Tomb Teleportation

1 Corinthians 15:3-5;12-19; Luke 24:13-32

The Mystery Bunny

Dylan woke me up. “Dad, there’s a bunny downstairs.”

“Oh, out the window?”

“No, in the playroom.”

“Oh, funny, like a stuffed animal?”

“No, Dad, it’s a real bunny.”

Now I am super skeptical… because how could a bunny be in my house? So I drag myself up and downstairs and there, in the middle of the playroom, is a stuffed bunny. Just sitting there. Hilarious. I go to pick it up…

And this stuffed bunny twerks its head sideways, then starts bolting around my house.

All the doors and windows to my house are closed and locked… and have been all night. It’s an Easter miracle.

Some say that bunny still wanders our house…

Eyewitness testimony.

We Believe Crazy Things

When we take this book seriously, we believe some crazy things. We believe in spiritual creatures: angels and demons. We believe in strange happenings, miracles that fly in the face of our expectations or understanding of how physics work, how the world works. People walking on water, blind men seeing after having their eyes covered with spit, fish swallowing people, prophets commanding fire from the sky. Some pretty crazy stuff.

And some of that stuff is hard to believe. Hard to picture. But I believe it, and I believe it, my belief in it largely stems from one great unbelievable but undeniable miracle. The great mystery of history.

Is Jesus alive? Did he rise from the dead?

And this comes up in conversation with people, especially people outside the church, who want to see it all as a kind of meaningful mythology. A fictional story who’s real purpose is just to demonstrate love.

The 12

A couple years ago I saw a musical called “the 12”. It was really enjoyable, a rock musical about the twelve in the upper room. Wrestling with the death of Jesus, in fear of the crowds and religious leaders, and they are all having their own crises.

And then Mary runs in and tells them that the tomb is empty. And then they sort of workout the interpretation. Isn’t Jesus kind of alive in each of us? Wouldn’t it be amazing if he was kind of alive-ish?

What if he was alive-ish?

And so tomorrow, Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday we celebrate the empty tomb.

NO! It isn’t enough that Jesus is alive-ish. I am not interested in a helpful mythology, I am in pursuit of what is true.

Is Jesus alive? And what makes me think he is?

And Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, put it this way:

1 Corinthians 15:12-19

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

No beautiful mythology here. If Christ is not alive, we are most to be pitied. Your faith is futile and you are still in your sins… if Christ has not been raised.

Is Jesus alive? What makes me think he is?

The letter to the Corinthians is one of the earliest written testimonies we have, written within a decade or two of the death and resurrection of Jesus. These are recent events. This is me writing about September 11, 2011. You can’t convince me it didn’t happen, I saw it live. We could invite people who were on the street in New York looking up, watching it live.

And Paul says it this way earlier in this same chapter:

1 Corinthians 15:3-8

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

It wasn’t left in question. It wasn’t a mystery of an empty tomb. Jesus was popping up all over the place, revealing himself to people. He stayed for around forty days before ascending into heaven, teaching, preparing, but certainly cementing that this was no passing vision, no momentary thing.

But Jesus was alive. Resurrected. The tomb was empty, but not as a question mark, but because Jesus was forever, unquestionably alive. And those eyewitnesses would go to their deaths proclaiming the resurrected Jesus… which just isn’t something you do for a “nice” mythology. A cute story. A “wouldn’t it be nice if he was kind of alive in our hearts, or in our minds, or in his teaching, or in our memory” or any of those things.

Guys, I saw the bunny with my own eyes. I don’t know how it happened, how he got in, how he got out… but I saw that bunny and it was amazing.

Paul says “I saw Jesus, and his glory blinded me. This guy saw Jesus too, James, you saw him, more than five hundred brothers saw him at the same time!” How many sisters? No idea.

Application

Took – Envision the Road to Emmaus

Luke 24:13-43

13-16 That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem.

Seven-mile walk, downhill, but this is going to take an hour, maybe two.

They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.

I have to think Jesus enjoyed this.

17-18 He asked, “What’s this you’re discussing so intently as you walk along?”

They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard what’s happened during the last few days?”

19-24 He said, “What has happened?”

They said, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene. He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by both God and all the people. Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened. But now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn’t find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn’t see Jesus.”

25-27 Then he said to them, “So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can’t you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don’t you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?” Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him.

28-31 They came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if he were going on but they pressed him: “Stay and have supper with us. It’s nearly evening; the day is done.” So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared.

32 Back and forth they talked. “Didn’t we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?”

33-34 They didn’t waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem.

So it is evening, or even night, and they hightail it back to Jerusalem. That is how excited they are, they get up from dinner and run a 10k UPHILL!

Running, I think occasionally jumping and pumping hands in the air. “Jesus is alive.” High five! Maybe throwing up their dinner.

They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: “It’s really happened! The Master has been raised up—Simon saw him!”

35 Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread.

36-41 While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you.” They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death. He continued with them, “Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands; look at my feet—it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn’t have muscle and bone like this.” As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. They still couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It was too much; it seemed too good to be true.

41-43 He asked, “Do you have any food here?” They gave him a piece of leftover fish they had cooked. He took it and ate it right before their eyes.

Benediction

The tomb is empty. But not in a mysterious way… because Jesus is alive. Just as he said he would, Jesus is alive. How did they not see it coming?

He said he would be back. He said he was the Resurrection, and the truth, and the life.

And this is the foundation of who I am. This is at the heart of who we are.

Jesus is alive.

This is why we are the church, this is why we worship, why we believe, why we gather, why we have faith, why we believe that we too can have life and life forever.

Jesus is alive.

Everything we believe hinges on this: Jesus is alive.

If Jesus is alive => miracles can happen.

If Jesus is alive => there is hope for broken people like you and me

If Jesus is alive => there is resurrection, truth and life for us