Sermon 5: Easter Questions Series

Sermon 5: Easter Questions

82 Hours: Countdown to the Resurrection

Chuck Sligh

Preaching April 21, 2019

TEXT: John 20:1-18 – “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. 2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. 3 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. 4 So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. 5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. 6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. 9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, 12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. 17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. 18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com.

Adapted from a sermon by David Dykes titled, “Three Easter Questions You Must Answer” on SermonCentral.com.

INTRODUCTION

Illus. – What TV show are these characters from?—Bert, Ernie, The Cookie Monster; and Kermit the Frog. (Answer: Sesame Street) Those were Muppets, but one of the earliest human characters on the show was a man named Mr. Hooper. His real name was Will Lee and he was on Sesame Street for thirteen years before he died of a heart attack in 1982.

The producers faced a dilemma: How to explain his death to 10 million kids. They could have just concocted a story about Mr. Hooper retiring to Florida, but instead they decided to tell the children honestly that he died. But because this was public television, they didn’t want to mention anything religious or spiritual.

So, on the day of the show, Big Bird walks out and says he has a drawing to give Mr. Hooper and says, “I can’t wait to see Mr. Hooper again.”

A cast member said, “Remember, Big Bird, we told you that Mr. Hooper died.”

Big Bird said, “Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, I’ll give it to him when he gets back.”

He puts their arms around Big Bird and says, “Big Bird, Mr. Hooper isn’t coming back.”

“Why not?” Big Bird asks innocently.

And the final line was, “Big Bird, when people die, they don’t come back.”

The gospel of Sesame Street isn’t good news at all. What a sad message to teach children: “When people die, they don’t come back.” But that’s not the message of Easter. The good news of Easter is that because Jesus came back from death, we, too, will live after death.

We have now gone past hour 0 in our countdown of the 82 hours from the Last Supper to blast-off time—when Jesus rose from the dead.

In today’s text, we read about Mary Magdalene, one of the eyewitnesses of the resurrection. She was the last one at the cross and the first one at the tomb. She had to answer three Easter questions that day, and they’re the same three questions each of us must answer today.