Surprised By Joy
John 19:17-30
David P. Nolte
(Due to coronavirus, this sermon will be broadcast via fm radio during “drive-in-church” at a venue with adequate parking).
Life is full of surprises. Not all surprises are pleasant ones, though.
You’ll believe that when you step on the upward pointing tines of a garden rake and the handle flies up to strike you right between the eyes. I know whereof I speak because it happened to me once and it was, indeed, a surprise and not a pleasant one!
Ask Keri Childers about the Easter Bunny her cat, Booger, dragged into the house recently to surprise her. Oh, yes! She was completely surprised – but not pleasantly. She called to warn me not to be too surprised to see a dead cotton-tail in the trash can.
Let’s share the memory of an event that was, sadly, unpleasantly surprising. Jesus had been betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, forsaken by all, accused by the Jews, put through an illegal, mockery of a trial, tormented by the soldiers, beaten mercilessly. And then as John reports, “They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.” John 19:17-18 (NASB).
To add insult to injury, “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. So they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be’; this was to fulfill the Scripture: ‘They divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.’ Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ From that hour the disciple took her into his own household. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” John 19:23-30 (NASB).
Though He had warned them, more than once, still they were stunned and unpleasantly surprised at this turn of events.
Let’s take a walk with the disciples from Friday, when they were unpleasantly surprised, until Sunday, when THEY WERE SURPRISED BY JOY! But in-between those surprises, first came:
1. DARK DISAPPOINTMENT:
a. It was difficult for Jesus' disciples to accept the disappointment of His death.
i. They were dumbstruck to think that what they had so fully believed now seemed so untrue.
ii. The crucifixion had been more overwhelming to their minds and undermining to their hope than anything any of them had ever faced.
b. Over and over again during the days which followed, slowly, one after another, they must have wearied their minds to try to find some explanation for this catastrophic turn of events. Their kingdom plans had collapsed.
c. Disappointment comes when what we expected fails to materialize.
i. We may suffer the disappointment of unrequited love.
ii. We may suffer the disappointment of failed plans.
iii. We may suffer the disappointment of delayed or denied fulfillment of our prayer.
iv. We may suffer the disappointment of someone’s broken promise.
d. When we are disappointed with God’s work in our lives we need to remember:
i. When we think God is doing nothing, God is doing something.
ii. When we think our lives are without purpose, God has a purpose for our life.
iii. When we think it’s over for us, with God, it’s just beginning.
iv. When we think there is no hope, with God hope springs new every day.
v. When we put disappointment into perspective and when we view it through eyes of faith, God proves Himself to be better than our worst fears, and better than our greatest dreams. With faith we can learn that living without hope is quickly replaced by living without disappointment.
e. Benny, a little boy, was opening his birthday presents with gusto and with each one would show approval with, “Yes!” or “Way cool!” or “Yippee!” That is, he showed approval until he opened the last present which came from Aunt Bertha, the cheek-pinching, bear hugging, lip-kissing aunt.
When he opened her gift, he was under-joyed and disappointed as he held up a purple sweater with a bird on front – hand knitted by Aunt Bertha. He expressed his disappointment eloquently, saying, “Oh – just what I never wanted.” But there is more to the story.
The disciples never wanted what happened to happen. They were disappointed but there is more to the story. But first,, their disappointment led to:
2. DEEP DESPONDENCY:
a. Without doubt, in the terrible, dark hours following that catastrophe, they were in deep despondency.
i. This is the tragedy of disappointment—it can paralyze and shackle us in our quest for life.
ii. How could they go about restructuring their lives?
b. They were despondent
i. Because their dreams of the Kingdom of God being established were dead, right along with He Whom they believed would be King.
ii. Because they felt like fools for believing in something so grandiose and for wasting 3 years in pursuit of it. How could they face neighbors, friends or family?
iii. Because they feared the Jews. John 20:19 (NASB).
c. Despondency is a miserable condition.
i. It saps our strength.
ii. It minimizes our motivation.
iii. It darkens our days.
d. Have you ever been despondent?
i. Have you felt hopeless
(1) About your marriage?
(2) About your finances?
(3) About your health, or that of a loved one?.
ii. You need this hope:
(1) “Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5 (NASB).
(2) “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NASB).
e. I read somewhere about a young Midwestern lawyer who suffered from deep depression. He questioned his life's purpose and the value of even attempting to find it. During this time he wrote, ‘I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell. I awfully forebode I shall not.’ But somehow, from somewhere, he received the encouragement he needed, and the achievements of his life thoroughly vindicated his bout with discouragement. His name was Abraham Lincoln.
Don’t you think the disciples felt like that while the body of Jesus laid dead in the tomb?
That was Friday – but Sunday and its Happy Surprise was coming!
Let me go back to little Benny and the gift from Aunt Bertha. He was so disappointed at her gift – until, that is, his mother said, “Benny, look inside the box.” He did, and discovered a $50.00 bill inside a birthday card. He was, as were the disciples, SURPRISED BY JOY! The reason for Joy? They made a
3. DELIGHTFUL DISCOVERY:
a. “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.’c So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.” John 20:1-8 (NASB). Later that Sunday, suddenly, Jesus appeared to them. His surprising appearance was a pleasant surprise. It was everything they wanted, but which they thought too good to be true. THEY WERE SURPRISED BY JOY!
b. They made a delightful discovery
i. About the necessity for faith that says, “I don’t care how things look, I believe what He said!”
ii. About the power Jesus has in that having done his worst, or best, Satan could not bind Jesus with death.
iii. About Jesus Himself:
(1) He is death’s defeater.
(2) He is the devil’s destroyer.
(3) He is the valiant victor.
(4) He is the resurrection and the life.
c. Have you discovered Jesus?
i. Do you know He loves you?
ii. Do you know that His grace is greater than your greatest sins, all piled up and magnified?
iii. Do you know that He can give you a new heart, a new life, a new hope?
iv. Do you know that because He lives, we, too, can live?
d. Discovering Jesus is not like playing hide-and-seek where He tries to evade us. He lets us find Him! And when you discover Him YOU WILL BE SURPRISED BY JOY!
e. It’s like the TV show “Long Lost Families” on which family members who are seeking loved ones from whom they had been separated, usually by adoption, now want to reunite. Usually both parties have been searching and then comes the delightful discovery! As they embrace each one says, “You are my mother!” “You are my child!” “You are my sibling!”
In one episode, where the child given up for adoption sought her birth mother, who was simultaneously seeking her, something delightful was discovered. Mother and daughter knew one another as co-workers and friends. Now they understood why they had become so close. THEY WERE SURPRISED BY JOY!
Jesus is not hiding, He is seeking – He is not far away, as Paul said, “Starting from scratch, He made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find Him. He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; He's near. We live and move in Him, can't get away from Him!” Acts 17:26-28 (MSG).
Because Jesus lives we can put aside disappointment, shed despondency and be SURPRISED BY JOY!
The Bible says, “In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true: ‘Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?’ It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.” 1 Corinthians 15:53-58 (MSG).
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Turn your hearts to Him in prayer.
