Well, good morning guys. My name is Mike.
I'm one of the the pastors here at Redemption as well.
And welcome to Redemption Church North Ogden.
We really are glad that you guys joined us for this Resurrection
Day service. It's one of I think mine and
probably many of you is probably your favorite services of the of
the year because of of just you know what that entails.
But if this is something new to you, this whole last week has
commemorated the last week of Jesus life and ministry.
So on the Sunday previous to the first resurrection day, Jesus
entered Jerusalem to A to to huge crowds that were they were
throwing their cloaks and their garments and palm branches down
on on the road as he as he rode in.
And they were calling out Hosanna, recognizing him as
their saviour and calling him king of Israel.
And then only days later, those same people stirred up by the
Pharisees would demand that Jesus be crucified on the cross,
though he'd never broken a single law or committed a single
sin. And finally, three days later,
Jesus would rise from the dead, defeating sin and death once and
for all. Now a point that is very
important, but we're not going to focus on here today, is that
This is why we meet together on on Sunday, the 1st day of the
week. It is a recognition of
Resurrection Day rather than continuing to observe the end of
week day of rest as given in the Old Testament.
The Sabbath day was was instituted by God for the nation
of Israel to commemorate his deliverance of them from Egypt.
But the the New Testament church observed the the Lord's Day as
an opportunity to come together to celebrate his victory over
sin and death. So today let's look a bit closer
at the events that started off that first Resurrection Day 2000
years ago. And that's our first point here.
Today is a dark beginning that we, we read through this
passage, just we read through the whole thing.
But those first 2 verses, verses one and two and John 20, it says
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. So she ran and went to get 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.
So that the text says that Mary left very early on Sunday
morning to complete the the the burial preparations.
The other gospels explained that there was at least five women
going together to the tomb. But in our text this morning
there is a a beautiful devotion demonstrated here right away.
Each of the gospels makes it clear that these women were up
and and and about this task very early, not at like a a normal
time to rise on you know, on Sunday or whatever.
This was an obvious priority to them.
These ladies were devoted to the physical preservation of Jesus
body in the tomb, and so we can't escape an obvious
connection here as well. Throughout the entire New
Testament we see a metaphor often in it describing the
believers, the disciples of Jesus as the body of Christ.
So we should also have a devotion to the preservation of
the body of Christ that we are here Gathering together should
be our priority. But beside that devotion that we
see in this passage, we have to understand that that these these
women must have been still just reeling from the events of of
Friday. So besides occurring just before
dawn, there really was a, a, a darkness, a heaviness about this
day along with the unfathomable violence that they witnessed.
There was a large earthquake that happened on Friday that
scripture says split rocks. Imagine how how big an
earthquake that must be that splits rocks.
And then another great quake scripture says on Sunday morning
that was so scary that people fainted in fear.
And these ladies are are headed to deal with a guard of Roman
soldiers, most likely at least a four man unit.
But these are the same kind of soldiers that were responsible
for beating and torturing Jesus. And we're now tasked with
keeping people from messing with his body or the tomb that
they're headed to. So I can only imagine how
overwhelming this would have been.
But besides all of those things, Jesus, whom they they followed
and believed was their savior and Messiah was killed.
He was gone. They had been expecting him to
reign on a throne, but he'd been killed.
And, and scripture tells us that that Mary, when she runs back,
she says they have taken him. We don't know where they laid
him. See her initial belief is that
Jesus is still dead and has simply been moved or his body
stolen. Someone else in her opinion is
responsible for Jesus body missing.
She certainly had to have waken up scared and and and
disappointed. But now she's on she's unsure.
Luke 24 says that they were perplexed.
It just doesn't make sense. The huge stone is is rolled away
that the guards are knocked unconscious and Jesus body is
nowhere to be found. As I've I've felt some of this
in my own life where where life seemed the dark, the world was
chaotic and uncertain and I felt like I was continuously running
up against enemies or or or people who stood in the way of
getting anywhere. Even where I was wondering,
where the heck is Jesus? As scary as the world was when
she left to go to the tomb for a few moments, it's it's now even
scarier. It's, it's still not fully
understood what's going on. So she contemplates the world
that she finds herself in. Mark 16 says that she was
trembling with fear. So just like you and me, she has
real questions and real concerns.
We can, we can relate to that. We live in a world that has been
plagued with unrest, right? If you were to scroll through
your your news feed on your on your phone to like a news
website to bring up headlines like, you know, potential
nuclear attacks or or violent protests or rampant fraud
perpetuated by our own government or local officials
that have been arrested and charged with felonies and
continue perpetual hatred of one group by another group.
So maybe today, maybe you got up early, gathered your things and
made your way here to the body of Christ, not knowing what
you'd find here. Maybe you were a bit nervous.
Maybe you were a bit apprehensive.
After finding the stone rolled way and the and the tomb empty.
Mary turned to other believers to help her gain some
understanding and, and, and as believers, many of us can relate
to having someone come to us with their fears, their
misunderstandings about Jesus. So the second point that I want
to make today is to look at how they handled that by starting
with examining the evidence. And then our next couple of
verses here it says it says. So Peter went out with the other
disciple and they were going toward the tomb.
Both of them were running together, but the other disciple
outran Peter and reached the tomb 1st and stooping to look
in, he saw the linen clothes lying there, but he did not go
in. Then Simon Peter came following
him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen clothes lying
there and the face cloth which had been on Jesus head, not
lying with the linen cloth, but folded up in a place by itself.
Now several commentaries explain that the Jewish burial rituals
would have the body and and limbs wrapped with strips of
linen linen up to around the the the top of the shoulders here.
And then the head and face would have a a different cloth wrapped
around it. So you can, you can, you could
picture two different separate items of, of cloth or items of
clothing. And the two disciples mentioned
here are Peter and John. OK, John is, is very humble, so
he takes effort not to name himself in his gospel.
But we know that he is the one Jesus loved as he's referenced
in our passage. And yet, Despite that humility,
he takes the time to point out three times in these next few
verses that he was faster than Peter.
Now, often, you know, we read this and, and, and maybe we see
a sense of, of humanity in these disciples, right?
Just a couple of ordinary guys competing with each other, you
know, every chance they get. And, and also taking the
opportunity to to brag and make sure everyone knows who the
winner is, right. Well, I've read this passage
countless times and I've always thought that it was funny that
John would include this, this unimportant detail in the middle
of a very sad part of Scripture. And as, as I was studying this,
I was, I was reminded of a, of a time years ago, as I was, you
know, coming along in my faith. And, and, and as many of you
could probably relate, I was I was seeking counsel about my
family and I wanted to go to 3 or 4 Bible studies every week.
And cuz I was just voraciously trying to eat it up and I was
sprinting at more knowledge, but my family was chewing it up at a
rate that was easier for them to digest.
And so I, I remember Eric sharing with me one time this,
this, this mental image of being on the freeway and you have a
fast lane and you have a slow lane, but they're, they're
headed in the right direction. There's something beautiful
about doing that about. And maybe you can relate to
that. Maybe you are the, the one who
you know is, is maybe farther along in your, in your spiritual
walk and you have family that's on the same route with you, same
path, but maybe not quite at the same speed.
And that is a beautiful and wonderful thing.
And we see that kind of dynamic here with with John and Peter.
Now, Peter's quite a bit older. John's probably a teenager at
this point. So physically it was a little
unfair. But but they were both headed to
to the tomb with exuberance, right.
But as the writer of this portion of Scripture, it's it's,
it's not just who was faster that John wants to share, but
it's it seems that he's gone out of his way to make us understand
the urgency with which he and Peter ran to the tomb.
Psalm 63, Oops, there we go. Psalm 63 verses one and two
says, Oh God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you, my soul
thirsts for you my my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and
weary land where there is no water.
Now when I read that, I can vividly imagine John sprinting
to the tomb, earnestly seeking right thirsting for the the
living water and hungry for the bread of life that he had come
to know. And then that that Psalm
continues and it says, so I have looked upon you in the
sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
And as I read that, it all ties together, John stopping on the
outside to look inside this resting place, this sort of
sanctuary, if you will. He sees the empty tomb and the
empty clothes and suddenly beholds the power of God that
Jesus had defeated death once and for all.
Now, as I mentioned a minute ago, Mary had brought her
concerns and fears to, to, to sort of dump on the, on the
disciples. And I wouldn't be surprised if,
you know, for a few moments at least if, if Peter and John
weren't like, oh, I just don't have the, the mental or, or
emotional capacity get involved in Mary's messy life.
Not today, not with, not with everything that's been happening
lately, right. That's something I know I have
done in my own life. But the disciples reaction,
their response is to go straight to Jesus for the answer.
They, they don't go ask the Roman prefect or they, they
don't get on the the Jerusalem community Facebook page.
They, they don't just sit around wondering and gossiping.
They Sprint straight to the tomb to find out more about Jesus.
They go straight to Jesus now, just like me.
Despite having read this passage before and and understanding one
perspective of it, this time when I studied it, something
else finally clicked. When John gets there, the text
says that he didn't. He didn't go inside immediately.
For some reason, he stopped outside and and cautiously
peered inside. Now let me just say, many of us
have may have heard an Internet story about the a Jewish custom
of a folded dinner napkin meaning someone coming back to
the table while a napkin tossed haphazardly means that they
aren't coming back. And the inference in that in
that made-up story is that we can trust that Jesus is
returning because the face cloth, sometimes called a napkin
is is folded neatly. Unfortunately we can't trust
that story because it seems to have no drowning in truth.
And still we are given that bit of information about the face
cloth. For some reason in the ESV it it
says folded, but the Greek word is actually closer to wrap or
entwine. What it tells us is that the
face or the head cloth is applied to a body in a specific,
specific and intentional way. And when John sees these items,
he observes that the head and face cloth is still folded or or
rolled like it's supposed to be and it is separate from the
linens for the body. Now again, many commentaries and
and theologians have explained some varying but often similar
explanations. The Jesus body seems to have
simply stopped being in those linens.
But the the linens remained exactly where they had been
placed and in the same manner. So you can imagine that if you
if you were quickly getting out of your clothes, you might just
kind of drop them in a heat. But these seem to still be where
they've been placed but without the body.
In John 19 it told us that that Joseph of Arimathea and
Nicodemus wrapped Jesus body with 75 lbs of spices when he
was put in the tomb. But there's no mention here in
in this gospel or in any of the gospels of the spilled out
spices that I would imagine would have gone all over the
place as the body was was unwrapped.
But truthfully, though, I honestly don't know what that
means. What I believe we can know from
this situation with the burial clothes is that no one trying to
hide the body from another group of people would take the time to
carefully remove those clothes. They, they certainly wouldn't
have gone to the effort of, of putting them back in order,
folding them and, and, and sort of laying them out flat.
They would be very quick about it, right?
As they were all very well aware of the brutality they could rain
down on them by Pilot and the Roman soldiers he'd stationed
just outside this tomb for that exact purpose.
And John, well, when when we compare it to a story of another
man being resurrected, we see something interesting in my
opinion. And in John 11, it's the story
of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
And it says when he had said these things, he cried out with
a loud voice, Lazarus come out, the man who had died came out,
his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face
wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, unbind him
and let him go. Lazarus did not raise himself
from the dead. He needed someone else to do
that for him. And we see here that he even
needed someone else to remove the burial cloth and the face
cloth. Now, there's about 10 specific
instances in the Bible where a dead person is resurrected and
only Jesus does it of his own power.
And John himself is the one who tells us about this event with
Lazarus, so this detail would not have slipped past him.
John sprinted to the tomb to see what was up with Jesus going
missing. And when he gets there, he pulls
up and he stops outside, looking in at these barrier clothes
placed the way that they were, and knowing that no one else but
Jesus is responsible for this Jesus.
Had raised himself from the dead now in John's mind, this was
absolute proof of Jesus deity that that he is God in the flesh
as Eric mentioned in in his prayer earlier.
And I think it's, I think it's fair to say though, that that
that he didn't fully know what to do with this information yet
John didn't. It wasn't as though he had full
enlightenment. The disciples wouldn't know
fully what Jesus wanted them to do for for several more weeks.
But it was at this precise moment, though, that something
clicked for John. And as we continue on in our in
our passage today, we come to our Third Point, which is an
emerging understanding. And it says then the other
disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he
saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the
scripture that he must rise from the dead.
Then the disciples went back to their homes.
So upon seeing the burial cloth lying in such a manner, John
knew that Jesus body had not been stolen or moved.
He knew that Jesus had resurrected.
And it says it until this point they hadn't understood that
Jesus must rise from the dead. See, ever since Adam and Eve
first sinned in the garden, Satan had maintained power over
the the world. Satan claimed and and believed
that he was able to defeat God. We see in Scripture that that
Adam sinned and passed a a sin nature through the bloodstream
to every single one of us here today in Psalm 51, David wrote,
I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother
conceive. The consequence of that sin
nature is that death came to all of us from one man.
So why is it important that Jesus must rise from the dead as
that as that passage said? Well, the reason is that if
Jesus could not conquer death, then sin and death would have
been victorious and Satan would have been king.
In First Corinthians 15 verse 20 and 21 it says But in fact
Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those
who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came, death by a
man has also has come also the resurrection of the dead from
Adam the man sin affected the whole world and through Jesus
the God man that same world has an opportunity for redemption.
Romans one verse 4 tells us the resurrection means that that
Jesus was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the
spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.
This is this is profound news because up to this point Satan
had held the power of death and and wielded it against us.
But as Christians we don't have to fear death anymore.
Revelation one verse 17 and 18 it says fear not, I am the 1st
and the last and the living one. I died and behold, I am alive
forever more and I have the keys of death in Hades.
To hold the keys to something means that you are in in control
of it. To do this of his own power
means that that Jesus conquered death.
During his sermon in Acts 2 verse 24, Peter proclaims God
raised him up losing the pangs of death because it was not
possible for him to be held by it.
This enlightenment, this epiphany, is what it's all
about. Satan hadn't conquered Jesus,
Pilate never had the authority to make Jesus die, and the Roman
soldiers with their whips and scourges weren't the ones
wielding power that day. Jesus power and authority was
plainly visible in the scene that John stood taking in.
This is where our hope lies in. In John 10 verse 18, Jesus makes
it clear that He gave his life. He said no one takes it from me,
but I lay it down of my own accord.
I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it
up again. This charge I have received from
my Father looking into that empty tomb.
John knew that Jesus has resurrected himself.
Now knowing the fact of the resurrection is an important
start but not enough. In James two it says that even
the the demons believe. We need to let the Bible tell us
the meaning and the importance of Jesus direction and then what
that entails for us. John 316, probably one of the
probably the most famous verse you know, out of out of all of
Scripture says for God so loved the world that he gave his only
son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have
eternal life. But what does that mean to have
eternal life? Death is the is is the bill
stamped payment due at our birth.
That's what having a sin nature means, right The moment that
that you're born, even you before you get any of the
paperwork about your baby, that baby has a a bill that is due
with with his his own death one day.
See, it was God's will that we would have another chance though
at reconciliation. It's great that Jesus has
defeated sin and death, but what does that mean for us exactly?
Well, Hebrews 10/10 says, and by that will we have been
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
and for all. Now sanctified means to be set
apart from the things of the world, set apart from the, from
the, the, the, the dirtiness of the world, the the, the
wickedness, the tainted things of the world.
Jesus gave up his life at the cross, paying our bill.
But when he walked out of that tomb, he wasn't just freeing us
from hell, He was offering resurrection to us as well,
eternal life with him in paradise.
Enduring Word commentary said this really well.
I it said the death of Jesus on the cross was the payment, but
the resurrection was the receipt showing that the payment was
perfect in the sight of God the Father.
So since death was was due when we were born.
Jesus worked on the cross and his resurrection then stamped
our sentence as paid in full for those of us who believed the
last thing that Jesus said on the cross was it is finished the
Greek word to tell us. I think I saw people, a couple
people with that written on their shirts today, which is a a
good thing to to wear this this weekend, but that that phrase it
is finished. It's a it's a legal term that
that means that it has been paid in full.
The deal is done. It is complete.
First Corinthians 15 verse 14 says, and if Christ has not been
raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
See, that's that's who we are. We are the people who have
recognized and believed only Jesus Christ as the way, the
truth and the life. That's what it all hinges on.
Previous to that faith, death was our master and we were its
slaves. In Hebrews 2 verses 14 and 15 it
says since therefore the children share in flesh and
blood, He himself likewise partook of the same things, that
through death He might destroy the one who has the power of
death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through
fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
If you are someone that has not put your your full faith in
Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins through
His torturous death and then His miraculous resurrection, then I
pray that you will recognize your sinful nature and
understand that that nature deserves punishment.
A good judge will give an appropriate sentence for
wrongdoing. The Bible calls us to repent and
believe and promises us as we read up here just a bit ago.
It promises us that Jesus will forgive you if you do that.
This passage says that, that Jesus delivers us from death and
slavery. Many years ago when I was in the
police Academy, I, they, they took us on a tour of the state
prison. And one of the things they did
is they, they, they took us through what's known as as death
row. And Oh my gosh, what a scary and
dark place that is such a, a, a, a feeling of, of a just
oppression and, and, and darkness.
So as we read this, this is a, this is amazing news for us.
My death sentence has been commuted and expunged from my
record. And if you have put your faith
in Jesus alone, then you've also been released off death row with
me. Amen and Amen.
So we see that that that John now has this partial
enlightenment, this this emerging understanding as as the
the Third Point was, but then it says that the disciples left and
went home. Well, that's kind of an anti
climactic end of the of the story, right?
Well, for the the disciples, they didn't fully understand
what they were to do yet. Jesus, Jesus was still with
them, continuing to teach them now for 40 more days until he
ascended to to heaven. But you know, after hearing
about this today, you were you're also going to go home,
right? Well, we have the benefit of
being able to read ahead and see what else is coming in
Scripture. And so if this was your first
time hearing this story or you know your 40th, we want you to
go from here today with a glad heart, knowing what is next.
At at some point in in those those next 40 days, Jesus met up
with his remaining 11 disciples and gave to them what we know as
the Great Commission that we find in Matthew 28 verses 18
through 20. And it says, and Jesus came and
said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always
to the end of the age. Now as you and I leave here
today and and go about our our lives, you know, at at work, at
at home or wherever. This is our goal to to make
disciples of Jesus everywhere we go, teaching our our our our
friends and our our family and our our neighbors and our Co
workers to observe the things that Jesus commanded us to do.
And this passage ends with this phrase.
Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.
Now, we we often look at that and we understand it as a as a
phrase that would strengthen us in the the intimidating task of
of evangelizing and and sharing our faith.
But I see it as a further reminder of the promise of
finding ourselves in the presence of God Almighty for the
rest of eternity. The last summer, my, my family
and I, we, we travelled to Alaska on vacation.
And at one point we were on a, on a train.
And every few seconds or couple of minutes at the, at the most,
we were like continuously, you know, Hey, hey, come look at
this, come look at this around every corner.
There was something to take pictures of or whatever.
And, and we wanted to do that because the thing that's even
better than seeing those beautiful sights is to share
them with, with somebody else. And so we were excitedly like,
Hey, come and look and see what I, what I've got here.
Well, that's what we get to do with today's message about
Jesus, death and resurrection. We get to go from here and we
get to tell our friends and family, Hey, come and look and
see what I have found. Invite them to come back here
again next week as as we like Mary devote ourselves to the
body of Christ and and run to Jesus for the answers that we
seek and the hope of eternity in his presence that that he
offered us. Will you guys pray with me?
Oh, Lord, I, I just, I stand in awe, Lord of, of the beauty of
this message and how every single time I, I read it, every
time I go through it, there's something amazing more to take
from it. And, and Lord, like those
disciples all those years ago, there's times in each of our
lives where where we're just afraid and, and no matter how
good things had been going up to this point, something trips us
up and, and we find ourselves in a in a dark way and, and we seek
answers and, and, and we want to know what's ahead.
We want to know where we stand. And Lord, sometimes we don't
even necessarily know to look for you.
But Lord, I, I just ask that that we as a body would, would
run to each other to, to, to, to help us get back to looking at
you, or that we, that we would, if somebody comes to us, that we
would, that we would work to, to go back to your word to, to find
the answers to the questions that we have.
And, and that through that, like, like John standing outside
of that tomb and, and looking in for your, for your body and not
seeing it, but seeing evidence of really of who you are helping
help having that enlightenment or help us to also have that
enlightenment. Help it to, to come clear to us
and, and help us to be able to find those answers and, and
continue on and knowing you and having that relationship with
you, knowing more about you that as we leave here today, we just
ask that this wouldn't be something that we would easily
forget that this isn't a story that we would keep to ourselves,
Lord, but we would really, truly be anxious to go and share it
with the nations that we would share with our neighbors and our
friends. Or that they would know that you
lived a perfect life as God and man and that you were murdered
on that cross from my sins. And, and that only through
through your power, you raised yourself from the dead,
defeating sin and death and, and blessing us with an opportunity
to put our, our faith in you and to be able to enjoy your
presence for eternity. Lord, what an amazing thing that
is. Hope that you are honored in
this service today. And in our last song, we say
this in Jesus name, Amen, resurrection of Jesus and what
that means to you and in your life.
Please come and talk to one of us, talk with Eric or John after
the service. And we want to answer those
questions for you. We want to answer them today,
but we look forward to seeing you come back next week to, to,
to, to be passionate and, and diligent about being with and
taking care of the body of Christ with us being that.
And so we look forward to to seeing you next week.
I hope you have a a blessed, wonderful resurrection day.
We'll see you. God bless.