Easter Sunday

(No video today due to technical difficulties)

He is Risen! Today is my favorite day of the year. Spring is finally here. We can see new life springing up from the ground as flowers begin to bloom and trees show signs of life. Our backyard is filled with the songs of birds and we can watch as they diligently work to make their nests. The pollen is frustrating and can cause allergies, headaches, literally and figuratively as we clean off our porches and patios. The rain comes and washes away the thin layer on our cars and we wake up the next day only to be met with what seems like more than the night before. But that pollen is a sign of new life. 

But today, as we consider all the newness of life that is manifesting around us, none is more important than the life that God breathed back into the lungs of Jesus on this day 2000 years ago. After defeating spiritual death on the cross, he now defeats physical death through His resurrection, creating a way for a miraculous, supernatural union between humanity and Himself. 

This well known story of the resurrection is the truth that the entire Christian faith depends on. 

Resurrection Story

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!” 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. We’ve been in the gospel of Mark for the last year or so, and we come today to Mark 16:1-8.

Read Mark 16:1-3

These 3 women are very important to our story. They did not abandon Jesus, much like most of His disciples did. They witnessed the crucifixion, saw where Joseph and Nicodemus buried His body, and were now coming to the tomb out of a deep love and devotion to Jesus. It’s early Sunday morning, and they are bringing expensive spices to place in the folds of the burial cloths to help mask the smell of the decaying body. They were talking to each other about the large stone that would have been rolled in front of the tomb. “Who is going to remove it?” they wondered. 

Read Mark 16:4-5

These women were grieving as they walked. The implication is that they were downcast, looking down as they walked, and upon approaching the tomb, they looked up. And when they did, they saw that the very large stone had been moved from the entrance to the tomb. 

Upon entering they find a man sitting in the tomb, when comparing this story to other gospels we can know that this was an angel. I think in this situation, “alarm” is a pretty proper response. In fact, the better translation of that word would be “amazed,” which describes a mixture of “fear and wonder, astonishment and distress.” It’s the same word used to describe the agony that Jesus felt as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke tells us that the women were terrified.

Read Mark 16:6-8

Is this not one of the most amazing lines in all of Scripture?! “He is risen! He is not here! He is ALIVE!” And they look at where Jesus had been laid, and His body was gone. John tells us that the linen cloth that He was wrapped in was laying there, and the cloth that was wrapped around His face was neatly folded, but Jesus WAS NOT THERE. 

And I love what the angel says: “Go and tell the disciples AND Peter.” Peter, who was so bold in his commitment to Christ, but when the heat was turned up, he denied Jesus. And when he did, Jesus, from the midst of the Sanhedrin, beaten and bloodied face, looked across the courtyard into his eyes, and Peter was overcome with brokenness and regret and began to weep uncontrollably. Jesus knew how broken Peter’s spirit was, so He singles Him out in His instruction to the angel. “Go tell the disciples, and make sure that Peter hears you!” He is broken hearted and he needs to know that hope has come!

The women don’t know what to do, so they run out of that tomb, trembling as they ran! And they were so overwhelmed that Mark tells us they didn’t even tell anyone!

Fortunately, the other gospels finish the story and we see that Jesus meets the women on the road, after which they run and tell the disciples what happened. John and Peter immediately run to the tomb to see for themselves that Jesus was in fact, not there, and over the course of the next few days Jesus appeared to a lot of different people. Eye witness accounts of the resurrection of Jesus. 

1 Corinthians 15:5-7 - “And that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.”

Jesus was alive! Jesus IS alive! If we believe this to be true, then why does it matter so much? Why is this truth the one on which our entire faith hinges? Because without this truth, our faith would be in vain. Without this truth, we would remain enslaved to our sin. Without this truth, we would die and stay dead. But…it is true. Paul, in a few different passages talks about a few of the benefits afforded to us because of the resurrection. I want to talk about a few of those. 

NEW LIFE

1.. The Resurrection Provides Freedom from Sin (1 Corinthians 15:17)

Read 1 Corinthians 15:17. Because the resurrection is true, those who have placed their face in Jesus are no longer living in sin. Romans 6:6 says, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” More out of Romans 6 in just a few moments.

When Jesus Christ went to the cross, He became the full body of sin, sin which by definition separates us from God, sin that leaves us deserving of death. Jesus died that death that we deserved to die, and the beauty of that moment, when Jesus hung on that cross and defeated sin, the power of sin, the consequence of sin, it means that we wouldn’t have to.

When we become followers of Jesus, we are joined with Jesus in His death, and our old self is crucified. Our sin nature is crucified. The power that sin holds over us is crucified. The deserved consequence of our sin is crucified. Paul says in Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” Our old self dies. It doesn’t go to sleep, only to be woken up later. Our old self doesn’t pass out until someone waves smelling salts in front of our nose. Our old self doesn’t go comatose until months later, Boom! We wake up. Dead is dead is dead. Who I was is gone, crucified on the cross with Jesus. If Jesus stayed dead, we would remain enslaved by our sin with no hope of freedom, but the resurrection changed all of that!

One who has died with Christ has been set free from sin. Sin no longer holds power over us. The chains are broken, I am not controlled by my sin any longer! It is finished.

The resurrection provides freedom from sin.

2.. The Resurrection Promises New Life (Romans 6:5-9)

Read Romans 6:5-9. Our death to sin and baptism into His death are followed by being raised to new life. We have an immediate, spiritual resurrection that happens. New life is immediate, but it also has future implications as well. 

Let’s talk about the current, everyday living with Christ. We have an intimate relationship with Him. We are fused to Him. As we go through life and spend time learning about Him, we start to look more like Him. We act more like Him, talk more like Him. We have His peace. We have His patience. We have His gentleness, His self-control. We can love like Him. And He is with us every step of the way. We take His yoke and let Him lead, let Him give us rest when we need it, let Him carry the burdens for us. It’s a daily living with Jesus. New life in Christ.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” We are renewed in our spirit, we are renewed in our mind, our heart yearns for Christ instead of the things of this world.

But there’s a future implication here as well. There’s an eternal living with Christ here. Look again at verse 9. Read vs. 9.  Jesus defeated death. When He walked out of that tomb, it meant that He would never die again. In fact, we know that He is seated at the right hand of God right now, Mark 16:19 tells us that. John 3:16 tells us that when we believe in Jesus, we will have everlasting life, eternal life. Paul says, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” When we die, we will wake up in the presence of Jesus and will remain there forever. With Jesus. I mean guys, we go from death to life. Eternal separation from God, to eternity in His presence. Death no longer has dominion over Christ and because I am in Him and risen with Him, death no longer has dominion over me. I mean come on! The resurrection is MASSIVE. 

If Jesus died on the cross, and stayed dead, there would be no victory over death. If Jesus died on the cross, and stayed dead, He wouldn’t be seated at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf. If Jesus died on the cross, and stayed dead, he would be like every other religious “savior” who taught good things, and died. But that isn’t our Jesus is it? He was different. He was the Son of God. He had a larger purpose than just teaching good life lessons. His purpose was to bring about salvation to the world.  And somehow, God wants to include us in that?! God allows us to share in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus?! When we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we are saved, and in that moment we are baptized by the Holy Spirit into Jesus, fused together forever with Him. Our old self is crucified on that cross with Jesus, and we are resurrected into newness of life. I mean this! This is today!  This is why we celebrate today! From death to life. Life eternal.

Conclusion

And I just feel like there might be some people in this room that feel like they are without hope. I feel like there might be some people in this room that don’t know life like this. I feel like there might be someone in this room that does not yet know Jesus, and I just need to say that if you are feeling pulled towards Christ, that is the Holy Spirit moving you in that direction, and giving your life to Jesus will be the best decision you will ever make in your life. 

We celebrate this morning as Christians because we have been saved, not because we have done anything spectacular, not because we have worked hard at it, not because we’ve given money to the church and to those in need, we are Christians only because God looked at our hopeless and helpless lives, and loved us so desperately that He sent Jesus to die so that we would not have to! 

And I am pleading with you this morning to not let another moment go by without letting go and giving your life to Jesus. The moment you do that, all of this becomes true for you. And it’s simple. Paul tells us that all we have to do is confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, and we will be saved. Confess your need for a Savior and experience the exhilarating life that only Jesus can give.