Texts read at start of service and in sermon outline… as reference source for sermon:
Matthew 28:1-7 (NLT)
John 20:19-22, 26-31 (NLT)
As we gather to engage the event that has changed the world more than any other…
Important to realize this event…the resurrection of Christ is rooted in history.
• Prophetic written history
• Testimony of historical lives…
o Lives who changes history because of how this event changed them (Paul)
o Lives of those who suffered and died because this event changed them (Disciples)
Rooted in human history…yet it has never ceased reaching out and changing lives.
As we heard those accounts read at the start of our worship…reminded that
The resurrection comes as that which begins in fear and ends in peace.
It doesn’t begin the light of day… but at dawn… while it was still dark… when one can’t see
clearly… and there is plenty to be worried about… plenty to fear.
That is precisely where is Easter begins… The disciples had come to the big city… Jerusalem…
filled with anticipation… only to have their door of hope closed behind a massive cold stone.
> Many of us can feel that way about life…. begin with ideals… doors we anticipate… and then
find that they’re never quite open. So it’s no coincidence that Easter begins with the ultimate
closed door of all doors… Faced with stone… soldiers… and a seal… how fittingly it should
represent the world’s greatest power… the Roman empire.The world had closed the door to the
presence and power of Christ represented.
But that wasn’t the only closed door….
Vs. 19 – “That evening, on the first day of the week the disciples were meeting behind locked
doors because they were afraid…”
(Locked behind closed doors in fear of the Jews.’ Of course they weren’t afraid of anyone because
they were Jewish… for these men themselves were all Jewish..)
When doors are closed in front of us…sometimes we want to close the doors behind us and
within us as well.
They were afraid of the leaders who had sought to silence the presence of the One whom they had
found hope it. He had declared that God was at work setting everything right through him. He had
called them to be leaders in that work… and imparted faith and courage… and suddenly he is
dead… and they are in fear of their own fate.
Very natural fears. There rare so many fears that we face and feel. Such fears can define us and
confine us… as they appear to be all powerful. I face fears related to safety… sickness… shortage.
Each may claim to have a sovereign rule in life.
I want to ask you to take a moment… and consider your own fears. Stop and take a moment and
ponder what may be running beneath your own life…
What fears may be enclosing your life?
What uncertainty is taking hold of your soul?
> WRITE IT ON THE PIECE OF PAPER THAT YOU SHOULD FIND IN YOUR BULETIN.
(PENS ARE IN THE SEAT POCKETS IN THE CHAIRS IN FRONT OF YOU OR NEAR YOU.)
As this event unfolds… something dramatic happens. The earth shook… the stone is rolled
away. The angel is sitting on top. This was the work of God.
What are the first words that come from heaven…spoken by the messenger… the angel?
“Do not be afraid.”
Why is the tomb open? So that Christ could come out? No… it becomes quite clear that he would
no longer need open doors to exit or enter spaces. No… the tomb is open so that they could look
inside…. so that we could look inside.
We must see that it is empty… the body once crucified… could not be contained.
The tomb… the place that embodies fear is now empty… it’s openness declares the promises
which God had been fulfilling… and out of the tomb came the One declared through the ages
would save the world.
And what of the fears that enclosed the disciples behind closed doors?
Jesus appears… in some new form… His appearance is not expected and there isn’t much warning
because it seems that Jesus doesn’t arrive through the front door like he used to. In fact… it’s
as if God is making clear what he thinks of the doors of this world. He is lose in the world…
and won’t be bound by any door…
He defies the door of the tomb… and with it the ultimate closed door of death itself.
Neither is the door of their own fears going to stop Him.
What are the first words that he speaks…
“Peace be with you.”
Many have noted the significance of the last words of Christ from the cross on which he died.
Today we must hear the first words that are spoken to those who discover he has risen. “Peace be
with you.’
> God is invading a world bound in fear with a new work of peace.
God calls us to hear what the angel declared… ‘do not be afraid.’… and Jesus declares… PEACE
IS NOW WITH THEM.
Peace… it’s a word used on many levels… from a state of being to the state of a relationship to the
state of affairs between tribes and nations. But what Jesus declares is not simply the absence of
conflict but the presence of something greater.
John 14:27 (CEV) - “I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn’t like the
peace that this world can give. So don’t be worried or afraid.”
“Not the world’s” peace which is often just a shallow and short lived appeasement of deeper
conflict. The peace that the Bible describes coming from God is reflected in the Hebrew word
“shalom.
“Shalom” (Peace from God) means being restored in a state of harmony; being reconciled and
settled in a relationship often involving the completion of unresolved obligations or debt; It is
life re-aligned to God’s good will and intentions.
• ’ It is a vitality of wholeness… of being connected…. of being settled and secure. (Like the
satisfaction when you’re around someone who leaves you feeling more alive.)It carries the idea
that one will have such an inner state… that it will effect the outer state.
• God is re-establishing shalom… harmony throughout all… and it is inaugurated in the sacrificial
death and the victorious resurrection of Christ…. who now emerges as risen and ruling.
This is what God as our creator has always sought for us to know…
Heaven… His eternal existence…. Is defined by shalom… peace.
• The prophets declared God’s purpose as peace.
• The prophet Isaiah announced that a new covenant of peace would come through a child
who would be born in Bethlehem… and be the “Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 6:9)
• At the very birth of Christ… the angels declare… ““Glory to God in the highest, and Peace
on earth.” (Luke 2:14)
So with his first words “Peace be with you” the risen Christ is imparting the peace of eternity
into the present world.
This is precisely what he had been describing to his final days with his disciples…
John 16:33
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have
trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
The peace which Christ imparts is not the absence of trouble… but the presence of something
greater.
1 John 4:4 (NLT)
“The Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”
Christ has proven that his peace is greater than the powers of this world.
Erwin McManus… two young boys are afraid ask dad to pray for them to be safe. He prays
that they become dangerous.
Many have noted that the new age of fear is marked by terrorism. Because when someone is willing
to fly themselves into a building or blow themselves up… out of believing that they can send you to
hell while they try to reach heaven. When someone is not afraid to die… they become dangerous.
All the normal boundaries are lost.
But today we are reminded that there is one more dangerous.. one who willingly died in order to
face the separation from God himself so that you could live forever with God. And he’s far more
dangerous… because he already died. If somebody died and came back to life, that is a
dangerous person because they’re not scared of much. To the powers of fear… no one is more
dangerous than Jesus.
He is greater than the powers of this world which we may fear.
This is a real peace that overcomes the world. As proof of this peace, Jesus shows them his
wounds. The resurrection doesn’t erase the reality of the crucifixion – it redeems it and
transforms it. Without the resurrection, the crucifixion is nothing more that an unjust tragedy.
Redefined by the power of the resurrection it becomes much more. Now the cross is the way of
hope. Now suffering is not the final word.
What is the peace that Christ imparts?
There are so many dimensions and dynamics that such peace reflects. Let me simply note three
facets of the peace that Christ imparts.
1. The peace of being forgiven and freed for a new beginning.
How many of us become all too aware we have violations against us… and we may feel we are now
stuck in the penalty box… not sure we will ever be able to really play again.
"He has forgiven all our sins... and canceled every record of the debt we owed; Christ has done
away with it by nailing it to the cross." Col. 3:14 (JB)
And he forgives us to call us.. to call us into the lives we were meant to know…. The people we
were meant to be.
“He gave His life to purchase freedom for everyone.” 1 Tim. 2:6 (NLT)
Jesus came to rescue us from the bondage of our own making.
From a Biblical perspective… God’s perspective… the root of conflict is an estrangement
from God… that leaves us unsettled and longing …
• Goes back to that of Cain and Abel…. There is insecurity with God…. that begins to
resent others….
• Why did Herod call for the killing of all babies under the age of two?…Insecurity
breeds contempt at every level…
• From Herod to Hitler… from Columbine to Palestine… the struggle of identity and
insecurity breeds contempt at every level.
• I would venture to say that the challenges we face in marriage are caused less by
incompatibility than insecurity.
• The Bible says that at the core of our human condition lies an inner conflict… a lack of
peace about ourselves… that no pill, thrill, position, possession, or person can take
away.
> What we long for is being reconciled with God…the FAVOR OF GOD… to know that the
very source of all life…of our lives… can embrace us and bless us.
And like Mary… who feared that such a love… a presence was now lost… everything changes
when she discovers he is alive… and she will never be abandoned.
2. The peace of God’s power in the midst of our present challenges.
Again… Jesus has told us we can …expect trouble… but experience peace.
(John 16:33 - "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you
will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.")
The peace he offered was clearly that of his presence.
There is power in who is present with us.
I think of the kindergartener…
It was the first day of school and the kindergarten teacher asked the children what they wanted to be
when they grew up. One little boy spoke importantly:
"When I grow up, I’m gonna be a lion tamer. I’ll have lots of fierce lions and tigers, and I’ll walk in
the cage..." he hesitated, then continued, "But, of course, I’ll have my mother with me."
It matters who is with us.
It’s as Jesus enters into the closed doors of their fears… that he speaks PEACE to them. In fact he
not only says it upon becoming present with them… but he immediately makes it clear that it is the
ongoing power of the Spirit that carries the peace he imparts. He breathes on them… expires…
imparts… the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit).
This is what he had been telling them… you don’t need to become anxious in the departing of my
physical presence… because what is coming… the One I will send is more pervasive a presence. It
was at the end of all that he had described about the Spirit when he concluded…
This would just be a predecessor to what he had been telling them… that he was sending the Spirit
of God… to be with them… through whom he would be present in them and among them.
So it is that the apostle Paul said…
"I am ready for anything through the strength of Christ who lives is me." Phil. 4:13 (Ph)
The peace which Christ imparts is that of knowing that the God who rules over all… is with you.
3. The peace of a future with God.
1 Corinthians 15:26
"The last enemy to be destroyed is death."
Now as a culture we have come to see that on some level deaths a natural process. There bodies do
grow weary and tired. But in terms of the separation faced upon death… it is never natural… we
were never meant to be separate from God or each other. God created us to love us and to live with
him forever.
It is that separation and uncertainty that we can naturally fear.
Heb. 2:13
“(Jesus) set free those who were slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.”
Max Lucado, in his book, “Six Hours One Friday,” tells the story of a missionary in Brazil who
discovered a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle. They lived near a large river. The
tribe was in need of medical attention. A contagious disease was ravaging the population. People
were dying daily.
A hospital was not too terribly far away — across the river, but the Indians would not cross it
because they believed the river was inhabited by evil spirits. And to enter its water would mean
certain death.
The missionary explained how he had crossed the river & was unharmed. But they were not
impressed. He then took them to the bank & placed his hand in the water. They still wouldn’t go in.
He walked into the water up to his waist & splashed water on his face. It didn’t matter. They were
still afraid to enter the river.
Finally, he dove into the river, swam beneath the surface until he emerged on the other side. He
raised a triumphant fist into the air. He had entered the water & escaped. It was then that the Indians
broke into a cheer and followed him across.
That’s what Jesus did for each of us in his death and resurrection. He entered the river of death
and came out on the other side so that we might no longer fear death, but find eternal life in
Him. He stands on the other side of all we face … and all we fear… including death itself.
Hebrews 6:19-20
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary
behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.”
And it is as real and relational as they experienced Christ…
“… just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may
live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised as he was.”
Romans 6:4-5 [NLT]
We will have new bodies as Christ did… and be recognizable and relational as he was.
How do we receive the peace which Christ imparts?
I suppose we could say… by dying. By dying to this autonomous and separated life… and take up
the life that is united with God… through Christ.
Mark 8:34-36 (NIV)
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For
whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will
save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
We have to recognize that this is not Good News to everyone. The guards aren’t finding peace in
what God is doing. They are so filled with fear they can’t even move.
> Because they are the guardians of the old order… the old order of human control and power.
The tomb is open for all who want to enter… but not for those who want to guard it.
Today… the risen Christ invites us to receive his peace… to enter a new life of shalom…
• To stop guarding the old order of human control and power.
• To enter a new way of life… reconciled with God… through trusting not in your own
ways… but in Christ’s death on the cross that paid your debt… and sets you free from all
that binds… free to be who God created you to be.
• Lay down your autonomous, independent, ‘I’m my own king life, ’and to receive his
sovereign reign and rule.
Like Jesus…. When we die we become dangerous.
Disciples… left that closed room… became dangerous…. Dangerously good.
For Mary… the disciples… fears were left in the tomb… and they took up the peace… the life
of shalom that Christ imparted.
Today.. I want to invite us to do the same. It doesn’t mean we will never face or feel fear
again… but that we receive a peace that is greater than fear to rule our lives.
If you have given your life to Jesus, you have trusted your life to somebody who knows what they’re
going to do.
In a moment we are going to raise our final worship to the God of peace… shalom… and as
we begin… I want to invite you to take that piece of paper that you have written your own
fears upon… and crumple it… and come throw it into this symbolic tomb.
Pray
