NORTH PINE BEACH BAPTIST CHURCH
Sunday 20th April 2025 – Easter Sunday
John 20:1-18
No Resurrection. No Hope.
How important is the resurrection of Jesus? 1 Corinthians 15:12-14 gives the answer.
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
Without the resurrection of Jesus
… Christianity is redundant.
… faith is a waste of time.
… there is no foundation to anything believers do.
Without the resurrection there is no hope.
With that in mind let’s read about the resurrection event in John 20:1-18
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 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.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 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.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward Him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to My brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Picture a garden.
There are large trees scattered here and there.
There are also some well looked after garden beds.
We can see paths winding to quiet shady places and grass lawns bringing it all together.
Somewhere in the garden is a rocky outcrop, a hole has been cut into the rock – it is large enough to walk into but you need to bend down to do so. To the side of the hole there is a large stone which looks like it has been discarded. In front of the hole there stands a woman crying – sounding in deep despair. It is Mary Magdalene.
Mary has been following Jesus and supporting Him since the first year of His ministry.
She was there when many of the miracles unfolded.
She has heard Jesus teaching many times.
She had witnessed first-hand the push back from the religious leaders.
She had been there when the large crowds had gathered.
She also had eaten with the tax-collectors and sinners.
Mary wasn’t just tagging along. Mary used her material possessions to support Him, and the other disciples.
Mary is committed to Jesus … perhaps even more than the 12 disciples.
It was Mary Magdalene, and other women
– and only John
who stood vigil the whole time Jesus was on the cross.
It was Mary Magdalene, and other women – but not the disciples – who diligently watched as the body of Jesus was laid into the garden tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.
No disciples came to ensure His body was properly buried.
It was Mary Magdalene, along with a couple of other women, who got up before dawn to make sure they could be at the tomb of Jesus as soon as possible so they could finish the burial process.
It’s no wonder then that we find her weeping before His tomb. The One she loved is gone and all hope has been drained from her.
Hope has been drained because she stands before an empty open grave. Jesus was not there, and He should have been. As far as she knows His body has been stolen. Mary didn’t even get a chance to say a real goodbye.
All she wanted was the body of Jesus.
A body to cling to.
A body to hug for the last time.
It’s natural – you would say. But it’s only natural when you forget.
Jesus said it would happen like this – but everyone forgot – including Mary.
So when the angel says, “Why are you crying?” he is asking a really good question. Back over in verse 1, it says that the women including Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while “it was still dark”. That not only talks about the fact that the sun hadn’t risen yet. It can also be a description of the condition of their hearts. It was the deepest darkest time of their lives.
She is crying because she is personally experiencing an essential truth of the Gospel.
Without the resurrection there is no hope
As Mary weeps she misunderstands the significance of the empty tomb.
She fails to realise that Jesus is still committed to her – and not even death is going to prevent that commitment from being fulfilled.
The empty grave.
It is not the end.
The empty grave is a flashing neon sign from God. A neon sign to trust in the unimaginable – death cannot hold Him. There is hope … and there is power.
The stone has been rolled away. The grave is empty.
Friday is past.
Sunday has arrived.
Death is defeated.
Sin is defeated.
Satan is defeated.
The great message of resurrection Sunday is this:-
Because Jesus Christ is God with us … God in the flesh. This means Jesus Christ is … powerful enough to overcome the grave.
… and powerful enough to overcome sin.
… and powerful enough to have victory over Satan and all his schemes.
And because Jesus is powerful enough to do this – you can be sure He is also powerful enough to give you the same resurrection hope.
That is the promise of Scripture.
And there are so many people looking for hope.
A father and his teenage son were living in Mexico City. They had an argument, and the son, Paco, shouted curses at his father and then stormed out of the house and didn’t return. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months.
The father searched everywhere in the city. Finally, in desperation, he went down to the newspaper and took out an ad. It said, "Paco, if you read this, I want you to know that all is forgiven. I love you and I will be waiting for you at this Sunday. Meet me in front of this newspaper at noon. Your father.”
On that Sunday at noon more than 200 Paco’s showed up, all looking for forgiveness.
There are so many people in this world who are searching.
They are looking for forgiveness.
They are looking for hope.
That “so many people” includes us.
As we focus on the first resurrection Sunday
… we are being shown.
… or being shown again.
A central Scriptural truth.
Without the resurrection there is no hope. With the resurrection there is always hope.
That's what we celebrate today.
That is why we focus on the cross today.
On the cross Jesus took our sins and the wrath of God is absorbed.
Through the resurrection that payment can be credited to our lives.
The cross and resurrection is affirmation that those who believe will be raised from the dead and given eternal life. We put our hope in a resurrected Saviour who has secured victory.
That’s the hope we have.
But how do we know when the hope of the resurrection is our personal hope?
Let’s go back to Mary at the grave.
When did Mary Magdalene recognise the resurrected Jesus?
It wasn’t when she saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
It wasn’t when the disciples confirmed that the body was gone, and the linen strips were just lying there.
It wasn’t when she saw two angels in white in the tomb.
It wasn’t even when she saw Jesus standing there – when she thought he was the gardener.
Mary only recognised the resurrected Jesus when He called her name, “Mary.”
Listen to what Jesus says in John 10:14-16
14 ‘I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me – 15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father – and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd.
When Jesus calls our name we will know His voice.
We will know that Jesus wants to have a personal relationship with us.
So that the power of the resurrection – can be the power that lives in us.
Without the resurrection there is no hope. With the resurrection there is always hope.
See how this hope transforms Mary.
When she has no hope … she is a weeping wreck.
The moment she has hope … well she becomes the world’s first missionary.
Jesus says Go … and tell which is exactly what she does.
Her first words to the other disciples are deeply personal: “I have seen the Lord”. This personal encounter, His calling her by name, has made all the difference in her life. She is a witness now.
It may have taken a little time, but she has seen the light.
Like Mary, there are some people like that. They remind me of the florescent lights I once had in my office. Sometimes when I turned the switch on the wall, the electricity surges, but nothing happens. I don't know enough about the mechanics of a florescent bulb to explain it, but I know that sometimes the light just doesn't come on – at least not for a while. But, after some time, it lights up. And when it does it is as bright as any of the others in the room.
Slowly, or quickly, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we hear our name on the lips of Jesus.
He calls us because He wants us.
He calls us because He has freed us from the grips of hell.
He calls us – and brings new hope.
The first crucifixion Friday has past.
The first resurrection Sunday is here.
The hope and power of the resurrection that enables us to go into each new day renewed by His grace and strengthened by the truth that His resurrection will lead to our own resurrection. The hope and power of the resurrection that we can’t help but share with those who are still stuck in their hopelessness.
Without the resurrection there is no hope. With the resurrection there is always hope.
You just need to listen to the voice of the resurrected Saviour as He calls, and keeps calling, your name.
Prayer
