The Resurrection's Invitation: Finding New Life in Ancient Truth

Jesus is alive, and that changes everything. The resurrection stands as the ultimate pivot point of history—not just as a miracle to analyze but as a living reality that transforms how we understand ourselves and our world.

What does it mean that Jesus rose from the dead? It means that death isn't the final word. It means that suffering doesn't have the last say. Most radically, it means that new life can emerge from our darkest moments. The women who discovered the empty tomb weren't looking for hope—they were carrying spices to anoint a dead body. Yet they encountered a question that still challenges us: "Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?"

Too often we search for hope in places where it cannot be found. We assume God has stopped working in our circumstances when He's simply moved ahead of us. Faith rarely begins with certainty. It starts in confusion, with half-formed hope and unanswered questions. Just like the disciples on the road to Emmaus who didn't recognize Jesus walking beside them, we often fail to see how God is already working in our lives, stirring something within us before we can name it.

The resurrection narrative doesn't end with Easter Sunday. Its power continues to unfold as we allow the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead to transform our lives. Whether you're walking through grief, facing unfair accusations, or dealing with quiet disappointments, the resurrection meets you in that place—not to provide easy answers, but to walk alongside you toward something new.

Have you experienced the slow burn of resurrection hope in your own life? The invitation stands not just to remember what happened 2,000 years ago, but to participate in what's still happening today. Join us as we continue exploring what it means to live as resurrection people in a world still waiting for hope.

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, consider subscribing to Madison Church on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback means the world to us, so please take a moment to leave a review and share the podcast with your friends and family.

For inquiries, suggestions, or collaboration opportunities, please reach out to us at [e-mail].

For the latest updates and behind-the-scenes content, follow us on social media:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube

New episodes are released every Monday, so mark your calendars and join us weekly!

If you'd like to support the show, you can make a donation here. Your generosity helps us continue to bring you meaningful content.

This podcast is intended for general informational purposes only. The views expressed by the hosts or guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Madison Church. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk. For detailed information regarding our terms of use and privacy policy, please visit our website.

Thank you for being part of the Madison Church community! We appreciate your support.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
If the resurrection of Jesus didn't happen, then
absolutely none of this matters.
My faith doesn't matter.
Our forgiveness to one anotheror anyone who's done us wrong
doesn't matter.
Your future certainly doesn'tmatter, not even the way we love

(00:21):
matters if the resurrection ofJesus Christ didn't happen.
But Jesus is alive and thatchanges everything.
In Luke 24, we're told after theresurrection that Jesus
appeared to his disciples as aghost and not as a memory, but

(00:45):
alive, flesh and bone, hiswounds still visible, his voice
kind as always, and yet stillsome doubted, others, as we can
understand, terrified.
Who could blame them?
I mean, this was not how theresurrection, the victory of

(01:07):
Jesus Christ was supposed tolook.
And how does Jesus respond tothem?
He doesn't scold them, he meetsthem.
He welcomes their fear, hewelcomes their confusion.
He embraces their doubt.
He says touch my wounds, let'ssit down and share a meal

(01:31):
together.
He teaches them that the deathon Friday was not the end of
their faith, but it was thefulfillment of the things they
believed in.
He reminds them by their ownscriptures this was always part
of the plan.
Yes, it was written long agothat the Messiah would suffer

(01:53):
and die and rise from the deadon the third day.
It was also written that thismessage would be proclaimed
there's forgiveness of sins forall who repent.
And you are witnesses of thesethings Now in Easter's.
Past I've talked about theresurrection in terms of

(02:15):
evidence, like why it'shistorically credible and
philosophically coherent andtheologically sound, and all of
that does matter.
But this Easter today with you,I want to ask a deeper question
.
Not did it happen or how couldit happen, but why does it even
matter?
Why does the resurrectionmatter?
Because the resurrection ofJesus is not just a story for us

(02:38):
to believe today.
It's an invitation of a life tostep into.
Consider what Pastor Tim Kellerwrote.
He said if Jesus rose from thedead, then you have to accept
all he said.
He did the hard part overcamedeath.
We can believe him, but if hedidn't rise from the dead, then

(03:00):
why worry about anything he said?
If Jesus didn't overcome death,then forget about him.
He's just like everyone else.
The resurrection isn't justproof that Jesus is alive.
It's a declaration thatsomething new has begun.
It's not just about whathappened to him Easter's, not

(03:21):
just about what happened to him,but it's about what's possible
for you and me and us today,because we are not just here to
remember something that happened.
We're here because something isstill happening, but we can't
celebrate the light withoutfirst naming.

(03:41):
The darkness is shattered.
So before we move forward,let's pause at the tomb, in the
silence, at the end of hope,because before the joy of
resurrection of Easter Sundaycomes the weight of a cross on
what we call Good Friday, beforelight broke through darkness.

(04:06):
Settled in the cross isn't justabout what Jesus did.
The cross is about who he choseto be.
He chose to be a savior whosuffers with us, a God who
doesn't avoid pain but whoentered into it.
Jesus, the one that thesedisciples and others followed,

(04:31):
trusted, hoped in, was betrayed.
He was beaten, he was mockedand, like so many other people,
he was nailed and died on aRoman cross.
He was nailed and died on aRoman cross.
You can imagine how they felt.
Perhaps the same hands thatthey saw heal people were now

(04:53):
pierced.
The voice that could calm thestorms fell silent.
Hope didn't just dim.
They saw with their own eyeshope die.
The sky went dark, the earthtrembled, the curtain in the
temple was torn from top tobottom and with his final breath

(05:16):
, jesus cries out Father, intoyour hands, I commit my spirit
For those watching from theground, for those who loved him.
It wasn't just the end ofJesus' life, it was the end of
theirs.
And then, early on in themorning, before the sun had
fully risen, a small group ofwomen walked quietly to the tomb

(05:38):
.
But understand, they were notgoing in hope, they were going
in heartbreak.
They came carrying spices toanoint a body, a body that was
dead and decaying.
It was going to smell bad.
So they bring spices.
They had no hope that Jesus wasalive.
They were just taking care of abody of their friend, killed by

(06:03):
the state, buried in haste.
This was all they had left.
It was a final act of dignityfor a buried Messiah.
But when they arrive, as many ofyou know the story the stone is
rolled away, the tomb is emptyand they were understandably
shocked, afraid, not sure whatto believe.

(06:24):
When two men in dazzling robesappear and they ask a question
that ought to change us why areyou looking among the dead for
someone who is alive?
Why are you here looking forJesus?
He is alive, he isn't here, heis risen from the dead.

(06:50):
And that one question, I think,as we reflect on it why are you
here, looking for somethingthat's alive among the dead.
Isn't that true of us today?
You and me Don't?
We often look for hope in thewrong places.
We assume God has stoppedworking in our situation or our

(07:12):
circumstances, but he hasn't.
He's just moved.
The women run and they tell thedisciples what they've seen,
what they had seen.
But Luke says, their wordsseemed like nonsense, not just
because the story is prettyunbelievable, but because of who
was telling it.
In the first century, thetestimony of women was

(07:34):
considered unreliable and incourt it didn't count.
They were seen as emotional,unstable.
They were easily dismissed.
Now, if you were making up astory about Jesus and trying to
convince people that Jesus rosefrom the dead, the last thing
you would do is have women bethe ones to discover the empty

(07:54):
tomb and tell everyone about it.
But Jesus doesn't just turndeath into life, he turns entire
systems on their head.
The first witnesses of theresurrection weren't priests,
they weren't politicians, theyweren't one of his 12 disciples.
They were overlooked, they wereunderestimated, they were

(08:18):
unheard, and these women becamethe first to tell the good news.
And that's not a detail.
That is the kingdom of God.
Still, even though there is anempty tomb, the disciples
struggle to believe.
Jesus had told them, thoughtime and time again, the Son of

(08:39):
man must be crucified and riseagain.
But this resurrection, how ithappened, didn't fit in their
categories.
It wasn't what they expectedand so it felt wrong.
When you believe, when you think, when you're holding on to
something for years and yearsand years, and you expect it to
be this way and it's this way,you have to deal with all of the
space between questions, doubts, curiosities.

(09:03):
It makes me think how,sometimes, what God is doing, it
doesn't feel obvious to us.
Oftentimes, the way God movesis unsettling, it's confusing,
it's frightening.
There's what we expected andthere's what's happening, but
faith, that's how it goes.
Faith usually doesn't beginwith clarity.

(09:26):
Faith often begins in confusionor with mystery, with
half-formed hope.
The resurrection doesn't waitfor you to figure everything out
.
The resurrection meets you atyour lowest.

(09:48):
If I'm honest, the past year anda half in my own life it has
felt like a really long walk tothe tomb.
There have been moments of loss, misunderstandings, unfair
accusations, quietdisappointments I just did not
see coming.
People I've cared about deeplyin my life have walked away.

(10:11):
My trust with others has beenstrained.
Some days I carry more painthan clarity and most days I
have felt more like a woundedchild than the strong leader I'm
supposed to be.
It's felt at times that my hopewas taken away, that my

(10:31):
direction was killed on a crossand that my confidence was
buried and sealed up.
But as I reflect on Easter andmy own life, I start to get
glimpses of what God is doing init.
And God is already moving inprayer, community and therapy
and in the stillness and thequiet.

(10:53):
And every now and then I get tosee a glimpse and flashes of
the person I'm becoming, not theperson I was a year and a half
ago, not the person I am rightnow, but who God is forming me
to be through it all, and I lovethat person, even though I
don't feel like him most of thetime.
Yet For there to be aresurrection in my life, for

(11:17):
there to be new life, there hadto be death.
Something had to die firstThings.
I didn't want to die and Ishare that with you today
because maybe you're walkingthrough something similar, maybe
you're walking throughmisunderstanding.
Life isn't being fair.

(11:39):
You're dealing with grief, loss, quiet, disappointments, but
your story isn't tied up yet.
It's not tied up with a bow.
Yet it's not over, you're justin it and that's okay.

(12:00):
The resurrection and new life.
It never begins with certainty.
It begins with carrying spicesto a tomb, expecting nothing and
discovering God's already moved.
So if you're unsure today andyou're still piecing things
together, you are not behind,You're not forever broken,
you're not damaged goods.

(12:20):
You're just standing where thefirst believers once stood,
right on the edge of somethingnew.
When we go back to the story, wesee the two followers of Jesus
are walking away from Jerusalemand they're trying to make sense
of it new.
When we go back to the story,we see that two followers of
Jesus are walking away fromJerusalem and they're trying to
make sense of it all, everythingthat they had seen.
So they're processing out loudtogether the betrayal, the trial

(12:40):
, the crucifixion, and now allof these rumors.
Where is Jesus?
Did the Roman government takehim?
Did his followers take him andhide him?
Did he really come back fromthe dead?
But here's the thing they'renot just reflecting and
processing.
The Greek word that Luke usesimplies a strong debate.
They have different opinionsabout what has happened.

(13:01):
They were wrestling with eachother, arguing and processing
the grief the only way they knewhow.
Because, just like you today,you know people who are tortured
and beaten and hung on a crossand died and buried don't come
back from the dead.
How is this possible?
And if it is possible, howcould it be true?
I mean, in all likelihood thewomen were probably just

(13:22):
confused, right?
You can hear them arguing Maybesomebody did take the body.
Yes, that's the most logicalexplanation.
When a stranger or so they thinka stranger joins them, they
don't recognize Jesus.
But Jesus walks beside them, helistens to their debate, he
asks questions.

(13:43):
They're actually kind ofdumbfounded.
How have you not heard aboutwhat has happened the last few
days?
But then he teaches and hetraces the story from Moses to
the prophets and he shows howthe entire Old Testament was
pointing to this very weekend.
He doesn't offer them ashortcut, no pithy statements.

(14:06):
He gives them context and thenlater he shares a meal with them
and he disappears.
And it's at this moment theyrealize who he was and they say
they realize, didn't our heartsburn within us as he talked with
us on the road and explainedthe scriptures to us?
Didn't our hearts burn?
You see, something had beenhappening inside of them before

(14:29):
they even recognized it.
Do you get that Somethinghappened inside of them that
they didn't realize washappening on the wall, what
didn't happen until later, wherethey were thinking about it
like wait, I was being changedand I didn't even realize it.

(14:51):
And that's how the resurrectionworks Quietly, patiently,
stirring something in us longbefore we're able to name it,
label it, call it something.
Jesus walks with us, jesuslistens and he teaches, and
sometimes he doesn't revealhimself on purpose, because

(15:11):
spiritual growth does not comefrom getting answers.
It comes from walking on theroad with Jesus.
Discipleship isn't aboutlearning more.
It's about walking with Christand that burning heart, that we
feel something inside of us.
It's not just a feeling, it's acall, not just to be moved, but

(15:34):
to move, oftentimes in faith.
We want the big fireworks, thebig emotions, the big scene, but
more often than not, jesusworks through the slow burn
forming us before we're evenaware that he's near us.
Easter isn't about going toheaven when you die and it's

(15:56):
about heaven crashing into earthwhile you live.
That's why Easter matters.
This day is not for spectators,but it's for responders, for
people who don't just walk onthe road, but they recognize who
Jesus is on it and they followhim.
And again, we're not just hereto remember something that

(16:17):
happened 2,000 years ago.
We are here because somethingis still happening.
The cross was not the end ofthe story, it was just the
beginning.
And, as NT Wright says, theresurrection stands at the heart
of the Christian faith, as alight and hope in a sometimes
dark and hopeless world.
And that same spirit who raisedJesus from the dead is still at

(16:44):
work today, calling you and meto new life, reshaping our
hearts and setting them on fire.
And so, for those of us todaywho find ourselves in the
waiting that painful part oflife, I want to invite you to
join us next week as we continuethrough Luke's writings.

(17:07):
We're going to talk about whathappens after the resurrection
and what do the disciples dobefore the Holy Spirit comes.
Jesus says now I will send theHoly Spirit, just as my Father
promised.
And that's a promise not justfor his first disciples, not
just for your first few hundredyears of Christianity, but it's

(17:27):
a promise for you today.
And that's where we'll pick upnext week, because the
resurrection, once again, wasjust the beginning of the story.