[0:00] Chapter 20. As we were together Friday night, we remembered the crucifixion.
[0:22] ! At the cross, Jesus faced pain, torture.
[0:36] When everything was accomplished that he wanted to have accomplished, he cried out, It is finished. Father, in thy hands I commend my spirit.
[0:49] And he died. Joseph of Arimathea came and asked for the body of Jesus. He came to Pilate and asked for permission to take the body down.
[1:00] To bury it in a new tomb that Joseph had just done. I read somewhere this week, talking about that conversation. Joseph of Arimathea comes to Pilate and he says, I want to take Jesus' body down and I want to put it in this tomb that I've just had carved out.
[1:17] And it's all ready and ready to go. And a brand new one. And I'm going to take him and I want to put him in it. And Pilate, you're going to take a brand new tomb that you just had built to put Jesus into it?
[1:30] He said, yeah, but it's only for the weekend. Some of you will get that in a minute. It's only for the weekend. Joseph and Nicodemus came.
[1:44] They took the body of Jesus, wrapped it up, put it in the tomb. A borrowed tomb. And then, each morning, Mary and some others show up.
[2:00] They come. They want to do some more of preparing his body, anointing his body. And they get there and it says, while it was yet dark, they arrived.
[2:13] And when they get there, the stone that had been blocking it has been rolled away. It's not there anymore. It's been pushed to the side. And they run and they go and tell Peter and John about it.
[2:28] They come running. They run right inside and they look around and they see the body's gone. The grave clothes are laying there. But there's no body. They run back to tell the others.
[2:40] Mary Magdalene stays behind. She's standing outside the tomb. Look with me at verse 11. Starting at verse 11 of John chapter 20.
[2:52] And it says, But Mary stood without at the sepulcher, weeping. As she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher. And see the two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
[3:10] Had lain. Had lain. Get that? And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus.
[3:25] Jesus said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She is supposing him to be the gardener, said unto him, Sir, if you have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
[3:39] Mary. Jesus said unto her, Mary? She turned herself and said unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master.
[3:51] Jesus said unto her, Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend to my Father and to your Father, and to my God and your God.
[4:05] Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen Jesus, and that he had spoken these things unto her. Let's stop there. Let's have a word of prayer.
[4:17] Father, help us this morning to remember the resurrection. Lord, the fact that Jesus Christ gave his life, was buried, but also rose again.
[4:32] Lord, as we celebrate that this morning, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Lord, Lord, when we stop and think of all that that means to us, Lord, help us to leave here rejoicing in all that you have done.
[4:47] To leave here rejoicing in the fact that we have a Savior who loves us. To leave here rejoicing, we have a risen Savior who cares about us. We have a risen Savior who is coming back for us.
[5:01] Lord, just thank you for all that you have done for us. And Lord, help us to learn some things about this risen Savior today, and how he can help us every step, not for eternity alone, but every step, day by day, as we live this life now.
[5:23] Lord, show us how a risen Savior, what he can do for us. Lord, bless now, in Jesus' name. Amen. So here's Mary.
[5:35] She's standing outside the tomb. She's crying. She's weeping. She stoops down. She looks inside the tomb, and she sees two angels. You know, it's interesting. What does the angel ask her?
[5:45] Why are you weeping? Why are you weeping? Well, they've stolen the body of Jesus. It's gone. Okay?
[5:56] And then she turns around, and she sees Jesus. Doesn't know it's him. I'm thinking, how does she not know it's Jesus? But think about it. She's been stooped down, looking in the tomb. She's crying. She turns around.
[6:07] She probably sees that there's somebody there, but doesn't look at their face, because she's crying. She's distraught. And she assumes that he's the gardener. Where have you taken him?
[6:19] Where have you laid him? Where did he go? And notice what Jesus asked. Why are you crying? Those are significant words. I'll get to them in a minute. But those are significant words.
[6:31] Why are you crying? Have you taken him away? Have you put him somewhere? And finally Jesus says, Mary? I think he said it like that. It's like, Mary, don't you recognize who I am?
[6:44] Mary, don't you recognize my voice? Mary, don't you remember? You know, you think about when she finally understands that it's his voice.
[6:58] She finally understands and she's seeing the risen Savior face to face. What joy was in her heart. How excited she was. Notice he says to her, don't touch me.
[7:10] I haven't returned to the Father. I'm sure her natural reaction was, oh, give me, you know, like some of you when you haven't seen somebody for a while. What do you do? Oh, hug him.
[7:21] Oh, it's so good to see you. So good to, and here she, last time she saw Jesus, he was coming out of the cross going to be buried in this tomb. And she now sees him alive.
[7:34] The excitement she must have had to see the risen Savior. You know, when we get saved, when we come to know Jesus Christ as our Savior, that's kind of the initial reaction we have.
[7:49] I believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. I believe he did it for me. I believe he's going to save me for all eternity. I believe I have a home in heaven.
[8:00] I believe to have that kind of reaction. Oh, he has done so much for me. He has given me eternal life. He has given me a home in heaven.
[8:13] But I want to ask a more practical question this morning. What's he doing for you now? It's great that we look forward to a home in heaven. It's great that we are looking forward to the day we will be with him when he comes again.
[8:31] But what happens day by day right now? Well, let me show you from Mary's encounter here some things about what a risen Savior can do for you.
[8:42] Number one, risen Savior who is alive can call your name. Look at verse 16 there again. He says, Mary, she turned herself and said unto him, Rabboni, which is to say master.
[9:01] Think about who Mary is. Mary Magdalene. Jesus had changed Mary's life. He had called her name before. He had called her name to the fact that she needed to follow him.
[9:14] He came for her. He came for the disciples. He came for all of mankind. He was calling people's names all the time. And he called Mary and said, follow me.
[9:28] And she became a devoted follower of his. You think about what she was like before. This is a woman who had demons cast out of her. She had been living for the devil. She had been living a life that was of ill repute.
[9:42] She had had a life that was just not. Even as an unsaved person, we'd go, Mary, stay over there. You know? And Jesus came and he called her.
[9:55] Jesus is calling you today. He's saying, come to me. Follow me. Let me show you a better way.
[10:06] Let me show you a way that will lead you to heaven. Mary followed Jesus after that. She followed him everywhere. Pretty much if you read through the scriptures and stuff, every time you see the disciples and Jesus going somewhere, Mary and some of the other ladies are not far behind.
[10:25] They were following him too. They wanted to hear what he had to say. They would follow and they would help in any way they could. She was there at the foot of the cross.
[10:37] When Jesus gave his life on the cross, Mary was there. Mary, his mother, and Mary Magdalene, they were both there. When his body was taken down off the cross and taken to the tomb, they were there.
[10:51] That's kind of the relationship she had. She loved her Lord and Master. She remained there at the cross and at the tomb until all was said and done.
[11:03] And then, here she is, she's coming that next morning, or two mornings later, she's coming to anoint his body. And now, here she is, she's at the tomb, the body's gone, and Jesus is calling her name again.
[11:24] Mary, follow me. Mary, follow me. You know, think about, Jesus is calling your name today.
[11:37] If you're here and you've never asked the Lord Jesus Christ to be your Savior, he's calling your name. If you're here this morning and you've backslidden away from him, you're not following him like you used to, he's calling your name.
[11:47] he's calling you to have a life that is abundant, a life that is free. I'll talk about that some more in a minute. He's saying to you, look, confess your sins, turn to him, trust him, surrender to him, and he will change your life just like he did Mary.
[12:09] Again, Mary, demon possessed, living an ill repute life, and he changed her life completely, turned it all around. He'll do the same for you today.
[12:21] Jesus will call your name, and not only will Jesus do that, second thing, Jesus will calm your fears. Jesus will calm your fears.
[12:32] Look at verse 13. They said unto her, woman, why weepest thou? And she said unto them, because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
[12:44] She was fearful. What has happened to Jesus? Where did he go? Why did they take his body? What did they do with him? She's fearful of all kinds of things this morning. She's distraught.
[12:56] She's fearful. She's wondering what happened. She's just overcome with fear and sorrow. She doesn't know what to do next.
[13:09] Where is he? We have a lot of people today who are fearful. some of you here today, you have cancer. You're fearful about what's going on.
[13:24] There are some here who have other issues, family issues. Some have financial issues. Some have issues. We're fearful about what's going to happen, what's going to take place.
[13:40] Some are fearful of judgment. people are always talking about me. People are always saying things about me. People are fearful of the judgment of others. Some think about the judgment that's to come and you think about the death that is to come and you think about the eternity that is to follow.
[14:02] They're fearful. Where am I? What's going to happen to me? I'm fearful of death. I'm fearful of what's going to happen to me after death. I don't really believe in God but just in case I'm kind of fearful of what comes next.
[14:20] And they should be. Ooh. They should be fearful. Why? Hebrews 927. Notice what it says. And as it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment.
[14:37] So there's two out of the three right there. Once to die and after this the judgment. Those are some things to be scared of. Those are some things to be concerned about. But a risen savior can change all that.
[14:52] A risen savior can give you hope. A risen savior can help you, can guide you, can lead you, can walk you right into the streets of heaven. A risen savior can do that.
[15:05] If you have him as part of your life. Jesus came to conquer death and hell and the grave. First Corinthians 1520 says this, but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept.
[15:26] Christ is risen from the dead and he's the first fruits. What does that mean? He's the first one. He set the example. He's leading the way. that we can go from death to life for all eternity.
[15:44] Go from death to life in heaven with him. He's the first. And because of his victory over death, his victory over hell, his victory over sin, he can calm your fears.
[16:03] You stop and think about it. He's accomplished what we could not. we can't raise ourselves from the dead. We die, that's it, we're done. Unless we know Jesus Christ.
[16:16] Or Jesus Christ comes again and the end of time has come and then we'll all be alive again. But then it becomes a matter of, okay, I'm alive, but where am I going? Am I going to go to heaven?
[16:28] Am I going to go to hell? Jesus conquered death and hell because of his resurrection from the dead. do you trust him? Do you put your faith in him? Are you trusting him for your eternity?
[16:41] He died so that you might live. That's why he came for us. He died so that we could be redeemed.
[16:53] Think about that one for a second. We can be redeemed, we can be brought back. We do not have to follow Satan. We do not have to have an eternity in hell. We do not have to go that direction because he has redeemed us.
[17:05] 1 John 10. 10. It says this, The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.
[17:20] He says I have come so you can have life for all eternity. I have come so you can have life. You don't have to worry about death and the things that are faced with death because you're going to walk right through death here into another life.
[17:35] You have it for all eternity and while you're still here you can have it more abundantly here. Wow. You see what a risen Savior does for us?
[17:48] Yes, we like to think he's going to come again someday, he's going to take us to heaven, but what about now? He says I've come so you might have life and have it more abundantly. Trust him.
[17:59] allow him to work in your life. Allow him to do his work. He came so that we could have a relationship with him.
[18:12] He came so that we could be saved. He came so that we could gather together and enjoy one another's company. Some people have mentioned that they don't really have families, but they come to church and they find they have a family.
[18:29] See, he did it so we might have a more abundant life. Have people who we love and care about us just like Jesus does because where does Jesus live? Jesus lives within us.
[18:41] And we show that love to those around us. Jesus will call your name. Jesus will calm your fears. Third thing, the risen Savior will comfort your sorrows.
[18:53] Comfort your sorrows. Look at verse 15 there in John chapter 20. Verse 15. Jesus said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?
[19:04] She supposed unto him gardener said unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. She's weeping, she's sorrowing, she's seeking.
[19:18] Mary had a problem. Mary doesn't know where Jesus is. She saw him buried in that tomb. she saw the stone rolled into place.
[19:29] And now she's there three days later and she's looking and she says, the stone's been moved. She's there and she's watching and she looks inside and says, the body's gone. Mary has a problem.
[19:41] She's upset about what's taking place. And then Jesus comes up, why are you crying? Someone stole the master's body. Someone took him away.
[19:52] you know, every one of us has troubles. Every one of us has issues. Every one of us has things that are going on in our life and we're just, I don't know what to do.
[20:08] I don't know how to handle this. I don't know, can I say something? We all have troubles. But whatever issue you're facing, God is bigger than that issue.
[20:22] God can take care of it. God can help you through it. You know, a lot of times, you ever notice, God doesn't move the thing aside. I've got this issue in front of me. God, just take that thing away.
[20:34] God says, no, but I'll tell you what, I'll walk with you as we go through it. I'll be there. I will help you. I'll show you how to maneuver through the thing that's taking place.
[20:48] Sometimes we get blinded by sorrow, just like Mary's eyes were blinded by the tears that she was shedding because of the sorrow that she was facing. But, if we will give God his place, let him work in our lives, let him lead us, he will take us through all those things.
[21:12] He will show us that he is still in charge. He is still there ready and willing to help us with everything that we face. Mary had some honorable intentions when she went there that day.
[21:25] She wanted to go and anoint the bodies for his burying and everything. She did everything that she thought she was supposed to do. One problem with Mary's thinking.
[21:38] She didn't need to anoint Jesus' body. He was alive. She went there to anoint a dead body. He's alive. He's living.
[21:51] Unbeknownst to her at the beginning, he's standing right there beside her. She doesn't realize it. You know, Jesus is not in the grave anymore. Jesus is not hanging on the cross like some portray.
[22:05] Jesus is alive. And he came here to comfort your sorrows. He came here to help you with things that you're going through.
[22:16] So he's calling your name. He's calming your fears. He's comforting you in the midst of sorrows. The risen Savior will conquer your doubt.
[22:28] He will conquer your doubt. Look at verse 16 again. You've heard this a number of times this morning already. He said unto her, Mary. She turned to herself and said to him, Rabboni, which is the same master.
[22:42] She's got all of this anxiety, all of this fear, all of these sorrows, all of these different things and Jesus goes, Mary. See, she was focused on the present.
[22:56] She had gone to the tomb that day. She was expecting to do certain things and she gets there and she can't do any of the things she was expecting to do and she gets this issue that Jesus is gone.
[23:07] What's going on? She's focused on the present. Do you know, and she went back and she called for John and Peter. Remember, they came and they run into the tomb and they look in and his body's gone and everything.
[23:19] Now, you think about Jesus' followers. Who were his closest followers? John and Peter and Mary, probably.
[23:31] They are his closest followers and they run to the tomb, they see it empty and they panic. not a one of them said, oh, he told us he was going to rise from the dead.
[23:47] Think about that for a second. Not a one of them. Had Jesus told them? Oh, yeah. He told them, tear down this temple in three days, I'll build it back up.
[23:58] He told them about the fact that he was going to face the crucifixion. He told them about the fact that he was going to rise from the dead. He told them all these things. But when they come to the tomb, the first thought in their mind is not Jesus rose from the dead.
[24:11] Why? Because they were focused on the present. They were focused on what was happening right now in front of them. They were focused on the fact that someone must have taken the body.
[24:26] Many times we become so focused on the present that we forget who Jesus is. you think about it. All throughout the Bible God gave us promises.
[24:42] All throughout the Bible God told us different things that were going to take place, things that were going to happen, how he was going to be there with us, and all of them. And we just forget it all because we focus on the here and now.
[24:55] We doubt that God will meet our needs. I've got financial needs, I've got family needs, I've got health needs, I've got we forget that God will meet our needs.
[25:09] God will take care of us. Do we trust him? How many times have you heard me say that over the last year or so? Do we trust him? No matter what's going on in our life, we start to doubt that God will hear our prayers.
[25:24] And so our prayer life becomes less and less. He says, look, I'm going to be with you always, even until the end of the world. I will never leave you nor forsake you.
[25:36] He's going to be there. Do we trust him? We doubt the promise of his return. Jesus is coming again.
[25:48] Jesus, who rose from the dead, went back to heaven, is going to come back. He told us that. It's in his word. He said, I'm coming back and I'm going to gather you together and I'm going to take you home.
[25:59] He says, he's preparing places for us. Can you imagine 2,000 years of preparing places? He said, I'm coming to take you home. You'll have your own place in heaven on streets of gold.
[26:13] He is coming again. We forget all about that. We forget about the scriptures. Those things I just told you, they're all scripturally based. We forget about those things.
[26:24] I've got this problem right now. I'm focused on this problem. I've got to figure out how to take care of this problem. I've got to do it. We forget this Bible says, I'm there. I'm with you. I'll help you. We doubt the prophecies.
[26:38] You know, it's interesting at Christmas time, we talk about the prophecies. There's 300 some odd prophecies in the Bible. Probably two-thirds of them dealing with Christmas and the resurrection.
[26:55] and of those prophecies that deal with Christmas and the resurrection, every one of them has been fulfilled. Every one of them has come true.
[27:07] And yet we forget that God says, trust me, it's all going to happen. It's all going to take place. We forget those things. And then when we do all that, we begin to doubt the assurance of our salvation.
[27:26] Are you saved today? Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? Do you recognize that when Jesus went to that cross, he was shedding his blood to pay the price for your sins?
[27:40] Do you recognize that as he went to that cross and gave his life, he was paying your punishment for sin? Do you realize when he rose from the grave?
[27:53] He was making a way for you to have eternal life in heaven with him, to avoid hell and all the things that go with it. He says, here, I came and did this for you.
[28:10] And yet things come into our life when we begin to doubt our salvation. He says, no, I will never leave you nor forsake you. There's many, many areas in which we can doubt.
[28:22] There's all kinds of things. You're all here today, and probably every one of you has a different doubt about something and what's going to happen and how it's going to work out. Forgetting that Jesus can remove all doubts.
[28:38] You know, it's interesting. Mary's having all these doubts, right? Jesus' body's missing. What am I going to do? She's having all these doubts about things. And how did Jesus fix her doubt?
[28:50] Think about this for a second. How did Jesus fix her doubt? He went right back to the beginning.
[29:02] Mary. Mary. He said her name. He called her name. That's where we started. He called her name. And she snapped her head up and looked.
[29:19] It's the Savior. It's Jesus. He's here with me alive. How do you want to have all your problems taken care of or fixed?
[29:33] He's not going to take away all your problems, but like I said, he'll go through them with you. Listen for him calling your name. If you're lost this morning without the Savior, you've never asked him to come into your life and be your Savior, he's calling your name this morning.
[29:50] Some may be here and you're kind of backslidden. You haven't been trusting him like you should. You haven't been spending time with him like you should. You're saved, but you haven't been. He's calling your name this morning.
[30:05] There are some people here this morning who are filled with doubt. You know what? He can conquer those doubts. There are some here this morning who are consumed with fear.
[30:19] He can calm the fears. There are some here this morning who go through great sorrow. Things have happened in your life recently that use sorrow. But he says, I can comfort you in that sorrow.
[30:33] I'll go through it with you. you know, the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, such a tremendous, tremendous miracle.
[30:45] One that we have eternal life because of it. One that we have a home in heaven because of it. But it's also one that plays out in our life day by day by day.
[30:58] when we remember that we have a risen Savior changes everything. When I face my day, when I get up in the morning and I'm looking, I have a risen Savior who's going to walk with me today to everything I go through.
[31:18] He is right there beside me. Ah, what a great, tremendous truth that we have a risen Savior. take your hymn books.