The Resurrection Is All About Hope
Notes
Transcript
This Trying Time
This Trying Time
This Easter Sunday Morning we celebrate it by being apart. Not many of us can remember an Easter Sunday when people did not the gather for church services. We all the remember the time when we were young putting on our “Sunday Best”, giving our little “Sunday Speeches”. After the service the going to home or to “Big Momma’s House” with the whole family and eat that Easter Sunday dinner. Things were bright and hopeful because winter is over, Spring has sprung, flowers are blooming, trees are budding and it seems that things are being renewed.
This day does not feel like that because if what we are going through right now. Spring is here but we cannot enjoy it since we have been told to shelter in place. There will be no Easter Speeches from the children. There will be no going to gather with extended family for dinner. And there will be no gathering at the church for worship. What will go unnoticed is that some people will be come more isolated, stressed and depressed on a day that is suppose to be about hope.
This
A day about hope. That is what today is about. Hope that shines in spite of the darkness that is all around. Hope picks you up when the news reports bring you down. Hope that speaks life to your soul even though the talk of death strikes at your very being. Hope is what we need to be talking about today. Hope is the fountain of strength that fills us and props us up. That is what today is about. That Hope is found in the Resurrection.
There Will Be Dark Days
There Will Be Dark Days
Before there is a resurrection there has to be dark times and dark days. One issue people have is no one wants dark days. To be honest I do not want to go through dark times. We all would like to have all our days bright and free of trouble. However this is not the case. Paul writes this to Timothy:
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
With everything that is going on there are some that believe that we are in the Last Days. I cannot tell you if we are or not, God only knows. The one thing that I do know is what Jesus said about times like this:
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
The key to not being alarmed is knowing who holds your future. If we know and believe that God is the one in control then it should not matter how dark the day because He is the Light in it.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
It is easy to the not believe that. It is easy to succumb to the feelings of despair and fear. It is easy to give up any sort of hope when danger is looking at you in the face. But thanks be to God that Jesus faced the danger and dark days as well. In 3 years of ministry Jesus looked at danger. Jesus was confronted by situations and people that wanted to take Him out. Jesus was faced with the same things that we are faced with:
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
People talked about Him. Others doubted Him. Some though He lied about who He was. And there were a few that wanted to kill Him. Through it all Jesus never gave up. Jesus never turned and ran. Jesus pressed on with His work and moved with purpose. The reason for all that pressing and all that moving forward was to set the example for us. For us not give up or give in. For us not to stop pressing. For us not to the lose hope and not move with purpose. Jesus kept it moving, kept pressing all the way to Calvary’s hill.
The Darkest Day
The Darkest Day
Jesus on that hill nailed to a cross was the darkest day. Anytime one is faced with their day of execution is a dark day. It may have been that dawned with sunshine but ended in darkness. Jesus on the cross alone, counted as lawbreaker. People standing around mocking him. As the day wore on the day got darker and darker.
And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three, because the sun’s light failed. The curtain of the sanctuary was split down the middle.
The weight of all of man’s sin upon Him to the point that He no longer felt the presence of the Father makes for a dark day. Not only was it a dark day for Jesus, it was a dark day for all involved. You see it was a dark day those that followed Christ. Their hero, their champion was being executed. The hope of Him being the promised Messiah is fading in their hearts. Most of His disciples, except for John, went into hiding. Hiding in fear that they could the next for death on a cross. With expectations crushed and an uncertain future it was a dark day for them. It became a dark day for others when Jesus died. They thought that it was going to be a good day. They had the one that they thought of as a unholy and unrighteous paying the price for that thought. The one that they hated was finally going to be out of their midst. The darkness of the sky did not bother them. However that changed when Jesus cried out and died. When that great heart stopped beating the city and the land felt the effects. The ground they stood on shook. The veil in the Temple was torn in half. To top that off, in the cemetery, the grave opened up.
The Foundations Moved
The Foundations Moved
When the earth moves beneath your feet that is a scary and unsettling feeling. We walk along assured in the belief that that the ground we stand on immoveable. This is our foundation, many have used the phase: “Don’t have your head in the clouds, have your feet planted on solid ground.” This meant for one have a solid base from which to conduct business and live life. But what do you do went that foundation is shaken? When Terra firma is no long firm? People lose their calm and lose their minds when their foundations are moved. However the earthquake did not move the earth, it also broke the rocks.
There are some folk that can take a slight movement, but when that which is considered unbreakable is broken that flips everything upside down. This was an extraordinary reaction of the natural world to the death of its creator.
King James Version Chapter 1
IN the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
King James Version Chapter 1
IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
King James Version Chapter 1
IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
King James Version Chapter 1
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Just as there was an extraordinary light at His birth, there would be extraordinary events at His death. The shepherds were amazed and in shock at the light to the point that angels had to the explain that the light of the world had come. The earthquake the result of the foundation of the earth laying down His life for creation’s sin. Think of the panic you feel when everything you state your life on moves. What are you going to do? How are you going to feel?
3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Access is Granted
Access is Granted
The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
The while the ground move the Veil in the Temple was torn. The Veil separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies in the temple. In the temple the Holy Place was where the Candlesticks were. In the Holy Place was where the Table was. However in the Holy of Holies the Ark of the Covenant sat. On top of the Ark was where the Mercy Seat or Throne of God was. Why was this important is because the only one that had access to was the High Priest. No one else could come in the Holy of Holies and the High Priest could only come one time a year. That is limited access to God. Most of people the feel that they do not have access to God. They feel that they cannot get a prayer through. Others feel that God has forgotten them. Especially in hard times. But during the earthquake God worked something out. The Veil that limited access was ripped in two. Opening the door the throne room. The veil was torn across so that a piece fell from the bottom and the top remained hanging. The veil was torn from the top to the bottom. It was parted like the Red Sea so that one could walk into the Throne room of God. To be in His presence, for Him to hear your case. And again it was opened during a earthquake. This means that it does not matter if you are in your darkest hour you always have access to the King. To hear your prayer. To know your need. To be there for you when times are rough.
Open Graves
Open Graves
Knowing that we have access to God is great to know because in dark times it seems that grave is waiting to swallow us. For it seems that there is something that is laying in wait to get us.
If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood,
Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
Let us swallow them up alive as the grave;
And whole, as those that go down into the pit:
11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
If you happen to drive by a cemetery there are times that you can a fresh grave dug. That grave is waiting for a deposit of something that is dead. When funeral procession has made it to the graveyard and final words have been said the grave diggers are there to close the plot as soon everyone leaves. That grave is not going to be reopened. What is in the ground is not going to be disturbed until the end of time. However when foundations shake and rocks split it grave open on their own as if to say your time has come. You have reached the end of your days. These now have claim to you and death awaits. In the most difficult and most hardest of times it feels a grave is open. Hope is lost and we are not going to make it. Fear and anxiety take hold of our souls. It grabs our hearts and we think that there is no tomorrow.
12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; And whole, as those that go down into the pit:
Darkness Doesn’t Last
Darkness Doesn’t Last
We must remember that there is a tomorrow coming. The earthquake did not last all night. People that were afraid when home and attempted to carry on. They still had a Passover meal, they still did what they normally did the next day. Albeit somewhat shaken and unnerved from the events of Friday.