His Return
Never Alone Again
Back To Christmas (3)
IT- was dark. IT – was early. IT – was Sunday morning... THEY - got up and put on their garments grabbed their spices and headed out on the dirt road that lead out of the city. AS - the sun began to rise over the Jordan River, the narrow path on which they walked was lined with many dark shadows... BUT - no shadow or darkness could compare with the darkness that hovered over and was consuming their soul.
THE - thoughts and sights of the last week ripped through their minds like violent tornados… THEY - had been there when Jesus rode in on the colt before thousands shouting his praises, what an incredible moment that was. BUT - unfortunately BOTH their minds and the events of last week didn’t stop there. TRY - as they might they couldn’t stopped those other thoughts, they could not keep those terrible scenes from playing out again and again in their minds.
THEY - saw Jesus tied to a post a Roman scourge filled with (broken pieces of pottery, glass and bones) ripping across His back. AND AS - they recalled the purple robe, the beatings, the cruel mocking, the torn flesh and the crown of thorns, the tears began to flow like a river once again.
THEY - had seen it all -- they had seen Jesus, their teacher, their friend, their Lord brutalized. THEY - had witnessed everything that Jesus went through... AND - these 2 women, these two Mary’s (Mary of Magdalena and Mary the mother of James) were there on that hill called the Skull... THEY SAW – Jesus’ body peireced nailed to a blood stained cross… THEY SAW - His body struggle and wince with pain with every breathe that he took... THEY HEARD - Jesus shout out, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me…” AND THEY WATCHED - his head fall as He cried out, “It is Finished…”
YES THEY - were there when Jesus died… AND - when He died they died too.. O’ they were still alive physically but their hopes, their joy and their future died on that dark Friday nearly 2,000 years ago…
SO - what are they doing up so early on this Sunday morning? Why aren’t they lying in bed wallowing in their misery... What was it that drove them from their beds before dawn, and put them on this dark up hill climb.
UNDERSTAND - the thing that drove these 2 Mary’s, was their love for and devotion to Jesus. I MEAN - someone had to prepare the body for burial and no one else had volunteered; John didn’t, James didn’t and Peter was nowhere to be found… SO - it was up to them, 2 faithful followers, 2 women who had never left the side of Jesus, 2 Mary’s who were with Him until the end.
NOW – the task they were going to perform was not a pleasant one to say the least. THINK – about it… THEY - would be the ones, who would wipe the blood from the face, from the legs, from the sides, from the feet, from the hands and from the fingers of Jesus… THEY - would be the ones, to clean the blood from His body... THEY - would be the ones, to remove the blood that had matted in his beard and hair… THEY - would be the last ones, to touch his face and close His eyes.
AND - as they were nearing the tomb, suddenly a problem, something they hadn’t thought of until now entered their minds… THEY - turned to each other… AND - we’ll pick up our reading at Mark 16:3
"Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" (UNDERSTAND – those stones were huge, massive… AND – there was no way that these 2 ladies would be able to even budge it… YET STILL – (despite what seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle… they continued up the path that led to their Lord…) 4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6"Don’t be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. (QUESTION – do you think they went inside or just looked from a distance? What would you have done?)
7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ’He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ "
AND – that is exactly what they did… THEY - went running back to the city as fast as they could to tell the disciples that they found the tomb empty and that an angel had told them that Jesus had risen… QUESTION – how did His guys respond to this news? Were they pumped? DID THEY – shout, praise God, jump and exchange high fives with one another… LUKE – tells us…
But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. (AND – perhaps another reason they did believe them was because in that culture women were not highly valued and they were not allowed to be witnesses in court. HOW COOL – that Jesus does as he always did during His earthly ministry take the ladder down to the basement where society had lowered women and with His nailed-scarred hands lift them to a place of respect and credibility by choosing them to be the first witnesses of His resurrection.)
Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. (Luke 24:11,12)
QUESTION – what thoughts do you think are running through Peter’s mind? What is he feeling right now?
• Fear?
• Confusion?
• Doubt?
• Disappointment because of His public denial of Jesus?
• Hope?
DO YOU – think the words the angel had Mary bring back stirred his heart and renewed his soul? go, tell his disciples and Peter… In other words tell “Peter that he is not left out. That 3 strikes does not mean he is a failure.”
John picks up the scene from there…
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
(Perhaps these angels were there when Jesus body was still there… ark of the covenant. )
They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don’t know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ’I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ " Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Prayer…
TODAY – is the 3rd week of a series of messages where we are Counting Back To Christmas by looking at 7 major events in the life of Christ. EVENTS - that not only shaped and defined who Jesus was, what He did and how He lived.. BUT - that are intended to shape and define our lives as well.
IN – week one we talked about His return… ABOUT – how there is no place like our future home… [Tim, …] – your future home is going to be awesome… a new body, a new name, a new life… THE – forever and always presence of God… AND NO MORE - tears, death, disease, sorrow, crying or pain… NO MORE - guilt, NO MORE - shame… NO MORE - divorces, separations or affairs... NO MORE - murders, thefts, gossip, slander, harsh words spoken… NO MORE - broken hearts, broken dreams, broken relationships, broken promises, or loneliness.. NO MORE - unresolved anger, haunting memories or lifelong regrets because of sinful actions… UNDERSTAND – there is no place like our future home… NEVER – loose sight of where you are headed.
THE – event we looked at last week was His Commission. AND – in this event we see THE PRIMARY MISSION of the Christ-follower, “takin’ the good news of salvation and new in Jesus Christ out into the streets of this world. IF – you are a Christ-follower raise your hands. KEEP – your hands up IF there is anyone in your life (home, work, school, neighborhood, friend) who has not surrendered their lives to Jesus and at this very moment faces a Christ-less eternity. Jesus is counting on you to bring them home. To tell them about Him. If not you then who?
LISTEN – His Return and His Commission are intended to shape and define: who we are, what we do, how we live, what we value and chase after, where we spend our time, talents and treasure and where we place our hope… AND – our topic this morning, ‘His Resurrection,’ is intended to do the same thing.
ON - a Sunday 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior… BURST - froth from the grave… AND – His victory over death… IS – the centerpiece, the cornerstone, the very foundation of the church…
WHEN PETER – stood before thousands of men and women on the day of Pentecost. When he preached the gospel message for the very first time… He spoke of the resurrection of Christ.
"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him…. - Acts 2:22-24
AND – 2 chapters later in Acts 4, the Jewish leaders have Peter and John arrested, Luke tells us that these leaders were ticked off for 2 reasons… #1 – they healed a man who was crippled from birth at the Temple… #2 - Because they were teaching the people that Jesus had risen from the dead…
SO - Peter & John spent the night in jail… AND – the next morning they find themselves standing before the very same religious leaders who had condemned Jesus 2 months earlier… PICTURE – the scene… Peter and John are bound, they are in chains… AND – the very same men who had Jesus crucified and who caused them to scattered in fear into the night are now looking at them and asking them… “By what power or what name did you do this?”
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. (and by the way…) Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:8-10,12
AFTER – their heads were done spinning around… THESE – leaders tell Peter & John to stop talking about Jesus… THEIR – response…“Sorry guys, but we can’t stop talking about the resurrection of our Lord.”
UNDERSTAND – as the church is born and explodes in the book of Acts the resurrection of Jesus is the fuel that drives the message… WHEN – Paul took the news of Christ to the entire gentile world, WHEN – he spoke on Mars Hill in Athens… WHEN - he wrote to the churches in Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colosse, Philippi & Thessalonica… WHEN – he penned his letter to Timothy… He spoke of the resurrection of Christ…
BOTTOM LINE - His Resurrection… is a big deal. A Huge deal… AND – God’s intention for His Resurrection is for it to shape and define the way His people live today… QUESTION – Has the resurrection of Christ made any changes to the way you live? Does it have an impact of the way you live your life Monday-Friday? UNDERSTAND – God never intended for the power of His Resurrection to stop at the empty tomb, OR - at the close of the book of Acts... INSTEAD – God intends that the power of His resurrection to continue in His people today… “The resurrection of Jesus must be experienced as more than a past historical event. Otherwise it is robbed of it’s impact of the present.” – H.A. Williams. UNDERSTAND – like Paul we too can… know Christ and the power of his resurrection – Phil 3:10… AND – like Peter
IN - our time remaining I want to talk about what His Resurrection means… NOW – there are so many things that I could talk about this morning in regards to His resurrection… BUT - I only have time to talk about 4…
The Resurrection Means - That Jesus Is Who He Said He Was
QUESTION – who did Jesus say He was? God in the flesh. The bread of life. The light of the world. The Great I Am.
UNDERSTAND – Jesus made some pretty bold claims about who He was… AND – the question of the ages is… can he back up those claims…
AS - I did my research for this message, I discovered something that I found pretty interesting. I began looking through the gospels to see how often Jesus talked about His Resurrection. DO – you know when Jesus first began to teach His guys about His death and resurrection? IT – was during the final year of His earthly ministry… HOWEVER – He had alluded to His Resurrection at least 3 times earlier…
FIRST – when He rode into Jerusalem and began His ministry by overturning tables and chasing the money changers out of the Temple… AN – act that really upset and angered the religious establishment of the day. AND – the reason they were so freaked out was because only God had the right to pass judgment on the Temple system. SO – they asked Jesus what miraculous sign he would perform to prove that He had the authority to do this? DO – you remember His answer… "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
THE – other 2 times that Jesus alludes to His resurrection are in Matthew 12 and 16… IN – both of these passages the religious leaders are again upset at Jesus… THIS – time because He healed a guy withered hand on the Sabbath and cast a demon out of another guy… AND AGAIN – they ask Jesus for a sign to prove that He has the authority to do these things and he responds by saying…
“A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. – Matthew 12:39,40
UNDERSTAND – every time the religious leaders asked Him for a sign to prove that He had the authority to do all that he did, Jesus alluded to His resurrection. AND THEN – in Matthew 16, during the final year of ministry Jesus begins to teach His guys (all allusions removed) about His resurrection. AND – once again it is in the context of His identity.
NOW – I am sure that most of you remember what goes down in Matthew 16. Jesus asks His guys 2 questions… Question #1 – “Who do people say that I am?” AND – question #2 – “Who do you say that I am?” TO – which Peter responds, “You are the Christ the Son of the living God.” AND – Jesus says, “That right Peter A+, you’ve made the deans list… AND - on the truth of who I am, I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” AND THEN – Matthew writes…
From that time on (once this identity thing was squared away) Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
– Matthew 16:21
LISTEN – every time that Jesus either alluded to… OR – taught about the resurrection HE ALWAYS tied it to being proof of who He was… AND – the Apostle Paul as opens up his letter to the church in Rome continues that same theme…
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. – Romans 1:1-4
was declared with power to be the Son of God by WHAT? His resurrection from the dead. UNDERSTAND – the resurrection proves that Jesus was who He said He was God in the flesh…
THE RESURRECTION – is meant to remove any doubts you may have about who Jesus is. the Jesus that you; Love, Follow, Serve, Sing to and worship… is God!
• HE - is the Alpha and the Omega… the beginning and the end.
• He is the mighty God
• He is Creator of all that we see
• He is the light of the world
• He is holy, mighty, all-powerful, all-knowing
• HE always has been and He always will be
• He is our mighty fortress
• He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother
• He is the Kings of King & Lord of Lords..
• LISTEN - Jesus holds the world together… and he can hold our lives together…
Jesus is huge… holy… mighty… He is God
AND – because he is God this means….that He
• Has all the answers
• Can deliver what he promised
• Provide all that you need
• Forgive all your sins
• Protect you from those who seek to harm you
• Bring peace to any conflict
• Conquer any problem
• Calm any storm
• Defeat any enemy
• What He said is true
• What He said He would do…he will do
• LIKE – cracking the sky, riding in on a white horse to take you to be with him forever
CHURCH
• It’s time to put some bounce in our steps
• Some strut in our stride
• Some life in our hope
• Some confidence in our future
• Some joy in our circumstances
• Some security in our true worth and identity
OUR - Jesus is God…!
The Resurrection Means - That Your Sins
Can Be Forgiven
NOW – next Sunday in our message, ‘Nothing To Keep Us Apart” – a study about His Death… We will talk a lot about the forgiveness we have in Christ. SO – this morning we will only look at it briefly… BUT CHECKOUT – these awesome words from God found in Romans chapter 4.
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. – Romans 4:25-5:2
• He was delivered over to death for what? For our sins…
• He was raised to life for what? For our justification.
• We have peace with God through what? Through our own effort… NO – through our Lord Jesus Christ.
• AND – where do we NOW stand because of Christ… IN – God’s amazing grace…
AND LATER ON – in that same letter Paul in Romans chapter 6… talks about how we get in on that grace, in which we all can now stand…
all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. – Romans 6:3-7
HIS RESURRECTION – and our participation in it through (faith, repentance and baptism) frees us from sin… AND – when the Son sets you free… UNDERSTAND – because of the resurrection God intends for you & I to live every day of our lives, to live every moment of our lives as forgiven men and women… IF – you have in faith been baptized into Christ… you ARE forgiven! You ARE free!
The Resurrection Means - That You
Can Be A New Creation
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! – 2 Cor 5:17
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.– Ephesians 2:10
NOW BEFORE – I talk about the ‘new’ creation… LET – me remind you of a few things about the first one…
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. – Genesis 1:1-5
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. – Genesis 1:27
The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
– Genesis 2:7
AGAIN – that was creation number one… AND – if you turn you bibles to John chapter 20 you will see the birth of the new creation… NOW – as I read these verses see if you can hear in them the language of creation… LET’S – start at verse one…
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb…
NOW – jump past the account of Mary’s encounter with Jesus that we read earlier and look at verse 19…
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
SO – did you see it? I MEAN – creation language is flowing all through those verses…
the first day of the week, still dark, On the evening of that first day of the week, he breathed on them, the Holy Spirit… (LISTEN – there is only one place those words are going to take the mind of a first century Hebrew – to Genesis)
AND UNDERSTAND – this is not the first time that John uses creation language in his gospel… IN FACT – he begins his gospel with creation language…
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness,
AND – John also uses creation language in the 19th chapter of his book… QUESTION – what did God do on the 6th day of creation? HE – finished all of His work… AND – on the 6th day of the previous week, on that good Friday… What does John tell us that Jesus cried out from the cross? “It is finished…”
YES – John loves creation language… AND – John chapter 20, is the Genesis chapter one of the new creation. UNDERSTAND – when John tell us twice that Christ’s Resurrection happened on the first day of the week (and by they way Matthew, Mark & Luke use the very same language)… HE – isn’t simply telling us that Easter happened to be on a Sunday… INSTEAD – he wants his readers to understand that Easter, that Christ’s resurrection is the first day of God’s new creation… CHECKOUT – these words from N.T. Wright’s book, ‘The Challenge Of Jesus.’
Easter morning… is the first day of the week… new creation has now begin. The spirit who hovered over the waters of creation at the beginning hovers now over God’s world, ready to bring it bursting to springtime life. Mary goes to the tomb while it is still dark and in the morning light meets Jesus in the garden. She thinks he is the gardener, and in one important sense he indeed is. This is the new creation. This is the new Genesis… The reason the early Christians were so joyful was because they knew themselves to be living not so much in the last days, though that was true too, as in the first days, the opening days of God’s new creation.
QUESTION – what does John say happened on the evening of the first day of the week… Jesus suddenly appears to His guys in a locked room. He tells them peace be with you… AND THEN – just as He did long ago at the dawn of creation, God once again breathes into man… he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit… RECEIVE – the new life that I came to give you… RECEIVE – the power to become more and more like me… AND – go out into the world… be fruit and multiply… make disciples of all nations… As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." BRING - others into this new life… HOW? BY – reflecting my image… BY – being like me… BY – displaying my glory. BY – showing the world (through your life, through the way that you life) what I am like…
THERE - is more to Christ’s Resurrection; Then fact that Jesus is alive (as awesome, necessary and glorious as that it is)… and that our sins can be forgiven (as amazing and as needed as that is)… UNDERSTAND – His Resurrection means that we can be a part of God’s new creation…
NOW REMEMBER – in the first creation we are told that man was made in the image of God. That man was created to be picture, a portrait, a reflection of what God is like… BUT – sin quickly came into the world and that image got distorted… AND – we see that distortion everyday when we turn on the news… As – we see images;
• Of terrorists blowing up buildings and people
• Of corrupt politicians embezzling money
• Of men raping and killing little girls
• Of racism
• Of greed
• Of hatred
• Of immorality
•
BUT – we don’t have to turn on the news to see that distortion, do we? NO – we saw it when you looked in the mirror this morning…
• When you screamed out you kids
• When you gave your spouse the silent treatment
• When you lied to protect yourself or make yourself look God
• When you talked behind that person’s back
• When you snuck that look on the internet
•
•
BUT – friends this distortion is no longer the final word of our lives… YOU SEE – Jesus wants to come into our lives and breathe into us new life (breathe into us His Spirit)… A Spirit of love, power and self discipline…
UNDERSTAND – as Paul told the church in Colosse it is Christ in you that is your hope of glory… that is your hope of living a life that reflects to this world who God really is… YES – Jesus longs to breathe into us His workmanship, His new creation… the power to be God’s imager bearers in this world… AND – every time we;
• Display courage in the face of difficulty
• Make sacrifices for the benefit of others
• Are faithful to our promises
• Are generous and kind
•
WE – are reflections of the image and glory of God…
YES – His Resurrection marks the dawn, the beginning of God’s new creation… UNDERSTAND - the true light has come and the darkness cannot understand or stop it... AND – as you & I let God come into our lives… HE – will breathe His spirit into us… AND – that spirit will shape us in the ways of; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control… AND – as it shapes us, it sends us out to shape our world…
Our task, as image-bearing, God-loving, Christ-shaped, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world, is to announce redemption to the world that has discovered its falleness, to announce healing to the world that has discovered its brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to a world that knows only exploitation, fear and suspicion. - N.T. Wright
It Means – That You Are Never Alone
Some of the final words that Jesus spoke to His guys were these… And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
QUESTION – do you think that Jesus meant what He said that day?
• He is with us to breathe into us
• To comfort us
• To encourage us
• To strengthen us in our weakness
Living in the awareness of the risen Jesus is not a trivial pursuit for the bored and lonely or a defense mechanism enabling us to cope with the stress and sorrow of life. It is the key that unlocks the door to grasping the meaning of existence… The miracle of the gospel is Christ risen and glorified, who this very moment tracks us, pursues us, abides in us, and offers Himself to us as our companion for this journey - Manning
