NOTE:
This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.
ENGAGE
A little over a month ago I had knee replacement surgery. Then only 3 days after the surgery I started my physical therapy. I remember that first day of PT. I was still using a walker and it was hard to do many of the exercises that I was given. And that was discouraging. But there was also another woman there who had her knee surgery about 4 weeks before mine. And I remember that day she was able to pedal the bicycle for the first time and she rang the bell that they keep on that bicycle for just that occasion. And seeing what she could do only 4 weeks after her surgery gave me a lot of hope for my future recovery.
It seems like almost every time that I went back for my physical therapy after that there was someone there who was a few weeks ahead of me in their recovery. And seeing what they could now do became a consistent source of hope for me. And then after my first couple of weeks, there were some new clients that had just started their physical therapy and at that point I began to be a source of encouragement and hope for some of them.
As I thought about that some more, I realized that there are a lot of areas in our lives, where we find hope because someone has gone before us. When we were kids, maybe that was our parents going into a dark room and turning on the lights before we entered. Maybe it was being afraid to jump off the high dive until our best friend did it first and survived. Maybe it was having some strange looking food placed before and being afraid to eat it until someone else took a bite and declared it to be delicious. I’m sure many of you can think of your own examples of how you were encouraged to do something unfamiliar or scary by someone else who went before you.
TENSION
This morning, I want to take a few minutes to talk about how the event we celebrate this morning, the resurrection of Jesus, continually gives us hope because it is the resurrection that makes it possible for Jesus to continually go before us in our everyday lives. My prayer for you is that by understanding how Jesus goes before you that you can have hope in your life regardless of how difficult the circumstances you face might be.
TRUTH
Each of the gospel writers – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - give us a slightly different perspective on the events surrounding the resurrection of Jesus. So just like eyewitnesses to a crime often have slightly different recollections of that event which are shaped by their own backgrounds and perspectives, we shouldn’t be surprised by the slight differences in those four accounts of the resurrection. But what is important to note is that those authors don’t in any way contradict each other or diminish the truth of the resurrection. In fact, it would be a lot more likely for all four of their accounts to match up exactly if they had gotten together and concocted the story of the resurrection rather than just reported the actual event as they remembered it.
This morning, I’m going to read from Matthew’s account of the resurrection. If you have your Bibles and want to follow along as I read you can turn to Matthew chapter 28. Or, if it’s easier, I’ve also printed out that text in the insert in your bulletin and you can follow along there.
Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
[Let me pause here to make a quick note. Most of you have probably seen pictures of Jesus walking out of the tomb with the stone rolled away behind Him. But the angel didn’t need to roll the stone away in order for Jesus to get out, but rather so that these women, and the others who would come after them, could get in and see that Jesus was no longer there.]
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
[I want you to note the phrase “He is going before you to Galilee. I’ll come back to that in just a moment because that is the main idea I want to focus on this morning.]
So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
(Matthew 28:1–10 ESV)
What is interesting here is that Jesus repeats the same message that the angel had given to the women – to go tell the disciples that He is going to go before them to Galilee and that they will see Him there.
This is not the first time that Jesus has given this command to His disciples. Back in Matthew chapter 26, verses 31 and 32, Jesus had correctly predicted that all His disciples would fall away and be scattered after His crucifixion. But He had also predicted His own resurrection and encouraged them by telling them that after He rose from the grave He would go ahead of them to Galilee and they were to meet Him there.
As I was preparing this message, the question I kept asking was, “Why Galilee?” I know if I had just risen from the dead, my first move would be to go back and taunt those who had been instrumental in my death and let them know that they hadn’t succeeded in killing me after all. But Jesus doesn’t do that. Instead He tells His disciples that He is going ahead of them to Galilee and they should go there to see Him. But why Galilee?
Galilee was nothing special. Not much ever happened there until Jesus arrived and began calling together a group of disciples. There He had asked them to leave their jobs and their homes and their families and follow Him. So at least one reason Jesus picks Galilee is because He is calling them to go back to where they began.
But in spite of the fact that Jesus had told them on numerous occasions that He must die and then be raised from the dead, the disciples still didn’t get it. So after Jesus was crucified, instead of heading to Galilee as He had commanded, they were instead hiding out in fear right in Jerusalem. And even after the women went back and shared the message from the angel and from Jesus, they still weren’t ready to head for Galilee. They would get there eventually, but for now their fear was greater than their hope in the resurrection.
When we piece together Matthew’s account with the other gospels, we know that shortly after this Peter and John arrive at the tomb after hearing from Mary Magdalene that the body is gone. John arrives at the tomb first, but is reluctant to enter. When he arrives, Peter, as he was prone to do, leaves caution to the wind and enters. And while we know there was at least some degree of belief in the resurrection at that point, instead of obeying Jesus and heading for Galilee, they just go back to their homes there in Jerusalem.
Later that day, Jesus encounters two disciples along the road to Emmaus and shows them how the Old Testament Scriptures spoke of Him and He opens their eyes and reveals Himself to them. Then, that night, as the apostles, with the exception of Thomas, were gathered there in Jerusalem, still in hiding, Jesus appears to them. And then Jesus returned there again 8 days later when Thomas was present.
We know from the Biblical accounts that Jesus made numerous appearances over the 40 days after His resurrection. I’m going to be teaching about those encounters in our next sermon series titled “40 Days with Jesus” that will begin later this morning in our 9:30 service.
At some point during that time, apparently Jesus knows His disciples are finally ready to do what He commanded and go to Galilee. So He goes ahead of them and when they arrive there, He gives His disciples their final marching orders, which we usually call the Great Commission. This is likely the gathering that Paul referred to in his letter to the church in Corinth when he wrote about Jesus appearing to 500 of His disciples all at once.
APPLICATION
The resurrection of Jesus is relevant to our lives in so many ways. But what I want to focus on this morning as we close is that it is the resurrection of Jesus that makes it possible for Him to go before us. Had Jesus not risen from the grave and His body still remained in the tomb, it would not be possible for Him to have done that for the disciples then or for us now.
Historically, Jesus did exactly what He promised and went before His disciples to Galilee. But how does He go before us today?
Certainly the most important way that Jesus goes before us is His physical resurrection. We know that the resurrected Jesus had a physical body because His followers were able to touch Him and He shared meals with them. And because Jesus has gone before us, those of us who have put our faith in Him can be assured that one day we will also experience a physical resurrection and be given new bodies that will never get sick, or even tired. And knowing that gives us hope right now, no matter what we’re going through, because we can be confident of a glorious future that far outweighs any suffering we might be going through today.
But the fact that Jesus went ahead of His disciples to Galilee demonstrates that Jesus also goes before us in our normal daily lives. Jesus experienced the same kinds of temptations, sorrows, persecution and physical suffering that we face in our lives and the Bible tells us that He endured all that on our behalf because of the joy that came from fulfilling the plan that His heavenly Father had given Him – to make it possible for us to be made right with God through faith in Him. That means that whatever you’re going through in your life right now, Jesus has already gone before you. He knows personally what you’re experiencing and He both has the desire and the ability to help you persevere and even have victory in that situation if you’ll let Him.
It’s kind of like my physical therapy. Believe me, there are some parts of that which are so painful I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. I now understand why some people refer to those physical therapists as physical terrorists. But I have endured that pain because I know that is the only way that my knee will regain its normal function. In spite of the pain he has put me through, I have really come to appreciate my physical therapist because he has been with me every step of the way during my recovery and because he knows what is best for me, even when that is extremely painful for a season.
I think that’s a pretty good picture of how Jesus goes before us and gives us hope in our everyday lives. He not only goes before us, but then when we arrive, He remains beside us and He helps us to endure the pain that we often need to go through in order to become more like Him. And the reason we can have confidence that Jesus still does that is because He is alive!
ACTION
I wish I could tell you that Jesus promises to go before everyone like that. But the Bible is clear that He only does that for those who are willing to put their trust completely in Him – for those who say something like this to Him: “Jesus, I’m tired of trying to live life on my own terms. I’m tired of trying to earn God’s favor based on what I can do. I’m tired of trying to deal with the difficulties that I face in my everyday life in my own strength and power.” If that describes how you feel this morning, then the good news is that you’re right where Jesus can begin to work in your life and where He can go before you because you’re finally willing to allow Him to do that.
If that describes you, then we would love to talk to you more this morning about how you can put your faith in the resurrected Jesus and make Him your Lord and Savior and how you can know for sure the hope that comes with living like that. We’ve tried to make it as easy as possible for you to let us know if you’d like to learn more about how to live like that. Just write down your contact information on the insert in your bulletin and give it to me or to one of our greeters before you leave this morning.
If you don’t already have a church home, we want to invite you to check out Thornydale Family Church. If you’d like some more information about our church, you can use that same form.
INSPIRATION
I am grateful for a risen Savior who constantly goes before me. I have experienced that personally for over 40 years now and I can’t imagine living my life any other way. And I know that there are many of you here this morning who could say the very same thing. But if not, the good news is that you can change that today. All you have to do is ask.
