WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:06.400 Well, good morning, everyone. Great to be with you in church this morning. I was not 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:11.120 originally scheduled to preach, but because of COVID, I've come off the bench for this 00:00:11.120 --> 00:00:18.580 morning. And as a senior pastor, I suppose that's okay. This morning, great. I just wish 00:00:18.580 --> 00:00:22.699 we could just continue to sing, actually. It was just so great to sing the great truths 00:00:22.699 --> 00:00:29.420 of the Christian faith. I read an article this morning in the Australian newspaper, 00:00:29.420 --> 00:00:35.020 as a crack of an article, really, which you don't expect. If you think that the resurrection 00:00:35.020 --> 00:00:40.439 is a miracle, getting an article like this published in an Australian newspaper is in itself 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:47.660 a miracle. It says, Easter provides hope because it shows us that death does not have the final 00:00:47.660 --> 00:00:56.960 victory. But this works for a person. It helps them only if they understand something of the 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:04.260 whole supernatural quality of human life. Modern Christians, and I would add modern people, 00:01:05.060 --> 00:01:14.159 make a tremendous mistake in underplaying the essential supernatural claims of Jesus and the 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:20.799 Christian tradition. It is understandable that modern Christians in sceptical Western societies, 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:28.479 phobic about the transcendent, scared of death, and trained to mock belief at every turn, 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:35.000 tend to emphasise Christianity's good things, good works, its hospitals, its schools, its shelters 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:45.539 for the homeless. But in truth, Christianity, stripped of its supernatural claims, is not just an 00:01:45.540 --> 00:01:53.540 attractive ethical system or a picturesque and benign myth. It is literally nothing at all. 00:01:55.060 --> 00:02:05.120 It's nothing at all. Without its supernatural claims, it is at best delusional. And really, 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:12.520 it's a system of lies. As St. Paul says in Ephesians, 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:20.879 if Christ is not risen, our preaching is useless and your faith is useless, we are to be, of all people, 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:33.040 most to be pitied. The article says Christianity is a power for good because it is true. And if it's not 00:02:33.040 --> 00:02:40.879 true, if Jesus did not physically rise from the dead, then it's nothing. It's not a good idea. It's 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:49.460 actually nothing. But the article says, happily, it's true. Now, that article, and many like it, 00:02:49.519 --> 00:02:55.659 raises two big questions about Christianity and the central event of Easter, because without the 00:02:55.659 --> 00:03:01.259 resurrection of Jesus, there is nothing. Christianity rises and falls on the resurrection of Jesus. If 00:03:01.259 --> 00:03:08.120 Jesus did not physically rise from the dead, then we are much better off going to the beach today. 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:11.980 And you may already be doing that anyway, but we're better off doing something else. 00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:16.759 There's the truth question. There's the meaning question. 00:03:18.120 --> 00:03:21.480 That's what's connected here. Whenever you talk about the resurrection of Jesus, 00:03:21.920 --> 00:03:27.200 the truth question and the so what question, what does it mean? What's the relevance of a question 00:03:27.200 --> 00:03:33.200 are intertwined. They're connected. The truth question, did it really happen? The meaning question, 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:42.179 who cares if it actually did? And people in our day and age reject the central claims of Easter and the 00:03:42.179 --> 00:03:49.259 Christian faith on those two questions. And it's important to address them together, which is what 00:03:49.259 --> 00:03:57.259 we're going to do this morning. So here's my three points, if you like. Is it true? Does it matter? 00:03:57.259 --> 00:04:07.439 And experiencing resurrection or on this day? So is it true? The great C.S. Lewis once wrote that in a world 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:14.259 that was making such rapid advancement in scientific understanding, he says there's a great danger of 00:04:14.259 --> 00:04:22.259 chronological snobbery. That's his term. For instance, chronological snobbery might lead some to conclude 00:04:22.259 --> 00:04:32.759 in this day and age that people who were around when Jesus was around were just gullible peasants who 00:04:32.759 --> 00:04:39.360 were just really ignorant about life and science and the way the world works. And yet, as we read 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:42.360 through John 20, that's not the picture that we're... 00:04:42.360 --> 00:05:04.199 Thank you. 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:13.560 Am I on this one now? Okay, brilliant. So by that time, you've now been able to get to John chapter 20. 00:05:15.899 --> 00:05:18.319 And look at the first two verses of John 20 with me. 00:05:18.699 --> 00:05:22.620 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb 00:05:22.620 --> 00:05:29.879 and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. And so she came running to Simon Peter and 00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:35.860 the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, and notice what she says here, 00:05:36.420 --> 00:05:42.259 they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they've put him. 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:51.600 Now, Jesus had mentioned several times that he would come back to life after he was executed, 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:56.199 but that is not what Mary is expecting in this moment. 00:05:56.199 --> 00:06:02.699 When she went to the tomb, she wasn't expecting it to be empty. Her first assumption 00:06:02.699 --> 00:06:08.039 is that someone has taken the body, not the disciples, someone else has taken the body. 00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:12.259 And it's the same in verse 13. She was working on the assumption, 00:06:12.740 --> 00:06:16.779 I think that the Jewish leaders or the Romans or somebody have taken this body 00:06:16.779 --> 00:06:18.959 and dumped it outside the city limit somewhere. 00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:23.879 Mary didn't just assume, ah, yeah, of course, it's a resurrection. 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:27.139 That's not where her mind went immediately. 00:06:28.779 --> 00:06:33.680 Even Peter and John, two of Jesus' key followers, 00:06:34.040 --> 00:06:37.860 didn't automatically jump to the conclusion that Jesus had been resurrected. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:40.300 Notice verse 8 and 9. 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:44.259 Finally, the other disciple who had reached the tomb first. 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:48.019 Now, let me just pause here. This is not in my notes. I just think it's amazing. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:51.159 I love John chapter 20. As someone who likes to run occasionally, 00:06:51.160 --> 00:06:54.260 I think John's never been my favourite disciple. 00:06:54.640 --> 00:06:56.120 He's becoming my favourite disciple. 00:06:56.460 --> 00:06:57.620 This guy's obviously a runner. 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:03.080 Three times in the first eight verses, he mentions that he beat Peter to the tomb. 00:07:03.860 --> 00:07:07.160 Of all things I'm going to write about, I want you to know throughout history, 00:07:07.300 --> 00:07:08.540 I was faster than Peter. 00:07:08.860 --> 00:07:09.980 That's what I want you to know. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:11.900 Anyway, let me get back to that. 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:15.420 Finally, the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went inside. 00:07:15.420 --> 00:07:17.680 He saw and believed. 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:19.120 Verse 9. 00:07:20.280 --> 00:07:23.259 They did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had yet risen from the dead. 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:25.580 What did he believe? He believed of what Mary just told him. 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:28.780 Jesus' body's not there. That's what he believed. 00:07:29.259 --> 00:07:31.900 But he had not concluded that there was a resurrection. 00:07:33.540 --> 00:07:38.720 That tells me that these early followers of Jesus were not gullible people. 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:43.140 Jesus told them repeatedly that he would come back to life. 00:07:43.200 --> 00:07:49.680 But that's not what they were looking for in that moment, on that first Easter day. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:58.480 And yet, what they were confronted with on that morning was a bodiless tomb. 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:09.400 One of the great historical evidences of the resurrection is, in fact, that the tomb where Jesus was buried 00:08:09.400 --> 00:08:15.360 by two of his enemies, the Jewish leaders and the Romans, and his own disciples. 00:08:16.640 --> 00:08:20.640 That tomb was empty on the third day. 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:23.560 And no one could produce a body. 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:29.959 Even the enemies of Jesus could not produce a body. 00:08:30.379 --> 00:08:34.620 And if they could have, they would have ended this whole Christianity movement, 00:08:34.919 --> 00:08:38.580 which is what they were attempting to do when they crucified Jesus to the cross. 00:08:39.259 --> 00:08:40.840 They want it done with. 00:08:41.059 --> 00:08:45.919 They could have ended it just by bringing his body back from outside the city limits in a wheelbarrow 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:47.559 and dumping it in the streets of Jerusalem. 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:49.620 There's your Saviour. 00:08:50.419 --> 00:08:52.100 That's all they had to do. 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:59.859 So what are the possible other alternative explanations for an empty tomb? 00:09:00.319 --> 00:09:03.659 Some have suggested that, in fact, Jesus didn't really die. 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:12.559 He revived in the cool of the tomb, moved the stone away that took four soldiers to get him to close it off, 00:09:13.219 --> 00:09:15.939 slipped past the soldiers and disappeared. 00:09:15.940 --> 00:09:18.600 That was one view. 00:09:20.740 --> 00:09:25.620 Obviously, that view doesn't come to grips with the horrible realities of crucifixion. 00:09:26.420 --> 00:09:31.880 The rigorous steps the Pilate and the leaders, the Jewish leaders, took to make sure that he was, in fact, dead. 00:09:32.500 --> 00:09:39.160 And the steps that were also taken to make sure that no one got in or out of the tomb. 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:43.519 Some have suggested the disciples themselves stole the body. 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:57.719 And if they did, then they began to risk their lives and, in fact, even give their lives over to death for the sake of something which is nothing more than an April Fool's joke. 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:03.019 The fact is, they were utterly dejected. 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:07.519 And they were terrified after the death of Jesus. 00:10:07.920 --> 00:10:15.639 They were so scared that they themselves would be treated in exactly the same way that Jesus had been treated. 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:27.679 They were hiding in a secluded room, hoping not to be found, with doors locked, unwilling to believe the first reports of Jesus' appearance three days after he was executed. 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:41.939 And yet, within a matter of weeks, these same men were overflowing with joy and courage to the point where they gave their lives for Jesus. 00:10:41.940 --> 00:10:53.920 And this little band of scared people, ordinary believers, ended up changing the course of human history. 00:10:54.940 --> 00:11:08.300 They and those who came to believe through them loved and served their enemies across the Roman Empire in such a way that within three centuries, the world was radically changed. 00:11:09.580 --> 00:11:10.060 How? 00:11:10.060 --> 00:11:11.400 What happened? 00:11:11.940 --> 00:11:14.500 If you asked them, what would they say? 00:11:14.620 --> 00:11:15.180 The reason? 00:11:16.800 --> 00:11:18.180 Because of the resurrection. 00:11:20.580 --> 00:11:22.640 Because we saw Jesus alive. 00:11:25.920 --> 00:11:32.740 Now, there is way more historical evidence, rational evidence, than just those things. 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:40.920 But doubting the resurrection of Jesus is common, and it started on the day that he rose. 00:11:41.940 --> 00:11:46.880 What I would encourage you to do is to investigate these Jesus a little bit deeper. 00:11:47.980 --> 00:11:52.380 Out there behind the wall out here, there's a bunch of resources on the Connect table. 00:11:52.760 --> 00:11:53.260 Take them. 00:11:53.680 --> 00:11:55.260 Feel free to go with them if you like. 00:11:55.380 --> 00:11:56.520 Please leave the hand gel there. 00:11:56.560 --> 00:11:57.080 That would be great. 00:11:57.160 --> 00:12:00.480 But any of the resources to do with Jesus stuff would be great. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:01.480 Just take it. 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:01.500 Take it. 00:12:01.500 --> 00:12:02.120 Take it. 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:02.159 Take it. 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:02.800 And read it. 00:12:02.800 --> 00:12:03.820 And investigate it. 00:12:03.820 --> 00:12:13.779 Even if it's for you who are struggling in your faith right now, or just, you know, not sure about the actual foundations of what it is that you believe. 00:12:13.860 --> 00:12:14.680 Take it as well. 00:12:14.679 --> 00:12:21.419 If you're online and you can't get here to do that, then make connection with us, and we will send you resources. 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:22.639 More than happy to do that. 00:12:24.500 --> 00:12:31.559 You see, the first people to doubt the resurrection were not people opposed to the faith. 00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:34.139 Were not opposed to Jesus or to Christianity. 00:12:34.139 --> 00:12:42.740 And the first one, the major one, was in fact Jesus, one of his closest supporters, a man named Thomas. 00:12:44.299 --> 00:12:50.059 Thomas is in fact the most famous doubters of the resurrection. 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:56.340 In fact, we even have a saying in our culture for a skeptic. 00:12:56.840 --> 00:12:58.519 We call them a doubting Thomas. 00:12:58.519 --> 00:12:58.639 Thomas. 00:12:59.220 --> 00:13:06.019 So poor old Thomas has got a bad rap for the last 2,000 years as a doubting guy, and John's the fast guy. 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:06.500 I mean. 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:14.559 So for those who are struggling to understand or accept the resurrection, we must wonder if Thomas can help us. 00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:16.960 Can Thomas help us here? 00:13:17.579 --> 00:13:23.399 We are told that Thomas wasn't there when Jesus first appeared to his disciples soon after he rose from the dead. 00:13:23.439 --> 00:13:25.439 Have a look at verse 24. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:29.680 So the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord. 00:13:30.740 --> 00:13:45.020 But he said to them, 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. 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:51.740 In other words, I will believe it if God shows himself to me. 00:13:51.740 --> 00:13:56.299 His response to this news is absolute. 00:13:57.500 --> 00:13:58.799 He makes his demands. 00:13:58.919 --> 00:13:59.899 He's got his conditions. 00:14:00.980 --> 00:14:05.980 I will only believe unless I see and place my hands. 00:14:07.100 --> 00:14:08.100 I will not believe. 00:14:08.560 --> 00:14:13.740 That is, he demands at this moment exhaustive proof rather than sufficient evidence. 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:19.340 Belief in the resurrection comes down ultimately to the battle of the will. 00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:21.580 Will I surrender my will? 00:14:23.300 --> 00:14:31.040 Thomas rejects the witness of 10 or more of his trusted friends who like him and with him had walked with Jesus. 00:14:31.620 --> 00:14:37.240 He dictates absolute terms and conditions to God about what it will mean for him to believe. 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:47.840 Now what we're not told here is specifically why Thomas was so sceptical. 00:14:48.620 --> 00:14:51.899 So anything that I say at this point would be speculation. 00:14:51.899 --> 00:14:54.519 But I'm going to speculate anyway. 00:14:55.199 --> 00:14:56.579 Because it might be helpful for us. 00:14:57.379 --> 00:15:07.279 We tend to think, we tend to think because if you're someone with a Western mindset, you assume that Thomas' doubts are the same as your doubts. 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:09.139 They're intellectual doubts. 00:15:09.139 --> 00:15:12.659 I don't think that's necessarily the case here for Thomas. 00:15:14.100 --> 00:15:17.000 Intellectual doubts like dead things don't come back alive again. 00:15:17.860 --> 00:15:19.419 That may be his case. 00:15:20.059 --> 00:15:23.980 But scepticism is not simply just an intellectual issue. 00:15:25.500 --> 00:15:30.539 Imagine for instance that someone very close to you is dying. 00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:34.519 For some of us that might not be a hard imagination right now. 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:43.740 You've finally accepted that all hope of recovery is lost and your loved one is going to die. 00:15:43.819 --> 00:15:44.779 It's just a matter of time. 00:15:46.279 --> 00:15:56.179 And then suddenly someone comes along and says that there's a possibility for a cure in a clinic on the other side of the world. 00:15:56.179 --> 00:16:00.679 You see, you had hope at one point of recovery. 00:16:01.479 --> 00:16:10.779 And then your hope is dashed as those alternatives didn't come to fruition that your loved one is going to die. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:14.000 And then all of a sudden someone comes along and says there's another alternative. 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:17.819 On the other side of the world, there's a possibility for a cure. 00:16:18.859 --> 00:16:24.620 Most people in that moment don't go, whoopee, great, fantastic, my hopes are now built. 00:16:24.620 --> 00:16:27.860 Most don't do that in that moment. 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:34.980 Most people in that moment cannot bear to get their hopes up again, only to have hopes dashed again. 00:16:35.860 --> 00:16:39.720 It's too painful to have your hopes dashed once again. 00:16:40.500 --> 00:16:43.360 And maybe this is what's happening with Thomas in this moment. 00:16:44.820 --> 00:16:52.139 There is no indication in the Bible at all that Thomas did not love Jesus like the other disciples loved Jesus. 00:16:52.139 --> 00:17:01.919 No reason to believe that he was not as devastated as the others were in the execution of Jesus. 00:17:03.139 --> 00:17:09.019 I'm assuming that Thomas with the other disciples put his hope in Jesus that he is the Messiah. 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:11.339 And all of a sudden their Messiah is dead. 00:17:11.339 --> 00:17:19.159 Three days later, as he's still mourning, his mates come in and say, hey, Jesus is alive. 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:28.299 And I'm assuming in his mourning, Thomas just went, oh, don't you get my hopes up. 00:17:29.959 --> 00:17:31.439 Don't you do that to me. 00:17:32.779 --> 00:17:33.980 I cannot bear it. 00:17:33.980 --> 00:17:40.420 Maybe he was in fact afraid to hope in this moment. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:42.140 Maybe that was his problem. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:48.160 He was afraid to hope that there was in fact an answer in his world of chaos and mourning. 00:17:50.740 --> 00:17:54.660 Maybe he's been hurt too many times and he's afraid to hope. 00:17:54.660 --> 00:18:05.140 It might be a narrow, secular, materialistic Western worldview that says things like this don't happen. 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:06.220 Resurrections don't happen. 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:14.560 It might be a personality that says, I just need a little bit more evidence to be convinced. 00:18:16.259 --> 00:18:18.740 But it also might be a heart that's afraid. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:23.259 A heart that's been hurt too many times. 00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:29.120 To be drawn into something only to be disappointed again. 00:18:30.340 --> 00:18:31.220 Maybe it's that. 00:18:31.600 --> 00:18:32.420 And maybe that's you. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.920 In the end, the good news is that Thomas did believe with joy. 00:18:38.259 --> 00:18:39.340 Have a look at verse 26. 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:42.860 A week later, his disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:47.920 Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. 00:18:49.180 --> 00:18:52.160 Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here. 00:18:52.900 --> 00:18:53.800 See my hands. 00:18:54.660 --> 00:18:56.680 Reach out your hand and put it into my side. 00:18:57.340 --> 00:18:59.700 Stop doubting and believe. 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:05.140 And then Thomas said to him, my Lord and my God. 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:09.220 What a remarkable statement. 00:19:09.800 --> 00:19:13.500 Now for us, we don't necessarily think that's a remarkable statement so much. 00:19:13.500 --> 00:19:26.920 But for a Jewish man, a Jewish man to call another human being, not just their Lord, but their God, was actually incomprehensible. 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:31.119 Incomprehensible. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:39.459 There is no higher confession of faith in Jesus Christ in the New Testament than Thomas's. 00:19:42.459 --> 00:19:48.359 The biggest doubter to the biggest confession of faith and joy. 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:52.679 Of course, that naturally leads me to the who cares question. 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:57.500 And Thomas's declaration is broadly the meaning of the of the resurrection. 00:19:57.799 --> 00:19:59.159 My Lord and my God. 00:19:59.579 --> 00:20:03.000 His first words were not about the facts of the resurrection. 00:20:03.699 --> 00:20:05.379 Notice here, really crucial. 00:20:05.500 --> 00:20:06.659 He just comes out with it. 00:20:06.660 --> 00:20:08.940 What the resurrection meant. 00:20:10.320 --> 00:20:11.440 My Lord and my God. 00:20:11.500 --> 00:20:14.900 That's what it means when he sees Jesus in front of him, alive from the dead. 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:16.160 My Lord and my God. 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:17.400 That's the meaning of it all. 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:23.060 The whole issue for Thomas was, in fact, I want to see Jesus for myself. 00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:26.500 I won't believe it unless I touch his wounds. 00:20:26.639 --> 00:20:30.599 Jesus turns up and we are told that Thomas doesn't even bother touching him. 00:20:32.919 --> 00:20:34.619 We're not even told he touched him. 00:20:37.679 --> 00:20:43.079 You see, the wounds on Jesus was so much more than the evidence of the resurrection. 00:20:45.220 --> 00:20:47.399 They were evidence of something so much more powerful. 00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:55.100 What Thomas is, in fact, saying here is that everything that you said about yourself, Jesus, is absolutely true. 00:20:56.860 --> 00:20:57.759 Absolutely true. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:00.519 You are God. 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:02.600 You are the king of the universe. 00:21:02.860 --> 00:21:03.700 You are my Lord. 00:21:03.780 --> 00:21:04.660 You are my king. 00:21:04.840 --> 00:21:05.720 You are my boss. 00:21:05.800 --> 00:21:06.519 You are my ruler. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:07.480 You are my God. 00:21:07.820 --> 00:21:10.660 Everything that you declared about the way the world works, 00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:13.960 every command from your lips is true and right. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:14.920 All of it. 00:21:17.400 --> 00:21:23.200 Resurrection means that what Jesus promised, he has delivered. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:26.880 And what he promised is still, he will deliver. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:37.540 You see, Jesus, sorry, not Jesus, Thomas has just joyfully discovered that the wounds of the cross on Jesus, 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:45.640 the ones that he thought had ruined his life, had in fact saved his life. 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:49.080 That's the answer to the so what question. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:55.740 The resurrection means everything Jesus said about himself is right and true. 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:04.520 He is the way for humanity to be reunited with their saviour and their creator. 00:22:05.220 --> 00:22:09.580 The resurrection means human guilt, human shame has been dealt with. 00:22:09.579 --> 00:22:15.240 And finally, fully, completely in Jesus, satisfying God's justice on the cross for us. 00:22:15.460 --> 00:22:21.759 It means that death has not only been confronted, but it's in fact been conquered. 00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:24.039 Death is conquered. 00:22:24.259 --> 00:22:30.439 The great final enemy of every single human being has been conquered. 00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:39.640 It means that new life and true life can be experienced before death and eternally after death with Jesus. 00:22:40.180 --> 00:22:47.360 It means that hope for better things has gone from the category of I wish, I hope, but will be to a definite certainty. 00:22:47.359 --> 00:23:00.579 It means that a new heaven and a new earth where those who trust in Christ will live forever like Jesus lives forever now is coming. 00:23:00.579 --> 00:23:06.819 That's what Jesus offers everyone who trusts in him. 00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:18.240 Several chapters earlier in John's account of the good news of Jesus, we have Jesus himself declaring the life-changing news of Easter. 00:23:19.399 --> 00:23:20.139 He says, 00:23:20.140 --> 00:23:22.980 I am the resurrection and the life. 00:23:24.040 --> 00:23:29.140 The one who believes in me will live even though they die. 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:34.020 And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:44.060 What that means is that Jesus isn't just one option amongst many other philosophical systems in our world. 00:23:44.800 --> 00:23:49.800 Something incredibly unique and life-changing and worldview-shaping has happened in the resurrection. 00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:51.360 Of Jesus. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:58.780 Thomas' declaration, my Lord and my God, is the meaning of the resurrection. 00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:02.960 And I love what this article in The Australian said. 00:24:03.040 --> 00:24:04.580 Let me just quote a little bit of it to you. 00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:08.620 There is really no halfway house with Christianity. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:17.700 Either Jesus is God and we are immortal beings filled with eternal destiny, 00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:19.400 moral choice, 00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:20.519 divine status, 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:22.840 irreducible human dignity, 00:24:23.220 --> 00:24:25.759 and irreducible moral responsibility, 00:24:26.299 --> 00:24:29.580 and loved as though an only child by God, 00:24:30.180 --> 00:24:33.299 or it's all lies, 00:24:34.039 --> 00:24:36.180 and I'd rather be at the races today. 00:24:37.539 --> 00:24:40.420 There's no halfway house with Christianity. 00:24:40.420 --> 00:24:49.400 And there's no halfway house when it comes to his call to submit to him, the one who has conquered death. 00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:55.460 And so how do we discover this resurrection all? 00:24:56.360 --> 00:25:03.140 Firstly, first thing is, it's really important to listen to the eyewitness accounts. 00:25:03.140 --> 00:25:08.420 We are told that Thomas wasn't there when Jesus first appeared to his disciples. 00:25:08.980 --> 00:25:12.520 One week later, Jesus shows up again with Thomas present. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:15.140 And during the week in between, 00:25:16.100 --> 00:25:26.480 we are told in verse 25 that the other disciples kept telling Thomas over and over again that they had seen Jesus. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:34.920 And that means that in that spot, that week, we're in the same position that Thomas is in, 00:25:35.559 --> 00:25:37.120 in that week that Thomas had. 00:25:37.740 --> 00:25:44.059 Like him, we have access to people who saw Jesus raised from the dead. 00:25:44.620 --> 00:25:49.599 In fact, they're the exact same people that Thomas had seen Jesus raised from the dead. 00:25:50.500 --> 00:25:54.819 Their eyewitness accounts are written down for us in the New Testament. 00:25:54.819 --> 00:26:03.519 Now, several years ago, it was a common accusation that the gospel accounts of Jesus' life are fables 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:07.919 that were written down long after the events. 00:26:08.359 --> 00:26:10.240 And so therefore, they're not terribly trustworthy. 00:26:11.179 --> 00:26:14.659 The reality is that statement is a fable. 00:26:15.299 --> 00:26:19.480 The reality is there is an enormous amount of scholarship, 00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:27.660 an enormous amount of scholarship that argues that the gospels do not have any mark in them at all of fiction. 00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:29.299 At all. 00:26:30.519 --> 00:26:35.400 They have all the marks of oral history and eyewitness testimony. 00:26:36.940 --> 00:26:41.940 When these events were written down, nearly all the eyewitnesses were still alive 00:26:41.940 --> 00:26:44.460 and could vouch for them. 00:26:48.279 --> 00:26:50.559 If I stood up here right now and said to you, 00:26:50.779 --> 00:26:53.960 last week I was on leave and I ran a half marathon, right? 00:26:54.180 --> 00:26:55.580 So there you go, there's a John connection. 00:26:56.519 --> 00:26:58.759 If I said to you, I ran it in an hour, 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:04.180 you'd go, whoo, until you check the marathon website and the results 00:27:04.180 --> 00:27:06.940 and you discover it took me nearly twice that time. 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:10.560 See, it's not hard to find whether or not it's true or not. 00:27:11.400 --> 00:27:13.440 And they could do that in the first century. 00:27:13.960 --> 00:27:15.779 When these events were written down, 00:27:15.860 --> 00:27:19.580 nearly every one of the eyewitnesses still alive and could vouch for them. 00:27:20.420 --> 00:27:24.039 John, who wrote this biography, was one of those eyewitnesses. 00:27:24.039 --> 00:27:31.039 And this is what he says about how we can come to see Jesus, 00:27:31.500 --> 00:27:33.000 the resurrected Jesus and believe. 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:37.880 Verse 30, Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples 00:27:37.880 --> 00:27:39.400 which are not recorded in this book, 00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:45.779 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:50.559 the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:57.539 What he is saying is that what is written in this biography of Jesus' life, 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:01.640 his ministry, his death, his resurrection by an eyewitness, 00:28:01.640 --> 00:28:05.080 is everything you need for resurrection all. 00:28:06.520 --> 00:28:09.320 It's everything that you need to have certain hope. 00:28:12.520 --> 00:28:14.000 Now that makes pure sense. 00:28:15.060 --> 00:28:16.620 It's how we operate in life. 00:28:17.320 --> 00:28:18.900 It's how you operate in life. 00:28:18.900 --> 00:28:22.220 I operate in life every single day. 00:28:22.220 --> 00:28:24.299 What I mean is this. 00:28:24.940 --> 00:28:28.920 How many of the things that you believed actually happened in history 00:28:28.920 --> 00:28:30.519 did you actually see? 00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:36.500 I believe World War I happened. 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:39.200 I believe it happened. 00:28:39.460 --> 00:28:40.160 I wasn't there. 00:28:41.420 --> 00:28:43.839 In fact, I don't think any of us were there, I'm assuming. 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:47.679 I believe eyewitness accounts. 00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:53.919 We do that in life. 00:28:54.779 --> 00:28:59.480 We believe eyewitness testimony that has been written down by historically reliable authors. 00:28:59.480 --> 00:29:02.579 And so why do we not do that with Jesus? 00:29:05.460 --> 00:29:10.319 We don't need to know anything more than what is written just even in John's Gospel 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:16.319 or the other biographies of Jesus to see and believe and experience resurrection all. 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:23.099 The Christian faith is no mere philosophy, 00:29:23.819 --> 00:29:28.319 even though it has philosophically viable worldview. 00:29:29.079 --> 00:29:30.679 It is a philosophical viable worldview. 00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:33.519 It is not merely subjective, 00:29:34.419 --> 00:29:41.539 even though there are emotionally satisfying experiences for those who follow Jesus. 00:29:41.539 --> 00:29:46.299 And the Christian faith is not merely sentimentally uplifting, 00:29:46.500 --> 00:29:50.079 like a drug or a piece of art or something. 00:29:51.379 --> 00:29:54.379 Christian faith is nothing. 00:29:55.599 --> 00:30:04.539 It is nothing if Jesus did not actually rise bodily, factually from the dead. 00:30:04.539 --> 00:30:12.639 The truth of this resurrection is not based on experiential methods of natural science, 00:30:13.339 --> 00:30:17.139 verifiable by test tubes and empirical data, 00:30:17.539 --> 00:30:20.099 nor is it based on the arguments of logic. 00:30:21.500 --> 00:30:24.119 It is based on history, 00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:26.759 on eyewitness accounts. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:31.960 And so I'd encourage you to read one of those accounts this Easter. 00:30:32.539 --> 00:30:33.819 Your life depends on it. 00:30:35.539 --> 00:30:37.099 Your life depends on it. 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:40.740 Get one of these copies yourself, 00:30:40.899 --> 00:30:42.039 immerse yourself in it, 00:30:42.680 --> 00:30:44.279 and as you do so, 00:30:44.500 --> 00:30:45.659 do something supernatural. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:48.339 Just say to God, 00:30:48.700 --> 00:30:51.599 if you are true and Jesus is risen, 00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:53.079 I want to see him. 00:30:54.859 --> 00:30:56.099 I want to see him. 00:30:56.099 --> 00:31:06.099 The second thing you need to do to move from doubt to receiving resurrection or in a certain hope for this life, 00:31:06.259 --> 00:31:07.819 is to drop your conditions. 00:31:07.819 --> 00:31:12.859 Every one of us moves towards Jesus with a set of conditions. 00:31:12.859 --> 00:31:18.599 No one ever goes to him purely on the sake that he is resurrected and is great. 00:31:19.639 --> 00:31:21.439 No one ever just does that. 00:31:22.339 --> 00:31:24.699 That is, we don't just move to him for his sake. 00:31:24.700 --> 00:31:27.100 We move to him for our sake. 00:31:27.980 --> 00:31:31.600 We always move to move towards him because we want something. 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:34.000 And that means that we have conditions. 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:43.400 I've known people who have absolutely refused to become Christians because it would mean that they need to go and repair a relationship. 00:31:43.400 --> 00:31:46.000 It would mean that they would need to change a habit. 00:31:46.280 --> 00:31:48.300 I knew someone many, many years ago who said, 00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:50.820 there's no way I would ever give up, 00:31:50.820 --> 00:31:51.420 you know, 00:31:51.560 --> 00:31:54.040 weekends with family for Jesus. 00:31:54.680 --> 00:31:55.920 I would never do that. 00:31:56.480 --> 00:31:57.240 There's the condition. 00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:00.060 It's like eternal life. 00:32:01.080 --> 00:32:01.920 Sounds brilliant. 00:32:02.040 --> 00:32:03.240 Relationship with the created God, 00:32:03.320 --> 00:32:04.019 the one who gives me life, 00:32:04.080 --> 00:32:04.560 sounds brilliant. 00:32:04.860 --> 00:32:07.100 But I don't want him to disrupt my family 00:32:07.100 --> 00:32:09.000 or to hurt my career 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:10.220 or interrupt my weekends. 00:32:10.220 --> 00:32:14.019 We need to drop our conditions 00:32:14.019 --> 00:32:16.299 because they say, 00:32:16.500 --> 00:32:17.700 I love you, God, 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:19.360 if, 00:32:20.900 --> 00:32:21.519 if. 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:25.100 One of the great things about the Christian faith 00:32:25.100 --> 00:32:26.360 and what we celebrate Easter time 00:32:26.360 --> 00:32:29.259 is Jesus did not treat us like that at all. 00:32:30.360 --> 00:32:31.680 He loves us unconditionally. 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:33.360 No conditions. 00:32:33.480 --> 00:32:34.140 He didn't say to us, 00:32:34.220 --> 00:32:34.559 hey, hey, 00:32:34.759 --> 00:32:35.960 pull your socks up, 00:32:36.600 --> 00:32:37.740 sort your life out, 00:32:38.579 --> 00:32:39.380 then I'll interject. 00:32:40.220 --> 00:32:44.140 Death of Jesus was no accident of history. 00:32:45.940 --> 00:32:46.700 He died, 00:32:46.819 --> 00:32:47.880 he rose to redeem us 00:32:47.880 --> 00:32:48.940 and reclaim us to God. 00:32:49.019 --> 00:32:51.120 It was a plan that is historically reliable 00:32:51.120 --> 00:32:53.620 and experientially satisfying 00:32:53.620 --> 00:32:55.640 as we navigate life. 00:32:56.880 --> 00:32:58.600 And so I just want to just say one final thing. 00:32:58.680 --> 00:33:00.279 God has brought you here in this moment. 00:33:01.279 --> 00:33:02.039 He's the sovereign God, 00:33:02.100 --> 00:33:04.100 as we've just seen this morning in the kids song. 00:33:04.180 --> 00:33:05.140 He's the sovereign God. 00:33:05.140 --> 00:33:07.940 He's brought you here this Easter 00:33:07.940 --> 00:33:09.700 for this message, 00:33:10.060 --> 00:33:11.620 for this part of the Bible, 00:33:12.080 --> 00:33:14.300 for this story of the resurrection of Jesus, 00:33:14.740 --> 00:33:16.400 for this eyewitness account, 00:33:16.860 --> 00:33:19.660 so that you might believe. 00:33:20.520 --> 00:33:22.300 That's why you're here this morning, 00:33:22.540 --> 00:33:26.360 so that you might believe in Jesus 00:33:26.359 --> 00:33:28.379 and in believing in him, 00:33:28.859 --> 00:33:31.699 have a certain hope of immortality. 00:33:35.219 --> 00:33:38.740 Life forever with joy 00:33:38.740 --> 00:33:43.740 as Jesus himself is alive right now 00:33:43.740 --> 00:33:46.859 and forever reigning over all things. 00:33:47.699 --> 00:33:48.000 Amen. 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:48.099 Amen. 00:33:48.099 --> 00:33:48.119 Amen. 00:33:48.119 --> 00:33:48.139 Amen. 00:33:48.139 --> 00:33:48.179 Amen. 00:33:48.179 --> 00:33:48.199 Amen. 00:33:48.199 --> 00:33:48.219 Amen. 00:33:48.219 --> 00:33:50.179 Amen. 00:33:50.179 --> 00:33:50.199 Amen.