April 20, 2025 • 26 mins
Jason Sterling April 20, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me to
Luke 24.
Luke, chapter 24, it will alsobe printed in your bulletin this
morning and I would encourageyou to keep your Bible open, if
you've got a Bible with you.
I'll be referring to somedifferent verses around our
(00:21):
passage that we'll be readingthis morning.
We've been studying the gospelof Luke this year and we've been
looking the last several weeksat the last week of Jesus's life
, which all leads up to this.
This is it.
In many ways, we come thismorning to the foundation of
Christianity the resurrection ofJesus Christ.
(00:45):
1 Corinthians, chapter 15,.
Paul has some strong things tosay and as we think about Easter
, he says if Christ was notraised from the dead, listen to
this our faith is useless.
Our preaching is useless.
Faith is useless.
(01:10):
Our preaching is useless.
We are still dead in our sinsand we, out of all the people in
the world, are most to bepitied.
In other words, if Jesus didn'twalk out of the grave, there is
no Christianity.
Nothing else matters.
This is just a nice bedtimestory.
You got all dressed up.
You look wonderful, by the way.
But if this is not true andJesus didn't get out of the
(01:31):
grave.
You got all dressed up fornothing and what we're doing
here is a complete waste of time.
Let's go eat our honey-bakedham and get on with our Easter
egg hunt.
You see, christians make such abig deal out of Easter.
Because this is it.
This is the foundation ofeverything, it is the pivot
(01:54):
point of all of human historyand it's true and it changes
everything.
So, with that in mind, followalong with me as I read.
This is God's Word Luke 24, 1through 12.
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to
the tomb taking the spices theyhad prepared, and they found the
(02:15):
stone.
Rode away from the tomb, butwhen they went in, they did not
find the body of the Lord Jesus.
Went in, they did not find thebody of the Lord Jesus.
While they were perplexed aboutthis, behold two men stood at
them, stood by them, in dazzlingapparel, and as they were
(02:35):
frightened and bowed their facesto the ground, the men said to
them why do you seek the livingamong the dead?
He is not here, but has risen.
Remember how he told you whilehe was in Galilee, that the son
of man must be delivered intothe hands of sinful men and be
crucified and on the third dayrise again.
But they remembered his wordsand, returning from the tomb,
(02:57):
they told all the things to the11 and to all the rest.
Now it was Mary Magdalene andJoanna and the mother of Mary,
the mother of James and theother women with them, who told
these things to the apostles.
But these words seem to them asan idle tale and they did not
(03:18):
believe them.
But Peter rose and ran to thetomb, stooping and looking in.
He saw the linen cloths bythemselves and he went home
marveling at what had happened.
This is God's true and holyword.
We're going to jump right inthis morning.
(03:39):
We're here this morning, onEaster morning, to look at the
resurrection, and so we're goingto look at that through this
passage.
Three things I want us to seein regards to the resurrection
the truth of the resurrection,the hope and the recipients of
the resurrection.
The truth, the hope and therecipients.
This morning.
Let's look at our first point.
(03:59):
Look at verse 1, the truth ofthe resurrection.
The passage opens and the sun isstarting to rise and they, it
says, went to the tomb withspices that they had prepared.
So let's ask a couple ofquestions.
Who is the they?
Well, if you look at thecontext, at the end of chapter
13, it's the women who had comewith Jesus from Galilee, and we
(04:25):
get some.
There's other women, but weknow the names of some of them.
And verse 10, we see the namesMary Magdalene, joanna, mary,
the mother of James, and they'regoing to the tomb to anoint
Jesus's body for burial.
This was a traditional Jewishcustom.
Why is that so important?
(04:47):
Well, the women were not goingto the tomb expecting a
resurrection.
They weren't expecting Jesus'sresurrection.
They arrived at the tomb toanoint a dead body resurrection.
They arrived at the tomb toanoint a dead body and they went
(05:08):
into the tomb and his body wasgone.
And you get the authenticityand the credibility of this
account when you get into someof the ways they responded.
Look at verse 4.
They're perplexed.
They see these two angels whospeak to them and they're
frightened and they fall downonto the ground.
Verse 11 and 12.
Did you notice how thedisciples respond?
(05:29):
Don't miss that.
They thought this was idle talkand that they did not believe.
The text says and Peter, heruns to the tomb.
The tomb's empty.
And notice his response.
He wasn't expecting it.
He marveled, he's stunned.
(05:50):
There's a whole lot of shock anda whole lot of surprise in
these first couple of verses.
Here's my point theresurrection was surprising.
It was not expected and thatstrengthens the credibility of
this event.
They were perplexed andfrightened and marveled.
(06:11):
And people I say this becausepeople often look down on the
people in the first century andthey say things like oh, of
course they're reallysuperstitious and supernatural.
They believed in things like.
Oh, of course they're reallysuperstitious and supernatural.
They believed in things likethis and so they were completely
expecting this miracle tohappen.
They had a worldview in whichpeople rose from the dead in the
(06:33):
middle of history.
No, they did not.
They weren't any morepredisposed to believe in the
resurrection than you are thismorning, to believe in the
resurrection than you are thismorning.
It's why Jesus later in thechapter look at verse 39, he has
to say look, it's me, I'm here,touch me, jesus, with a bodily
(07:02):
resurrection standing in frontof them.
The resurrection was notexpected, but it is undeniably
true.
And you see, if you look atchurch history, no one
throughout church history hasreally argued that the tomb was
actually empty.
No, the problem is with how thetomb was empty.
And some people have, over theyears, said that the Romans,
(07:27):
they're the ones that took andstole Jesus' body.
But that doesn't make any sense, because think about the book
of Acts Christianity took off atlightning speed and it toppled
the Roman Empire in 300 years.
Don't you think if the Romanshad the body and knew where it
(07:49):
was, they would have produced itin a matter of hours and they
would have shut this whole thingdown and brought an end to
Christianity right there on thespot again, in a matter of hours
.
That doesn't make any sense.
Another common objection orargument against the
(08:11):
resurrection is that thedisciples, they're the ones who
stole the body.
You're telling me that thedisciples who had deserted Jesus
and Peter, who denied knowingJesus and would eventually be,
history tells us, be crucifiedupside down, would do that for a
(08:32):
lie, not a chance.
You see, history tells us thatthe disciples were martyred and
exiled for their faith.
And don't you think that thesemen, who wouldn't sacrifice
anything when Jesus was alive,when they're ready to be killed,
(08:55):
would have said hey, wait aminute, stop, we were just
kidding.
Here's the body.
This was a joke, friends.
They didn't do that.
Lies don't transform peoplefrom sellouts into martyrs.
Truth does and that it makes nosense for the disciples to die
(09:20):
if they knew this was a lie.
Chuck Colson you might befamiliar with that name.
He was the center of theWatergate scandal back in the
1970s.
He becomes a Christian.
He starts a prison ministry.
Listen to this, he says.
I know the resurrection is afact and Watergate proved it to
me how Well.
(09:42):
Because 12 men testified thatthey had seen Jesus raised from
the dead and then theyproclaimed that truth for 40
years, never once denying it.
Everyone was beaten, tortured,stoned and put in prison.
They would not have enduredthat if it weren't true.
Watergate consisted of 12 ofthe most powerful men in the
(10:04):
world and they couldn't keepalive for three weeks.
You're telling me 12 apostlescould keep alive for 40 years
Absolutely impossible.
The only explanation is that theresurrection is historical fact
and 100% true and that itreally happened.
(10:25):
Now those are compellingapologetics and helpful, but did
you notice that's not what theangels did to convince the women
at the empty tomb?
They didn't go to reason andbase what they were saying on
(10:45):
historical or physical evidence.
The angels look at verses 6 and7, they go back to the words of
Jesus.
They go back and say, hey, doyou remember what Jesus said to
you, what he told you, that hewas going to die and then rise
again on the third day?
And then it says and theyremembered and notice this,
(11:07):
don't miss this.
Notice, they had not seen theresurrected body of Jesus, but
they believed because Jesus toldthem.
They heard the words of Jesusor remembered his words.
They run to the disciples.
What's happening here?
They are taking Jesus at Hisword.
(11:29):
Your life in faith is anchoredthis morning, not in emotion or
evidence or great arguments, butin the truthful word of the
Lord, jesus Christ.
By faith, we believe in thegospel promise that Jesus died
and rose again, john 20, verse29,.
(11:51):
Blessed are those who have notseen and yet believe.
Secondly, hope.
All of us in some way, shape orform, either indirectly or
directly, have been impacted bythe fall of the world.
You have experienced suffering.
You've lost someone you love,you've lost a child, maybe your
(12:13):
marriage is broken, maybe you'veexperienced rejection, maybe
your health is failing you, ormaybe it's the pain of your own
sin and the way it's impactedother people.
And oftentimes, when weexperience pain and suffering,
we go to things like technology,like food, drink, money,
(12:34):
comfort and we go to thesethings relationships in order to
ease our pain and in order togive us hope, and those things.
They might work for a moment,but they don't help you make it
to the end.
They don't give you what youneed the hope and the strength
and the endurance to live in aworld full of pain and sadness.
(12:56):
You see, our ability to facegrief and pain and sorrow in
this life is directlyproportional to your future hope
.
Your ability to handlesuffering here is directly
proportional to the level ofglory that you are expecting in
(13:18):
the future.
And I want to suggest there area few versions of the human
destiny that can match the gloryand hope that is found in the
Christian gospel.
What is that glory and hope?
Simply put, we've been talkingabout it all morning our
resurrection.
Look at verses 39 through 42.
And I just simply want to saythis Jesus came in a real
(13:46):
physical body, his body.
He had a bodily resurrection.
A spirit does not have fleshand bones, nor do they eat.
Look at verses 42 and 43.
His body was transformed andrenewed.
And if you are united to Jesusby faith 1 Corinthians 15 talks
about this then if Jesus walkedout of the grave in a bodily
(14:09):
resurrection.
That means that you too, as aChristian, will also one day
walk out of the grave andexperience a bodily resurrection
and your body will finally bemade whole and it will work the
way it's supposed to, and thatthe resurrection of our bodies
is the Christian's ultimate hope.
Quick theology of death yes,when you die, your soul goes
(14:34):
immediately to be with the Lordand you enjoy rich communion
with God.
That is wonderful, that'll beamazing, and yet that's
incomplete, incomplete.
It's incomplete.
Until Jesus comes back andbrings the new heavens and new
earth and brings theresurrection of our bodies, and
(14:57):
our souls and bodies will bereunited.
That is why Christians are tolive in this state of longing
for Jesus to return.
It's why the Bible ends inRevelation by saying what Come,
lord, jesus come.
And then the question is sowhat?
Great theology?
(15:17):
Thank you.
What does that have to do withme?
Right now, this morning, easterhope enables you to stand when
this world knocks the breath outof you.
As Christians, we grieve, wecry, we mourn, we wail, of
course, but we do so 1Thessalonians 4.13, with great
(15:42):
hope.
You want a picture of what thatlooks like?
Here's a picture.
I was a campus minister for manyyears and I was at the
University of Mississippi forabout six years, and one of the
joys of being in campus ministryis you get to see students meet
.
You get to see them marry andthen they oftentimes have the
(16:03):
privilege of doing their wedding.
It's one of the greatestprivileges of being in ministry
and I got to see that with thisparticular couple and so they
mean a lot to me.
And in January they had a babygirl who had a chromosomal
abnormality and the baby passedaway shortly after being born.
(16:24):
They've not mentioned thisstory until this week, holy Week
, and they share this on socialmedia and there's a picture of
the mom holding the baby.
And they've got two other youngchildren.
They're gathered around thisbaby and listen to the post.
(16:45):
Our precious little girl, aliceElizabeth, was born on January
the 11th and her Savior took herswiftly home.
We praise our great God for theincredible gift of her life
that has changed us forever.
Then here it is.
We eagerly await the day whenwe will see our Savior face to
face and reunite with our babygirl, and it closes with Psalm
(17:09):
73, 25.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earththat I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,but God is the strength of my
heart and my portion forever.
Do you see that?
Do you see it?
(17:30):
Gut-wrenching grief with livinghope, living Easter hope.
We are caught, yes, in thebroken middle chapters of the
story, but Easter and what wecelebrate this morning is that
the story is not over and wewait eagerly for resurrection,
(17:56):
for Jesus to come and make allthe sad things come untrue, when
one day, as Isaiah 65 says, nomore will there be an infant who
lives only but an hour or a fewdays.
And then the question is why didthe couple wait three months
and wait till Holy Week in orderto make this post?
(18:20):
Well, I'll tell you why.
It's a protest against death,and that's what we're doing here
this morning.
It's a protest of saying deathdoes not have the last word.
It's a way of saying deathwe're not afraid of you.
Where is your sting?
(18:42):
Where is your victory?
Why do you seek the livingamong the dead?
He is not here.
He has risen.
People often say and you'llhear this well, don't get your
hopes up.
No, easter says get them up,get them up higher, because when
we have our hopes up high.
We have something thatreorients our lives and gives us
(19:07):
strength in order to endurewhatever life throws at us in
this world.
Do you, this morning, have thatkind of living Easter hope?
Lastly, briefly, look at verse10.
Who are the recipientsInteresting?
We see Mary Magdalene mentioned.
She was the first to see Jesus.
(19:29):
We see or interact with Jesusin John 20 at the tomb.
Who are these women?
Joanna and Mary Magdalene.
Well, we get a glimpse into Maryin Luke 18, when we learn that
Jesus cast seven demons out ofher and Joanna had been healed
in some way.
She had some infirmity thatJesus had healed.
(19:51):
And the only other person wesee in the Bible who had
multiple demons was the demonpossessed man in Mark, chapter 5
.
And if you look at that story,it's an awful scene.
He's running around naked, he'sscreaming, he lives in a
graveyard, and so we canprobably assume that Mary
(20:11):
experienced something verysimilar.
Until she met Jesus, mary wasnot a pillar in her community,
she was not the president of hercompany, she was not first in
her class, she was not connectedsocially, she was an outcast.
And yet Jesus makes her thefirst witness to the
(20:34):
resurrection and the first oneto deliver the news.
What does that tell you aboutJesus?
That Jesus is about grace.
That, jesus, that you don'tcome to Jesus on the basis of
your morality, your pedigree,your popularity or success, but
salvation is by grace alone.
(20:56):
And it makes sense now, doesn'tit why Mary was running to the
tomb to see Jesus and anointJesus for burial?
Because Jesus was hereverything.
She had nothing until she metJesus and Jesus changed her life
.
No wonder Mary loved Jesus somuch.
(21:19):
I heard a story about an adoptedchild who had grown up in the
foster system.
This boy had spent 10 years ofhis life being with a family
temporarily and would go backand forth and to a home, back
into foster care, back and forth, until this couple finally
(21:40):
adopted him and so he moved froma foster child to an adopted
child and things started outokay.
And then the boy got reallyangry and destructive and even
violent at times and startslashing out.
And this couple is reallystruggling, like what is going
on.
And one day they find thisyoung boy.
(22:03):
He's upstairs, he's under thebed, crying, and the dad walks
up, lays down and he gets underthe bed and he says what are you
afraid of what's wrong.
And the child says when are yousending me back?
And the dad looks at him andsays I'm never sending you back.
You're my son, you belong to me.
(22:27):
This is forever.
Mary had been sent back herwhole life until she met Jesus,
who healed her and never senther back.
And I tell you that becausethat's often the way we feel.
Isn't it?
In the midst of whatever it isthat we're going through?
In our sin, in our shame, inour brokenness, in our failure,
(22:49):
we think Jesus is going to sendus back.
But the resurrection is proofthat Jesus is never going to
send you back, that you belongto him, that this is forever.
How do we know that?
How is that possible?
Look at verse 39, and we'll end.
The disciples are doubting andJesus says look at my hands and
(23:10):
feet and remember John 20,.
We know one of the disciples isdoubting, thomas.
And Jesus tells him put yourhand and your finger in my hands
nail-scarred hands and put yourhand in my side Now.
I want you to think about thatjust for a second.
This is Jesus in hisresurrected body.
(23:32):
And so you're saying Jesus hasscars in his resurrected,
glorified, new created body?
That's exactly what I'm sayinghe does, and he's the only one
(23:54):
that will stay eternally scarred.
Jesus kept his wounds so thatyou and I could lose ours.
Jesus took the marks of pain sothat you could lose your pain.
His resurrected body willremain scarred as a picture of
(24:14):
his love and commitment to you.
His life is perfectly marked bya cross.
That is how much Jesus lovesyou.
His life is perfectly marked bya cross.
That is how much Jesus lovesyou.
That is how you know he's neversending you back and that this
is forever.
Do you believe in this Jesusthis morning?
The good news of the gospel isthe hope that we talked about
(24:35):
today, and it is for people likeMary, and it's for people that
doubt, like Thomas, and it isfor sinners like us.
Friends.
Jesus died for sinners whodesperately need a Savior.
Jesus is better than we think.
Will you come to Jesus, therisen Jesus?
(24:59):
This morning, let's pray Father, thank you for overcoming the
grave, for conquering death.
The grave could not hold youand we anticipate the day that
you will come again and you willraise us from the dead and all
(25:22):
the sad things will come untrue.
If there's anyone here thismorning that doesn't know you, I
pray that this would be themorning that they have faith,
that you would move in theirhearts.
Give them eyes to see and earsto hear the good news of the
gospel In Jesus' name amen.
If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me to
Luke 24.
Luke, chapter 24, it will alsobe printed in your bulletin this
morning and I would encourageyou to keep your Bible open, if
you've got a Bible with you.
I'll be referring to somedifferent verses around our
(00:21):
passage that we'll be readingthis morning.
We've been studying the gospelof Luke this year and we've been
looking the last several weeksat the last week of Jesus's life
, which all leads up to this.
This is it.
In many ways, we come thismorning to the foundation of
Christianity the resurrection ofJesus Christ.
(00:45):
1 Corinthians, chapter 15,.
Paul has some strong things tosay and as we think about Easter
, he says if Christ was notraised from the dead, listen to
this our faith is useless.
Our preaching is useless.
Faith is useless.
(01:10):
Our preaching is useless.
We are still dead in our sinsand we, out of all the people in
the world, are most to bepitied.
In other words, if Jesus didn'twalk out of the grave, there is
no Christianity.
Nothing else matters.
This is just a nice bedtimestory.
You got all dressed up.
You look wonderful, by the way.
But if this is not true andJesus didn't get out of the
(01:31):
grave.
You got all dressed up fornothing and what we're doing
here is a complete waste of time.
Let's go eat our honey-bakedham and get on with our Easter
egg hunt.
You see, christians make such abig deal out of Easter.
Because this is it.
This is the foundation ofeverything, it is the pivot
(01:54):
point of all of human historyand it's true and it changes
everything.
So, with that in mind, followalong with me as I read.
This is God's Word Luke 24, 1through 12.
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to
the tomb taking the spices theyhad prepared, and they found the
(02:15):
stone.
Rode away from the tomb, butwhen they went in, they did not
find the body of the Lord Jesus.
Went in, they did not find thebody of the Lord Jesus.
While they were perplexed aboutthis, behold two men stood at
them, stood by them, in dazzlingapparel, and as they were
(02:35):
frightened and bowed their facesto the ground, the men said to
them why do you seek the livingamong the dead?
He is not here, but has risen.
Remember how he told you whilehe was in Galilee, that the son
of man must be delivered intothe hands of sinful men and be
crucified and on the third dayrise again.
But they remembered his wordsand, returning from the tomb,
(02:57):
they told all the things to the11 and to all the rest.
Now it was Mary Magdalene andJoanna and the mother of Mary,
the mother of James and theother women with them, who told
these things to the apostles.
But these words seem to them asan idle tale and they did not
(03:18):
believe them.
But Peter rose and ran to thetomb, stooping and looking in.
He saw the linen cloths bythemselves and he went home
marveling at what had happened.
This is God's true and holyword.
We're going to jump right inthis morning.
(03:39):
We're here this morning, onEaster morning, to look at the
resurrection, and so we're goingto look at that through this
passage.
Three things I want us to seein regards to the resurrection
the truth of the resurrection,the hope and the recipients of
the resurrection.
The truth, the hope and therecipients.
This morning.
Let's look at our first point.
(03:59):
Look at verse 1, the truth ofthe resurrection.
The passage opens and the sun isstarting to rise and they, it
says, went to the tomb withspices that they had prepared.
So let's ask a couple ofquestions.
Who is the they?
Well, if you look at thecontext, at the end of chapter
13, it's the women who had comewith Jesus from Galilee, and we
(04:25):
get some.
There's other women, but weknow the names of some of them.
And verse 10, we see the namesMary Magdalene, joanna, mary,
the mother of James, and they'regoing to the tomb to anoint
Jesus's body for burial.
This was a traditional Jewishcustom.
Why is that so important?
(04:47):
Well, the women were not goingto the tomb expecting a
resurrection.
They weren't expecting Jesus'sresurrection.
They arrived at the tomb toanoint a dead body resurrection.
They arrived at the tomb toanoint a dead body and they went
(05:08):
into the tomb and his body wasgone.
And you get the authenticityand the credibility of this
account when you get into someof the ways they responded.
Look at verse 4.
They're perplexed.
They see these two angels whospeak to them and they're
frightened and they fall downonto the ground.
Verse 11 and 12.
Did you notice how thedisciples respond?
(05:29):
Don't miss that.
They thought this was idle talkand that they did not believe.
The text says and Peter, heruns to the tomb.
The tomb's empty.
And notice his response.
He wasn't expecting it.
He marveled, he's stunned.
(05:50):
There's a whole lot of shock anda whole lot of surprise in
these first couple of verses.
Here's my point theresurrection was surprising.
It was not expected and thatstrengthens the credibility of
this event.
They were perplexed andfrightened and marveled.
(06:11):
And people I say this becausepeople often look down on the
people in the first century andthey say things like oh, of
course they're reallysuperstitious and supernatural.
They believed in things like.
Oh, of course they're reallysuperstitious and supernatural.
They believed in things likethis and so they were completely
expecting this miracle tohappen.
They had a worldview in whichpeople rose from the dead in the
(06:33):
middle of history.
No, they did not.
They weren't any morepredisposed to believe in the
resurrection than you are thismorning, to believe in the
resurrection than you are thismorning.
It's why Jesus later in thechapter look at verse 39, he has
to say look, it's me, I'm here,touch me, jesus, with a bodily
(07:02):
resurrection standing in frontof them.
The resurrection was notexpected, but it is undeniably
true.
And you see, if you look atchurch history, no one
throughout church history hasreally argued that the tomb was
actually empty.
No, the problem is with how thetomb was empty.
And some people have, over theyears, said that the Romans,
(07:27):
they're the ones that took andstole Jesus' body.
But that doesn't make any sense, because think about the book
of Acts Christianity took off atlightning speed and it toppled
the Roman Empire in 300 years.
Don't you think if the Romanshad the body and knew where it
(07:49):
was, they would have produced itin a matter of hours and they
would have shut this whole thingdown and brought an end to
Christianity right there on thespot again, in a matter of hours
.
That doesn't make any sense.
Another common objection orargument against the
(08:11):
resurrection is that thedisciples, they're the ones who
stole the body.
You're telling me that thedisciples who had deserted Jesus
and Peter, who denied knowingJesus and would eventually be,
history tells us, be crucifiedupside down, would do that for a
(08:32):
lie, not a chance.
You see, history tells us thatthe disciples were martyred and
exiled for their faith.
And don't you think that thesemen, who wouldn't sacrifice
anything when Jesus was alive,when they're ready to be killed,
(08:55):
would have said hey, wait aminute, stop, we were just
kidding.
Here's the body.
This was a joke, friends.
They didn't do that.
Lies don't transform peoplefrom sellouts into martyrs.
Truth does and that it makes nosense for the disciples to die
(09:20):
if they knew this was a lie.
Chuck Colson you might befamiliar with that name.
He was the center of theWatergate scandal back in the
1970s.
He becomes a Christian.
He starts a prison ministry.
Listen to this, he says.
I know the resurrection is afact and Watergate proved it to
me how Well.
(09:42):
Because 12 men testified thatthey had seen Jesus raised from
the dead and then theyproclaimed that truth for 40
years, never once denying it.
Everyone was beaten, tortured,stoned and put in prison.
They would not have enduredthat if it weren't true.
Watergate consisted of 12 ofthe most powerful men in the
(10:04):
world and they couldn't keepalive for three weeks.
You're telling me 12 apostlescould keep alive for 40 years
Absolutely impossible.
The only explanation is that theresurrection is historical fact
and 100% true and that itreally happened.
(10:25):
Now those are compellingapologetics and helpful, but did
you notice that's not what theangels did to convince the women
at the empty tomb?
They didn't go to reason andbase what they were saying on
(10:45):
historical or physical evidence.
The angels look at verses 6 and7, they go back to the words of
Jesus.
They go back and say, hey, doyou remember what Jesus said to
you, what he told you, that hewas going to die and then rise
again on the third day?
And then it says and theyremembered and notice this,
(11:07):
don't miss this.
Notice, they had not seen theresurrected body of Jesus, but
they believed because Jesus toldthem.
They heard the words of Jesusor remembered his words.
They run to the disciples.
What's happening here?
They are taking Jesus at Hisword.
(11:29):
Your life in faith is anchoredthis morning, not in emotion or
evidence or great arguments, butin the truthful word of the
Lord, jesus Christ.
By faith, we believe in thegospel promise that Jesus died
and rose again, john 20, verse29,.
(11:51):
Blessed are those who have notseen and yet believe.
Secondly, hope.
All of us in some way, shape orform, either indirectly or
directly, have been impacted bythe fall of the world.
You have experienced suffering.
You've lost someone you love,you've lost a child, maybe your
(12:13):
marriage is broken, maybe you'veexperienced rejection, maybe
your health is failing you, ormaybe it's the pain of your own
sin and the way it's impactedother people.
And oftentimes, when weexperience pain and suffering,
we go to things like technology,like food, drink, money,
(12:34):
comfort and we go to thesethings relationships in order to
ease our pain and in order togive us hope, and those things.
They might work for a moment,but they don't help you make it
to the end.
They don't give you what youneed the hope and the strength
and the endurance to live in aworld full of pain and sadness.
(12:56):
You see, our ability to facegrief and pain and sorrow in
this life is directlyproportional to your future hope
.
Your ability to handlesuffering here is directly
proportional to the level ofglory that you are expecting in
(13:18):
the future.
And I want to suggest there area few versions of the human
destiny that can match the gloryand hope that is found in the
Christian gospel.
What is that glory and hope?
Simply put, we've been talkingabout it all morning our
resurrection.
Look at verses 39 through 42.
And I just simply want to saythis Jesus came in a real
(13:46):
physical body, his body.
He had a bodily resurrection.
A spirit does not have fleshand bones, nor do they eat.
Look at verses 42 and 43.
His body was transformed andrenewed.
And if you are united to Jesusby faith 1 Corinthians 15 talks
about this then if Jesus walkedout of the grave in a bodily
(14:09):
resurrection.
That means that you too, as aChristian, will also one day
walk out of the grave andexperience a bodily resurrection
and your body will finally bemade whole and it will work the
way it's supposed to, and thatthe resurrection of our bodies
is the Christian's ultimate hope.
Quick theology of death yes,when you die, your soul goes
(14:34):
immediately to be with the Lordand you enjoy rich communion
with God.
That is wonderful, that'll beamazing, and yet that's
incomplete, incomplete.
It's incomplete.
Until Jesus comes back andbrings the new heavens and new
earth and brings theresurrection of our bodies, and
(14:57):
our souls and bodies will bereunited.
That is why Christians are tolive in this state of longing
for Jesus to return.
It's why the Bible ends inRevelation by saying what Come,
lord, jesus come.
And then the question is sowhat?
Great theology?
(15:17):
Thank you.
What does that have to do withme?
Right now, this morning, easterhope enables you to stand when
this world knocks the breath outof you.
As Christians, we grieve, wecry, we mourn, we wail, of
course, but we do so 1Thessalonians 4.13, with great
(15:42):
hope.
You want a picture of what thatlooks like?
Here's a picture.
I was a campus minister for manyyears and I was at the
University of Mississippi forabout six years, and one of the
joys of being in campus ministryis you get to see students meet
.
You get to see them marry andthen they oftentimes have the
(16:03):
privilege of doing their wedding.
It's one of the greatestprivileges of being in ministry
and I got to see that with thisparticular couple and so they
mean a lot to me.
And in January they had a babygirl who had a chromosomal
abnormality and the baby passedaway shortly after being born.
(16:24):
They've not mentioned thisstory until this week, holy Week
, and they share this on socialmedia and there's a picture of
the mom holding the baby.
And they've got two other youngchildren.
They're gathered around thisbaby and listen to the post.
(16:45):
Our precious little girl, aliceElizabeth, was born on January
the 11th and her Savior took herswiftly home.
We praise our great God for theincredible gift of her life
that has changed us forever.
Then here it is.
We eagerly await the day whenwe will see our Savior face to
face and reunite with our babygirl, and it closes with Psalm
(17:09):
73, 25.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earththat I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,but God is the strength of my
heart and my portion forever.
Do you see that?
Do you see it?
(17:30):
Gut-wrenching grief with livinghope, living Easter hope.
We are caught, yes, in thebroken middle chapters of the
story, but Easter and what wecelebrate this morning is that
the story is not over and wewait eagerly for resurrection,
(17:56):
for Jesus to come and make allthe sad things come untrue, when
one day, as Isaiah 65 says, nomore will there be an infant who
lives only but an hour or a fewdays.
And then the question is why didthe couple wait three months
and wait till Holy Week in orderto make this post?
(18:20):
Well, I'll tell you why.
It's a protest against death,and that's what we're doing here
this morning.
It's a protest of saying deathdoes not have the last word.
It's a way of saying deathwe're not afraid of you.
Where is your sting?
(18:42):
Where is your victory?
Why do you seek the livingamong the dead?
He is not here.
He has risen.
People often say and you'llhear this well, don't get your
hopes up.
No, easter says get them up,get them up higher, because when
we have our hopes up high.
We have something thatreorients our lives and gives us
(19:07):
strength in order to endurewhatever life throws at us in
this world.
Do you, this morning, have thatkind of living Easter hope?
Lastly, briefly, look at verse10.
Who are the recipientsInteresting?
We see Mary Magdalene mentioned.
She was the first to see Jesus.
(19:29):
We see or interact with Jesusin John 20 at the tomb.
Who are these women?
Joanna and Mary Magdalene.
Well, we get a glimpse into Maryin Luke 18, when we learn that
Jesus cast seven demons out ofher and Joanna had been healed
in some way.
She had some infirmity thatJesus had healed.
(19:51):
And the only other person wesee in the Bible who had
multiple demons was the demonpossessed man in Mark, chapter 5
.
And if you look at that story,it's an awful scene.
He's running around naked, he'sscreaming, he lives in a
graveyard, and so we canprobably assume that Mary
(20:11):
experienced something verysimilar.
Until she met Jesus, mary wasnot a pillar in her community,
she was not the president of hercompany, she was not first in
her class, she was not connectedsocially, she was an outcast.
And yet Jesus makes her thefirst witness to the
(20:34):
resurrection and the first oneto deliver the news.
What does that tell you aboutJesus?
That Jesus is about grace.
That, jesus, that you don'tcome to Jesus on the basis of
your morality, your pedigree,your popularity or success, but
salvation is by grace alone.
(20:56):
And it makes sense now, doesn'tit why Mary was running to the
tomb to see Jesus and anointJesus for burial?
Because Jesus was hereverything.
She had nothing until she metJesus and Jesus changed her life
.
No wonder Mary loved Jesus somuch.
(21:19):
I heard a story about an adoptedchild who had grown up in the
foster system.
This boy had spent 10 years ofhis life being with a family
temporarily and would go backand forth and to a home, back
into foster care, back and forth, until this couple finally
(21:40):
adopted him and so he moved froma foster child to an adopted
child and things started outokay.
And then the boy got reallyangry and destructive and even
violent at times and startslashing out.
And this couple is reallystruggling, like what is going
on.
And one day they find thisyoung boy.
(22:03):
He's upstairs, he's under thebed, crying, and the dad walks
up, lays down and he gets underthe bed and he says what are you
afraid of what's wrong.
And the child says when are yousending me back?
And the dad looks at him andsays I'm never sending you back.
You're my son, you belong to me.
(22:27):
This is forever.
Mary had been sent back herwhole life until she met Jesus,
who healed her and never senther back.
And I tell you that becausethat's often the way we feel.
Isn't it?
In the midst of whatever it isthat we're going through?
In our sin, in our shame, inour brokenness, in our failure,
(22:49):
we think Jesus is going to sendus back.
But the resurrection is proofthat Jesus is never going to
send you back, that you belongto him, that this is forever.
How do we know that?
How is that possible?
Look at verse 39, and we'll end.
The disciples are doubting andJesus says look at my hands and
(23:10):
feet and remember John 20,.
We know one of the disciples isdoubting, thomas.
And Jesus tells him put yourhand and your finger in my hands
nail-scarred hands and put yourhand in my side Now.
I want you to think about thatjust for a second.
This is Jesus in hisresurrected body.
(23:32):
And so you're saying Jesus hasscars in his resurrected,
glorified, new created body?
That's exactly what I'm sayinghe does, and he's the only one
(23:54):
that will stay eternally scarred.
Jesus kept his wounds so thatyou and I could lose ours.
Jesus took the marks of pain sothat you could lose your pain.
His resurrected body willremain scarred as a picture of
(24:14):
his love and commitment to you.
His life is perfectly marked bya cross.
That is how much Jesus lovesyou.
His life is perfectly marked bya cross.
That is how much Jesus lovesyou.
That is how you know he's neversending you back and that this
is forever.
Do you believe in this Jesusthis morning?
The good news of the gospel isthe hope that we talked about
(24:35):
today, and it is for people likeMary, and it's for people that
doubt, like Thomas, and it isfor sinners like us.
Friends.
Jesus died for sinners whodesperately need a Savior.
Jesus is better than we think.
Will you come to Jesus, therisen Jesus?
(24:59):
This morning, let's pray Father, thank you for overcoming the
grave, for conquering death.
The grave could not hold youand we anticipate the day that
you will come again and you willraise us from the dead and all
(25:22):
the sad things will come untrue.
If there's anyone here thismorning that doesn't know you, I
pray that this would be themorning that they have faith,
that you would move in theirhearts.
Give them eyes to see and earsto hear the good news of the
gospel In Jesus' name amen.
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