The Empty Tomb

Welcome

Good morning again everyone! He is Risen! (He is risen indeed) This morning we remember the amazing truth that Jesus rose from the dead. It reminds us that we are not lost in our sin and that if we believe in Christ death itself is defeated for us. It really is a great day and a great thing to celebrate. Today we are going to read the resurrection account from the Gospel of John and will see what details John includes about that miraculous first Easter. As usual though, let’s take a moment and pray together.

Prayer

Engage

This morning, as we begin to look at the resurrection, I want us to think about the topic of change. If you look back at different moments in your life when there has been change, do you typically have positive or negative feelings? For me personally, I feel like they are split pretty even. You have good changes that happen in life. A good change might be when you get a new job, when you get married, have a kid, move to a new place, make new friends, there are a lot of good changes in life. Changes that make you happy and you look back on them with fond memories.

But we also know that there are bad changes. You can develop a gluten allergy at the age of 40 (A Pastor I worked with in the suburbs actually had that happen), you can lose your job or lose a loved one. Relationships might change over time and you end up not staying in touch with old friends. There are a lot of changes that we could probably classify in the bad category.

And because the bad changes often hit us so hard in life, we end up disliking change.

In the late 1800’s the Duke of Cambridge said, "Any change, at any time, for any reason, is to be deplored." And I think when we experience enough bad change in life, we end up having similar thoughts as this Duke. Even down to the small things in life. We don’t want to change because that might make us uncomfortable, it is unfamiliar to us, and because of that we avoid it at all costs.

Tension

But Easter is all about change. This last week we spent time thinking about everything that Jesus went through in his final days. How he was betrayed, he was put on trial, and how he was eventually tortured, killed on the cross, and placed in a tomb. That is where we left off with Jesus on Friday, that is where the disciples and his followers thought he would remain.

But then a change happened. Things did not stay the same. In fact, such a large change occurred that first Easter that the entire world is still dealing with it. When Jesus rose from the dead it created a change for the entire world, but also for each and every person individually. The change that happened at Easter is not just a cool story we read about, the change of the resurrection is a call to all of us to experience change through Jesus. Let’s read the Easter account, and see how the change occurs in Jesus, his followers, and how we are also called to change.

The Empty Tomb

John 20:1–10 NIV

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Change in the Power of Death

Mary got up early to go the tomb and when she saw that the stone had been moved she goes back at once to Peter and John. Mary hadn’t gone inside the tomb, but she feared that someone had rolled the stone away and removed the body of Jesus. Peter and John take off toward the tomb, (notice how John casually mentions that the “other disciple” who is likely him, outran Peter. That’s called a humble brag).

Peter goes into the tomb followed by John and we read that John saw and believed. He definitely didn’t understand exactly what this all meant, but he believed that Jesus rose from the dead.

And if I can, I want to go off on a brief tangent. There are times in life when you need to completely understand something to believe it, but faith in Christ is not one of them. Even Peter and John, disciples who followed Jesus around for years don’t understand at this moment everything that is happening, but yet they believe. I could spend the whole sermon talking about the history of the resurrection and why you ought to believe it to be true, but I don’t think that is the best use of our time this morning. If that is what you need though, there are absolutely resources out there that can help with that. But right now, I want you to know that even if you don’t fully understand, you can believe in the resurrected Jesus.

The empty tomb though, is the change that continues to affect the world. The empty tomb, the resurrected Jesus changes the world because out of all of the many things we can do in life, death is one of the few shared human experiences. Death is unavoidable to us. We can work out, eat healthy, do all of these good things (which they are good okay, don’t think I’m saying just ruin your body because death will get you no matter what) but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if you excersice everyday, eat healthy, take medicine, death is a reality that we can not shake. P

Psalm 39:5 reminds us that our life itself is short and that death is at the end waiting for us.

Psalm 39:5 NIV

5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.

This is the same mindset that Mary initially has when she comes to the tomb. It’s empty. Jesus’ body was here because he had died. As a result of his death, his life is over.

But the truth is that Jesus’ life was not over. The change that Jesus brought is that he conquered death. On our own, we cannot defeat death, but Jesus has defeated it for us. He has disarmed death for us and calls for all of his sheep. The author of Hebrews 2 words this beautifully for us.

Hebrews 2:14–15 NIV

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Do you see how big of a change the resurrection of Jesus brings to us? We were held as slaves to our fear of death, in fact, maybe that describes you even at this moment. You’re terrified of death to the point that it keeps you awake at night. Because of Jesus though, you don’t have to be. Jesus is able to take all of us out of our slavery to fear of death. Hebrews is big on pointing out that Jesus is better than everything else, but the point here is that Jesus is better than Moses. Moses led the Israelites out of slavery of Egypt, but he couldn’t lead them out of death. Jesus however, does just that. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we know that this life is not the end. We are not just mere spectators of the resurrection, we are participants in it as well because of what Jesus has done. What a great change! We no longer have to fear death, instead we can live our lives knowing that we will be raised to new life with Jesus as well! Death no longer has claim over us, and instead we are free to live for what lasts. We’re free to live our lives showing love towards others because we are guranteed another, better life with Jesus.

That’s the big change, but the change that Jesus brings has a personal affect as well.

The Personal Change of Easter

John 20:11–18 NIV

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Mary goes through a remarkable change in this passage as well. At the beginning of John 20 Mary is concerned because she was going to go to the tomb to see Jesus’ body, and she becomes concerned when it is not there. That first Easter Mary went looking for a body but she found more than just a body. Instead of returning to the disciples and telling them she found the body, she tells them that she has seen the Lord.

One way of illustrating this change that came to my mind is about the Titanic. I know this isn’t going to be a perfect illustration, but bear with me! One year we went on a family vacation to Branson MO, I believe, the town with all the shows and what not. But right across from our hotel was a Titanic musuem, experience, I don’t really know what you call it. One aspect of it was that you could see pieces of the Titanic there. Now imagine if you went to that, thinking you might see a window or some silverware that was actually one the Titanic, and instead when you walked in you saw the entire Titanic. Not a replica, not a picture of it, the actual real, physical Titanic that made history. You went to see a part of it, but instead saw the real deal.

This is the shock that Mary experiences. She goes to find a lifeless body, but instead she actually finds Jesus.

Are you here this morning searching for something as well? Did you come thinking that you would hear the same old story that you know already, or did you come with the expectation of meeting the risen Lord? Like Mary and the disciples, we too can experience the risen Jesus. It might not be in the same way that Mary and the other disciples experienced, but Jesus continues to call to all of us softly and tenderly. Jesus desires for you to see him just as they saw him back then, resurrected, full of glory, and calling out in love. My hope is that no matter where you are in your walk with God, if you have been a follower of Jesus your whole life or if you aren’t even sure about it, I hope that you hear him calling your name just as Mary heard him call her by name. Because when you hear him and turn to him, you are promised amazing things. You are promised an inheritance as a child of God. You will enjoy the love, mercy, and forgivenss of God both now and forever. You are promised love from a perfect Father. God’s love for you will not waver based on his emotions, instead he will love you fully and completely at all times. You are also promised acceptance before God the Father. Everyone who follows Jesus will be accepted by God the Father because if God accepted Jesus, then he has accepted you as well.

When you turn to Jesus as Lord, your identity is no longer wrapped up in the things of this world. Instead, your identity is found in Christ and that cannot ever be changed. When you identity is found in Christ, it will change every aspect of your life. It even changes how we relate to one another. No longer are we just acquantances, neighbors, co-workers, friends, instead we are family, we are brothers and sisters because of the work of Jesus.

Closing

People around Jesus were all changed because of the resurrection. Mary's tears of heartbreak turned to speechless celebration because of the resurrection. Peter, John, and the other disciples, once fearing for their lives as they huddled in the locked room, were transformed because of the resurrection. Thousands believed, and then millions, because of the resurrection. In time, over the last 2,000 years, entire governments, cultures, and educational processes have been changed because of the resurrection.

Spiritually, because of the resurrection our sins are forgiven, our life is renewed, our hope is permanent, and our eternity is secured. We are given a new start, a new life, and a new tomorrow.

Prayer

Lord, we have so much to be thankful for this Easter morning. We can rejoice this day because our tendency toward disbelief is overcome by our capacity for faith. We are truly amazed that a cross of crucifixion has been transformed into a symbol of new life, a symbol of eternal life.

We are thankful that you come to greet us in a garden of hope, trust, and faith. We thank you that a dark and empty tomb has emerged into a garden of light and living. In all our days, we shall live for Christ, the resurrected and risen Savior. Amen.