John 20:1-20
Nearly 20 years ago at the height of Operation Desert Storm, Ruth Dillow received a very sad message from the Pentagon. The message stated that her son, Clayton had stepped on a landmine in Kuwait and was killed. Ruth later wrote these words, “I can’t begin to describe my grief and shock. It was almost more than I could bear. For 3 days I just wept. I expressed anger and loss. For 3 days people tried to comfort me but nothing worked ..... the loss was simply too great. But 3 days after she received that message the phone rang. The voice on the other end said ,”Mom, it’s me.” It’s Clayton. I’m alive. Ruth said, I couldn’t believe it at first. But then I recognized his voice and realized he really was alive. The message was all a mistake. She said, “I laughed, I cried, I felt like turning cartwheels because my son who I thought was dead was actually alive.”
This morning we come to a story that is very similar. The disciples, family members, those who were at the cross have all received the news that Jesus has died. There could be no mistake about it. Jesus had endured the 39 lashes at the hands of the Romans. Large spikes had been driven through both wrists and his feet. A crown of thorns was placed on his head. A spear was thrust into his side and he had hung on the cross for 6 hours. After they made certain that he was dead they took Him down from the cross and his body was prepared for burial. There was no reserved spot for Jesus so a tomb was borrowed from Joseph of Arimathea and a man named Nicodemus whom Jesus had told how to be born again ... he came and prepared His body for burial in the tomb. The body would then be washed, Nicodemus anointed the body with spices, then the body was wrapped tightly, the hands and the feet were bound with strips of linen and His face was covered with a cloth. This was all according to the tradition of the Jews. John tells the story this way.
The very first thing I want you to see this morning this.... Death can create fear. One of the most common fears people face today is the fear of death. It has been that way for thousands of years, really since the beginning of time man has feared death. The writer of Hebrews gives us some good news here. Hebrews 2:14-15 NLT If you are one of those who has a fear of dying this verses should become your new best friend. One of the many reasons that Jesus went to the cross was so that you and I would not have to fear death. As I studied this week I sat contemplating where does this fear of death come from? There are at least 4 sources. 1. The process of dying helps form our fear of death. What we see others going through while they are dying causes us to ask ourselves questions. Will there be a lot of pain? Will I be alone? 2. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the unknown actually causes many problems for us. Some suffer from anxiety...even anxiety attacks because of uncertainty about the future. We want to be in control and when we lose control we become anxious. So the solution to this fear is that we need more knowledge of what will take place. 3. Fear of what we will leave behind. Will our families be able to cope? Will they be able to handle the financial burden? How will people remember me? Will they remember me? 4. Regret. This is when we feel that we have not been able to accomplish everything we were put on this earth to do.
Now these fears are real. We all deal with at least one but the good news is the scripture speaks to these fears.
1. You and I will not be alone when we die. Jesus said, “I will never leave you.” He says, “I am with you always.” The very one who conquered death will not leave you.
2. You and I do not have to be in the dark about death. The Bible has verse after verse, chapter after chapter dealing with death and what life will be like after death i was going to list all of the passages in the scripture where there is a reference to death on the back of your sermon notes, so I went to my laptop and looked them up but I realized that it would take 74 pages to print it out. So I thought well I will print the verses that speak to the subject of death. That requires 114 pages to print. So read the book if you want to know.
3. As far as regret is concerned as Steven Covey has said, “I do not know of anyone who on their deathbed said, I wish I had spent more time at the office....getting things done” I believe our regret if there is any will be over what we did not do for our family. Those close to us. Time we didn’t spend. The only way to solve that is to do what we can right now while there is time.
The 2nd truth I see here is this Death causes us to examine our faith. Thomas did. We remember more than anything this one thing about Thomas. He was a doubter. Thomas was a skeptic. Later in this chapter we learn that Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus returned. So the disciples went to tell Thomas and Thomas said in verse 25. Maybe you are like that. Death causes us to ask questions. Death causes us to examine our faith. You and I simply cannot walk through the valley of the shadow of death without asking questions however we do not have to be afraid. Listen this is simple but you may have never thought about it but valleys and peaks are connected. You cannot have one without the other. And because they are connected if you are in a valley you are never far from a peak. Death always causes us to ask questions. We probably ask more questions at this time than any other time in our lives. Death causes us to doubt. We are more like Thomas than we would ever want to admit.
There is a 3rd truth I see in this. Death gives us a new perspective. Death causes us to see things in life in a different way. When we lose someone we realize the brevity of life. The Bible says we are like water spilled on the ground. Our lives are like a vapor that appears for a short time and then vanishes. Our days go faster than that of a runner. Indeed life is brief. The death of a loved one and the facing of our own death causes a variety of responses. We can become like Thomas and we can respond with doubt. We ask questions. We deny that it could ever happen. Thomas would not believe there was a resurrection until He could see Jesus himself.
Thomas reminds me of a man names Lee Strobel. Lee was an editor at the Chicago Tribune. He was also an atheist. Then his wife accepted Christ. She placed her faith in Him. She began to grow in her faith and Lee saw the change in her life.... one after another taking place. In fact there was so much difference in her that he became afraid that he was losing her. So he decided to investigate who this man names Jesus actually was. His goal was to prove to his wife that Jesus was not who He said He was; he used all of his resources at the Tribune. He contacted historians and scholars around the world, he read book after book, he looked at the testimony of those outside the scripture and he realized then that every claim made in the scripture, every miracle, every prophecy all hinged on one thing: the resurrection. Did Jesus really come back 3 days later? After 2 years of investigation, Lee sat down at his desk with a legal pad and he drew a line down the middle of the page. On one side he wrote all the evidence against Jesus being God and on the other he wrote all the evidence for it. He was immediately overwhelmed by the evidence or the resurrection of Christ. He gave his heart to Christ right at that moment. Thomas did the same thing. When he saw the evidence .... seeing Jesus with his own eyes, Thomas fell to his knees and said my Lord and my God!
In this passage we see a woman named Mary Magdalene. Mary had 7 demons cast out of her. She was a very devoted follower of Jesus. She followed Him all the way to the grave and she was the first to learn that Jesus was alive. But still Mary was confused. The death of someone we care about deeply does that to us. In her confusion she didn’t recognize this was actually Jesus. Jesus was standing right in front of her and she didn’t even recognize Him. Today you may be in the same place. Life has been confusing for you in recent days. Let Jesus speak to you. He’s real. He’s alive. He’s here waiting for you to respond.
In 1887, twenty two years after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, his coffin was dug up and opened because there were constant rumors that his body was not in the grave. So they dug it up and the body was there. The rumors continued so 14 years later they had to dig it up again. Both times witnesses were present who testified that Lincoln was still in the grave. Three days after the death of Jesus Christ, similar rumors began to spread throughout the land of Israel. Only this time there were no witnesses who could say that they had seen His body. In fact, to the contrary, many witnesses claimed to have seen him out of His grave and even talked with Him after the resurrection. As great a man as Lincoln was there were witnesses to prove he was still in the grave. If one of our Presidents or another leader in our government were to cry out today to Lincoln for help, there would be bo response. If a scientist were to cry out to Einstein for help today there would only be empty silence. If someone were to call out to Mohammed or Buddha or Ghandi today there would be no help. But if you and I call out to Jesus Christ there is instant power available to us... power to change lives ...why? Because He lives!
In 1815 General Arthur Wellington faced Napoleon at Waterloo. Not having modern technology that we do today they came up with a system of flashing lights from one church tower to another all across the country. When the battle was over, if you know history, you know that England had won and the message was sent WELLINGTON DEFEATED NAPOLEON. But then it was time to send the message across the English channel and the fog began to rise so that the the only part of the message you could read said WELLINGTON DEFEATED. For the next couple of hours, everyone was afraid that the battle was over and that England had lost. Then the fog began to lift and they were able to read the complete message WELLINGTON DEFEATED NAPOLEON. On Friday, the day of the crucifixion there were believers who only were able to see part of the message. JESUS DIED. JESUS DEFEATED. But when the fog lifted on Sunday morning they got the full message JESUS DEFEATED DEATH. Have you received the fcomplete message today or are you living as though JESUS IS NO LONGER ALIVE?
