Christ is risen. As followers of Jesus, we do not
question that it happened. We wonder and marvel at that it
happened. We saying just in the worship
here a few minutes ago, Death has lost its grip on me.
Is that true? Has death lost its grip on us?
Do we live that way? That's a powerful statement to
sing. The story of Easter is the
foundation on which the whole of Christianity rests.
The Apostle Paul, in one of his letters to the church, wrote the
following. He said, if for this life only
we have hope, we're we are of all people most to be pitied.
We have hope beyond the grave, hope beyond this life.
Over the centuries, these truths have been debated and argued
over and discussed and written about on both sides.
People trying to disprove and find faults with it and so on.
There's so much we could talk about.
But this morning's sermon is based on hope.
We have from earliest times read.
Read the story. And I want to just say this
morning, our title this morning is A New Hope.
Do we believe the story in the earliest times, the apostles
when they were on the scene, well, we know what happened
right from the get go. They were so afraid, so worried
and fearful. They were worried not just for
themselves. They were worried that this well
for themselves. They were worried they would get
killed like the Jewish leaders had killed Jesus.
And then the story came that he had rose from the dead.
It was a very, very upheaval time for them.
I want to put some reference on the board this morning.
You want to dig into some of these scripture passages as we
go through them. But I just want to back up a
little bit before Easter Sunday morning.
The week before was a roller coaster week.
Palm Sunday happened and things were at dizzying heights, the
expectations of the crowds and the disciples.
Then Friday, it was the depths of the despair, greater distance
we cannot imagine from the height of expectation.
Anticipation. He's going to be king, we're
going to rule with him. The bottomless despair, It's
over, it's done. He's no longer there.
The jubilation, the praise, the emptiness, the darkness, the
loneliness, the pain and agony. Friday to Sunday morning.
But then Sunday came. Brand New Hope.
How did it unfold and what does it mean for us today?
In short, I want to encapsulate this this way.
The end of a hope, the reign of death, the birth of New Hope and
the new message. Let's look at what ended on
Friday. On Friday when Jesus was
crucified, what had been anticipated on Palm Sunday ended
with a crash on Friday. The jubilation, the expectation.
Jesus going to fix everything. He's a saviour of the world.
He's going to bring back the long-awaited reign of King David
of old. All that's going to be restored
again. No more over.
No more subjugation. Subjugation to the Romans.
No more slavery, no more, no more being oppressed.
The distance between those the Pharisees on on the Palm Sunday,
they were not jubilant. They were very worried.
The scowls and expressions on their face showed that they were
wary, not knowing exactly what to do.
And they were afraid of this young Jewish rabbi, Jesus of
Nazareth, who was he who was coming to town.
They were worried. Their carefully maintained
system of coexistence between the Romans, Jesus was a threat
to that. They had to do something, and
they did. And by Friday they achieved
their objective and in their mind disaster had been averted.
Jerusalem, as it was, was a powder keg that from time to
time exploded when something went off.
Maybe a zealot would do something.
And here was Jesus. He was dangerous.
They had to get rid of him. Well, little did the crowd know
on Palm Sunday that by Friday morning this humble Jewish rabbi
would be hanging on a Roman cross from the very heights of
everything to the very lowest of the low.
I don't know of a story in history where things went to
such extremes, from such highs to such lows in such a short
space of time. I don't think we can imagine
this really what happened. We know what happened, but to
imagine it in its totality I don't think we can.
But let's read some passages this morning and see what is
told in scripture. Luke chapter 23 verse 50 to 55.
Now behold, there was a man named Joseph.
Now this is just shortly after he died, a council member, a
good and just man. He had not consented to their
decision. Indeed he was from Arimathea,
the city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the
Kingdom of God. This man went to pilot and asked
for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it
in linen, laid it in a tomb that was soon out of the rock, and
where no one had ever lain before.
That day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew near, and
the women who had come from come with him from Galilee followed
after, and they observed the tomb, how his body was laid.
This man who was expecting Jesus to be ruler, he was expecting
Jesus to be the king who is now going to rule over Israel.
And when he died for him, the expectation ended as well.
And of course, the women who were there for them, the
expectation ended as well. Their hopes were dead too.
Then, of course, the disciples who had been with him the day
before and on Monday, Thursday night, their high expectations,
their hopes, they were dead now as well.
It was like their dreams were gone, like a candle blown out in
the wind. What had seemed so certain, so
sure, so promising, so exciting. On Friday, it was gone.
It was dead, it was over, it was finished.
A complete and total defeat of hopelessness and despair when
reality set in. So these people did what good
people do. They went about laying their
dead friend Jesus into the tomb. Joseph asked for permission from
Pilate. He got permission.
He wrapped the dead body, put him in a tomb.
The women too were present, observed where they had laid the
body. And we cannot really fathom what
these people went through. They did not have the New
Testament. They did not have the story of
resurrection as we have it today.
For all they knew, it's over. It's history.
Jesus is not coming back for Jesus.
Jesus death was the death of hope for his followers.
How many people today live that way?
They have no hope. They have hung on to hope.
Maybe things will someday change.
Life's been hard. This is not getting easier and
there's no end insight. But they have no hope that they
have no hope that one day things will be better.
Justice will be done, Justice will be served, things will come
back together. The flame of hope grows dim and
it flickers and it goes out and it's dark.
But if God can raise Jesus from the dead, then there's no
problem too big for him not to deal with.
And yes, he doesn't deal with every problem that we hope he
will, or at least not from our perspective.
But that does not mean he's not watching.
He doesn't care. But for the disciples of Jesus,
the death of Jesus at that time was the death of hope.
And as I mentioned before, they were afraid, fearful that just
as Jesus had been killed, they too could be next.
From a human standpoint, death is a powerful thing.
It ends things. Death is when life is no more.
Death is that great divide which many people are so terrified of,
and yet some people embrace it with No Fear.
It seems to so many people, this life is it.
There's nothing beyond, no hope beyond the grave.
But I want to encourage us this morning.
Death is not the end. When Jesus died, he died.
And 1st, his disciples didn't expect it to, didn't expect him
to die. But when he died, they didn't
doubt it. Yeah, he's dead, He's gone.
But if there's one thing that God wants us as his disciples
not to do is to give up hope. A follower of Jesus always has
hope. We must keep our hope.
To these women who were with Jesus, they were just resigned
to the reality. He's gone, he's dead.
No hope in their pain and grief. They want to do what they do
with dead bodies, anoint them. And that's what they said about
doing. Let's read Luke 24 verse one and
on. Now the first day of the week,
very early in the morning, they and certain other women with
them came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had
prepared, but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
And it happened as they, as they were greatly perplexed about
this, that behold, 2 men stood by them in shining garments.
Then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth,
they said to them, The men say to the women, Why do you seek
the living among the dead? He's not here, he's risen.
Remember how he spoke to you? And he was in Galilee saying,
The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and
be crucified. And the third day rise again.
And they remembered his words. Then they returned from the tomb
and told all these things to the 11 and to all the rest.
It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, the Mary, the mother of James,
and the other women with them who told these things to the
apostles. And their words seem to them
like idle tales, and they did not believe them.
But Peter arose and ran to the tomb.
Stooping down, he saw the linen cloth lying by themselves.
And he departed, marvelling to himself what had happened.
So from Friday evening, when Jesus was laid to rest, till
Sunday morning, the followers of Jesus had only one thing on
their mind. He's dead.
No hope. They had expected him to be
king. Instead, he got killed.
Then Easter morning they did not know that by the end of the day
they would have again have a completely opposite experience
from that on Friday. Let's just recap this a bit
more. Again, Palm Sunday expectations,
anticipations at at extreme heights.
Thursday night, everything was anticipated.
Jesus going to rain on earth. We're going to have positions of
power. Jesus gets arrested in the
garden. Friday morning, it goes downhill
and by by early morning he's dead, he's gone.
He's on the on the cross. And by early afternoon he's
dead, he's gone. But then in chapter 24, these
women, they've done their job bringing spices to anoint the
dead body. That's what they did with dead
people. They went to the tomb.
To their surprise, the stone's no longer there.
The women did not know yet that this would happen.
They they remember when the angels reminded them, but as far
as they could tell, death was the end.
To many people that's the case. Death is the last stop.
It's over. Let's continue reading.
In chapter 24 verse 3 to 8 it says then they went in and did
not find the body of Jesus. It's a recap here.
As they were greatly perplexed. 2 men stood by the mid shining
garments and they asked them, why do you seek the living among
the dead? I remember many years ago
reading a pastor sermon and his comments on this this passage.
And he highlighted this part specifically when the women were
bringing their spices to anoint the dead body of Jesus.
And the Angel says, why do you seek the living among the dead?
That phrase has sat with me over the years, never left.
And he went on to explain how people in that time had the
wrong focus. And he went on to ask, do we
have the wrong focus? For these women?
It was the end. You know, sometimes we see
something and all of a sudden we just see it different.
And from then on, we can no longer see it the way we once
saw it before. The story of the resurrection of
Jesus is a bit like that. The women that went to the grave
that Easter Sunday morning prepared to anoint the dead
body, that was their mission. Jesus is dead.
No hope. He's not coming back.
Never in their wildest imagination that ever once
crossed their minds, he's alive. Or what if he's alive?
In their mind, death reigned. Once you're dead, that's it.
What we do reveals what we believe.
They prepared spices to anoint the dead body.
We have the story of the resurrection.
Do we have the life of the resurrection?
Many people say they have eternal life, but then they work
and strive and struggle as if this life is all there is.
And by watching them, you would never tell that they have
eternal hope. And so we seek the living among
the dead. Everything here in this world is
going to disappear. Nothing will last.
And yet we strive and work as if it will.
I'm assuming these women, when they came to the tomb, they had
their careful, prepared boxes of spices.
Prepared with great care. It's a special event.
Anointing the dead body. Only there's no dead body.
And the angels tell him he's gone.
I wonder how they felt. How would you feel?
Uh oh. What a waste.
Wrong idea, wrong understanding. We missed it.
I think if I was that, if I was one of them, I wouldn't know
what to do. I think if he would have said
he's not risen, he's here, then the men and I would remember.
I would feel like I'm kind of foolish.
Now we know God had his hand and all this is true, but He want to
teach them a lesson. Those spices were not needed
anymore. They were now of no value for
the occasion. Maybe they sold them.
I have no idea what they did. They're expensive things, but
they were not going to anoint Jesus because he wasn't there.
Let's let that sink in first for a moment.
How much of what's so important to us, what we work so hard for,
spend so much time attaining and achieving, in and of itself is
not sin, but what good is it in the eternal scheme of things?
So what stories do our lives tell?
Do our lives tell stories of death reigning or stories of New
Hope? How many people do they live as
if this is all there is and when this is gone, it's all gone?
Maybe for some of us here this morning, maybe it's time for a
New Hope. And maybe it it could be a loved
one who's gone. They're not coming back in this
life, but it's not the end. Maybe you failed in your journey
in life and you're coming to the later years of life and you feel
like you fail and you can't do it over.
And that's true. And you feel like that's the
end. The Bible has good news.
Nothing in this life is the end for those who put their hope and
trust in Jesus. Just as Jesus rose from the
dead, he brings new life to shine in anyone's heart that's
dark with worry and fear who responds to Him.
And yes, there's a lot of things in this world that we have much
reason to be concerned about, but not to the detriment of our
hope. Jesus rose from the dead.
And even in this life, if we don't do not see the fulfillment
of the promises, we're promised that a day is coming when
everything will be made right. So these women, they don't get
to anoint a dead body. He's not dead, he's gone.
They hurry away to tell the disciples the good news.
He's alive. Well, we must remember what
mindset those guys were in. They were not in any shape to
listen to anything other than what they had seen and
experienced. You don't argue with experience.
And when the women came and told the disciples Jesus was alive,
notice their words in verse 11. And their words seemed to them
like idle tales. And they did not believe them.
Would you? Would I?
We must open ourselves to believe Jesus is alive and of
course a little bit later he comes and meets them.
But at that point, that Sunday morning, there was no way anyone
was going to tell them that Jesus was alive.
They hadn't seen experienced enough.
Some far fetched story of an empty tomb was not going to
change them. We know Peter Iran looked into
the tomb and was not the woman's testimony that convinced him he
had to see for himself. Today in our date over 2000
years later, we have the record of what happened, but there are
still people today who doubt we do not have time in this, in a
Sunday morning sermon to explore all the different viewpoints and
those kinds of things. What we do know is the Church of
Jesus Christ formed shortly after Easter.
I want to point out this these disciples of Jesus, these most
timid, fearful, cowardly group of men hiding from the religious
leaders in fear of their very lives, to all of a sudden become
the most fearless, bold, courageous, rejoicing, powerful
men who stopped at nothing to spread the gospel.
Something happened. It wasn't idle tales and they
never won since that time wavered once in the slightest at
doing what they did and they were arrested, they were beaten,
they were persecuted. Peter writes and Luke writes the
story of Theophilus writes the book of of Acts and he says,
Peter says to the authorities, we can't help but stop talking
what we've seen and heard. Should we obey God, men rather
than God? We're not going to stop.
They didn't fear death. They knew Jesus was alive, and
they kept the unity of the message intact.
It didn't change. They didn't compromise, and the
message stayed the way it happened.
If what they said was fabricated, at some point the
lies would have made their way to the surface and they would
have been exposed. But the religious leaders
weren't able to put even a dent in this new movement against all
odds. First against the power of the
Jewish leaders, this uneducated ragtag group of men who became
this powerful group. Later against the whole might of
Rome. This story just kept growing and
growing. And finally by 316 AD, so many
had to come to Christ in the Roman Empire.
Constantine just said, OK, it's becoming the state religion now.
And of course that's material for another's sermon that had a
lot of things wrong with it. But Christianity continued and
still continues to this very day.
Jesus himself said to his disciples and the Gospels, I
will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail.
Against it, the Church of Jesus will never die.
There can be government policies, there can be rules and
regulations, and we know different countries have them,
even our own country. We're wrestling with some of
that. We have nothing to worry about.
The church will not die. When Jesus rose from the dead
and sent his Spirit his and dwelt these men, this
unstoppable power, the world had reason to be afraid of these
people. See, with the resurrection of
Jesus, death no longer reigned. Instead of reign of death, now a
New Hope was born. In the resurrection story of
Luke, there were some disciples who were travelling a village to
Emmas and won't read the passage.
And on the road, a stranger catches up to them and they meet
him and they're so downcast at what happened.
And he says, what's your problem?
They say, well, have you have you not heard?
Heard what? You're the only one who hasn't
heard. Obviously Jesus of Nazareth,
mighty in Word indeed. And we thought he was going to
save Israel. He's got killed.
And he's it's only three days now since that happened.
And he starts to explain to them what, what the prophets wrote,
what was supposed to happen. And they come to the place where
they want to stop for the night that's kind of late and invite
him in, sits down and he blesses the food.
Hey, that's Jesus. So let's let's continue reading
Luke 24 verse 33 and on it says so they these two guys rose the
very arrow returned to Jerusalem from and found the 11 and those
who were with them gathered together saying the Lord is
risen indeed and has appeared to Simon and they told him about
the things that happened on the road and how he was made known
known to them in the breaking of bread.
Now as they said these things, remember Jesus was with them.
The guys that were on the Ms. Rd.
Jesus now verse 36, Jesus himself stood in the midst of
them and said to them, peace to you.
But they were terrified and frightened.
See here it begins up to this point they didn't believe and he
said to them, why are you troubled?
Why did doubts arise in your hearts?
Behold my hands and feet that it is I myself handle me and see
touch me. A spirit does not have flesh and
bones, as you see I have. When he had said this, He showed
them his hands and his feet, but while they were still did not
believe for joy in marvel, He said to them, Have you any food
here? So they gave him a piece of
broiled fish and some honeycomb, and he took it and ate it in
their presence. Then he said to them, These are
the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that
all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of
Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me.
He was back. Hope was alive again.
Again. Back to Thursday.
The expectation, the anticipation.
Friday, the despair, the defeat. Sunday evening, he's back.
Sunday morning, actually. But for these guys, it was more
for the evening. Can we imagine the roller
coaster of emotions and feelings they must have gone through?
We're seeing things yesterday. We're seeing something far
better than just seeing things that we're seeing him.
Yes. Why are you troubled?
Why do you doubt? They're hard to convince.
They're joyful, but hey, is it real?
Can we blame them? He asked for some food as proof.
Give them a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb and eats
in their presence. What would Jesus tell you and me
this morning, today, if we could see Him in person?
Is, O Lord, we believe. Really.
What's the evidence? I remember hearing a speaker
quite some time ago who mentioned that someone had asked
some people who did not believe in God or the resurrection.
The argument said, well, they said, well, there's no proof.
You know, scientifically, you can't prove it, why should I
believe? And the speaker said, if there
was scientific proof beyond the shadow of a doubt, as you claim,
if that was there would make a difference, would you become a
follower? And he, the man honest and said,
no, I would not. And he said, so it is not a
science question, is it? It's a faith issue.
It's a worship question. You see, Friends, that's the
struggle for so many. Of course, we can't prove that
dead person rises. We weren't there.
We have the story and we believe it.
This is the struggle. There's so many things that we
just don't have. Oh, I saw it happen.
No, just like I can't quantify emotions, I can't quantify
consciousness. We don't understand a lot of
things. I don't understand gravity.
We know it works. We know it's there.
It's the reality. And sometimes, well, if God is
real, then why am I struggling like this?
I believe it's the other way around, because God is real.
That's why the struggle exists for the disciples that night
death no longer reigned. A New Hope was born and it would
grow until Pentecost. And the Spirit wouldn't dwell,
each one of them. They'd go out and spread the
gospel in all directions. Let's continue on reading in
verse 45, 24 verse 45. And he opened their
understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures, and
said to them, Thus it is written.
Thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise
from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of
sins would be preached in His name to all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem. And you're witnesses of these
things. Behold, I send the promise of my
Father upon you, but tearing the city of Jerusalem until you are
endued with power from on high. And he led them out as far as
Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.
Now it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from
them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and
returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the
temple praising and blessing God.
Amen. Not only was Jesus back, now he
had a mission. The mission of Jesus was back on
track and would soon become a movement that would change the
world. He had come to earth as a man,
served humanity as God's Son, suffered the frailties of human
existence and suffered persecution and torture, had
been crucified, killed and died, and was buried on Sunday.
He rose and then returned to the Father.
It would be a message that would be carried across deserts and
oceans into foreign lands. It would be a message that would
cross racial divides and bring together all classes of people
across all language and cultural barriers and time.
It would be a message that would envelope the then known world of
its time. The message of Jesus would
change the hearts of countless thousands.
You see friends, the message is alive.
The message is of a new Kingdom. The new Kingdom is here.
It is in the lives of everyone who takes up their cross and
follows Jesus. The message is simple.
It's just one message. Repentance, remissance of sins
needs to be preached to all nations.
He says. You're my witnesses.
So if our sins are forgiven, then we're free from the reign
of death, free from the guilt of sin, free to embrace and enjoy
life, live out Our Calling. There's no no condemnation.
Those were in Christ. We're God's children.
The message has not changed in over 2000 years.
God's Kingdom is here today in this world, in my heart and in
yours, and Jesus is now expecting you and I to go and do
what He did, not to die for the sins of others.
That's not what he's expecting, but to live out this message.
He wants us to live out his Kingdom teachings that he left
to us. And as we do that, people take
notice and they're convicted of their sins and they're drawn by
God's Spirit to embrace and make the gospel their own as well.
The message of the gospel is not very welcome in many places.
We know to preach repentance is to imply something needs to be
repented of, namely sin. Not very welcome in some places.
To preach forgiveness means that there's something to be given
for. It's also not very welcome
sometimes, and that's OK. There are no perfect people.
We all need to repent continually.
We all need to confess continually.
All of us need grace at all times.
In summary, it's the end of the hope, the reign of death, the
birth of New Hope, and the new message.
And these disciples went through horrific experiences in doing
what he taught them. And by rising from the dead,
Jesus not only conquered death, he brought new life.
And so, in spite of all that happened to them, they stayed
faithful to the message. And so can we today as well.
We've all heard this story many times.
So what difference does it make from year to year?
What difference does it make today?
We do not want to be those who only see life from the
perspective of seeking the living among the dead.
We don't want to be those who are busy preparing spices for
the dead when God has something far better for us.
Because the Easter story is true.
We have hope for eternity here and now and past the grave.
For those who receive the message and internalize it and
put their faith in Jesus, it gives them hope, entrance into a
new Kingdom, a purpose here and now and into eternity beyond.
They're the lives of countless Saints or testimonies to this
reality may be true in US today. Let's pray.
Lord, we're grateful for the Easter story.
It's more than a story. It's an event, an ongoing event,
and the power of that event lives on today and into
eternity. Lord help us to never lose sight
of this glorious reality that you rose from the dead and all
who put their trust and hope, and you will one day spend
eternity with you. I ask you Lord, as we go from
here today and our hearts would be united together as own body.
Lord, our world needs this truth to be lived out in your people,
may it be in us. Thank you, Lord.