Jesus Rose for (insert name)

He is Risen ()

Do you love Jesus? That might seem like an odd question for Easter morning, but if we love someone we embark on a journey to discover that person whom we love. Marriages and relationships begin to fail and become dry when the pursuit of discovering the other one stops. If we say we love Jesus, we will pursue Him to discover who He is and what He wants from me.

God wants to have a relationship with you, with all of us, and the crucifixion and resurrection are the greatest proofs of the love Christ has toward us. Christ loves us to death and back to life again.

This time of year in the church we remember the passion of Christ and the glorious resurrection that proofed that what Christ did on the cross was accepted by God and that Christ substitution (Jesus in my place) paid for our sin; and death, death has been defeated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the empty tomb is a symbol of death’s defeat. As Adrian Rodgers said, “death is a fierce foe but he is a defeated foe!” As Paul said “Oh death where is your sting?” Hallelujah He is risen, say it with me, “HE IS RISEN!!!” “He is risen indeed!!!” The cross is the symbol that sin has been defeated and the empty tomb is the symbol death has been defeated, they are not just decorative pieces we put up they are images of victory over sin and death!!! And all those who trust in Christ have their sins forgiven and life eternal.

But who among us does not have questions? We all have questions right, like...

“if I had to measure my height in Oreo’s, how many Oreo’s tall would I be?”

“Why does soda have so many bubbles and how does it stay so fuzzy?”

“If I was a superhero, who would my sidekick be and what would be my superpower?”

Well maybe those are just some of my questions but nonetheless, we all have questions, so we are going to look at (which was read to us) and look at 4 questions that it brings to light. The scriptures raises questions but they also answer questions, so we are not just going to look at questions but answers as well.

Intellectual questions about the resurrection ()

Everybody has got these questions, intellectual questions about the resurrection. V.1 “Mary Magdalene went to the tomb…still dark” Often biblical critics use things like this, just the mentions of Mary M. only coming to the tomb, while the other gospels mention others there. This is not a contradiction, there may have been a separate time when Mary went by herself if not it doesn’t really matter because it wasn’t uncommon for John to focus his writings on an individual. John did this all throughout his book, Nicodemous, the woman at the well, the nobleman, the man beside the pool of Bethesda, etc. in group settings John would often point out individuals and the individual aspect of relating to Jesus. Why??? While when we become believers it’s true we become a part of the body of Christ, the church, corporately; an individuals faith in Jesus is personal i.e. we have to come to Christ ourselves, it’s not our parents faith, grandparents, or the church I was raise in, it’s coming to Jesus personally.

John’s gospel was written to inspire faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, it was written to seekers who wanted to examine the life of Jesus and discover Him as Savior for themselves and it was written to believers who would be strengthened in their faith through the personal relationship with Christ in faith i.e. trust in Him.

Mary came to the tomb in the dark and discovered it empty. Mary came not only while it was still dark but still in the dark as well, intellectually. We see in this event Mary, Peter, and John still in the dark about the resurrection, John alludes to that in verse 9, “they did not yet know the scripture, that Jesus must rise from the dead.” Mary came looking for a dead man but did not find one, so she ran to Peter and John (v.2) John “the other disciple, whom Jesus loved” people have said John inserted this little self-promotion of himself, I don’t think John was so vain, even though he claimed to be faster than Peter, I don’t think he’s claiming to be loved more by Jesus.

Pull that phrase out, I don’t usually tell you to pull a text out of context but this is relevant, “the other disciple, (insert name) whom Jesus loved.” A disciple is a follower of Jesus, Jesus loves all His followers right? So why would John even bother to say that? Remember the very first question I asked you? Do you love Jesus? You may have answered yes to that but you do not always act like you love Jesus, you may even flat out question Him, but He loves you. You may say I don’t deserve that kind of love, Jesus’ disciples all abandoned him, but He loved them any way. Oh how He loves you and me.

V.3-5 Here’s where the intellectual pondering began, notice he did not go in??? What does this mean?

v.6—10 I want us to notice something, Peter went in as soon as he got there but John did not? Peter, upon entering the tomb, sees the grave clothes and the head covering was by it’s self folded nice and neat. There was no sign of hurrying or struggle, in Matthews account the Chief priest (Pharisees) told Pilate to set a Roman guard over the tomb because Jesus said He would rise again in three days. They said that Jesus disciples might come and steal his body and say He is risen. But we see a group of disciples that abandoned Jesus, Mark’s gospel said “they all fled” there was a mass exodus of Jesus disciples, but the Pharisees gave them more credit than they deserved.

The ones who hated Him remembered that he would rise from the dead three days later, yet didn’t believe in Him and the one’s who said they loved Him and would always be there with Him and would in fact die for Him did not remember what He said and abandoned Him. What’s the point? What we see in the book of Acts, is followers of Jesus that have been so radically changed that it turns the entire world upside down. All of the disciples except John would die for Jesus a brutal death, men don’t willingly die for what they know is a lie. That does not make intellectual sense.

Peter and John had some questions I’m sure, in fact in the next chapter John alludes to Peter not being able to sleep and decides to go fishing, then Jesus reveals Himself to them.

I want to point out one thing to us today, while their are many intellectual questions people raise about the resurrection, there is no new questions. Oh, man might think he’s pretty smart and has a new one that he thinks stumps everyone, they’ve all been asked before. I ask one question that many ask and have asked over the years that actually has a very simple answer.

Intellectual questions:

Q: “Why are the various accounts of the resurrection so different from each other?”

A: “Different perspectives and writing to different audiences.” If you had 4 different people on 4 different sides of an intersection and all of them witnesses the same wreck you’d have 4 different perspectives on that same wreck, it doesn’t make one’s story more truer than another, it’s different perspectives and observations. It’s the same with the gospels, it’s four different perspectives on the same story, it doesn’t contradict the gospel it gives us a more complete picture of story.

Christianity isn’t intellectual suicide, it’s enlightenment of your own sin and your desperate need for a savior. Jesus is that savior, the light of the world that evil sought to extinguish but could not because that light is greater than the darkness, and Jesus offers Himself for all and to all who believe. The intellectual answer, “I was in the dark, He gave me light.”

Hurting questions ()

V. 11-15, “but Mary stood outside weeping...” While Peter and John wrestled intellectually Mary just hurt. Mary Magdalene was a women Jesus had cast 7 demons out of (Mark tells us). This woman was a outcast of society, she was written off, but Jesus rescued her and she never left His side, She was present at Jesus trial, mocking, beating, scourging, and crucifixion, now she is at His grave. But she is in shock, she is so hurt, after being rescued by Jesus the only one who had ever shown any interest in her at all was now betrayed and dead.

The bible doesn’t give us the graphic description of the beating and scourging, Isaiah tells us, “he was unrecognizable as a man” Jesus was beaten beyond recognition and She had witnessed the unjust trial and brutality of man. She had seen the best man could offer in Jesus and the worst man could do with His murder. So we can understand why she didn’t recognize the angels at first or Jesus for that matter, she is devastated and asking why?

See grief, loss, distress, confusion all cause hurt and often that’s all we see, all we can focus on is the grief, the loss, the distress, the confusion, all we can focus on is the hurt. When that’s our focus, we can miss Jesus standing there saying, “why are you weeping, whom are you seeking?”

How often do we get focused on what is wrong in our lives, how we’ve been hurt, or wronged, or how injustice has prevailed? Even with death and loss we get so focused on the potential death or the loss we’ve experienced, and death is a terrible and hard thing to deal with and it hurts; Jesus knows it hurts. That’s why Jesus doesn’t rebuke Mary for her not recognizing Him, Jesus experienced death and loss. Here’s the thing, we can get so focused on the hurt and lose and forget that Jesus offers us something that has defeated hurt, lose, and death!!! Himself!!! Jesus offers us Himself!!! Amen!

V.16 Jesus said “Mary” I love this she is focused on the hurt and the pain and Jesus uses the Aramaic “Mariam” it’s what He called her on a day to day basis, it was personal. Jesus called her by that name ever since He saved her and she instantly recognizes that voice that she had heard so lovingly before so many times before. She instantly goes from grief to gladness, from sorrow to joy.

Mary’s testimony is hurting’s answer “I was hurting, and He gave me hope.” That’s the point of the resurrection friends. In a world full of sorrow, sin, and death, Jesus has conquered the grave and gave hope to all those who believe on Him!

He went to the cross, took the full force of sin, died, and three days later rose victorious over death and sin. So no matter what life brings you, no matter how much life hurts, you can know this is not all there is, there is more.

Jesus comes to us right in the midst of our struggles and pain just like He did with Mary. When we hurt He gives hope.

V. 17 [ optional: This is a tremendous verse. There has been a lot of theological debate over this verse, particularly the first part where Jesus says, “do not cling to me I have not ascended...” which is unfortunate because tells us, “it has not been revealed to us what we shall be like, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him...”] With this hope, there’s a commission to go and tell, while an encounter with Jesus demands a decision, upon that decision comes a commission, go and tell. In your hurt Christ has given you hope, you response should be the proclamation of that hope! To many Christians are debbie-downers, friends have we forgotten what Christ has done for us as we celebrate His resurrection? He has give us HOPE!

Jesus said, I am ascending to “My Father and....your Father, My God and....your God.” DID you get what Jesus said??? Through what Jesus did on the cross and in the resurrection, Christ made God available to you and me. Mary went and told (v.18) as should we, in the midst of our hurt Christ offers hope in Him.

hurting answer: “I was hurting, He gave me hope.”

Doubting questions ()

We are not the first people to want proof of the resurrection, Thomas wanted proof, he had serious doubts. Thomas must have been from Missouri, “show me.” Thomas sometimes gets a bad rap, but I’m personally glad he’s in the story, because it’s kinda like a reality check. Do I want to base my life on a lie? Or encourage others to base their lives on a lie? Of coarse not, read verse 24-29.

Did you get what Thomas witnessed to? Peter and John’s witness, “I was in the dark, he gave me light,” Mary, “I was hurting, He gave me hope,” Thomas, “I was doubting, He showed me truth.”

The faith Thomas had before the resurrection in Jesus seemed to had crumbled at His death, Thomas was not going to hold on to a faith that seemed to be nonsense. This is very practical, I’ve heard many people talk about the faith they once had and how it had crumbled to the ground when their expectations weren’t met, or tragedy hit, or what ever happened. They weren’t going to hang onto something that seemed so fragile and easily destroyed. The problem was, they weren’t holding on to the right thing. Whether it was bad doctrine, false expectations, or misleading by someone else, our hope is not based on what someone tells us or even what we may think ourselves, it’s based on the word of God and His will.

This is why this is such an encouragement to me, Jesus doesn’t rebuke or scold Thomas for his doubts, but shows him the truth. Jesus shows Thomas the truth about His love for him, which was evident in the nail-scarred hands and the spear-pierced side. Jesus doesn’t call us to blind faith, or to just step out into nowhere. Jesus calls us to a reasonable faith-a faith based upon truth! He does this with grace.

The saying goes, “seeing is believing” Thomas saw and believed and that’s fine but verse 29, tells us the opposite, “believing is seeing” blessed are those who believe and have not seen. Here’s the thing, what convinced Thomas to believe? In the NT no one had yet said what he had said to Jesus, “my Lord and My God.” Was it the knowledge Jesus had of what Thomas had said that prompted His professing Jesus as God?

I believe it was the presence of Christ identified by His wounds in his hands, feet, and sides that convinced Thomas i.e. It was Christ on the Cross that reached Thomas. It’s Christ on the cross that reaches us today, His love, His life, His blood, His sacrifice, His resurrection that changes and saves people today.

Doubting answer: “I was doubting, He showed me truth.”

Answer to our questions () [The questions for you]

Jesus did many other signs, but what is written is that you may believe and have eternal life. All these things are written so when we are in the dark, we are given light, when we hurt, we are offered hope, when we doubt, we’re given truth. All these are written so you might believe! and by believing have life in His name.

Here’s the radical thing we are confronted with today, unlike other world religions, Christianity doesn’t have a check of list of things to do instead we are given truth to believe. The question we are face with today is, “do you believe Jesus rose from the grave? If you don’t believe that, the burden to prove other wise is on you. and the question is to important to ignore.

Today on this resurrection Sunday it’s not a matter of religious preference, it’s a matter or truth and your eternity depends on it.

There are people today that will be in church, and it may be the only time this year they’ll be in church. They might even say I believe in the resurrection of Jesus but are not saved and not going to heaven, how can I say that? The words of Jesus, “many will say to me at the last day, Lord I did this and that for you, Jesus replies, I never knew you.”

How is this? The words of Thomas are the key question for you and me today.

Is Jesus your Lord and your God? (v.31) believing…life. If you can say that your answer is...

answer to our question (witness) “I was dead, and He brought me to life.

Jesus Rose for (your name)

Is Jesus your Lord and God? The bible says if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. The invitation to you is repent and believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved.

Believer are you being the proclamation of hope in a hopeless world?