Surprise!

SURPRISE!

John 20.1-18

S: Resurrection

C: Life, light, hope

Pr: JESUS BRINGS JOY OUT OF OUR MOURNING.

TS: We will find in our study of John 20.1-18 how God is an expert in performing the unexpected.

Type: Inductive

I. DARKNESS (1)

II. INVESTIGATION (2-7)

III. BELIEF (8-10)

IV. MOURNING (11-13)

V. SURPRISE! (14-16)

VI. LIGHT (17-18)

PA: How is the change to be observed?

• Rejoice in the life God offers

• Understand that darkness is never the end of the story

• Live in hope

Version: ESV

RMBC 08 April 07 AM

INTRODUCTION:

Over the past weeks, we have been studying the events that have led to what we call Good Friday.

What has been shocking is that in less than twenty-four hours…

• Jesus has washed the feet of His disciples,

• participated in a Passover meal,

• taught them many lessons,

• prayed in the Garden,

• been betrayed by one of His own disciples,

• arrested,

• healed an ear back on to a servant that has been sliced off by a sword,

• denied by another of His disciples three times,

• tried in a kangaroo court,

• sentenced to death by an official that knows that He is innocent,

• paraded through Jerusalem as a criminal,

• and then executed by crucifixion, an excruciating death.

…again, all in less than twenty-four hours.

It is no wonder that…

1. The disciples are left in stunned silence.

They feel hopeless.

It was all over.

All their dreams are shattered.

They are facing a blank wall, feeling utter helplessness.

They feel the shame of their denials and desertions.

2. The emotions of the moment are reflected well in C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, where a surprise is waiting.

ILL Cross (S)

The movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is based on the classic novel by C. S. Lewis about four London children who are sent to a professor’s country home for protection during World War II. There, they find a magic wardrobe leading to a mystical land called Narnia. To defeat the White Witch, who holds the land under her evil spells, they must join forces with Aslan, the King of Narnia.

One of the four children, Edmund, has been promised a lofty position in the kingdom by the Witch if he will bring his siblings to her. He succumbs to the temptation, only to find that she has used him.

When Edmund is rescued from the Witch’s clutches and brought under the care of Aslan, the Witch protests. According to the laws of Narnia, Edmund, a traitor, must die. Aslan saves him, however, by willingly dying in his place.

- - - - - - - -

In this scene, Susan and her sister, Lucy, are walking away from the stone table on which Aslan’s lifeless body lies, when suddenly the ground shakes. They stumble and turn around to see the stone table broken in two and Aslan’s body gone.

"Susan!" shouts Lucy.

"What have they done?" asks Susan as they approach the stone table.

Suddenly, Aslan appears.

"Aslan!" they shout.

As the girls hug the huge lion, Susan perplexedly says, "But we saw the knife, the witch…."

Aslan responds, "If the witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the Deep Magic differently; that when a willing victim, who has committed no treachery, is killed in a traitor’s stead, the stone table will crack, and even death itself will turn backwards."

Rating: PG for battle sequences and frightening moments

Elapsed Time: DVD chapter 20; 01:53:06 – 01:54:34

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Walt Disney Pictures, 2005), directed by Andrew Adamson; submitted by Van Morris, Mount Washington, Kentucky

Death is not the end of the story!

It has been turned backwards!

How this correlates with our story today!

For…

3. We will find in our study of John 20.1-18 how God is an expert in performing the unexpected.

OUR STUDY:

I. DARKNESS (1)

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.

John wants us to know that it is still dark when Mary comes to the tomb.

It is not only physically dark; it is emotionally dark as well.

And…

4. The darkness Mary was feeling became darker when she discovered that the body of Jesus was missing.

She, and the other ladies (John has chosen just to focus on Mary Magdalene), have come to complete the burial process.

The burial had certainly been done hurriedly and Nicodemus surely had not been able to use all the spices in the intended way.