Easter Sunday 2021

Introduction

Easter 2021

April 4th 2021

cornerstone Bible church

Daniel Bryan, pastor

Marveling at what you see: the perspective of Peter.

Moments that cause us to marvel

Many significant moments in life happen in such a way and with such impact that when we return to where those moments happened it causes us to Marvel. We remember the whole moment when we return to the place where it happened.

The proposal happened and she said yes

the place where the championship game was won

the first place we called home

the first place where baby steps happened.

Ø That spot where the crash happened

Ø The spot where your accident took place

Ø the sight of your first kiss

Ø the last place you said goodbye

Ø the moment we lead our friend to the Lord

Ø watching her get baptized

Ø celebrating his life

perhaps you have a place where your family returns every year to vacation period when you get there memories flood in the help you see special times:

Ø friends and family laugh and play together

Ø big life decisions were made

Ø many meals were enjoyed

Ø new additions to the family experienced the special vacation spot for the first time

what are the moments in your life that are connected to a place that not just cause you to remember but cause you to absolutely Marvel at what happened what do you see in your mind's eye today when you look back on what happened?

The moments that caused Peter to marvel

It's really not difficult to imagine that Peter experienced the same thing in his life as he reflected on what happened Passover weekend with Jesus and the other disciples.

Ø He would have remembered the Last Supper in the upper room where Jesus washed all their feet

Ø or what about the prayer in the garden of Gethsemane E where everyone but Jesus fell asleep.

Ø I'm sure he always remembered the betrayal by Judas with a kiss.

Ø What about the moment of the arrest when in the chaos and struggle he cut off the ear of one of the servants and just as quickly Jesus reattached the ear with his miraculous power.

Ø I'm sure he remembered false accusations and secret trials by the religious elite.

Ø I'm sure he remembered denying that he even knew Jesus not once not twice but three times!

Ø Can you imagine hearing the cry of the rooster? And remembering that Jesus said that before the rooster cried Peter would deny him . Can you imagine the tears that Peter cried as Jesus was led away beaten be whipped mocked and crucified after carrying his cross through the Via Dolorosa up to Golgotha.

the things that Peter saw were unforgettable and they really did turn his life upside down. he and the other disciples tried to lay low over Passover weekend. They wanted to stay off the radar of those who had done all these things to Jesus. Peter and the other ones probably sat in stunned silence as Sabbath went by . I wonder if he stood in his thoughts wondering what in the world had happened.

The news no one expected

And then came news that despite everything no one was expecting to hear. Women came knocking on the door crying illogically that Jesus wasn't in the tomb explanation point he had risen explanation point? and Peter ran off to see this for himself. All four gospels show this moment when a world that had been turned upside down was turned right side up by the resurrection Luke’s gospel has a detailed account a special detail of what happened . Let's read that and connect with this moment after the resurrection was found in Luke 24:1-12.

Luke 24:1–12 ESV

1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

I can only imagine the video we actually watched was probably pretty close to how Peter felt processing that moment. He simply went home marveling at what he saw.

“Thaumazon” = To wonder or think deeply about something.

That word in Greek is thaumazon and it means simply to wonder or to being all over or to think deeply about what just happened. It means to keep ruminating over what was experienced in order to kind of make sense over it.

Peter probably had a good understanding of the geography around Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the great city that had been part of his life and the lives of Jews for hundreds of years. Peter probably traveled to Jerusalem all of his life to celebrate the feast of Passover. But now having lived around Jesus he experienced life changing moments that happened with Jesus in places like the Temple, the Upper Room, the Garden of Gehtsemane, the Via Doloroso and Golgotha.

Peter probably marveled at everything that happened , he ruminated on it and those moments those events changed the course of his life.

No one was expecting the Resurrection

Now Jesus had been telling his disciples he was going to suffer and die all the time he was walking and teaching them but still it seems as if everyone was surprised as what happened . If they were expecting a resurrection on Easter then why did the women go to the tomb with spices? When the women came back from the tomb with the news that Jesus wasn't there they tried to relate this news to the disciples and they were dismissed as being overly dramatic emotional or maybe suffering from a fever let's take a look at how Luke describes this scene:

Luke 24:10–11 ESV

10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

Again no one was expecting that Jesus would get up from the death Matt on resurrection Sunday. No Jesus had been speaking about the resurrection of the dead but most of them probably thought it was about the end times. Because they saw resurrection as something that God would do in the end for all righteous people. It was not something that God would do for an individual. They thought that the women who came to announce his resurrection probably had PTSD post traumatic stress disorder trying to deal with seeing Jesus die on the cross.

Peter had to see it for himself

But something inside of Peter made him choose to make his way to the tomb.

Luke 24:12 ESV

12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

He just had to see it for himself . John gives us a Slightly different perspective:

John 20:3–10 ESV

3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.

When Peter left the tomb that day he didn't fully understand the scripture regarding Jesus and his prophesied resurrection yet. I imagine though as he went home he continued to Marvel at what he saw.

Thaumazon

Peter kept turning this over and over and over again in his head ruminating on it. I wonder if perhaps all the other significant places where Jesus said and did things flashed through his mind. Slowly giving him perspective on what happened.

Moments that turn our lives upside-down

You know sometimes it takes awhile to wrap our minds around events that turn our lives upside down sometimes the answer to those moments like the coronavirus we won't know what God intended on this side of heaven: we wonder about moments in life:

Ø the proposal happens and she says no

Ø the championship game is 1 but later forfeited.

Ø The first place we called home is also where the divorce eventually happened. A hurtful comment is posted that's untrue but it gains so much traction that changes the narrative and everyone believes a lie is the truth about you.

Ø

Sometimes those significant moments lead us with difficulty despair and despondence. Sometimes we don't understand the bad moments that happened to us in life. But God has a way of meeting us in those moments and walking's out of the Valley of despair. He has a way of giving us New Hope and new beginnings.

In order to experience resurrection death has to happen. If you experience a moment that made your life feel like it was in the grave........ take heart we worship a savior who can relate and who also defeated sin death Satan and hell.

Easter is a time to marvel on what we see

You know one thing that's interesting in John's account. There are several different words that describe how the men saw what happened. When John arrives at the tomb he sees what had happened . And the word here describes what you or I would do at a stop sign. We would see the stop sign and respond and not do anything more. Most of the time we don't even think about the stop sign.

But the word that describes how Peter saw what had happened was more like meditating on it or staring at it to try and figure out what happened. John actually used the Greek word

“Theoreo”

thiroux from which we get the word theory. It's as if he sees the grave clothes and develops an idea of what exactly happened

as one author says:

[Merrill C. Tenny in his book ​The Reality of the Resurrection​ writes:]

“There’s a strong hint that the clothes were not folded as if Jesus had unwound them and then deposited them in two neat piles on the shelf. The word used to describe the napkin or headcloth does not connote a flat folded square like a table napkin, but a ball of cloth bearing the appearance of being rolled around an object that was no longer there. The wrappings were in position where the body had lain, and the head cloth was where the head had been, separated from the others by the distance from the armpits to the neck. The shape of the body was still apparent in them, but the flesh and bone had disappeared.”

The way that everything was sitting suggested that no one had stolen the body , something very different had happened.

In John's account when he joins Peter in the tomb it says that he saw and believed

John 20:8 ESV

8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;

John actually uses a third different word here : eidon: this means to understand and perceived. It means to see and grasp what you are seeing. It means everything fell into place and the answer came to them. I wonder if John looked over at Peter and whispered he's alive !

we don't know what happened between the two but we know that Peter went home marveling at what had happened

Thaumazon

Peter kept marveling in the days following the empty tomb Jesus appeared to Peter to the others and 500 additional followers before he ascended to the right hand of God in heaven. In the video part of the story had not yet happened but it would happen soon a few weeks had passed for Peter and he was still in awe and in a state of perpetual wonder over what he had seen and experienced that first Easter Sunday morning.

What about you?

So what about you? What about your life will remain changed a few weeks to now because of what you are experiencing this weekend? Peter never got over the resurrection. Jesus resurrection has been described as the fulcrum upon which all of time pivots . What does it have to do with how you live a few moments or a few hours from right now? A few days a few weeks from this weekend a few years in the future?

The disciples thought the women were making something up.

Is Easter a made up story to you? Or is it an event that leaves you marvelling?

Is the good news of Easter a made up story to you? Is it a holiday ritual or a time to appears everyone with a few moments inside church ? Or is the reality of Jesus resurrection leaving an empty tomb is it a moment that will cause you to wonder ? Is it a moment where you will wonder 4 weeks later at what happened like peter did? has the resurrection reality turned your life upside down or right side up?

What if the place you find yourself at this moment becomes one of those significant and memorable places? What if when you think about the resurrection and the empty tomb from this day forward the place you hear this message and experience to worship of Jesus on Easter always remind you of the place you are in right now?

Places are linked to memorable moments in time

we don't worship the grave that Jesus laid in. We worship the son of God who rose from the grave. Places are important because they remind us of the reality of the events that happened there. But we need to remember that our hope always rests on the savior we worship. Not on a slab of limestone where his body rested . May the reality of his resurrection cause us to Marvel for the rest of our lives at what he did.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!