The Story Ch 27: The Resurrection

Cold Open

Last week when we left off, as far as his disciples and all of his followers knew, Jesus was dead. But this week, praise God there is an empty tomb and Jesus walks with his followers for just a little bit longer, before he leaves them with a promise of something even better to come. Today is Sunday, October 18th, 2020. Let’s get into it.

Intro Videos

Burial

After Jesus had died, his body was taken by two prominent Jewish leaders, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Both of these men were leaders in the temple, and Nicodemus had come to Jesus secretly in the night back at the beginning of his ministry, asking questions about what Jesus had taught. Joseph, it says, was secretly a follower of Jesus.

However, despite the fact that they both followed Jesus’ teachings and tried to understand what he had said, neither one had spoken in his defense to the high priest, or to Pilate. Imagine what these men must’ve felt as they carried his broken body to the tomb and prepared it for burial.

Then, knowing that Jesus had said that he would rise from the dead on the third day, the leaders of the temple asked that Pilate secure the grave until the third day, and Pilate ordered soldiers to watch the tomb’s entrance and an official marked it with a seal.

Empty Tomb

But the day after the Sabbath, the third day Jesus had been in the grave, Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James, and a woman named Salome bought spices to go and anoint Jesus’ body, early in the morning.

Bit this trip got interesting when the earth began to shake and an angel came down from heaven, shining bright white, who’s appearance was so shocking that the formidable Roman guard fainted at the sight of him!

He rolled back the stone, and sat down on it, and said to the women

Mark 16:6–7 NIV

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ”

Running to the tomb

And of course Peter and the disciple who was with him couldn’t believe the news they’d heard from the women, because men amiright? And took off RUNNING to the tomb to see for themselves. When they got there, they found an empty tomb, with nothing but the cloth and linen Jesus had been buried with, and they left, confused. Can you believe that? THEY LEFT CONFUSED! It says they still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead! Now, I’ve been dense in my walk with Christ. I’ve fought lessons that God was teaching me and I’ve bucked against life changes that He has used for my benefit and His glory, I’ve not understood things over and over, but if Jesus Christ, the Messiah, told me with his own mouth that he was to die, and on the third day he would rise again, and I was standing in HIS EMPTY TOMB ON THE THIRD DAY, well I’d like to think I’d put two and two together. But what do I know? I’d probably be just as confused as them, because again, men, amiright?

Mary Magdalene

While Peter and the other disciple went back to where they’d been staying, Mary Magdalene stayed at the tomb, worrying who had stolen Jesus’ body. So, to be fair to the men, the women didn’t get it either. And a man appears to her and at first she thinks it’s the gardener and asks if he knows where Jesus’ body is! It isn’t until Jesus says her name, “Mary..” that she recognizes him, and he tells her to go tell the disciples that he is alive!

Appearances

Jesus appears several other times, to his disciples on the road to Emmaus, to the disciples gathered in Jerusalem, to Peter at his boat. And this is when we get the famous exchange between Peter and Jesus, where Peter, who denied Jesus 3 times on the night he was arrested, is asked by Jesus 3 times “Do you love me?” To which Peter answers Yes! You know that I love you.

Great Commission

And as their time with Jesus ends, Jesus tells his disciples

Matthew 28:18–20 NIV

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

And this is what we call “The Great Commission”, this is, primarily, the mission that Jesus left to his disciples, the mission that has been passed down to generation after generation of disciples and is the one that we carry on today. The goal of the church is to continually spread the gospel, and everything that comes with that until the time that Jesus comes again, at the very end of the age!

Conclusion

But here’s the thing about that mission, the thing about Nicodemus and Joseph, and Peter and Judas Iscariot, and everyone who has heard the teachings of Jesus. Who has heard the good news that God became man, descended from his throne in heaven beside the Father, went through every temptation and trouble that humans face, yet remained without sin, willingly gave himself to die knowing that his death meant we could live, then rose from the grave 3 days later to conquer death once and for all and then ascended to heaven to prepare a place there for those who would follow him, and who through all of this loves every broken sinner, even the ones who put him on the cross and those who failed to stand up for him. For those of us who have heard this good news, who have heard who Jesus is and what he’s done, there’s only so long to DO something about it. There’s only so long until, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, we can do nothing but look back and wish we’d done something different.

So if you need to do something about that, if you need to obey the Gospel, confess that Jesus is Lord and join in his forgiveness through baptism, let me know. You’ve all got my number. We can talk about that.

Let’s pray together as we close.

Prayer

Love y’all, hope you have a great week, and I look forward to studying with out again, grace and peace.