Easter2003
Easter
4/19 and 4/20/2003
John 20
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
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 returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning 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.
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
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Dr. George Sweeting tells of an incident in the early 1920s when Communist leader Nikolai Bukharin was sent from Moscow to Kiev to address an anti-God rally. For an hour he abused and ridiculed the Christian faith until it seemed as if the whole structure of belief was in ruins. Then questions were invited. An Orthodox church priest rose and asked to speak. He turned, faced the people, and gave the Easter greeting, "He is risen!" Instantly the assembly rose to its feet and the reply came back loud and clear, "He is risen indeed!"
-That is our answer and our hope. Because Jesus rose from the dead we have an indescribable hope in the future.
As I look around, I see great events playing out on the world stage: Democracy/freedom is being brought to regions of the world that never really understood the dignity of individual citizens or the joy of liberty. World health organizations are working around the clock to stem the tide of SARS a disease which if not fought might become another black plague. An unprecedented ability to communicate ideas and beliefs to any part of the world and to any person in the world is quickly becoming commonplace. And the ability to move produce and goods around the world makes it possible as never before to bring significant relief to regions of the world that suffer. These world-shaping events are so important. They are literally changing the course of history. And as I watch, I wonder. I wonder what I am doing here in this pulpit. If the real action isn't out there doing the world shaping. And then I am reminded of two things.
First, I am reminded that no event in history has shaped the world like the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And Second I reminded of this simple fact about life. Life does not go on forever. There is death. Every one of us must face our mortality. There is no military victory, no medical cure, no global village that can prepare any individual to answer the ultimate questions in life. And today I stand to proclaim Hope, the hope of His Resurrection. There is death. Yes. But life is in Jesus Christ, the hope of our resurrection.
(illustration from sermons)
1. JESUS LIVED AND DIED BUT HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
Dr. Seamands tells of a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa. "Some of his friends asked him, 'Why have you become a Christian?' He answered, 'Well, its like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didn't know which way to go, and there at the fork in the road were two men, one dead and one alive--which one would you ask which way to go?'"
-Education, science, and medicine can all make our life better, but they can’t make our life.
-The hope of the world rests squarely upon the shoulders of the one man in history who conquered the one insurmountable foe- death.
-We have been studying the life and message of Jesus Christ.
-There are thousands of things we could say about Him. He was and is unique.
-He is the perfect example and the object of our faith.
-Why was He so unique?
Revelation 5
Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits a of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
-The scene in heaven is that the scroll containing the destiny and future of mankind was sealed.
-It was unable to be opened or even seen by anyone in heaven, on earth or under the earth.
-The only one qualified was the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
-He was a lion but then he looked as if He had been slain.
-He was able to open it because He was slain and He purchased men with His own blood, with His own life.
-Jesus is still the marker in time. Everything is measured by Him-B.C. and A.D.
-He is the focal point in history-history is really HIS TORY.
-He is returning one day and His appearance will be even more surprising this time than the first time.
-In talking to Barbara last week about Jesus as the Jewish Messiah I was reminded of an orthodox Jew in Jerusalem who said when the Messiah comes to Jerusalem they will say, IS THIS YOUR FIRST VISIT TO ISRAEL OR HAVE YOU BEEN HERE BEFORE?
-He provided access to God by His blood.
-His story is more than His life-He rose from the dead.
Revelation 1 TLB
This is a picture of the glorious, victorious Jesus alive from the dead.
12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lampstands was the Son of Man.* He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were bright like flames of fire. 15 His feet were as bright as bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was as bright as the sun in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.*
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-If Jesus is building His church and the most important thing in History is His life and victory over death;
The second most important thing in history to you is;
2. DO YOU HAVE THAT SAME HOPE IN THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD?
-The hard fact that becomes more apparent to us as our life goes on is: we are all going to die.
-I was at a family function recently and it occurred to me that these fit uncles and aunts that I had seen in their twenties and thirties were now in their late seventies.
-I left there saying to Becky, I don’t look forward to the round of funerals that are certain to come.
-That is how my brain looks at things because death is an enemy.
-But the good news is; that event in history where Jesus came out of the grave becomes very personalized and reaches 2000 years into the future to what happens when they close the box on each and every one of us.
John 11
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, b the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
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-Only the hope of resurrection relieves the sting of death.
-We are celebrating Jesus’ resurrection today but we are just as much celebrating and declaring what we believe about our future.
-Because He lives, we also shall live.
The German theologian Jurgen Moltmann expresses in a single sentence the great span from Good Friday to Easter. It is, in fact, a summary of human history, past, present, and future: "God weeps with us so that we may someday laugh with him."
Philip Yancey in Christianity Today. 1 Cor. 15:54.
-We are cheering for Jesus for very personal reasons. We want to rise as well. We want those closest to us to rise too.
1 Corinthians 15
53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” c
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?” d
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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EASTER CHANGES EVERYTHING!
You can have the hope of resurrection because of Easter-Do you have that hope?
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[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version, Jn 20:1-20. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984.
a Or the sevenfold Spirit
*
Revelation 1:13
Or one who looked like a man; Greek reads one like a son of man. See Dan 7:13.
*
Revelation 1:18
Greek and Hades.
[2]Holy Bible : New Living Translation., Re 1:11-18. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1997.
b Or Messiah
[3]The Holy Bible : New International Version, Jn 11:23-27. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984.
c Isaiah 25:8
d Hosea 13:14
[4]The Holy Bible : New International Version, 1 Co 15:53-57. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984.