UN-Forgiven: The Resurrection of Christ
"Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you."
A man was blissfully driving along the highway, when he saw the Easter Bunny hopping across the middle of the road. He swerved to avoid hitting the Bunny, but unfortunately the rabbit jumped in front of his car and was hit. The basket of eggs went flying all over the place. Candy, too.
The driver, being a sensitive man as well as an animal lover, pulled over to the side of the road, and got out to see what had become of the Bunny carrying the basket. Much to his dismay, the colorful Bunny was dead.
The driver felt guilty and began to cry.
A woman driving down the same highway saw the man crying on the side of the road and pulled over. She stepped out of her car and asked the man what was wrong.
"I feel terrible," he explained. "I accidentally hit the Easter Bunny and killed it. There may not be an Easter because of me. What should I do? "
The woman told the man not to worry. She knew exactly what to do. She went to her car trunk, and pulled out a spray can. She walked over to the limp, dead Bunny, and sprayed the entire contents of the can onto the little furry animal.
Miraculously the Easter Bunny came to back life, jumped up, picked up the spilled eggs and candy, waved its paw at the two humans and hopped on down the road. 50 yards away the Easter Bunny stopped, turned around, waved and hopped on down the road another 50 yards, turned, waved, hopped another 50 yards and waved again!!!!
The man was astonished.
He said to the woman, " What was it that you sprayed on the Easter Bunny?"
The woman turned the can around so that the man could read the label.
It said: "Hair spray. Restores life to dead hair. Adds permanent wave."
In a sense this joke is a resurrection story!
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most monumental, pivotal event in human history. It is so important and world changing that I feel overwhelmed by its magnitude, and incapable of addressing this event with words that it is worthy of. Today you will have a choice though, to walk out of this place forgiven or remain unforgiven. The offer will be made to all of us. It is the offer of the Resurrection.
I wish we could go back to that event 2000 years ago, and be there when Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb, soul and heart crushed by the loss of her rabbi and teacher.
¡ñ To know of her love for Jesus, we need to know that Jesus had delivered her from 7 demons.
¡ñ Some accounts say she is the prostitute who washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.
¡ñ Mary is the last to leave the scene of the crucifixion, the last to leave the tomb after burial, and the first to arrive on the scene of the empty tomb on Sunday morning.
I watch with awe and wonder when someone is willing to give such devotion, one who is willing to embrace the pain and sadness that she embraced; to be so close to the suffering of Jesus and to linger and wait and watch.
If you have ever been in close proximity to someone¡¯s intense suffering, you know the price of intimacy that it demands.
Mary didn¡¯t hide from the pain she shared with Jesus, she didn¡¯t run from it, she went beyond merely encountering the pain, she embraced it.
Mary chose to travel through it instead of trying to avoid it by going around it.
It is clear that she has a devotion to Jesus that transcends even her own pain or discomfort, that goes beyond the ache of mourning. She is devoted to Jesus.
That devotion is the result of love. The love that comes when your life has been changed by someone else¡¯s love for you. Mary¡¯s devotion is remarkable.
1. Contrast this to another of Jesus¡¯ followers, his closest disciple, Peter.
a. Impetuous Peter, who was quick to speak, to confirm Jesus as the Messiah and moments later be rebuked for not wanting to hear that Jesus would have to suffer and die.
b. Peter who proclaimed loudly that he would never leave Jesus, yet loudly and with curses, denies him not just once, but three times.
c. And then catches that intimate glance from Jesus while Jesus is being beaten and then knows the pain of his own failure.
d. Peter, who goes away and weeps bitterly, and according to the scriptures, was probably walking away.
2. Peter loved Jesus as his teacher and friend.
a. But Peter had a much different relationship with Jesus than Mary did¡Mary knew Jesus as more than just a teacher and friend.
b. Mary knew Him as her DELIVERER and for that, she was DEVOTED to him.
i. Just like the song we sang, ¡°He touched Me¡±¡Mary¡¯s life was turned right side up by Jesus and it affected the way she lived.
c. Peter on the other hand followed Jesus as a DISCIPLE, or as a student.
i. Jesus¡¯ sayings were DOCTRINES to Peter.
Lets look now at the scene on Saturday after the Crucifixion and Burial:
1. While Mary was lingering close to the pain of her Deliverer, Peter was in his own torment, believing himself a terrible failure, and rightly so, he had denied knowing the person who had given him three precious years of his life.
a. Peter, not content to just deny Jesus, went so far as to call down curses on himself while denying Him.
b. Then it seems, he separates himself from the rest of the disciples, and he spends the weekend alone, probably pondering what to do next in a life without Jesus and a life where he has to live with a feeling of failure
c. Perhaps you can relate to Peter, because you have walked away from Jesus sometime in the past and are standing at a distance¡or you have denied Christ by your life-style and wonder¡is it worth coming back?.
2. The other disciples are in hiding, having been terrified by the armed mob sent by the priests and Pharisees, and are all wondering if they will be next.
a. Anyone with association with Jesus has a reason to be afraid. It would be not unlike the inner circle of Saddam Hussein being wanted for ¡°questioning¡± and possible prosecution¡they were making themselves scarce from the authorities.
3. And in the midst of all of these conflicting emotions, on Sunday morning we can only imagine what happened when they found the tomb empty, and they heard the words of the angel: ¡°Don¡¯t be alarmed, you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter.¡±
a. Those telling two words¡¡±and Peter¡± let us know of Peter¡¯s dilemma ¨C He is alone. He is rejected¡he is in great self pain. Go tell the disciples AND PETER.
b. And then, we have the account from the book of John 20:1-7
¡°Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and I don’t know where they have put him!"
3Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. 4The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. 5He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying to the side.
We can perhaps get a taste of what Peter felt in those hours before Sunday morning and then in the moments after finding the empty tomb in a song that Don Franscisco sang¡the words to which I will read to you as if it were a poem:
HE’S ALIVE
The gates and doors were barred and all the windows fastened down.
I spent the night in sleeplessness and rose at every sound,
Half in hopeless sorrow and half in fear the day
Would find the soldiers breaking through to drag us all away.
And just before the sunrise, I heard something at the wall.
The gate began to rattle, and a voice began to call.
I hurried to the window and looked down into the street
Expecting swords and torches and the sound of soldiers feet.
There was no one there but Mary, so I went down to let her in.
John stood there beside me as she told us where she’d been.
She said they’ve moved Him in the night and none of us knows where.
The stone’s been rolled away and now His body isn’t there.
We both ran t’ward the garden, and then John ran on ahead.
We found the stone and the empty tomb just the way that Mary said.
But the winding sheet they wrapped Him in was just an empty shell,
And how or where they’d taken Him was more than I could tell.
Something strange had happened there; just what I didn’t know.
John believed a miracle, but I just turned to go.
Circumstance and speculation didn’t lift me very high
’Cause I’d seen them crucify Him, and then I saw Him die.
Back inside the house again, the guilt and anguish came.
Everything I’d promised Him just added to my shame.
When at last it came to choices, I denied I knew His Name,
And, even if He was alive, it wouldn’t be the same.
Suddenly, the air was filled with a strange and sweet perfume.
Light that came from everywhere drove shadows from the room.
Jesus stood before me with His arms held open wide,
And I fell down on my knees, and I just clung to Him and cried.
He raised me to my feet, and as I looked into His eyes
Love was shining out from them like sunlight from the skies.
Guilt and my confusion disappeared in sweet release,
And every fear I’d ever had just melted into peace.
He’s alive, He’s alive,
He’ve alive, and I’m forgiven.
Heaven’s Gates are opened wide.
He’s alive, He’s alive, He’s alive...............He’s alive !!!
1. Perhaps you can relate to Peter¡¯s reaction, his relief.
a. His sudden recognition that Jesus was alive and that he was forgiven.
b. It was a change in his relationship with Jesus.
c. Up to this point, Jesus was his teacher, Peter was the DISCIPLE¡but now Peter¡¯s life has been turned RIGHT-SIDE-UP.
d. His encounter with Jesus is no longer as a student or learner to a teacher or mentor.
e. His encounter is now in the realm of the supernatural, in the realm of REDEMPTION and FORGIVENESS.
f. Just as Mary had known Jesus this way as her DELIVERER, now Peter¡¯s relationship with Jesus had changed. And now, Peter had changed as well.
2. What about you? Is Jesus just a doctrine to you?
a. Or have you experienced DELIVERANCE?
b. You will know that by the level of DEVOTION you have toward Him.
i. If He is but a doctrine, an idea to believe in, a historical person who did great things, a teacher¡then your relationship to him will be like Peter¡¯s before the resurrection.
ii. You will be filled with good intentions (like Peter) and numbed by broken promises.
iii. Church will be a duty instead of someplace you can¡¯t wait to be at.
iv. Worship will be a chore instead of a delight.
v. You may prefer to see God from afar instead of up close and personal.
vi. You will set the priorities for your life and God will be an afterthought.
vii. Intimacy with God is a foreign idea to you that better fits zealots than rational people like yourself.
viii. And it is because you have not PERSONALLY experienced what Jesus came to do for you.
3. But if Jesus has touched your life, you know something is different. You are like Mary Magdalene.
a. You are the last to leave and the first to arrive.
b. You cannot wait to be near Jesus.
c. To hear His voice and to share in His plans for the world and other people¡¯s lives.
d. You want to be a part turning the world right-side up.
e. But¡You can experience a life change today that will allow you to know personally the love and forgiveness and redemption and deliverance God offers.
i. But you must not run away.
ii. You must not deny him today.
4. You can make the greatest choice of your life today or make the most tragic decision of your life today.
a. Because¡If Christ is raised, you gain everything by trusting in him or lose everything by rejecting him.
i. Note especially John 19:30. Jesus¡¯ cry from the cross is ¡°It is finished.¡± This the Greek word tetelestai. This word was used in commerce at the time. It was often written across a bill to indicate that the bill was paid in full.
ii. The resurrection is the receipt that God gave humanity that Jesus¡¯ death did, indeed, pay the full price of our sins.
iii. The world¡¯s sins are not enough to keep Christ in the grave! His resurrection is proof that our sins are forgiven!
iv. Jesus HAD TO DIE for our sins. Our sins deserved death. He had to pay the ransom for them or we would have to pay the price ourselves.
v. But the resurrection means that no sin is so heinous that we cannot be forgiven and that we cannot forgive ourselves.
1. Some of you have done some pretty foul things in your time.
2. The empty tomb means that they¡¯re forgotten and forgiven if you will place your faith and life in the hands of Jesus!
5. Or¡Perhaps you have wandered away from God this past year or more.
a. Easter is the message that no matter how terrible your life has been or how badly you feel about yourself, there is hope and forgiveness for you available in Jesus Christ.
b. If you have wandered away from Jesus,¡ this Resurrection Sunday you can return, because Resurrection Sunday has a powerful lesson for you:
c. Romans 6:5 tells us: ¡°For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection!¡±
i. The bible tells us that when we are baptized ¡°into Christ¡± we are baptized (immersed) into his death, and when we come out of the water, we are ¡°raised¡± with Him.
ii. This symbolic action of baptism also illustrates what happened when we became Christians. We died to our old way of life¡
iii. The way of life that was self-lived, self-run, self-motivated
iv. And rose to a new life, one that is
1. Controlled by the spirit of God, led by God, and motivated by God.
2. If you are not experiencing a life that is controlled, led and motivated by God, then you should ask yourself¡have I really died with Christ?
a. Colossians 3:3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
3. Ask yourself: ¡°Have I ever done any more than simply profess belief in my brain but never trust him with my heart and soul?¡±
4. ¡°Does he rule me or do I rule me?¡±
5. If you really have believed Jesus Christ is raised from the dead, then you must allow Jesus and His claims to rule you.
a. He paid for you.
b. He did so by paying his life as a ransom for you¡and last week we learned that a ransom is due for sin.
c. And we cannot pay it ourselves.
d. We are helpless¡unless someone pays it for us.
e. And Jesus paid it¡every last drop, every last penny of it.
6. And how could anyone dare to live a self-run life after hearing that?
v. It was Easter Day, 1973. Uganda groaned under the terror of Idi Amin. Still fresh in young Pastor Kefa Sempangi’s memory was a face burned beyond recognition, the sight of soldiers cruelly beating a man, and the horrible sound of boots crushing bones. all for the crime of being Christian. But that Easter of 1973 Sempangi bravely and openly preached on the risen Lord in his town’s football stadium to over 7,000 people. After the service, five of Idi Amin’s Secret Police followed Sempangi back to his little church and closed the door behind them. Five rifles pointed at Sempangi’s face.
vi. "We are going to kill you for disobeying Amin’s orders" said the captain. "If you have something to say, say it before you die." Sempangi, thinking of his beautiful wife and lovely little girl, began to shake. But the risen Lord living in his heart gave him the courage to speak. "Do what you must," he said. "The Word of God says that in Christ I am already dead, and that my real life is hidden with Him in God. It is not my life that is in danger, but yours. I am alive in the risen Lord but you are still dead in your sins. May He spare you from eternal destruction."
vii. The leader looked at Sempangi for a long time. Then he lowered his gun and said, "Will you pray for us?" Sempangi did, and from that day those five officers, now converted through the witness of Sempangi’s bravery, protected the pastor with their very lives. :
viii.
You see, there are two kinds of people in this room: Those who are dead in their sins, and those who are dead to their sins. Those who are dead to their sins are like pastor Sempangi¡they have received Jesus Christ as their savior, they have received his promise of everlasting life and follow Him in a life of gratitude. They are no longer living for this world, they live for their savior.
Those who are dead in their sins are like those soldiers. They live for this world and for what they can get. If you have not received Jesus as your personal savior, if you have rejected the idea of trusting him alone for your future, then the bible says you are dead IN your sins. That means you are dead to God¡
Jesus came to pay the price of being reconciled to God¡This is the message of Easter. Will you reject the best God has, just to continue to pursue a self led life? Or will you stop running today? Today is the day of salvation. Today, you can end the lie and become alive to God!
Won¡¯t you do that today?
