Jesus is Alive
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This morning we have gotten up early to celebrate the Risen Lord Jesus Christ. Though this is a time of celebration I want us to go back and imagine ourselves as one of the disciples. What would it have been like to be Mary Magdalene, Joanne, Peter or John on that first Easter Morning over 2000 years ago. You have been following Jesus for 3.5 years. You have come to believe he is the Messiah and even accepted that he is the Son of God. Then you saw all of Jerusalem worshiping him as he made his Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem. You thought then that he was finally going to rise to power and establish his kingdom. Yet within a week he was arrested. There you are shocked to hear Pilate sentence him to be scourged and crucified. You watched in horror as a Roman soldier began to strike Jesus with a whip with bits of metal and bone designed to rip the flesh off the victim. Then they mockingly stripped him and put on a royal robe and twisted a crown of thorns to put in his head and beat him with a reed scepter, before taking him to be crucified. You watched as he struggled and fell under the weight of the cross. Your tears flowing freely at the sight. Finally he was nailed to the cross and hung there to suffocate until he pulled himself up by the nails and gasped for air before collapsing again in pain. At last he took a final breath and prayed into thy hands I commit my spirit and then he died. You hurriedly buried him but there was not enough time before the passover sabbath to do it right, and the next day was the weekly sabbath so you again waited. All the while knowing the Lord was not properly cared for, in his death. His death he was gone. The pain the sadness can you feel it. You wake up Sunday Morning carrying the weight of his loss upon your soul but thankful that you can finally prepare his body properly. Look with me at Luke 24:1-12
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
Now we are often quite critical of their reactions to the resurrection and wonder how they could have missed it. After all Jesus predicts his death several times 3 of which he tells them he will be crucified and buried but 3 days later he will rise again.
But I wonder if it were us there would we have been able to see past our grief, pain, and shock to remember these words. Instead I want to consider 4 reactions to the resurrection of Jesus.
Perplexed
Perplexed
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
Here we see Perplexed is a word that describes both confusion and anxiety. It is the moment when something is so confusing you begin to develop fear.
Imagine how you would have felt to find the guards gone and the stone rolled away and no body. Surely they must have thought someone stole the body for in Johns account Mary Magdalene thinking Jesus is the gardener asks him if he took the body away where it is.
The moment is so confusing the idea of the resurrection so far from their minds that the only solution is one of fear. Someone has stolen Jesus!
Today the Facebook post would read
WHO STOLE MY JESUS!
The ladies have waited 3 days for the sabbath to be over and now they cannot even properly bury him because someone stole his body
Who would desecrate his tomb, why, where did they take him how did they do it?
So many questions so much fear.
How many times do we respond with perplexity instead of faith when we do not understand what God is doing. Will we place our trust in God that he is charge and knows what he is doing or will to be confused and afraid.
Joy
Joy
And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
The angles appear and the ladies are even more afraid. Yet notice how their reaction changes upon hearing the angels news. Jesus is alive.
No one has stolen his body it is not their because he is alive.
I say again he is alive.
You can almost feel the sigh of relief here Jesus is okay. Then their is the realization of what it means that he is alive. You mean everything he said is true and he is the Messiah, He is the Lord of Lords the King of Kings, He does hold power over death, he is God himself and Jesus is alive.
This is great News Jesus is alive,
We must tell someone Jesus is alive. Who do we tell first?
His disciples, we must tell his disciples so with great Joy the ladies who moments ago were perplexed, confused and afraid, now run to tell the disciples Jesus is alive!
I love the fact they are so excited they leave the angels standing there to go tell the disciples. In every other occurence the angels leave first before the people do anything. Yet here it seems as though the women leave the angels still standing there. They are so excited so full of Joy at the prospect of Jesus Resurrection the angels the messengers of God simply cease to matter. We must go and share the Good News.
Are we excited to tell others the Good News of Jesus Resurrection. Or is this simply another service another duty we as Christians must do. May it never be brothers and sisters. May our hearts be filled with the Joy of the Resurrection that we might share it with all we see, not only today but everyday of our lives may we turn conversations to Him.
Disbelief
Disbelief
Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
The third reaction is that of the apostles. It is one of disbelief.
Imagine you are gathered together mourning the death of Jesus. Wondering to yourself if there was anything you could have done to change what happened. What if you had fought back, but no he told Peter to put up his sword. Maybe you should have broke him out of jail. But then you would need force as well. Maybe you could have spoke up for him but what would that have done. No it seems you could do nothing. You feel worthless hopeless, and lost. What now, how can you go back to fishing to life after HIM. Yet now he is gone what else is there.
SO you sit lost in your doubts your misery and pain. Then in comes the women bursting in out of breath. You wait for a moment in complete fear thinking the worst they killed him now they are coming for you but the ladies catch their breath and tell you He’s alive. Jesus is alive.
But he cant be you saw him die and sure he did some great things but no one can raise themselves from the dead. These women have no idea what they are saying. They just want him alive, hes not really alive.
So the disciples do not believe the women. Instead of faith we see unbelief. How often unbelief plagues the minds of Christians. DO we respond in faith or unbelief when God calls us to do that which is beyond our power or ability or what if it seems crazy. What if God wanted you to move to city or land leaving behind your friends and family would you go. Or would you question God and his ability to provide. What if it was to give your grocery money to someone else who was hungry or to take your free time to disciple a new believer and teach them to grow in Christ. Would you be obedient and respond in faith or would you doubt God and his calling and provision for your life. Our God is a mighty God who works in miracles and does the unthinkable. What seems impossible is possible for God Place your trust in him today.
Awe
Awe
But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
Finally we have the awe and wonder of Peter. Peter hears the news and gets up and runs to the tomb. He looks in and see the grave clothes laid neatly by themselves and goes home marveling at it.
His response is not so much joy as it is awe. He is glorifying God and praising him for what he has done. He does not immediately tell anyone else rather he Goes home. Yet this is a moment of pure worship for Peter. He is awestruck by the mighty power of God.
This is a proper and right response to power of God, however I believe it comes with a trap. I think many a Christian has gotten caught up in the worship of God and giving glory to God and forgotten that the most glory giving thing we can do is tell others about the might works of God. That they too might worship God. You see of the four reactions to Jesus Resurrection, Two are negative, perplexity - confusion with anxiety, and Disbelief. Both of these are clearly not the way we would want to react. The other two I believe are positive reactions Joy and Awe. Yet what is Awesome to one person may not be to another. Joy on the other hand is naturally infectious and when one has great Joy they naturally seek to include others to in their Joy. Thus we need awe that we might worship God but even more so Joy that we might tell others and they join us in worshiping God. Thereby God receives even more worship than we might give him if we worship him alone.
Therefore my Challenge to you this morning is to consider carefully the Resurrection and be filled with awe and Joy this morning. Jesus is alive and our sins are paid for and forgiven. That gives us much to celebrate but let our celebrations overflow with Joy that we might tell our neighbors and invite them to celebrate with us.