Sermon Tone Analysis

That you may Believe and have Life #50

John 20

 

Well we are almost finished looking at John.  Let’s press on to finish.

As I have focused on the words of Jesus as we have walked through John, today we look at Jesus’ encounters with his followers following the Resurrection

 

How do you respond when you lose someone close to you?

How do you respond when the troubles of life seem to pile up?

 

Could I offer to you today that The Resurrection of Jesus Christ has a revelation for you.

I see three people types ~/ groups in this account of the Resurrection and I want you to tell me what YOU hear from Jesus in response to these people

 

Jesus had died on Friday, but it’s Sunday folks.

What day is it in your life?

Your situation?

Is it the Sunday before when everything is rosy?

Is it Thursday and there are some challenges but things are still basically ok?

Is it Thursday night and things are coming down on you but you are uncertain about where things are headed?

Is it Friday and your hopes and dreams seemed to have died?

Saturday and you are full of darkness and despair?

Well … Jesus was arrested on Friday in the wee hours of the morning.

He was tried, beaten, carried his own cross, crucified, died, and was buried before Friday ended at Sundown and Saturday began

 

Sunday came and the WORLD CHANGED …

 

Well Read with me all of chapter 20.

I want to see the WHOLE picture this week and we will look at verse 9 alone next week before finishing our series the following Sunday.

READ John 20

 

Now people, I think the hardest thing for US, or at least for ME, in the gospels is to understand how the followers of Jesus reacted when Jesus was buried.

Two individuals and a group, Mary, The Disciples, and Thomas

 

The first thing that we see, that stands out for me, is that when the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is Revealed, to each …

 

1.

It is a Surprise

 

A surprise?

You are kidding.

Jesus TOLD you he was going to do it.

He told them he was going to be crucified, and be raised on the third day.

/“if you tear down this Temple, I will rebuild it in 3 days”/

/“Just as Jonah was in the whale 3 days, so the Son of man in the earth”/

 

Mary goes to the Tomb with two other women early in the morning and we don’t learn much about this, but if you read Luke 24 they found the stone rolled away, no body inside and two angels in lightning bright clothing remind them …

/Luke 24:5-7 (NIV) \\ 5 //In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?// //6 //He is not here; he has risen!

Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:// //7 //‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’

”/

 

Ok, so they forgot … but when they got back to the disciples and said \\ /“they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him”/

 

What?

Why are we surprised when Sunday comes?

Why are we surprised when Jesus does what he says he will do?

There is VICTORY in Jesus

There is POWER in the Resurrection

Jesus IS Alive

Just as he Said

 

Someone say “Hallelujah”

Then Peter and John run to the Tomb and see that it IS True, that Jesus is NOT there.

I love the fact that when Jesus left the Tomb he left some interesting things behind.

Strips of Linen, that had wrapped him, were left behind lying there  … Now, I’m not a CSI but put this together for me.

If you are stealing a body, you probably don’t take time to UNWRAP the dead body … come on, who wants to carry a decomposing body without the covering?

So, there were Jesus’ wrappings laying there … Probably right on top of the stone where he had laid, because I’m sure he just got right up and they fell away.

He walked through a locked door, I doubt that he was held back by burial cloth if he didn’t want it.

However, one other thing, IF you ARE going to steal a body, you probably don’t take the wrapping off … AND you don’t take time to stage it.

Remember he was guarded by Soldiers … but when Jesus got up, he left his body wrappings, and then he neatly took off his head wrapping and laid it down by itself.

Now, they see this, yet later in the day, Mary is BACK at the Tomb and she is CRYING … she still doesn’t expect to see Jesus alive again.

But Jesus Speaks to her, tenderly, with a word of respect, “Woman” – remember we learned this was NOT disrespectful but respectful.

And She cries out in relief, Joy, and surprise “TEACHER ~/ Rabboni”

 

She was excited when she saw him

 

That evening, the disciples are hiding behind locked doors and Jesus stands before them, “Peace be with you”  … and the Disciples were overjoyed “when they saw the Lord”

 

Why were they not holding a Party?

Why were the doors locked

Why were they not there with the windows and doors thrown open

Why weren’t the disciples doing what the shepherds had down when they left the manger, and telling everyone what they had seen and heard.

Now Thomas had missed the appearance of Jesus, maybe he had run to the grocery store … and he says “I won’t believe it until I see and touch”

 

Oh lest we judge them too harshly, have you ever prayed for something and then been shocked when it happened?

Have you ever prayed for someone to receive Christ and then questioned it’s authenticity when it happened?

I preached a message in the book of Acts, two years ago entitled “why are we surprised when God is God?”

We have not because we ask not and we ask not because we don’t believe he can, will, or we deserve it

 

I can’t preach that message today but I challenged us to be people who move away from surprise to expectation.

How can we make that move?

Ø      Remember – what he has said, what he has done

Ø      Repent – for failing to ask or believe

Ø      Reckon – expect or anticipate

Ø      Receive – what God is doing

 

James said in chapter 4 we have not because we ask not or we ask for the wrong reasons.

If JESUS Christ can be resurrected from the dead, what other thing is too hard for him?

Jeremiah 32:27 says /“I am the LORD, the God of all mankind.

Is anything too hard for me?/

The Resurrection Revealed here brought Surprise, and hear me, I am not saying we should have a sense of entitlement or arrogance.

I am not saying we should lose our sense of wonder.

Because hey, when we come to realize that Jesus died for ME, we are probably the MOST surprised person.

I know me … and something I see here in this Revelation of the Resurrection … is the resurrection news …

 

2.

It is for Everyone

 

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ didn’t bring hope to only one Nation, or only one class, or only a certain type of Person.

/“If you will confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that Jesus rose from the dead, you will be saved”/

 

The Resurrection is for any type of person.

In this group we have single women, widows, professionals, blue collar workers, business owners, teenagers and older folks and everywhere in between.

Isn’t that beautiful?

Can you see yourself in there?

Can you see yourself in these people that Jesus comes to following his Resurrection?

Do you need Jesus to Reveal himself to you?

Will you accept the Revelation of Jesus Christ that has been given to you?

Besides their other differences see the people types here …

 

  A.

Mourning Mary

    1.

I know that some of you, some of our people are mourning

    2.

Mary had been in mourning since Friday afternoon.

It was common for mourners to tear their outer garments, to throw dust on their heads, to wear drab sack cloth, they refrained from washing or using perfumes, they fasted

 

    3.

There is something for you in the resurrection

    4. in her mourning, the Angels said “why are you crying?”

Jesus asked “Why are you crying?”

But not just a mourning Mary