Title: “Have You Seen Jesus, Today?” 04/11/04
West Side
Text: John 20:1-20/
Luke 24:13-34 and 35-49 A.M. Service
Purpose: An Easter Sermon with the emphasis that Christ lives in us.
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Introduction
(Sandi Patti/ Larnel Harris: “I’ve Just Seen Jesus.” Sung either right before the message, or after the message as a closing)
Recap the Resurrection scene: Paint the picture of that Easter morning.
1. It was early Sunday morning, still dark outside (3:00 a.m.)
2. By all intents and purposes it was going to be just another day.
3. The sun was going to break over the Eastern sky like it does every morning.
4. The squirrels would begin their daily routine of rounding up today’s food.
5. The birds would herald to the world that a new day has begun.
6. And yet, this day would forever change the world.
Recap:
1. Jesus had been tried, and sentenced to die on a cross
2. There he offered up his body willingly, completing the task that God had sent him to do: To die for our sins.
3. They had taken Jesus’ body down, and placed it a borrowed tomb. Rolled a very large stone in front, sealing him in. Case closed the Romans thought.
4. Sin had thought that the last chapter had been written. And that he had won.
But this day would be so different in so many ways.
In John 20 we pick up the story as it unfolds, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that it had been opened. Uncertain to what this means, she runs and finds Peter and John.
The two of them come running. John, probably the younger of the two, gets to the tomb first, while Peter follows up behind. John waits, and as Peter arrives, he enters first, and then John. Both see the linen clothes lying there in the tomb. Upon seeing this they returned to their home.
But there is an interesting verse here.
Verse 8 says, “Then the other disciple (John) also went in, and he saw and believed…”
What is significant about that? It’s significant because it sets the stage to what will follow.
In English it is not so clear, but if we refer to the original language we see that what the writer was conveying about “he believed…” was that it was written in the aorist tense.. It was a decisive action, not a process.
He had not yet seen the Risen Christ, but the sight of those linen clothes, and the absence of the body, was sufficient to assure him that Jesus was not part of the dead, but that he had risen FROM the dead.
Today I want to take these few moments to talk to us about the question, “Have you seen Jesus, today?”
I realize that we will not see the physical side of Jesus today, but have you come to the point where you have experienced him personally? If you have, may you find today, an assurance of your faith. If you have not, may I encourage you to listen closely, as we see Jesus entering into three areas of life, and how each experienced Jesus.
This first one is a continuation of this present story line.
I. Jesus comes during personal moments of reflection to bring assurance.
Who was Mary Magdalene?
In Mark 16:9 it tells us that she is one in whom Jesus had driven out 7 demon spirits.
So no doubt she had experienced what life had been like without Jesus. And so now she comes seeking his body there in the tomb only to discover that he was not there.
What will be interesting in each of these stories, will be that there is a question, an identification of need.
In this story the question is asked twice. Once by the two angels, and once by the Lord. But it is the same question.
Verses 13, 15, “Why are you crying?”
What was her need?
Jesus had obviously forgiven her of her sin, we know that from the earlier Scripture from Mark.
I like how the Scripture paints the picture.
1. It was still dark, when Mary came to the tomb, and found that the stone had been rolled away.
2. In her sin, she too had come to Christ in darkness, and Christ while not yet having died nor risen, but in essence when he forgave her, rolled the stone of sin and shame away from her heart.
3. Yet, had she recognized and experienced that and understood what Jesus had done.
For John, he simply saw the absence of the body with the clothes still there, and that was good enough for him. He believed.
But for Mary, it was different. She had not come to that conclusion.
Point of Application: It would be good for us to remember that God comes to each of us in various ways according to our temperament and ability to receive, respond, and understand. It is part of the nature of the universal gospel message.
How Christ reveals himself to you, is going to be different in how he gets a hold of my life. And you respond is going to be different from how I respond. He touches our lives differently.
For Mary, she’d come to the wrong conclusion. The linen clothes were not evidence that he was still here and someone had taken him, they were evidence that he was not here because he had arisen.
William Barclay comments:
The reason she could not recognize Jesus when she was all alone, and he was behind her, was for a couple of reasons.
1. She was facing the wrong direction. She still clung to the tomb where they had placed his body. But he was not there.
2. She had come to the wrong conclusion. Through her pain and sorrow, it clouded her ability to see clearly.
3. She clung to Jesus for the wrong reasons. She remembers what life was like without Christ, and now that she had found him, she was not going to let him out of her sight. But Jesus says in verse 17, “Don’t cling to me…”
This was different from when Thomas was invited to touch Christ, and to place his fingers into his hands and side. What was different?
The difference was that Mary was trying to cling to Jesus the way she had always known him, and how he had impacted her life. But things were going to be different now. For Thomas, it would be not one of clinging to the past, but identification for the future.
You see, the resurrection of Jesus is not a spectacular event with crashing cymbals and blaring trumpets. No, the discovery that he is alive is like the quiet dawning of a new day heralding the defeat of the night.
The risen Christ meets his friends personally and intimately at unexpected times and places, overcoming their grief and doubt. They are flooded with joy and peace as they move from sight to faith.
And while our sorrow and grief can cloud our eyes and minds with self-pity and keep us from seeing the truth, when the Master speaks our name, it is the Shepherd calling his sheep. For it was not Mary who found Jesus, but Jesus who found Mary.
By his resurrection Jesus has not only broken the bonds of sin and death, but also the limitations of space and time and weakness of earthly existence.
With verse 16, Jesus speaks her name.
When Jesus comes in those moments of personal reflection, he brings assurance. There was an assurance with those spoken words. She recognized her name, spoken by the Master. And instead of clinging to what she knew, he sent her on a mission. A mission to tell the other disciples.
The message was this: Verse 18 “I have seen the Lord!”
Let me ask you today. In your moment of personal reflection, when there may be sorrow and hurt, or doubt and confusion, let Jesus in. For he wants to met you personally, and bring an assurance that only he can bring.
II. Jesus comes along the journey of life’s questions with understanding.
Luke 24:13 “The same day…” It’s the story of two unidentified disciples who are probably walking home from Jerusalem after witnessing all that has transpired that day. They were talking about the events, and now how was that all going to impact their lives.
As they walked, they were joined.
They were trying to make sense out of all the pieces of the puzzle. They were trying to reconnect all the disjointed fragments they’d experienced.
The Scripture says that as they walked, Jesus joined them.
In verse 16 it says, “But they didn’t know who he was, because God kept them from recognizing him.”
Sometimes revelation doesn’t come until later when God is ready. Here, Jesus wasn’t changing their lives, he was walking with them. He was going to give meaning to all of this, but right now, he simply was content to draw them in, ask his question of identification, “What are you so concerned about?’ so as to enter into their point of contact.
Notice how the Scripture paints this picture.
Verse 17b and 18. “They stopped short, sadness written across their faces.”
It was a real point of identification. Almost saying, “man the problem is so obvious can’t you see it…” and yet, could they see their real problem.
The initial reports of the day from the women seem to have confused these two disciples more than encouraged them. They were caught in limbo. Somewhere between hope and despair.
Jesus’ response- “you are such foolish people..” was not meant to be taken as modern day interpretation would have it, of being stupid and evil, but rather, one who lacks understanding.
In their searching, they almost missed the opportunity.
v. 28-29 says, “By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus would have gone on, but they begged him to stay the night with them, since it was getting late. So he went home with them.”
Point is this: Among the searching in life, don’t miss the opportunity to invite Jesus home. Jesus is not only the host of his Church, but he is the quest in every home that would have him.
Invite Jesus into your daily life. As Jesus broke the bread and ate with them, their eyes were opened.
You see, there may be in our Christian life great personal moments of excitement and transformation. But life at times can be pretty uneventful and unexciting. That is because there is a hidden factor of the Christian faith. That is that each day we can take God with us.
You may experience him in your personal times of reflection, and gain, assurance. Or you may experience him in your daily life together, where he brings understanding and peace.
Bruce Larson said, “The events of Easter cannot be reduced to a creed or philosophy. We are not asked to believe the doctrine of the resurrection. We are asked to meet this person raised from the dead. In faith, we move from belief in a doctrine to a knowledge of a person. Ultimate truth is a person. We met him. He is alive-“
The Christian goes onward, not to a night which falls, but for a dawn which breaks. And that is what, in sorrow and their disappointment, the two on the Emmaus road had not realized.
The joy they experienced, they shared, “for they had just seen Jesus.”
Jesus has asked,
a. Why are you crying?
b. What are you concerned about?
c. Why are you frightened?
III. Jesus comes behind the closed doors of fearfulness and brings, peace, confidence and authority.
Luke 24: 35-49 It’s the story of when Jesus appears to his disciples who had been hiding behind closed doors because of fear of the Jews.
These guys had walked with Jesus over the last three years. They’d seen him do miracle after miracle. They’d seen him heal the sick, cure the lame, give sight to the blind, even raise his friend, Lazarus back from the dead.
But now he was no longer here. What were they going to do?
Fear is a great enemy of faith. Fear has stopped many person, project or potential from ever fulfilling it’s ultimate end.
But notice that Jesus was not hampered by the physical limitations of this world. The door did not hide his disciples from him.
The Scripture says that 1 Cor. 13:12, “Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and in complete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now.”
We don’t know everything. Many things don’t make sense to us. But there will come a day, when we will know things more completely.
If in the story of the Emmaus Road, true fellowship was created between Jesus and his two followers, then here there is a sense of community. They had heightened their awareness that Jesus might visit them. As they listened to other’s stories, Jesus appeared to them.
I wonder what it would be like if we lived in a state of expectancy. Not that Jesus would become our bell-hop, but rather, a state of expectancy that says, God I know you want to work in my life, and I’ve surrendered that to you today, because it’s more than just understanding, it’s about heart transformation. So today, Lord, I live in expectancy of your presence in my life.
You know, when you are tired, and fearful, Jesus can bring peace, confidence and authority.
Look at your situation. What door have you closed in your life? Jesus said, “Peace be with you.” Or “Do not be afraid.”
He didn’t say he’d remove the situation. But he saying, that in the midst of life, I can bring peace. And when there is peace, with expectancy, there can come confidence.
v. 47 says, “With my authority, take this message of repentance to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for al who turn to me.”
That’s why Paul could write to the church in Colossi and say in Colossians 1:27 “Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in his glory.” (hope of glory)
Conclusion:
Expect the unexpected! Live in an awareness of his presence. While you’re watching TV, doing your taxes, cooking supper, washing the dog, fixing the car…
Song: "I’ve Just Seen Jesus"
1 “The Communicator’s Commentary – John” by Roger L. Fredrikson. Word Publishing. 1985 pg. 282
2 The Communicator’s Commentary – Luke” by Bruce Larson. Word Publishing. 1985 pg. 336.
