Today is a very special day for all of us; today is a very special day for all of those who are part of the Christ’s church. It is a very special day because today we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today we celebrate the victory that He came to this world to deliver unto us; today we celebrate His victory over death in the cross. This fact is the base of our faith, and it is the one that guarantees every faithful believer that one day they shall reach and remain in the presence of God. The death of our Lord on the cross is the most recognized fact in all of history. This is a fact that supersedes all religions or sects; this is a fact that supersedes all skepticism or doubt as in the case of the agnostics or atheist. While it is true that not everyone in the world celebrates this day like we do, no one in this world can deny the importance and impact that this day had on humankind. No one can deny the importance and significance of this day because this day not only served to provide us with eternal life; this day also divided the history of mankind forevermore. This is something that we can say with confidence because all the people in the world; all the people regardless of political o religious affiliation measure time the same way. The history of mankind has for ever been permanently been divided into two time periods, “Before Christ” (BC) and “After Christ” (AC). Now, I am sure that all of us here have read about these facts in our Bible. We all know about the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ as all of our faith is founded upon His life and sacrifice. But, as we all know, the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord have been recorded in all of the gospels in the bible, and although there are some small variations in the description, the theme does not fluctuate. Today we will be using the gospel of John. Today we are going to examine with a little more depth the event of the resurrection of Christ according to the gospel of John because in it we will discover more than just a simply historical event.
John 20:11-18 – But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher; 12And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, because they have taken away my LORD, and I know not where they have laid him. 14And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. 17Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. 18Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the LORD, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
When we carefully study these verses dealing with the resurrection of Christ, in them we find three teachings that are of the utmost importance for our daily life. Three teachings that will help us lead a victorious and blessed life at all times. Let’s examine them now.
The first teaching that we find here is that the lack of understanding or not paying attention will cause us grief and agony. Here we read “But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher, 12And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, because they have taken away my LORD, and I know not where they have laid him.” As we can clearly see, this woman arrived at the tomb full of pain and sadness. She had gone to the grave looking for the teacher, but the problem was that she went looking not for a living person, but for a cadaver. Although she had heard His teachings just like the rest of the disciples, she had not understood the real meaning. Just like the rest of the disciple, she had not grasped the magnitude of His power and greatness. This is something that is very well declared in John 20:9 when we read “For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.” Lack of understanding of the preachings and teachings of the Lord caused her and the rest of the disciples to feel pain and anguish instead of joy and jubilee.
The lack of understating of the messages and teachings of the Lord negated her and the rest of the disciples from understating everything that He said, and was doing. I say this because the Lord had taught them about what had to happen, and why it had to happen, much before it actually happened. This is something that is declared clearly in Matthew 16:21 when we read “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” Had they understood the entire meaning of the Lord’s message from the very beginning, then she would have never gone to the tomb sad and full of pain to continue her mourning. Had she understood the entire meaning of His message, she would have never gone to the tomb looking for a cadaver. She would have never gone to the tomb with a defeated spirit because this was not a day of mourning, but a day of rejoicing. This was not a day to cry, this was a day to celebrate.
Unfortunately many within the body of Christ draw near to the Lord in more or less the same fashion. There are many within the body of Christ that due to their lack of understanding of His messages and His Word, never get to feel the peace and the joy that He has given them. Tell the person next to you, Christ gave you joy. This is something that is very well illustrated in the words of our Lord in John 14:27 when we read “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” This is something that is stated even clearer in John 17:13 when we read “And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” But like I said, there are a large number of people within the body of Christ that have not experienced, and will never experience the joy that exists in knowing Him profoundly because they have come near Him, but do not listen or keep His word within their heart. Now I ask why you have come to church. Have you come to church to continue your pain and anguish? Do you persevere in a spirit of agony and defeat instead of in the victory of Christ? Examine your life today and ask yourself, why did I come to church? There is a large number that come to church and remain just to see what happens, or as they say, “just in case.” But you should never come to church because of “just in case”; you should come to church because in church you enter in communion with the living God. This is the reason for our celebration today; this is why we are so joyful. We celebrate this day with great joy because our God is not dead. He did not abandon us as the world would like us to believe. He is alive and is here with us right now. Look carefully at what we find in Matthew 18:20 when we read “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Tell the person next to you, Christ is here! Brethren, and when Christ is present, evil has to flee.
The second teaching that we find here is that at times, the circumstances and situations that arise in our daily life, prevent us from seeing the Lord and his miraculous work in our life. Look carefully at what happened here so that you will understand what I am talking about. Here we read “14And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.” This woman had arrived looking for her teacher. She had arrived looking for the person with whom she had shared time during His life, but the circumstances that surrounded her did not allow her to recognize Him. He was standing next to her, but she did not recognize Him. It wasn’t until the Lord shouted out “Mary” that she realized who she was talking with. In other words, He said to her, pay attention! Tell the person next to you, pay attention. What stopped this woman from immediately recognizing the Lord as she should have? What stopped her were her beliefs and opinions. These two things combined oftentimes cause us to see what we expect to see, and not what is actually on front of us.
The sad part is that at that time she forgot about the fact that Jesus had the power over life and death; she witnessed when Jesus bright Lazarus back to life after four days in his grave, but his fell by the way side. Brethren, this is something that continues to occur in the life of many people. When difficult times draw near, or during times that cause us grief or pain, we tend to forget what we have learned. We tend to forget everything that we have been taught, and that we have witnessed. We tend to forget or we simply stop seeing how the Lord has worked and continues to work in our life. This is why every so often the Lord will give us a shout and say, wake up! Tell the person next to you, wake up.
The third teaching that we find here is that we can’t be selfish. In other words, we can’t stop sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and the joy that He has given us. Look carefully at what happened next so you’ll understand what I mean. Here we read “Jesus saith unto her, touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. 18Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the LORD, and that he had spoken these things unto her.” These verses here have created a small controversy with the scribes and scholars of the Word, and the reason is because in these verses we see that Jesus tells Mary not to touch Him, but a little later on we see the Lord telling Thomas to touch Him. This is something we see declared in John 20:27 when we read “Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.” Why did this happen? The exact reason why things happened this way is really unknown, but the majority of students and bible scholars think that what happened here was that when Mary finally recognized Him, her joy was so overwhelming that she threw herself at his feet, and was firmly holding on to Him. And that this was the reason why Jesus told her not to touch Him, in other words, not to hold on to Him because he was in the process of ascending to the Father. But think that there is a deeper meaning. I say this because it is not uncommon to see how there is a large number of believers that do like Mary was doing at that time. There are many that grab on to the Lord in this same fashion. Let me stop here right now and clarify something. There is nothing wrong in holding on to the Lord; moreover, this is something that we all must do. We must grab hold of his hand and never let go. But the way that Marty was holding on to Jesus at that moment, was preventing Jesus from ascending to the Father. Brethren, the point that I am trying to get across is that we can’t be selfish; in other words we can’t attempt to hold the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of God only for ourselves. As faithful Christians and children of God, we have to share Hid word and truth with everyone that surrounds us. The Lord told her “to my brethren.” In other words, share with them what you have seen. He tells us today, share with the world that I AM. He tells us today, share with the world that I live. He tells us today, share with the world the love, mercy, and grace that I have given you. Today is a day of celebration; we are celebrating with great joy the resurrection of Jesus, but let’s never forget what the Word tells us in Lucas 15:10 when we read “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Brethren, and the only way that a sinner will recognize his sins, and repent before God is when a faithful believer shares His Word. The only way that a sinner will repent and come to the presence of God is when a believer shares with him the Lord’s message of salvation. Tell the person sitting next to you, share Christ.
In conclusion. In this description of the resurrection of Jesus Christy we have been able to learn three things that will help us in out daily life. First, we learned that lack of understanding or not listening can cause, and in numerous occasions does cause us not to hear the Lord’s voice, or recognize when He is speaking to us. Second, we learned that on occasions, the circumstances or situations that arise daily prevent us from seeing the presence of God in our life. The result of this is always the same. The result of this is that we will lead a life full of pain and anguish. Third, we learned that we have to share the love, mercy, and forgiveness of God with the world. Today is a day of celebration and joy for all of us that have the privilege of being named Christians, for all of us that have the privilege of having been made sons and daughters of God. In a day like today Christ broke the chains of the tomb and of death, and today He wants to break the chains of our prisons. Now only one question remains, will you join this celebration?
