John Gunter: Have you ever had something in your life where you thought, if this works out, everything will be okay, And then that thing doesn't work out. That's where we are today in John chapter 20. Jesus is not just gone, he has been crucified. All hope feels lost, but then Sunday morning comes. 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 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 Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were running toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. Stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb, he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself.
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. Well, Mary comes early, the stone is rolled away, the body is gone, Peter and John run, see the tomb, and do not yet understand. Now, this confusion that they experience is not unique to, the gospel of John. The first reports of resurrection, as you can probably imagine, sounded a lot, sounded unbelievable even to those closest to Jesus.
We read in Luke twenty four ten eleven, that was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. And so the first experiences around the resurrection were not believable. Nothing in this story so far has created any clarity, but just added more, probably, disruption and questions. And so in the moment, I think we could say that this evidence that Jesus is gone does not produce clarity, understanding, of course, will come later. We continue on to verse 11, but Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb.
And she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him in Aramaic, rabboni, which means teacher. So Mary is weeping.
Jesus is standing near her, yet she does not recognize him. I love, at times in my life, videos of soldiers returning to their family. You ever watch some of those? You're getting your feelings real fast with them. And a lot of times when they try to surprise someone, you know, they're right there, and you as the viewer want to yell and say, just look.
You know, sometimes they will even put their arm around the person or be very close, and and they just don't recognize. I'm sitting there weeping, you they haven't seen this person in so long. Mary is standing beside the person who can take away her pain, her discomfort, and her sadness, and she doesn't recognize him. She came expecting to find a body. She came expecting to see her friend who had passed.
She did not come expecting a miracle, but at the end of everything, she believed. This is a confusion. Right? This is a loss she thought she was coming to see, and now something has changed. Jesus speaks her name and everything changes, Mary.
Now, it's interesting the way our bodies work. That even when people pass, you can still hear their voices, can't you? I can still hear the way my friend used to answer the phone at the the drive in at my hometown. Drive in. Jimmy had a way of saying it, and if somebody sounded like him today, I would think Jimmy in that place.
You ever had a smell that put you in a very particular place, a song that I remember what I was doing when I really was into that song? Mary. He's already spoken to her, but the moment he says her name, something happens. All of a sudden, this confusion, though she was not expecting to see her friend, everything changes. Jesus doesn't give her a lecture, he does not perform a miracle, all he does is say her name.
We read very recently, John 10 verse three where it's kind of explained about this. To him, the gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. We hear that name, we hear our name being called, and we respond. The turning point in this story is not seeing the evidence. The evidence was before her, and I'm sure her mind was racing over what in the world does this mean?
So the evidence does not clear everything up, but encountering Jesus does. But let me tell you this, church, faith is not just knowing about Jesus, it is realizing that Jesus knows you. Very personally, that Jesus knows your name. But how many people know about Jesus but don't actually know him? I said in class this morning, one of the worst things we can do as a church is to keep everything theoretical.
To keep everything as this mental pursuit of more knowledge without actually having any application. Without the desire for changed lives, without the desire for an individual or the church at large to become what scripture asks us to become, to become the people that Jesus has has died for, to give us that example so that we take that same love, and grace, and mercy to everyone else out in the world. There are many people who have been around church but never actually encountered Jesus. There are people who, probably even this morning, feel unseen or overlooked, maybe even unknown. Back to John 20 and verse 17, Jesus said to her, do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to the father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God.
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her. So the resurrection is not just an emotional ending to a sad story, it begins as God's public declaration about who Jesus truly is. As we heard this morning that, God's power brings life. Right? And that's exactly what the resurrection is.
In Romans one verses one through four, Paul says this, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son who was descended from David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. This resurrection begins everything, and if the resurrection had not happened, the whole Christian message collapses. The people who were standing there, like Mary experiencing this, were cast in confusion and thinking this was the end, like we would had we been there. Right? Because my friend who I had walked beside for years, I just watched him die.
I just watched him be put to death. What do I do with that? But if he doesn't resurrect, if God does not raise him from the dead, everything that we stand for collapses. In first Corinthians 15 verse 17, and if Christ had not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we of all people are most to be pitied. So if this doesn't happen, if this means nothing, we might as well be pitied because what are we doing? Just wasting our time. Right? But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Paul says you can trust in this because Jesus was, in fact, raised from the dead, and so we continue. This is not some kind of symbolic thing, it is a reality that that should change who we are, Who I am not only here on Sunday mornings, but who I am on Monday afternoon after a rough day, or after that waitress doesn't fill your tea glass today at lunch. Right? We have an opportunity because of what Jesus has done for us to live in such a way that continues to perpetuate that love from God into our community. You know, every church that that you can attend, if you ask them, oh, I would imagine most people will say, we are a loving church.
Yeah. You ever had had a church say, you know what? That's that's the church down the road. We're actually a collection of those who weren't all into that. I hope not.
But we all say things. Right? But are we those people? Are we people who truly love God and love others? Are we people who are just going along for the ride, again, not actually encountering who Jesus is?
But if Jesus is alive, and this is just not something that happened back then, it changes what is possible for you and I right now. It has to continue moving us forward, and because the resurrection is real, we don't live on some vague optimism, we are and we have a living hope. In first Peter one three, blessed be to God blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Thank you, Heath.
Anybody else? I don't know if we're sad this morning or what. Say amen, church. Amen. This Sunday, as everyone celebrates Easter, is not just about the death of Jesus.
Because if we had only experienced the death of Jesus, as Paul has just said, we are at most to be pitied. Because we didn't experience just the death of Jesus, we experienced the resurrection of Jesus. This is what that means for us. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is that living hope. We are born again to a living hope.
That hope is not merely some sort of comfort for the future. It should reach into the present and change what is very possible right now. In second second Corinthians five and verse 17, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come. Because Jesus is alive, forgiveness is possible.
New life is possible, and hope is real. No matter how far someone feels you have gone, the resurrection declares that change is possible. Even death is not the end, so if you're still breathing oxygen, as a friend used to say, if you're still breathing in oxygen, change is still possible. Even if this morning you feel regret, or shame, or this feeling of I'm just stuck in in this pattern I can't get out of, maybe I'm experiencing hopelessness, broken relationships, whatever it is that you're experiencing, this is not too much for God. Because Jesus lives, your story is not finished, church.
I don't know if we believe that this morning. Do we believe that? Because Jesus lives, your story is not finished. I don't care what you felt like coming in here this morning. I'm too far gone.
If this church knew my past or my present, they wouldn't let me come through this door. If this church fill in that sentence however you want to fill in that sentence, because Jesus lives, change can happen. This is not a pull up your pants, tighten your belt, and go to work thing, this is a because Jesus lives, if you will submit to God, telling God what he already knows, God, I have sinned, I have fallen short, I am a sinner in need of a savior. God can change whatever is going on in your life. That thing that you've been stuck with for way too many years, God can change that.
That new thing you're struggling with and you're trying to figure out why am I addicted to it, or why can I not get away from it, God can change that? You understand that? But until you have that living hope, understanding what Jesus did for you, you may be stuck in those patterns. A lot of times, we get in our own head and we think it's all it's all about effort most of the time. I I've tried and I've tried, and I'm a fixer.
I've told you guys that for five years almost now. Even as a minister, a gospel of the men a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a lot of times, my first inclination is not to go to God with it, but it's to try and fix it. Anybody else in here? And then later on down the road, I realized I haven't even prayed to God about this. What what does that mean?
That I'm not relying on him. I I feel like it's all about me and what I can do. And as soon as you get out of the way from that foolishness, that's what it is. Right? As soon as you get out of the way from that foolishness and give it to God, what will you experience?
Peace. Peace that surpasses all understanding only comes from God and when you submit to him. Because if it's just up to me, I'm in trouble. How about you? But it's not, church.
Jesus was sent by God for you, for me. He experienced his death, he experienced his resurrection, even the confusion of all the people, not understanding exactly what was supposed to happen and why. Wasn't he supposed to take over and run Rome out? Okay. That that's not it anymore.
What what do we do with this? God used this to to show his love for you and I. And because of that, we can still be changed. Mary came grieving and confused. She wasn't looking for hope.
She wasn't expecting any kind of change in that moment. As far as she knew, it was over. Then she encountered Jesus. Everything changed when Jesus called her name, Mary. Maybe you walked in this morning with a similar attitude or outlook.
You didn't expect anything to change, you didn't expect God to do anything in your life. Maybe you've already decided because of your own efforts and how things have worked out that you already know how your story is going to go. But Jesus often meets people right there in that moment to confront us about what we're doing and how we need to turn to him, calling our name. And the question this morning is not whether Jesus is calling, the question is, how will you respond? Mary, John, Scott.
How will you respond to him? The love of God was poured out for all of us. He doesn't ask you to become something you could never be that he knows you could never be. What God asks is that you submit to him, that you follow him in faith, putting your trust in who he is and what he can do, not what you can do. I don't know about you, but that gives me some freedom.
But I I know I can't do it, I know my limitations. But God doesn't have those same limitations. He can change my outlook, he can change my story, he can change my outcome. Will you allow him to this morning? We're gonna have a time to to pray together, Tyler's got a song picked out.
I would love it if we just had to spend a lot of time praying with people this morning. And we could just wrap our arms around one another, one sinner in need of a savior right next to another. Amen? If you haven't if you don't need prayers, that's okay. But if you do, and I do, let's do that this morning.
Let's pray together. If you have not begun that walk with Christ, begin that journey this morning as we walk together, not in perfection. The only perfection I ever experienced is because of what God has done. First John will tell us, if you walk in the light as he is in the light, the blood of Christ cleanses you continually. Perfect people don't need cleansing continually.
Here, if you're visiting with us, we are not a perfect church. If you, for some reason, showed up thinking that, I'm sorry. We are imperfect people, but we are trying to follow God as closely as we can. Our saying here is closer to God and closer to each other. And so we wanna encourage you to do both of those things this morning before you leave.
We're gonna have song of invitation. Would you stand as we sing?