In Jesus Holy Name Easter 2019
Text: John 19:38-40 Redeemer
“Triumph From Grave Clothes”
Easter is a wonderful celebration. I’m so glad you are here this morning to enjoy the experience the joy of Easter worship.
How many of you have Will or trust. Does it include “A power of Attorney?” What about Advance directive for medical decisions decisions? hospitals will want to know. But I wonder how many of you have written down what you want to wear in your casket! Today is about a man buried in grave clothes but didn’t need them anymore.
Easter is about a man who died then physically rose from death. His name was Jesus. When God entered human time and history with His birth in Bethlehem, He who had been beyond time chose to become bound by time. He was imprisoned in human flesh, restricted by weary prone muscles and eyelids. The Son of God left His throne in heaven so that by His death He would destroy the power of the devil who holds the power of death over the human race. (Hebrews 2:14) His death and His resurrection from death and the grave is the story of Easter. You may have not decided on you personal grave clothes , but
we know how Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea clothed Jesus when they took him down from the cross and placed Him in His tomb. John tells us “clean linen cloths mixed with an extravagant amount of spices—about 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes. (Such an amount was usually only used for kings. Following Jewish burial customs, they bound the body in strips of linen, with a separate cloth used for the head.
For a moment let’s return to Friday evening. Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy and pious man, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, who had become a follower of Jesus, asked to claim the body of Jesus for burial. Joseph was aided by a wealthy Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus. Carefully and with much effort they removed the nails from the Master’s hands and feet and lowered him to the ground. Along with a group of women who had remained close by through it all, Joseph and Nicodemus hastily prepared Christ’s body for burial.
They had to act quickly. The Jewish Sabbath began on Friday evening and they would need to have him in the tomb with the tomb sealed before the Sabbath began. They were risking their lives in performing this act of love and honor. It is significant that they laid him in a borrowed grave. The tomb belonged to this same Joseph of Arimathea. The act was done. Christ now lay in the tomb. These devoted friends went back to their homes to grieve and await the dawning of the first day of the week
Joseph and Nicodemus were reluctant to be public followers of Jesus but now Nicodemus was not afraid to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus . Pilate had given permission. Nicodemus brought the linen and spices. Joseph gave the tomb. Grave clothes admits that their hope that Jesus would be the Messiah became lost hope with sad tears remaining. For them it was a tragic end.
How quickly things changed. The people who only a week earlier had called Him King now saw him die on a cross with two other thieves. John, Nicodemus and Joseph on that Friday did not know what we know. Grave clothes, a tomb guarded by Roman soldiers, a large stone sealing the tomb these items could not keep a resurrected glorified body locked in the dark tomb. But His enemies tried, Theywanted no rumors of a resurrection.
We don’t know what happened in the tomb on Saturday. The scriptures are silent but we know That John and his fellow disciples were still in Jerusalem. They should have left town. We know they were worried that the same men who came for Jesus might also come for those who followed Him. The Pharisees were happy with one crucifixion why not more? Were the disciples waiting for a Sunday surprise? I don’t think so.
Maybe everyone was too depressed to leave. Jesus was John’s friend He agreed to take care of Mary the mother of Jesus. He was the one close to Jesus in the upper room. He was at the foot of the cross. He had to stay. Friends don’t abandon friends. Because John lingers on Saturday He was around for a miracle on Sunday.
Very early on Sunday morning Peter and John were given the news that the body of Jesus was missing Mary thought the enemies of Jesus had robed the tomb. Instantly the two disciples run to the tomb. Peter got there first what did He see? Strips of linen lying undisturbed as if a body had just passed through leaving them deflated like a ballon without air, undisturbed like a body just passed through, which of course it had. The burial shroud is still visible in Turin Italy. the burial shroud is still visible of the Italian city of Turin. We are told that John saw and believed. He remembered the long ago promise of Jesus. “I am going to Jerusalem There I will be arrested and crucified but on the third day I will rise from death.
Don’t you think it odd that God would use burial clothes to change a sad life? He does that all the time. Remember wedding that ran out of wine and the family was given great joy from water changed into wine by the hand of God. Don’t you think it odd that God chose a small wooden manger to became a symbol of God’s love for humanity. Ou must agree that it is an oddity to the world that a Roman tool of death became His symbol of His love and forgiveness. E should not be surprised that God takes grave clothes and makes them a symbol of victory over death.
Max Lucado writes: “The popular Opinion of Jesus before he cleansed the temple: Maybe He’ll run for office! The popular opinion of people on Palm Sunday “Maybe our king Has come to drive out the Romans.
On His last visit to the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus was offended. He drove people out with a whip when He saw they had turned God’s sacred courtyard into a stockyard and stock exchange. He called them robbers and thieves. The house of prayer had become a house of profit. No wonder the religious leaders were thrilled when one of His disciples, Judas, offered to betray Jesus. Jesus was just too dangerous.
The opinion of the Jewish high council after that: “:Three spikes and a spear.
As Jesus looks at the city of Jerusalem, he sees what the disciples cannot. He sees the staging of Satan. He sees the dashing of the demons. He sees the Evil One preparing for the final encounter. The enemy lurks, filling the hearts of evil men. Satan has seized the heart of Judas and whispered in the ear of Caiaphas. Satan, the master of death, now seeks the death of the True source of light.
History will record the events as a battle of the Jews against Jesus. It wasn’t. It was a battle of God against Satan. Jesus knew it. He knew that before the war would be over he would be taken captive. He knew before the victory would come the cup of the wrath of God’s wrath against the sins of humanity. Jesus would carry all our broken commandments, our broken ethics on his shoulders on a borrowed wooden beam.
The number of times Jesus prophesied that he would come back to life after his death. Three.
The number of disciples who waited by his grave to see if His promise would be true Zero! (from: He chose the nails Max Lucado).
C.S. Lewis viewed Christianity not merely as a set of moral rules, but as the central, objective truth that explains the meaning of life and reality. In Mere Christianity, he argued that Jesus must be accepted as the Son of God, rather than merely a "great moral teacher," because his claims left only three options: he was either a lunatic, a liar, or Lord.
Satan does not want people to hear the message of the angel: “Jesus is not here. He has risen from the dead.” Satan’s desire is to keep people locked in their box of fear. That box is often in the shape of a casket. Jesus came into the world so that by his perfect life, his blood shed on the cross would destroy the devil who holds people in the fear of death… his resurrection frees the hearts that are held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14) that’s why:
Albert Einstein rejected traditional Christianity and all organized religions, describing them as "childish superstitions" and "human weaknesses".
A French philosopher stated that Christianity would disappear after 100 years. He died in 1778. Christianity is still here and growing. Why? Because Jesus rose from death and the grave,. He left our broken commandments at the cross. And his resurrection means that no matter what our choice of grave clothes. The graveyard and casket are only our temporary housing. He is Risen!
It wasn't enough. Before dawn on the third morning, a God-sent angel came down from heaven and rolled the great stone away from the front of an empty tomb. God sent an angel from heaven, not to let the Man, God's only Son Jesus, out of the tomb, but to let the world in - to let the world see that Christ had risen from the dead.
Only Christianity offers a God who became man, suffered death on a cross and then rose from death. Rev. John Stott in his book: “The Cross of Christ” writes: “We cannot proclaim the cross without the resurrection nor the resurrection without the cross.”
Death is the last enemy of all people. We can beat many enemies of death. Medical advances are part of that victory. But it is only a short-term victory. We can put it off, dress it up, deny it, call it a “celebration of life”, to no avail. But in the end the bible and human reality reminds us that: “It is appointed that all humanity only die once, then comes the judgment of God.” (Heb. 10:17)
Jesus also died once as an offering for the sins of humanity. He will come again, not to deal with our sins but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Or ultimate citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await our Savior from there who will change our bodies to be fashioned like his glorious resurrected body. This is the truth of the Easter event.
We all have a skeleton or two in some dark cupboard; memories of things we
have thought, said, or done, of which we are ashamed. Our conscience nags,
condemns and torments us. We all have broken commandments and ethical failures.
Forgiveness and rescue from eternal death are two of our most basic needs. The Easter event, the celebration of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is the answer to both. God promised to forgive our broken commandments and remember them no more. He came to “save people from the hands of a Creator who demands holiness and perfection”. “The cross on which Jesus died is the only footbridge that can get sinners across the canyon that separates us from the true Promised Land.”
This is Love. Not that we loved God but He loved us first. God’s love for you and me is why Jesus was born in Bethlehem. His parents placed Him in a borrowed manger. It is why Jesus died in our place on Good Friday 2000 years ago
A time-honored piece of humor says that a couple of weeks after the Resurrection, someone asked Joseph of Arimathea, “Why’d you let them bury Jesus in your brand new tomb?”
Joseph shrugged his shoulders and answered, “He only needed it for the weekend!”
Well, that’s true. He only needed it for the weekend. This is the story of Easter. He is risen!
Maybe you have noticed that one of the habits of Jesus was borrowing things. He borrowed a wooden manger. He borrowed Simon Peter’s boat to cross a lake just to heal a man possessed by demons. He borrowed a boat to use as a preaching pulpit along the shore of Galilee. He borrowed two small fish and some bread to feed 5000 people. He borrowed a donkey to ride in the procession of the Lambs from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. He presented Himself as the true Paschal Lamb of God for the forgiveness of broken commandments
He borrowed a friend’s house for the celebration of Passover and forever changed its meaning. People wanted to place on his head a crown of gold… instead the Roman soldiers gave Him a crown of thorns and a borrowed purple robe.
After his death on a cross a friend, Joseph of Arimathea allowed Jesus to borrow his newly carved sepulcher. They rolled a stone in front of the grave and sealed it, placing a Roman guard. A guard was placed on duty to make sure seal, stone and Savior stayed put. That should have been the end of the story.
But three days later, when the followers of Jesus came to pay their respects, they found that the guard was gone; they had run away in fear. The stone had been rolled away and the body of Jesus was gone.
It is a borrowed sepulcher that brings us here on this Easter. It was a borrowed sepulcher because it could not hold the living God. People still travel to Jerusalem to see an empty gravesite. Why? Is it a relic we need to see: It is an important reminder that human death is not the end. Our soul was meant to live forever.
Without this Easter event…you and I would be without hope. There would be a nagging emptiness in your soul. He is Risen!
