Easter Hope

"Easter Hope"

John 20:11-18

A sermon for 4/9/23

Resurrection Sunday

Pastor John Bright

John 20 “11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).

17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to 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 to her.”

Pause right there. Those words I just read; they were “Breathed by God”! God wants you to hear His Word right now! So, what is your response? Do you want to be transformed by that Word or do you want to be informed about the words? You must choose.

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I think the world has a twisted view of Jesus. For folks that are not Believers, they celebrate the birth of Jesus focusing on a jolly fat guy and giving each other lots of presents. Those same folks celebrate Jesus being raised from the dead by having an overside bunny put lots of chocolate on green, plastic grass. I am not complaining or condemning. It just seems odd to me and I will not spend one ounce of my energy trying to find hidden meaning in what the world does on our most holy of days in the Church.

Easter Sunday, or Resurrection Sunday, holds a special place in the hearts of Believers. I have memories of Sonrise services that started before the sun came up. We were sitting in metal chairs just off the parking lot behind the church. At the regular service, all the ladies were dressed up with new hats. Those sermons I heard back then assured us that all Believers would rise again – just like Jesus did – when the trump would sound and Jesus would return on the clouds as we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.” Those preachers wanted to give us hope. That’s a good message for Easter.

A Biblical Understanding of Hope

I want to give you a shorthand way of remembering the difference between the hope in our Bibles and the hope out in the world. Hope ain’t hoping. Today, folks plan outside events and say, “I sure hope it doesn’t rain.” Every Sunday, some folks may show up here and say, “I sure hope PJ doesn’t have a long sermon.”😊 When I was growing up, I had some food allergies that kept me from getting chocolate in my Easter basket – I got carob instead. It is not the same thing! You better believe I hoped for a day when I could eat what everybody else was eating. All of this hoping is doubt about the outcome of something in the future.

Biblical hope is the opposite of doubt. Having hope is having assurance that what God has promised will surely come to pass. Hope ain’t hoping. Last week, I read from 1 Peter chapter 1 and we head about a “faith that is more precious than gold.” (v. 7) Where does that kind of faith come from? It comes from true hope described in that same chapter, 1 Peter 1:3-5 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”