The Tomb is Empty- Now What?
John 20:1-10
A father gave his little boy 2 quarters to put into the Sunday school offering. After Sunday school the little boy came back upstairs from the church basement and he still had the two quarters in his hand. The father said, “Son why did you not give your offering to Jesus today.” the little boy with the innocence of a 4 year old leaned over to his father and replied in a whisper, “Dad Jesus never shows up down there.”
Many churches would be shocked if Jesus showed up because they worship as though he is still dead
The disciples were shocked to find out that Jesus was alive, the women didn't believe it.
Yet the resurrection is not just a part of our Christian faith it is the every essence of what we believe and preach.
No resurrection=No faith, no purpose, no gospel, no hope, no salvation
Time and time again Jesus taught his followers that he would rise again from the dead
Mar 14:28 But after: I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."
Jhn 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
Jhn 2:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
Jhn 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
The resurrection is so important to our faith because if it did not happen then everything about Jesus written in scripture is false and he was not the messiah the son of God. Not only that but it would discount everything written by the prophets and we would have no faith left
1Cr 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
1Cr 15:18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
1Cr 15:19 If in Christ we have hope [fn] in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
1Cr 15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep
thats why when someone makes a confession of faith it's not just that I believe in the bible, or believe in Jesus but look at what the Bible says in Romans
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
This morning I want to examine the empty tomb then I want us to see the reaction of three different people who were at the tomb that day.
Since the resurrection of Jesus is the most important event in history and to our faith it is also the most criticized and examined
there are some critics who have a theory they call the swoon theory (not possible, water and blood came from his side) One time a man said that his pastor believed in the swoon theory, that Christ didn't actually die on the cross and he was writing in to a newspaper columnist for advice on what to tell his pastor
the columnist replied, “Take your pastor and beat him with a cat of nine tails, pluck out his beard, and force him to carry a cross, nail him to the cross and let him hang all day and then take a sword and pierce it into his side until it hits his heart and wait three days to see if your pastor is up and walking around town.”
There is also the hallucination theory which doesn't hold any weight because Jesus was seen by over 500 eyewitnesses at one time
Today there are some who discount the whole thing and claim it never happened, yet that's impossible to do with any amount of intelligence because even the guards and chief priest who didn't believe in Jesus admitted the tomb was empty
Mat 28:11 ¶ Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
Mat 28:12 And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
Mat 28:13 Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him [away] while we slept.
All the evidence from scripture and history points to the fact that the tomb was left empty on the first day of the week, a tomb that was highly guarded and sealed shut with a roman seal
Today what I want to focus our attention on is not so much the fact that the tomb was empty but the reaction of three people who went there this day
First, Mary,assumes the worse
One thing we have to remember when we study about the resurrection is that the women and disciples were not convinced that he had risen by just seeing the tomb empty
look at Mary Magdalene in verse 1 & 2.
Jhn 20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
Jhn 20:2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
Mary Magadelene was a woman that Jesus had healed in his ministry
Luk 8:2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,
She looks at the empty tomb and instead of seeing something good that has happened she assumes the worse and says, “they stole the body and I do not know where they have laid him.”
Luk 8:2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,
Here God has sent his angels to roll the stone back to allow all men to see the greatest miracle that has ever taken place and Mary Magdalene misses it.and assumes the worse
We have a lot of Marys today people who refuse to see what God is doing because their minds are clouded with their own assumptions
and something about the human mind we always assume the worse We cough we assume we have the flu, we get a sore we assume its cancer, the car won't start we assume its the engine
That's what Mary did, how soon she had forgotten about the power of God and the teaching of Christ that he would rise again.
And we do the same thing that Mary did. We see the things going on the world and we hang our heads and act as if there is no hope.
When the events in the world that are happening today are setting the stage for the soon return of Christ it is though God is throwing back the stone and allowing us to see inside and for the most part we aren't seeing it because we are so caught up in the present world that are thoughts are focused on the negative not the positive
which is that God is on the throne, and that everything that is happening is according to plan
Luk 21:25 ¶ And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
Luk 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Luk 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
If Mary looked into the tomb and saw a miracle a Saviour that was risen instead of of assuming that his body was stolen it would have saved her a lot of grief and she would have been rejoicing way before she did
if we look at everything going on in the world (explain) and see it through the eyes of the world we will worry ourselves sick, but if we see it as the stage being set for the coming of the king of Kings and Lord of Lords we can say come what may my God is in Control and I am marching to Zion beautiful beautiful Zion
I will not fret about the worlds economic situation, my god supplieth my need according to his riches in glory
I will not worry about nation rising against nation because I serve the prince of peace
I will not loose sleep over who wins the election and who looses because the government is on his shoulders
there are a lot of things we can assume but only one that we can be sure of and that is that Gods word is true Jesus is alive and he's coming back for me
Second, Peter sees only the facts
Look at Peters reaction in verse 6, “Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there and the face cloth which had been on Jesus head, not lying with th linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.
We have a saying that goes like this “give me the facts just the facts.”
Peter sees only the facts the gave clothes are here and the napkin is folded up by itself
lets stop there for just a minute. “If the body was stolen they wouldn't have taken the time to fold the grave clothes up.”
Thieves are not the neatest people in the world In other words people don't break into your house and fold your laundry
all the evidence is pointing to a miracle but Peter just sees the facts but doesn't draw a conclusion
We have people like this today- they know all the facts about the Bible but they never draw the conclusion. They never come to faith in Christ
I've even seen people go to the doctor be diagnosed with cancer go to surgery only to be told they couldn't find the cancer. But never come to the conclusion that a miracle took place
they say Dr. made a mistake, or just give the facts
I can give you Bible facts all day and we can quiz each other back and forth but my goal is not that you memorize a bunch of facts but that you see the evidence, the facts of scripture are pointing to a risen savior who wants you to be saved from your sin and spend eternity with him in heaven
see eventually everyone needs to make that step of faith and say not only I see the tomb is empty but I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, that he died for my sins and that he was raised by the power of God for my salvation
the tomb is empty but it is pulling us to make a decision of faith
Third, John who believes
look in verse 8, “Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first, also went in and he saw and believed.”
this disciple is John, he never mentioned himself by name but what John saw in the tomb caused him to believe
this is the same type of saving faith that we must have in order to be saved
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Are you like John today, are you able to say even though I don't understand how God did it I believe that he did.
If you are saved maybe you struggle in other areas of your life with having faith........we must
Hbr 11:6 But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Faith does not mean an absence of evidence but there comes a time after you look at the facts that you have to make up your mind and draw a conclusion as to what the facts point towards. For John it pointed to a miracle, that God had raised up the body of Jesus Christ from the grave
what about you? Where is your faith today?
Hbr 11:6 But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
