Sermon Tone Analysis

*“A Convicted Grave Robber!”*

*John 20:1-18*

 

It was dark as they arose that Sunday morning...

The two got up and put on their garments grabbed their spices and headed out on the dirt road that lead out of the city.

\\ \\

As they headed out on the road and as the sun began to rise the path was lined with many dark shadows...

but no shadow or darkness could compare with the darkness that hovered over their soul.

\\ \\

As they walked up the path towards the tomb...

thoughts and sights of the last week –

ripped through their minds like violent tornados.. \\ \\

They had been there when Jesus rode in on the colt before thousands shouting His praises,

what an incredible moment that was.

But unfortunately their minds and the events of last week didn’t stop there.

\\ \\ Try as they might they couldn’t stop those other thoughts,

those terrible scenes from playing out again and again in their minds.

They saw Jesus tied to a post:  

a Roman scourge filled with broken pieces of pottery, glass and bones ripping across His back.

As they recalled the purple robe –

the beatings,

the cruel mocking

and the crown of thorns,

the tears began to flow again.

\\ \\ \\

They had seen it all –

they had seen Jesus, their teacher,

their friend,

their Lord.

They had witnessed everything that Jesus endured and suffered.

\\ \\ And these 2 women, these two Mary’s

(Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of James)

were there at the cross...  \\ \\ They saw Jesus hanging there on that rough cross of wood...

they saw His body struggle and wince with pain with every breathe that he took...  \\ \\

They were there when Jesus cried out,

"ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI -- MY GOD MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME"

-- and they saw his head fall as he cried,

"IT IS FINISHED."

(Mark 15:34)

 

They were there when Jesus died,

and when He died they died too.

Oh they were still alive physically

but their hopes and joy died on that cross with Jesus,

on that dark Friday nearly 2,000 years ago..

Their Lord was dead...

And their hope was gone.

\\ \\ So what are they doing up so early on this Sunday morning?

Why aren’t they lying in bed wallowing in their misery...?

What was it that drove them from their beds before dawn, and put them on this dark up hill climb?

\\ \\

The thing that drove them, was their *love for and devotion* to *Jesus* –

someone had to prepare the body for burial and no one else had volunteered;

Peter didn’t,

James didn’t,

neither did John –

So it was up to these 2 faithful followers,

2 women who had never left the side of Jesus,

who were with Him until the end

-- it was up to them to do it, and they did.. \\ \\ The task they were going to perform was a somber task, a difficult task...

They would be the ones, who would wipe the blood from the brow, from the legs, from the sides,

They would be the ones, to clean the blood from the body of Jesus...

they would be the ones, to remove the blood that had matted in his beard,

They would be the last ones, to touch his face and close His eyes.

\\ \\

And as they were nearing the tomb -- suddenly a problem -- something they hadn’t thought of until now, entered their minds and they said to each other,  \\ \\ "MARY, WHO IS GOING TO REMOVE THE STONE -- HOW CAN WE GET INSIDE TO JESUS IF THE STONE IS IN THE WAY?" \\ \\ \\

\\ AND SUDDENLY “THERE WAS A VIOLENT EARTHQUAKE, FOR AN ANGEL OF THE LORD CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN AND, GOING TO THE TOMB, ROLLED BACK THE STONE AND SAT ON IT.(Matthew 28:2)[1]

 

The grave is empty!

The body of their Lord was no longer in the tomb!

 

Mary accused the one she thought to be the gardener of taking the body away – that is until the Lord Jesus Christ met her outside the empty tomb.

The guards who were the high priests’ first witnesses were paid to say: 

“The disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were sleeping.”

Who robbed the tomb that first Easter morning of its victim?

Stand as judge yourself.

Examine the evidence.

Watch as the evidence mounts up.

Decide for yourself who is guilty of robbing that grave.

I’m convinced.

My verdict is in.

I believe that God is the guilty one.

He is the One that stole the body from that tomb.

How?

By giving life back to His Son.

When the stone rolled away it was not to allow Jesus to step outside – as in the case of Lazarus.

The stone rolled away in order for us to look inside.

The tomb is empty, not because of grave robbers,

              Of a disciples carefully planned conspiracy,

Nor because a gardener wanted to clean the area.

The tomb is empty because God declared victory over Satan – over sin – over death – over the grave.

That morning Satan was given the decisive blow.

Death which had been the sentence for all mankind was now Satan’s sentence.

That Day Death Died.

55 "Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?"”

"Death has been swallowed up in victory."

(1Co 15:54-55 NIVUS)

 

For death to die, death must have had life and power.

Death was ‘conceived’ so to speak in Adam & Eve’s temptation.

“By one man (Adam) [Rom 5] sin entered into the world and death by sin.”

The parent of death is sin and the grandparent of sin is Satan.

“He who does what is sinful is of the devil.”

1John 3:8a

 

On the day that Adam fell to temptation and sinned,

there was a bouncing baby boy born into the household of the devil in the name of death!

 

\\ Death has been active ever since:

       Turn the page in the Bible to the first sons – brothers:

-        Cain and Abel – and the ground drank the life-blood of Abel as death reigned.