INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• As we enter into the 27th chapter of The Story, we are going to touch on chapter 26 also because I would like for us to look at three days of Jesus’ life.
• Friday, which was the day of the crucifixion, Saturday which was a day in which Jesus was in the tomb dead, and I want to take us to the glorious Sunday, where Jesus was resurrected!
• Those three days were wrought with emotions and difficulties. The emotions of those three days are real and raw. The first Easter Sunday was so good in part because the day before was so bad. In between those days was a day that was most likely a blur to Jesus’ disciples.
• On Saturday it seemed that Jesus was totally defeated as His body lay lifeless in the tomb.
• There are times in life that it all seems like a blur, a bad dream, or something we want to forget.
• Life can be a struggle and it can be difficult as the disciples of Jesus was finding out.
• Friday and Saturday was a terrible time because the world of the disciples of Jesus seemed to be shattered. The hopes, the dreams, the joy gone.
• What was life going to be like now? No one was betting on a resurrection. The disciples were stuck in a rut, they were in a bad place. Ever felt that way?
• In The Story we will see how we can get unstuck from Friday and Saturday and move into Sunday!
• Let’s begin by looking at Matthew 27:45-50
• SLIDE #2
• Matthew 27:45–50 (NIV) 45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema (SA BACK THIN I)sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). 47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” 50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. Friday- A day of devastation.
• From this passage we can see that Friday was a terrible day for the disciples.
• On Friday. Jesus was tried and beaten and hung on the cross.
• The disciples were in shock. This man, who did so many miraculous things, the man whom some of them saw transfigured, the man who feed the 5000 with 5 pieces of bread 2 fish!
• I wonder as they watched the events unfold if they were thinking that at any moment Jesus would put a stop to it all.
• I wonder if they kept thinking, He is the son of God, so He will stop this nonsense and take His rightful place on the throne and get on with RULING!
• Their whole world had to be crushed! Three years down the drain. There would be no sitting on the right and left of Jesus. There would be no more crowds treating Jesus like a rock star.
• IT was over. No ONE survives what happened to Jesus.
• Have you had your world crushed before, maybe you have faced something devastating and life seemed to be at its’ end. When we face devastating things I life it affects our heart and our minds.
• Let’s look at verses 62-64 to see when a devastated heart heads next.
• SLIDE #4
• Matthew 27:62–64 (NIV) The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
• Day two.
• SLIDE #5
II. Saturday- A day of despair.
• It was what we would call Friday evening. The Day of Preparation.
• Friday, the sixth day of the week, was called the day of Preparation, as all labor for the seventh day was to be done then.
• So In verse 62 it starts with the phrase “the next day”. The way the Jews counted days, the next day would start after sundown. SO on what we would call Friday evening, the religious leaders went to Pilate with a request.
• “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
• These guys were afraid the disciples would steal the body and then make it appear that Jesus rose from the dead. It would have made sense for these people to make the request that evening lest the tomb be unguarded for a whole evening.
• What the religious leaders did not understand concerning the disciples is this: Saturday was a day of NO COURAGE!
• While Jesus’ opponents were celebrating His death, His disciples were hiding in fear that they, too, would get the chance to hang on a cross!
• The disciples were hiding behind closed doors out of fear! (John 20:19)
• There was NO way these guys were going to try to steal a body!
• SO the devastating event s of the previous day lead to disciples to despair.
• The other thing to note about this scene of fear and despair was that Jesus told them it was going to happen! He told them on several occasions!
• SLIDE #6
• Mark 9:31 (NIV) because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.”
• But guess what, the devastation and the fear came from a lack of faith on the part of the disciples. Jesus promised He would be raised, but the disciples saw what they saw and concluded that Jesus was dead and gone.
• Had they trusted Him, sure they would have been horrified at the brutality of the whole thing, but they would have been having a praise and worship service over the fact that Jesus was going to RISE and DEFEAT death!
• But instead, Saturday was a day of despair.
• Saturday’s despair also lead to it being a day of no hope.
• I am sure the disciples when they were hiding were not talking about who was going to be seated on the right and left of Jesus. They lost that hope on Friday.
• When we allow ourselves to live in despair instead of faith, we will lose courage and hope.
• These guys were not in the streets of Jerusalem (YET) proclaiming Jesus. Why? What would be the point, come serve a dead phony savior!
• Hope was in short supply on Saturday. When you live life that way, it will a terrible way to live!
• Saturday, being a day of despair was not only a day with no courage, or hope, it was also a day with no future!
• Imagine if you will, waiting for the messiah for 1000’s of years. No you think He has come, only to watch Him die just like anyone else would under the same circumstances.
• Imagine living a life with no hope for eternal life! How could a dead savior lead one to heaven, a dead savior will only lead you to your grave!
• Once again, these folks SHOULD have been preparing for a resurrection. Even the upbeat women had suffered with no courage, no hope and no future.
• SLIDE #7
• Mark 16:1 (NIV) When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.
• The women had no intention of celebrating a resurrection, they were going in order to embalm a dead body. A dead body that could give them no courage, offer them no hope, and promise them no future.
• I was indeed a day of despair.
• This is just not a good way to live life. Do you think it would have gotten any better for any of them if the status quo stayed the same? I doubt it!
• Something needed to change. And if you are living in despair something needs to change!
• SLIDE #8
• Mark 16:2–3 (NIV) Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
• SLIDE #9
III. Sunday- A Day of delight.
• Have you ever woke up and had no idea that the day was going to be something special?
• Both Mary’s went to the tomb still in a Saturday state of mind. They were wondering how they were going to roll that HUGE stone from in front of the tomb so they could take care of properly preparing Jesus body.
• The empty tomb did not even help their mindset. Mary thought someone had stolen the body!
• Mary
• Then when Mary returned shew was still thinking Jesus had been taken!
• She runs to tell Peter and John who race to the tomb and Mary Magdalene lags behind them.
• John picks it up for us.
• SLIDE #10
• John 20:13 (NIV) They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
• Jesus is alive and He is speaking to Mary! He calls her by name!
• Mary still has the sadness of Saturday covering her heart. She does not know who she is speaking with, she thinks it is the gardener.
• Everyone thought Jesus was still dead, but Mary is going to get a surprise that will change her despair to delight!
• SLIDE #11
• John 20:15–16 (NIV) He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher”).
• Mary calls Him LORD!
• Mary Knows and she goes to tell the others!
• Later that evening we see the disciples are still not convinced.
• SLIDE #12
• John 20:19 (NIV) On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
• I like the fact that even after Mary tells them about Jesus, the doors are STILL LOCKED!
CONCLUSION
• From that point on the lives of the disciples would never be the same. They were changed for eternity!
• These people were able to move from despair to delight because they were now able to answer the eternal question about death.
• Unless you find an answer for the death question, you’re stuck on Saturday.
• Mary and the disciples found out the answer for the question of death, JESUS!
• Are you passing through a season of darkness? God is patient with you.
• We tend to think that God has given up on us during these times.
• This story says God doesn’t give up.
• God will never stop pursuing you!
• Saturday will always be followed by Sunday. Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning, so be patient and watch.
• You may be stuck on Saturday, but God has already flipped the calendar.
• His invitation to you is, “Move on.” Move from the last day of death to the first day of life.
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