SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). The Women (vs 1-4)
(2). The Angelic Being (vs 5-8)
(3). The Disciples (vs 14)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• Recently (14 March 2018),
• The English theoretical physicist, cosmologist Stephen Hawkins died,
• He was a very clever man, but he was also a committed atheist.
• On one occasion when Hawkins was alive,
• The press interviewed Professor John Lennox;
• In that interview Lennox commented:
"Stephen Hawkins was just ahead of me at Cambridge, I can remember him quite well although I did not know him. I was rather amused when the Times interviewed him about religion;
he said:
'Religion is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark'.
I was asked to comment, so I said;
'atheism is a fairy story for people afraid of the light'."
(John Lennox is Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science, and Pastoral Advisor at Green Templeton College, Oxford. He is also an adjunct Lecturer at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University and at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics and is a Senior Fellow of the Trinity Forum.)
• TRANSITION: The resurrection story of Jesus:
• Is either the biggest fairy story ever invented;
• Or the greatest miracle and the most significant event in human history!
I believe it is the greatest miracle that the world has or will ever see!
• I don’t know if you have noticed this observation.
• But in the Old Testament when talking about the power of God;
• The writers always refer to creation.
• The miracle of God creating the world out of nothing.
• In the New Testament when talking about the power of God;
• The writers always refer to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead!
• Because there is nothing greater that you can compare with it!
Now one word you have to associate with Jesus Christ is ‘miracle’.
• He entered our world in a miraculous way;
• Conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
• During his three years of ministry, the four gospels record 37 miracles of Jesus.
• Most scholars tend to agree with this number.
• John the apostle tells us (John chapter 21 verse 25);
• Jesus performed many other miracles to these 37 that were not recorded.
• So Jesus entered our world in a miraculous way;
• He lived a miraculous life;
• And even in death, he has that word ‘miracle’ attributed to him!
Quote: I like what Peter Larson writes:
• "Despite our efforts to keep him out, God intrudes.
• The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities: a virgin's womb and an empty tomb.
• Jesus entered our world through a door marked 'No Entrance';
• And left through a door marked 'No Exit’”
Notice: the response the words of the angelic being (vs 7):
‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.
See the place where they laid him
• We do not normally look for the dead among the living.
• So why would you look for the living among the dead?
• That is the enquiry the angels posed to the women who came to Jesus’ tomb;
• That first Easter morning.
• And that is the enquiry we are considering this evening.
(1). The Women (vs 1-4)
“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?’. 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.”
(a). The Day (vs 1a): “When the Sabbath was over”
• In Jesus’ day the Sabbath, our Saturday was the most significant day.
• Sabbath is the last day of the week and commemorates the rest of God after creation.
• But from this moment on, for the followers of Jesus;
• The first day of the week – which is Sunday would replace it in importance!
• Sunday would forever take precedence among Christians;
• Signifying and memorating the resurrection of Jesus.
(b). The Task (vs 1b) – embalm the body.
• Notice: with the Sabbath day ended the women waste no time;
• “Very early on the first day of the week”;
• They went to embalm the body of Jesus with spices.
• John in his gospel (chapter 19 verses 38-42) tells us that:
• This anointing process had been started by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimithea;
• On the day that Jesus had died,
• These women came to finish the job;
• Or knowing men (and the type of men Nicodemus and Joseph were);
• These women came to do the job properly!
• Now don’t miss that detail: “Salome bought spices”.
• The women bought with them spices because they went fully expecting to find;
• A stone-cold dead Jesus, buried in the tomb.
Ill:
• In the east tombs were often carved out of caves in the rock,
• Inside the tomb they carved a shelf, a ledge on which to lay the body,
• The body was wrapped in long linen strips like bandages
• And then laid on the ledge.
• The tomb was then closed by a great circular stone like a cart wheel;
• Which ran in a groove across the opening.
(c). The Surprise (vs 4) - “They found the stone rolled away from the tomb”
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
• They were looking for Jesus but all they found was a stone rolled away,
• Because they were looking for the wrong person in the wrong place!
• They were seeking a dead Jesus among the tombs of the dead!
Quote; Ray Steadman:
“We live in a world where so many people are still looking for Jesus among the dead.
I think of scholars who study the words of Jesus and the gospel manuscripts but do not believe in Christ’s resurrection.
I think of the archaeologists who two thousand years later are still trying to find Jesus’ body and bones in the tomb but keep coming up empty. I think of people who finger the body of Christ on their crucifixes but do not know the reality of the living Christ.
These people all have one thing in common. They are all looking for Jesus among the dead. And if you are looking for Jesus among the dead, you will not find him. He is not there.”
• TRANSITION: If you want to find Jesus today,
• You must look among the living and not the dead!
Ill:
• In his autobiography, Col. Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame;
• Says that he was always a God-fearing man.
• Yet he knew that if he died, God probably wouldn’t take him to heaven.
• Worried, he travelled to Australia to a special church convention for the answer.
• He didn’t find it.
• One day when he was back in the USA,
• Sanders was walking down a street in Louisville, Kentucky,
• When he bumped into the Rev. Waymon Rodgers.
• The Rev. Rodgers invited him to some evangelistic services.
• They were having at the Louisville’s Evangel Tabernacle;
• The Col. Went along and heard the gospel preached;
• At age 79, he claimed the promises of Romans chapter 10 verse 9:
• He writes:
“When I walked out of that church that night, I knew I was a different man.
All my tithing and good deeds had never given me the sense of God’s presence
that I knew then,”
• TRANSITION: If you look for Jesus in the right place, you can find him!
• Like the Col take that step of faith and ‘believe….and confess’.
(2). The Angelic Being (vs 5-7)
“As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”’
• The word “angel” in both the Old and New Testaments means “messenger”;
• (Hebrew word “mal'ak” Greek word “aggelos”,)
• According to Chafer, Systematic Theology, II, 3;
• Angels are mentioned at least 108 times in the Old Testament;
• And 165 times in the New Testament
• Angels are essentially “ministering spirits,” (Hebrews chapter 1 verse 14);
• They do not have physical bodies like humans.
• Angels can take on the appearance of humans when the occasion demands.
• How else could some believers “entertain angels unaware”
• (Hebrews chapter 13 verse 2)?
Note: These women at the tomb of Jesus encounter a young man:
• This man is clearly not ordinary,
• Because they appeared out of nowhere.
• The other gospel accounts confirm that this was an angel,
• And his clothes were shining like lightning.
• He was a heavenly courier sent from God with a message to deliver.
Now I have never seen an angel, at least not knowingly:
• As we have noted angels can and do at times travel in disguise.
• But when an angel appears in glory, one thing always happens.
• The Bible is clear on this point.
• People fall down on their faces in fear.
• It is an instinctive reaction.
• Because the Bible describes angels as majestic and glorious beings.
• And so people fall down before them.
• These women at the tomb were no different.
• In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground.
Note:
• The idea of women as primary witnesses to the resurrection;
• Does not seem unusual to people living in a western culture in the year 2018.
• But in New Testament times this was a revolutionary concept!
• In New Testament times,
• The testimony of women was not given the same weight as men's,
• Either personally or in a court of law.
• Mary & the other women's witness to the Resurrection reversed this idea.
• When the Christian stories described Mary Magdalene and the other women;
• As the first witnesses of the Resurrection,
• They were saying something important about the nature of women:
• That they were capable of being as fully Christian as men.
• Both Jesus and the New Testament elevate the importance and the role of women!
• Many a Christian in Church history has tried to reverse that;
• But they are always on dodgy ground – the New Testament always dignifies women.
Notice: This angel then instructed the women:
• Not to look for the living among the dead!
• Because they ‘aint gonna’ find him there, because “he has risen!”
The angelic being invite the women to; “check out the place where they laid him.” (vs 6).
Then to go and meet him back in “Galilee”.
• The angelic being then remind these women that Jesus had told them this would happen:
• “There you will see him, just as he told you.”’ (vs 7)
To paraphrase he says:
• “Why are you surprised, Jesus told you this would happen on numerous occasions”
• i.e. Mark chapter 8 verse 31:
“He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.”
• The arrest of Jesus should not have been a surprise to his followers.
• The crucifixion and death of Jesus should not have been a surprise to his followers.
• And even Jesus’ resurrection should not have been a surprise to his followers.
• Jesus told them all these things in advance.
• If you read Luke’s gospel you will see it from chapter 9 verse 22 onwards.
• And yet somehow the meaning of these things escaped them.
• It was only after these things had happened;
• That the ‘penny dropped’ and they remembered his words and put it all together.
And so, the angelic being had to jog and unlock the women’s memories by saying:
• “Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.”
• That verse (#6) is the good news of Easter condensed into one verse.
• Again, to paraphrase verse 6:
• “Jesus has died but now he is alive!”
Quote:
“Never has the world heard a message like that one! It still reverberates through the halls of time and will throughout eternity - He is Alive!”
• Practically it is declaring:
• Jesus rose from the dead;
• He has conquered death.
• Theologically it is declaring:
• Jesus Christ has conquered not just death but also sin and the devil.
• The very things that caused death (both physical & spiritual) in the first place!
(3). The Disciples (vs 14).
“Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.”
“But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense”.
• While these women were heading to the tomb,
• The male disciples were locked up inside the Upper Room;
• John in his gospel (chapter 20 verse 19) tells us why.
• They were trembling with fear;
• Fearing that the same kind of death that Jesus had met with;
• Awaited for them also because they were his disciples,
• In the Easter story the women are again portrayed as the best followers of Jesus;
• When the men fled at the cross the women stayed.
• While the men hide away, the women go looking for the body of Jesus!
Now I am happy to report the men later changed their minds and their attitude:
• But the men’s initial response mirrors the response of so many people today.
• They don’t believe in all this Jesus stuff.
• It all seems like so much nonsense to them, and so they do nothing.
Ill:
• Dr Luke in his gospel gives us a great insight;
• He tells us the men did not believe the women’s story because it seemed to be ‘nonsense’
• (Luke chapter 24 verse 11).
• The word Luke uses for ‘nonsense’ is a medical term;
• It was used by doctors to describe the ‘babbling of the insane’.
• And these men certainly thought these women had ‘lost the plot’ - were crazy.
• These males disciples, like us,
• Knew that dead men don’t just come back to life again.
• Especially those executed by crucifixion!
• They had seen enough people put to death by a Roman execution squad;
• To know that they did not make mistakes;
• They did their job cruelly and effectively!
• And so they dismiss the story of the resurrection outright;
• And continue to live their lives as though nothing happened that first Easter morning.
• Application:
• When we fail to exercise faith;
• We will do NOTHING!
CONCLUSION:
• That verse (#6) is the good news of Easter condensed into one verse.
• “Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.”
FIRST: “Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.”
Ill:
• The deaf have a sign for Jesus.
• The middle finger of each hand is placed into the palm of the other.
• Jesus, the one with wounded hands.
• Someone has said; “When they touch the place, they hear the name in their own flesh”.
Ill:
• In contrast to deaf people;
• Is Joseph Epstein’s figure of Jesus,
• You can find it in Llandaff Cathedral in Wales,
• What makes this figure unique is that all the marks of crucifixion have been removed.
• The figure may be majestic and beautiful and compassionate,
• But, sadly Joseph Epstein has totally missed the point!
• The scars of Jesus are the evidence of his victory,
• Without those scars, and suffering and death, there is no salvation!
Ill:
• On the cross…
• He was rejected,
• That we might be accepted.
• He was condemned,
• That we might be forgiven.
• He was punished,
• That we might be pardoned.
• He was hated,
• That we might be loved.
• He was crucified,
• That we might be justified.
• He died,
• That we might live.
• Because when he rose,
• He conquered sin, death & the grave.
• That we might,
• Be found blameless,
• Know his love,
• Be saved!
SECOND: “He has risen! He is not here.”
Ill:
• A vicar preached a very eloquent sermon on the death of Jesus,
• He explained the horrors of crucifixion and explained why Jesus had to die.
• At the end of the service the vicar was standing at the door,
• Shaking people’s hands as they left the Church.
• Everyone was saying good things about the message,
• When a little boy stopped and looked up at the vicar,
• He said, “Good talk but you made one big mistake!”
• The vicar was shocked, he quickly thought and then asked the boy;
• “What do you mean, one mistake?
• The boy replied, “You left him on the cross”
• And off the boy went.
• TRANSITION: If there is no resurrection,
• Then there is no hope! No salvation, and no point us being here today!
Ill:
• Although the event took place on 2nd March 2018
• It was only on Thursday I sat down to watch the funeral service of Billy Graham.
• I liked his choice of hymns, and one of them was the hymn: ‘Because He Lives’
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives”
• TRANSITION: Because he lives,
• We can find forgiveness of sins.
• Because he lives we can be certain of heaven,
• Because he lives we have a purpose and a future worth living for!
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=GRtsarrbs6g6uXjdYLrLd86XSk7xY1FY
