The Resurrection

INTRODUCTION

Here we are together today celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus!

In the series entitled Signs, all of the signs we have looked at showed how God is at work through Jesus in the world, pointing out God’s overwhelming grace and love through Jesus.

Today’s sign shows us God’s power.

After his crucifixion, Jesus was buried in a tomb.

Some of his disciples went to the tomb on the third day, but the stone was moved away, and the tomb was empty.

At this point in the story, they didn’t understand what had happened (20:1–10).

Mary Magdalene ends up being the first one to fully understand when Jesus appears to her outside the tomb.

He sends her to tell the other disciples, so she goes and reports, “I have seen the Lord” (v. 18).

These are elements of the resurrection most are familiar with.

Through the crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus is showing the world that the one problem we still haven’t figured out—two thousand years later, and everyone still dies—was no problem for God.

When Jesus died on the cross and was buried in the tomb, it was not a setback for God but rather a part of his plan to restore creation to its former relationship with him!

Jesus showed that by rising after being dead for three days.

Today, most of us would say we agree with what I have stated thus far.

Easter after Easter, week after week, we gather together in the name of Jesus at church to worship.

Day after day, we live life after coming together each or some Sundays.

By the fact that you are here today or watching online, intellectually, I think most of us here today understand that Jesus rose from the dead.

We also know this was a miracle done by God and that it was not normal up to this point in creation.

Up to this point in human history, we die, and we are not resurrected.

Our own resurrection from the dead is something we place our hope in Jesus for.

Today we are going to be in John 20:1-18.

I want us to consider something as we go through the narrative concerning the resurrection of Jesus.

I will spoil it a little for you, and you will notice it in the outline today.

I want to focus on the issue of expectation, or you could use the word ANTICIPATION.

I want us to understand that the concept of EXPECTATION will drive how we live life, regardless of what we say we believe or what we think we believe.

What we think or say that we believe has to make the long journey to our heart.

Then we will allow Jesus to have true lordship over our lives.

Let’s turn to John 20:1-2. I will be using the NET 2nd Edition Bible today.

John 20:1–2 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 Now very early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance.

2 So she went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

SERMON

I. A lack of expectation by Mary.

According to Luke 8:2 Mary was an early follower of Jesus.

She is mentioned in all four of the Gospels.

Mary was also mentioned in the story of Jesus at some of the most critical moments of the narrative.

Mary was at the foot of the cross as Jesus died and was one of the last to leave.

She was also the first one to come to the tomb,

Mary would be the first one to see and touch the resurrected Jesus!

In Luke 8:2 we are told that Jesus cast seven demons out of her.

Mary was also a supporter of the ministry of Jesus.

Mary was one of the last people at the foot of the cross, watching the life flow out of Jesus.

Mary watched the whole thing; she knew that Jesus was dead.

What did Mary see hanging on the cross?

What did all of her senses tell her?

They all told her Jesus was dead!

Mary knew the teaching of Jesus.

Jesus told His followers that He would die and rise in three days.

When Jesus was teaching what would happen to Him, His followers did not like to hear it, but they seemed to believe it.

But did they?

What we see from Mary is a lack of expectation.

Matthew 28:1 tells us that Mary went to the tomb at the end of the Sabbath, which would have been sometime between 3-6 am.

The reason she was heading to the tomb was the fact that Jesus died just before Sabbath.

Because of the timing of His death, the disciples had to get Jesus to the tomb in a hurry, so they could not properly prepare the body for the tomb, so Mary and some of the women were going to make sure to take care of the body of Jesus properly.

Why was Mary going to the tomb to properly prepare the dead body of Jesus if she believed in what Jesus taught her?

Do you want to know why she was doing this?

It was because she had no expectation of what Jesus taught concerning His resurrection was going to happen.

She had no expectation because reality, what she saw and experienced trumped what Jesus taught.

I would assume that between the time of the death of Jesus on Friday and her trip to the tomb on Sunday morning, Mary and the other disciples were not saying it was FRIDAY, but SUNDAY was coming!

No, they saw Jesus die on the cross.

But what Jesus told them did not matter; they saw Him die.

We also know the disciples were hiding in fear that they were next.

When you live with no expectation that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, it will change how you live your life.

The teaching of the Bible, being an active part of God’s church, is not going to be important because we really do not expect Jesus to do for us what He had taught.

Jesus because a type of insurance policy, or He became a religion to us.

We cannot have a personal relationship with a dead guy.

When Mary gets to the tomb, she is not rejoicing over the empty tomb because she believes that Jesus has defeated death.

No, far from it.

In verse two, we find that Mary runs to Peter and John, telling them that someone took the body.

When she says THEY, she probably refers to either the Jewish or Roman leadership or possibly someone else who wanted to desecrate the body.

Let’s see how Peter and John respond to Mary!

Let’s turn to verses 3-10.

John 20:3–10 (NET 2nd ed.)

3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out to go to the tomb.

4 The two were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first.

5 He bent down and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in.

6 Then Simon Peter, who had been following him, arrived and went right into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen cloth lying there,

7 and the face cloth, which had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself.

8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, came in, and he saw and believed.

9 (For they did not yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.)

10 So the disciples went back to their homes.

II. A lack of expectation by Peter and John.

When Mary brings the news to Peter and John that the tomb is empty, one would think Peter and John would be rejoicing over this fact.

As two of His closest disciples, one would think they would have told Mary, “Well, it is the third day; we are not surprised!”

That is not what happens.

Peter and John run to the tomb.

They are not expecting a resurrection.

I wonder what was going through their minds when Mary told them the news.

Of all the disciples, Peter and John should have been bolding, encouraging the other disciples not to lose heart, that Jesus will rise on the third day!

Instead, they were fearful of being next!

When you live your life with no expectation that Jesus will really do what He says or that He is truly alive today, you will live in doubt and fear, and your faith will give you no joy.

What is there to be joyful about?

You live, you die, and it is over.

For Peter, John, and the disciples, Jesus lived, loved, taught, and died!

Game over!

No Israel sitting on top, more decades in bondage to Rome.

No hope, no future, no joy.

All of those things died on the cross!

When John enters the tomb, he sees the burial cloths lying where Jesus was placed, and he sees the face cloth was rolled and off to the side.

Peter sees the same thing.

Verse 9 tells us they still did not understand that Jesus was going to rise (had already risen) from the dead!

What do Peter and John do?

They went back to their homes.

When you have no expectation of Jesus doing what He says or that He is alive, you will go back and live an unfulfilling ordinary life.

Nothing changes; you do not change.

Let’s turn to verses 11-16.

John 20:11–16 (NET 2nd ed.)

11 But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she bent down and looked into the tomb.

12 And she saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet.

13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Mary replied, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!”

14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” Because she thought he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni” (which means Teacher).

III. A great revelation for Mary.

Mary is back at the tomb.

Is Mary full of joy?

No, she is crying outside of the tomb.

Then she bends down to look in the tomb, and what does she see?

She sees two angels, one where the feet of Jesus was supposed to be and one at the head.

The Angels ask why she is weeping, and Mary is still stuck on the thought that the body had been stolen.

After she says this, Jesus is standing there; she does not recognize Him.

A few years ago, when Jewlz arranged for Misty and Rachel to come home for our birthday when the girls came to us, it did not register that Misty was here.

It was because I was not expecting her since she lived so far away.

Mary thought Jesus was the gardener.

She asks if He knows where they put the body!

Mary is so full of grief that she cannot see what is standing before her!

When we live with no expectation of Jesus, we will miss it when He does His work in our life!

Jesus calls her name, and NOW she recognizes Him!

Mary received a GREAT revelation!

Look at verses 17-18 with me.

John 20:17–18 (NET 2nd ed.)

17 Jesus replied, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

18 Mary Magdalene came and informed the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what Jesus had said to her.

IV. A great expectation from Jesus.

Mary is excited; she is clinging to Jesus.

He tells her not to touch Him because He had not yet ascended to the Father.

Then Jesus gives Mary His great expectation of her!

Go and tell!

If the signs in John are God’s way of showing that Jesus is active in the world, then we have to recognize that we are now God’s sign to the world.

By our faith, we show confidence in the resurrection and in the actions of loving others, demonstrating a culture of repentance and forgiveness (v. 23), and showing faith in the face of adversity, we can be signposts pointing others to Jesus.

We have been sent into the world, and our purpose is the same purpose as the entire Gospel of John: to help others believe in Jesus’s name—and by believing, be saved (20:31).

Mary was told to go and tell the disciples!

We are given the same command in the Great Commission!

Matthew 28:18–20 (NET 2nd ed.)

18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

When you live with expectations concerning Jesus, you will fulfill His great expectation of you!

CONCLUSION

The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate sign that God is not against us but for us.

When Jesus rose from the dead, God visibly demonstrated two truths to the world: (1) that punishment for sin is not the end of the story, but there is something good on the other side of Jesus’s death; and (2) that God wants a relationship with us forever, which is made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

It isn’t that it is just possible—Jesus has done it. He has died for us, and he has risen from the dead. And the sign now reads “Welcome home.”

Our Application point from our message today is this: I challenge each of us to live with the full expectation that Jesus is alive,, and because of that we will commit our lives to Him and His calling for our lives!