Reactions To The Resurrection Series

INTRODUCTION

• PC VIDEO

• REWIND SLIDE

• SLIDE #1

• What an exciting day! Today as we come together to worship our great God, we also celebrate the event that changed EVERYTHING!

• As our clip reminds us that the resurrection changes everything.

• The resurrection of Jesus changed my life. Had Jesus not been raised from the dead then there would be no transformative power in giving your life to Him!

• Jesus could change my life because Jesus lives, the tomb is empty!

• We are not here today to remember a death but rather to celebrate a resurrection!

• The resurrection of Jesus is part of the foundation of Christianity. If the resurrection did not happen then we all are in trouble.

• SLIDE #2

• 1 Corinthians 15:13–16 (ESV) But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

• When you examine the religions of the world, they involve a person who is dead, in some cases people make pilgrimages to visit the tomb of their fallen hero, but in the case of Christ, the tomb IS empty!

• The resurrection was an incredible event in history and there are many who are skeptical as to the reality of the event.

• SLIDE #3

• Today we are going to begin a new series entitled REWIND. Over the next few weeks we invite you to join us as we look at the events of the last week of Jesus’ life.

• Today in John 20 we begin our rewind by looking at reaction to the resurrection by some of Jesus key followers.

• As we examine the various reactions to the resurrection by those who loved Jesus the most we can see a high level of believability that gives us even more evidence to help us to believe in this incredible event.

• Let us begin our journey by first examining…

• SLIDE #4

SERMON

I. The reaction to the empty tomb.

• This had been a traumatic couple of days for the disciples and the other followers of Jesus.

• Just about a week before Jesus entered Jerusalem being hailed as a victorious King, now just a couple of days ago he was crucified, He was now dead.

• The execution of Jesus was done in public for all to see, there was no doubt that He was now dead.

• The crucifixion and burial took place on Friday evening. It is now Sunday morning.

• Mary Magdalene headed for the tomb with some other disciples to add some more spices to the body of Jesus.

• SLIDE #5

• Mark 16:1 (ESV) When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.

• From Mark we see that the folks did not go to the tomb expecting to find an empty tomb. They expected to find a dead body that was in need of spices to help preserve it.

• When I first started reading the Bible, this fact really had an impression on me because if one were making up a story, this would not be the way it would be written.

• Now open your bible with me and let us look at John 20:1

• SLIDE #6

• John 20:1 (ESV) Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

• Mary is the first to reach the tomb; she sees the stone had been moved away from the entrance. What did she do? If you are writing a STORY most would say that she would have dropped to her knees and worshipped God for raising Jesus.

• IS that what we see?

• Let us look at verses 2-10 now

• SLIDE #7

• John 20:2–10 (ESV) 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.