Untitled Sermon (4)

It’s Sunday!

They had this same Friday experience. All the pain, the fear, the rejection, the disappointment, the hopelessness, all of those things which S.M. Lockeridge portrayed in that video.

And on that morning when they say, “He is risen!” There are different responses to that truth. But these stories—our stories—are all here in John first us to identify with. John tells us why he writes these. Listen to what that purpose is.

READ JOHN 20:30-31

This is our goal this morning. That we’ll identify with these stories…see ourselves here…believe in Christ and have life in his name. If you have that…you have everything. So that’s our hope.

Let’s go back then and see John 20:1-10. See if we can identify with the characters there.

v1-Mary comes early. The other gospel writers have others with her. John emphasizes Mary alone. This is the Mary who had several demons cast out of her. She shows up to mourn…and when she gets there the stone is rolled away.

Her first instinct isn’t “He has risen from the grave”. This was so far from their consciousness. They just didn’t think about an individual person rising fro the grave. So she runs back and tells Peter… “They’ve taken the Lord.”

And that’s perhaps were some are today. The tomb is empty…there has to be some other explanation. And we’ve come up with a few of these.

The swoon theory—just fainted from exhaustion. That’s pretty far-fetched that professional executioners thought he was dead…enough strength to roll away a guarded stone…walk out…take off his grave clothes.

The hallucination theory holds that all of his Jesus’ post-resurrection visitations were just hallucinations. Here we are supposed to believe that over 500 people at one time had the same hallucination and that others in different places and at different times where having the same thing. Now I could believe something like this in the age of the internet, when the power of suggestion could play a massive role. But not in the first century when news travelled slower than Billy Butler running to first base.

The impersonation theory would have us believe that, just like Elvis, Jesus had an impersonator. This, according to the theory, would explain why people were not able to recognize him at first. Never mind the fact that our typical experience with impersonators is the opposite. Upon closer inspection we don’t usually think to ourselves, “Wow, that dude really does look like Elvis”. No, we usually get closer and realize that this isn’t the real deal.

The theft theory posits that those tricksy disciples stole the body and then spread the lie that Jesus rose from the dead. I suppose the same people watch a movie like National Treasure and think, “Hmm, that’s legit. I could see that happening”. Trained Roman guards were there at the tomb to prevent this very thing from happening. And also the likelihood of keeping this secret for so long and even being willing to die for this lie is just too much for me to believe.

The unknown tomb theory teaches that the early disciples would have had no way to know where Jesus was buried because crucified criminals were just tossed into a pit. This rejects what Scripture teaches—that Joseph of Arimathea took the body to his own private tomb. But even still—this could have been verified by the Romans.

Somebody has taken him…that was the prevailing theory. Peter and John seem to be of this same belief. Because when Mary says, “he’s gone, they’ve taken him, they don’t go into celebration mode…but take a look see.

John faster. Saw the linen cloths. Folded up. Face cloth. What is this all about? Lots has been made of this…and I think at times too much. Here is what is going on. Lazarus…grave clothes. This is different. Couldn’t have been stolen. It all comes together. John believes. It comes together...

Maybe that is you this morning. You, like John, believe. And now you are living your whole life working out the implications of this. You know—you believe—but what does it mean to live out the resurrection? Everything we need for life and godliness. Death doesn’t have a hold.

But Mary isn’t there yet…20:11-18

She sees two angels. Weeping. Despair. Pain. Sometimes you cannot see the Lord right in front of you because your tears have clouded your vision.

You see the grave is empty but you’re still so stuck on your vision of things. Jesus is right there…and you think, “maybe he’s the gardener. Maybe he can help me solve my problem here.” We can’t fault her for not thinking “oh, resurrection”. But watch this...

The Lord says your name…Only a way that he can speak it. Suddenly it comes together. I’ve seen the Lord!

But she’s clinging. Why does he say, “don’t cling.”? Ascending—process of. I haven’t gone to the Father yet…you aren’t going to lose me again, Mary. You go…you tell...

I have seen the LORD. From despair, pain, missionary. COMFORT AS WE ARE COMFORTED.

John 20:19-23

Interesting that we don’t have next Mary going to them, but Jesus appearing bodily to them. But notice the fear in this passage. It’s astonishing to me that Peter and John are probably there…why aren’t they saying, “hey, resurrection.” Or maybe they are…but they don’t know what that all means for them.

They are still overcome with fear. Fear of the Jews. If the tomb is empty they are going to come after them. If they crucified Jesus now they are going to go after them.

This response to resurrection. You realize that this changes everything. But it sparks fear instead of peace. What will this mean for me? What would the empty tomb mean? What does a resurrected Lord mean?

I really resonated with these words of Esa McCaulley this week in the NY Times. He talks about how there is an unsettling component to Easter:

Hope is much harder to come by. The women did not go to the tomb looking for hope. They were searching for a place to grieve. They wanted to be left alone in despair. The terrifying prospect of Easter is that God called these women to return to the same world that crucified Jesus with a very dangerous gift: hope in the power of God, the unending reservoir of forgiveness and an abundance of love. It would make them seem like fools. Who could believe such a thing?

Christians, at their best, are the fools who dare believe in God’s power to call dead things to life.

I think this is some of what they are feeling. And maybe you are too. You believe that the tomb is empty, it’s explained by nothing but the resurrection…but you’re a bit timid with that news. Are you going to let it do it’s full work. Is Easter going to mean more than just something that gives you comfort when a loved one dies. Will you be unsettled by Easter?

Here they are unsettled. What do we do now. But then Jesus appears.

—Peace. All is right. All is well. Shalom. Setting things right.

—Spirit. Power. Presence. God with you.

—Forgiveness. Things are made right between us and God. And it’s a call to live in that forgiveness with one another.

This answers all our greatest questions. Rest, rule, relationship.

But one guy isn’t there. Thomas. John 20:24-29

The cynic. The guy who has been burned. I’m not going to believe this again. I’m not going to climb back on that merry go round. Nice try fellas. “I will never believe...”

8 days later!!! What is that 8 days like for Thomas?

Then Jesus appears. Touch.

What does verse 29 mean? Is it a rebuke. Maybe a soft one. But really this is written for us. We are supposed to see these people as a window. Are you Mary, John, Thomas, the other disciples. He is risen!

What will you do with that truth?

There IS an empty grave. What does that mean?Sin has lost it’s power. Death has lost its sting. Hope. Meaning. Purpose. This isn’t all there is.

He is risen! What are you going to do with that? I’m going to celebrate.