The difference between a good scientist and a great scientist is not their ability to find evidence to support a theory. Rather, the difference is that the good scientist can find the evidence that supports his theory, and the great scientist is the one who can find what the evidence says. As Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes says, “Whenever you rule out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
For thousands of years, scientists undertook all sorts of theories in an attempt to understand why planets moved the way they did. They looked for cosmic tendrils that connected the planets, they looked for “attractors” to understand why one planet might prefer the company of another. And then, one day, Isaac Newton realized that the same force that would cause, say an apple to fall to the earth was the same force that kept the moon near the earth and the earth in orbit around the sun. There was no need to introduce some colossal cosmic quotient that behaved differently in the heavens than on the earth. The idea that a planet and a pear could be bound by the same rules was once highly improbable, but not impossible. So why did it take otherwise intelligent men and women so long to come this point? It’s simple, really, they were simply looking in the wrong place.
In this morning’s text, we actually have the same problem. Some women are searching for Jesus – but they’re looking in the wrong place – reasonable places, yes, but the wrong place.
I don’t know what the weather was like that first Easter morning, but I tend to imagine a beautiful sunrise rising up over the rolling hills around Jerusalem. I imagine the sky to be light, in contrast to the dark feelings that surrounded the loss that each of Jesus’ disciples felt.
But when the women approached the tomb, they knew something was different right away. The stone that kept out animals had been rolled away. Looking into the tomb, the women saw those linen cloths – nearly 100 pounds worth of material, folded and put away, as if one had shed his clothes and put them aside to be cleaned.
I’m sure many theories began to run through their head. Maybe he hadn’t actually died? No – hours of torture, beating and a thorn of crown, followed by six hours of asphyxiation and finally having a spear thrust into his side meant that he was dead.
Maybe someone had come and taken the body? But there was that guard surrounding the tomb. These weren’t the type of men you could bribe either. Besides, wouldn’t these women have been in on the plot if that were the case?
As they stood in amazement trying to understand the sight in front of their eyes, two angels appeared before them and told them the only thing that could be – He is risen, just as he said. When you have ruled out the impossible, that which remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
Of course, since that day, scholars of all stripes have attempted to explain away the Resurrection in all sorts of ways.
Maybe the authorities took the body. But why? What would they have to gain?
Maybe it was a hoax – but how could 12 uneducated fishermen keep a secret that big all the way to their deaths? And remember, none of those deaths were peaceful. Each and every one of them would be tortured in the very hope that they would confess to such a thing.
If you’ve ever watched the Discovery Channel, then you’ve probably seen a guy named John Dominic Crossan. He’s part of a group called “The Jesus Seminar.” His theory is that the Resurrection was nothing more than these men wanting very hard to believe. And this is a religious man!
But I have to ask you this. Apart from the Resurrection, what about Christ would make you want to believe? Why would you want to believe that you must become a servant? Why would you want to believe that the first should be last? What is there about taking up your cross daily that makes you ‘want to believe,’ except for the knowledge that, in fact, he has the power to forgive you and let you live with him, forever?
Fundamentally, there are two kinds of people. Those who want to believe that Jesus was just a good man who said good things – and those who know he is God. Either the Resurrection happened, or it didn’t. No amount of fudging the facts will get you away from that.
Every theory you can imagine must boil down to one of these two points – either He rose or He didn’t. If he rose, then he has the power to raise you and me. If he didn’t, it’s just a philosophy. Your task, like that of any good scientist is to answer that question for yourself.
Gather the evidence – see how God has worked in the past; see how he works in our lives today. One way or another, you must decide.
You might imagine that no rational person could believe that a dead man could live again. You’d be wrong.
Did you know, for instance, that Newton wrote more about theology than he did about optics or even physics or even math? He knew that Jesus was God. He knew that because of Jesus, he would live again. Gregor Mendel, Michael Faraday, Albert Einstein – the list of great scientists who understood that in fact the Resurrection did happen is too long for a short Sunday. Great scientists realize that sometimes you have to believe the evidence – not just your theories.
But from a strictly rational point of view, I can see the skeptics’ point of view. One can point to a funeral parlor and ask how many formerly used caskets have you ever seen? But I’d ask you this – weren’t you once dead in sin? Haven’t you seen lives transformed by the power of Christ? There are hints of resurrection all around us, even if we haven’t yet seen the whole thing. These are facts too. They point to us to a reality beyond our pet theories.
You’ll never see it if you just look at the dead. If you are looking for one who is living, you must look among the living. Why do we persist in looking for Jesus in the dead? He isn’t there, he is risen!
But that doesn’t match our expectations. After all, we’ve seen him on the cross. We’ve seen him in the tomb, and it’s natural to continue looking for Jesus in the last place we think we’ve seen him. So, where are you looking for Jesus today?
Are you looking for him in some dusty old history book? Well, He did exist in history, but the one who is the great I am never ceases to be. George Washington was a guy in history who did great things, and I’m thankful to live in the country he got off to a good start. But the truth is, he was just a guy in history. George Washington said great things and inspired great action. But he’s dead. Jesus Christ lives today. He looks out for us; he cares for us; He calls us to grow in him. That’s not a past-tense thing. It’s a present reality!
Are you looking for him in a proposition, a set of beliefs? To be sure, he’s the eternal Logos, the Living Word – but he’s not just some set of doctrines we read about on a Sunday morning. He’s not just words on a page. For every principle in Scripture, we know that there is a Jesus who laughed and ate and loved. He wasn’t some mystical force or secret knowledge or hidden Gospel – he was a living, breathing man who had compassion on those he saw. He isn’t a proof or a proposition, he’s God, if you just know where to look.
Are you looking for him in a set of laws – a code of ethics that will help us all to just get along? Well, its true. If we listen to what he said and love our fellow man that should be the result.
But Jesus wasn’t just a good guy. Those money changers in the Temple sure figured that out quick. And if you were Pharisee who had just been called a brood of vipers, blind men leading blind men – I’m not sure ‘nice’ is the first word that would have come to your mind about him.
Fundamentally, we know just one thing about the law – the law kills. Only Jesus gives us life. Jesus came to give us life, and to give it more abundantly. That’s called grace. Frankly that’s all the evidence I need.
The question this morning isn’t really about whether Jesus rose from the dead; the question is really, where is he now? Are you looking for Jesus in things that are dead, or are you in the land of the eternally living?
I can not and will not prove the resurrection to you using medicine or history or physics, but I can tell you this. The evidence for the resurrection is evident in the lives of every one who has found him. And that’s not just good news, its great news!
Would you pray with me?
Of course, they expected Jesus’ body to be right where they had left it. After all, have you ever seen a dead man move? It was fully reasonable to expect that Jesus should have been right where they left him.
But something was wrong. His body wasn’t there. The evidence was right in front of them, but it didn’t meet with what they knew about what dead men did.
But today, are we any different? We expect Jesus to be right where left him too. Every Sunday, we come in for a visit, hoping he’s hasn’t moved. But the only persons who don’t move are those who truly are dead.
…
Its Easter morning and the women in Jesus’ life came to do the last logical thing for the Lord they loved. Just two days prior, they had stood and watched in horror as the political forces in their lives conspired to crucify the Christ.
Where they had demanded Jesus play by their rules, Jesus had been humble. Where Jesus had sought to build a kingdom, they desired to tear down a man. Where Jesus had preached love, they hated him.
No matter what they did, the leaders of the land could not fit Jesus into their little boxes – into the categories which had contained everyone else. Jesus was different. Jesus was a new life and brought new life like none other. And so, they had him killed.
The women had stood by, even as Jesus’ so-called followers ran away. They watched as the man who had been their Rock was laid in a hewn out grave. The one who had fed them, healed them, loved them, and taught them now waited only for their final acts of kindness.
Just two days ago, they had put his body in the tomb. And now, they were looking for his body to do the final things that one does. But there was a problem – the body wasn’t there. Somehow, there needed to be an explanation. But they weren’t looking in the right place.
My theory on life used to be ‘do the best you can’ and hope it’s enough. But guess what? It never is. Being perfect isn’t something that I can do. It doesn’t match my theory to have to rely completely on Christ. But there’s a reason it’s called the offence of the Cross.
Long Branch Baptist Church
Halfway, Virginia; est. 1786
Easter Sunday, April 16th, 2006
Enter to Worship
Prelude David Witt
Invocation Michael Hollinger
*Opening Hymn #114
“Christ the Lord is Risen Today”
Welcome & Announcements
Morning Prayer
*Time of Praise
“Low in the Grave He Lay” #118
“I Know Whom I Have Believed” #344
*Offertory Hymn #127
“One Day”
Offertory Mr. Witt
*Doxology
*Scripture Luke 23:50-24:12
Sermon
“Looking for Jesus in All the Wrong Places”
*Invitation Hymn #438
“He Lives”
Benediction
Congregational Response
May the grace of Christ of Savior / And the Father’s boundless love
With the Holy Spirit’s favor / Rest upon us from above. Amen.
* Congregation, please stand.
Depart To Serve
EASTER READING
Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid.
It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.
Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened."
-Luke 23:50-24:12
