What we celebrate today is the central, defining event of the Christian faith. On this day, for the last twenty centuries, Christians have gathered together all over the world, in remote villages and in crowded cities, in cathedrals and in rented schoolrooms, just as we are doing here this morning; bearing witness to the world that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. This simple statement of faith is the key distinction between Christianity and every other religion or philosophy known to man. It sets us apart. Buddha didn’t rise from the dead. Confucius is still in the grave. Aristotle and Socrates and Plato are all still sleeping the sleep of death. Mary Baker Eddy, Joseph Smith -- every man or woman in history who claimed to have discovered the meaning of life, who claimed to know the way to God -- every one of them is still dead. But Jesus Christ lives.
This fact not only makes Christianity unique. It also makes it good news. But to call the gospel of Jesus Christ "good news" is to be guilty of a gross understatement. It’s not just "good" news. It’s great news. It’s fantastic news. It’s unbelievable news; wonderful, amazing, incredible news! In a few moments, I’m going to talk about why Resurrection Sunday is such great news, why it’s more to us than just an interesting historical event. We’re going to see how something which happened two thousand years ago can still have meaning and significance for us today. But first, I’m going to talk about a different day. Holy Saturday, the day between the death of Christ on Good Friday and the discovery of the empty tomb on Easter Sunday. Because the good news of Christ’s resurrection life can only be appreciated against the bad news of his death.
Consider how the disciples must have felt as the sun came up on that cold, gray Saturday morning. Just the day before, they had witnessed the brutal execution of their leader; they had watched him suffer as his life slowly drained away. His wasn’t a calm, peaceful passing. And it wasn’t a noble, heroic death. It was the agonizing, shameful, humiliating death of a condemned criminal, nailed to a wooden cross between two murderers. They listened as Jesus took his final, tortured breaths; they saw the Roman soldier thrust his sword into Jesus’ side to make sure he was dead; they watched as his lifeless corpse was pulled down and dragged away to be placed in the tomb.
How must they have felt? Grief-stricken. Heartbroken. Shocked. Horrified. Traumatized. As any of us would be, seeing someone we love treated this way. But most of all, confused. Only a week before, they were walking proudly at Jesus’ side as he rode triumphantly into Jerusalem, surrounded by adoring crowds. Crowds shouting, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" They were all convinced that he was the Messiah, the one who would save his people. He was going to re-establish Israel as an independent nation, he was going to give them, his disciples, positions of honor and authority in his new kingdom. But then everything came crashing down around them. Jesus was arrested, and brought before Pilate, and the crowds suddenly changed their tune. "Crucify Him!" they shouted, "We have no king but Caesar!". And now this. A dead teacher. A lifeless savior.
"How could it end this way?", they must have thought. Everything Jesus taught had seemed so right, so true. Was it all a lie? If so, then how could they have been so mistaken, so deceived? How could they have ever thought that this uneducated carpenter was right, and all of the religious authorities were wrong? What fools they had been! But then again -- didn’t Jesus perform miracles? -- heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind, cast out demons? Could a man who did those things really be a liar and a fraud? Or perhaps they had been following a madman, a lunatic who thought he was God’s Son, but who was really just an ordinary man. Was that it? Or was he just tragically misguided? A sincere man who got carried away, who started to believe the things that people were saying about him, and who didn’t realize where it was all leading until it was too late? Who was Jesus, anyway? They thought they knew him, but now their whole world had been turned upside down, and they weren’t sure of anything. They couldn’t reconcile what had just happened with what they thought they knew about Jesus. Surely, the Son of God couldn’t die, could he?
Yes, try to imagine how confused and distraught they must have felt. Now, let me ask you a question: You’ve felt this way too, haven’t you? You thought you understood what was involved in following Christ. You thought you knew what was supposed to happen. You had hopes, plans, expectations. And then something came out of left field and knocked you right off your feet. You never saw it coming. And not only that, you never imagined that it could come. "What’s going on!" you cried out, in pain and confusion. "This isn’t supposed to happen! This isn’t supposed to be part of the Christian life! I never expected cancer. I never expected failure. I never expected my wife to have an affair. I never expected to lose my job. I never expected my child to die. Something is terribly wrong. I thought I knew who Jesus was, but the Jesus I was following would never allow this." Have you ever felt that way? If so, you’re in good company. Because those are exactly the kind of thoughts that were going through the minds of the disciples on that Saturday morning. It seemed that God had abandoned them, and they didn’t know what to do, where to turn.
Consider also what this meant to the disciples from a spiritual point of view. By all appearances, it meant that the Pharisees had been right all along. It meant that when the Pharisees attacked Jesus, and warned people not to listen to him, and cast out of the synagogue anyone who admitted to being one of his followers, they were actually doing God’s work! It meant that the disciples, in following Jesus, had been rebelling against God! And that was the worst possible news. Because the God of the Pharisees wasn’t a God of love. The God of the Pharisees was a severe, unforgiving taskmaster who accepted nothing less than perfect obedience to every one of his laws. And although the Pharisees self-righteously claimed to keep those laws, the followers of Christ knew it was impossible. They understood that no one could ever satisfy such a God. And so with Jesus dead, they saw no hope of salvation. If Jesus was wrong, then the God that Jesus was teaching about, the God of love and forgiveness, the God who welcomed all who came to Him in faith and repentance, that God was just a fiction. And the real God was the God of the Pharisees, a God of wrath and judgement, a God who demands, and condemns and punishes. Can you imagine how the disciples must have felt, as they thought about the implications of Christ’s death? They must have been overwhelmed with despair and hopelessness, as in their minds they heard the doors of heaven clang shut forever.
But then something happened that changed everything, for them and for us. [Luke 24:1-35]
Hallelujah! As it turns out, Jesus was not a madman, or a con man, or a fool. He was, and is, the risen Lord, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. And the God he revealed to us, the God of love, and grace, and mercy, the God who welcomes all who come to him through faith in Christ -- that God is real. The gates of heaven are not closed to us; they are open wide. And Jesus is standing at the threshold, inviting us in. What a relief! What a joy! What a hope! What a Savior!
In the time we have remaining, I’d like us to consider why the resurrection is such great news for the Christian. First of all, it means that Death is not the end. The grave is not our final destination. By dying and then rising again, Jesus Christ has vanquished death once and for all, so that death no longer has the final word. For us, it’s only a doorway to eternal life.
"So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." -- 2 Timothy 1:8-10 (NIV)
"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him." -- Romans 6:8-9 (NIV)
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." -- 1 Cor. 15:55-57 (NIV)
Listen to me, brothers and sisters: because of what Christ did, we are immortal. Do you understand that? Do you believe that? Through faith in Christ, we possess what mankind has been searching for since the dawn of time -- the fountain of youth, the secret of everlasting life. We have found it! We will never die. We cannot be killed. We are going to live forever. Our lives have a beginning, but will never have an ending. When the stars have all burned out, we will still be alive, worshiping and serving God. We are immortal. [Amazing Grace: When we’ve been there 10,000 years / Bright shining as the sun / We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise / Than when we’d first begun].
And this knowledge that death is not the end gives us courage. We can stand firm in our faith; we can do the right thing no matter what the cost; we can suffer any loss or hardship without regret. Why? Because the worst possible thing that can happen to us, death, has been rendered powerless. It no longer has the ability to do us any permanent harm. Listen to the words of Christ:
"’I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.’" -- Luke 12:4-5 (NIV)
The resurrection gives us courage, because we know that no one can take from us the thing that we treasure most -- our life. Disease, or old age, or an accident, or even a murder, may kill the body. But because of the resurrection, we know that life doesn’t end at death. And so we don’t need to be afraid.
I’d like to make one more point. The resurrection of Jesus Christ shows us that things are often very different from how they appear. As Christians, we walk by faith, rather than by sight. And not everything that looks like a loss, or a failure, or a defeat really is one. Remember that during the time Jesus was in the grave, it seemed that the forces of evil had won. They had destroyed the Son of God! Death was victorious! And yet, as Jesus told his disciples on the road to Emmaus,
"’How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." -- Luke 24:25-27 (NIV)
In other words, the death of Christ, the most terrible crime in human history, was a part of God’s plan. Did the disciples understand that? No. Not at all. Remember, how did they react when the women told them about seeing the angels at the tomb, angels who gave them the good news that Jesus had risen from the dead? Luke 24:11 reads, "But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense". [typical male reaction] It wasn’t until later, when Christ appeared to them himself, that they finally realized what had happened. [Luke 24:36-45]
I mention this because often we don’t understand what God is doing, either. It may be there on the pages of Scripture for us to read, just like the prophecies of Jesus’ death and resurrection were in the Old Testament for the disciples to read. In fact, Jesus told them clearly what was going to happen. But they were still surprised when Jesus was crucified, and surprised again when he rose from the dead. And we too are often surprised when God does what he says He will do. Does the Bible warn us to expect trials and suffering in this world? Yes, of course. But when it comes, we react as if something has gone terribly wrong. We can’t reconcile our little picture of God with what is happening in our lives. And so it seems that God has abandoned us, as if He is no longer in control. But that isn’t true. Even when things seem darkest, when it seems that God is far away, when it seems that evil is winning, God is at work. He’s at work in your life. And he is working to accomplish his good, and loving, and wise purposes, even when it seems he is nowhere to be found. He hasn’t been defeated. He hasn’t abandoned you. He is there right beside you, just like he’s always been. And He promises that the end result of his work in your life will be glorious.
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
