WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.219 Good morning. It's good to be with you. I was thinking about this as I was preparing 00:00:07.219 --> 00:00:13.720 this sermon. You know, what are my goals when I preach? And one of my goals is actually captured 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:19.839 by a prayer that was attributed to Richard of Chichester, which of course you'll all know. 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:27.400 He was an English bishop who lived in the 13th century, and his prayer goes like this. 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:34.140 We thank you, our Father, for all the benefits you've given us in your Son, Jesus Christ, 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:40.479 our most merciful Redeemer, friend, and brother, and for all the pain and insults he has borne for us. 00:00:41.140 --> 00:00:48.500 And we pray that we may know Jesus more intimately, love him more deeply, and follow him more closely, 00:00:49.659 --> 00:00:55.099 him who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen. 00:00:55.100 --> 00:01:02.320 And this part in the bishop's prayer was that we would know Jesus more intimately, love him more 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:09.980 deeply, and follow him more closely is what I hope always is what comes out of my preaching. And I've 00:01:09.980 --> 00:01:15.400 often said I love looking at the Gospels because we get to zoom in close and look at particular things 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:23.260 about Jesus. Our passage this morning that Lisa read sits in a context, and I want to talk about a few 00:01:23.260 --> 00:01:31.500 things that are going on in this context of Scripture, and then take a couple looks at a few 00:01:31.500 --> 00:01:38.020 things about knowing Jesus. For me, John's gospel is one that I resonate with the most. You're not 00:01:38.019 --> 00:01:43.920 supposed to have favorites, but I do like John. John is the brother of James. He is Peter's fisher 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:51.280 friend, and he crafted a very rich and sophisticated narrative about Jesus, of course with the inspiration 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:56.879 of the Holy Spirit. But I think the Holy Spirit had a lot to work with with a guy who started his life 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:03.819 in the lake fish trade. So never underestimate anybody. And to put our passage in context, it sits 00:02:03.819 --> 00:02:10.859 in the second of two blocks of text. The first block I will call from the cross to the empty tomb. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:16.639 And it starts with the death of Jesus, and it includes everything that happens between then 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:22.840 until the morning of the third day when Jesus is resurrected. And the second block I'll call the 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:28.180 empty tomb to the ascension. It starts from that moment of the empty tomb, includes everything that 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:32.240 goes up to the ascension. There's a lot in there. I'm not going to cover all of it this morning, 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:37.520 but I'm going to look at a couple things. Our passage sits in that second block between the 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:43.420 empty tomb and the ascension. And it focuses on Jesus appearing to his disciples first time, 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:50.280 to the group without Thomas, a second time to the group with Thomas. And so why am I taking this big 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:56.939 wide lens? Well, I think when you look at things in context, you get to see some of the key points that 00:02:56.939 --> 00:03:02.219 are actually being made. And for John's gospel in particular, given that it is such a well-constructed 00:03:02.219 --> 00:03:07.840 narrative, you can't just pick out bits and pieces. John intends things to be read as a story. 00:03:08.780 --> 00:03:16.300 So let's take a look at that first block of text. So in that period from the cross to the empty tomb, 00:03:16.579 --> 00:03:23.719 Jesus is dead. We always read Jesus's death from the cross, on the cross, from the vantage point of 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:29.099 Easter. That is, whenever we read scripture, we read it already knowing Jesus is going to be raised 00:03:29.099 --> 00:03:35.159 from the dead, that he is in fact alive. And I'm going to say that I think we don't just read this 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:41.299 part through the lens of Easter, but we read it knowing that Jesus had told his disciples three 00:03:41.299 --> 00:03:46.900 times at least that this was all going to happen. And that two, at least one or two of those times 00:03:46.900 --> 00:03:52.539 when he talked about it, he said he would rise from the dead. But for those who were there at the 00:03:52.539 --> 00:03:59.479 time, Jesus's friends who witnessed his death, they didn't have the Easter vantage point. And for some 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:05.840 reason, his words to them during his earthly ministry didn't either make sense or weren't coming 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:12.859 back to mind when Jesus died. For those close to Jesus, when he died, the cross and all those days 00:04:12.859 --> 00:04:19.019 that followed, that time between the cross and the empty tomb, were inexpressibly dark. Their friend was 00:04:19.019 --> 00:04:25.879 brutally killed, and with his death, so died their faith that the Messiah had come and started something 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:32.539 new. Along with that was the death of belief that evil was being rolled back and God's promises were 00:04:32.539 --> 00:04:39.819 coming true, and that everyone in the world would finally be freed of much sin and pain. Jesus's friends 00:04:39.819 --> 00:04:45.219 who witnessed his death were grief-struck, broken-hearted, traumatized, and broken in faith. 00:04:45.220 --> 00:04:51.500 So what was happening in this dark time? Well, the main group of disciples were locked in a room 00:04:51.500 --> 00:04:59.360 in fear, and understandably so. But what we see is a secondary group of followers of Jesus doing 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:05.640 some things. First, we read about Joseph of Arimathea, and not just John, but Matthew, Mark, 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:11.180 and Luke, all four Gospels. In John, we find out that Nicodemus went with him. These were two secret 00:05:11.180 --> 00:05:17.100 followers of Jesus who ended their secrecy that day and went public about following Jesus. And they 00:05:17.100 --> 00:05:22.800 went boldly to Pilate and asked for his body, took it down, instead of letting it be left up on the 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:28.480 cross for a few days, as was common practice for Romans. And they put it in a nearby tomb, wrapping 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:35.860 his body in linen with spices, about 75 pounds of myrrh and aloe. And the second thing we read is that 00:05:35.860 --> 00:05:40.580 Mary Magdalene and Mary, Jesus' mother, and it seems like a third woman, I think Joanna, 00:05:41.400 --> 00:05:46.480 went to Jesus' tomb early in the morning of the third day to do the same thing. They brought their 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:52.340 own spices and ointments. And when they found the empty tomb, they went and told the main group of 00:05:52.340 --> 00:05:59.220 disciples, the 12, and only two of them went to go see if this was true. These are secondary followers 00:05:59.220 --> 00:06:04.640 of Jesus. The whole time in the Gospels, we've been focusing on the 12. But these secondary 00:06:04.640 --> 00:06:11.500 followers of Jesus did something at a time that was intensely spiritually dark. They sought Jesus. 00:06:12.760 --> 00:06:17.720 What they had in common was their grief and their broken faith, and they still went looking for him. 00:06:18.200 --> 00:06:25.380 And they didn't just go look for him. They went to adore and worship him. Joseph of Arimathea and 00:06:25.379 --> 00:06:31.019 Nicodemus cared for Jesus' body, dignifying it with proper burial, and they honored him. 00:06:32.159 --> 00:06:38.860 There was every bit like Mary, sister of Martha, who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume days before 00:06:38.860 --> 00:06:46.459 his burial, adoring and worshiping Jesus like she did. Mary Magdalene, Jesus' mother, Mary Joanna, 00:06:46.459 --> 00:06:54.579 all came to do the same thing. They came with ointments and spices to lavish on Jesus' body and honor him. 00:06:55.379 --> 00:06:59.980 And John draws our attention to these so-called lesser characters, 00:07:00.980 --> 00:07:04.579 these followers of Jesus who are secondary in the narrative to the main group, 00:07:05.219 --> 00:07:13.459 as examples for us to follow that we may also find Jesus. When it is the spiritually darkest, 00:07:13.860 --> 00:07:19.959 your heart is broken, your faith is shattered, keep seeking Jesus. Keep worshiping him. 00:07:19.959 --> 00:07:27.419 Because although they saw a dead body before them, the dark was going to turn to light, 00:07:27.899 --> 00:07:32.779 and the night to day, and death to life, beyond what they could imagine and sooner than they could know. 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:39.639 So right now, you're seeking Jesus in your current darkness. I want you to know it pleases the Lord 00:07:39.639 --> 00:07:45.299 immensely. Your dawn will break into darkness sooner than you think, so keep going. Keep seeking. 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:54.259 Keep worshiping, even if it all feels dead right now. The next block of text, which comes after the 00:07:54.259 --> 00:08:00.500 first, is the empty tomb to the ascension. And it's very, very light. Lighter than any of the 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:05.080 disciples can comprehend. There's a lot of intuiting right now, more than knowing in the head. 00:08:06.340 --> 00:08:12.560 And between these two blocks, there's a profound pivot. In the first block, from the cross to the empty 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:18.240 tomb, it is people seeking Jesus. And in the second block, from the empty tomb to the ascension, 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:24.300 it's now Jesus who seeks people. If in this first block, it was the initiative was on people, 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:31.639 the second block, we see the initiative on Jesus. And there's a lot, a lot of moments like this, 00:08:31.699 --> 00:08:35.559 of Jesus going looking for people after he resurrected. And it's worth mentioning a bunch of them, 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:41.079 because when you see it all together, you start to see, you start to see a picture of what Jesus was 00:08:41.079 --> 00:08:48.039 doing in the days right after he resurrected. In John, early in the morning, of course, right after 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:54.019 he resurrected, when the other women leave the tomb, Mary Magdalene stays around. And Jesus approaches 00:08:54.019 --> 00:09:00.079 her, though at first she doesn't recognize him. In Luke, that same evening, two disciples, Cleopas and 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:06.600 one other unnamed are going to Emmaus, when Jesus approaches them and joins them. And only later at the 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:12.560 table do they recognize him. In Luke, and in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, we learn that Jesus 00:09:12.560 --> 00:09:18.960 came to Peter sometime during the same evening when Jesus joined Cleopas and the other disciple on the 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:25.440 road to Emmaus. And then in Luke and John, when the two disciples come back from Emmaus, back to Jerusalem, 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:32.220 Jesus comes to the disciples who are gathered there, minus Thomas, of course. And this time they recognize him, 00:09:32.260 --> 00:09:39.120 but with a mix of fear and joy. And a week later, Jesus comes to them again, this time when Thomas is in the room. 00:09:40.980 --> 00:09:47.000 Even again later in John, the disciples are fishing all night, and in the morning they see Jesus calling to them 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:55.259 from the beach. Only John recognizes him at first. This one was, this one I completely forgot about, 00:09:55.379 --> 00:10:00.399 honestly, when I think about what was Jesus doing. In 1 Corinthians, Paul says that Jesus came to the 12 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:06.679 disciples, which we read about in the Gospels. But he says Jesus also came to a gathering of about 500 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:11.100 people at one time. And then he also came to his brother James. 00:10:11.100 --> 00:10:20.300 And there's even more examples. We should notice with this list is the number of times in scriptures 00:10:20.300 --> 00:10:27.379 that Jesus, now resurrected, goes after his people and seeks them out vastly exceeds the number of times 00:10:27.379 --> 00:10:35.779 that people are seeking him. And the people Jesus seeks are everybody. His main followers, the so-called 00:10:35.779 --> 00:10:43.860 lesser followers, men, women, disciples we know, some we didn't know about, like Cleopas, right? The first 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:47.720 time he's mentioned, I think, is when he's on the road to Emmaus, but apparently he was there the whole 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:56.519 time. And then there are even those who are never named, like Cleopas' friend. I think it's amazing that 00:10:56.519 --> 00:11:03.600 Jesus appeared to 500 people in a single gathering. And if he was trying to communicate that he is raised 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:08.759 from the dead, I would have thought he would do that more often. He probably needed probably about 00:11:08.759 --> 00:11:14.940 five good big gathering appearances, and everybody would have been like, he's alive, and he can move 00:11:14.940 --> 00:11:21.980 on with things. So why did he not do that more? Why did he go meet with so many people individually? 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:27.759 And there's a short and simple answer. He loved them. He knew these people. 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:33.779 Jesus came to these people, some of whom that we don't know, and we don't even know their names, 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:39.860 because he knows them, and he loved them. They mattered to him. They had hurting, broken hearts, 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:45.620 and broken faith, and so he went looking for them. He could have showed up in front of a big crowd, 00:11:45.620 --> 00:11:51.700 and they would have said, yep, yep, he's alive. But Jesus said, it's important that I go to 00:11:51.700 --> 00:11:56.980 individuals, and I come alongside of them, and I connect with them in the place of their hurting hearts. 00:11:58.620 --> 00:12:03.700 And it's good to look at a couple examples. So Mary Magdalene standing outside the tomb. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:09.939 When she stood outside the tomb, she wasn't sure what to do next. She was confused by what felt like 00:12:09.939 --> 00:12:15.919 one more blow to her. Jesus's body has now been taken, and she, beyond her reach, and she'll never 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:21.919 be able to see it again. It's like she was as ready for death to overtake her now and be as final as the 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:27.740 tomb was behind her. She just sat by the tomb, not sure where to go next. But then she heard, 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:34.620 the one who created her and now saved her speak her name. She heard the voice of love, and it was 00:12:34.620 --> 00:12:41.120 unmistakable to her. Faith returned, and joy followed. And Mary knew not only that Jesus was 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:47.120 really alive, but she knew herself as the one he loves, as the one known and loved by him. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:54.060 And it's the same for us. We know Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, when he speaks our name. 00:12:55.659 --> 00:13:01.179 Take Thomas, for example. Thomas struggled throughout the Gospel of John to believe that 00:13:01.179 --> 00:13:07.159 Jesus really was stronger than death. He didn't think Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead. 00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:13.500 He was convinced instead that they're all going to die. And he couldn't accept it when Jesus said he 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:18.919 would go away to the Father. Thomas's worst suspicions seemed to have come true when Jesus died. 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:23.779 And when his friends came and said, we saw him alive, he just refused to believe it until he had 00:13:23.779 --> 00:13:31.679 tangible proof. So when Jesus came to the group when Thomas was there, he immediately turned to Thomas 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:37.659 and showed him his hands and side and replayed Thomas's very words back to him, like he was there 00:13:37.659 --> 00:13:43.819 with Thomas in that other conversation the whole time. He met Thomas with gentleness. Everybody calls 00:13:43.819 --> 00:13:50.600 him Doubting Thomas. I think he gets a bad rap. Thomas was hurt, and his faith was shattered. And I 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:55.699 see Jesus coming to him in great gentleness, meeting him in his place of broken faith. 00:13:57.379 --> 00:14:03.059 And when Thomas saw Jesus' wounds, it wasn't just that he knew it was Jesus because he saw the one who 00:14:03.059 --> 00:14:09.359 was crucified now alive. But when he saw the wounds on Jesus now alive, he knew that death, this thing 00:14:09.359 --> 00:14:16.559 he struggled with his whole life, was actually, in fact, forever defeated. And he shouted his confession 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:23.879 of faith, my Lord and my God. And it's the same for us. When we see Jesus' wounds, whether in the 00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:30.000 scriptures or in the breaking of the bread, we know him by his wounds that he took for us. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:39.019 Peter. So after they had their kind of camping breakfast on the beach, Jesus turns to Peter and 00:14:39.019 --> 00:14:44.679 says to him three times, do you love me? And he wasn't rubbing anything in. He wasn't trying to make 00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:52.379 a point to Peter. But he was making Peter dig down and own a deeper truth inside himself, inside his 00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:58.440 heart, a truth that was deeper than his earlier betrayal, the truth that he loves Jesus more than 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:05.720 anything, despite his betrayal. And when Jesus drew out of Peter this deeper understanding of his 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:12.160 identity, and that he is someone Jesus loves and is forgiven, and is someone who actually truly does 00:15:12.160 --> 00:15:21.120 love Jesus, Jesus then restored Peter's purpose and call. And it's the same for us. We know Jesus, the 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:29.100 resurrected Jesus, when he calls out our identity and our purpose. So friends, I hope when you read 00:15:29.100 --> 00:15:33.460 these scriptures and when you consider the scriptures that we read and the context they sit in, that you 00:15:33.460 --> 00:15:39.919 saw Jesus and your vision of him is renewed. And so I'll echo this again. If you're in a time of 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:46.039 spiritual darkness right now, don't quit. Don't give up. If you don't quit, you win. It's actually true. 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:54.339 Keep seeking him. Keep worshiping. The dawn and the life that on the other side of death is closer 00:15:54.339 --> 00:16:00.740 than you think. And if you wonder whether Jesus will come looking for you in your spiritual darkness 00:16:00.740 --> 00:16:05.620 or in your pain when you have nothing left to give, or because you think you've gone too far and can't 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:12.019 get back, the answer is he will come for you because he knows you and he loves you. He'll meet you right 00:16:12.019 --> 00:16:20.159 where you are. These things are important things to pray about on your own. But if you want to pray 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:26.960 with someone about any of these things, please reach out. Reach out for prayer. Reach out to me. Reach 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:33.799 out to Hillary. We'd love to come alongside of you and pray alongside of you to see Jesus reach out to 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:40.139 you and come find you. So let me pray with the prayer I prayed at the start to close. Thank you, 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:46.480 our Father, for all the benefits you've given us in your Son, Jesus Christ, our most merciful Redeemer, 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:54.199 friend, and brother, and for all the pain and insults he has borne for us. We pray that we may know Jesus 00:16:54.199 --> 00:17:01.159 more intimately, love him more deeply, and follow him more closely. He who lives and reigns with you 00:17:01.159 --> 00:17:04.579 and the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen. 00:17:17.159 --> 00:17:21.399 Let's make it our prayer that we would seek and find Jesus. 00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:44.060 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Not be all else to me, save that thou art. Thou my best thought, 00:17:44.059 --> 00:18:12.299 by day or by night. Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. High King of Heaven, my victory won. May I reach Heaven's joys, 00:18:12.299 --> 00:18:36.299 O bright and sun. Heart of my own heart. Whatever befall. Still be my vision, O ruler of all. 00:18:36.299 --> 00:18:44.639 Let's join our voices with all saints across time and space, confessing our faith, using the words of the 00:18:44.639 --> 00:18:49.119 Nicene Creed. We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty.