Sunday, June 9, 2013

We serve a risen Savior!

Death Defying Power!
John 20:1-18
Introduction: This week was a significant anniversary. Most of us are too young to remember, but on June 6th 1944 the allied forces began the D-day invasion of Normandy.  Victory came at tremendous cost, thousands of American and allied lives were lost, but the battle was won, and even though many other battles were yet to be fought historians tell us that the defeat of Hitler was certain.  A decisive moment in the history of World War 2.  The death and resurrection of Jesus together were such a moment in the history of redemption. Paul said that Jesus was “…declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4).    Peter wrote in his first letter,
 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (I Peter 1:3-5).
 So the resurrection both vindicates that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and gives us a sure hope because He has defeated death. We started our walk through the Fourth Gospel about two years ago. Taking into account that we deviated from this study for some special days and guest speakers and the like, we’ve probably had about 80 messages on John over that period of time. For the last six weeks we looked into the passion of Christ in John. In many respects that surely is the climax of the story from John’s perspective as Jesus willingly goes to the cross and lays down his life for his sheep. That is the “lifting up of the Son” which the entire Gospel had been anticipating. But John won’t neglect to report “part 2” of the glorification of the Son – His resurrection from the dead.  Recall Paul’s summary of the gospel at the beginning of I Corinthians 15:3-4, “…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and was buried. He was raised again the third day according to the Scriptures…”  It is that part of the gospel story, as related by the beloved disciple, an eye witness, one of the first to arrive at the empty tomb, that we come to today.
     The heart of the Gospel message, the power that works in us and gives assurance, is the truth that Christ “…rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…”  Every other human biography eventually terminates with the death of the person who is the subject of the book. There is an indispensable addendum to this story…  Jesus is alive! We serve a risen Savior!
The Big Idea: Because Jesus defeated death we know He is who He claimed to be. He is worthy of our worship and our obedience.
I. The Tomb was really empty (20:1-10). It seems as though it was the last thing that any of them had expected.  It may be something of a surprise that they were so slow to catch on.  After all Jesus had repeatedly told them that it was necessary for him to be betrayed, crucified, and ultimately raised from the dead on the third day. They didn’t yet have ears to hear or eyes to see. They had some frame work for the possibility of someone rising from the dead in that Lazarus was raised by Jesus after four days in the tomb. But now Jesus himself was dead, it was the third day. How could they hope that He would somehow walk alive out of the tomb on his own? There were no “hooks” to hang that hat on!
            As the passage opens, we see the Struggle of Faith (20:1,2). We see that in the struggle of Mary Magdalene to grasp what had happened.  Somehow John tells us that she arrived at the tomb before the other women and is the first to see the stone rolled away from the entrance. According to the other gospels, at some point she met the other women, and apparently at least looked into the tomb to see that the body was not there. Her immediate conclusion: someone must have stolen his body and removed it from the tomb. It wasn’t bad enough that the rulers had rejected Him and that Pilate had gone along with an unjust execution, now He is denied the decency of having his body left in peace in the grave! 
     Notice a small detail here:  Mary came to the tomb while it was still dark. Besides giving us the obvious time reference, night and day in John has repeatedly also had a spiritual significance. Remember that Nicodemus had come to Jesus “at night” and we saw that he was still in the dark spiritually as well. He couldn’t understand what Jesus was saying when He talked about being born again. “How can these things be?” He was still in the dark. Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb, sees the stone rolled away and the tomb empty, but she is still in the dark, she doesn’t understand the meaning of the empty tomb. She concludes someone must have stolen the body! So she runs to Peter and John with the news.
     The prophet Habbakuk said “the just shall live by faith” and that became one of the key themes in Paul’s letters.  Though at one level faith is “believing God, taking Him at His word…” it also means trusting Him as His story unfolds in history. Many times as we are passing through this life we will struggle, as Mary did, and pray, like the Father who brought his demon possessed son to Jesus in Mark 9:24,  “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief…”
             As the story continues we see the Growth of Faith (20:3-9). Peter and John race to the tomb, John gets there first and stops at the entrance and looks in, Peter catches up and runs right past him into the tomb.  It’s not too surprising at this point to see Peter go rushing in. No doubt their heads were spinning as they tried to make sense out what was happening, what this meant. NB. Peter first sees the grave clothes lying empty. But John sees, and believes.  In this context, after the resurrection, it seems like this must mean that he came to a fuller, correct understanding of who Jesus is and that He was alive again.  The two responses of these disciples serve as a good reminder that God is working in our midst and we are all different, at different places in our walk of faith.  The tomb is empty! That is a fact. Has the significance of that truth come home to your heart? It is not only the revelation of that fact historically, but the interpretation of it verbally that God uses to speak to our hearts.
            Notice the experience of the disciples, we read in verse 9, “For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” Elsewhere Paul reminds us that “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ” (Rom 10:13). To believe we need to “hear” the Word. I read a devotional this week that referred to Romans 10:13 and said faith is God’s Word “activated” in us. That means being in the Bible, reading, it means being under sound teaching, it means receiving the Word which is “living and active and sharper than any two edged sword.”  It is through the Word that we know that Jesus defeated death and that He is who He claimed to be. He is worthy of our worship and our obedience. You see the tomb is really empty because…

II. Jesus is really alive (20:11-18)! The empty tomb, if the story stopped there, is intriguing, but it needs to be explained. What happened? Where was the body? What does it mean? The early opponents of Christianity attempted to circulate “explanations” to deal with the problem of the empty tomb, even if they had to make them up.  We read for example in Matthew 28:11-15…  
“Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, ‘Tell them, “His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.” ‘And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure.’ So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.”
The language is pretty clear: evidently when Matthew wrote his gospel, this was an ongoing attempt by the Jewish leaders to “explain away” the empty tomb. A made up story is meaningless. The only thing that matters is what really happened. At first even the disciples weren’t sure.
             When we look at Mary Magdelene it is clear that what we don’t know about this story brings grief (11-13). Mary returns to the tomb, weeping, heartbroken, confused.  She was hurting, she didn’t understand, but she didn’t stop seeking.  She bent down and looked into the tomb. The implication is that she wanted to understand, to make sense out of this story that was unfolding before her eyes.  She was seeking the truth. So she looks in and sees two angels. By the language here it seems as though she did not realize that they were angels, even as they speak with her. Morning had dawned, but Mary, for the moment, was still in the dark. “Why are you weeping?” the angels ask.  “…They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him…” The tomb is empty, but Mary still hasn’t understood what had happened. Then the Light of the World shines on her.
            In the midst of our pain Jesus calls us by name (14-16). That one word, the Master calling her name, opened her understanding, illumined her faith: “Mary!”  He knows us intimately, personally. Have you had a time of darkness when you were struggling to understand, to make sense of a difficult moment in your life?  Sometimes it’s in those times of tribulation that God teaches us the most. C.S. Lewis said God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains.” Mary, confused and in tears, hears Jesus speak her name, and replies immediately, with recognition and assurance, “Teacher!” It’s rarely an audible voice, but just as surely the Master speaks to us today. It may be through Scripture, through the love of Christ that flows through a brother or sister around us, through a song that brings sound theology to our heart and moves us closer to Him. Mary, Nancy, Steve, Bob, Wallace, Jeanie… He knows us by name, and He wants us to trust Him, to believe Him.
             Mary was sent as a “witness” (17-18). Jesus told her to go to the others and tell what she saw and heard from Him. We read in John 20:17-18,
"Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.' "  18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.”
Jesus said “Go and tell.” So Mary, obediently, joyfully, “went and told.”  After all, she had met with Jesus and out of the ashes of her life, sprang hope. Her task now was to bring hope to others around her who also were hurting, by being a witness to the Truth.
What is God saying to me in this passage? Because Jesus defeated death we know He is who He claimed to be. He is worthy of our worship and our obedience. The work is done. Do you believe it?  Will you trust Him even in the times of darkness?


What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Sixty-nine years ago the allies won a battle at great cost that assured victory in World War 2. Two thousand years ago Jesus won a battle that assures forgiveness and life to all who come to Him in faith. Have you believed the simple truth of the Gospel message? It means first of all admitting that we are a sinner and acknowledging that our sin separates us from God (Rom 3:23). Secondly we have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for our sins on the cross (John 3:16). And then finally we have to trust Him as our personal Lord and Savior: He died for you, personally, and rose again (Rom 10:9,10). Will you determine to live by faith, remembering His presence, even when the trials of life in this sin cursed world try to eclipse the Light? Remember we know the One who is the Light of the World. We have seen His glory. Remember Matthew, after He came to Jesus, he reached out to those around him, with a clear desire to introduce them to Jesus.  Will you determine to be a Matthew this year?   If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He has placed you exactly where He wants you. The people in your sphere of influence desperately need to know Him. Think about that.                                          AMEN.

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