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Read at beginning of service:
John 20:1-18 (NIV)
INTRODUCTION
(show Easter “man on the street” video)
On the surface, for most people Easter is just another “holiday” ? one that has many different interpretations of how to celebrate it that come out of different traditions and customs in different cultures through history. Some of you may be familiar with some of these traditions such as the one that includes an Easter “bunny” and decorated eggs. That particular tradition can be traced back to Ancient Saxons (in the area now known as Great Britain) and their worship of the Saxon version of the Germanic lunar goddess Ostara who Saxons named Eostre. I?m not going to spend much time going through all these traditions but I encourage you ? if you have internet access to take an opportunity to investigate some of these traditions/customs that are followed. You may be surprised by some of the history. Whatever it?s roots and however it got started, at some point in history Easter became significant to Christians as the time of year when we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The resurrection of Christ is a historical fact; it wasn?t done in secret. The whole city of Jerusalem and the whole Roman Empire knew about it. It was news! There are at least 15 historical references to Jesus meeting people, touching people, and talking with people after he had been crucified. On one occasion he cooked breakfast for some people. Another time he spoke to nearly 500 folks after He had risen from the dead. There were numerous witnesses to His resurrection.
Friends, Jesus rose from the dead, He is who He said He was, He has the power He said He had, and He keeps the promises He makes. So what? Why does the resurrection matter? What difference does it make? Why is it something that we return to every year at Easter to talk about? (perhaps show cartoon) Well, today, my hope is that by the end of this message I?ll be able to show you that the resurrection isn?t just about what Jesus did 2000+ years ago ? He didn?t just display his power to kick start the early church and get people excited about their leader. Yes, His resurrection is a declaration of victory over death and sin but the beautiful implications of His resurrection have direct application to our lives today and remind us that God has a plan. You see, Easter is more than it seems!
Read Matthew 27:62-28:20
Matthew 27:62-28:20 (NIV)
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” 11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
If there?s anything that the Resurrection demonstrates ? it?s?
1. God hasn?t left the scene ? he?s making an even bigger one!
The followers of Christ had experienced a great tragedy on Friday, Jesus had been brutally betrayed, put through a mockery of a trial and finally tortured and crucified. The incredible journey they had been through with this charismatic person came to an abrupt end ? one that Jesus? had regularly mentioned was coming ? but nevertheless one that still seemed to catch His followers off guard. In many ways it looked like God had vacated the scene.
I wonder what the women who went and visited Jesus? tomb expected to find?
A dead body
There was no doubt about it. When Jesus was taken down from the cross ? He was dead. The same women on their way to the tomb had witnessed His death on the cross. The apostle John records that the soldiers found Him already dead when they went to break the legs of those who had been crucified to speed up their death. One of the soldiers even pierced the side of Jesus just to make sure. Mark records that when the Roman Governor, Pilate, heard about Jesus? death he was surprised that He had died so quickly and summoned a Roman soldier to verify the news. Then Pilate gave permission to a follower of Christ named Joseph of Arimathea to take the body of Jesus and lay Him in a burial tomb. Everyone who was involved in the events of that day knew Jesus was dead. And so this was something the women expected they?d find when they were on their way to the tomb.
Hopelessness
Something shared by all Jesus? followers was an overwhelming sense of hopelessness with the crucifixion of Christ. No doubt as the women (and later other disciples) made the journey to the tomb they were expecting a new wave of this despair to hit them again and again.
His death was a blow to faith
It just didn?t make sense, Jesus was the Messiah ? the promised one of God ? the hope of the world, the one who would make wrong right and forgives sins and heal infirmities. Certainly they believed in Him ? yet, He?s dead.
His death was a blow to their hope for freedom.
Dashed to pieces were any thoughts of Israel?s return to her former glory when Jesus? dealt with the foreign people occupying God?s land. What about freedom from their seeming purposeless lives? When Jesus walked and talked among them He breathed fresh news of purpose and value in the eyes of God for those who believed. What about freedom from oppressive religion? Jesus, was a source of encouragement for those who had been shackled by the chains of sin and failure imposed by the religious leaders of His day. Jesus gave people a sense of belonging and hope that somehow the mistakes of their past could be forgiven by God. Then He died.
His death was a blow to their hope for a good future.
His followers dreamed of the coming Kingdom of God and their place in this kingdom. They dreamed of a world set right and full of joy. Their time spent with Him had been a glimpse at the wonders of God?s kingdom with the many miracles of Christ. But now Jesus? followers are in hiding ? they are scattered. The popularity of Christ has dissipated and His followers are hunted, harried, and humiliated. Afraid for their lives they begin to wonder what kind of future they have now? Will they return to their former trades and places of work? Is everything they?ve experienced just a dream? Their hopes for the future have been left at the cross that Jesus hung on.
Not only were the women experiencing and expecting a wave of hopelessness and despair to hit them as they approached the tomb. But also,
Difficulty
How would they roll away the stone in front of the tomb?
What about the soldiers guarding the tomb?
Then there was just the plain difficulty of working through their grief and sorrow on the way to the tomb and the same expected long journey back again.
But here?s what Jesus? followers didn?t expect!
No body in the tomb!
Jesus wasn?t dead, he was alive.
To have their hope restored
As the angel shared the good news and when they encountered Jesus face to face multiple times?
The followers of Christ had their faith in God and in Christ restored.
The followers of Christ had their hope for freedom reestablished.
The followers of Christ had their hope for good future reinstated.
To be running back with incredible joy.
The resurrection demonstrated to the followers of Christ on that day that God hadn?t left the scene ? He was just making a bigger one.
Friends, I don?t know how many of you have felt like God has left the scene in your life. Maybe you have situations, or circumstances in your experience where you find death or expect it, where you face hopelessness, or where things have just gotten incredibly difficult. I don?t know how many of you can describe your relationships that way, your marriage, your feelings with yourself or your children, or your parents, or your family. Maybe there?s something that?s happened in the your past that keeps giving off that ugly stench of death. Abuse, failure, dashed dreams or a broken heart. Maybe you?re going through a time of indecision in your life, you?re between jobs, in a job you don?t like, about to start a career you?re not sure of. Maybe there?s been an illness in your life or in someone you love and it?s crippled and sucked the joy out of living. Or perhaps when you look at the world around you there are so many overwhelming awful things happening, lawlessness, poverty, hunger, aids, the avian-flu, terrorism that it makes your future look scary.
Are there times where it looks like God has left the scene? Do you feel that way right now? Well the resurrection demonstrates that God hasn?t left the scene ? he?s about to make an even bigger one! You see?if there?s anything the resurrection demonstrates it?s that?
2. God has a plan!
God never planned for all the suffering and despair, and pain in the world today. He never planned that His creation would go through so much junk. He never wanted that for us. In the story of creation we learn how death, suffering, and pain entered into the world through the bad choice of our ancestors Adam and Eve. Sin, and rebellion against God has the natural consequence of all the evil and bad we experience in the world today. Everything from a Category 5 hurricane to a broken heart is the result of the world run amok because of sin. God didn?t want Adam and Eve to sin ? but He has a plan to make it right. He has a plan to deal with their mistake. He has a plan to correct their failure. He has a plan to restore things the way they should be. The crucifixion and the resurrection is the stamp that seals that plan forever. Brothers and sisters, God has a plan for your life?
He has a plan?
?to take despair and give hope
?to take a lost cause and make it a cause worth fighting for.
?to take the foolish and make them wise
?to take the defeated and make them conquerors
?to take the doubters and make them believers.
?to take failures and make them winners
?to take our deepest hurts and make them our greatest helps
?to take death and create life.
No matter what consequence of sin you live with in your life, God has a plan.
His plan includes?
Forgiving your past
Have you ever been halfway through a project and wished you could start over? A lot of times people feel that way about life. They get halfway through and wish they could start over. We have all done things we wish we hadn?t done, said things we wish we hadn?t said, and thought things we wish we hadn?t thought. We all have regrets. We all feel bad about things. We all have guilt.
There are a lot of people who can?t get on with the present and the future because they?re stuck in the past. Some guilt or regret has tied them down.
Here?s the good news,
Colossians 2:14 (NIV)
14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
This is God?s pardon program. Jesus nailed it all to the cross. He paid for my guilt. That means I don?t have to pay for it. He wants to forgive your past. He wants to cancel every debt you owe ? emotional debts, relational debts, sins. All cancelled. His plan includes?
Grappling with your present problems
The number one complaint most people have today is this: “My life is out of control.” Have you ever heard these statements (or made them yourself)?
I feel powerless to change the situation?
I feel powerless to break a bad habit?
I feel powerless to save a relationship?
I feel powerless to get out of debt?
I feel powerless to manage my schedule?
What you need is a power greater than yourself. You were never meant to live this life on your own power. God wants to have a relationship with you. And here?s the good news,
Ephesians 1:18-20 (NIV)
18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
The same power that enabled Jesus to rise from the dead will help you rise above your problems. The same power God used at the Resurrection 2000 years ago can be used in Your life right now. You don?t know what the future holds ? neither do I. But it doesn?t matter, because even though it?s out of my control, it?s not out of God?s. He has a plan. He will give me the power to face it.
Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
No problem is too big for God. No situation is hopeless if you?ll turn it over to him. “I am ready for anything through the power of positive thinking?” No, it doesn?t say that. “I am ready for anything because I psyched myself up?” No. “I am ready for anything through the strength of Christ, who lives in me.
God hasn?t left the scene?he?s about to make a bigger one. God has a plan! But most importantly, if there?s anything the resurrection demonstrates it?s?
3. Our choice what happens with God?s plan in our lives
Matthew records that the religious leaders were concerned about the disciples taking the dead body of Christ and create a hoax about Him coming back to life. So they made their own plans and had soldiers seal the tomb and guard it. No doubt they expected that the sealed tomb and posted guards would prevent any false claims of Jesus? resurrection. There?s one thing they hadn?t counted on ? that the real thing would occur!
They probably expected that in the morning the guards would report either an uneventful evening ? where there was just the usual mourning taking place ? or a confrontation with ? where they prevented the stealing of a body. Either way, they were sure the “Jesus” problem was dealt with. They thought that this claim Jesus made of rising again would be exposed for the lie it was. But they hadn?t accounted for God?s plan. What?s incredibly sad is that when the soldiers shared this astonishing tale of God?s plan in motion the leaders chose to ignore the reality of God at work and began to make their own plans to cover-up the truth.
Matthew 28:12-15 (NIV)
12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day
You see, even though God has a plan it?s our choice whether we embrace it for our lives.
We can choose to believe or choose to reject,
We can choose to confess or choose to cover-up
We can choose to give-in or give-up
We can choose to die to live or live to die
We can choose to be found or choose to be lost
We can choose to be healed or choose to be hurt
CONCLUSION
Oh, there?s so much more to Easter than it seems. What will your choice be this morning with the truth of the resurrection of Christ staring at you in the face? Now some of you may be saying ? I want to believe God hasn?t left the scene, I want to trust that God has a plan, I want to choose His plan for my life, my marriage, my family, my job, my hurts, my failings, my mess-ups, my mistakes, my problems?but pastor what?s next? What happens outside of this service, after I?ve gone home and face all these things. How do I translate those choices into actions in my life? How do I discover His plan and do my part?
Isn?t the “how” a major question that that needs to be dealt with? It?s one thing to know that God has a plan, it?s nice to talk about the difference he can make in my life. It?s important to make a decision to believe this and embrace it. But all I?ve talked about this morning is in very general terms. Each of us have our own “how?” question that deals with the specific circumstance of our individual lives. Well the ?how? of Easter and everything I?ve said is deeply tied to something Jesus said after his resurrection and just before His ascension,
Luke 24:46-49 (NIV)
46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
The astounding facts of the gospel are all the more astonishing because they were prophesied hundreds of years earlier, and all the more wondrous because the disciples experienced them. Perhaps what makes them absolutely awe-inspiring is that we too are witnesses of these things today when we experience the resurrected Lord and Saviour.
The ?how? of Easter is connected to the promise Jesus made as recorded by Luke. How do we experience Jesus today? How do we discover the meaning and significance of the gospel? How do we see God?s plan carried out in our individual circumstances and worked out in our lives? Just like those first disciples, we too are called to witness to this life-giving reality to all nations. Jesus says, “Wait. Don?t do it! Stay here until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
What power was He talking about? Whatever it is, it?s the kind of power that will propel the proclamation of the gospel and carry out God?s plan. In the parallel passage in Acts 1:8, Jesus says just that:
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
It?s the Holy Spirit who makes the witness effective. It?s the Holy Spirit who supplies the ?how? and ?so-what? for the gospel. It?s the Holy Spirit who reveals and works out God?s plan in our lives. Our broken human minds are darkened, our hearts are hardened (Ephesians 4:18); our eyes are blinded (2 Corinthians 4:4) until the Holy Spirit opens them, enlightens us and gives us life.
In fact, a lot of the ?so-what? and ?how? stuff of God?s plan only begins to make sense when the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. Taking the miracle of the resurrection and making it alive in our hearts, taking the power of the gospel and making it effective in our lives, taking the wisdom of Scripture and causing God?s Word to become alive in us: these are all the work of the Holy Spirit.
Are you looking for the answers to your own “how” questions? Are you hungry for the difference God can make in your life? All the guidance, direction, and purpose you need for your life is found in the Holy Spirit.
Next week we?re going to begin exploring this mysterious member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, in a hands-on, down-to-earth series called The Coach in Your Corner. God has a plan and has sent us a personal Coach to help us live it out. I hope you?ll welcome the opportunity to discover with us for the next seven weeks how God has designed a plan to help you fulfill His purpose for your life!
Today I?ve shown you that Easter isn?t all it seems to be. Certainly, the people in Jesus? day experienced this. And we can experience this in our own life. God hasn?t left the scene ? He?s about to make a bigger one. God has a plan. And it?s your choice what happens with God?s plan in your life.
(Show video, God has a plan)