Our Victory Story – Jesus Lives
Pastor Glenn Newton
April 11, 2004 Easter Sermon
Text John 20: 1-31
I love come back stories don’t you? I love to read about men and women who have been at the very bottom it seemed, but they didn’t give up, and somehow, someway they are able to fight back to the top. I’m reminded of the story of Abraham Lincoln, you want to talk about a man who knocked down time after time. Early in his political life he couldn’t have won an election, even on a local level if his life depended on it… he was a loser many times over as he pursued his goals. But we know that that’s not how his story ends don’t we…. God used him, and his fighting spirit to help change the face of America and what we would stand for as a Nation.
Lance Armstrong, the four-time champion of the World famous Tour De France, he was diagnosed with cancer, he took a year off… everyone thought he was done, now he has come back and won the Tour De France two more years in a row to break the all time record.
One of the reasons I loved to watch John Elway play QB for the Denver Broncos was because you knew and the other team always knew that he was the comeback kid, he brought his team back from behind in the fourth quarter more times than any QB in NFL history.
We all could share some comeback stories… times when it seemed the end of the story was already written, but somehow someone did something heroic, unexpected and changed the outcome.
As a Christian you and I are apart of the Greatest Comeback Story that’s ever been written. Let’s look at our passage this morning… can you imagine, can you feel the emotions of Mary Magdalene, of these disciples who are running to the tomb?
Common sense told them that someone stole the body… but the disciples were about to reminded something they should have learned by living with Jesus for 3 ½ years, expect the unexpected. READ v. 1-9
Have you ever felt like things couldn’t get any worse, and then all the sudden they did? The disciples have been huddled, really in hiding in their homes, wondering if the temple guard had put them on their list of terrorists that would need to be arrested and killed just like Jesus. That fear had to have a hold of them.
That tells us a lot about Mary Magdalene… Mary was a comeback kid herself… was she fearful, probably, but what Jesus had done for her far outweighed her fear. Do you remember her story? When Jesus came across Mary a couple of years earlier, she was a prostitute, she was demon possessed, her life was about at the lowest one could get….something happened that changed her life forever…. Something happened that freed her from all the demonic chains that she was caught in… Something happened that gave her the strength and the power to change her lifestyle… That something was someone… Jesus.
Mary met Jesus and Jesus forgave her of her sins and gave her a new life…. Jesus is a lifegiver… He brings new life doesn’t’ he?
Friends, on this Easter Sunday morning, what I want you to know, what I want you to hear is that this Victory Story of Life over death… isn’t just one in history…. It happened 2000 years ago on a morning just like this, but just like Mary’s life…. That Victory Story is our story.. isn’t it?
I’ve been listening to your testimonies for the last 10 weeks, and there’s more coming in the weeks to come… I’ve been listening to your story’s of how you were dead in your sins, and then you met the life giver Jesus, and he gave you new life… Life eternal…. Life with power, life with the power to love, life with the power to forgive…. What he has done is given you is His Spirit and His Resurrection power to live your life as a living testimony of who he is.
The major difference between the life and teachings of Jesus and those of any other great religious leader lies in the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and the others did not, however persistent their influence may be. Listen to me this morning, the power of Christ in our world today goes beyond the Written Word, what sets Christianity apart from every other religion is that Jesus Lives… His spirit lives within my heart this morning, and as a born again Christian, His spirit lives within you.
Let’s go back to our story this morning, look with me at verse 6, 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.
John, who is writing this story, includes in his account the fact that the burial clothes were still in the tomb, and in fact the cloth that had been around Jesus’ head was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Why would John think this was important? Thanks for asking.
Remember Mary came in and said that someone had taken the body of Jesus, and by the way this is what the Pharasees decided to use as their cover up story when they couldn’t figure out what happened.
First of all the grave robbers would have had to overpower a whole company of Roman soldiers, then they would have had to move this huge boulder that was placed at the mouth of the tomb. With those two things done, which we didn’t happen, then according to the scripture after going through all this, they would have had to take the time to unwrap the body, then place the linens back onto the bed nice and neat and even fold the cloth that went around his head. None of that makes sense, the reason is because it didn’t happen that way.
Look at verse 10 with me…. JN 20:10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
JN 20:13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don’t know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
JN 20:15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
JN 20:16 Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
I always like to read what the Angels do and say, they have a sense of humor…. In one Gospel account they say, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”, and in this passage, as if they don’t know, they ask, JN 20:13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
At this point, Mary really isn’t comprehending what’s going on around her, she’s in such despair that she doesn’t even realize that she’s having a conversation with two angels, the men, where did they go? They ran back to the house, fear has seized them and they don’t know what to think or do.
But Mary, she’s kind of at the end of her rope here, she’s desparate because this one who was always there for her, who had transformed her life from brokenness and despair into something beautiful, now he’s gone and she’s starting to feel that despair again…. She’s desparate to find an answer.
If you have been a Christian very long then you know this is the truth, you can relate to Mary this morning… When all seems lost, Jesus always show up… He’s always there when we need Him… Have you found that true? Mary did, listen.
14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
JN 20:15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
JN 20:16 Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
There’s so much we can learn from this encounter, one thing I want you to know today, this Easter morning, whenever you seek Jesus with all your heart, He will be there… He wants to have a relationship with each of us… a personal one on one relationship, just like the one we are reading about this morning.
Jesus appears to Mary, she is so upset, she does not realize that it is Jesus. I don’t think we can blame her for that can we? The last time she saw Jesus alive, he was on a cross, beaten beyond recognition, her last memory of her friend was not a pretty one.
Jesus, it is kind of interesting that Jesus asks her the same question the angels did, I guess it was the obvious question since she was crying, but then he asks her, “Who is it you are looking for?”
Jesus is still asking that question this morning, Is he asking you today? “Who is it you are you looking for?”
If your looking for a religious experience, you can find that a dime a dozen in our world today.
If your looking for Truth, If you looking for the Answer to the most important Questions in life, then I tell you, You are looking in the right place… Jesus the Son of God and He Lives today, and He Loves you so much that he went to the Cross on Calvary, He paid the penalty for sin, so that all of us sinners, could be redeemed and saved if we will put our faith and trust in Him. We must choose Him. “Who is it you are looking for?”
Mary in her despair thought she was talking to the gardener, and I get the sense that she thinks that there has been some kind of cruel joke and she just wants it to end, listen.
"Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
Mary is wanting the answer to this riddle, but she doesn’t have any more energy to spend, and Jesus standing right in front of her knows she needs to hear from him, she needs to know that He is alive and that her faith and her trust hasn’t been misplaced, so what does he do?
He calls her by name, JN 20:16 Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
I remember the day when Jesus called me by name, and I answered his call, I gave my heart and my life to him, and we have been on a first name basis ever since. Do you remember when God called your name?
Isn’t that an awesome thought, the God of all creation, the Great I Am, the Alpah and the Omega, The Triune God, the God who never changes, He is the same yesterday, today and forever…. That God… He calls to me.
Today is all about our Victory Story… Easter is about Victory… it’s about Jesus overcoming death, defeating Satan and securing for His followers Eternal Life.
Jesus’ victory becomes our victory when we turn to Him in Faith. How is your story, is your story one of victory… do you know where your going to spend eternity, do you possess a hope for this life and the life to come… you can.
I look out at you this morning and I see some wonderful Victory stories that are being written and lived out right in front of my eyes… God has done some wonderful and amazing things in your lives…. There shouldn’t be any doubt in your mind that Christ is alive and well and in the life changing business if you know the victory stories of the people in our church… amen?
Friends, if your waiting for a better answer… your not going to find one…. If you waiting for a better time…. There is no better time than today, because we are not guaranteed tomorrow.
There’s a reason that I will never be a good salesman, because I hate trying to pressure people into buying something that I’m not sure will really help them or be what they need.
When I give an invitation, that’s just what it is, it’s an invitation. But there’s one thing I know about becoming a Christian that I could never know about anything else….. I know it’s exactly what you need and it will meet the need of heart and I never have to worry that somehow you will be disappointed. So I invite, I challenge, I do everything I can without pushing to persuade you to Listen to the voice of God that is calling your name. The Risen Savior, Jesus is calling you this morning to a personal relationship with him, will you answer his call?
