Remember

INTRODUCTION: How is your memory? Do you remember what you should or do you have selective memory and just remember what YOU want to remember? Men, should I ask your wives about your memory? Did you remember Valentine’s Day? What about her birthday? You didn’t forget your anniversary, did you?

Ladies, do you remember the last time he hurt your feelings? As clear as if it happened today, right? You’ll never forget the remark he made about your mother, will you?

What did you wear last Tuesday? Do you remember what you ate for dinner Thursday evening? What about the gifts you received this past Christmas? You remember all of them, don’t you?

Why is it we remember selected events and forget others? Could it be that we remember an occasion or event because it left an impact upon our lives? If our lives are not impacted, we tend to forget, don’t we?

Take a walk with me down memory’s lane and recall an event that should dramatically impact our lives.

READ: LUKE 24:1-8

Setting: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, and the eleven remaining disciples, had just been through the most tragic and disappointing periods of their lives. Just two days ago, their lives and hopes were crushed. Their leader and teacher, their friend, their hero, had been brutally treated and then cruelly nailed to a cross.

They are confused. Why, just one week earlier, the crowds of Jerusalem had gladly welcomed Jesus into town with shouts of “Hosanna” and the waving of palm branches. Now... now, Jesus was dead. They had watched as the Roman soldiers drove the nails in his hands and his feet, then set the cross upright. They had watched him die. They were aware that Joseph of Arimathea had volunteered his new tomb for Jesus’ burial place. It was over.

It seems they went into hiding. Who do we find venturing out the morning after the Jewish Sabbath? The women. They were going back to the tomb with spices for Jesus’ body. As they walked along, they wondered how they were going to move the massive stone in front of the tomb.

Imagine with me their shock when they arrived at the tomb and found the stone rolled back from the face of the tomb. They slowly walked in and looked around. The tomb was empty!

Suddenly, angels appeared to them and said, “He is not here. He is risen. Remember what he taught you in Galilee. He told you he would go to Jerusalem, be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day, he would rise again.”

After their hearts slowed down just a bit after the initial shock of seeing angels, they began to quickly reminisce. What had Jesus told us?

Oh, yeah. It was making sense now. All those times Jesus had made comments about needing to go to Jerusalem; suffering greatly at the hands of the chief priests; being crucified, had never added up. Especially the part about rising again on the third day...

RISE AGAIN!!! Did you say, “He is risen?”

As the women looked at their surroundings, it dawned upon them exactly where they were. They were in a tomb, an empty tomb. The truth registered now. He is risen, just as he said!!!

For just a few minutes today, will you follow the advice of the angel and remember? Specifically, let’s remember Easter.

What can I remember this Easter?

I. JESUS DIED FOR ME

When was the last time you remembered that Jesus died for you? Scripture tells us that he died for ALL. You and I are part of ALL. We’re not just a number. You are a name, a person, a unique individual, to God. He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for you and me.

Look with me at a few Scriptures that remind us that Jesus died for us.

Romans 6:10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

1 Cor. 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures...

2 Cor. 5:15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

Remember, no matter who you are, what you are like, what you look like, where you’ve been or what your race or nationality is, Jesus died for you!

II. JESUS IS NOT IN THE TOMB

The angels said, “He is not here.” That first Easter morning, the tomb was empty. It has been empty for almost 2,000 years and it is empty today!! HE IS NOT THERE!!!!