OPEN: A fellow preacher told me about a funeral that he once conducted. He said that “Doug" was 18-year-old biker who’d rode with a rough crowd. In fact the T-shirt they buried him in said it all: "Ride hard - Die hard". The funeral home was filled with bikers, the speakers boomed out hard rock music, and the Casket held items that were important to Doug. There was a bottle of Jack Daniel's, and an abundance of Drug Paraphernalia.
The viewing lasted 2 1/2 hours. The mourners filled the room with their crying and sadness and several literally lifted the body half out of the casket as they hugged their dead friend. The bikers couldn't get over the fact that Doug was dead. (PAUSE) They were filled with despair and hopelessness because they’d come to see their friend, and it obvious… he wasn’t ever coming back.
Hebrews 2:14-15 says that Jesus became a mortal, He put on flesh and became just like us… “so that through (His) death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through FEAR OF DEATH were subject to lifelong slavery.”
That was what was happening at the funeral of this dead biker. These people literally FEARED death because it had taken their friend. And the fear of death has plagued man ever since Adam & Eve sinned in the Garden.
One man put it this way: "The Fear of Death makes us act foolishly, committing ourselves to self-destructive habits, and enslaving ourselves because we see our bodies deteriorating. We anaesthetize ourselves with drugs and alcohol. We try to act younger than we are and make fools of ourselves, sometimes even destroying our families in the process, by trying to reverse the irreversible process of aging.”
There’s no fountain of youth. There’s no way for our mortal bodies to live forever. Science might prolong our lives, but it can’t do anything about dying. Plastic surgeons might make you look like you’ve cheated death…
but you won’t. WE ALL WILL DIE ONE DAY (unless Jesus comes first).
But unlike the rest of the world, we (who belong to Christ) don’t have to be afraid of death because Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life”
ILLUS: Now, a lot of people have problems with that Biblical teaching. About 10 years ago, one of Newsweek magazine’s religious editors (Lisa Miller) put an article on the magazine’s blog the week before Easter. And in that pre-Easter article she summed up her view of Resurrection. She said “For my part I don’t buy it… This story (of Christ’s resurrection) has strained the credulity of even the most devoted believer. For, truly, it's unbelievable.”
Several times in her article she said that the idea of a physical resurrection was “Unbelievable.” It “presented credibility problems.” And, she concluded: “For my part, I don’t buy it.”
Now to be fair, she’s not the only one to have had problems with the idea. A few years back, Scripps Howard News Service, along with Ohio University, asked a cross-section of America this question: “Do you believe that, after you die, your physical body will be resurrected?” 54% of those surveyed said they did not believe, and 10% were undecided. SO, nearly 2/3s of Americans were saying “We don’t think it’s possible. Dead people tend to stay dead.” (http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=RESURRECTION)
And in the days of Jesus, there were lots of people who had problems with this as well. The Sadducees rejected that anybody’s body would rise from the dead. And when Jesus spoke to His disciples and told them that He would die, be buried and rise again - Peter couldn’t believe it (Mt. 16:22). And when the other disciples heard the news “they were filled with grief” (Mt. 17:23). And finally, after Jesus rose from the dead, Peter and John raced to the tomb and found it empty. John 20:9 tells us when they arrived “They STILL DID NOT UNDERSTAND from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.” … But He did!
ILLUS: And there’s a little tidbit from history that adds to this truth. If you recall, the Jews spread the rumor that Jesus’ disciples had stolen His body (thus explaining the absence of His body in the tomb). After Christ’s Resurrection, Claudius Caesar (the emperor of Rome) issued a decree demanding people stop stealing bodies from Judah’s sepulchers. It was found on something called “The Nazareth Inscription.” It’s a marble tablet, 24 inches by 15 inches written in the Greek language. It decreed a death penalty in Israel for anyone caught robbing bodies. (Normally, grave robbers of the time stole valuables, not bodies!) So why pass a law NOW, in Claudius’ reign? Because A BODY came up missing… the body of Jesus. (https://answersingenesis.org/archaeology/even-caesar-confirmed-resurrection/?utm_source=facebook-aig&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=facebook-aig&fbclid=IwAR2BdhgvsVvnS1Wu2ZuFcLLQEf_gIxSsOSXrh2lG9FH6H5hk3gtl85_ivq4)
But the body wasn’t missing for long. Paul tells us of 100s of witnesses to the risen Christ. In I Corinthians 15:3-8 we read - “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than FIVE HUNDRED BROTHERS at one time, MOST OF WHOM ARE STILL ALIVE, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”
Jesus rose from the dead! And because Jesus rose … so will we!!! In Revelation 1:17-18 Jesus introduces Himself: "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I HAVE THE KEYS of Death and Hades.”
In other words, when Jesus died and was placed in the tomb, He didn’t stay there. When He rose from the grave He literally picked up the keys to death and hades on His way out. And so… when He comes back, every grave will open – because He has the keys. Jesus IS the RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE!!!
Now when I read Jesus’ statement here - a couple of questions came to mind. The 1st question was: why did Jesus say He was the resurrection AND THE LIFE? Why not simply say “I am the Resurrection?” Why throw in this seemingly redundant “LIFE” thing?
ILLUS: Well, it helps to understand where Jesus was at when He said this. His best friend Lazarus had just died and had been in the grave for four days. As Jesus entered their village, one of Lazarus’ sisters approaches Him and says “If you had been here, he wouldn’t have died.” Now that’s true… but Jesus had deliberately delayed His arrival because He intended to raise Lazarus from the dead as His last miracle before His own crucifixion.
Lazarus was going to come out of the grave… but his sisters didn’t know that! And so Jesus sets the scene by telling her “I am the resurrection and the life. Your brother will live again!” And, shortly thereafter, they roll the stone away from the tomb and Jesus calls Lazarus out of the grave… AND Lazarus rises from the dead.
But here’s the deal… Lazarus was going to die again. His resurrection was not permanent! But our resurrection from the dead will be. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15:51-54 “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality (eternal life). When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
We have the promise of ETERNAL LIFE. In fact, we read about that in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.” Jesus IS the Resurrection AND THE LIFE. Jesus said what He said because - He NOT only came so people could rise from the dead. He also came that we might have LIFE ETERNAL!
So, that’s the first question I had: why did Jesus stress being the LIFE. And the 2nd question I had was this: Why did Jesus say (what He said) the WAY He said it? Why did He say “I AM the resurrection and the life?” Why not simply say “I am going to raise people from the dead and give them life?” Why is making it all about Himself?
Well, He’s making it all about Himself… because it IS all about Himself! Jesus is the POWER of Resurrection and the POWER of Life.
ILLUS: In your house you have light switches on the walls. When you enter into a dark room you can flip the switch… and the lights come on. But the light switch doesn’t have the POWER to GIVE LIGHT, it’s simply the way that you can turn on that power! The POWER behind the lights is miles away at the electric company. The Electric company CREATES that power. Without that POWER from the Electric company, you can flip that switch all day long, but the lights will not come on! Because the POWER is NOT in the switch!
What Jesus is saying is this: I am the POWER OF RESURRECTION, and the POWER OF LIFE. Without me (Jesus is saying) you will NOT have eternal life. You can eat as healthy as you like; you can take all the vitamins you wish; you can exercise several hours a day - but ultimately… you’re still gonna die!!!! You’re going to die because YOU don’t have the power of resurrection or life. You only have the ability to FLIP the switch.
Only Jesus has the power of Resurrection and Life. Jesus said: “I AM the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in ME, though he die, yet shall he live…”
So, how do you FLIP the switch? If Jesus is the power of Resurrection and Life, how do you lay hold of that power?
Well, it’s very simple. The Bible says we need to BELIEVE Jesus is the Christ, the Son of Living God. And that we need to REPENT of our sins…determine not to live that way anymore. And that we should CONFESS that Jesus will now be our Lord and Master.
And then God asks us to take part in a dry run test of our resurrection. Well, actually, it’s a “wet-run” test - it’s called baptism. Romans 6:3-4 describes it this way: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, JUST AS CHRIST WAS RAISED from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Baptism is a wet-run test declaring that – just as Jesus’ tomb is empty -our tomb will be empty too. We die to our sins, we’re buried in a watery grave, and we are resurrected from that grave to walk in newness of life.
You see… that’s our message. The empty tomb is our message, and that message is hope. Now, our building here is also empty – but it can’t offer hope. It’s attractive, and comforting and highly functional, but it cannot offer us hope. I read a meme not so long ago that said “The church building may be empty. But so is the grave.
Our message is not the empty building, but the empty grave. Because it is only in the emptiness of Christ’s grave that we have hope.
CLOSE: I want to close by telling the story Joe Bailey tells in his book "A View From a Hearse." He told of the day his son died of cancer. He had returned to the clinic to thank them for their kindness and their care of his son. And as he spoke to the receptionist, she motioned toward a woman whose son was playing quietly with toys in the waiting area. "He has the same cancer your son had" she said. “Why don’t you go over and see if you can talk with her?”
He didn’t really want to, but he reluctantly went over and sat down next to her. He said "It must be hard bringing him in for the treatments?"
"Hard," she replied. "I die every time I have to bring him in. What makes it worse is that I KNOW it’s not going to stop the cancer, and I know that he’s going to die."
Joe Bailey was uncomfortable… but he tried again: "Still it is some comfort to know that when that happens there is no more pain and suffering, and that they go to a better place."
There was a hardness in her voice as she cried "No. When he dies I’m just going to bury him in the cemetery and I’ll never see him again." Bailey wanted to leave. It was uncomfortable to be reminded of his loss and it was even more uncomfortable to speak to this woman who obviously had no hope.
But he quietly said, "I buried my boy just yesterday, and I’ve only come today to thank the doctors and nurses for their kindness. I know what you’re feeling but I also know that there is a better life for my son now."
"How could you believe such a thing," she cried.
And then, Joe Bailey told her about Jesus.
Jesus said "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?"
The Empty Tomb is our only MESSAGE, and the Risen Christ is only HOPE. The fact for us as Christians is that death is not the final door, and the grave is not our final resting place. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Do you believe this?
PRAYER
