The Bible: Resurrection Sunday
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 3/31/2013
I just want to take a moment to thank everyone for choosing to spend Easter morning with us here at the Grove. Whether you’ve been coming to the Grove all your life, or this is your first time visiting, or you just haven’t been back since last Easter—we’re glad you’re here.
I’m reminded of a young mom named Peggy who was trying to explain the special significance of Easter to her kids in the back seat on the way to church one Easter morning. She said, “This is the day we celebrate Jesus coming back to life.” Immediately her three-year-old piped up, “Does that mean He’ll be in church today?”
Well, the answer is—yes! You may not see him, but I hope that you feel his presence this morning. I’d like to start by sharing the story of Charles Fulton Oursler.
Charles grew up in Baltimore, the poor son of a city transit worker. Although he was raised in a devout Baptist family, at just fifteen-years-old he rejected the faith of his family and declared himself an agnostic. In time he discovered a talent for storytelling. Throughout the 1920s and 30s Charles wrote a number of novels, detective stories, magazine serials, and even a few stage plays. He married a young woman who also grew up in the church, had children, but still practiced no religion and did not raise their children with any faith. Then, in 1935, the Oursler family toured the Middle East and spent a week in the Holy Land. On the journey home, Charles started writing a book titled A Skeptic in the Holy Land. He assumed that once the book was published, he would forget about religion; but instead, he found himself increasingly drawn to the person of Christ. Astounded at how little people knew about the life and teaching of Jesus, he decided that he would write the story of Jesus and, as he put it, “try to make it as interesting as a serial story in a popular magazine.” By the time he was finished writing it, Charles’ childhood faith had been restored. He received Christ as his Savior and over the next five years led his wife and two children to faith in Jesus. His novelization of the Gospels was finally published in 1949 under the title The Greatest Story Ever Told, which—as you may know—was adapted into a film by the same name.
Like Charles Oursler, everyone here has a story. I have a story. You have a story. Some read like tragedies, some like comedies. Some are mysteries and others are romances. Some are much longer than others, and some are just getting started. But everyone has a story. All of our stories, different as they are, are part of a bigger story: A story that is older than any of us, a story that defines all of us, and can—if we let it—guide each of us. It’s, in the words of Charles Oursler, the greatest story ever told—the story of Jesus. And it’s a story that, once again, has been dramatically adapted for the screen in a made-for-television miniseries simply titled, The Bible. It began airing four Sunday nights ago on The History Channel and I want to encourage everyone to watch the epic conclusion tonight.
It begins with the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus—a series of events that took Jesus’ friends and followers by surprise. They had seen him heal people, walk on water, even raise the dead. Yet just days after he had entered the holy city and cleansed the temple, he was arrested, tried, convicted, and executed as a criminal. The ground beneath the Old Rugged Cross was tinged red with the blood of God.
As Jesus hung on the cross, the Bible says, “darkness came over all the land” (Matthew 27:45 NIV). And it wasn’t just the land; rather, that darkness came over Jesus’ family, friends and followers—over their hearts, minds, and spirits.
Maybe you know what that feels like. You might even feel that way today. Or you might know someone who does. If that is the case, I want you to know: there is hope. If Easter tells us anything, it tells us that, as this clip from The Bible miniseries depicts:
NEXT SLIDE: Clip will play automatically
As you can tell from the beginning of this clip, after his death on the cross darkness hovered over the hearts of those who knew and loved Jesus. But Easter morning, the resurrection of Christ shinned a light into the darkness. I want you to see this Easter, how the light of Jesus’ resurrection dispelled the darkness in his disciples’ lives—and, hopefully, how their stories can be your story too.
• THE DARKNESS OF DISCOURAGEMENT
First, Jesus dispelled the darkness of discouragement. Let’s talk about Mary Magdalene first, since she’s the one spotlighted in the clip we watched. The Bible says, “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance” (John 20:1 NIV).
Now, let’s pause there. Think about Mary’s state of mind that Sunday morning. To say she was discouraged is an understatement—she was devastated and grief-stricken. Just two days earlier she witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus, the man in whom she had placed so much hope. She had seen him suffer things that she probably couldn’t get out of her mind, and would probably never forget.
If you’ve ever lost someone close to you, someone important to you, you know that grief doesn’t go away overnight. It lingers. Sometimes, it even festers.
So I think we can be pretty confident that Mary wasn’t whistling a happy tune as she walked to the tomb that day. She was discouraged and depressed. She was in a very dark place. But look what happens next:
“Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
“Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:15-17 NLT)
When Jesus called Mary by name, her discouragement disappeared in an instant. Her grief evaporated like the morning fog. Her darkness lifted, and in its place excitement and joy rushed in. Her story can be your story too.
You may be downhearted, discouraged, even depressed about life, but if you have invited the risen Christ into your heart and life, he brings light into even the darkest places. His resurrection tells you, among other things, that this life is not all there is. It tells you that death is not the end. It tells you that if you hope in Christ, all your hopes can be revived. It tells you that your Savior has triumphed over the worst this world can throw at you. Jesus dispels the darkness of discouragement.
• THE DARKNESS OF DREAD
He also dispels the darkness of dread.
The Bible tells us that while Mary was wrapping her arms around the risen Jesus and even after hearing her testimony, the rest of the disciples were hiding in the darkness. In the very next verse, the Bible says, “That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders” (John 20:19 NLT).
Think about that for just a minute.
Peter, the one who walked on water, was behind locked doors because he was afraid. James, one of the “sons of thunder,” was behind locked doors because he was afraid. John, who had stood by Jesus to the bitter end, was behind locked doors because he was afraid. They all cowered together in the darkness of dread.
I suspect some of us know what that’s like.
Some here today are, at least mentally and emotionally, behind locked doors. We are cowering in fear… of losing our job, of losing someone’s love, of being hurt again, of messing up again… of any number of things. There are a lot of things people fear. Some of our fears are more rational than others, but many are simply unfounded.
It’s like the story of two gas company service men, a senior training supervisor and a young trainee, who were out checking meters and parked their truck at the end of the street then worked their way to the other end. At the last house a woman looking out her kitchen window watched the two men as they checked her gas meter. When they finished the meter check, the older supervisor challenged his younger co-worker to a foot race back to the truck. As they came running up to the truck, they realized that the lady from the last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped and asked her what was wrong. Gasping for breath she said, “When I see two gas men running full speed away from my house, I figured I had better run too.”
But notice what happened next. The Bible says, “Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! ‘Peace be with you,’ he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!” (John 20:19-20 NLT).
Jesus came and his followers went from fearful to faithful!
Do you know their story can be your story, too?
When Jesus lights your path, you can say along with David, “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me” (Psalm 23:4 NLT). The light of Easter dispels the darkness of dread.
• THE DARKNESS OF DOUBT
And finally, Jesus shines a light on the darkness of doubt. As we continue through the Gospel of John, we come to the story of Thomas—doubting Thomas. At least, that’s what we call him. The Bible says:
One of the disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” (John 20:24-25 NLT)
Thomas hadn’t been in there when Jesus appeared to the other disciples. When they told him the news of the resurrection, he wanted more than words. He wanted stronger evidence than that. Maybe you can relate to Thomas. Maybe you’ve had your doubts about God or about Jesus, and you’re hesitant to put your faith in him. Watch what happens with Thomas:
Suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:26-28 NLT).
But I want you to notice something about this scene. Notice that Thomas had vowed not to believe until he touched Jesus’ hands and side. But take another look at these verses and tell me if it says that Thomas touched Jesus’ wounds.
The Bible says that Jesus appeared to them. It says he spoke “peace” to them. He invites Thomas to touch his wounds, but Thomas doesn’t do it! Apparently, he didn’t need to touch the wounds, as he thought. He only needed to see Jesus for himself.
That’s true of all of us.
We may think we need proof, something tangible, something irrefutable, before we can believe. But we really don’t. We need to see Jesus with the eyes of our heart. And a fresh vision of Jesus will dispel the darkness of doubt, and give all of us a new beginning. It all happens when your eyes are opened to the risen Christ, when your heart opens to him, when you do as Jesus urged Thomas: “Stop doubting and believe.”
Jesus’ command to Thomas is his command to me and you, too: Believe!
Conclusion:
As you celebrate Easter with your family today, I want to encourage you to curl up on your couch or your favorite chair, watch the last episode in the story of the Bible on the History Channel tonight, and open you heart to Jesus. Believe in him. Believe in his resurrection. Charles Fulton Oursler may have spent the better part of his life in the darkness of disbelief, but when he opened his eyes to Jesus he stepped out of the darkness and into the light. His story can be your story too.
Invitation:
If you’re ready to dispel the darkness in your life, embrace Jesus as your Forgiver and the Leader of your life, then please share that with me and with the rest of the church so that we can walk beside you as you step into the light.
