John 20:10-17
What Blocks us From Jesus
Introduction
A. Have you ever wondered why you can’t feel Jesus presence sometimes?
B. Have you ever thought that Jesus was not there?
C. Have you ever cried out to God and felt like no one was listening?
D. If you have let me reassure of something
E. You are not abnormal
F. If we are honest, we probably all have felt that way at one point or another
G. What causes that?
H. We are going to look at What Blocks us from Jesus
a. Our Tears
b. Our Direction
c. Our Pride
I. Our Tears (10-12)
A. Explanation
1. At this time most of the disciples were heading home.
2. However, Mary was still there
3. Now Mary was obviously still crying
4. Here the person that she loved so very much
5. Who had just died, body was missing
6. You noticed that in verse she bent over to look into the tomb
7. This is a normal reaction, even though she had already looked you want to make sure your eyes were not playing a trick on you
8. Sure enough there was no body
9. And where the body was, there were two angels sitting there
10. I am sure she at this time she was filled with ever possible emotion
B. Application
1. What can we learn from this
2. We have to understand why Mary went to the grave
3. She went to the grave to see Jesus
4. Jesus was not there obvious
5. But here is the problem
6. She began to weep
7. She began to drawn herself in her own self pity
8. She ended up missing Jesus because of her own self pity
9. WE do the same things today
10. When things get ruff, we cry
11. We just want to wave the white flag and give up
12. When things are at there worse, God is at His best
13. Those are the times when we should not block God out with our tears
14. Those are the times we need to seek God
C. Illustration
1. Job, read the book, it is one of the most depressing stories imaginable. Job looses everything! And I mean everything! The one thing however that he never losses, was his focus on God
2. He never let his tears take his focus From God
3. Tears are find, it is good to cry
4. Never however, let yourself get so wrapped up in pity you can’t focus on God.
II. Our Direction (13-15)
A. Explanation
1. I can just picture Mary
2. Act out 13-15
3. Imagine Jesus is right there
4. Now His with his resurrected body, He still look like himself
5. But here is Mary, looks at him for a second
6. And continues what she was doing
7. Jesus asks here why she is crying and who she is looking for
8. Mary did not know that the same person she was crying and looking for was right there
9. She was faced the wrong direction
10. She thought the Savior of the World was the caretaker of the Cemetery
B. Application
1. What can we learn from this
2. Sometimes we get these ideas in our head
3. Sometimes there good, sometimes there not so good
4. So we begin to ask God guide us in so and so direction
5. What happen is that unless we get the answer that we want, and things worked out the way we want them to, we get discouraged, we think that God is not listening
C. Illustration
1. God does listen to us, God does answer us. However, will respond in one of three ways. One he will give us the green light, and that is when everything seems to work out. Two he will tell us to wait -- That is when we need more patience then we have, if don’t understand the slow, ask Todd. He will tell you what slow is like. And Three God will sometimes say NO. For whatever reason God might just say no.
2. We get so caught up in what we want we forget who gives us our desires
3. We forget to ask His permission
4. And then when we don’t get our way we get mad and pout
5. God answers all our prayers, it might be that we are facing the wrong direction
6. When we face the wrong direction we can not see Jesus
III. Our Pride (16)
A. Explanation
1. Read 16
2. I can tell who someone is as soon as I hear there voice
a) Often someone will call here as soon as they say hi I like to say how are you doing ________ .
3. Now this is interesting Jesus had already spoken to Mary, but Mary did not recognize His voice
4. Jesus then called Mary by her name
5. It was then Mary realized this was not that gardener
6. This was her God
7. She responded very appropriate
8. She responded with Rabboni!
a) This is were the term Rabbi comes from, this may have been the more honorable specific term but there is not an overwhelming case for that, it was very polite way to say Teachers
9. She recognized that she still had a lot to learn, swallowed her pride, and called Christ Teacher
B. Application
1. What can we learn from this
2. We will never be able to see Jesus when we act in pride
3. We will never be able to see Jesus when we think we know everything
4. It is when we are willing to surrender our pride
5. Admit that we need help
6. Recognize Christ as our Teacher
7. It is then When we will be able to see Jesus
C. Illustration
1. When I did my internship at Oak Hill, one of Tim Miller favorite acronyms, and he had many, was we need FAT Christians
2. Faithful
3. Available
4. Teachable
5. A FAT Christian will be able to see Jesus
Conclusion
A. What blocks us from Jesus?
B. Our Tears get in the way
C. Our Direction gets in the way
D. Our pride gets in the way
E. If you want to get rid of those blocks and see The Risen Savoir
F. Turn your focus on Jesus
G. Turn your direction to Jesus
H. Turn away your pride
I. Folk, We serve a Risen Savior
J. Don’t Miss it
K. Christ the Lord is King
