1 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:06,160 Welcome. Happy Easter. 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:09,120 Happy Easter. There's a little tradition that 3 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:12,320 we do in churches on Easter Sunday. 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:17,040 It's a little saying that helps us affirm together what we 5 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,520 believe in, that this good news is real. 6 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:21,600 It's not just a myth or a legend. 7 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:26,480 So when I say he is risen, you respond, he is risen indeed. 8 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:30,560 So can we try that He is risen? Amen. 9 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,960 So I want to draw our minds to the saying this morning because 10 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:39,800 I think we believe in the resurrection, but we treat it 11 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,880 gets to a point where we can start to treat this belief in 12 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:50,520 our hearts kind of like a myth. We believe that Jesus was raised 13 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:54,880 and that because he was raised, we can have that hope that I 14 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,880 will one day be raised as well. But there are days where have I, 15 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:03,360 I've had to question, man, do I, do I really believe in this? 16 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,040 Maybe I don't believe in the resurrection as strongly as I 17 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,480 should. If I believe in the 18 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:11,920 resurrection, shouldn't I be more desperate for my friends 19 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:13,600 and family to find that same life? 20 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,320 If I believe in the resurrection, should I feel this 21 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:19,720 devastated by tragedy and death? If I believe in the 22 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:24,320 resurrection, should I feel this hopeless when I'm face to face 23 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:27,560 with chronic illness? Have you ever witnessed 24 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,520 something so difficult it made you question your hope? 25 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:36,640 Something so dark in our world that it causes the hope in God 26 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:44,200 to dim the slow but painful death of cancer? 27 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,480 The funding of human trafficking that is still somehow thriving 28 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,640 across our world? Wars and genocides. 29 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,720 Spot on. Egos, miscarriages and 30 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,400 infertility, racism and corruption. 31 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:02,880 You might still be trying to hope in God, but there is a 32 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:09,120 darkness that we witness where this hope can start to shape and 33 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:16,320 change. To be jaded, guarded, unengaged. 34 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:23,240 God's Word no longer holds emotional weight, any hope of 35 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,000 our life, because what you're witnessing around you is so 36 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:34,600 horrible, it's so devastating. And yet we have to say, Church, 37 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:41,040 he is risen. He is risen indeed, isn't he? 38 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,880 Isn't he? So I want to talk about this 39 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:47,920 today. I'm, I'm worried that it's it 40 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:51,000 becomes so easy for us to start to dismiss the hope of the 41 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55,440 resurrection, this concept that we go over every year, this hope 42 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:59,320 that we have that doesn't just mean eternal life for us, but it 43 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,920 means the redemption and restoration of all life in our 44 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:07,320 world. But I worry that instead of 45 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:12,000 being filled with hope, we can start to go down this path of, 46 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:14,240 yeah, yeah, sure. Yeah. 47 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,760 I believe in the resurrection, but our hearts can be blind to 48 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,920 its real implications. Our hearts can become guarded to 49 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:23,960 that hope because of what we're seeing. 50 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:30,760 So that's my question today. What can blind us to real hope 51 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,680 in the resurrection? This Easter, I want to look at 52 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,280 Jesus's final miraculous sign in the book of John in the book of 53 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,120 John, because I think there's someone in this story that we 54 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,280 can relate to. So I'm going to read John verses 55 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:50,920 11 to 7 or sorry, Chapter 11 verses one to seven and then and 56 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:55,640 then skip on I think media team. I think I, I mentioned right on 57 00:03:55,640 --> 00:04:04,560 the messages. So John 11 Now a man was sick, 58 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,680 Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary, and her sister 59 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:11,120 Martha. Mary was the one who anointed 60 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:14,160 the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it 61 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:16,040 was her brother Lazarus who was sick. 62 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:18,680 So the sister sent a message to him. 63 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:26,840 Lord, the one you love is sick. When Jesus heard it, he said the 64 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:30,880 sickness will not end in death, but it is for the glory of God 65 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,560 so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. 66 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,960 Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister and Lazarus. 67 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:46,800 So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in 68 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:52,040 the place where he was. Then after that he said to his 69 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,840 disciples, let us go to let's go to Judea again. 70 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,640 Rabbi, the disciples told them just now the Jews tried to stone 71 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,680 you, and you're going there again, and let's skip ahead. 72 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,720 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in 73 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,880 the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, less 74 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,440 than two miles away. Many of the Jews had come to 75 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:19,560 Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. 76 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,840 As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to 77 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:29,360 meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house, going nice. 78 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:39,760 Then Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother 79 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:44,800 wouldn't have died yet. Even now I know that whatever 80 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,640 you asked from God, God will give you. 81 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,440 Your brother will rise again. Jesus told her. 82 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:59,520 Martha said to him, I know, I know that he will rise again in 83 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:01,320 the resurrection. At the last day. 84 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:04,080 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection in the life. 85 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,320 The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. 86 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:10,280 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. 87 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:14,400 Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, she told them. 88 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:19,280 I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into 89 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:29,680 the world. Martha is so overwhelmed with 90 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,480 sorrow. She is struggling to find hope. 91 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:38,600 She is fighting to have faith. You can see it in her words. 92 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:45,800 Jesus, where were you? This was this was preventable. 93 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:52,280 If you were just here, my brother wouldn't have died. 94 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,760 So my first point that I want us to go over is what can blind us 95 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:00,680 to the real hope of the resurrection. 96 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,080 And it's when God's timing feels wrong to us. 97 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:09,160 Let's go back to verses one to seven. 98 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:17,560 In verse one to three, Mary and Martha tell Jesus that their 99 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,040 brother Lazarus is sick. And Jesus is very close with 100 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:22,640 this family. So you would think that this 101 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:24,960 news would make him spring up and immediately go. 102 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,280 But no. Verse 6 instead of going 103 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:31,080 immediately, Jesus does something unthinkable. 104 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:37,880 He waits two days. He essentially waits for Lazarus 105 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:40,080 to die. And what's the reason? 106 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:48,080 John 11/5 He says now Jesus loved Martha her sister and 107 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,280 Lazarus. But also verse 4 when Jesus 108 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,040 heard it the sickness will not end in death but it is for the 109 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:58,160 glory of God. So for his glory and out of love 110 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:02,560 for them he waits for Lazarus to die. 111 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,320 Now those verses in front of verse 6 seem to make very little 112 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,000 sense. You can almost rephrase this as 113 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:14,840 because Jesus loved his this family very much, he waited for 114 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,320 his death. It's almost like John had to put 115 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,920 verse four and five in front of verse 6 because anyone would 116 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,840 read what Jesus did and just go that that's terrible. 117 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:31,640 That is horrible. This is a loaded concept. 118 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:36,840 This means the most loving thing Jesus can do in your life. 119 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,760 More than providing immediate relief, more than healing your 120 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:43,280 immediate wounds, more than lifting you out of every bad 121 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:48,320 situation or trial or hardship, more than preventing every 122 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:53,000 heartbreaking tragedy. The most loving thing that God 123 00:08:53,000 --> 00:09:04,640 can do for you is delay is wait. There is something beyond the 124 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:09,360 tragedy that God waits for, and He sees it as important enough 125 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:16,600 to delay your relief. Is there hope that God wants to 126 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,800 give you that you're not able to see because this pain and 127 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,920 suffering in your life is so in your face? 128 00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:27,520 Is there hope that you're not able to experience because sin 129 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:29,440 and death feels too real right now? 130 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,200 You're wondering, God, why are you waiting? 131 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,600 What are you waiting for? Why are you not dealing with 132 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,840 this devastation and this pain and this sin and the death? 133 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:42,560 Don't you see what's happening down here? 134 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:50,200 When my nephew was nearing the age of four, my brother and 135 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,000 sister-in-law were really worried about his speech. 136 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:58,080 He was just not talking. He could say simple words like 137 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:03,240 ball cup water, but he just didn't want to say anything. 138 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:06,240 And it got to the point where they had to hire a speech 139 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:07,960 therapist because they're so worried, right? 140 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,240 They're so worried that something was wrong and so they 141 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:14,560 they talked to the therapist. She spoke with him for a little 142 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:18,040 bit, sat the parents down and said something very insightful. 143 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:23,040 She said, mom, dad, you are too good at predicting what your 144 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:27,480 kids wants. So the next time he wants 145 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:33,680 something, be dumb. Be really, really like, don't 146 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:37,480 like you act like you don't understand what he's asking for. 147 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,120 So if he's pointing to the water, just point to something 148 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:47,560 next to it. Pickles, pick Pickles food, 149 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,920 food, don't like, don't like. He's looking for water, food. 150 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:57,520 Like just play dumb, right? And do not give it to him until 151 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:01,200 he tries to speak. Now, I don't know if you've 152 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:05,000 tried this with kids, but they, Oh my gosh, they hate it. 153 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,880 They hate it so much. They get so frustrated. 154 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:12,240 Like I had to do this with with my kid when he was little 155 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:13,680 because he was doing the same thing. 156 00:11:13,680 --> 00:11:17,440 He was trying not to talk. And, and they just, they just do 157 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:19,280 whatever they can with the tools they have. 158 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:22,080 They just point harder. They point harder. 159 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:26,440 They, they, they, you know, because the binkies in their 160 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,800 mouth and, or eventually they might start just yelling and 161 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:35,600 then they cry. So he's thirsty, right? 162 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,400 My son is thirsty. He's so focused on water. 163 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:40,880 He's so focused on getting immediate relief. 164 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:48,120 All he can see is I'm thirsty and dad will not give me water. 165 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:53,240 I'm going through something uncomfortable, painful, and I 166 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,120 see an immediate solution on the counter. 167 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,760 I'm just not tall enough. Dad just get it for me. 168 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:06,720 He can't see that I want him to speak. 169 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:13,600 He can't understand that what I want for him is something 170 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:19,560 better, but it requires me to withhold water from Him. 171 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:26,400 There is nothing that God withholds from you without 172 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,320 purpose. God wants to give you 173 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:32,480 everything. You're His beloved son. 174 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:36,960 You're His precious daughter. What loving parent wants to keep 175 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,760 things from their child? But there are times in our life 176 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:45,760 where God must delay. He must withhold. 177 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,360 He must allow you to wait. And it's not because He doesn't 178 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,440 care. It's not because he wants to be 179 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:56,280 silent. It's because there's something 180 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:05,400 better he needs to give you. But it requires him to wait, as 181 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:10,720 painful as that is. And we can get so fixated on 182 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:15,400 this one thing, we can become blind to what God is really 183 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:21,200 trying to do. Like Martha, we might start 184 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:27,960 saying, God, where were you if you had just been here? 185 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:32,680 We get stuck on this hardship or tragedy. 186 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:35,640 We can't look past God's timing and see why he'd do that. 187 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:41,440 So we stop hoping. We stop hoping in prayer. 188 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:49,720 We stop hoping in God and we blind ourselves to real hope. 189 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:58,040 So if we blind ourselves to this hope, we start looking for it 190 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:00,400 somewhere else. We look for replacements instead 191 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,200 of true hope in God. What are those things? 192 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:04,960 One of those things is my second point. 193 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,920 What can blind us to real hope in the the resurrection? 194 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:12,960 Excuse me two, When we look for hope in cheap counterfeits 195 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:17,240 instead of God's glory. When we look for hope in cheap 196 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:21,760 counterfeits instead of God's glory, if you remember from 197 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:26,040 verse 4, right, he says he's this, this sickness will not end 198 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:27,080 in death. It will. 199 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:31,880 It's for the glory of God. That's the reason for the delay. 200 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:38,320 So let's look at Martha in verse 23 and 24, this exchange between 201 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:42,080 Jesus and Martha, where Martha says to Jesus, Lord, if you had 202 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:46,000 been here, my brother wouldn't have died yet, even now, yet 203 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:50,000 even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give 204 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:54,040 you, your brother will rise again. 205 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:00,840 And Martha says, I, I know that he's going to rise again in the 206 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:03,480 in the resurrection on the last day. 207 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:10,440 So Jesus is talking to Martha. I was talking to Jesus and she's 208 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:12,240 talking about the day of God's judgment. 209 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,960 She knows that there's hope there in God, but her heart, you 210 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,320 could tell her heart's not really engaging with it. 211 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:24,560 So I I yeah, I know, I know She is so devastated by what's just 212 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:26,280 happened. She's so grief stricken. 213 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:30,160 She's blind to the hope. So she tries to deal with her 214 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:34,560 pain by coping. She says this horrible thing 215 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,200 that happened. I know there's still hope if I 216 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:41,000 look at it differently, if I try to spin my story differently. 217 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,240 So here's here's what we do. This is this is our, our, our 218 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:50,040 method. Instead of hoping we cope, we 219 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:54,360 start to cope. Death is genuinely terrible. 220 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,760 Sin is terrible, the broken of brokenness of our world is 221 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,320 terrible. And most of the time our coping 222 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:04,880 mechanism is let's try to spin this differently. 223 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,320 Let's find hope by changing our perspective. 224 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:12,320 But in reality, terrible things are still happening. 225 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,040 You can try to look at your childhood differently. 226 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,880 It doesn't change the fact that you might have been abused. 227 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:22,120 You can try to change your perspective on your loved ones 228 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:23,760 passing away. It doesn't change the fact that 229 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:27,200 death is horrendous. You can try to look at your 230 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,280 moral failure differently. It doesn't change the fact that 231 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:32,240 it still haunts you today. You can try to paint a different 232 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:34,040 picture for the injustice you faced. 233 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:39,720 It's still injustice. See, we can't actually solve our 234 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,880 problems. We can't actually make sin and 235 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,360 suffering and death and tragedy go away. 236 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:51,560 So we try to pretend that sin and death and brokenness doesn't 237 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:56,200 exist, because who can go on living in that kind of reality? 238 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:04,680 It's too depressing. But our Bible's solutions to our 239 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:09,079 problems is not spin the story differently. 240 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:14,319 It's not cope with what happened by pretending your reality is 241 00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:20,280 different. Our Bible say evil is evil, the 242 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:24,480 world is broken, sin is sin, and those are terrible things that 243 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:28,480 happened in your life. But our Bibles don't offer us a 244 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:31,960 coping mechanism. It doesn't say pretend like 245 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:36,440 everything's OK. Instead, our Bibles offer hope, 246 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:41,800 real hope, something can actually change. 247 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:54,160 Let's go to verses 38 to 44. Verses 38 to 44, I believe it's 248 00:17:54,160 --> 00:18:01,520 the last slide. Then Jesus deeply moved again, 249 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,840 came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lying 250 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,080 against it. Remove the stone, Jesus said. 251 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,480 Martha, the dead man's sister, told him, Lord, there is already 252 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:15,880 a stench because he has been dead for four days. 253 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,880 Jesus said to her, Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you 254 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:24,040 would see the glory of God? There it is again. 255 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:29,040 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and 256 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:31,880 said, Father, I thank you that you heard me. 257 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:34,640 I know that you always hear me, but because of the crowd 258 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:36,960 standing here, I said this so that they may believe you sent 259 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,520 me. After he said this, he shouted 260 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:43,520 with a loud voice. Lazarus, come out. 261 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:49,720 The dead man came outbound, hand and foot, with linen straps, 262 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:53,120 with linen strips, and with his face wrapped in a cloth. 263 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:56,880 Jesus said to them, Unwrap him and let him go. 264 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:12,800 Lazarus rises from the dead. This is not conceptual, OK? 265 00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:17,200 This is, this is not a, a, a metaphor, OK? 266 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:20,680 This is not like Lazarus is risen in my heart. 267 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:24,680 No, like, not even Martha's, like I know he's going to be 268 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,200 risen on the last day. It's no, it's he came. 269 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:32,080 He came, he walked out. He took off the strips. 270 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,360 Jesus stands in front of the tomb, in front of Lazarus, this 271 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:41,280 four day old rotting corpse, and says I am the resurrection. 272 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:46,080 I am the God of life. I am the God who says let there 273 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,720 be light and it happens before me. 274 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:52,520 It's not just demons that will flee. 275 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:56,280 Not even death will hold its ground. 276 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:02,480 This is not a distant hope. This is not a fairy tale or 277 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:08,240 wishful thinking. Our hope actually makes a 278 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:13,360 difference. Our hope has a name, and his 279 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:19,120 name is Jesus, and he offers solutions that no one else has 280 00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:22,040 the power to do. Where the rest of our world 281 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:27,240 tries to cope by spinning the story differently, Jesus changes 282 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:32,280 the story. And gives a real concrete life 283 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:38,280 altering solution. Our passage today is Jesus's 7th 284 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,200 and final sign in the book of John. 285 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:45,080 But Jesus has done a lot through this book where he just says you 286 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,720 were born blind. It's like, oh you were born 287 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:52,240 blind. Well at least God has given you 288 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:54,440 sight through in faith. No, he says. 289 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:57,000 See. Open your eyes. 290 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:02,120 You're afraid of drowning. I'm going to walk on the waves 291 00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:04,840 to get to you. You have nothing to eat. 292 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:07,840 I'll feed all 5000 of you right now. 293 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:10,440 You've been paralyzed from the waist down. 294 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:15,240 Pick up your mat and walk. Your son is sick. 295 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:17,160 Go home. He's good. 296 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:19,240 I didn't even. I didn't even have to be there 297 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:21,680 to do it. You're out of wine. 298 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:28,120 Show me where your water's AT. And the 7th and final sign. 299 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:34,440 Lazarus is dying. I need to wait here because I 300 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:38,200 love him and there's a better hope that I want to give him. 301 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:44,920 And the whole world, I think so many of us are jaded by a world 302 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,920 that feels so hopelessly broken. We're cynical after living lives 303 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:53,200 full of tragedy and death. We forget who we're dealing 304 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,360 with. We allow the darkness of our 305 00:21:56,360 --> 00:22:02,880 world to dim the glory of Jesus. But this Jesus makes the blind 306 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:04,760 see. He makes the lame walk. 307 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:07,960 He makes the sick well. This Jesus heals the broken, 308 00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:11,200 feeds the hungry, gives dignity to the poor and the oppressed, 309 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,520 gives forgiveness to the adulteress, gives new life to 310 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:16,920 tax collectors, sinners and prostitutes. 311 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,960 This Jesus heals broken marriages, redeem stories of 312 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,320 abuse for good, repurposes people canceled by society to 313 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:28,040 change lives. Your hope in this resurrection 314 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:31,560 is not a concept, it's not a coping method. 315 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:38,960 It's real, it's reality, it's unshakable truth that and it's a 316 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:40,920 promise that God has made to you. 317 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:48,600 Jesus stares at the tragedy of our world and says I can and I 318 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:53,000 will write everything that is wrong. 319 00:22:54,360 --> 00:23:04,600 Don't believe me, I'll make a dead man rise over a world 320 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:09,760 covered in death. Jesus says I am the 321 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:14,640 resurrection, believe in me and you will never die. 322 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:20,160 I will redeem you and I will right every wrong. 323 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:29,400 That is the glory of Jesus, and it's a hope we needed to know 324 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,240 more than Jesus can make a sick man. 325 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:37,880 Well, again, it's a hope we needed more than pretending that 326 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:39,840 our reality needs to be different. 327 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,360 It's a hope that's better than let's just try to change my 328 00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:45,640 perspective because I can't actually bring change. 329 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,960 SBMC. He is risen. 330 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:58,400 He is risen indeed. This Easter, when we talk about 331 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,760 the resurrection, don't just say I know, I know. 332 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:06,040 This Easter, when you pray, don't just gloss over this hope 333 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,960 you have. This Easter, when you don't, 334 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,640 just don't. Just cope with the brokenness of 335 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:13,280 our world. Don't pretend everything's OK 336 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,320 when it's not. It's OK to call evil for what it 337 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,360 is. It's OK to call sin for what it 338 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:20,600 is. It's OK to call tragedy for what 339 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,040 it is. But don't stop there. 340 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:28,840 This Easter, when you pray, remember you speak to the God of 341 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,440 life. When you hope, you hope in the 342 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:36,600 glorious name of Jesus Christ. When you suffer, when you feel 343 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,760 like darkness is winning, do not forget the glory of your 344 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:44,840 wonderful Savior. He is not a coping method, He is 345 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:50,960 the genuine life altering, soul saving, eternity, winning hope 346 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,080 for your life and our entire world. 347 00:24:55,160 --> 00:25:02,440 Amen. He is risen, He is risen indeed. 348 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:08,000 Amen. What can blind us to real hope 349 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:12,120 in the resurrection when death causes us to lose hope? 350 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:18,320 The resurrection reminds us Jesus's life that not even death 351 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:20,640 can stop. Let's pray.