There’s a big difference between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. On Friday, you see hatred, anger and belligerence; on Sunday, you see love, glory and victory. On Friday, you see what sinful men think of Jesus; on Sunday, you see what God thinks of Jesus.
On Easter, we rejoice in the words of the angel: Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he is risen. (Luke 24:5-6).
At Easter we echo the words of Paul. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith… But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:14 20).
With absolute certainty, we can believe that Jesus suffered, died, was buried, rose again and is alive today.
That first Easter morning, the stone was not rolled away so a thief could remove the body or so Jesus could get out of the grave. The stone was rolled away so the disciples could know that he was no longer dead and buried inside the tomb. The stone was rolled away as heaven’s statement that Jesus Christ is the Victor, the Conqueror over sin, death and hell.
Easter means many things to many people. Culture has added many traditions to Easter – everything from Easter eggs, marshmallow chicks to chocolate bunnies. High society has made Easter a fashion time for new clothes. For some, Easter’s just an excuse for a school break.
Some ridicule the idea of Jesus dying and rising from the dead. Some can’t accept intellectually the fact of an actual resurrection. They say the idea is ridiculous and impossible. Some say the resurrection of Jesus is a myth invented by his followers to explain a spiritual truth.
I can appreciate the fact that people have difficulty accepting the literal resurrection of Jesus. It flies in the face of reason and goes against the laws of nature. It doesn’t make sense to think a person could be completely dead and then come alive again.
No other religion in the world makes the amazing claims of Christianity. No other religion tells of a God who became a man to live among us and no other religion tells of that man dying and coming to life again in a recognizable body.
But that is what actually happened. At Bethlehem, God came down to live among us. On Good Friday, Jesus died and was buried in a tomb. Easter morning, Jesus came back to life. He had a resurrected body with unusual powers. He could appear and disappear. He could enter a room with the doors being shut. He could eat a breakfast of bread and fish with the disciples. His body was recognizable. His followers recognized his hands when he broke the bread and his voice when he prayed.
People view the resurrection in a variety of ways. Look at some of the encounters Jesus had with his followers. These encounters illustrate how people today should look at the resurrection.
1. SEEING IS BELIEVING (John 20:1-9)
Some say, “I’ll only believe what I can see. I trust my eyes and if I can’t see it myself, I won’t believe it.” Of course such logic defies what happens every day. We believe lots of things we can’t see, and a lot of things we think we see, didn’t really happen the way we think they happened.
John’s Gospel tells how Jesus’ followers discovered the tomb and how, when they saw the circumstances of the empty tomb, they believed.
It was Sunday morning, the first day of the week. It was still dark. The Bible indicates it was between 3 AM and 6 AM. Mary of Magdala made her way to Jesus’ grave with the intent of anointing his body. This was part of the burial custom of that day. When she got there, the stone in front of the grave was removed. Without investigating the scene, she immediately ran to where Peter and John were staying. She said, They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him! (John 20:13). Then Peter and John ran to the tomb.
John got there first and saw the stone rolled away. When Peter arrived, he went into the tomb and surveyed the scene. He saw the strips of linen and the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded by itself, separate from the linen. Then John, seeing the courage of Peter, went into the empty tomb. It says, He saw and believed. (John 20:8).
John saw the arrangement of the burial clothes and realized that Jesus must have been resurrected. If the body had been stolen, the grave clothes would not be there or at least, they would have been strewn all over the inside of the grave in a mess on the floor.
John saw and believed. Some people say, “If I could see for myself, I would believe,” but that’s not possible. You didn’t live back then. You can’t go back to the empty tomb.
If you come to Easter with the idea, I will only believe what I can see, you will never understand or accept the reality of the resurrection. What you can do is trust the record of those who did see and who believed.
2. FEELING IS BELIEVING (John 20:10-18)
Some have the idea that feeling is believing; they need an emotional experience before they will accept anything. They say, “Move my emotions and touch my feelings and then I’ll believe.”
After Peter and John discovered the empty tomb and realized that Jesus was alive, they left the garden. But Mary of Magdala stayed behind. It says, Mary stood outside the tomb crying. (John 20:11). Mary was overcome by her emotions and no wonder. Anyone who is forgiven much, loves much. Jesus had changed her life and brought deliverance from demonic forces. She loved him for what he had done for her. So she stood in the garden with a thousand thoughts swirling through her mind. She was deeply moved and she cried.
As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. The angels asked her, Woman, why are you crying? She said, Thy have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him. (John 20:11-13).
Then she turned around and saw through her tears someone standing there. She didn’t recognize him.
The person asked, Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for? Mary thought he was the gardener, so she said, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.
Jesus said simply, Mary. She turned toward him and cried out Rabboni or Teacher. She recognized him through her tears. She knew Jesus was alive. What an emotional experience for Mary!
We live in an experience-oriented world. People are not into abstract learning and theory; people want an experience. People want to feel good about things; they want their emotions touched. People don’t want knowledge or information as much as they want an experience.
You may want an experience like Mary of Magdala. I have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that you can’t go back and duplicate the experience of Mary. That was her experience. No one, either in her day or ours, has ever had an experience like she had. She is the only one who will ever meet Jesus in the garden by the tomb.
The good news is that you can have a personal encounter with the living Christ. When you come face to face with him, when you experience his love and mercy and when you experience his forgiveness and his pardon, that experience will revolutionize your life and you will never be the same again. There’s no thrill like the thrill of knowing Jesus Christ. There’s no emotional experience that can match the joy of knowing your guilt is removed and you have peace with God.
3. PROVING IS BELIEVING (John 20:24-28)
Skeptics need proof for everything. Before some will believe anything, they have to have documented evidence that is beyond dispute. They say, “I’ll believe it when you can prove it.”
Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, had this attitude towards the resurrection. Because of his skeptical attitude, he’s known as “Doubting Thomas.” Later in the evening of the day of the resurrection, Jesus had appeared to a gathering of the disciples. All the disciples except Thomas were there and had seen Jesus. After the meeting, the other disciples quickly got word to Thomas, saying, We have seen the Lord! Thomas’ reaction was, Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it. (John 20:25).
Thomas was skeptical and basically said, “I want some proof. I’ve got to have evidence.”
He got his proof a week later when the disciples gathered together the next Sunday evening. This time, Thomas was with them and it happened again. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you!
Jesus went right for Thomas, saying, Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Thomas got the evidence he needed. Jesus was saying, “Thomas, you want proof! Well, here it is!”
To those who say, “I’d believe, if I had conclusive proof,” there is good and bad news. The bad news is that you aren’t likely to have Jesus appear to you as he did to Thomas to show you the scars on his hands and in his side. If you want that kind of proof, you aren’t going to get it.
The good news is there is ample secular and religious evidence of the resurrection of Jesus, and if you take time to investigate the facts, you’ll recognize that the resurrection of Jesus is a well-documented, historical fact. It actually happened. No other explanation makes sense. The grave had been well-guarded by soldiers. It had been secured with a Roman seal.
The followers of Jesus would have found it impossible to remove the body and the enemies of Jesus certainly did not want to remove the body. All the enemies of Jesus had to do to disprove the resurrection was to produce the body, but they couldn’t.
Many doubt the resurrection just like Thomas did. There’s nothing wrong with doubt. Christianity is not something that you blindly accept without investigating the facts. Christianity doesn’t require you to disengage you brain. Christianity is logical, rational and intelligent. Christianity is a thinking man’s religion.
There’s nothing wrong with doubt if it leads you to honestly investigate the facts. Doubt is only wrong if you blindly give in to it. Doubt is wrong if it leads to cynicism.
If you will investigate the evidence, you’ll discover it comes down on the side that Jesus actually rose from the dead and is alive today.
4. TRUSTING IS BELIEVING (John 20:29-31)
Some want an experience like Peter and John. They say, “Seeing is believing”
Some want an experience like Mary of Magdala. They say, “Feeling is believing.”
Some people want an experience like Thomas. They say, “Proving is believing.”
However, Jesus told us how to respond to his resurrection. You can sum it up in the phrase, “Trusting is believing.” Notice what he said to Thomas, Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. (John 20:27).
Jesus was saying that if you want proof, here it is. But Thomas, what you really need to do is stop doubting and believe. He was saying that the resurrection is ultimately a matter of faith.
Then Jesus told him, Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. (John 20:29).
Jesus said those words for us. There’s a blessing for those who can’t physically see the risen Christ. Jesus said the person who believes without seeing, is blessed. Jesus then added an important statement. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31).
Thomas came to a place of faith and said, My Lord and my God! (John 20:28).
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