INTRODUCTION
• VIDEO CLIP
• SLIDE #1
• Over the past three weeks we have been examining some words of Easter. Betrayed, suffered, and crucified are the disturbing words we have examined.
• These words, these terrible words were all necessary words in order for us to get where we are today!
• Today is a great day to come together to worship! Today we are going to explore the EXCITING WORD “ALIVE!”
• Jesus is ALIVE, He did not decompose in some tomb in Jerusalem, He is ALIVE!
• Name for me any ancient “religious” leader and you will find they are dead and that people visit their tombs if it is known where they decomposed.
• Jesus is ALIVE!
• What good is it to follow a DEAD leader, why are people willing to give up their lives to someone who died, to someone who was DEFEATED by death instead of DEFEATING death!
• SLIDE #2
• 1 Corinthians 15:54–57 (HCSB) — 54 When this corruptible is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55 Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? 56 Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
• We are here today to celebrate the fact that Jesus DEFEATED DEATH, HE IS ALIVE!
• Today we are going to be in John 20 as we examine the word ALIVE. John 20 will give us evidence of the fact that Jesus is ALIVE.
• Let us begin with verses 1-2
• SLIDE #3
• John 20:1–2 (HCSB) — On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!”
• SLIDE #4
SERMON
I. Mary’s unsettling discovery.
• It was still dark, Mary is heading toward the tomb with a group of women to re-do the embalming the men did on Friday.
• The women knew where the tomb was since they followed Joseph on Friday to the tomb, being women in there society they could not do a lot, nonetheless, giving Jesus a proper burial was something they could do.
• WE DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE TO DO SOMETHING SPECTACULAR FOR JESUS, we simply need to be faith to Him. WE need to be faithful to Him with our talents, time and treasures. The women were doing that exact thing as they headed for the tomb, they were going to give Jesus the best they had!
• As a side note, there are two separate groups of women who will head to the tomb on this sad morning.
• Mary is part of the group of women spoken of in Matthew and Mark. This group included Mary, Mary the mother of James as well as Salome. There may have been more.
• Of the second group we only know of Joanna from Luke 24:10.
• As Mary with the first group of ladies who approached the tomb.
• As they get closer to the tomb, Mary notices something is wrong, the stone is rolled away from the tomb.
• SLIDE #5 STONE.
• SLIDE #6 STONE
• SLIDE #7 GARDEN TOMB
• MARY KNOWS JESUS IS ALIVE! Well, not exactly.
• The word REMOVED when John speaks of the stone being removed, does not mean it was simply rolled away, but rather it means it was lifted out of the groove.
• USE POINTER TO POINT OUT GROOVE IN SLIDE 7
• Once Mary sees the stone is rolled away, she runs away to go inform Peter and John as to what she saw.
• In the meantime, according to Matthew and Mark, the other ladies continued to the tomb where they encounter an angel who tells them Jesus had been resurrected.
• We know Mary Magdalene was not there for that encounter because she ran to Peter and John and told them that Jesus had been stolen, or taken out of the tomb.
• Even though Mary was close with Jesus, even though she heard His teaching, resurrection was the furthest thing from her mind.
• The concept was so incredible, that even though the Old Testament predicted it (Isaiah 53 for example), even though Jesus taught it, she could even consider that as an option.
• Why did Mary immediately go to, THEY TOOK HIS BODY?
• She did not understand, believing that Jesus rose from the dead can be a difficult thing to grasp, comprehend, and embrace.
• There are skeptics to this day, but for us, the first skeptic is Mary Magdalene.
• Her unsettling discovery was that the tomb was empty. It was unsettling because she did not yet believe that Jesus rose from the dead.
• I cannot imagine the pain she was experiencing at this point.
• Why is the tomb empty? Why is the body gone? JESUS US ALIVE, MARY JUST DOES NOT KNOW IT YET!
• Next lets turn to verses 3-6
• SLIDE #8
• John 20:3–6 (HCSB) — 3 At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. 5 Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in. 6 Then, following him, Simon Peter came also. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there.
• SLIDE #9
II. Peter and John’s perplexing discovery.
• When Mary gets to Peter and John in verse 2, they in verse 3, leave to head toward the tomb,
• The text indicates they start out walking, and then when we get to verse four, they start running.
• Then the text tells us John wins the race to the tomb, some suppose that John won the race because he was younger, but maybe he was just faster?
• SLIDE #10
• It is hard to get scale, but many of the tombs from this period were not tall, you would have to stoop down to get into them.
• Here is a place that some believe this the burial spot for Jesus.
• SLIDE #11
• When John gets to the tomb, (verse 5) John he saw, the word here means NOTICED IN HIS VIEW, he has yet to contemplate what it meant. John at this point does not enter the tomb; he is peering into the tomb.
• I wonder if he is afraid of what he will find, as of yet he is not expecting a resurrection.
• John, one the disciples who were in Jesus’ inner circle, John who heard all the sermon, saw all the miracles, yet still does not believe.
• Now Peter is at the tomb, and what does Peter do? What he always does, no guts no glory, Peter enters the tomb.
• The word ENTERED means he did so without pause. No looking before you leap with Peter!
• When we see the word SAW in verse 6 pertaining to what Peter did in the tomb, this world indicates that once in the tomb, Peter made CLOSE OBSERVATION OF everything he saw.
• At this moment both men are trying to process the scene, they are perplexed.
• They are examining the evidence trying to figure out what to do with it.
• We are called to do the same thing, we have evidence, we are figuratively slumping in the tomb examining the evidence, where is Jesus?
• Stolen, resurrected?
• Had the body been stolen, why would the linens be left behind? The spices used to embalm a body were close to 75 to 100 pounds, but imagine trying to unwrap a body you are in a hurry to steal?
• I want to know how they found the linens; my guess is they were collapsed, further adding to the intrigue.
• If you are these men, what do you do at this point?
• They still do not know that JESUS IS ALIVE!
• Let’s turn to verses 7-10
• SLIDE #12
• John 20:7–10 (HCSB) — 7 The wrapping that had been on His head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself. 8 The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then entered the tomb, saw, and believed. 9 For they still did not understand the Scripture that He must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went home again.
• SLIDE #13
III. John’s intriguing discovery.
• When John enters the tomb, he sees the wrappings that were once on Jesus’ head were folder and set aside.
• In verse 8 when is uses the word SAW for what John did in the tomb, this word means that John is examining the scene with his minds-eye.
• With his minds eye, John grasped the truth, which lay beneath the phenomena around him.
• Now John according to verse eight BELIEVES!
• ALL THE TIME WITH JESUS, ALL THE TEACHINGS, ALL THE MIRACLES, ALL THE TENDER MOMENTS WITH JESUS, AND NOW JOHN BELIEVES!
• John now knows the tomb was vacant because JESUS IS ALIVE!
• Verse 9 tells us Peter and John until this moment did not understand.
• Their belief in the resurrection did not spring forth from their understanding of the Old Testament.
• The only way they could not explain not only the empty tomb, but also the condition of the scene could only be explained by the resurrection!
• Mary was the first skeptic, JOHN WAS THE FIRST TO BELIEVE!
• The absent body could only prove Jesus’ predictions about His resurrection were true. This is what John now believes!
• The scripture did not suggest the fact, but rather the fact of the empty tomb illuminated the scriptures for Peter and John.
• The evidence of the tomb led John to believe, not the Old Testament at this point.
• Now they know, they decided not to hang around the tomb, they went home, but as they went home, we will see Mary Magdalene return.
• SLIDE #14
• John 20:11–14 (HCSB) — 11 But Mary stood outside facing the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 She saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet, where Jesus’ body had been lying. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put Him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not know it was Jesus.
• SLIDE #15
IV. Mary’s euphoric discovery.
• Mary returns, her day seems to be going from bad to worse, she is so focused on her perception that Jesus was stolen, that even when the two angels are there, she still sticks to her thoughts that Jesus was taken.
• In verse 14, we se she was so blinded with grief, that she did not even know she was looking at Jesus!
• SLIDE #16
• John 20:15–18 (HCSB) — 15 “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Supposing He was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve removed Him, tell me where you’ve put Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Jesus said, “Mary.” Turning around, she said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” —which means “Teacher.” 17 “Don’t cling to Me,” Jesus told her, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and tell them that I am ascending to My Father and your Father—to My God and your God.” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what He had said to her.
• In verse 16 MARY KNOWS IT IS JESUS!
• HE IS ALIVE!
• MARY MAKES A EUPHORIC DISCOVERY!
• Now it is time to go tell the others!
CONCLUSION
• DO YOU BELIEVE JESUS IS ALIVE? AMEN!
• DO YOU BELIEVE JESUS IS ALIVE?
• THEN GO TELL OTHERS!
• That is what Mary did and that is what you are called to do!
• SLIDE #17 TOMB
• The tomb is empty!
• For those who have not come to that conclusion, you are in the empty tomb, the burial wrappings are there collapsed, the cloth, which covered His bloodied head, is neatly folded in the corner.
• Are you contemplating the evidence? Are you ready to believe?
• I know it is incredible; those who walked with Jesus took some time to digest the scene.
• If you are ready, we are here to connect you with Christ! Jesus rose on Easter, on Resurrection Sunday, today would be a good day for you to rise and walk in a newness of life in Jesus!
