Resurrection

John 20:1-18 Resurrection

1. Resurrection tells us Jesus is not where He is suppose to be Jesus is Suppose to be in a Tomb

• Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw the stone removed said, . 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.”

2. Jesus is suppose to be dead not resurrected

• She witnessed the Journey from Jerusalem to Golgotha the Place of the Skull

• She witnessed the soldiers mock strip him and flog him

• she witnessed the pitilessness of the cross

• Mary Magdalene had seen him die on the cruel cross his limp, broken body taken down from the instrument of torture, the cross.

• She assumed now, more than 48 hours later, that her Lord was still captive to what Shakespeare calls in Romeo and Juliet, that “detestable maw … womb of death.” All she knew was that he wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

• This is a truth that many of us have Jesus, so often, isn’t where he is supposed to be.

3. Jesus is suppose to show up when we want Him to

• Martha expected Jesus to show up before her brother Lazarus died, not afterward.

• Martha told Jesus to his face, “You’re late. When we needed you most, you were a not there

• We expect Jesus to show up in the right places such as, Churches, music, prayers,

• Sometimes Jesus shows up in messy places, bars, prostitution, drug OD, homeless folk, drug attics, broken marriages, broken lives, broken hopes. Places where we deny Jesus like Peter did and he weep bitterly.

• Maybe the empty tomb tells us Jesus shows up in our empty places and we don’t even know it This is essentially Mary’s situation in the opening verses of the gospel text,

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4. Resurrection is something we Just believe

• I read somewhere: “The resurrection can be daunting and confusing if we try to understand it solely from a scientific or rational perspective.

• Books have been written to “prove” how the resurrection was possible.

• the resurrection as a pivotal doctrine of our faith

• The text today tells us they believed first; and understanding would come later.” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,”

• Saint Anselm, the 11th century archbishop of Canterbury, who wrote extensively about believing and understanding. He reduced the issue to a nice catch phrase, that is, “I believe so that I may understand.” This, for Anselm, was the opposite of “I think so that I may believe.” In other words, Anselm writes, “I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but rather, I believe in order that I may understand.” This is what he would call “faith seeking understanding.”

• Faith first; reason later. Believe first; understand later.

5. Resurrection means Hope beyond the Grave

• There is a song by Lauren Daigle rolling stones “Jesus is still rolling stones

• One day He called my name and I have risen

• All at one I came alive

• Resurrection means Because He lives I can face tomorrow, Because He lives all fear is gone

• Because I know he holds the future,

• And life is worth the living, just because he lives.

• May we live in the hope of the resurrection, today and always.