Easter Sunday
He is Risen! Today is my favorite day of the year. Today is a day on which our eternity depends. Today is the celebration of an event that our faith hinges on. It is the day that God breathed life back into the lungs of Jesus and He walked out of the tomb. After defeating spiritual death on the cross, he now defeats physical death as well, creating a way for a miraculous, supernatural union between humanity and Himself.
I hope you had some time this week to spend in quiet meditation. I hope you were able to focus your mind and your heart around the events of Holy Week.
Imagine with me for a moment that you are one of Jesus’ disciples. You have just spent the last 3 and a half years doing life with Jesus. You have seen and experienced firsthand the power of God to transform lives. You have seen healing power. You have seen resurrection power. You have seen miraculous things that defy logic. You walk into Jerusalem holding your head high, because you are one of the few chosen to be included in the inner circle of the Messiah. And then, overnight, and quite suddenly, everything changes.
You have now seen Jesus arrested. You have seen Him stand silently before His accusers. You have seen Him beaten. You have seen Him mocked. You have seen the look of pain and agony on His face. You have seen Him cry out in pain as the nails are driven, and you watched in disbelief as He was raised up on a cross, “this can’t be happening! You promised us Jesus! You promised!” And then, “Gasp, it is finished.” And all of that pride that you felt just a few days ago melts into fear. It melts into deep discouragement. “How, how can this be?”
This man that you came to love so deeply, dead and buried in a tomb. I mean just imagine the emotions. Imagine the confusion.
Ohhhhh, but He didn’t stay there, did He?
Read Matthew 28:1-7.
Now, I want us to pause here for a moment, because over the course of our morning, we are going to see 5 interactions that Jesus had with different people. I believe that if we look closely, we can find ourselves in the midst of them. And here’s the question I want us all to be faced with this morning. And be honest with yourself. When confronted with Jesus, when you meet Him face to face, how do you respond?
Interaction #1
At first glance into Matthew 28, it would seem that the angel is telling Mary to go to Galilee to meet Jesus. But, when you put all the gospel accounts together, what you find is that the angel is telling Mary to go and tell the disciples that Jesus would meet them in Galilee. Turn over to John chapter 20. Mary is weeping, confused and saddened by the disappearance of Jesus’ body, and look what happens. Read John 20:13-18.
There is no indication here that Mary did not recognize Jesus. Based on the narrative, her back would have been turned to Jesus when He walked up to her. She was weeping, and when He first spoke to her, she didn’t turn to Him, but just assumed that He was the gardener. But notice the moment. He simply calls her by her name. She is broken, she is distraught, she is weeping, and she could not see Jesus through her tears, until He called her by her name.
Now I don’t know what you walked in here with today. But I’m sure that some of us are sitting here broken. Let me just tell you, that over the last few weeks, I’ve been really struggling. I’ve been overwhelmed by responsibility, my stress level has been through the roof, and I’ve felt the anxiety climbing, my chest tightening. Have you ever been there? And it’s so heavy that you can’t sleep? I woke up at 3:00 am on Thursday morning in a panic, and just started praying. I’m sitting on the back porch around lunch time later that day, and I’m writing this exact point, and as I’m writing it, I just close my eyes, and I listen. And let me just say, even in the quiet moments when the noise is so loud, that still small voice can break through, and it did, and in my mind, I just hear, “Adam, Adam, it’s me, just trust me. I walked this earth, and I died so that you may live. Give it to me. Cast your burdens on me. Let me shoulder the weight. And, (inhale), breath, and listen, and trust.”
Mary missed Jesus in her weeping, until He called her by name. She was so overcome with grief, so discouraged, so broken, and then the sound of Jesus calling her name changed it all in a moment.
Interaction #2
Read Luke 24:13-35
These 2 men were not disciples, but were followers of Jesus. They knew a lot about Him. They had a head knowledge of the Scriptures. They had a head knowledge of what the Messiah was supposed to bring about. They had experienced the last week of Jesus’ life. But still, they did not recognize Him, even when He was walking with them and speaking to them. Their eyes were darkened and they did not recognize Him even though He was right in front of their faces.
And then, in an incredible moment, when Jesus breaks bread with them, their eyes are opened. Look again at verse 32, “They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” I want to step outside the immediate application of this text, and extrapolate just a bit. See these men had experienced Jesus before, but for some reason their eyes were made to be blind at who He was temporarily. But, let’s just think about this for a moment…
Maybe you don’t know Jesus. Maybe you have never experienced true relationship with Him. Maybe you have been in church for a long time, but you’ve never placed your faith in Him. But, you sit here or there week after week, and you hear God’s words, and there is something burning in your heart. Listen, maybe, maybe you didn’t grow up in church, and all this Jesus talk is new to you, but there is something about the name of Jesus that causes this internal wrestling in your soul. Can I just plead with you for a moment? Jesus, in the greatest act of love in the history of the world, died on a cross in your place. See, we are all born into sin. And because of that sin, we are separated from God, forever, unless someone steps in. We deserve to die a sinners death, unless someone steps in. And Jesus did. Jesus took your sins, He took my sins, and He took them to the cross and died in our place. And Paul tells us in Romans that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. If you have not done that, and there is a burning in your soul when you hear the name of Jesus, then today is the day for you to give your life over to Him.
Interaction #3
Take your mind back to being one of Jesus’ followers. Remember the fear, the doubts, the confusion, the anxiety?
Read Luke 24:36-43.
These dudes are terrified. Jesus, who they saw die, is now standing in their presence. They think they are seeing a ghost! But Jesus is like, “look, I have flesh and bones, look at the scars, it’s really Me!” Their attitude of disbelief in which they struggled to believe it, turned to disbelief because it was true and they believed it, you know what I’m saying? Like, it’s real, right in front of you, but even then you can’t believe it? Jaw dropped. Amazed. Filled with joy.
This is the beginning. This is the beginning of a new day. This is the moment that would propel these disciples forward to carry the gospel torch in proclamation to the world. This was the confirmation that gave them the confidence to stand firm in the face of persecution. This is the moment that caused them to willingly die for the cause of this Man. He is Risen! And He shows up, and asks for something to eat.
Has this been your experience with Jesus? Has He caused wonder and amazement in your life? Has he caused your jaw to drop because of His glory? Does the thought of Him fill you with such joy that you can’t even express it?! Oh to live in the wonder of the beauty of our resurrected Savior! But there’s one who was not there in the room…
Interaction #4
Read John 20:24-29
Now, this interaction is a sermon in and of itself. This is where Thomas gets his nickname, “Doubting Thomas.” But rather than focusing in on all of the small details here, I want to direct our attention to the last verse. See, one of the hardest things about the Christian faith is believing in something that we can’t see. It’s difficult to trust something that we cannot touch. Maybe you’re like Thomas, and you hear all these things about Jesus, but you’re skeptical, and you’re like, “if I just had some proof, like, beyond a shadow of a doubt, tangible evidence, then I would believe.”
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
You know what the great thing about Jesus is. Once you experience Him, like, really truly let Him in. When you hand your life over to Him. When you receive His gift of salvation and walk out of darkness and into His light. When you are overwhelmed by His love. When you are flooded with His joy. When you are resting in His peace. Can I tell you something? That is as real as this table, as this floor, as this room. And if you’ve experienced Him, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you have not experienced Him, can I tell you what my prayer is for you? Let’s look at the 5th and last interaction, and this is my prayer if you have not experienced Jesus, really, like real life change experienced Jesus.
Interaction #5
Read John 21:1-8
These disciples had been fishing all night, and had caught nothing. This man appears, and they couldn’t tell who it was because the sun was just coming up, and they were about 100 yards offshore. He tells them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat, and when the nets begin to stretch and the boat begins to rock, they realize who He is. And here is my prayer for all of us, but specifically on Easter morning for those of you who don’t have a relationship with Jesus. Peter can’t even wait until the boat pulls up to shore. He has to get to Jesus, immediately. He is compelled to throw himself into the sea, 100 yards from the shore, and swim to Jesus. It’s an immediate response to Jesus. Why? Because He caused them to catch all those fish? Eh, I think it was because Peter had experienced Jesus in such a real, deep way…he loved him so much, that he couldn’t help but throw himself into the water to get to Jesus.
He had been learning from Jesus for 3.5 years. He saw the miracles. He saw His glory at the transfiguration. He saw Him die. He touched His resurrected body. He experienced Jesus in such a real way that he couldn’t help himself. I must get to Jesus. I won’t let anything stop me!
And this is my prayer! That anything that has been holding you back would be removed and you would do whatever it takes to get to Jesus! Relationships won’t satisfy. Money won’t satisfy. Careers won’t satisfy. Family won’t satisfy. Education won’t satisfy. Working out and looking good won’t satisfy. The only thing that will satisfy you in this life and the life to come is Jesus! So whatever it is that has gotten between you and a relationship with Him,
“God I pray that you would remove these things. I pray that you would take away the doubt. I pray that you would take away the need for physical, tangible evidence. I pray that you would take away the skepticism. I pray that you would take away the hesitation. God use your Spirit to draw those in this room who do not know you to yourself. God bring the prodigal home. God let them see the wounds in the hands and feet of Jesus, and let them see once and for all, that those wounds are for them! By His wounds we are healed. God let them see the risen Christ as true. Let them see the risen Christ as a declaration of victory over death. God let them see the victory that we have because of the resurrected Jesus. God, I am pleading with you. Break them, and save them. Draw them to yourself. Oh God you are so worthy. You are so worth it.”
