An Empty Tomb

ME:

(Open with It’s Not Over video)

Will you pray with me?

Last week we ended with Jesus’s death on the cross

Paying our sin debt in full

Giving up his spirit after crying out, Tetelestai, It is finished!

But even though, It is finished

As the video we watched this morning reminded us

It’s not over!

We are going to see that this morning as we pick up in vs. 38 of , through

Where we see that An Empty Tomb is down to earth

And it is so appropriate with Thanksgiving being this week

And it is so appropriate with Thanksgiving being this week

Because the resurrection of Jesus is the greatest thing we should be thankful for

Then next week, as was announced earlier, we will begin the Christmas rotation, focusing on Immanuel, God with Us

This is our group this year

Insert pastor rotation picture here

First we will have Pastor Christian Mickey from West Windsor here

Then I’ll be back on the 8th before Pastor Josh Rathmell from Faith Bible in Oxford comes on the 15th

And we will continue the Immanuel theme through Christmas

and we will end our last Sunday of the year with , the final chapter of John’s gospel

Before we turn our attention to a new sermon series at the start of 2020

So now that we have an idea of where we are going

Let’s turn our attention back to where we are today

WE:

to start, where we what happened after He proclaimed It Is Finisehd

John 19:38–42 ESV

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

This is the conclusion of the passion narrative

Joseph here is a relatively mysterious man

He is mentioned in all 4 gospels at the burial of Jesus, but nowhere else

He is described as a secret disciple because he feared the Jews

The Gospel of Mark tells us he is wealthy and a respected member of the Sanhedrin, along with Nicodemus, who you remember from , bury Jesus in a new tomb

But notice, in vs. 41, this tomb was in a garden

The same setting found at beginning of the entire Bible, Genesis 1

is a garden

But I would like to present a “new and improved” reading of Genesis one by Thomas Schmidt;

“In the beginning of modern times, about a hundred years ago, Man looked at his universe, and it seemed without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of mankind looked over everything, and Man said, ‘Let there be science.’ And there was science.

And Man saw the science that he had made, that it was good, and with it he divided all things…And there was morning and evening, and the modern day had begun.

And Man divided all the things he saw: the water above, the land, the waters below, the grass, the fruit tree yielding fruit, the swarms of living creatures in the waters, the birds that fly above the earth, and moving creatures of every kind that are on the earth, including himself, a higher primate distinguished from the other creatures mainly by his ability to destroy everything. And Man saw that all this dividing and classifying was good, and the destroying was fun too. This all took several evenings and mornings, and that got him up to the fifth day.

And Modern Man said, ‘TGIF.’ But then he thought, ‘Wait a minute. What does the G stand for?’

And then Modern Man said, ‘Let us make God after our own image, according to our likeness.’ And so he did. He blessed God, and he said to him, ‘Be distant and keep to yourself, because we have already filled the earth and subdued it and classified it, and there really isn’t a whole lot of room left for you, but you certainly are a pleasant thought.’

And then Modern Man planted a garden, and there he put the God he had formed. And he called the garden Safe Respectable Religion. And out of the ground of that garden, Man made to grow trees that are pleasant to the sight, and flowers, and he put a fine building in the midst of the garden, because good landscaping enhances property values. And the Lord Man took God and put God in the building and said, ‘God, enjoy yourself, but whatever you do, stay in the building, for in the day that you leave it you shall surely die.’

Then the Lord Man said, ‘It is not good for God to be awake; someone might wander into the building and find him and be frightened.’ So the Lord Man caused a deep sleep to fall upon the God he had made, and he slept. And Man laid him in a box inside the building and put a lid on the box and laid a curtain over it and placed tall candlesticks on top of it, so he could come there from time to time to remember the God he had made. Then Modern Man said,

At last, I have expressed fully the mystery of life and the depth of my mind; I shall call this God Personal, For out of my personality he was taken.

And there was evening and morning, the sixth day, and Modern Man saw that it was very good, because all this was done leaving one extra day in the weekend.’”

Now let’s sing, “How Great We Art”

Hopefully you realized, this “new and improved” version of Genesis one is meant to be a joke

But

It is intended to make us face the reality that we all have the tendency to make up God as we go along

We confess that God created us, but we live as if we create God

Because we occupy our time with things we can wrap our minds around

Things like work, dinner, bills, our schedule

And we speak about things in architectural terms

I don’t have room for this in my life right now

He keeps putting up walls around himself

That is outside of my comfort zone

So we try to create God in terms we can wrap our minds around

We build Him a place where we can keep Him nearby

a place where we can go when we need Him

Someplace nice

Someplace convenient

like the building in the garden mentioned earlier

Then when we are done with our time with God in the garden

we leave and go back home and tell Him to stay there

But it might be terrifying to imagine that God may not respect our boundaries

That He may not wait for an invitation

And instead, without us even knowing

He demands more from us

To do more with us than we are willing

We may find the idea of God in our little garden blessing flowers and bunnies and children attractive

That we get to determine when to let Him out

When we go in

Perhaps when we want a hug, or we are grieving, or deeply saddened, or terrified

We would go into that garden, get what we need from Him

Then we leave when those needs are met

And we could get back to whatever project is going on at work, or getting the kids to practice, or talking about the newest movie that just came out, or planning our next vacation

All the while, we are keeping God in the little garden

In His box

Jesus doesn’t do well with staying in boxes

We just read , where we saw Jesus was placed in a different kind of box

in a garden, it says, Jesus was placed in a tomb

Because Jesus didn’t fit into the world the Jewish people created for God

They had Him crucified, as we read last week

then they put him in a box in a garden, and sealed it

And our temptation is to say, I would never

If I were there I wouldn’t do that, I would have defended Jesus

However, the band, Sidewalk Prophets, communicate the reality of our condition in their song, You Love Me Anyway;

“I am a thorn in Your crown But You love me anyway I am the sweat from Your brow But You love me anyway I am the nail in Your wrist But You love me anyway I am Judas' kiss But You love me anyway See now, I am the man who yelled out from the crowd For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking ground Yes then I turned away with the smile on my face With this sin in my heart tried to bury Your grace

See now, I am the man who yelled out from the crowd For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking ground Yes then I turned away with the smile on my face With this sin in my heart tried to bury Your grace And then alone in the night I still called out for You So ashamed of my life, my life, my life

Because God loves us anyway, Jesus cried out from the cross It Is Finished

But You love me anyway Oh, God, how You love me

and Though, It is Finished, It’s Not Over

Last week we saw was referenced by Christ on the cross

and the first 21 verses of are this downward trend that prophecy the crucifixion

But then you get to ;

Psalm 22:22–23 ESV

I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

Suddenly the tone changes

Because it’s not over until it’s over

GOD:

So let’s look at how It’s Not Over in ;

John 20:1–18 ESV

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. 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.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

This chapter now picks up with the resurrection narrative

As is commonly believed, the Apostle John is the likely author of this Gospel

and He refers to Himself as either the other disciple or the disciple whom Jesus loved

Here, he refers to himself as the other disciple

and apparently, he is a very competitive disciple

because he thought it important enough to include in God’s Word that he won the footrace to the tomb against Peter

But when they finally get there, they include an interesting detail about the linen clothes

Matthew Henry explains;

“The grave-clothes in which Christ had been buried were found in very good order, which serves for an evidence that his body was not ‘stolen away while men slept.’ Robbers of tombs have been known to take away ‘the clothes’ and leave the body; but none ever took away ‘the body’ and left the clothes, especially when they were ‘fine linen’ and new (). Any one would rather choose to carry a dead body in its clothes than naked. Or if they that were supposed to have stolen it would have left the grave-clothes behind, yet it cannot be supposed they would find leisure to ‘fold up the linen.’ ”

What was the result of this?

In vs. 8, it says John went in, saw, and believed

At this time they didn’t understand ;

Psalm 16:9–10 ESV

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

Jesus prophesied this back in , which reads

John 2:19–22 ESV

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 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.

The resurrection is the most important event in history

It provides the grounds for our faith and belief

says it was not possible for Jesus to be held by death

and by His resurrection is has loosened the pangs of death for us all

John 2:19–22 ESV

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 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.

Acts 2:24–28 ESV

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

The Easton Bible Dictionary in two places says about the resurrection;

"The resurrection is a public testimony of Christ’s release from his undertaking as surety, and an evidence of the Father’s acceptance of his work of redemption. It is a victory over death and the grave for all his followers."

and in regard to what we talked about last week,

"His resurrection is a proof that he made a full atonement for our sins, that his sacrifice was accepted as a satisfaction to divine justice, and his blood a ransom for sinners. It is also a pledge and an earnest of the resurrection of all believers (; ; ; ; ). As he lives, they shall live also."

The significance of the resurrection is broken down simply into two factors

Either Christ rose and the gospel is true

Or He did not rise and the gospel is false

Theologian, Charles Hodge comments on this;

“If Christ did not rise, the whole scheme of redemption is a failure, and all the predictions and anticipations of its glorious results for time and for eternity, for men and for angels of every rank and order, are proved to be chimeras. ‘But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.’ Therefore the Bible is true from Genesis to Revelation. The kingdom of darkness has been overthrown, Satan has fallen as lightning from heaven, and the triumph of truth over error, of good over evil, of happiness over misery is for ever secured.”

In this narrative is something else very important

In vs. 14, Mary turns and sees the risen Christ!

but, she didn’t recognize Him

It says she thought He was the gardener

But once Jesus says her name, she recognizes Him!

Why is this so important?

Dig in your memory bank all the way back to when we were in

In , Jesus says;

John 10:3–4 ESV

To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

He calls His sheep by name

and His sheep follow Him, because they know His voice

Here we are in , Jesus, the risen savior, is calling one of His sheep, Mary, by name

Then He commissions her, “go to my brothers and tell them Jesus is ascending to the Father, to God.”

Jesus appears to a woman, whose word meant very little in this time

but not only that, a former prostitute, whose past was unforgivable according to societies standards

This is the sheep He calls by name and sends out to be the first witness of the most earth shattering event in all history

But it wasn’t only her mission, It is your mission as well

YOU:

Let’s look at and see how It Is Our Mission;

John 20:19–23 ESV

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

This is the first time the disciples are seeing Jesus since they abandoned, denied, and scattered after His arrest and crucifixion

It says they were hiding behind locked doors out of fear of the Jews

This is the second time in this passage that we see secrecy and hiding from Jesus’s followers out of fear of the Jews

First was Joseph being a secret disciple back at the end of chapter 18

One caution from this reality is that we don’t develop a similar reputation as the Jews

Do people hide from us out of fear?

But the second caution comes from the disciples perspective

Imagine our church takes a short term mission trip to Korea

And picture that you get arrested

and the rest of your team runs away and hides

and when they are confronted they pretend they don’t know you

The rest of the team returns back here to Afton safely

And you remain in prison and tortured before you are finally set free

When you return to Afton, and you first see the people who abandoned and denied you, what would you say to them?

Instead of scolding the disciples for their fear, doubt, and abandonment

The first thing Jesus says to His disciples is “Peace be with you.”

He appears to them with compassion

and it says they were glad, well that’s the understatement of the century

He continues with compassion in His commission

But, recall back to that passage again

Jesus calls His sheep by name and His sheep follow Him

The Good Shepherd doesn’t stay in the comfortable and cozy confines of the sheepfold

and just as He was sent from the sheepfold, He sends His sheep from there also

Back in vs. 17, when Jesus told Mary not to cling to Him, it wasn’t that there was anything wrong with someone touching His resurrected body

We will see he invites this later in the chapter

R.C. Sproul summarizes;

“She need not ‘cling to’ Jesus as an earthly being who has been healed; rather, she should recognize Him as One whose resurrection marks Him as Lord and Christ.”

And as He commissioned her, then the disciples here, in preparation of His ascension

He breaths the Holy Spirit on the disciples

just like the Father breathed life into man in Genesis 2:7

We don’t cling to Him, because He is breathing His presence into us

He knows you, He knows your name, and He has a mission for you

What kind of God did you come to find? Have you planted Jesus in a box in your garden?

Imagine you are one of the disciples

After Jesus’s death, you are scattered

You go into hiding out of fear of the Jews

your alone this morning with your thoughts

You are weeping that things are not the way they should be

Likewise, today we all have pain, some pain that is terrible, some pain that is very personal

Allow me to imagine some of the thoughts this pain might bring

I am confused

I should have my life figured out by now

I thought I would know what I’m good at and how others would appreciate me for it

Instead the path before me is empty and I have no idea where I’m going or what I’m doing

I am lonely

People let me down

People change, people die, people leave, people don’t have time for me, people don’t notice me

Why don’t people understand how badly I need them

Life should be more, with people visiting, family near by

Instead, I look at my life, and I just don’t recognize anyone in it

I am busy

Life won’t slow down

No matter how hard I try

There is always another crisis

If not at work then there is a crisis at home

I just want to sit and catch my breath

I can’t think about any problems, much less figure any of them out, because more just keep coming

Life just continues to get more complex and more frightening

I am afraid

Life is fragile

I have seen people I care about mistreated

I have done things to hurt others so I know that others can do the same to me

I could easily lose my job

My friends or family may not want to talk to me

I have heard horror stories of illness, accidents, and massacres

Because I don’t want to lose my life, I’m unwilling to live it

I am guilty

I’ve done some things I regret

But I’m afraid to try and make it right, and honestly, I’m not even sure I know how to

I keep it inside, because it would just push people away if they really knew

These bad habits of mine are so deeply ingrained and any time I try to replace them with good habits, it never lasts

Honestly, even if I began doing good, I would just feel like a hypocrite

I don’t like myself this way, but I don’t see how it is possible to change

All of these thoughts beg the question, where is God?

Where can you go to find Him?

It’s not going to be in some garden with sentimental images of God that we have created for Him

That Jesus stays in boxes, He isn’t big enough or powerful enough to deal with the hurt and confusion from these thoughts

What we’re reading this morning is true!

If you have doubts, have no fear, you aren’t the only one

This picture, is a relatively well-known painting

Can you tell what is going on here?

Insert Doubting Thomas Image

Someone else has doubt

let’s read about this doubt

WE:

Follow along with me, as we see that even though you may doubt, it is true in ;

John 20:24–31 ESV

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The last time we heard from Thomas was back in , when the disciples were going with Jesus to resurrect Lazarus

Of course the disciples didn’t understand, but at that time Thomas was ready to go and die with Jesus

Here, Thomas is filled with doubt and uncertainty

Much like the thoughts we live with when the God we create stays in His box

Eight Days, it says, Thomas had to battle with these thoughts

He tells Thomas here, do not doubt, but believe

With His doubt

But after the eight days, Jesus appears and compassionately tells Thomas, do not doubt, but believe

The glorious news is that Jesus doesn’t stay in boxes

The glorious news is that Jesus doesn’t stay in boxes

He tells Thomas here, do not doubt, but believe

He tells the same to us

To trust, to put our faith in Christ

To trust Him, to put our faith in Christ

Why?

Because He didn’t stay in the garden tomb where He was placed

An empty tomb is down to earth

The glorious news is that Jesus doesn’t stay in boxes

And praise God, He doesn’t stay in the boxes we try to put Him in either

And praise God, He doesn’t stay in the boxes we try to put Him in either

Jesus is alive

He is risen!

He is right beside you wherever you are

When your sitting at home

While your at work

When your watching TV

When your driving

He is speaking your name!

He is calling you!

He is teaching you about peace

about following Him

Because Jesus is risen, He is with you always

So when those thoughts come, you don’t come to the box in your garden

You can’t lock Him out, even if you wanted to

He is there, and He is telling you, Peace be with you!

Jesus is exhorting us to believe this

We must believe this to be true

The resurrection of Jesus obtained life for us so He gives us the Spirit to send us to continue His mission.

Jesus will not stay in our boxes any more than He stayed in the tomb, He is alive, and He is calling us by name, to follow Him.

Our confession needs to echo Thomas’s confession

Jesus, You are My Lord and My God!

This is the clearest confession of Christ as God in the entire NT

Lord and God are the two highest words in the OT and are used together to address Jesus in recognition of His glory

John concludes this chapter with the purpose statement of the entire Gospel;

“Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

We have this gospel so that we can believe that the risen Jesus is the Christ

and that by believing this, we will have life

That we will come to faith in Christ as Lord and God

even in the midst of doubt

Jesus will not stay in our boxes any more than He stayed in the tomb, He is alive, and He is calling us by name, to follow Him.

Join me in prayer to our Lord and God.

will you join me in prayer to our Lord and God.