Love Resurrection Easter 2006
John 20-21
We tell our kids it’s wrong, but really we love to gloat when we win. We have to spike the ball and do the dance when we get the touchdown. We need to tell the other team we are the winner and they are the loser. We win at cards and we have to put the big “L” on our opponent’s forehead.
In “Good Will Hunting,” Will played by Matt Damon is vying for a college girl in a bar and a college guy is also interested in her. The College guy seems to be winning her attention, but before she leaves she slips Will her phone number. As Will walks home at the end of the night and he sees the college boy in the window of a coffee shop. He walks up and calls through the window, “Do you like apples?” The guy doesn’t hear, so he repeats, “Do you like apples?” the guys shrugs a yes. Will slaps the phone number up on the window and yells, “I got her number, how’dya like them apples!”
On Easter Sunday 2000 years ago, Jesus wins the greatest battle ever – he wins the battle over death. By dying on the cross, he pays the price for our wrongs and he removes the punishment of death, and he proves his victory by being the first to burst .from the bonds of death. Death could not hold him down! Jesus rises from the tomb in victory. But does he gloat? No! If it was me – I’d go first to Pilate’s bedroom and scare the bejeebers out of him, and then off to the temple to the chief priests and the religious leaders, and then to everyone who shouted crucify him. I’d step into their space and do the touchdown dance of my life – “howd’ya like them apples?”
Jesus doesn’t “get” gloating – he appears first to Mary Magdalene
God is always doing this – there were at least two types of people whose testimony wasn’t believed in court in New Testament times – 1) Shepherds: because of their job they were constantly ceremonially unclean, and learned to live as outcasts, not trusted by anyone – and 2) women: women were possessions, and were not reliable witnesses. If I was in a room with Paul and Nancy and I killed Paul and made it look like an accident, Nancy could come out of the room and say “Mike just killed Paul!” and everyone would say, that might be true, but it’s too bad we don’t have any witnesses!
Who are the first witnesses of Jesus birth? – Shepherds
Who is the first witness of Jesus’ resurrection? – a woman named Mary Magdalene.
God just doesn’t know how to gloat.
Mary Magdalene loved Jesus with a great love. Tradition tells us that she is the sinful woman who came to the Pharisee’s house and anointed his feet with expensive perfume. In Luke 7:36-50. When the Pharisee complains that the woman is a sinner, Jesus tells a parable about how those who are forgiven greatly, love greatly, and how those who are forgiven little in their own minds, love little.
Mary Magdalene loved greatly.
Scriptures tell us that she was released from seven demons that tormented her (Luke 8:2). Crazy Mary
Mary Magdalene loved her savior greatly.
When all the disciples, save John, abandoned Jesus at his greatest time of need, she remained with him, among the group of women at the cross, she stayed with him until the end. She made sure that she knew where Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus, and at the earliest time she could, she returned to the grave to honour him, even in death, by anointing him again with spices and perfumes to keep the body.
You can imagine Mary’s broken heart, how she prepared the spices through tears, how she felt totally lost as she went back to the tomb, hardly believing that he was really gone – the one who had saved here, had forgiven her was truly gone.
It adds insult to injury that when she gets to the tomb, the stone has been rolled away – it was said to be common practice for people to sell a tomb to a family, and later remove & dispose of the body and sell it again to another family.
She runs back to the disciples in great anguish because even the gift of honoring his body has been ripped from her.
Peter and John run back to tomb to see if it is true and they see the burial clothes lying there, but no body. Mary had come with them – after they left, she remained crying outside the tomb. She decides to look for herself, and sees the two angels, turns around to find Jesus standing in front of her. Through her tears she doesn’t recognize him until he speaks her name, and then she falls at his feet and cries out “teacher.”
If nothing else convinces you of the truth of the gospel, I think that this should.
God does very large things in very small ways.
He has raised Jesus from the dead , and he doesn’t go to the 1st century equivalent of CNN, or the papers or the world leaders. Jesus appears first to this woman who had been called out of a sinful life, who in our society would have been institutionalized because of the demons, a woman who was unstable at best, and in the eyes of the disciples, far to emotional, so much so that they wouldn’t even believe her. This is who Jesus appears to first! In fact he in such a hurry to appear to Mary that the whole resurrection process is not even complete – he asks her not to hold on to him because he has not yet returned to the Father.
I want to love Jesus that much – that before he returns to the father, he’d drop by and see me first. Jesus appears to Mary because he loves her.
Thomas
Later that day, Jesus appears to his Disciples, but Thomas has gone out for matzos. When he comes back, they tell him, but he won’t believe it: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my fingers where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Jesus shows himself to Thomas, not to prove him wrong, but to help him believe. He shows himself to Thomas because he loves him.
Peter
We have one account of a long private conversation between the resurrected Jesus and another person. Who do you think that might be?
Peter – the one who denied him
Peter – the one who promised he’d never leave him. “I don’t know him… I’m not with him… I never knew him” – Peter
Does he come back to rub Peter’s nose it – his failure his denial, his cowardice? No he returns to love him, forgive him and reinstate him.
Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. … Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
Jesus appears to Peter because of Love
Saul
Jesus makes a special trip back after he has been taken up into heaven to show himself to someone he loves – Saul of Tarsish.
Saul (Paul) would later write, ”Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 1 Corinthians 15:1-9
Saul was one of the greatest persecutors of the early church - He stood by and held the coats while the mob stoned Stephen to death, he is described as going from house to house, dragging men and women of to prison. And at the beginning of Chapter 9, he is “breathing murderous threats against the disciples.”
Saul had been given permission to go to Damascus to arrest Christians who lived there and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial. On the way Saul saw a great light. He fell to the ground and heard a voice that said “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?” And Saul said “Who are you Lord?” And the voice said “I am Jesus who you are persecuting” Saul was blinded from that experience and he had to be lead into Damascus by his servants. He was there for three days until God told a Christian man named Annanias to go pray for him.
Within the space of a few days, Saul was preaching in synagogues that “Jesus is the son of God” (v. 20). He caused total astonishment, with people asking, “Isn’t he the man who caused havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name?”
Jesus loved Saul enough not to let him go on as an enemy; instead he came to him in forceful love and made him a friend.
Jesus doesn’t return to gloat over his enemies, he returns to Love his friends, and those who would become his friends.
Do you have a past that you aren’t proud of? Do you keep down, and out of sight because of it – Jesus rose because he loves you
Are you not sure about all this faith and belief stuff? Do you wish that someone would just show you some proof – Jesus rose because he loves you.
Do you feel like you’ve let God down? Like you lived like you never knew Jesus when you should have stood up and showed your devotion to him?
Jesus rose because he loves you.
Do you hate the church and all it stands for? You aren’t so sure why you are even here? Jesus rose because he loves you.
We sing this old Hymn “I serve a risen savior, he’s in the world today.” I believe that no matter what category you fall into, or even “none of the above,” If you ask him, Jesus will show himself to you. It may be in a dream or a vision, it maybe in a Christian friend, it may be in the scripture, in creation or in a person you serve, but he will Show himself to you.
He won the victory over death, and rose from the grave, not in order to stick it to his enemies, but to show you he loves you.
