Sermon Tone Analysis

Resurrection Joy

John 20:1-18

“Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!”

And she told them that he had said these things to her.” John 20:18

He is Risen!

He Is Risen, indeed!

Over the past seven weeks during Lent, we have been doing a sermon series called, “The One Another Principles.”

We have looked at some of the “One Another” statements spoken by Paul and Peter.

We have learned how to “Greet One Another,” “Honor One Another,” “Be Devoted to One Another,” “Serve One Another,” “Submit to One Another,” “Live in Harmony With One Another,” “Accept One Another,” and “Bear With One Another.”

On Thursday we met and shared in the Last Supper, we looked at one of Jesus’ most powerful “One Another” commands.

“A new command I give you: Love one another.

As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”[i]

They always say to pay attention to a dying person’s last words.

The disciples had just had supper together, Jesus had just washed their feet.

Judas had left and was 30 silver pieces riches, and Jesus was sharing his heart with his friends.

“Love one another.

Forget the 600 rules you’ve been following.

I want you to remember one command: LOVE.”

The story goes on to say they all left and went to the garden to pray—and Judas came with an army to arrest Jesus.

Good Friday is over—which, by the way, the SEED Christian Fellowship had an amazing service.

Seven leaders spoke on the 7 last sentences of Christ from the cross and three more leaders did the rest of the service.

What a wonderful memory it was for me.

My passion for teaching the Word was reignited.

I was truly blessed.

Back to the One Anothers!

I’m thinking that today’s message should be called, “Surprise One Another!”

There are women running to the empty tomb, there’s disciples running to the empty tomb, there are angels in the empty tomb sharing the surprise that Jesus is risen.

Have you ever stopped to consider the surprise that took place when the disciples and the early followers of Jesus realized when the tomb was empty, and that Jesus was alive?

Even though Jesus had told them all repeatedly that He would be handed over to be betrayed, beaten, spat upon, crucified and buried but, on the third day, He would rise again!

Who do you think was more surprised by this SURPRISE ONE ANOTHER?

Was it:

Pilate, who had washed his hands of Jesus and had turned Jesus over to the shouts of the crowd that were shouting, “Crucify him!”?

You know, Pilate’s wife had had a dream about Jesus and she told Pilate not to have anything to do with Jesus.

.

Was it Annas and Caiaphas, the High Priests who thought that they had solved their problems by having Jesus crucified dead and buried?

“Better that one man dies…so we can keep control.”

I’ll bet they were shocked when they heard the news that Jesus’ tomb was empty.

Maybe Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were surprised.

These two had actually removed Jesus’ body from the cross.

Joseph and Nicodemus prepared Jesus’ body for burial with 70 pounds of spices and laid him in Joseph’s borrowed tomb.

Not only had they prepared Jesus body for burial and laid him in the tomb, they saw the stone rolled shut to the entrance.

How about the Romans guards who stood outside of the tomb guarding it with their lives?

I bet they were surprised when they came to and realized that the tomb was empty.

Maybe the disciples who had fled for their lives when Jesus was arrested were surprised.

Or maybe Peter was shocked, knowing that he had denied Jesus three times just as Jesus told him he would.

I bet Peter was stupefied when that rooster crowed.

How about the women who stood at the cross and watched as Jesus was crucified and then buried?

They saw Christ crucified, dead and buried.

What do you think they thought when…wait a minute, I’m getting ahead of myself?

We haven’t even read the Scriptures yet!

Maybe our so what question should come at the beginning of our message today.

Are you surprised by the stone being rolled away?

Are you surprised by the empty tomb?

Are you surprised at the resurrection of Jesus?

Are you surprised by the fact that Jesus appeared first to the women and then to his disciples and then to over 500 people over the next fifty days?

Let us turn to God’s word from the Gospel of John and reflect for a few moments on our response to resurrection.

Let us pray.

“Lord God, sometimes we can be confused and confounded that You came from heaven to become one of us, and then offered Your own life so that we could have eternal life.

Lord, God, help us understand the power, the hope, the joy and the love that is found in the resurrection.

Amen.”

John 20:1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.

4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.

6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb.

He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head.

The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.

8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside.

He saw and believed.

9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying.

As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying?

Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”

(which means Teacher).

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.

Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!”

And she told them that he had said these things to her.[ii]

There was once a Muslim college student who came to believe in Jesus Christ.

One of his friends was shocked and asked him, “Why did you become a follower of Jesus?”

Here was his response: “It’s simple really.

Imagine that you’re walking down a road and you come to a fork in the road and there are two people there to follow as your guide along the way.

One of them is dead, and one of them is alive.

Which one would you follow?[iii]

One of the great appeals of Christianity is that Jesus is not dead but very much alive.

And even after the hype from Easter Sunday fades into the grind of Monday, Jesus is still alive.

And because He lives, we should not be surprised.

Peter & John

We are told that when John saw the graveclothes, he saw them from outside the tomb.

The Greek that is used here for how John “saw” the graveclothes is the most common word used for seeing (blepō); it suggests nothing more than sight.

But when Peter arrived, he scrutinized the graveclothes carefully.

The Scripture uses a special word (theoreō) for what Peter did (from it we get our words “theory” and “theorize”).

Moreover, it tells what Peter saw.

The Bible says that Peter “went into the tomb.

He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head.