EASTER PEOPLE – In a Good Friday World
Mark 16:11
• Mark 16:11 (NIV)
When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
I. The Death and Resurrection of Jesus.
1. Jesus talked plainly about His death and resurrection in advance!
• Mark 10:33-34 (MsgB)
[33] "Listen to me carefully. We’re on our way up to Jerusalem. When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the religious leaders and scholars. They will sentence him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Romans, [34] who will mock and spit on him, give him the third degree, and kill him. After three days he will rise alive."
2. The events of His death and resurrection unfolded just as Jesus said they would.
a) Judas, on of Jesus disciples, secretly went to the religious leaders and agreed to had Jesus over to them for thirty pieces of silver. After celebrating the Passover with Jesus, Judas led a group of soldiers into the garden of Gethsemane and betrayed Jesus with a kiss.
b) After being arrested Jesus was taken to the religious leader who falsely accused Him. They took Jesus to Pilot the Roman governor of Judea and demanded that Jesus be put to death. Though Pilot saw no grounds for Jesus to be crucified he conceded to the pressure of the crowd and ordered Jesus to be put to death on a cross.
c) The Roman soldiers took Jesus away to be crucified; Jesus was beaten mocked and spit upon. Jesus was forced to carry His own cross outside the city to the hill called Golgotha, “The Skull,” where He was crucified.
d) Jesus was buried in a tomb. At the request of the religious leaders the grave was sealed and a Roman guard was stationed at the tomb to guard the body of Christ.
e) It seemed as though all hope was gone. The miracle worker, the teacher, was dead. Jesus’ disciples hid for fear that they too might be arrested because of their connection with Jesus. (But that was Saturday!)
f) On the Third Day, Jesus rose from the dead! Death could not hold Jesus any longer. The earth shook, and the stone rolled away. The soldiers guarding the tomb were so afraid they fell to the ground like dead men. Jesus, the One they had crucified, was alive and the tomb was empty!
3. Jesus’ followers, His closest friends, did not expect the resurrection! Even though Jesus had told them in advance that He would rise again on the third day, they could not imagine the impossible.
• Mark 16:1-11 (NIV)
[1] When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. [2] Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb [3] and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"
[4] But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. [5] As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
[6] "Don’t be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. [7] But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ’He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ "
[8] Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
[9] When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. [10] She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. [11] When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
a) Jesus had told His disciples that after He had been killed He would rise again on the third day. What are Jesus’ followers doing on resurrection Sunday? Are they eagerly waiting in anticipation for Jesus to come out of the grave? NO! The women are going to anoint the body of Jesus; they still expect Jesus to be a corpse! The rest of the disciple are still mourning and weeping; they filled with grief not hope.
b) Even after Mary Magdalene tells the others that she has seen Jesus alive, raised from the dead just like Jesus said He would, even then Jesus’ disciples still did not believe it.
c) Even though it was resurrection Sunday the disciples were still living as though Jesus was dead. They were unaware that they could be set free from the hopelessness of a Good Friday world.
II. The Good Friday World. What does it mean to live in a Good Friday world? Let’s try to discover what a typical week is like for so many people that have not experience the resurrection power of Jesus. Perhaps you may even find yourself lost somewhere in the days of the week living somewhere in the Good Friday World.
1. Monday—Living in the Good Friday world you just goes through the routine of life without really living.
2. Tuesday—Living in the Good Friday world you are questioned by others and secretly live with self doubt fear and worry.
3. Wednesday—Living in the Good Friday world you live in a world of sickness, poverty and unmet expectations.
4. Thursday—Living in the Good Friday world you have to be careful to look out for number one and guard against betrayal.
5. Friday—Living in the Good Friday world you fear death because deep inside you know that you die a little more everyday.
6. Saturday—Living in the Good Friday world you have no hope; your heart is heavy with despair because evil and violence flourish.
7. Sunday—Living in the Good Friday world you have only a religious routine, a form of godliness without the resurrection power of God.
It’s time to leave the grave behind and begin to really live!
III. Easter People living in a Good Friday world!
1. What does it mean to be “Easter People?”
a) RESURRECTION PEOPLE
• Ephesians. 2:1-5 (NIV)
[1] As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins . . . [4] But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, [5] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.
b) HOPEFUL PEOPLE
• 1 Peter 1:3 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
c) JOYFUL PEOPLE
• 1 Peter 1:8-9 (NIV)
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, [9] for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
2. Easter people bring the power of the resurrection into the Good Friday world to set captives free.
