Resurrection Power

Resurrection Power: I Have Seen the Lord

The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the power that reveals Him to us, saves us, and sends us.

What we just heard is the power of the Resurrection. The power that raised Jesus from the dead. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that reveals Him to us, saves us, and sends us.

Ashley and Dirk’s stories couldn’t be more different. Their upbringing was different, their life paths were different, different states, different goals and aspiration, different struggles, different trials, actually, I think it’s safe to say that if it weren’t for the one thing they have in common, they probably wouldn’t even be sitting in the same room.

That one thing that they have in common is everything. No matter how vastly different our lives are, those of us who know Jesus as our Lord have experienced the exact same salvation, the exact same Savior, the exact same power of the Resurrection.

Every Sunday, we gather together to remember the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, but on Easter, we pause. This Easter morning, we pause to remember the power of the Resurrection. We pause to celebrate the Resurrection power that left an empty tomb, and that provided a Risen Savior. And yes! Joy does indeed come in the morning, but the joy that we celebrate this morning came at a cost. The joy that Ashely and Dirk shared about just a few moments ago came at a cost. Our joy this morning came a such an unbelievably great cost.

The cost that Jesus paid is one we can’t even begin to imagine. Being ridiculed, beaten, and tortured. Being paraded through the city with that cursed tree. To be nailed to that cross, suffering pain unimaginable. To face the greatest enemy, the deepest fear, the most inescapable reality of all mankind, death, all for one purpose.

Hebrews 12:2 “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

For the JOY that was set before Him, He endured the cross.

Oh, how beautiful it is, that 2000 years ago, joy did come in the morning, so that we can experience that same joy this morning.

John 20:1–18

One of the things that stands out most to me in this story is the raw and visceral movement of the scenes. It’s almost scattered, with details that we’re struggling to interpret, or information we’re maybe left wondering why John bothered to write it at all.

I imagine John sitting in a room with His scribe, remembering that day. He is describing scenes of the movie that is playing in His mind as He remembers that morning. Read v.3. The other disciple there is John. He tells us that he outran Peter, that he arrived at the tomb first, and that Peter, following him, entered the tomb, then again, reminding you that he got there first. Four times John tells us that He beat Peter in the race to the tomb.

They run to the tomb, the stone has been moved, and when they go in they see the linens and the face cloth neatly folded. They see something miraculous. Something life changing. They’re scared, grieving, confused. And v. 9 says that they did not yet understand.

They didn’t yet understand the unimaginable joy of what they were looking at. Is that you this morning? Or do you have it all figured out? Do you understand just how beautiful of a truth that it is you are staring at this morning? That we sang about when we got here?

III. Personal Story → Our Condition

Before any of you think I claim to have it all figured out, I’d like to share a quick story.

It’s not uncommon when I leave our house, normally right on time, that circumstances outside of my control ensure that I’m late. I run through my internal checklist. I check my pockets, make sure my bag is packed, put my boots on, and before I leave, I say goodbye.

It’s also not uncommon that one of those unforeseen circumstances is one of my boys in tears that I have to leave.

This week, I was on my way out the door and I had gone through my whole list. Our family was scattered around the house, so I made sure to say goodbye to everyone separately before I walked out the door. I had forgotten one very important step.

We take goodbyes very seriously in our family, particularly the boys. They need a hug, a kiss, and a smile before I can leave. In my haste, I had forgotten that part. I got in my truck, and before I could start it, I saw a little curly haired boy dart out the door yelling, “Daddy, you didn’t give me a hug, a kiss, and a smile!”

He was right! I jumped out of my truck, caught him in my arms, and gave him a proper goodbye. What I hadn’t noticed was Ryder, who had gotten into the van, and when I looked up, all I found him crying for me at the window. I quickly opened the door to see what was wrong, and has completely lost all of his composure because I didn’t give him a hug a kiss and a smile.

I made it right with him, made sure to give some extras, then got in my truck. As I drove away, I was immediately convicted. First, feeling horrible that I had forgotten to give them a proper goodbye, but then, as I remembered how sweet they both were with me, and how they both squeezed me as tight as they could around my neck, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and gave me their biggest forced smile that they could muster, I was convicted by a question.

Do I love my Heavenly Father like that? Am I so grieved as my boys were at the thought of being separated, even just momentarily?

The honest answer is, I don’t. Not always. But I want to.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t love my Heavenly Father as I ought, but would that be our prayer, that we would be in such close communion with the Lord that we would be grieved by the thought of not being in His presence. Would we be so moved by His love, put on full display as He suffered on the cross, that even when we’re grieving and confused, even when we’re angry and afraid, that we would race one another to go see our Lord. Would we be so moved by His love for us that even when we don’t understand, when we’re in the midst of a trial, when it seems like there’s no more hope for redemption, that we would remember every vivid detail of that empty tomb when Jesus reveals Himself as Risen Savior of my life.

We don’t always wait around in the trial to meet the Lord. We toil and wreath and try to solve our problems on our own. That, or we give up. Now, we’re not told what the disciples went home to do. We don’t know if they were driven away in fear, or in tears, but in v. 11, we are told that Mary stood outside the tomb weeping.

V. Mary: Sorrow Without Sight

John 20:11–15

Mary is a woman who has known great suffering and affliction. When Jesus first meets her, He delivers her from the demons who oppressed her. Once Jesus frees her, she follows Jesus all throughout His ministry. She is there at the cross, she is at His burial, and now she’s here at the tomb.

There is one thing that she desires, and that is the one who made her clean. The one who showed her love and compassion. She shows up to the tomb early, while it is still dark. She finds the tomb rolled open and runs to the disciples. She stays alone, weeping at the entrance of the tomb where Jesus once laid.

But this next part is hard for us to understand. Jesus was standing there, right in front of Mary, but He kept himself veiled from her. She was standing before the risen Jesus and did not know it was Him.

And she mistakes Him for the gardener. Why the gardener? Well, we just finished our study through the book of Romans where Paul calls Jesus the Second Adam. How fitting that the first Adam, a gardener in a perfect Garden, in the presence of God, fails to obey. Now Jesus, laying in a tomb in a garden, confronting death, which was the result of Adam’s sin, head on. How fitting that Jesus would be mistaken as the Gardener. He is fulfilling God’s command in the Garden of Eden to have dominion over His creation, to work the land, to multiply and fill the earth with God’s presence.

We, reading a familiar story, know the ending, but Mary didn’t. Not until Jesus says one word to her. One word that changes everything.

VI. The Turning Point: “Mary”

John 20:16

Mary.

All in one moment, the full reality of what had happened was made clear to her, and she clung to Him.

Just days before, she watched Him breath His last breath on the cross, declaring, “It is finished.” Now, she stands before Him. He is the same Lord, the same King, but now, triumphant over death and the grave.

Mary stood before our Savior’s tomb, waiting to hear from the Lord. Waiting to hear His voice. Even when she hears His voice, she doesn’t know it’s Him until He calls her and reveals Himself to her.

Jesus called her name, and she knew Him.

How is that possible?

John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

“The same power that raised Jesus from the dead…

is the power that opens blind eyes to see Him.”

VII. Mary’s Response: Repentance and Faith (2–3 min)

Mary didn’t hear from Jesus an explanation of what had happened. She didn’t even ask. She didn’t analyze Him and try to make sense of what had happened, she responds, Rabboni!

Her immediate response is to cling to Him. She trusts Him and knows Him so deeply, that as soon as He calls her, all she can think to do is cling to Him. She surrenders all of her reasoning, all of her confusion, all of her anger, and puts all of her trust in her Savior.

Brothers and sisters, would we do the same this morning. Not tomorrow, not next week, but this morning, would we release all of our burdens to Jesus. Would we wait right here, expectant that He will meet us. Would we wait right here, expectant that the voice of Jesus would call our name.

And would we, when we hear the voice of our Shepherd calling, cling to Him. Would I cling to Him, the way my boys cling to me.

The right handed power of God is the power that created this world, that flooded the earth in judgement, that separated the red sea and poured our wrath on the enemies of God, that delivered His enemies into His hand. That right handed power of God is the power that raised Jesus from the dead. And before the right handed power of God, we stand guilty. We stand deserving of the same judgement.

But oh, the left handed power of God. At His left hand are mercies that are new every morning. His left handed power is the same power by which God spares sinners. It’s His overwhelming, all consuming, all sufficient love. The love of God is the same power that delivered His people out of bondage in Egypt, the same power by which he dwelt among His people, the same power that led Jesus to the grave, and that now, invites us though Jesus and through Him alone to be reconciled to God if we would repent of our sins, turn from our old ways, and cling to Jesus. That if we would confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. The power that invites us to the same resurrection of Christ, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

VIII. Mary’s Mission: “I Have Seen the Lord” (2–3 min)

That is a truth that you don’t do anything to deserve. I didn’t do anything to deserve it, neither did Mary, but when she heard the voice of her Shepherd calling, she knew His voice, and she clung to Him.

And now that she has seen the Risen Savior, He gives her a mission. Go out to all those whom I love, for whom I died, preaching the good news of the Gospel. Christ is risen.

“I have seen the Lord”

If you are His sheep, and you know the voice of your Shepherd calling your name, then go and declare to all those that you know, all those that you love, and cry out, I have seen the Lord.

IX. Gospel Arc: Assurance + Invitation (3–4 min)

For believers:

If you have seen Him, cling to Him. Learn to love Him the way He loves you. Behold the mighty right hand and the loving left hand of your Father in Heaven, that while we were set sinners, Christ died for us.

Learn to love Him like the David, who cries out,

Psalm 63:1 “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

If you don’t love God like that, if you don’t desire Him like that, then lay claim to the love that God displayed for you at the death and Resurrection of Jesus.

Lay claim to the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, that now dwells in you by His Holy Spirit, that is conforming you to the image of His Son, that is teaching you to know Him, to trust Him, to love Him as He loves you.

For unbelievers:

If you have not seen the Lord, if you have not heard his voice, not with your ears, not with your eyes, but with your heart. If you have heard of the power of the Resurrection this morning and you don’t know this Jesus, then I invite you.

I invite you to repent, to turn away from your sins, to recognize that there is nothing that you can do to make yourself any more loved by God. Mary was afflicted under deep spiritual oppression, but Jesus had the power to cleanse her. He has the power to cleanse you. Repent of your sins, ask that you would be washed by the blood of Jesus that was spilled on the cross for sinners like you and like me.

Seek after God. Come to church next Sunday too, read your Bible, If you don’t have one, download an app(stick with the ESV), pray that God would reveal Himself to you in the same way that He did Mary. Pray that you would hear His voice, and pray that you would cling to Him. If you want someone to help you do that, come grab one of the elders or their wives from the communion table.

Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved.

X. Crescendo: “The Same Power…” (3–4 min)

This is what the Resurrection is all about. The right handed power of God, and the left handed power of His love, put on perfect display for you and for me at the death and Resurrection of Jesus.

“The same power that raised Jesus from the dead…”

…makes you alive when you were dead in sin (Eph 2:4–5)

…gives you a new heart (Ezek 36:26)

…declares you righteous (Rom 5:1)

…frees you from sin (Rom 6:6–7)

…adopts you as a child of God (Rom 8:15–17)

…dwells in you by His Spirit (Rom 8:11)

…restores broken bones to joy (Psalm 51:8)

…makes you a new creation (2 Cor 5:17)

…secures your inheritance (Rom 8:17)

…will raise you on the last day (1 Cor 15:52)

Final Line:

“This is resurrection power…

and it is the only power that can save you.”

XI. Transition to Communion

As we come now to respond to the ultimate display of love from all eternity we will partake of the Lord’s Supper. And as we prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Supper, we are invited to sit at the table. To share a meal with the living God that has been provided for us though the death and Resurrection of Jesus. A meal that reminds us of His death, but also a meal that nourishes our souls by the power of the Resurrection. By the power of His Holy Spirit.

We can go before the Lord with all of our sins, with all of our baggage, with all of our trials and struggles and sufferings, and we can lay them at the foot of the cross. Christ died for you. And He was raised so that now, as you go before the throne of God in prayer, you can go with bold reverence and behold His majesty.