When Tragedy Becomes Victory
Rom 8:28, John 19:38 - 40, John 20:9, John 20:2-8, Rom 8:28
March 24, 2003
I. I want to ask you a question. But, I need to tell you that at first, its not going to make any sense. I know that it will greatly surprise you that I would ask a question that doesn’t make sense, but we will have to pretend for a minute that I would ask a question that doesn’t make sense.
A. How many good conversations have you had about grave clothes lately.
B. I mean when was the last time that you tried to initiate a stimulating conversation by bringing up grave clothes.
C. Lets play that one out for a second. Hi how are you doing? I’m doing great, and how is the family. The family is fine. Good.
D. Many conversations lull at this point...so lets say, you say," by they way what are you planning to wear in your casket?"
E. Now wouldn’t you think that would be a real conversation getter going topic.
F. NOT! Most people don’t want to talk about grave clothes, that is with the exception of John the Apostle.
G. If you were to bring up grave clothes to John, you might be surprised at how excited he could get about them.
H. As a matter of fact he might even run away with the conversation and begin to tell you how about the time that he began to see grave clothes as a symbol of victory!
I. He might tell you how at one time he saw grave clothes as the symbol of tragedy, but then something happened that totally changed his mind about a lot of things.
J. John would tell you how God took the clothing of death and made it into a symbol of life for him.
K. But, the real question is, could he do the same for you?
II. We all face tragedy in our lives. That is a given. At some point in your life you have probably even received a symbol of tragedy.
A. It might have been a telegram from the war department. Your symbol could be an I.D. bracelet from a hospital.
B. It might be a scar, a subpoena, or divorce papers.
C. We don’t like these symbols and we don’t want them, but the odds of us getting through life without them are slim.
D. They’re kinda like dirty clothes they clutter up our lives and more than that, these symbols clutter up our hearts with memories of bad days.
E. Is it at all possible for God to use things like that for something good?
F. Lets make that question a little plainer. How far can we go with Romans 8:28?
(Rom 8:28 NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
G. Does that statement that God works everything for good go as far as tumors, and statements like we have to do a test to determine what the effects are?
H. Does the statement that God works all things for good go so far as to cover things like tempers and lay offs?
I. John would say yes! John would tell you that God can turn any tragedy into a victory if you will just wait and watch long enough.
J. And to prove his point he would probably start by telling you about a particular Friday in his life.
(John 19:38 - 40 NIV) Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.
K. In this story we see two guys that were closet disciples while Jesus was alive, but who became very courageous after his death.
L. Joseph and Nicodemus, it took Jesus’ death to bring it out in them, but after standing in the background while he was alive they came to serve him after he died.
M. They came to bury him. They walked off of the hill of calvary with Jesus’ body and his burial clothes.
1. Pilate had given them permission to bury him.
2. Joseph had given the tomb for him to be buried in and the bible says that Nicodemus had brought the spices and linens to bury him with.
N. John says that Nicodemus brought seventy-five pounds of Myrrh and Aloes. The amount that he brought is worth noticing, because that much was usually only used for kings.
O. And, I think that John mentioned the linens because they tell about the pain that was in his heart.
P. As long as there were no grave clothes and no tomb and no medical examiner maybe here was hope, but the fact that there were grave clothes meant that hope was gone.
Q. When the hearse shows up the hope of things changing leaves with the reality that things have definitely changed for the worse.
R. To John there was no doubt that the grave clothes signaled the end. They were a symbol of tragedy.
S. And there could not have been a greater tragedy to John than Jesus being dead.
1. Three years before, John had walked away from his career and his family to follow Jesus.
2. Earlier that very week he had been in a parade with Jesus that celebrated Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
3. But things went bad in a hurry, the same people that had called him their king on Sunday had screamed for his death on Friday.
4. And the clothes that Jesus was going to wear in his tomb were a reality jolt for John, they were a reminder that his friend and his dreams for the future were wrapped in grave clothes and sealed in a tomb.
T. You see John didn’t know on that Friday what we know. He didn’t know that two days later, what he saw as a tragedy on Friday, he would see and victory on Sunday.
1. John would be truthful and say in John 20:9 that he and others didn’t yet understand that Jesus would rise from the dead.
(John 20:9 NIV) (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
2. And that is why what John did on Saturday is so important, and that is why it is important that we understand that we are to do the same thing that he did.
U. There is no passage that I can have you turn to that will describe all the events that went on the Saturday after Jesus’ death.
1. There is know great knowledge to share about it.
2. But we do know this. When Sunday came John was still close by!
3. When Mary came looking for one of the Disciples she found HIM!
III. Jesus was dead! That was a fact! Jesus’ body was lifeless and His body and all John’s dreams for the future were buried in a tomb, but John didn’t leave.
A. Have you ever wondered why? I have. We know one thing he wasn’t waiting for the resurrection, because he has already told us that he didn’t realize that it was going to happen.
B. Jesus was dead and John was not expecting that to change, so why was he there.
C. When you think about it taking off might have been the smart thing to do. I mean those people who had, had Jesus crucified might decide not to stop with Jesus.
D. They might have decided to take out a few more of the key people in the movement that they hated.
E. Why didn’t John hop a donkey for friendlier places? Well, maybe it was just that he stayed close because he loved Jesus.
F. To other people Jesus was a miracle worker, and a teacher, and to some others he was the Hope of the nation of Israel.
G. And to John he was all of that but he was something more too. He was a friend.
H. John was Jesus’ friend and he didn’t abandon his friend even if he was dead.
I. John stayed close to Jesus, and that was nothing new because he had made a habit of that.
1. At the Last Supper John was close to Jesus.
2. In the garden of Gethsemane John was close by Jesus.
3. At the Crucifixion, John was close by Jesus.
J. John didn’t understand Jesus, and why he did what he did. And John was not at all glad that Jesus did what he did. But, John didn’t leave Jesus because he didn’t understand and he didn’t leave Jesus because he didn’t like what he did.
1. What about you? When you are in a position that you don’t understand what Jesus is doing in your life do you turn away from Him?
2. When you are going through a Saturday in your life how do you react?
3. When you find yourself stuck between yesterday’s tragedy and tomorrow’s victory how do you react?
4. Do you leave God or do you try to stay close to him?
K. John chose to stay close and because he did he saw a miracle!
(John 20:2-8 NIV) 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!" So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.
L. Early on Sunday Morning John and Peter got the Mary News broadcast. Jesus’ body was missing!
1. Mary thought that Jesus’ enemies had taken his body away.
2. In a flash the two disciples took off for the tomb, John was younger and he outran Peter, this is something that has more meaning for me every day.
3. John got there first and what he saw stunned him. And he froze in his tracks.
M. But, what was it that he saw? He saw Grave clothes! The bible says that he saw the strips of linen clothe that had been wrapped around Jesus, and clothe that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head folded.
N. What he saw was clothe lying, that is what we read. Now to bring out all that John saw, I have to do the Greek thing. Because the word that he uses for lying makes what he saw mean more.
O. The Greek word that John uses for "lying" means rolled up, or still in their folds.
1. That means that they had not been ripped off or torn and thrown down.
2. It means that they were still in the state that they were in when the body was inside them, only now they were flat.
3. They weren’t disturbed, they were still rolled and folded!
4. It was as if the body had just disappeared from with in them.
P. And I am sure that John’s first thought was, "How could that be."
1. If friends had removed the body they would have taken the clothes with it!
2. And if thieves had stolen the body they would done the same.
3. But one way or the other if they had taken off the clothes they would not have been laying the way they were wrapped around the body!
Q. And that leads us to a statement that John made that says it all. He "saw and believed."
R. By seeing grave clothes, John saw the power of God. Through grave clothes, John saw the power of life! Through grave clothes John came face to face with the power of eternal life!
S. We might find it strange to think that God would use something as sad a grave clothes to change a life, but I don’t know why.
T. God has a way of doing things like that.
1. He makes empty wine jugs at a wedding become a symbol of power.
2. He makes the single coin of a widow the symbol of generosity.
3. He turns a crude manger in Bethlehem into a symbol of His devotion.
4. He makes a Cross, a tool of death into a symbol of His love.
5. Why should it shock us that he would make grave clothes into a symbol of life.
IV. Which takes us back to the question that I asked earlier. Could it be possible that God could do the same thing in your life?
A. Could it be possible that God could take what you see today as a symbol tragedy in your life and turn it into a symbol of victory?
B. He did it for Rafael Rosales, a minister in El Salvador.
1. Salvadorian Guerrilla’s looked at him as an enemy, and they tried to kill him.
2. They left him to die in a burning car, but he escaped and left the country.
3. But he couldn’t escape the memories.
4. Every time that he looked in the mirror and saw his scars, it reminded him of the cruelty of his attempted killers.
5. But, God spoke to his heart, and it was as if he said "they did the same thing to me."
C. And, Rafael began to look at his scars differently. Instead of reminding him of pain they began to remind him of his Savior, and His sacrifice for him.
1. He was able to forgive his attackers, and he went back to his home country to look for a place to start a new church!
D. Could God do the same thing in your life? Sure, but there is one thing that you have to do, and its what John did. You have to stay close to God and not leave when you don’t understand what he is doing. Even when you don’t like what he is doing, you have to stay as close as you can.
E. Let’s go back to that verse that I quoted earlier, because it applies to what John did.
(Rom 8:28 NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
F. Notice the part that comes after where it says And we know that in all things God works for the good.
G. What does it say next? "Of those who love him."
H. Because John loved Jesus he stayed close to Him even when he didn’t understand or like what Jesus was doing, but because he stayed close, he got to see a miracle.
I. Now I want you to do something for me. I want you to take the word "everything" out of that sentence, and put in whatever it is that is happening in your life right now that you don’t like or understand.
J. Rafael would say in scars God works for the good of those who love him.
1. In your life in might read In hospital stays God works for the good of those who love Him.
2. In divorce papers God works for the good of those who love Him.
3. In a prison term, in Chemo, in surgery, in custody battles, God works for the good of those who love Him.
4. In war, and waiting for those we love to come home from war, God works for the good of those who love Him.
K. If God can change John’s life through grave clothes. If God could change John’s life forever for the better through tragedy, could it be that he can be doing the same in your life, and my life?
L. As hard as it may be for you to believe right now, you may only be a Saturday away from victory.
M. You could be hours away from saying " God I can’t believe that you did this for me, but you have to stay close to see it."
N. And if you asked John, he would tell you it is worth ever minute you wait.
O. So, whatever it is that would try to turn you away from God, DON’T LET IT!
P. Sunday is on the Way! And if you hang around You can see tragedy turned into victory!
