The Critical Reason for the Resurection
Seeing Jesus Through the Eyes of a Friend! • Sermon • Submitted
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· 11 viewsStill Struggling to believe, the disciples are confronted with the empty tomb!
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Introduction
Introduction
Greet everyone (be in front of the pulpit)
Attention (Why should they listen to you?) Throwing a bullet into the fire.
What is the Hearer’s problem? We often fail to understand the significance of the message of the Scriptures. They are in fact a message of life and hope
What is the Biblical Solution? We are in good company! The disciples had the same problem...
What do the hearers need to know?
Main Textual Idea:
Main Idea: It is Critical that You Understand the Scriptures
Why? Why is it so important that you and I understand the archaic book? What difference does it make?
Well, if it is what it clams to be, the very Word of God, then it is true. And if it is true, then it has authority! And if it has authority, then we ought to listen, obey and believe!
At the end of this sermon I will tell you Why it is absolutely critical that you understand the Scriptures.
But as we work through this text, there are some things that you need to understand regarding John portrayal of the Resurrection of Christ, the single most important event in human history!
There are three truths that you must understand regarding John’s depiction of this event. And the first is this...
Body (Satisfaction)
1. Do You Understand that His Body Was Not Burgled? (vs. 1-4)
When something is missing, often our first response is that it has been stolen. Unfortunately, this is the same response some of the disciples had when they went to the tomb that Jesus was buried in early that Sunday morning! Take a look at verses 1-4...
1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
Give harmony from “The Words and Works of Jesus Christ” and then explain...
The earthquake
The decent of the angel
Explanation -
The opening of the tomb
The resurrection ()
The group of women who came “very early” hour of the “deep dawn,” while it was still dark
Mary Magdalene, ran ahead and found it open
Immediately ran back to find Peter and John leaving the other women.
The other women, completing their two mile walk from Bethany arrive a little after dawn ()
An angel appears to them with an urgent message to the disciples.
Peter and John, already on their way because of Mary’s message, show up to inspect the tomb.
Verse 1
“Now on the first day of the week” - It was A.D. 85 as John was writing his account of Jesus life and the resurrection. Do you notice what John says? This was the first day of the week! Sunday, by the time John is writing this text had become the first day of the week. It became prominent because of the resurrection!
and on that glorious day, Mary Magdalene was on her way to the tomb to finish the job started by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
By the way, who were the “they” Luke mentions?
1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
“Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark” -
So, although John doesn’t say so, Mary wasn’t alone but, for him, she is the primary focus.
Who was Mary Magdalene?
1 Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.
Mary loved and supported Jesus during His life and now she is caring for Him in His death.
And so,“Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark”
Perhaps John simply fails to mention the other ladies or she got ahead of them on the way and arrived to the tomb before them? In either case, Mary Magdalene is the first person to identify that the tomb had been disturbed.
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb“…and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” - Can you imagine? She, walking up to the tomb, with the determination to finish preparing the body of Jesus for His continued burial, all of a sudden realizes in the darkness of the morning that the tomb was now open, she panics, doesn’t wait for the other women to see and respond, she runs back to find the disciples, not out of faith, but instead doubt! Apparently from this text as well as others, the resurrection was the last thing on her mind.
So, what does she do?
Verse 2
“So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one who Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” - There are two things Mary Magdalene did.
First, she ran for help! She talked with Peter and John, AKA “the one who Jesus loved”
“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” -
Second, she assumed the worst. She assumed someone had stolen the body of Jesus...
Verse 3 - Well, when Peter and John heard this news, they wasted no time and headed out the door to see what in the world was going on!
“So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.” -
Verse 4 - They were pretty serious about getting there soon because John says...
“Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.” - John was most likely younger that Peter and therefore a bit faster.
Be that as it may, isn’t it interesting to you that Mary’s first assumption when she saw the tomb open was that it was burgled? Perhaps the Jewish leadership took the body? Perhaps the Romans wanted to make another example to the Jews regarding their Messiah? Maybe someone just wanted to retrieve the fine linens and spices for their own profits? I’m sure Mary Magdalene had a myriad of thoughts racing through her head.
But out of all of those thoughts running around in her mind while she was running toward the disciples, there wasn’t one thought that Jesus actually resurrected from the dead. She’s not alone in this, Peter and John didn’t think this either. They didn’t run to the tomb to see a risen savior. No! They ran to find out where the dead body of Jesus ended up!
This whole episode isn’t about a burgled body! It is about a complete disregard for the promise of Jesus’ resurrection.
The Old Testament taught about the resurrection and Promised the Messiah would rise from the dead
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!
Jo
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
describes the death of the Messiah in detail.
talks of life after death. This is only possible because of the resurrection.
Jesus Tells of His resurrection over and over through the gospels.
Jesus
18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
For Pete sake, even the Jewish leadership heard what Jesus said regarding His resurrection...
62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
Matt
But Mary, Peter and John? The resurrection didn’t seem to cross their minds. They thought His body was burgled!
Illustration - Lost something, thought it was stolen…found out later I was wrong...
But It wasn’t burgled. No one stole the body of Jesus. He had risen Just at He said He would! But they failed to believe the word of the prophets, the word of the Old Testament writings, the word of Jesus Himself. But their lack of belief didn’t keep the truth from being the truth.
What do you believe about the resurrection?
Some are here this morning and you are quite skeptical that a man could rise from the dead...
Some are here this morning that think it is possible, but are not sure...
Some are here that believe Christ’s resurrection without question...
Which camp are you in? Let me be clear, and this is serious! If you do not believe Christ was raised from the dead you are not a Christian. You must believe this fundamental truth because this fundamental truth is the last third of the Gospel. 1. He died. 2. He was buried. 3. He rose from the dead! You must believe the gospel in order to be saved, the resurrection of Jesus is a fundamental component of the Gospel! Therefore you MUST believe that Christ’s body was stolen and hidden away but in fact that He rose from the dead!
If you don’t believe or you are on the fence about this core doctrine or teaching of our faith, you might be asking, is there any proof to support this claim? Yes, tons of proof! But there is even proof right here in this text. And that leads us well into the next point!
Review - It is Critical that You Understand the Scriptures
1. Do You Understand that His Body Was Not Burgled?
2. Do You Understand that the Linens Do Not Lie? (vs. 5-7)
Remember last week how we discussed the fact that Nicodemus brought some 75 lbs of spices, aloes and cloth to wrap the body of Jesus? And that is exactly what Joseph of Arimathea and he did! The prepared Jesus for the inevitable decay of Jesus’ body! They washed Him from head to toe. They saw every wound and they bound His body with cloth and a Myrrh/aloe mixture that acted like a sticky glue that held the strips of clothe to his body. Remember, we are talking about more than a simply bed sheet! There is 75 lbs of very expensive material that Jesus is wrapped in. And that substantial wrapping has a story to tell!
5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.
Verse 5 - So John gets to the tomb first and he looks in and sees the cloths...but he waits for Peter to show up.
By the way, let me give you an idea of what tombs looked like in that day...
Pic of Tomb
Pic of side view of Tomb
Explanation -
This is probably the best graphic of what Jesus’ tomb resembled.
The light was growing and John was able to see more clearly that the linen cloths were lying there! Questions must have been racing through his mind! Was Mary right? Was the body gone? What could have happened? So many questions! So much confusion!
Verse 6 - So Peter finally gets there sweating and out of breath! Maybe he’s been eating too much bread and fish? But John defers and waits for him nonetheless. And when He arrived, in typical Peter like fashion, he went right in the tomb. And as he bent over and tucked his large frame into the grave, he saw more clearly that cloths were lying there.
Verse 7 - He noticed something else. The face cloth
What is a face cloth - A handkerchief that was wrapped around the head to cover the face...
And this face cloth was folded up, nice and neat, all by itself...
16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
Now
Now I want you to think about this for a minute...
The Romans would not have any interest in stealing the body they just sealed and set roman guards over to watch...
The Jewish leadership would have no interest in stealing the body of Jesus, they want Him dead and they wanted proof that He was dead! If they stole the body it would only be to parade it around proving He was indeed, dead!
But this is where the linens help us...If Jesus’ body was stolen by grave robbers, why would they take the time to take off his wrappings (which are loaded with expensive myrrh and aloe and such, plus the expensive fine linens) and leave them there? Why would they take the time to neatly fold up his face cloth and put it in it’s place. That makes no sense!
If Jesus’ body was stolen by grave robbers, why would they take the time to take off his wrappings (which are loaded with expensive myrrh and aloe and such, plus the expensive fine linens) and leave them there? Why would they take the time to neatly fold up his face cloth and put it in it’s place. That makes no sense!
Bob Deffinbaugh - “My sense is that most commentators and students of the Bible understand this folded cloth to indicate that the scene in the empty tomb was evidence of a very calm and orderly process, rather than that of a burglarized tomb, from which the body of Jesus was hastily stolen -- from a sealed tomb, guarded by soldiers.” - https://bible.org/question/there-significance-jesus-folding-linen-burial-cloth-after-his-resurrection
“My sense is that most commentators and students of the Bible understand this folded cloth to indicate that the scene in the empty tomb was evidence of a very calm and orderly process, rather than that of a burglarized tomb, from which the body of Jesus was hastily stolen -- from a sealed tomb, guarded by soldiers.” - https://bible.org/question/there-significance-jesus-folding-linen-burial-cloth-after-his-resurrection
The linens do not lie! There is no way anyone would have tried to remove the massive amount of sticky, resin that was used to affix the cloth to His dead body...
Illustration -
Illustration -
God left clues, an embarrassing amount of clues and details that help us UNDERSTAND that Jesus body was not stolen. He did, in fact rise from the dead. whether He passed through the linens to free himself from their bondage? Or He unwrapped himself after life began coursing through his veins again? Or an angel stopped in to help Him out! It doesn’t matter!
What does matter is that the linens and the face clothe were left behind and clear evidence that His body was not stolen, but that He, beat death and had risen just as he said! It makes precious little sense for someone to take the time to unwrap a wrapped dead body just to steal it naked! The linens do not lie!
Listen folks, evidence for the resurrection is great and helpful and I encourage you to do your best to read and think and learn everything you can about the proofs for the veracity of the scriptures and especially for the resurrection of Jesus. But, all the arguments in the world don’t amount to a hill of beans if you do not trust the conclusion of those arguments!
You can have all the answers to all the questions but if you do not believe them, what’s the point?
God our Father has made all things depend on faith so that whoever has faith will have everything, and whoever does not have faith will have nothing. - Martin Luther
Martin Luther.
(If there is time)The following letter was found in a baking-power can wired to the handle of an old pump that offered the only hope of drinking water on a very long and seldom-used trail across Nevada's Amargosa Desert: "This pump is all right as of June 1932. I put a new sucker washer into it and it ought to last five years. But the washer dries out and the pump has got to be primed. Under the white rock I buried a bottle of water, out of the sun and cork end up. There's enough water in it to prime the pump, but not if you drink some first. Pour about one-fourth and let her soak to wet the leather. Then pour in the rest medium fast and pump like crazy. You'll git water. The well has never run dry. Have faith. When you git watered up, fill the bottle and put it back like you found it for the next feller. (signed) Desert Pete. P.S. Don't go drinking the water first. Prime the pump with it and you'll git all you can hold."
Keith Miller and Bruce Larson, The Edge of Adventure.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ happened. Do you have faith that it did?
Review - It is Critical that You Understand the Scriptures
It is Critical that You Understand the Scriptures
1. Do You Understand that His Body Was Not Burgled?
2. Do You Understand that The Linens Do Not Lie?
3. Do You Understand that the Resurrection was a Requirement? (vs. 8-10)
Division 3 Statement: Do You Understand that the Resurrection was a Requirement? (vs, 8-10)
It seems the disciples were slow to understand the fundamental reason why Jesus Christ, came to them. He was an amazing teacher and He taught them great truths that would guide their lives. He was an excellent example. After all, He never ONCE broke God’s commands. What better example could their be? He even willingly died on the cross as a sacrificial sacrifice for their sins. But all of these things are meaningly if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead.
8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.
Verse 8 - Now John takes the opportunity to enter the tomb as well. And as he entered, seeing more clearly than ever, he saw and believed. This is a monumental statement! John saw and believed! He entered the chamber of death and now believed Jesus was alive.
John shook of the idea that Jesus’ body was stolen! John, no doubt, heard the words of Jesus (in his mind) declaring on the third day he would rise again! And Like a thunderbolt, John saw the evidence and believed!
He was a lot like Thomas, doubting Thomas that we will see in detail in ...
Explanation -
John saw and then believed - “Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe.”
Verse 9 - But verse nine gets down to the crux of the matter. Most all of Jesus followers didn’t understand that Jesus must rise from the dead. But because of the promises of God, He needed to do just that! They should have remembered and believed what He said, but they didn’t. Except for John. John got it! all a once, John understood that Jesus must rise from the dead. It was a requirement.
46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
This was the plan from the very foundation of the earth, but why? Why is the resurrection so important? What is the significance?
Why is the resurrection so important? What is the signific
Let me give you some reasons that the resurrection was so critical and necessary!
It Proved that Jesus was God
4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
2. It Proved Jesus’ Power to Forgive Sins
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
3. It Proved Jesus Power over Death
9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
4. It Defeated God’s Enemy
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
The historically reliable fact is, Jesus was raised from the dead!
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1
John gets it!
Does Peter? Does Mary? Do the other women? This text doesn’t say. But John, as he is writing this years later remembers well when the lighbulb went off in his head and it all made sense! Jesus Christ rose from the dead!
Verse 10 - and in a very “matter of fact” way, informs his readers that the disciples went home. But I know for at least one of the disciples, on his way home he (John) was exploding with excitement!
Do you know what I mean about the “lightbulb moment”?
All of a sudden it all made sense to John! He remembered the Old Testament prophecies, He remembered what Jesus said! And he saw the proof right before his eyes! Jesus had to die so he could be raised again!
1
ooooooo
Because Jesus was God and came here as a man for the main goal of going to the cross and rising from the dead, because of this you can be saved!!! Are you?
Review - It is Critical that You Understand the Scriptures
It is Critical that You Understand the Scriptures
1. Do You Understand that His Body Was Not Burgled?
2. Do You Understand that The Linens Do Not Lie?
3. Do You Understand that the Resurrection was a Requirement?
Conclusion (Visualization)
Explanation -
Illustration -
Argumentation -
Application -
Review -
Division 5 Statement:
Explanation -
Illustration -
Argumentation -
Application -
Review -
Conclusion (Visualization)
Action
Action
Why must you understand the Scriptures?
Because, if you fail to understand the message of the Scriptures, which culminates in the Gospel, you will fail to place your faith on the only person who can save you - Jesus Christ!
You must understand and believe that God sent the Christ in the world to save sinners
You must understand and believe that Jesus died a substitutionary death on the cross to pay your sin debt!
You must understand and believe that by being raised from the dead, you if you are in Christ, will be raised as well.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
At the end of this sermon I will tell you Why it is absolutely critical that you understand the Scriptures.
My dear friends! If you ever think you will one day enjoy the heaven being prepared for you, you must not only understand the Scriptures, but you must believe that Jesus came, lived a sinless life, died a criminals death and rose from the dead - This is the ONLY path to heaven!
Folks, throwing a bullet in the fire isn’t too bright. You might lose your finger.
After sermon is written, ask these three questions to edit
What do my hearers NEED to know?
Failing to understand and believe the resurrection of Christ? You’ll lose more than your finger, you’ll lose your soul!
What is NICE for them to know?
Where CAN they go (if they would like to know more)?
Keep it at 45min which is 3000 words (Murder the Darlings)
What is the “Elevator Speech”?
Make sure you have a compelling hook!
Why should they listen to you?
Invitation
Connection Group Questions / Reflection Questions
What stood out to you from this sermon?
What are some of the problems in believing that Jesus’ body was stolen?
Why is it so important to notice the detail within the tomb itself?
How do those linens mentioned help you with your belief?
What are some of the reasons behind our need for the resurrection?
What is one truth you would share with someone this week?