILE IT WAS STILL DARK, HIS VICTORY OVER SIN AND DEATH GIVES YOU VICTORY! THAT VICTORY CAME IN THE DARK!

Jesus was not in the tomb! You know that stone was not rolled away so he could get out, right? IT WAS ROLLED AWAY SO WE COULD SEE IN!

We can become so focused on the darkness, on the negative around us and in this world, that we do not even see that Holy Spirit is moving those stones in our lives.

He is showing us that we are not trapped, that His victory over sin and death will give us victory over anything! He will bring us out of whatever tomb we THINK we are trapped in, because we are not trapped! He is right there with us when we face the tombs of our lives that we may be afraid to look inside of.

In John, we read that Mary ran and told Peter and John about the empty tomb. John and Peter rush back to the tomb with Mary, looked in, and took off again.

Peter and John left Mary Magdalene at the tomb, alone. They did not encourage her to go back with them. They were so focused on themselves, their own feelings, that they left Mary behind, without even a word. Mary Magdalene must have felt so alone, again!

But, Mary isolated herself here. She could have gone back with John and Peter. John and Peter did not tell her to stay behind. She did not say a word to them at the tomb. Instead, she chose to stay there, alone in her pain.

I get Mary! I see her all to well in myself! I was telling a few of my brothers in Christ the other day, it is crazy when we get into our feelings, when we marinate in our heads, in our pain, we start believing we are all alone, even though we are not alone! It is a tactic of the enemy, to divide and isolate God’s people.

Instead of seeking fellowship, we isolate.

Instead of reaching out, we go silent.

Instead of lifting our heads and praising God for His mercy, grace, and blessings, we lower our heads in defeat, believing the lies instead of the promises.

The craziest thing happens when we lift our heads, when we listen, when we speak up, and open our eyes.

We realize that God is with us and for us! We realize that our brothers and sisters in Christ are not perfect, but will do what they can if we reach out. Look what happens with Mary Magdalene.

John 20:11 NLT

11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in.

Mary was a wreck. She was weeping bitterly, but she had the courage to look in the tomb. It takes courage to face the darkness. It takes courage to face those things in our lives that we do not want to face.

The enemy is going to do everything he can to keep you in the dark, to convince you that there is no way out. We must have the courage to face the unknown, to face the darkness, and to face our own shortcomings.

John 20:12 NLT

12 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.

With all that had occurred, God was concerned with this one woman’s welfare. He sent two white-robed angels. They were not there ministering to Jesus, so why were they there? To comfort and direct Mary.

But, it took action on Mary’s part. She had to look beyond her own pain, she had to lift her head, while it was still dark, and look in a place she did not want to look.

John 20:13 NLT

13 “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.”

Mary had the courage to look into the tomb, but her focus was on finding a savior who was like other men: a frail powerless savior. A dead savior. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is bigger than anything that has come your way or ever will come your way. Our Savior rose in victory!

There is no limit to His power, His grace, His mercy, or His love for you this morning. He proved that on this day over two thousand years ago.

He may even send someone into your life, acting on His behalf, similar to the angels at the tomb. Look for Him, seek Him and you will find Him. Jesus is not the one who gets lost in the darkness, we are.

John 20:14 NLT

14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.

She did not recognize Jesus. “How do you not recognize Jesus Christ.” I struggled with this verse for some time, until I put myself in Mary’s shoes.

Remember, that her eyes were full of tears. Have you ever been so choked up with tears that you cannot make out what is in front of you? I mean just absolutely devastated? Swollen eyes, snot bubbles, all the things?

That is what Mary was experiencing. She probably had her head bowed, eyes full of tears, swollen from crying so much, and grieving.

The truth is that even the most seasoned and mature believer has missed Jesus right in front of them at times. Our hearts and our minds will become so focused on something else that we will not even see Jesus in our midst.

John 20:15 NLT

15 “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.”

She does not even look at Him. Mary is facing the tomb, and not Jesus. As humans, we get tunnel vision at times. We will focus on the tombs in our lives, on the dark, and refuse to look away. Jesus is RIGHT THERE THE WHOLE TIME!

We need to look away from the tomb, beyond the darkness, and fix our eyes on Jesus all the time.

John 20:16 shows us a beautiful picture of Jesus love for His people.

John 20:16 NLT

16 “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

Only two words spoken. “Mary,” and “Rabboni.” Jesus Christ called Mary by name, and she knew the voice of her Savior.

Do you hear the voice of your Savior calling? If not, open your spiritual ears and listen, because Jesus speaks to the hearts of all believers.

Mary recognized Jesus’ voice and called him not just Rabbi, but Rabboni, meaning Master. Do you recognize the voice of your Savior through the noise of this life? Have you truly made Him Master of your life?

Jesus was outside the tomb, and he called Mary to come away from the tomb, to come to Him. Mary had lost all hope. It was the voice of the Savior, calling her by name, that brought her joy, peace, and hope.

No matter what it is, you have victory in the risen Lord. Everybody struggles at times. Maybe you have something you will not let go of, something you refuse to give up at the cross. Jesus came out of the tomb so that we could come out of the tomb, out of the darkness. He knows your name, and he is calling you to come away from the tomb, to him.

Communion

As we prepare our hearts and minds for communion, on this most Holy day, we all need to look beyond the darkness, look away from the tombs, and fully focus on Yeshua Hamashiach, our Risen Savior.

Jesus died and was risen so that we would have victory. His victory is our victory! I do not want anybody leaving here with spiritual baggage this morning. If you are a believer, you have been given a new life in Christ, a new heart, the very Spirit of God Himself.

Before we take communion this morning, ask Holy Spirit to search your heart and mind for those things not of the LORD. Let each of us commit to leaving unforgiveness, shame, anger, bitterness, and wrath at the alter as a sacrifice.

When he broke that bread at the last supper, he said “Do this in remembrance of me.” Remember that His victory is your victory. He did not stay in the dark, He came out of the dark and sits in the consuming light of Heaven.

When He offered the cup, he said “Take and drink, for this represents the blood poured out for the remission of sin.” His promise to you this morning, a promise only he could keep, and he has kept that promise to you.

Thank you Jesus!

Prayer

If you need prayer, WE WANT TO PRAY FOR YOU! If you need breakthrough, ASK OUR LORD TO LEAD YOU IN VICTORY! He gives abundantly to His children, BUT WE MUST BE WILLING TO RECEIVE HIS WONRDERFUL GIFTS! We have to be willing to look away from the tomb, to look beyond the darkness, to lift our eyes, and to get up and walk with Him in truth and in light.