Introduction:
A. Happy Easter to everyone – it is wonderful to be together on this Lord’s Day!
B. As we get started, I want you to take a look at this cartoon – it really tickled me.
1. That resurrection morning, Jesus told the angel at the tomb, “I want you to fold up my burial clothes, wait for Mary, and remember this is serious…no hiding and yelling ‘boo’.” (I wonder if angels are playful, practical jokers)
C. The story is told of a minister who waited in line to have his car filled with gas just before a long holiday weekend.
1. The attendant worked quickly, but there were many cars ahead of him.
2. Finally, the attendant motioned the preacher toward a vacant pump.
3. “Preacher,” said the young man, “I’m sorry about the delay. It seems as if everyone waits until the last minute to get ready for a long trip.”
4. The minister chuckled, “I know what you mean. It’s the same in my business.”
D. Today is the one thousand, nine hundred, and seventy-sixth (1976th) anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (If you put his death and resurrection in 33 AD)
1. For centuries Christians have recognized this day as the day that Jesus, the Son of God, came back to life and came out of the grave.
2. Many people who do not regularly attend worship services, feel a special pull in their hearts, and make their way to places of worship on Easter Sunday.
3. And why is that? What is it about the resurrection that is so appealing?
E. Well, I believe the resurrection of Jesus is so compelling, because it confirms the ultimate power of God, and enables us to have faith and hope.
1. Since our very creation, we human beings have recognized our own weakness and vulnerability.
2. We long for a God who is all-powerful and all-loving. A God who cares about our struggles, and is able to do something about them.
3. We find that kind of strength and hope in God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.
F. Therefore, many of us come on this Resurrection Day to be reminded of the God who moved the stone, and the God who still moves stones.
1. See each of us are on a journey from here to eternity.
2. None of us know how long our earthly sojourn may be – for some it will be shorter than they think, for others it will be longer.
3. Nevertheless, short or long, we all will someday pass from this life and we must begin making preparations - we must not wait until the last minute.
4. Embracing the hope of the Resurrection and employing the power of the Resurrection of Jesus are an important part of our preparations.
5. In today’s lesson we will be looking at three stories that will bolster our faith in the God who moved the stone, who is the God who still moves stones.
I. The first story is - The Story of the Death of a SON.(Luke 7:11-17)
A. Try to put yourself into the story. You are leaving the church building. The funeral is over.
1. You are on the way to the burial. Ahead of you walk six men who carry the coffin that carries the body of your son. Your only son.
2. You’re numb from the sorrow. You’ve lost your husband, and now you’ve lost your only son.
3. Now you have no family.
4. If you had any more tears, you’d weep. If you had any more faith, you’d pray.
5. But both are in short supply. So, you just stare at the back of the wooden box.
B. Suddenly the procession stops. A man has stepped in front of the casket.
1. You don’t know him. You’ve never seen him. He wasn’t at the funeral. You have no idea what he is doing.
2. Before you can object, he steps up to you and says, “Don’t cry.”
3. And you think to yourself, “Don’t cry? Don’t cry! This is a funeral. My son is dead! Who are you to tell me not to cry?”
4. But before you can speak your thoughts, he acts.
5. He turns back to the coffin, places his hand on it, and says in a loud voice, “Young man, I tell you, get up!”
6. One of the pallbearers objects, “Now just a minute.” But the sentence is interrupted by a sudden movement in the casket.
C. All this sounds like something out of a horror film, doesn’t it? But it’s not. It’s right out of the gospel of Luke chap7.
1. Verses 14 and 15 say: “Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.”
2. What did the Bible say happened? Jesus touched the coffin and what happened?
3. Read it slowly, “The dead man sat up and began to talk.”
4. Wait just a minute. What’s wrong with this picture?
5. Dead people don’t sit up! Dead people don’t talk! Dead people don’t leave their coffins!
6. That is, unless Jesus shows up.
7. Because when Jesus shows up, you never know what might happen. Amen?
II. The second story is - The Story of the Death of a FRIEND ( John 11:1-44)
A. There were two sisters, Martha and Mary, friends of Jesus, who had hoped that he would show up and heal their brother Lazarus. But he didn’t.
1. Then they’d hoped he’d show up for the funeral. But he didn’t.
2. By the time he made it to Bethany, Lazarus was four-days buried, and Martha was wondering what kind of friend Jesus was.
3. In verse 20, Martha heard that Jesus was at the edge of town, so she stormed out to meet him, and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (11:21)
4. There was hurt in those words. Hurt and disappointment.
5. The one man who could have made a difference, didn’t.
6. Her words have been echoed in thousands of hospital rooms, and in thousands of cemeteries. “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
B. Let me ask a difficult question: Why is it that we interpret the presence of death as the absence of God?
1. Why do we think that if the body is not healed, then God is not near?
2. Is healing the only way God demonstrates his presence? Is healing the only way God can show his concern and compassion?
3. Sometimes we think so.
4. And as a result, when God doesn’t answer our prayers for healing, we get angry. We get resentful. Blame replaces belief.
5. It is distressing when our view of God has no place for death – for God’s concerns and plans for us are much bigger than earthly life – He’s thinking of eternal things.
C. Now back to our story.
1. First, Martha made her complaint, but then she stated her conviction, “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” (Vs 22)
2. When Mary entered the scene, she delivered the same line as her sister, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (Vs 32)
3. Then comes one of the most moving verses in all the Bible. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. (vs 33-35)
D. When they came to the tomb, which was a cave with a large stone laid across the entrance, Jesus was once again deeply moved.
1. “Take away the stone,” he said.
2. “But why? He is dead! It will smell!” They said. But Jesus was insistent, and they followed his orders.
3. Jesus then looked to heaven and prayed, then said in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
4. Mary and Martha were silent as Jesus made the command. The mourners were quiet.
5. No one stirred as Jesus stood face to face with the rock hewn tomb and demanded that it release his friend.
6. No one stirred, that is, except for Lazarus.
7. Deep within the tomb, he moved.
8. His stilled heart began to beat again. His wrapped eyes popped open. His wooden fingers lifted. And a mummied man in a tomb sat up.
9. And do you want to know what happened next? Read vs 44, “The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.”
10. Read those five words again: “The dead man came out.”
11. There it is again - What is wrong with this picture? Answer: Dead men don’t come back to life and walk out of tombs.
12. Unless, of course, Jesus commands them to!
III. The third story is - The Story of the Death of the SAVIOR ( Matthew 27:57-28:10)
A. A party was the last thing that the two Marys expected as they approached the tomb of Jesus on that Sunday morning.
1. The last few days had brought nothing to celebrate.
2. The Jewish leaders could celebrate - Jesus was out of their way.
3. The soldiers could celebrate - their work was done.
4. But the disciples couldn’t celebrate - To them the last few days had brought nothing but tragedy and disappointment.
B. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had been there at the end of Jesus’ life.
1. They had heard the leaders clamor for Jesus’ blood.
2. They had witnessed the Roman whip rip the skin off his back.
3. They had winced as the thorns sliced his brow and wept at the weight of the cross.
4. They had been there for his final moments, and they had been with Joseph and Nicodemus as he was laid in the coolness of the new tomb.
5. But early that Sunday morning, three days later, the women arose, taking their spices and aloes, they left their homes and headed for the tomb, anticipating a somber task.
6. Somewhere along the way they wondered how they would move the stone, but little did they know that that would not be a problem.
C. The Bible records what happened that morning with these words: “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.” (28:2-3)
1. “The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.” (vs 4)
2. But then the angel spoke to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Now I have told you.’ ”(vs. 5-7)
3. There it is once again - What is wrong with this picture?
a. Angels don’t come down from heaven, move large stones and sit on them.
b. Angels don’t speak to you.
c. People who have been dead for three days don’t come back to life and appear to you.
4. That is - unless God makes it happen - God moved the stone; God brought his Son back to life.
a. The resurrection really happened – It is a historical fact.
b. We know it deep in our hearts, and we need it from the depths of our souls.
5. Listen to Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian Christians, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms…”(Eph 1:18-20)
Conclusion:
A. Someone has said that God is at His best when life is at its worst.
1. Sometimes we find God appearing at the strangest of places, and doing the strangest of things.
2. Stretching smiles where there had hung only frowns.
3. Placing a twinkle where there were only tears.
4. Even calling names in a cemetery, like the three events we have witnessed today.
5. But please remember, the goal of these stories is not to help us look back with amazement, but to look forward with faith and hope.
6. All I know, is there used to be a coffin for a boy, and tombs closed by stones for Lazarus and Jesus.
7. But the coffin was discarded and the stones were moved.
8. For you see, our God is God of the impossible! Our God is a God of surprises.
9. Just when we think we have God figured out.
10. Just when we think we know exactly what God does, and how he does it.
11. He does the surprising. He does the impossible.
B. I know that at times there are stones in your path and in mine.
1. There are stones that trip, stones that trouble, and stones that trap.
2. Many of these stones seem unmovable and are far too big for you and me.
3. What is that stone that stands implanted in your life, that seems too heavy to move?
a. Is it a heart broken by an unattentive or unfaithful spouse?
b. Does it have the word cancer written all over it?
c. Is it the challenge of a rebellious child?
d. Does it have to do with money and careers?
e. Is it your battle with addiction? Whether it be addition to sex or pornography, or to alcohol, or other drugs, or to spending, or gambling?
f. Does it have to do with controlling anger or other emotions, like fear and depression?
g. Is it some sin you committed years ago, but you can’t seem to shake the guilt?
h. Or is it something else. I don’t know, you fill in the blank.
C. Please hear me today - whatever stone it is - it is no match for God. Not then and not now.
1. The God who spoke, still speaks.
2. The God who forgave, still forgives.
3. The God who came, still comes.
a. He comes into my world and your world.
b. He comes to do what we can’t. He comes to move the stones we can’t budge.
4. Sometimes he removes those stones, and other times he simply moves them out of the way.
5. But either way, our God is a God who still moves stones.
D. And that is why the resurrection message means so much to us. That is why it fills us with faith, and hope, and joy.
1. Paul wrote, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Co 2:9)
2. Our God is so good, and so able to bless us both in this life and in the life to come.
3. If you have never given him a chance to work in your life, don’t you think it is time.
4. Don’t you think it is time to turn you life over to the God who made you and loves you?
a. John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
b. Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mk 16:16)
c. He also said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Lk 9:23) There is a price to pay; a commitment to be made.
4. Now if you have already given yourself to the Lord, then stick with Him, through the thick and the thin.
5. Don’t give up on Jesus and don’t doubt His activity in your life; remain faithful.
6. Jesus has give us this wonderful promise: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mt. 11:28-30)
E. We are about to stand and sing a song that is a prayer.
1. As we sing it and pray it may God answer this prayer with power and hope.
2. Jesus, let us come to know You.
3. Touch us, hold us, use us, mold us.
4. Jesus, draw us ever nearer.
5. Wrap us in your gentle presence.
6. And when the end comes, bring us home.
F. There is resurrection hope for each of us today.
1. Jesus enabled it.
2. Jesus offers it.
3. Jesus is waiting for you to let Him move some stones in your life.
Resource: Based on a chapter from Max Lucado’s book He Still Moves Stones.
