Easter – April 4, 2021 Christ is risen

Does it surprise you that those who knew Jesus best responded to the Good News from the Angel as they did? He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

If you had been there to witness the final week of Jesus’ life,

when Jesus came in to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday,

Watch him cleanse the temple

hear Him teach in the temple courts,

share in the upper room Passover

and the institution of the Lord’s supper,

watch him praying in the garden,

witness His betrayal,

His arrest,

His trials,

and watch Jesus carry His Cross to Calvary,

and see His crucifixion,

behold His suffering,

hear His final words,

watch Him die,

and then help carry his body to the grave

and Lay him in the tomb,

are you really surprised when you hear how the women responded, Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

This is not the first time people reacted that way to “…the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1 (NIV)

Remember how they reacted after Jesus calmed the storm with only His words? Mark records their reaction after Jesus has just saved their lives,

Mark 4:41 (NIV) 41 They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Or at the very beginning of his public ministry, after Jesus drove out an evil spirit,

Mark 1:27 (NIV) 27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching--and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him."

Remember when Jesus was teaching in a house and 4 men came carrying a man on his hospital bed, but, because they couldn’t get the man to Jesus, they lowered him through the roof? Remember how they reacted when…

This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" Mark 2:12 (NIV)

Or again in Mark 7, when Jesus healed the deaf and dumb man, Mark reminds us that the,

Mark 7:37 (NIV) 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement.

And this morning, chapter 16 we find the women fleeing, running away from the tomb,

Mark 16:8 (NIV) 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Now that we have finished the Red Letter Challenge, reading through the red letters of Jesus, we have had the privilege to watch Jesus at work like the disciples and the women Who followed him. We have become eye and ear witnesses to the things Jesus said and did.

Remember at His baptism, 10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, (we were there, we) saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a (The voice of the Father coming from heaven itself) voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Mark 1:10-11 (NIV)

We heard Jesus at the beginning of his ministry, “…proclaiming the good news of God. 15 "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Mark 1:14-15 (NIV)

We heard the invitation of Christ to

17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Mark 1:17 (NIV)

We received it in with our eyes and ears, and prayerfully, we’ve learned as we’ve listened to see Jesus command an evil spirit, Mark 1:25-26 (NIV) 25 "Be quiet!" "Come out of him!" 26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him.

Seeing his authority to forgive sins.

We witnessed His power over the storm, His compassion on the sick, His love for the least and the lost, and seen him raise a little girl from the dead.

On three separate occasions Jesus said announced His purpose for coming into this world.,

Mark 8:31-32 (NIV) “…that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

How can we NOT marvel that this Christ knew all along what was going to happen to him for us.

And then, to watch his final week, to see the glory of Palm Sunday, the painful suffering of Good Friday, and hear him speak his last words and watch Him take His last breath.

And we are here today right here with the women, who came expecting to find death, but to their and our great surprise, instead of a decaying body, we have found an empty tomb, and we have heard the words of hope that the Savior who once was dead is now alive, Risen, and explaining why His body is not here.

(pause) And as Paul writes in Roman chapter 1, His resurrection proves once and for all Who He is…

Romans 1:3-4 (NIV) “…the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

And here is where our lives intersect with those first century Followers of Jesus, for the Holy Spirit Has confirmed in your heart, mind, and spirit that Jesus is Alive from the dead, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, Your Savior and Your Lord.

And now, Easter’s message raises listen to me an entirely different set of questions:

What change does the Resurrection of Jesus From the dead Call forth in my life?

The answer:It calls for a total change. Easter changes everything for us who believe it? Faith in the resurrection irreversibly alters Our entire lives. We can not be the same, ever again.

Now We have forgiveness for sins. We don’t have to worry about our past anymore. Jesus suffered for me, for you, I am forgiven. You are forgiven.

Now we are the children of God. Christ has a place prepared in heaven for You.

He is the Risen one. We don’t have to be afraid of death, ever again. Death is no longer your master. You believe in and serve a One who Rose from death, never to die again. And because He lives, we shall live also.

Everything changes because Christ lives. Nothing can ever be the same again. Everything that Jesus taught, all the promises Christ made, are all true!

What do you suppose Your Savior Jesus is hoping will come out of this Easter faith of yours? Just this, That the good news of HIS Resurrection would move us out of our old ways of sin, That we would stop living for ourselves, and Begin living each day live in the mercy, grace, and love of Christ. He is surely hoping that here's resurrection will...

2 Corinthians 5:14–15 NIV - Anglicised

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Dear ones in Jesus, the “truth” and the reality of the resurrection has changed everything in the world for us. And the best part is, Easter is not the end of the story, it is the beginning.

The question: What will you do with this Easter Gospel? Jesus was born for you, Jesus came served, lived, suffered, died for you so that by his death you could have life everlasting in his name. So that you can have peace with God now and eternal life with God for ever. . What will you do with that message? What will you do with that truth? Will you make Jesus you hobby? Or will you put Jesus on a shelf and I pick Him off the shelf when you need or want him?

Or will you Compelled by the facts and the truth of Easter, Accept Christ invitation to: Come, follow me. To Live in love toward all people. To give our lives in loving service to one another For the sake of Christ. To share the good news of Jesus Christ Risen from the dead with people that today do not know him So that his kingdom May come to many more People.

Pray with me….

Father, we can’t possibly thank you for all that you have done for us by your passionate death and your glorious resurrection from the dead for us. You are Risen from the Dead and YOU are Our Savior And Lord. Holy Spirit, move in our hearts, Captivate our spirits That we may be an Easter people Who live our lives Today. May the good news of Christ's resurrection from the dad transform our lives that we may never be the same. In the name of the Risen Lord, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, LET ALL GOD’s people say. Amen.