Whats the big deal?
Notes
Transcript
Well this past week I was looking different national holidays that are celebrated around the world and I found some really interesting ones:
In Japan I learned that they actually have a day where instead of cooking a home cooked meal, they actually order KFC.
And not just that but its so popular that if you are in Japan and you want KFC on this date then you need to order it at least 2 months in advances to make sure you get it.
Then I found out that in England there is a holiday called straw bear day and this one I had to do some research on...
Because basically what this holiday is, is there is someone who dresses up and covers themselves in straw or hay and then they have a group of musicians that follow the person around and to my understanding what happens is if the person comes up to you and starts dancing then you are responsible to give them money or food.
And these sound odd but then we look at some of Americas national days that we have and we realize we get the gold medal.
Because we have national squirrel appreciation day on January 21
Then almost a week later on January 31st we have national bubble wrap day.
And then a really interesting one I found was on September 19th it is national talk like a pirate day.
And just a heads up I checked the calendar and it falls on a Sunday this year (so don’t miss church that week)
But truthfully the list could keep going, infact I looked it up and in total the amount of national days we have is 1500,
But I was thinking this past week since there are a million holidays and national days, how is it that Easter became such a big deal?
I mean what is all the hype about Easter?
Because Easter has been around for 2021 years
and not just that but it is almost celebrated in every single country
and even where it is not people typically have still heard of it
So what is it about Easter that makes this day such a big deal?
And really my hope for us today is to hear what happened on Easter and for us to understand why this a huge deal for not just you, not just the people in this room on Sunday morning, but this world.
So turn with me to Mark 16:1-8 and really we are just going to be looking at what happened this day and just what it means for us.
And so we will just be starting in the first 3 verses and it says this:
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. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
So this passage actually starts out very dark because what we see is there are three woman.
there are two named Mary
One who was Jesus’s mother
And then this other Mary was a person who followed Jesus and most likely considered Him her freind.
Then there was a woman named Salome and she was one of Jesus’s followers as well..
And let me set the scene for you here, because now Jesus is dead, and He has been dead for 3 days now.
And all of these woman are together, and they have possibly given up everything for this guy they have been following named Jesus
but now Jesus is dead, and not just dead but He was killed in a humiliating and painful way on the cross.
And so these woman are not just thinking we lost this hope but they are also thinking we were wrong, Jesus was not who we thought He was.
But regardless these woman decided they were still going to go to Jesus’s tomb to really finish the process of prepping the body by placing spices and perfume on it to cover the smell of the body.
And so they are walking and walking and there is not much hope, because they are heading to a tomb.
And think with me because when you head to a hospital there is hope, but when you are heading to a tomb that is it.
And eventually in verse three one of them makes this realization that how are they going to even get into the tomb
because the tomb was covered by a huge stone and not just that, but their were Roman guards making sure no one would go in.
And the woman ask this question of who is going to move this stone?
And I just need to pause here because there is a literal stone sealing the tomb that would have been near impossible to move, but this stone is also very symbolic.
Because like I said this stone was not just saying this is the end, but it also told humanities story of how we have been stuck in sin.
And if you look throughout the Bible to see what sin is what we see is that sin is anything that seperates us from God
Because God has created us perfect, He has created us whole, and He has created us to be His.
But what happened is as sin entered the world a wall began to be built. (Build blocks)
And this wall SEPERATED us from God and has eve creates seperation between us and others
This wall has made us feel ASHAMED and and hurt.
This Wall has made us feel UNLOVED like no one cares about you us
This wall has made us BROKEN where we look at the mess we are in and think will I ever be fixed
This wall has made us CAPTIVE to sin, where we are slaves to it and we are stuck in addiction.
We feel UNFUFILLED where there is a void in our life where somthing is missing.
And before we know it this wall has been built up so much that we reach a point where we just feel hopeless.
And what happens is eventually is we find ourselves asking exactly what the woman at the tomb were asking:
“Who can move the stone?”
“Who can knock down this wall I have built up?”
“Because the truth is we can’t, because the stone is heavy and the wall is firm.
I told you this story starts out dark, but here is the hope.
Because verses 4-8 tell us why Easter is such a big deal.
it says this:
4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
So these woman they arrive at the tomb and something is off, because the stone that had sealed the tomb has been rolled away.
And you can picture them thinking what happened?
And so they walk into the tomb and it says there is a young man in a white robe (who we can assume is an angel) sitting in the tomb.
And he can probably tell these woman are a mess, because the past week has been this emotional roller coaster and now they are wondering what has happened now?
And in verse 6 this angel tells the woman “Do not be alarmed” and this next part really is really what changes everything, because it says:
You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has Risen; He is not here.
You know this verse is the reason Easter is such a big deal.
Because since the tomb is empty, since the stone has been rolled away, it means that the wall we have built up can be knocked down.
Because while the weight of sin is too heavy for us to move, it is not too heavy for Jesus.
Because what has happened is Jesus died taking the punishment of our sin on the cross, He was burried, but did not stay there because He was risen meaning sin has been defeated!
(Begin to change wall:)
meaning instead of us feeling unfilled we can once again be made whole in Christ
Instead of us being held captive by our sin and being a slave to sin we have been delivered by our sin and have been made free
Instead of us having to live with this inner broken, we can come to Christ who is putting the broken pieces back together and creating something new.
Instead of us saying we are unloved, we realize we are actually so loved that that our God wanted to be in a relationship with you so badly that He sent His son to die for you.
Instead of feeling ashamed you can now become a child of God.
And what happens now is instead of us having this wall that separates us, that wall has been knocked down and we can build our lives into who God says we are.
This morning I believe God wants to rebuild you into who He has called you to be so you are able to stop living a life where you are seperated and broken and begin to live a life for Him.
But here is the issue because this sounds nice, in fact it sounds amazing!
But the reality is a lot of us have heard a message like this before, but there is somthing in the back of our heads that is asking the question: Can He really do that?
Can He really change my life like that?
Because we here this, but we think it can’t possibly be true.
But heres the issue for those who were following Jesus and for us now.
There view of Who Jesus was, was to small.
Because Jesus told the people who were following Him multiple times that He would be crucified, burried and then raise 3 days later, but they thought thats impossible.
How could Jesus do that.
How could He defeat death
And this is what I want you to get, because we do the same thing, because we have been given this message of what Jesus did and is doing for us,
We have been told how He can knock down this wall, how He can cure our emptiness, how He can fix our brokeness, but we look at the wall and say how could Jesus do that in me?
How could He die for me? Does He know the mistakes I’ve made?
How could He change my life? Has He seen the mess ive made?
But here is the thing I want you to leave with today, because Jesus has not only done this, but this morning He wants to be in a relationship with you because He loves you so much He died for you.
And because of this sin and death have been defeated and your life can move from brokenness to having all the broken pieces being put together in the most beautiful way.
What if we stopped having this small view of God, and decided we want to live into Who He is.
And so this morning I believe God want’s to do this in our lives, and if you have never accepted Christ or maybe you have even strayed away, maybe today could be the day that you either commit or recommit your life to Him.