Introduction:
A. The late Paul Harvey, who died in 2009, was a famous radio broadcaster for the ABC Radio Networks.
1. He broadcasted “News and Comment” on weekday mornings and mid-days, and was most famous for his The Rest of the Story segments.
2. Allow me to tell one of his true life stories.
B. Paul Harvey told the story of a boy named Philip.
1. He was 9 – in a Sunday school class of 8-year-olds. Eight-year-olds can be cruel.
a. The third-graders did not welcome Philip into their group.
b. Not just because he was older. He was “different.” He suffered from Down’s syndrome and its obvious manifestations: facial characteristics, slow responses, symptoms of retardation.
2. One Sunday after Easter the Sunday school teacher gathered some of those plastic eggs that pull apart in the middle.
a. The Sunday school teacher gave one of these plastic eggs to each child.
b. On that beautiful spring day each child was to go outdoors and discover for himself some symbol of “new life” and place that symbolic seed or leaf or whatever inside his egg.
c. They would then open their eggs one by one, and each youngster would explain how his find was a symbol of “new life.”
3. So out they went into the church yard, and after a little while, the youngsters gathered around and put their eggs on a table, and the teacher began to open them.
a. One child found a flower. All the children “oohed” and “aahed” at the lovely symbol of new life.
b. In another was a butterfly. “Beautiful,” the girls said.
c. Another egg was opened to reveal a rock. Some of the children laughed. “That’s crazy” one said. “How’s a rock supposed to be like a ‘new life’?”
d. Immediately a little boy spoke up and said, “That’s mine. I knew everybody would get flowers and leaves and butterflies and all that stuff, so I got a rock to be different.” Everyone laughed.
4. The teacher opened the last one, and there was nothing inside.
a. “That’s not fair,” someone said. “That’s stupid,” said another.
b. The teacher felt a tug on his shirt. It was Philip.
c. Looking up he said, “It’s mine. I did do it. It’s empty. I have new life because the tomb is empty.”
d. The class fell silent.
5. From that day on Philip became a part of the group.
a. They welcomed him. Whatever had made him different was never mentioned again.
6. Philip’s family had known he would not live a long life: just too many things wrong with the tiny body.
a. That summer, overcome by infection, Philip died.
b. On the day of his funeral nine 8-year-old boy and girls confronted the reality of death and marched up to the altar—not with flowers.
c. Nine children with their Sunday school teacher placed on the casket of their friend their gift of love—an empty egg – the symbol of eternal life.
C. Today I want us to think about the promises of Easter.
1. It is easy to make promises, but it is hard to keep them.
2. We have grown cynical about promises that people and companies make, because they are often empty promises.
3. Many promises that people and companies make are just too good to be true.
4. We watch TV, and advertisements tell us that we can be happy, sexy, rich, or famous, if we will buy and use a certain product.
5. It doesn’t take too long for us to learn that the world’s promises are truly empty – they rarely deliver what they promise.
6. But God is different.
a. God never made a promise that is too good to be true.
b. God never made a promise that He does not keep.
D. I want to employ a little play on words by naming this sermon The “Empty” Promises of Easter.
1. The world’s promises are truly empty promises – they are full of emptiness.
2. What I want us to see in Easter is the emptiness that is full of promise.
3. Let’s take a look at the promise that is found in the empty cross, the empty tomb and the empty burial clothes.
I. The Empty Cross
A. Let’s go back to that Friday before the resurrection.
1. On Thursday evening, Jesus had celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples in an upper room a day early.
2. That night they went to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed, and then was arrested.
3. Through the night he faced several mock trials by the Jewish leaders, was condemned by them and was sent to the Roman Governor.
4. Pilate really didn’t know what to do with Jesus, because he considered him innocent, but in order to keep his job and pacify the Jewish leaders, he handed Jesus over to be crucified.
B. The Bible says:
1. 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
25 It was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27 They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!”
2. 33 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
36 One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:22-30; 33-38)
C. Why did Jesus die on the cross?
1. He did it because He loved us and wanted us to be saved – to have eternal life; to go to heaven.
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 eternal life.”
2. The apostle Peter explains the meaning of Jesus death on the cross this way: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
D. After Jesus died on the cross, his body was removed and placed in a tomb.
1. The Bible says: It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid. (Mark 15:42-47)
E. The cross of Jesus is empty and the promise of the empty cross is that you and I stand forgiven because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins.
1. Romans 6:23 says: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
2. Through Jesus’ death, He paid for the wages of our sin.
3. The price has been paid once and for all.
4. Look at Hebrews 9:26-28: But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
F. Let me repeat the fact that God allowed Jesus to do this because of His love.
1. Romans 5:8 says: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
2. The cross remains empty as a symbol of the forgiveness that Christ’s death on the cross provides to all who believe.
3. That is not an empty promise – it is full, and real, and priceless!
4. The second “empty” promise of Easter is…
II. The Empty Tomb
A. Early that resurrection morning, some of the women who had followed Jesus went to the tomb to continue the Jewish funeral rituals.
1. On their way to the tomb, they likely could see the hill where Jesus had been crucified, and could see the empty crosses still standing there.
2. This is how the Bible gives the account: 1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. (Luke 24:1-12)
B. Even though Jesus had repeatedly told His disciples that He would be raised from the dead on the third day, they still were not expecting it.
1. Even though they had seen Jesus raise three people from the dead – A young girl, a young man, and Lazarus, the idea of resurrection was still an unbelievable one.
2. In our experience, dead people don’t come back to life.
3. Nevertheless, Jesus told them it would happen and it did.
4. They went to the tomb that resurrection morning, expecting to anoint a dead body, and what they found was an empty tomb.
5. The angel gave them the explanation, “He has risen.”
C. The empty tomb has remained empty for almost 2000 years.
1. The Bible tells us that the soldiers who had guarded the tomb were paid to say that the disciples had stolen the body, but how could that be?
a. The disciples weren’t exactly a bold, courageous group at the time of the crucifixion.
b. How could those disciples have overcome a group of armed and highly trained Roman soldiers?
c. Had they somehow stolen the body, do you think they would have been able to keep that a secret the rest of their lives?
d. Most of the apostles died because of their testimony of the resurrected Savior – do you think they would have died for a lie?
2. There have been other explanations given to explain the empty tomb.
3. Some say that Jesus wasn’t really dead, but that he was revived in the tomb and escaped on his own.
a. This doesn’t make much sense when a person examines the evidence of what physically happened to Jesus.
b. If he somehow wasn’t dead, he would have been in no shape to escape.
c. How would he have removed the burial clothes, and the stone and have overpowered the soldiers?
4. Another explanation was that the authorities took the body to keep it safe.
a. Had the authorities done so, all they had to do was display the body and that would have put an end to the notion of the resurrection.
b. History shows that they didn’t have the body and therefore did not produce it for display.
D. The Bible records numerous post-resurrection appearances of Jesus in order to substantiate the truth of the resurrection.
1. For the next 40 days after the resurrection, Jesus made many appearances.
2. Sometimes He appeared to individuals, sometimes to small groups, and at least once to a large group of 500 people.
3. The empty tomb has stood the test of time.
E. The promise of the empty tomb is that we will also someday be raised from the dead.
1. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (Jn. 11:25-26)
2. Paul wrote: Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Cor. 15:51-52)
3. Paul also wrote: 13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him…16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words. (1 Thess. 4:13-14, 16-18)
4. The empty tomb is not an “empty” promise – rather, it points to the truth that we also will be raised from the dead.
III. The Empty Burial Cloths
A. This last point I want to make is built on the important detail of the empty burial cloths.
1. Let me remind you of what we already read from Luke 24: Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. (Luke 24:12)
2. The apostle John reported this about the burial cloths: Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (John 20:6-8)
B. When Peter and John entered the tomb, they did not see the body of Jesus; but they did see the burial cloths. And they saw that the cloths were in a certain order –- “the linen cloths lying,” and the napkin for the head being “in a place by itself.”
1. Why would Scripture include these details if they were not important?
2. This passage is intended to describe a wonderful sate of things as they appeared in the tomb Jesus was raised from.
3. And consider the impression it made on the mind of John – he “saw and believed.”
4. Why did the arrangement of the burial cloths cause John to believe?
C. The word “lying” does not merely refer to the fact that they were “remaining on the floor of the tomb,” but rather, the word used, means that they were “lying precisely as the body had lain in them” – not on the floor, but on the raised shelf, like a table.
1. The burial cloths were in exactly the position the body had occupied.
2. “Linen cloths” refer to the manner in which they prepared the body for burial in that day. They would wrap the body with a wide long cloth, somewhat like a bandage is applied to an injured leg or arm, the wrappings continued until they reached the neck.
3. They did not wrap the face and head, but instead tied a square napkin-like cloth around the head.
4. This was the method they used to prepare the body of Jesus for burial.
5. The “linen cloths” had not been unfolded, unwrapped or disturbed in any way! They just lay there like an empty shell!
6. When John saw these “linen cloths lying” undisturbed, just as they had been when the body of Jesus lay within them, he believed!
7. The only way, humanly speaking, a body could be removed from such encrusted wrappings would be by cutting the cloth from end to end and laying back each side so the body could be pulled from its wrappings.
7. Had someone stolen the body, they would have had to cut the body out of the wrappings or carried the body away still wrapped.
D. The other important detail was the burial cloth or “napkin” that had been on Jesus’ face was in a place by itself”
1. It wasn’t just thrown aside, but was “neatly folded and placed by itself.”
2. If someone had stolen the body, they wouldn’t take time to neatly fold it.
E. The promise of the empty burial cloths is that the resurrection of Jesus is real – it is something that really happened, and it is something you can put your faith and hope in.
Conclusion:
A. “Dear Abby” once told this story in response to someone’s question.
1. A young man from a wealthy family was about to graduate from high school.
a. It was the custom in that affluent neighborhood for the parents to give the graduate an automobile.
b. “Bill” and his father had spent months looking at cars, and the week before graduation, they found the perfect car for him.
2. On the eve of his graduation, his father handed him a gift wrapped Bible.
a. Bill was so angry that he threw the Bible down and stormed out of the house.
b. He and his father never saw each other again.
3. It was the news of his father’s death that brought Bill home again.
a. As he sat one night going through his father’s possessions that he was to inherit, he came across the Bible his father had given him at his graduation.
b. He brushed away the dust and opened it to find a cashier’s check, dated the day of his graduation - in the exact amount of the car they had chosen together.
4. As I think about this story, I wonder how many people in this world have done the same thing to God.
5. Many people have literally tossed aside God’s wonderful promises, because they don’t understand them, or they don’t believe that they are possible, or they are somehow disappointed with God.
B. I think at Easter time, more than any other time of the year, we are challenged to consider God’s outlandish promises.
1. God’s promises are not empty promises, but they are promises that are illustrated by these empty things we have talked about today.
2. The Empty Cross illuminates the promise of forgiveness of our sins.
3. The Empty Tomb illuminates the promise of our future resurrection and our eternal life.
4. The Empty Burial Cloths illuminate the promise that all of this is real – It is true and we can believe it.
C. Ultimately, the message of Easter and of Jesus is a message of hope.
1. We are broken, and sinful people who can’t fix ourselves. Trying hard won’t do it.
2. Our only hope is to follow the person who has already completed the journey and has the power to help us.
3. This morning, if you have never accepted God’s promises for your life, please know that God is waiting, and probably wondering, “For heaven’s sake, what is taking you so long?”
4. Please don’t wait another day – accept and obey God’s promises – for we are not guaranteed that there will be another day.
5. Jesus said, in Mark 16:16, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved…”
6. Trust and obey the Lord today and you will know the joy and peace of abundant life and eternal life – That’s no empty promise.
Resource:
The Empty Promises of Easter, Sermon by Steven Kellett, SermonCentral.com
