Alive! Series

INTRODUCTION

• VIDEO CLIP

• SLIDE #1

• Over the past three weeks we have been examining some words of Easter. Betrayed, suffered, and crucified are the disturbing words we have examined.

• These words, these terrible words were all necessary words in order for us to get where we are today!

• Today is a great day to come together to worship! Today we are going to explore the EXCITING WORD “ALIVE!”

• Jesus is ALIVE, He did not decompose in some tomb in Jerusalem, He is ALIVE!

• Name for me any ancient “religious” leader and you will find they are dead and that people visit their tombs if it is known where they decomposed.

• Jesus is ALIVE!

• What good is it to follow a DEAD leader, why are people willing to give up their lives to someone who died, to someone who was DEFEATED by death instead of DEFEATING death!

• SLIDE #2

• 1 Corinthians 15:54–57 (HCSB) — 54 When this corruptible is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55 Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? 56 Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

• We are here today to celebrate the fact that Jesus DEFEATED DEATH, HE IS ALIVE!

• Today we are going to be in John 20 as we examine the word ALIVE. John 20 will give us evidence of the fact that Jesus is ALIVE.

• Let us begin with verses 1-2

• SLIDE #3

• John 20:1–2 (HCSB) — On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!”

• SLIDE #4

SERMON

I. Mary’s unsettling discovery.

• It was still dark, Mary is heading toward the tomb with a group of women to re-do the embalming the men did on Friday.

• The women knew where the tomb was since they followed Joseph on Friday to the tomb, being women in there society they could not do a lot, nonetheless, giving Jesus a proper burial was something they could do.

• WE DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE TO DO SOMETHING SPECTACULAR FOR JESUS, we simply need to be faith to Him. WE need to be faithful to Him with our talents, time and treasures. The women were doing that exact thing as they headed for the tomb, they were going to give Jesus the best they had!

• As a side note, there are two separate groups of women who will head to the tomb on this sad morning.

• Mary is part of the group of women spoken of in Matthew and Mark. This group included Mary, Mary the mother of James as well as Salome. There may have been more.

• Of the second group we only know of Joanna from Luke 24:10.

• As Mary with the first group of ladies who approached the tomb.

• As they get closer to the tomb, Mary notices something is wrong, the stone is rolled away from the tomb.

• SLIDE #5 STONE.

• SLIDE #6 STONE

• SLIDE #7 GARDEN TOMB

• MARY KNOWS JESUS IS ALIVE! Well, not exactly.

• The word REMOVED when John speaks of the stone being removed, does not mean it was simply rolled away, but rather it means it was lifted out of the groove.

• USE POINTER TO POINT OUT GROOVE IN SLIDE 7

• Once Mary sees the stone is rolled away, she runs away to go inform Peter and John as to what she saw.

• In the meantime, according to Matthew and Mark, the other ladies continued to the tomb where they encounter an angel who tells them Jesus had been resurrected.

• We know Mary Magdalene was not there for that encounter because she ran to Peter and John and told them that Jesus had been stolen, or taken out of the tomb.

• Even though Mary was close with Jesus, even though she heard His teaching, resurrection was the furthest thing from her mind.

• The concept was so incredible, that even though the Old Testament predicted it (Isaiah 53 for example), even though Jesus taught it, she could even consider that as an option.

• Why did Mary immediately go to, THEY TOOK HIS BODY?