04-12-2020
Easter Sunday - HE is RISEN!
This year, Our Easter Sunday falls within a different type of year.
We are all dealing with this
COVID-19 Pan demic
·
Or
as it has been declared to be, the COVID-19 Plague.
A time when we are Shut-In,
·
Secluded
within our homes,
·
And
we are told to wrap our faces in cloth
o
IF
we dare to go out for groceries or supplies.
IF you walk into the
grocery store,
·
You
will not only find the shelves which are usually so colorful,
o
With
4 to 8 rows deep of all different types of products,
o
Now,
they are empty except for a few items,
§ Which would normally never make it to
your shopping list.
·
But
not only are the selves empty and bare of this colorful display,
o
The
very few people who you may see,
o
Are
now so scarce and far between.
·
They
are wandering quietly through the aisles,
o
With
glove covered hands
o
And
their faces are covered with masks.
·
Within
the days of yesterday,
o
This
would only be expected in a scene of a robbery,
o
However
here today,
o
The
only thing that is being robbed,
o
Is
if you get too close to someone.
§ As you have just robbed them of their
Safe Zone.
YES – TODAY; We are now
living this way
·
As
we are in hiding from an Invisible Beast.
“The Beast” is
what people are naming the virus.
It is the thief who attacks
brutally within the night with
·
Spiked
Fevers,
·
Aches,
·
With
Lung Binding Strength,
·
and
Scary Hallucinations.
This COVID-19 is literally - A “Breath-Taking” Plague.
·
It
steals the breath right out from the people’s bodies
o
In
such a terrifying way.
·
It
strikes faster than a Cotton Mouth,
o
Leaving
you frightened and breathless.
·
With
no cure in sight,
o
It
seems the only way to stay safe
§ Is to hide away,
§ Covering our noses and faces with
cloth,
§ And hope that this will keep this
§ Aggressive Beast away
from our lungs.
This Beast – The COVID-19 Plague
·
Seems
to have already made good
·
On
its death count
·
As
it has already claimed so many lives.
This brutal virus makes
us feel as if we are locked away
·
Within
in a dark tomb for an unknown duration,
o
As
though the darkness of the “Good Friday”
o
May
go on – forever
o
And
with giving us so little hope in sight.
·
And
yet - all around us,
o We see signs of LIFE!
§ Signs of SPRING!
§
Signs
of AWAKENING!
§ Signs of HOPE!
§ Signs of THE
RESURRECTION!
·
EASTER IS HERE!!!
·
OUR LORD – JESUS CHRIST
– LIVES!!!
For now, it may seem as if our lives are
dampened.
·
That we are
entrapped.
·
That we are
enslaved to this darkness.
·
As if we are
being weighed down by the weight of a ‘Funeral Cloth.’
And yet, God’s Spring Blooms Eternal.
·
He is sending us
His Colors!
o
The Birds are Singing,
o
The Sun Bursts Out
from the winter clouds,
o
The trees are budding,
o
Flowers are
Unfolding,
o
The Ground is
Warming
o
As God unwraps an
Entirely New Landscape
§ Of Color and LIFE.
But for now, we stay in and we look out!
God has given us this year as a way to make
our Hearts ANEW.
·
New of Him
·
New of
Understanding Him in a New Way.
·
A new way for us
to grow in Our Trust within Him.
·
And - A New Way
for us to Serve Others.
Let me ask you.
Have you thought about the ‘Way of Life’ which
you are now living,
·
Does that give
you a New Image,
o
A New Understanding
o
A New Vision
§ Of what it meant for Our Lord be within His
tomb for those 3 days?
Does this ‘New Way of Living’ help us to
understand more about Jesus?
·
Of Him knowing
that His Resurrection was about to happen,
·
But Yet, with Him
waiting for the dawn to come on that magnificent morning
·
To know that the
stone was going to be rolled away,
·
To See the sun
streamed through the doorway,
·
To know that the
“angel of the Lord” was going to remove the funeral cloth from His Face,
·
To know that the Holy
Spirit was to, once again,
o
Breath the Holy
Breath of Life into His body
o
And to bring His
Body back to LIFE once again.
Three days of darkness.
·
Then, a New and a
Restored Life.
·
Not the Same Life.
·
But now,
o
A Restored Life,
o
A Resurrected Life.
The Gospel of John seems to be written with the
most detailed account
·
Of what happened
early morning of that Resurrection Day.
THE RESURRECTION
20:1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene
came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the
entrance.
2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom
Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body
out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and
reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there,
but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon
Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there,
7 while the cloth that had
covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and
he saw and believed— 9 for until
then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from
the dead. 10 Then they went
home.
20:11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept,
she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two
white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the
place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t
know where they have put him.”
14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus,
but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who
are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken
him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
16 “Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for
“Teacher”).
17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet
ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending
to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Beginning in John 20:11,
·
We
find Mary Magdalene approaching the tomb
o
While it was still dark.
·
See
- She didn’t wait until the morning,
o
And
you know, it wasn’t until later that day,
§ When the news of Jesus’ Resurrection Started
to spread around Jerusalem. (In Fact, Mary was one
of them who FIRST Shared the News)
·
Mary
came with expectation of things being as they had left them on Friday.
o
But
she came while it was still dark.
o
While
they all were without Hope.
o
While
the cloud of death still shrouded the land and in her heart.
·
And
it is always the coldest and the darkest - Right before Dawn,
o
And
this is when she found the stone rolled away,
§ And Jesus’ grave opened and empty.
From there, Mary ran to John’s
House
·
So
that she could share this News with Mary, Jesus’ mother.
·
And
not only John was there but Peter as well.
·
The
first thing that the disciples did
o
Was
to enter the tomb and find the funeral linen cloths lying there.
§ The cloth which wrapped Jesus’ body,
was stretched out but opened up.
§ The one which covered His Face, was
folded and placed separately.
·
Although
the two disciples still didn’t really understand
o
This
idea of the Resurrection from the scriptures,
o
They
saw and trusted what their eyes had professed.
Can you Imagine that Resurrection morning?
To reach Jesus, the stone
was rolled away,
·
And
the darkness was opened to the Light,
·
The
cloth from Jesus’ face had to be the first to be removed,
·
So
that the breath of God could breathe life into his body and raise Him up.
o
The
gentle and loving folding of that face cloth tells of both,
§ The Intimate and Beautiful Love that
is within this Resurrection story.
·
It
was as though God the Father - Gazed down upon His tortured Son,
o
He
removed and folded funeral cloth from Jesus’ nostrils and mouth,
o
And
then and there, HE DECLARED DEATH DEFEATED!!!
As I say it one more
time, would you say it with me?
·
God
the Father, DECLARED DEATH DEFEATED!!!
Can you not see it?
·
The
‘Holy Breath’ of the Holy Spirit – Rushing - Powerfully into Him!!!
·
This
must have filled that cave with Heavenly Light!!!
·
The
Choir of Heaven – SINGING – Alleluia – Alleluia – Alleluia!!!
·
The
Whiter than White Explosion of Light – Pushing the Darkness Far – Far – Away!!!
·
The
Power of the Father, Gently Lifting Jesus’ Body Up and Putting Him on His Feet!!!
·
As
Jesus took His First NEW – BREATH – OF – LIFE!!!
·
God’s
GLORIFYING – REFRESHING – AND – RESTORING Jesus’ Body.
·
As
the Breath of God Flowed Through Him
o
From
the Once grey-blue body of death
§ To the Creation of NEWNESS!!!
HE IS RISEN
HE IS
RISEN INDEED!!!
What a GLORIOUS SIGHT It
had to be!
Can we take a moment here
and look at a few points within the four Resurrection Stories?
There are some
differences and all four recordings can be harmonized very easily. However,
there are those who disagree and they use them in an attempt to discredit the
Bible.
However, I view this
differently. Since we have these differences, it actually supports that these recordings
are factual. See, if all of the Gospels had exactly the same story of account,
then it would support that these four authors did meet and they did decide what
to write rather than each of them writing a record of how they saw each event.
So, in how they are written, with a slightly different perspective, instead of
defeating the Scriptures, it actually supports it a great deal. But I do believe
we need to understand why the differences are there and, in those differences,
many times, we find how the scriptures actually talk to us within our own lives
today.
Where,
When and Why
Mary
Magdalene:
The Gospel of John is the
only Gospel which states that it was Mary Magdalene
·
Who
went to the tomb of Jesus.
·
All
the while, the other three state that there were several women who went.
Once again, this
difference lies within what point the author is trying to make.
·
John
mentions Mary Magdalene simply because
o
She
was the one who ran to his house (John’s)
o
And
then, directed both, Peter and John to go back to the empty tomb
§ And see for themselves.
But notice what Words he
used to describe what she said when she arrived at John’s house.
“She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we
don’t know where they have put him!’”
Indeed, this is the
telling line that Mary was not by herself when she went to Jesus’ tomb.
So, we have Mary
Magdalene coming from the tomb to John’s House.
·
We
can assume the reason that she went there is because
·
That
would be where Mary, the mother of Jesus would be.
o
It
was at the Cross when Jesus asked John to take care of His mother.
Peter and
John:
And as we would expect,
Peter and John then took off running the entire way
o
To
Jesus’ tomb to see for themselves.
They ran, both together
but with John being the younger of the two,
·
He
ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first.
·
However,
he did not go into the tomb.
When Peter arrived, he immediately
entered the tomb to inspect it.
Jesus
Funeral Clothes:
Now in the Greek, it
indicates that the linen (funeral) clothes
·
Which
were wrapped around Jesus,
o
Were
still lying there in a circular form as though a body was still in them.
·
But
the napkin or head covering linen,
·
It
was folded and placed in the corner by itself.
This, of course, brings
up the question about the shroud of Turin.
·
Is
it or is it not the actual shroud that was wrapped around our Jesus Christ?
Allow me to make a point and
then I will allow you to form your own opinion.
·
We
have John’s Gospel telling us Distinctly, that the linen cloth that covered His
head
o
Was
folded and over in a corner by itself.
o
And
the shroud of Turin,
o
It
shows the entire form, including the head.
I believe we would all
agree that the Trinity God, He knows mankind very well.
·
And
it seems, whenever we have an item which represents something,
·
We
begin to treasure that item
·
And
often, we treasure it so much that it becomes more valuable to us
·
Then
the original item which it represents.
·
Just
think of a signed baseball and how we treasure such items.
This is why I truly feel
that the Lord deliberately allowed all of the relics
·
That
involved the Life and Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ
·
To
either be lost forever
·
Or
to have them experience just a rapid rate of deterioration until nothing is
left.
I feel He has done this
just so that man would not begin to worship the object
·
Instead
of worshiping God Himself.
Mary
Magdalene:
As we said earlier, John
arrived at the tomb first, then Peter.
·
Peter
went in and then John.
·
Then
they both returned to John’s house.
This is when Mary
Magdalene returned to the tomb
·
Without
see Peter or John at the tomb or returning to the house.
·
Since
both men, Peter and John, ran about as fast as they could,
·
And
Mary Magdalene had already ran as fast as she could to tell them that Jesus is
gone,
·
It
is understandable that the two men would have arrived
o
Before
Mary even would have had a chance to have finished her returned trip
§ Back to the tomb.
This is where John chapter
20, verse 11 begins.
20:11 “Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept,
she stooped and looked in.”
Mary was there - weeping,
she bent down,
·
And
looked into the tomb,
·
And
she saw the two angels
·
Who
were in white (white robes)
·
Sitting
there.
o
One
was at the head,
o
And
the other was at the feet,
o
Right
there where the body of Jesus had been laid.
12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other
at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t
know where they have put him.”
It seems with the Book of
John,
·
He
writes that Mary Magdalene ran to collect the disciples twice.
o
Once,
that the body of Christ is missing.
o
And
the Second, to tell them that she has seen the Lord.
Why didn’t
Mary Magdalene make a bigger fuss over seeing two angels?
These two men sitting
there in white, saying, "Why are you weeping?"
·
Tell
me, what would be your response if you saw two angels?
·
I
am sure we would be very fascinated.
·
We
would have been intrigued to say the least.
o
But
you know, to me, this shows what a HUGE Deal it is to see Jesus.
o
When
your heart is longing for Jesus Christ,
§ Seeing angels just doesn’t carry the
weight as you might think.
§ But seeing the angels here is in no
way even close to
·
A
fair substitute when your heart is yearning for the Christ.
·
And
so, she turned away from the angels.
·
She
was seeking her Lord.
Then we
have Jesus standing there and Mary Magdalene did not even recognize Him.
·
Isn’t
it interesting how there seems to be
o
A
certain level of difficulty in recognizing the risen Christ?
·
And
this difficulty, it would appear, was on the part of the beholder (Mary).
·
Later,
we will read about the two fellows who were on the road to Emmaus
o
And
Jesus joined in with them.
o
But
here again, they did not recognize Him.
§ It says, "For
their eyes were holden that they could not see."
§ In other words, there was an actual
spiritual thing involved here,
·
Which
caused them to be unable to recognize Him.
·
This
was a Spiritual Thing, a Spiritual Blindness from God.
·
And
it was not until He had broken the bread
o
And
it was then that they probably saw
o
The
nail prints in His hands.
When we get into the next
chapter of John's Gospel,
·
We
find the time when Jesus had prepared the fish for them on the shore,
·
And
once again, it says, "And none of them dared
ask Him, 'Who are you?' knowing that it was Jesus."
·
So,
we also probably can expect a certain difference within His physical appearance
as well, enough difference that in His resurrected body, He was not easily
identifiable by just the appearance alone.
Now, Mary did not know
that this was Jesus.
·
She
thought maybe, He was the gardener who was standing there.
·
Now
it is probable that since it was early in the morning,
o
And
we can expect that her vision was distorted from the weeping and tears in her
eyes.
o
Although
once again, she did not recognize His physical form.
o
However,
she surely did recognize His voice.
Here - Today, as we
celebrate Easter morning.
The Resurrection means so
much more to us than it did before.
For now, we have actually
been living within the darkness,
·
Confined
to a kind of tomb-like experience or even an existence.
·
Life
as we have known it for our entire lives,
o
Seems
to have now - stopped.
·
We
don’t go out to work.
·
We
don’t go out to play.
·
We
hide our faces.
·
We
guard our lungs.
·
We
walk almost in a zombie-like
o
Through
our homes and streets,
o
Frightened,
o
And
covered in our own kind of “funeral” cloths.
We Hide so that the cold
breath of this death
·
Might
pass us by.
·
This
Invisible Breath-Stealing Beast
o
He threatens us and he keeps us locked away, for a
period of time yet to come.
But INDEED!
There is Good News
This is only for a period of time.
We have FAITH of a LIFE
in the waiting.
We have HOPE of this
period of time has an End.
We Have a TRUST that even
as powerful as this Beast seems to be
·
He
is of no match to the Power of our Risen Jesus Christ!!!
We REST IN HIS WORD
·
that
this Beast has no power over those of us who Live in Our Savior.
God’s Resurrection Breath will raise us up.
And A New Day Is In The Dawn.
·
Mary’s
Faith kept her Hopeful and Waiting.
·
Watching
for the something New to Change.
·
Watching
for the something Miraculous to Happen.
She may not have known
when or exactly how.
·
But
on that third day,
·
She
came none-the-less,
o
From
within the Darkness,
o
Hoping
that God would come through,
o
That
the Light would somehow, break through.
Have you ever thought
about the ‘how’ of this Great News of the Resurrection?
·
How
it began to make sense to them.
·
How
they began to trust within it.
See - Mary initially
thought that the authorities had taken His body and disposed of it.
·
It
took Jesus appearing before them several times to shake that thought from them
·
And
to have the Truth of the Resurrection begin to soak into them.
So, No, it didn't come to
them all at once.
·
That
is where we find ourselves.
o
Cautious.
o
Uncertain.
§ Do I go out wrapped in garments?
·
Or,
do I take the funeral clothes off?
·
Do
I risk my presence among people again?
·
Or,
do I stay in hiding?
I can tell you that when
Mary and the disciples realized what had happened;
·
That
Life had actually been restored.
·
That
God's promise had been fulfilled.
·
That
the Truth of the Resurrection was finally here.
They found the courage to
open the doors once again.
They found the courage to
walk out into the Light.
·
And
yet, it was not the same as before.
·
Life
had changed.
·
Never
again would Jesus walk the earth as He did before.
·
Never
again would Jesus sit on the hillsides and draw in the crowds of the people.
o
YES
- That time had passed.
§ That was before.
§ And a New Life.
§ And a New Time has Dawned.
§ And with it,
·
A
New Kind of Spirit,
·
And
A New Kind of People!
You too are the Resurrection
People.
·
Watch
and wait - People of God.
·
Be
Expectant.
o
The
Dawn is coming.
o
And
when it comes,
§ Your Face Cloths will be removed,
§ And you will breathe once again.
The spring you see around
you will be apparent in all kinds of ways.
·
And
life
o
A
New Life will begin again.
We will once again know
·
The
joy of Relationships and Friends.
·
We
will once again eat together,
·
We
will sing together,
·
We
will worship together,
·
And
YES – We will love together.
o
In
a word: Resurrection!!!
It will all be New.
·
Never
again - will Life be quite the same.
·
For
our experiences of death and darkness do change us.
·
We
arise - not the same But Renewed and Restored.
o
We
are Wiser
o
And
have more Understanding of the world
§ And of God’s Amazing Miracles.
·
We
Become Better People BECAUSE we are Resurrected.
·
Resurrection
is coming.
·
The
signs are all around you.
·
Watch.
·
Wait.
·
Listen
for the breath.
·
Long
for the change.
·
Celebrate
the Lord who gives Life
o
And
restores Life,
§ now and always.
Amen.
