WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.120 We're reading today from John's Gospel, John chapter 19, verses 41 through chapter 20, verse 18. 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:11.099 This is God's holy word. 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:19.260 Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:25.199 So because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. 00:00:26.019 --> 00:00:29.560 Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:33.520 While it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:41.019 So she ran and she went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, 00:00:41.120 --> 00:00:44.280 They've taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. 00:00:44.539 --> 00:00:48.579 So Peter went out with the other disciple and they were going towards the tomb. 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:54.179 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and he reached the tomb first. 00:00:54.179 --> 00:01:00.259 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 00:01:00.979 --> 00:01:04.680 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. 00:01:05.319 --> 00:01:07.359 He saw the linen cloths lying there. 00:01:07.960 --> 00:01:13.640 And the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself. 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:19.579 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in and he saw and believed. 00:01:19.939 --> 00:01:24.400 For as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 00:01:24.960 --> 00:01:27.159 Then the disciples went back to their homes. 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:30.640 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:33.680 And as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:40.380 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:43.420 They said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? 00:01:44.380 --> 00:01:48.440 She said to them, They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. 00:01:49.100 --> 00:01:52.320 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing. 00:01:52.900 --> 00:01:55.120 But she did not know that it was Jesus. 00:01:55.980 --> 00:01:59.140 Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? 00:01:59.740 --> 00:02:01.120 Whom are you seeking? 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:10.020 Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:12.900 Jesus said to her, Mary. 00:02:14.259 --> 00:02:17.480 She turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabbani, which means teacher. 00:02:18.300 --> 00:02:22.439 Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. 00:02:22.980 --> 00:02:29.240 But go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:37.219 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her. 00:02:37.700 --> 00:02:39.439 This is God's holy word. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:45.759 All right, here we are, week two in the upper pulpit. 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:47.859 So I hope that's okay today. 00:02:49.180 --> 00:02:55.079 We just read the story of the resurrection from John's gospel, and I have just two points to make for you this morning from it. 00:02:55.340 --> 00:03:00.360 First, the place of the resurrection, and then secondly, the gardener of the resurrection. 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:03.460 So let's think first about the place of the resurrection. 00:03:03.460 --> 00:03:10.760 So Mary, at the beginning of the story, runs to the tomb while it's still dark, before the sun is risen. 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:19.420 And she sees there that the tomb is empty, and so she, we read, she goes and she runs back to where the disciples are, 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:21.700 and she tells Peter and then John. 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:27.100 John's the one that it says, the one whom Jesus loved, the disciple that he loved. 00:03:27.260 --> 00:03:27.920 That's John. 00:03:28.060 --> 00:03:29.120 He's the author here. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:34.840 And then you've got to love that they all run back to the tomb, Mary, Peter, John. 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:37.640 But in verse four, I think this is great. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:42.599 John says, we left at the same time, but I outran Peter. 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:44.920 So John, a little healthy competition there. 00:03:45.460 --> 00:03:48.620 He's just faster than Peter, and he wanted that to be recorded. 00:03:49.300 --> 00:03:49.939 So it was. 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:54.259 And John sees the face cloth. 00:03:54.259 --> 00:04:01.679 He stoops down into the tomb, and he sees the face cloth of Jesus that had been over Christ's face, 00:04:01.859 --> 00:04:05.579 and it's folded neatly in the corner, and it says, he believed. 00:04:06.359 --> 00:04:08.699 But then it says, he didn't understand all it meant. 00:04:08.780 --> 00:04:14.579 He didn't understand yet all that the Scriptures had said, but he believed that Jesus was alive. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:15.199 What does it mean? 00:04:15.259 --> 00:04:18.879 He believed Jesus was physically alive, not dead. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:21.860 So he and Peter, they believe, and they leave. 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:26.000 And then in verse seven, we're left with Mary, Mary Magdalene. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:29.240 She is alone there at the tomb by herself. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:33.959 And the text tells us in verse seven that she was there weeping. 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:40.939 The Greek word for weeping there is not quiet grief, not just tears. 00:04:40.939 --> 00:04:51.019 It is, the dictionaries say it means to bewail, to howl, to cry like a child is what one of the Greek lexicons said, 00:04:51.060 --> 00:04:52.100 to cry like a child. 00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:56.899 So this is the kind of crying that she's doing here where you can't catch your breath, 00:04:56.939 --> 00:05:02.000 like when little children are crying and you have to calm them down because they're losing their ability to breathe. 00:05:02.379 --> 00:05:04.279 That's the type of tear she has here. 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:10.819 Jesus had removed seven demons from her in Luke chapter 8. 00:05:11.159 --> 00:05:14.000 She had had a life that was in ruins before that. 00:05:14.799 --> 00:05:18.739 And she had found a home in him, and he was everything to her. 00:05:18.859 --> 00:05:19.500 She followed him. 00:05:19.579 --> 00:05:20.359 She worshiped him. 00:05:20.979 --> 00:05:22.039 He was her Savior. 00:05:22.619 --> 00:05:24.000 She watched him die. 00:05:24.139 --> 00:05:27.899 She was one of the last couple of people at the cross after he had died. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:29.519 So she always was there. 00:05:29.619 --> 00:05:30.139 She lingered. 00:05:30.259 --> 00:05:31.000 She stayed back. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:33.439 She came first to see the tomb. 00:05:34.279 --> 00:05:38.799 And she's already faced the grief of his death. 00:05:39.059 --> 00:05:43.519 And now she believes that his body has been disrespected. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:45.159 So what does she say? 00:05:45.239 --> 00:05:47.859 She says twice in the passage, verse 2 and 13, 00:05:48.339 --> 00:05:52.699 they have taken away the Lord, my Lord, and we don't know where they put him. 00:05:53.419 --> 00:05:54.139 What does she think? 00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:57.500 She thinks that grave robbers have taken his body. 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:03.119 And grave robbery was a big issue in the first century and very much at this time. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:07.699 Now what is Mary's, in such grief, she's lost everything. 00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:11.579 And now they disrespected his body. 00:06:12.280 --> 00:06:13.340 What is she assuming? 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:17.920 Mary is assuming that the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ did not happen. 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:22.519 She thinks that his body was taken, stolen. 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:23.899 He's still dead. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:25.399 It's just that he's somewhere else. 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:32.019 Now she gives us one of two most common responses to denials of the physical resurrection of Jesus. 00:06:32.679 --> 00:06:39.099 And the two most common ways that people approach it in the modern world are to say, number one, his body was stolen. 00:06:40.259 --> 00:06:50.859 The scholars, you can read a wonderful book by Gary Habermas that is thousands of pages just working through details of historical facts around the resurrection event. 00:06:50.860 --> 00:07:07.060 And one of the things Habermas argues very carefully is that it is a majority scholarly consensus, not exclusively, but in the New Testament scholarship and in historical scholarship, that Jesus Christ was a real man, that he really did die on a cross. 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:10.600 He was crucified under Pontius Pilate and that the tomb was empty. 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:17.600 So that's a majority view of believing and non-believing historians that look carefully at the resurrection event. 00:07:17.820 --> 00:07:23.040 But for many, they say what Mary says here, and that's, well, his body was stolen. 00:07:23.140 --> 00:07:23.640 That's one answer. 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:26.140 The other answer people give is the resurrection. 00:07:26.280 --> 00:07:30.000 We don't know what happened to his body, but the resurrection is just a symbol. 00:07:31.260 --> 00:07:32.040 It's just a symbol. 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:37.140 And it's a symbol of hope and new beginnings in your life. 00:07:37.139 --> 00:07:43.060 You know, when you look at the resurrection, of course, he didn't rise from the dead because that is against the bounds of science. 00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:46.300 But, you know, you really can get out of debt. 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:56.219 You really can walk into your boss's office and say, I deserve that promotion because the resurrection is the symbol of new beginnings. 00:07:56.219 --> 00:08:05.240 And it gives you hope and it inspires you and it brings you to a place where you can do things you could have never imagined because you simply believe that it's a spiritual truth only. 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:13.600 So there's a man named Rudolf Bultmann, who was a famous in his time, New Testament scholar in the middle 20th century. 00:08:14.180 --> 00:08:17.100 And in 1941, this is what he writes about the resurrection. 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:25.660 The resurrection was not physical, but, quote, something here and now, it's entering into a new dimension of existence. 00:08:25.660 --> 00:08:35.420 It's being set free from your past and from guilt and from care and from it's being freed to be open to loving one's fellow man. 00:08:36.540 --> 00:08:39.540 So it's just this mere symbol of new beginnings. 00:08:39.779 --> 00:08:49.940 And so that's the product of what we call the enlightenment program, a program of thoughts that began here on the Royal Mile some two and a half centuries ago. 00:08:49.940 --> 00:08:55.920 And that's that we have to keep Christianity, but we're going to de-supernaturalize it. 00:08:56.540 --> 00:09:02.660 And so we can say the resurrection is a symbol, but we could never say Jesus Christ actually rose from the dead physically. 00:09:02.760 --> 00:09:07.600 Now, I just want to ask you this morning in the first point, is that what John wanted you to think? 00:09:08.540 --> 00:09:16.580 Is that what the people who were closest to the event that wrote down the four histories we have of this story, the four gospels, 00:09:16.580 --> 00:09:23.139 was that the point they were making? Because the best historians are the people that are closest to the action, 00:09:23.700 --> 00:09:26.020 the people that were actually there that saw it. 00:09:26.400 --> 00:09:30.820 And is that what John wants you to get out of this, that the resurrection is not physical, 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:34.600 but it is something that can, you know, really help you in your life to do better and be better 00:09:34.600 --> 00:09:36.879 and give you new beginnings and things like that? 00:09:37.820 --> 00:09:41.600 Here, John and Peter walk into the tomb in verse 8 and 9, and it says, 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:46.720 They believe, but they did not yet understand what the Scripture had taught, 00:09:47.220 --> 00:09:50.820 that Christ, and here's the word, must rise from the dead. 00:09:51.659 --> 00:09:57.320 So they immediately believe by faith that he's alive, but they had it over time, 00:09:57.379 --> 00:10:04.080 just the next few days, they began to realize the Scripture said, taught, he must be physically alive. 00:10:04.180 --> 00:10:07.580 And what Scripture is being talked about there is the Old Testament. 00:10:07.800 --> 00:10:09.040 There's no New Testament yet. 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:14.319 He's talking about the Old Testament, and so we sang earlier from Psalm 1610, 00:10:14.819 --> 00:10:15.419 that says, 00:10:15.599 --> 00:10:17.579 You will not abandon my soul to Sheol. 00:10:17.699 --> 00:10:19.480 You will not let the Holy One see corruption. 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:21.959 That's a prophecy in the Old Testament. 00:10:22.179 --> 00:10:26.699 And over the next few days, John starts to realize the whole Old Testament 00:10:26.699 --> 00:10:30.759 had to be fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Christ, 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:33.519 or the Old Testament doesn't make sense. 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:34.159 It was meaningless. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:40.879 And so he begins to realize this is a historical reality that's been prophesied from centuries ago, 00:10:40.939 --> 00:10:45.419 and this is the moment that it all begins to make sense, this physical resurrection. 00:10:45.699 --> 00:10:48.799 And so John's point is not, is he saying, you know, 00:10:48.939 --> 00:10:51.779 you should really look to the resurrection and be inspired today. 00:10:51.779 --> 00:10:52.279 No. 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:52.679 No. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:56.879 He's saying that if, how did Paul put it? 00:10:57.519 --> 00:10:59.419 Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, 14, 00:10:59.959 --> 00:11:03.480 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:06.399 and your faith is in vain. 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:09.159 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, 00:11:09.299 --> 00:11:11.839 and you are still dead in your sins. 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:16.740 And so Bultman's Christ, Bultman's view of the resurrection, 00:11:16.980 --> 00:11:20.360 and so many others that do exist in our time and in our moment, 00:11:21.620 --> 00:11:22.899 what are they saying to us? 00:11:22.920 --> 00:11:26.379 Look, the Bible says either Jesus Christ is physically resurrected, 00:11:26.660 --> 00:11:28.360 or Christianity is pointless. 00:11:29.300 --> 00:11:32.420 The symbol of Christ's resurrection doesn't give you anything. 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:36.900 All it tells you is that death still wins. 00:11:36.899 --> 00:11:40.579 Yeah, you can get out of debt, or you can go get that promotion, 00:11:40.819 --> 00:11:42.860 or you can better yourself in this life, 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:46.480 but you're still going to die, and there is no victory over death. 00:11:46.699 --> 00:11:49.159 If Jesus Christ is dead, you are still in your sins, 00:11:49.319 --> 00:11:52.679 and there is no hope at the end of this life to face anything other than death. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:55.259 And that means that the symbol, the mere symbol, 00:11:55.620 --> 00:11:59.899 doesn't give you what's been offered by folks that have said that. 00:12:00.299 --> 00:12:01.299 You know, think about Mary. 00:12:02.199 --> 00:12:03.340 Mary is so right. 00:12:03.539 --> 00:12:05.539 Mary, what does Mary do? 00:12:05.539 --> 00:12:10.740 When Mary, who is confused, thinks Jesus is still dead, 00:12:10.939 --> 00:12:11.639 what does she say? 00:12:11.719 --> 00:12:12.740 Well, you read it. 00:12:12.779 --> 00:12:15.539 She says, wow, well, at least I've got this great symbol. 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:22.019 Man, I know that his body's not here, but I do feel uplifted today. 00:12:23.839 --> 00:12:25.599 No, she's weeping uncontrollably. 00:12:25.699 --> 00:12:29.159 She can't breathe, because she said, this has been in vain. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:30.279 This has been pointless. 00:12:31.219 --> 00:12:33.759 This has not produced the forgiveness of my sins 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:35.019 and hope in the face of death. 00:12:35.460 --> 00:12:38.379 She knows that without the physical resurrection, 00:12:38.659 --> 00:12:40.159 what she thinks has not happened, 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:42.720 she tells us the right thing about that, 00:12:43.319 --> 00:12:44.899 that all we can do is weep. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:48.379 Friends, the resurrection is not a symbol. 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:51.059 Jesus Christ rose from the dead in real time, 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:52.840 real life history, physically. 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:56.120 And we've got to think about a couple things. 00:12:56.120 --> 00:13:01.240 One, the people who preached the resurrection in just those first few days 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:04.759 did it in the very place where Christ was crucified 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:08.820 and the tomb was publicly celebrated as empty. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:11.500 The proximity is too close. 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:15.879 If you go out and preach, as we read about in Acts chapter 1 and 2, 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:18.820 to thousands of people within just 40 days, 00:13:19.299 --> 00:13:22.120 and there's thousands of people coming to faith in Jesus, 00:13:22.220 --> 00:13:23.539 the resurrected Jesus in the city, 00:13:23.539 --> 00:13:24.740 what can they do? 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:27.159 All they've got to do is go and look. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:29.299 They saw him crucified, 00:13:29.500 --> 00:13:31.719 and they can go and see the proximity is too near. 00:13:31.819 --> 00:13:34.559 And we've already said the best historians, 00:13:34.819 --> 00:13:38.199 we need to do what the historical scholars tell us to do, 00:13:38.539 --> 00:13:40.779 and that's understand that the best historians 00:13:40.779 --> 00:13:42.620 are the ones that were eyewitnesses, 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:44.480 that were the ones closest to the action. 00:13:44.579 --> 00:13:48.000 And every eyewitness account we have of Jesus' life, 00:13:48.099 --> 00:13:49.539 his death, his resurrection, 00:13:49.779 --> 00:13:51.240 says that he rose from the dead. 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:53.259 Every single one that we have says that, 00:13:53.560 --> 00:13:56.600 of people who were actually there and around in the time. 00:13:57.419 --> 00:13:59.360 Paul says Jesus Christ, 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:01.039 if you're a visitor today, 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:02.740 we've been working through the book of James, 00:14:02.820 --> 00:14:03.539 the letter of James. 00:14:03.740 --> 00:14:05.039 We'll be back to that next week. 00:14:05.779 --> 00:14:09.120 Paul says that Jesus appeared very specifically 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:11.980 to six individuals and then more than 500 people, 00:14:12.180 --> 00:14:13.659 and he says that James, 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:15.220 the biological brother of Jesus, 00:14:15.399 --> 00:14:16.440 was one of those. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:18.899 James did not believe in Jesus 00:14:18.899 --> 00:14:20.379 during Jesus' life and death. 00:14:20.379 --> 00:14:22.220 He did not follow his brother. 00:14:23.659 --> 00:14:24.500 What happened? 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:27.600 Paul says Jesus Christ, 00:14:27.659 --> 00:14:28.539 the resurrected Christ, 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:30.179 appeared to his brother James, 00:14:30.659 --> 00:14:31.519 and all of a sudden, 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:33.779 James becomes the pillar of the church, 00:14:33.820 --> 00:14:35.659 one of the pillars of the church in Jerusalem, 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:36.860 the writer of this great letter 00:14:36.860 --> 00:14:38.340 that we've been working through. 00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:42.100 Jesus Christ's resurrection is not a symbol, 00:14:42.259 --> 00:14:43.779 it's real life history, 00:14:43.779 --> 00:14:48.539 and today I'll move on from this point with these words. 00:14:48.939 --> 00:14:53.179 Christianity does indeed provide good feelings. 00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:55.980 Yes, Christianity can, 00:14:56.120 --> 00:14:59.059 Jesus can indeed give a therapeutic quality 00:14:59.059 --> 00:15:00.699 quality to your heart and life 00:15:00.699 --> 00:15:02.059 where he does lift you up, 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:04.259 and he does make your emotions healthier, 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:09.019 but Christianity is not feelings. 00:15:10.019 --> 00:15:11.919 Christianity is the fact 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:14.319 that God in the middle of history 00:15:14.319 --> 00:15:15.439 died for your sins 00:15:15.439 --> 00:15:17.179 and rose from the dead physically 00:15:17.179 --> 00:15:19.059 and has announced the end of death. 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:21.419 Christianity is not first a feeling, 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:22.519 it's first a fact. 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:24.979 Christianity provides a great source 00:15:24.979 --> 00:15:26.639 for introspective meditation, 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:27.559 yes, 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:29.459 but it is not self-help. 00:15:30.500 --> 00:15:32.179 Christianity is a historical pronouncement. 00:15:32.859 --> 00:15:34.099 It is good news, 00:15:34.199 --> 00:15:35.159 it is not good advice, 00:15:35.239 --> 00:15:36.219 and it is the good news 00:15:36.219 --> 00:15:38.339 that his body cannot be found 00:15:38.339 --> 00:15:39.279 in Jerusalem today. 00:15:40.259 --> 00:15:41.039 His bones, 00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:42.299 his ash are not there. 00:15:42.299 --> 00:15:44.120 That is the news of Christianity. 00:15:45.699 --> 00:15:46.459 As I move on, 00:15:46.579 --> 00:15:48.419 you've got to do what Paul did. 00:15:49.019 --> 00:15:50.159 In 1 Corinthians 15, 00:15:50.299 --> 00:15:52.259 Paul whittled down, 00:15:52.359 --> 00:15:53.000 if you were to ask, 00:15:53.139 --> 00:15:53.819 what is Christianity? 00:15:54.019 --> 00:15:55.039 You can whittle it down 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:56.179 to just a few lines, 00:15:56.679 --> 00:15:57.620 and what Paul gives you 00:15:57.620 --> 00:15:58.819 in 1 Corinthians 15, 00:15:58.919 --> 00:15:59.519 three to four, 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:01.319 the scholars tell us 00:16:01.319 --> 00:16:03.679 that this is one of the earliest creeds 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:04.579 of Christianity. 00:16:04.859 --> 00:16:05.159 So, you know, 00:16:05.199 --> 00:16:06.019 we write creeds 00:16:06.019 --> 00:16:07.079 like the Apostles' Creed, 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:08.839 but there were little creeds 00:16:08.839 --> 00:16:11.000 already traveling about 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:12.059 from Jerusalem, 00:16:12.059 --> 00:16:13.119 and Richard Baucom 00:16:13.119 --> 00:16:14.819 in his great book, 00:16:15.239 --> 00:16:16.479 Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:18.439 says that within months 00:16:18.439 --> 00:16:19.559 of Christ's resurrection, 00:16:19.939 --> 00:16:21.259 this creed was already 00:16:21.259 --> 00:16:22.500 being stated in churches 00:16:22.500 --> 00:16:24.159 near Jerusalem. 00:16:24.379 --> 00:16:25.419 And the creed is in 00:16:25.419 --> 00:16:26.379 1 Corinthians 15, 00:16:26.579 --> 00:16:27.399 three and four, 00:16:27.939 --> 00:16:28.739 and listen to Paul. 00:16:28.819 --> 00:16:29.879 He's footnoting it. 00:16:29.959 --> 00:16:30.319 He's saying, 00:16:30.419 --> 00:16:31.379 look, this didn't come from me. 00:16:31.479 --> 00:16:32.219 Listen to how he says it. 00:16:32.539 --> 00:16:33.439 I delivered to you 00:16:33.439 --> 00:16:34.679 as of first importance 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:35.799 what I received. 00:16:36.379 --> 00:16:37.199 That's like a modern day 00:16:37.199 --> 00:16:38.279 footnote in our books. 00:16:38.599 --> 00:16:39.639 I'm sourcing it. 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:40.199 I'm telling you, 00:16:40.479 --> 00:16:41.639 this did not come from me. 00:16:41.639 --> 00:16:43.080 I did not originally write it. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:45.179 That Christ died for our sins 00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:46.220 in accordance with the scriptures. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:47.539 That he was buried. 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:48.360 That he was raised 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:49.240 on the third day 00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:51.039 in accordance with the scriptures. 00:16:51.419 --> 00:16:52.519 That's what John realized. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:54.199 He had to rise from the dead 00:16:54.199 --> 00:16:55.419 according to the scriptures 00:16:55.419 --> 00:16:56.120 of the Old Testament. 00:16:56.539 --> 00:16:57.460 And that he appeared 00:16:57.460 --> 00:16:58.860 to more than 500 people. 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:00.279 Everybody around 00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:01.100 was saying it. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:02.340 They were all there. 00:17:02.439 --> 00:17:03.519 They were all eyewitnesses. 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:04.319 They could check. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:06.480 The gospel is good news. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:07.880 It's not just good feelings. 00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:08.640 And so today, 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:11.039 if this is a fact, 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:12.940 if this is a fact, 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:13.519 then it is. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:16.599 It has to reorder, 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:17.319 reorient, 00:17:17.620 --> 00:17:18.579 disrupt your life. 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:22.079 If Jesus Christ 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:23.839 came into the middle of history 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:26.640 as man claiming to be God 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:27.339 and he died 00:17:27.339 --> 00:17:28.460 and he rose from the dead 00:17:28.460 --> 00:17:29.319 on the third day physically, 00:17:29.579 --> 00:17:32.019 that fact has to disrupt your life. 00:17:32.900 --> 00:17:33.700 It has to. 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:34.759 It has to reorder it. 00:17:34.759 --> 00:17:36.059 Whether we want it to or not, 00:17:36.140 --> 00:17:37.079 whether we like it or not, 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:37.779 and we don't. 00:17:38.660 --> 00:17:39.920 But it's a fact of history. 00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:41.799 It has to reorder us 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:42.460 from top to bottom. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:43.420 It has to change us. 00:17:44.779 --> 00:17:45.579 Secondly, lastly, 00:17:47.460 --> 00:17:48.119 what is then, 00:17:48.339 --> 00:17:48.960 if it's a fact, 00:17:49.059 --> 00:17:50.500 what then does the resurrection mean? 00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:51.960 And here John teaches us 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:52.839 about the gardener 00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:53.859 of the resurrection. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:54.980 So in John's gospel, 00:17:56.220 --> 00:17:57.099 throughout John's gospel, 00:17:57.240 --> 00:17:58.319 it's full of irony. 00:17:58.500 --> 00:17:59.420 That's one of the big things. 00:18:00.299 --> 00:18:01.500 Misunderstanding all the time 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:02.819 up to this point. 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:03.539 And here we've got, 00:18:03.539 --> 00:18:04.160 of course, 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:05.019 a great misunderstanding 00:18:05.019 --> 00:18:06.240 where Mary Magdalene 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:07.820 doesn't see him. 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:09.019 She doesn't know who he is. 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:10.360 And so these two angels 00:18:10.360 --> 00:18:11.519 appear in the tomb, 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:13.600 one at the head of where Jesus laid, 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:14.400 one at the feet. 00:18:15.120 --> 00:18:16.960 And they say to her, 00:18:17.120 --> 00:18:17.340 woman, 00:18:17.820 --> 00:18:19.080 why are you weeping? 00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:19.540 Now, 00:18:19.580 --> 00:18:20.700 if you were around on Good Friday, 00:18:20.820 --> 00:18:21.160 you'll know, 00:18:21.360 --> 00:18:22.820 we talked about how woman 00:18:22.820 --> 00:18:23.860 is not an insult. 00:18:24.060 --> 00:18:25.440 It's a term of honor 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:26.420 in the first century. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:28.240 So they're honoring her, 00:18:29.060 --> 00:18:30.019 coming to see him. 00:18:30.180 --> 00:18:30.480 Woman, 00:18:31.300 --> 00:18:32.259 why are you weeping? 00:18:32.259 --> 00:18:33.420 And so you can hear in that 00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:34.660 a softness, 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:37.099 but also a gentle rebuke of sorts. 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:38.660 Why are you crying? 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:39.339 What did you come look, 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:40.720 who did you come looking for? 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:43.339 And she had traveled around with him 00:18:43.339 --> 00:18:44.640 and heard him say, 00:18:45.299 --> 00:18:46.859 the son of man must die 00:18:46.859 --> 00:18:48.299 and must rise from the dead 00:18:48.299 --> 00:18:49.000 three days later. 00:18:49.259 --> 00:18:50.619 She had heard it preached. 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:51.700 And yet, 00:18:51.900 --> 00:18:53.759 she still just couldn't get there. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:54.859 She couldn't quite believe it. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:55.900 But then, 00:18:55.980 --> 00:18:56.200 of course, 00:18:56.339 --> 00:18:57.559 the culmination point 00:18:57.559 --> 00:18:58.619 of all John's gospel 00:18:58.619 --> 00:18:59.399 of misunderstanding 00:18:59.399 --> 00:19:00.679 comes here 00:19:00.679 --> 00:19:01.839 when all of a sudden 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:02.819 she turns around 00:19:02.819 --> 00:19:04.299 and there is Jesus. 00:19:05.879 --> 00:19:06.439 And it says, 00:19:06.539 --> 00:19:07.359 she's supposed him 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:08.219 to be the gardener, 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:09.079 the mere gardener, 00:19:09.399 --> 00:19:10.079 the one who would, 00:19:10.099 --> 00:19:10.279 you know, 00:19:10.339 --> 00:19:11.019 tend the flowers 00:19:11.019 --> 00:19:11.759 around the tombs 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:12.519 and things like that. 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:15.199 And he elevates the question. 00:19:15.339 --> 00:19:15.719 He says, 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:16.119 woman, 00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:16.559 again, 00:19:16.619 --> 00:19:17.500 why are you weeping? 00:19:17.639 --> 00:19:18.599 Whom do you seek? 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:19.959 And what is he asking? 00:19:19.959 --> 00:19:21.759 He's asking something like, 00:19:22.619 --> 00:19:23.699 what kind of a God, 00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:24.359 what kind of Messiah, 00:19:24.439 --> 00:19:25.079 what kind of a Savior 00:19:25.079 --> 00:19:26.279 did you think you were following? 00:19:26.859 --> 00:19:27.940 Who are you looking for 00:19:27.940 --> 00:19:28.879 in this moment? 00:19:30.039 --> 00:19:30.319 Now, 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:33.299 I think this is the culmination point 00:19:33.299 --> 00:19:34.799 of all the misunderstanding stories 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:35.460 in John's gospel. 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:37.399 Remember Nicodemus, 00:19:37.660 --> 00:19:38.440 Jesus said, 00:19:38.819 --> 00:19:40.160 if you want to be saved, 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:41.039 you've got to be born again. 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:42.059 And Nicodemus said, 00:19:42.399 --> 00:19:43.160 how can a man 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:46.220 be born of his mother's womb twice? 00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:47.399 That doesn't make any sense. 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:48.299 It's impossible, right? 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:49.480 Misunderstanding, 00:19:49.619 --> 00:19:51.000 it's constant throughout John's gospel. 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:51.779 And here is that 00:19:51.779 --> 00:19:53.220 culmination point 00:19:53.220 --> 00:19:53.819 of this moment 00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:55.180 of complete misunderstanding. 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:57.399 What do we learn? 00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:00.660 When you go through 00:20:00.660 --> 00:20:01.339 John's gospel 00:20:01.339 --> 00:20:01.879 and you realize 00:20:01.879 --> 00:20:02.480 that this woman 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:04.240 had seven demons 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:05.119 removed from her, 00:20:05.220 --> 00:20:06.139 she followed Jesus 00:20:06.139 --> 00:20:07.019 so closely. 00:20:07.559 --> 00:20:08.240 You can read 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:09.000 the other gospels 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:09.980 and see how the apostles 00:20:09.980 --> 00:20:11.339 can never get it right. 00:20:12.420 --> 00:20:13.500 Nicodemus couldn't get it. 00:20:13.579 --> 00:20:14.619 Nobody could understand 00:20:14.619 --> 00:20:14.940 and see. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:16.079 What are we being told? 00:20:16.139 --> 00:20:16.519 We're being told, 00:20:16.819 --> 00:20:17.740 it is impossible 00:20:17.740 --> 00:20:19.119 to believe the resurrection. 00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:21.200 It's impossible 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:21.920 to believe in him. 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:24.200 That's what John's gospel 00:20:24.200 --> 00:20:25.139 ultimately teaches. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:25.519 Why? 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:27.339 Because the Old Testament 00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:28.079 and the New Testament 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:28.940 says this to us 00:20:28.940 --> 00:20:29.779 in so many ways. 00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:31.180 Isaiah, 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:32.539 you keep on hearing 00:20:32.539 --> 00:20:33.920 but you don't understand. 00:20:34.579 --> 00:20:35.559 You keep on seeing 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:36.960 but you do not perceive. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:38.440 No one is righteous. 00:20:38.700 --> 00:20:39.379 No, not one. 00:20:39.500 --> 00:20:40.379 No one understands. 00:20:40.940 --> 00:20:42.160 Nobody seeks for God. 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:43.299 It is impossible 00:20:43.299 --> 00:20:44.660 as we are 00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:45.539 as human beings 00:20:45.539 --> 00:20:46.920 born into the veil of tears 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:48.319 in the light of our sin 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:49.819 to actually believe 00:20:49.819 --> 00:20:50.500 in the resurrection. 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:52.039 We refuse. 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:53.759 He has so clearly 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:54.559 revealed himself 00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:56.759 yet in our struggle 00:20:56.759 --> 00:20:59.379 in our upside down hearts 00:20:59.379 --> 00:21:00.799 we say no. 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:02.440 We can't do it. 00:21:02.500 --> 00:21:03.139 We can't believe. 00:21:03.259 --> 00:21:03.980 We don't want to believe. 00:21:05.299 --> 00:21:08.099 John Calvin gave a really famous quote 00:21:08.099 --> 00:21:09.700 that I've said here too many times. 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:10.579 In fact, 00:21:10.619 --> 00:21:11.399 there's a couple people 00:21:11.399 --> 00:21:11.980 in the church 00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:14.059 who sort of make fun of me 00:21:14.059 --> 00:21:15.559 for reusing the quote 00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:16.519 over and over again. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:18.079 And so I know that will happen 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:19.119 after the service today 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:21.579 but it gets reused 00:21:21.579 --> 00:21:22.279 over and over again 00:21:22.279 --> 00:21:24.200 because it's so right 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:25.160 and true and good. 00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:26.200 But I don't want to highlight 00:21:26.200 --> 00:21:27.779 you'll hear the most common point 00:21:27.779 --> 00:21:29.299 but listen to the very end. 00:21:29.700 --> 00:21:30.359 Calvin writes, 00:21:31.180 --> 00:21:31.779 human nature, 00:21:32.139 --> 00:21:32.599 so to speak, 00:21:32.660 --> 00:21:33.379 is perpetually 00:21:33.379 --> 00:21:34.740 a factory of idols. 00:21:35.579 --> 00:21:36.220 We know that one. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:37.779 Man's mind, 00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:38.579 full as it is 00:21:38.579 --> 00:21:39.720 of pride and boldness, 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:41.420 dares to imagine a God 00:21:41.420 --> 00:21:42.660 according to his own capacity. 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:44.940 As it sluggishly plods, 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:46.000 indeed is overwhelmed 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:47.779 by the crassest ignorance. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:49.059 It conceives, 00:21:49.099 --> 00:21:49.740 and here's the word, 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:51.099 an unreality 00:21:51.099 --> 00:21:53.059 and an empty appearance 00:21:53.059 --> 00:21:53.619 as God. 00:21:53.700 --> 00:21:54.380 Calvin says, 00:21:54.779 --> 00:21:56.759 we all live in unreality 00:21:56.759 --> 00:21:57.700 which is 00:21:57.700 --> 00:21:59.339 the world of self-deception, 00:21:59.859 --> 00:22:00.599 self-sufficiency 00:22:00.599 --> 00:22:01.859 where we take 00:22:01.859 --> 00:22:03.519 what is God revealed to us 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:05.039 and we flip it upside down 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:06.660 because we refuse to believe it. 00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:08.240 Francis Spufford, 00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:10.279 the great novelist 00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:11.180 who was an atheist 00:22:11.180 --> 00:22:12.359 turned Christian, 00:22:12.440 --> 00:22:13.519 this is what he writes about it. 00:22:14.019 --> 00:22:15.539 What Calvin's talking about here, 00:22:15.539 --> 00:22:16.659 what we're talking about here, 00:22:17.059 --> 00:22:18.359 is not just our tendency 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:19.099 to lurch 00:22:19.099 --> 00:22:19.839 and to stumble 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:21.379 and to mess things up 00:22:21.379 --> 00:22:22.099 by accident, 00:22:22.399 --> 00:22:24.599 but this is our active inclination 00:22:24.599 --> 00:22:26.180 to break stuff. 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:28.619 And stuff here 00:22:28.619 --> 00:22:29.399 refers 00:22:29.399 --> 00:22:31.299 to promises, 00:22:32.159 --> 00:22:32.819 relationships, 00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:35.420 people we care about, 00:22:36.139 --> 00:22:37.259 our own well-being 00:22:37.259 --> 00:22:38.420 and other people's well-being, 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:39.559 we break stuff. 00:22:39.899 --> 00:22:40.639 We mess it up. 00:22:41.520 --> 00:22:42.300 You are a being, 00:22:42.380 --> 00:22:42.780 he writes, 00:22:42.860 --> 00:22:44.620 whose wants make no sense, 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:45.160 who don't, 00:22:45.380 --> 00:22:46.380 you don't harmonize, 00:22:46.660 --> 00:22:47.900 your desires deep down 00:22:47.900 --> 00:22:50.460 are completely discordantly arranged. 00:22:50.800 --> 00:22:52.160 You truly want to possess 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:53.980 and you truly do not want to possess 00:22:53.980 --> 00:22:55.420 at the very same time. 00:22:55.780 --> 00:22:57.880 You are equipped far more 00:22:57.880 --> 00:22:59.500 for farce and tragedy 00:22:59.500 --> 00:23:01.259 than for happy endings. 00:23:01.420 --> 00:23:01.640 You see, 00:23:01.840 --> 00:23:02.720 what is unreality? 00:23:03.180 --> 00:23:04.800 What is being talked about here? 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:05.539 It's this, 00:23:05.619 --> 00:23:06.480 that every one of us 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:08.500 are not passive victims 00:23:08.500 --> 00:23:09.359 of confusion 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:10.599 around the resurrection. 00:23:10.980 --> 00:23:12.240 We're not passive victims 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:12.859 of confusion 00:23:12.859 --> 00:23:14.379 about who God is 00:23:14.379 --> 00:23:15.319 and whether or not 00:23:15.319 --> 00:23:16.000 he showed up 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:16.599 and whether or not 00:23:16.599 --> 00:23:17.779 he's revealed himself. 00:23:18.059 --> 00:23:19.940 We are active manufacturers 00:23:19.940 --> 00:23:21.639 of smaller gods 00:23:21.639 --> 00:23:23.639 and we choose them 00:23:23.639 --> 00:23:24.899 more than the true, 00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:25.579 real, 00:23:25.799 --> 00:23:26.980 resurrected Christ, 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:28.079 the God who actually 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:28.859 has revealed himself 00:23:28.859 --> 00:23:30.099 to us in world history. 00:23:30.419 --> 00:23:31.639 We work hard 00:23:31.639 --> 00:23:32.980 to believe 00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:34.099 the tomb is empty 00:23:34.099 --> 00:23:35.480 yet he's still dead, 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:37.039 that somebody stole his body. 00:23:37.859 --> 00:23:38.839 That's what the Bible teaches 00:23:38.839 --> 00:23:39.959 and so today if you come 00:23:39.959 --> 00:23:41.740 and you don't know 00:23:41.740 --> 00:23:42.819 what to make of the resurrection, 00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:44.759 I just want to gently say 00:23:44.759 --> 00:23:46.159 that the Bible teaches 00:23:46.159 --> 00:23:47.939 that we don't believe 00:23:47.939 --> 00:23:48.459 in the God 00:23:48.459 --> 00:23:49.480 who really exists 00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:50.619 and really has revealed himself 00:23:50.619 --> 00:23:52.679 not because there's not enough evidence, 00:23:52.740 --> 00:23:53.519 far from it, 00:23:53.719 --> 00:23:55.159 but because we don't want to. 00:23:56.279 --> 00:23:58.399 Because if we did, 00:23:58.500 --> 00:24:00.339 if Jesus Christ really did rise 00:24:00.339 --> 00:24:00.740 from the dead 00:24:00.740 --> 00:24:01.559 in the middle of history, 00:24:01.679 --> 00:24:03.559 that means you have to give away 00:24:03.559 --> 00:24:04.679 your independence fully. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:06.679 You have to, 00:24:06.700 --> 00:24:07.419 you have to be completely 00:24:07.419 --> 00:24:08.099 dependent on him. 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:09.419 You know, 00:24:09.419 --> 00:24:10.319 no matter how we feel, 00:24:10.419 --> 00:24:11.500 if he really did rise 00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:12.059 from the dead, 00:24:12.139 --> 00:24:13.299 it changes everything. 00:24:14.539 --> 00:24:15.659 And that is so hard. 00:24:16.139 --> 00:24:17.299 And so we don't want it 00:24:17.299 --> 00:24:17.879 to be true. 00:24:18.899 --> 00:24:19.679 I was reading, 00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:21.240 or listening maybe, 00:24:21.299 --> 00:24:21.819 I can't remember, 00:24:21.899 --> 00:24:22.599 a story recently 00:24:22.599 --> 00:24:23.960 of Tim Keller 00:24:23.960 --> 00:24:24.740 talking about, 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:25.179 in the past, 00:24:25.259 --> 00:24:26.419 talking about years 00:24:26.419 --> 00:24:27.279 of interviewing 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:29.359 ministry candidates 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:31.259 to plant churches. 00:24:32.500 --> 00:24:32.699 You know, 00:24:32.819 --> 00:24:33.339 a redeemer, 00:24:33.459 --> 00:24:33.939 when he was there, 00:24:34.019 --> 00:24:34.839 planted something like 00:24:34.839 --> 00:24:36.299 80 or more churches 00:24:36.299 --> 00:24:37.479 in New York. 00:24:37.579 --> 00:24:38.000 And so they had 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:39.259 a constant pipeline 00:24:39.259 --> 00:24:40.439 of interviewing 00:24:40.439 --> 00:24:41.519 ministry candidates 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:42.359 to plant churches. 00:24:43.319 --> 00:24:43.879 And he said, 00:24:43.939 --> 00:24:44.379 one of the questions 00:24:44.379 --> 00:24:45.539 they would always ask is, 00:24:45.959 --> 00:24:46.679 first, 00:24:46.819 --> 00:24:47.679 we do this here 00:24:47.679 --> 00:24:48.479 in our presbytery, 00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:49.719 tell us your testimony. 00:24:50.059 --> 00:24:50.599 How did you come 00:24:50.599 --> 00:24:51.259 to faith in Jesus? 00:24:51.339 --> 00:24:51.719 That's sort of 00:24:51.719 --> 00:24:52.519 question number one. 00:24:53.799 --> 00:24:54.679 And he said that 00:24:54.679 --> 00:24:55.699 he noticed over the years 00:24:55.699 --> 00:24:57.039 everybody would almost, 00:24:57.039 --> 00:24:58.000 almost inevitably 00:24:58.000 --> 00:24:58.960 say the same thing. 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:00.240 They would all say, 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:02.079 I grew up in the church, 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:03.579 but I never heard 00:25:03.579 --> 00:25:04.019 the gospel. 00:25:06.119 --> 00:25:07.160 And he said, 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:07.400 boy, 00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:08.839 we got a lot 00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:09.559 of bad churches. 00:25:10.599 --> 00:25:11.180 Nobody's preaching 00:25:11.180 --> 00:25:11.619 the gospel. 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:12.660 All these guys come through 00:25:12.660 --> 00:25:13.660 and they never hear 00:25:13.660 --> 00:25:14.140 the gospel. 00:25:15.019 --> 00:25:15.500 And of course, 00:25:15.640 --> 00:25:16.619 later on he heard 00:25:16.619 --> 00:25:17.400 one older man 00:25:17.400 --> 00:25:18.079 who came into ministry 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:19.539 later in life say, 00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:22.420 I came to faith 00:25:22.420 --> 00:25:23.779 reading Martin Luther's 00:25:23.779 --> 00:25:25.519 commentary on Galatians. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:27.559 Talks a lot about 00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:28.179 justification 00:25:28.179 --> 00:25:29.799 and being forgiven. 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:31.579 And Tim asked him, 00:25:31.659 --> 00:25:31.759 you know, 00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:31.960 well, 00:25:32.059 --> 00:25:32.899 was that the first time? 00:25:32.940 --> 00:25:33.079 He said, 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:33.379 no, no, no, 00:25:33.379 --> 00:25:34.480 I'd read it many times. 00:25:35.059 --> 00:25:35.539 And he said, 00:25:35.559 --> 00:25:35.659 well, 00:25:35.659 --> 00:25:36.359 did you see something 00:25:36.359 --> 00:25:36.899 new in it? 00:25:36.919 --> 00:25:37.859 Did you hear something new? 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:38.599 No, no, 00:25:38.700 --> 00:25:40.079 it was so plain. 00:25:40.159 --> 00:25:40.799 I'd studied it. 00:25:40.859 --> 00:25:41.919 I knew it like the back 00:25:41.919 --> 00:25:42.379 of my hand. 00:25:42.619 --> 00:25:43.200 And he said, 00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:43.779 what happened? 00:25:43.859 --> 00:25:44.299 And he said, 00:25:44.399 --> 00:25:45.740 I didn't have eyes to see. 00:25:47.919 --> 00:25:49.740 And so many of these guys, 00:25:49.819 --> 00:25:50.399 what do they mean? 00:25:50.639 --> 00:25:51.579 I grew up in a church 00:25:51.579 --> 00:25:53.000 and I never heard the gospel. 00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:54.159 They didn't have eyes to see. 00:25:54.980 --> 00:25:55.759 And you can probably 00:25:55.759 --> 00:25:56.680 tell that story as well. 00:25:56.740 --> 00:25:57.540 I grew up in a church 00:25:57.540 --> 00:25:58.400 or I've been in churches, 00:25:58.400 --> 00:25:59.900 but all of a sudden, 00:26:00.019 --> 00:26:00.820 one day, 00:26:01.160 --> 00:26:02.940 some of you can tell this story 00:26:02.940 --> 00:26:03.860 that all of a sudden, 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:05.380 it was as if the light switch 00:26:05.380 --> 00:26:05.880 turned on. 00:26:07.180 --> 00:26:07.400 You see, 00:26:07.700 --> 00:26:08.840 left to ourselves, 00:26:09.100 --> 00:26:10.180 we cannot believe 00:26:10.180 --> 00:26:10.740 the resurrection. 00:26:10.740 --> 00:26:13.660 So what does Jesus do? 00:26:15.019 --> 00:26:16.140 And in the middle of the story, 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:18.660 Mary accuses, 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:19.259 in verse 16, 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:20.220 accuses Jesus, 00:26:20.420 --> 00:26:21.240 in 15 and 16, 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:22.900 of being the one 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:24.140 who stole the body. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:25.440 Huh. 00:26:26.420 --> 00:26:27.519 And then what does he do? 00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:30.660 He just says her name, 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:31.720 Mary. 00:26:34.279 --> 00:26:35.880 And the scales fall off. 00:26:36.980 --> 00:26:38.440 What she could not see 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:39.579 one moment before, 00:26:39.660 --> 00:26:40.500 now she can see. 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:42.059 The gardener. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:43.819 The gardener himself. 00:26:45.380 --> 00:26:46.220 And in this moment, 00:26:46.299 --> 00:26:46.839 we are seeing 00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:47.859 the first moment 00:26:47.859 --> 00:26:49.519 in human history 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:50.859 of the application 00:26:50.859 --> 00:26:51.880 of the resurrection 00:26:51.880 --> 00:26:52.880 of the Son of God 00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:54.539 to someone's personal life. 00:26:54.579 --> 00:26:55.380 And how does it happen? 00:26:55.700 --> 00:26:56.859 It happens when Jesus, 00:26:57.519 --> 00:26:57.680 you know, 00:26:57.720 --> 00:26:58.680 you could study theology 00:26:58.680 --> 00:27:00.079 for 2,000 years. 00:27:01.180 --> 00:27:02.400 What you really need 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:03.500 is for Jesus Christ 00:27:03.500 --> 00:27:04.380 to say your name. 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:06.000 Mary, 00:27:06.120 --> 00:27:06.579 your name. 00:27:06.579 --> 00:27:08.519 and the scales 00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:09.299 will fall off. 00:27:10.579 --> 00:27:11.500 And what happens, 00:27:11.639 --> 00:27:12.460 he had already prepared 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:13.119 her for this moment 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:14.279 because a couple chapters ago 00:27:14.279 --> 00:27:14.919 when she was there, 00:27:14.980 --> 00:27:15.419 he had said, 00:27:15.919 --> 00:27:17.819 my sheep hear my voice 00:27:17.819 --> 00:27:20.299 and when I say their name, 00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:21.599 they come to me. 00:27:22.519 --> 00:27:23.559 And that's what he did for her. 00:27:24.139 --> 00:27:25.039 And the Bible 00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:26.639 comes today 00:27:26.639 --> 00:27:27.339 and tells you 00:27:27.339 --> 00:27:29.019 the exact same thing. 00:27:29.679 --> 00:27:30.480 What does it say? 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:31.480 It says, 00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:31.860 today, 00:27:32.180 --> 00:27:33.559 if you hear his voice, 00:27:34.180 --> 00:27:35.480 do not harden your hearts. 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:36.980 It says both that 00:27:36.980 --> 00:27:38.059 you cannot survive, 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:38.920 you cannot believe 00:27:38.920 --> 00:27:40.059 without hearing your name 00:27:40.059 --> 00:27:40.779 spoken by him 00:27:40.779 --> 00:27:42.099 and today, 00:27:42.299 --> 00:27:43.259 don't harden your hearts. 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:45.120 Hear his voice 00:27:45.120 --> 00:27:46.680 and you will come to him. 00:27:46.779 --> 00:27:47.400 Come to him. 00:27:47.660 --> 00:27:48.799 Wake up if you're sleepy 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:49.460 in your faith. 00:27:50.220 --> 00:27:50.740 Come to him 00:27:50.740 --> 00:27:51.579 if you've never been 00:27:51.579 --> 00:27:52.440 in the faith. 00:27:53.380 --> 00:27:53.779 Hear it. 00:27:53.860 --> 00:27:55.039 He seeks you. 00:27:55.180 --> 00:27:56.319 He knocks at the door 00:27:56.319 --> 00:27:57.620 and just simply asks 00:27:57.620 --> 00:27:58.420 that you open it 00:27:58.420 --> 00:27:59.160 and you hear him 00:27:59.160 --> 00:28:00.099 calling to you. 00:28:00.099 --> 00:28:00.740 The resurrection, 00:28:00.939 --> 00:28:02.000 this is the word of God 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:02.500 being preached. 00:28:02.619 --> 00:28:03.679 He is calling to you. 00:28:03.719 --> 00:28:04.099 He is saying, 00:28:04.179 --> 00:28:05.439 come and believe 00:28:05.439 --> 00:28:06.759 and the resurrection 00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:07.919 will be personally 00:28:07.919 --> 00:28:08.939 applied to you 00:28:08.939 --> 00:28:10.519 and you can face death 00:28:10.519 --> 00:28:11.199 without fear. 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:13.299 Let me give you 00:28:13.299 --> 00:28:14.039 two applications 00:28:14.039 --> 00:28:14.819 as I close. 00:28:16.019 --> 00:28:16.859 Number one, 00:28:17.699 --> 00:28:20.799 when Mary wakes up 00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:21.779 and she sees him 00:28:21.779 --> 00:28:22.639 for the first time, 00:28:23.019 --> 00:28:23.939 her words, 00:28:24.619 --> 00:28:25.899 her actions show us 00:28:25.899 --> 00:28:27.159 the power of the resurrection 00:28:27.159 --> 00:28:28.319 because what she does here, 00:28:28.699 --> 00:28:30.079 as soon as she awakens, 00:28:30.099 --> 00:28:33.619 she obviously gives him 00:28:33.619 --> 00:28:34.459 a big bear hug. 00:28:35.059 --> 00:28:35.839 He has to say, 00:28:35.939 --> 00:28:36.899 do not cling to me. 00:28:36.959 --> 00:28:37.659 He's probably pulling 00:28:37.659 --> 00:28:38.699 her arms off 00:28:38.699 --> 00:28:40.439 because she's got her arms 00:28:40.439 --> 00:28:41.379 wrapped around him 00:28:41.379 --> 00:28:43.379 and she realizes 00:28:43.379 --> 00:28:44.000 in that moment 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:44.759 that the power 00:28:44.759 --> 00:28:45.439 of the resurrection, 00:28:45.659 --> 00:28:46.959 that it is truly physical, 00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:48.119 that he's there. 00:28:48.199 --> 00:28:48.799 What is happening? 00:28:48.939 --> 00:28:49.679 The gardener 00:28:49.679 --> 00:28:50.839 of the resurrection 00:28:50.839 --> 00:28:51.599 is there 00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:53.099 and he is proclaiming 00:28:53.659 --> 00:28:54.619 in his resurrection, 00:28:55.199 --> 00:28:56.219 what is God saying to you? 00:28:56.220 --> 00:28:56.600 He's saying, 00:28:56.700 --> 00:28:56.779 look, 00:28:56.860 --> 00:28:58.539 I made this world 00:28:58.539 --> 00:28:59.559 and I'm not going 00:28:59.559 --> 00:29:00.420 to let it go away. 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:03.059 I'm here to reorder it, 00:29:03.120 --> 00:29:03.720 to reshape it, 00:29:03.740 --> 00:29:04.360 to remake it 00:29:04.360 --> 00:29:05.500 and it begins with Jesus. 00:29:05.640 --> 00:29:06.460 He's physical, 00:29:07.579 --> 00:29:09.120 meaning that if you have 00:29:09.120 --> 00:29:10.339 things about this life 00:29:10.339 --> 00:29:10.980 that you love 00:29:10.980 --> 00:29:11.740 and I bet you do, 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:14.420 gifts and your physicality 00:29:14.420 --> 00:29:16.000 and the people around you, 00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:17.920 the resurrection promises 00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:19.420 God is not letting 00:29:19.420 --> 00:29:20.680 creation order go. 00:29:21.580 --> 00:29:23.460 This is not some Gnostic text 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:24.660 where it's only about 00:29:24.660 --> 00:29:25.200 the spiritual, 00:29:25.340 --> 00:29:25.940 no, not at all. 00:29:26.539 --> 00:29:27.640 In his physicality, 00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:29.000 in the fact that he hugs her, 00:29:29.259 --> 00:29:30.019 she hugs him. 00:29:30.259 --> 00:29:30.920 We're being told 00:29:30.920 --> 00:29:32.240 he has come to remake 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:33.060 this world 00:29:33.060 --> 00:29:34.380 and renew it physically, 00:29:34.840 --> 00:29:35.160 finally, 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:37.200 and ultimately forever 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:38.460 and you see, 00:29:38.660 --> 00:29:41.420 when she says, 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:43.400 when she says, 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:44.320 when she supposes 00:29:44.320 --> 00:29:45.220 he's the gardener, 00:29:45.320 --> 00:29:46.580 she's not wrong. 00:29:46.900 --> 00:29:47.539 She's not wrong 00:29:47.539 --> 00:29:49.259 because what John does 00:29:49.259 --> 00:29:50.120 over and over again 00:29:50.119 --> 00:29:51.059 in John's gospel 00:29:51.059 --> 00:29:52.119 is he brings us back 00:29:52.119 --> 00:29:53.199 to the creation story 00:29:53.199 --> 00:29:55.779 and in the very beginning 00:29:55.779 --> 00:29:56.459 of world history, 00:29:56.679 --> 00:29:57.059 God, 00:29:57.439 --> 00:29:58.579 God the son here, 00:29:58.939 --> 00:30:00.319 made the world 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:01.399 and the very first thing 00:30:01.399 --> 00:30:01.939 he did 00:30:01.939 --> 00:30:03.159 was he organized 00:30:03.159 --> 00:30:04.079 a beautiful garden 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:04.699 called Eden 00:30:04.699 --> 00:30:05.819 and he, 00:30:05.979 --> 00:30:06.419 this son, 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:07.919 is the gardener 00:30:07.919 --> 00:30:08.500 of creation. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:10.099 He made the garden 00:30:10.099 --> 00:30:10.679 in the beginning. 00:30:10.839 --> 00:30:11.579 He upheld it 00:30:11.579 --> 00:30:13.099 and it just so happens, 00:30:13.159 --> 00:30:14.079 it just so happens 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:15.119 that in John 18, 00:30:15.179 --> 00:30:15.739 41, 00:30:16.359 --> 00:30:17.599 John points out for us 00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:19.139 that the very place 00:30:19.140 --> 00:30:20.759 where Jesus was being crucified 00:30:20.759 --> 00:30:22.540 was next to a garden. 00:30:23.420 --> 00:30:23.800 Why? 00:30:24.860 --> 00:30:26.120 Because Jesus Christ 00:30:26.120 --> 00:30:26.980 who is God, 00:30:27.080 --> 00:30:28.200 the gardener of creation, 00:30:28.360 --> 00:30:29.860 but also the son of Adam, 00:30:30.820 --> 00:30:31.800 the second human, 00:30:31.920 --> 00:30:32.900 the second Adam, 00:30:33.080 --> 00:30:33.820 the one who came 00:30:33.820 --> 00:30:35.040 to fix what Adam 00:30:35.040 --> 00:30:36.080 broke in that garden, 00:30:36.380 --> 00:30:38.160 he hung upon the cursed tree 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:40.220 just next to the garden 00:30:40.220 --> 00:30:42.420 so that his dead body 00:30:42.420 --> 00:30:43.080 would enter 00:30:43.080 --> 00:30:44.160 and blast open 00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:45.100 the gates of Eden 00:30:45.100 --> 00:30:46.180 and you could enter in. 00:30:46.180 --> 00:30:47.140 You see, 00:30:47.360 --> 00:30:48.060 when he comes out 00:30:48.060 --> 00:30:48.440 of the grave 00:30:48.440 --> 00:30:49.019 on the third day, 00:30:49.080 --> 00:30:50.019 he is not only 00:30:50.019 --> 00:30:51.240 the gardener of creation, 00:30:51.420 --> 00:30:52.480 he is now the gardener 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:53.600 of new creation. 00:30:54.500 --> 00:30:55.640 He is the tree 00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:56.539 of life himself. 00:30:56.660 --> 00:30:57.200 The tree of life 00:30:57.200 --> 00:30:58.100 now stands there 00:30:58.100 --> 00:30:58.779 in the middle 00:30:58.779 --> 00:30:59.380 of the garden 00:30:59.380 --> 00:31:00.080 of Eden, 00:31:00.140 --> 00:31:00.799 the new Eden 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:01.980 and that's what 00:31:01.980 --> 00:31:03.160 Revelation 22 says 00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:03.820 that the story 00:31:03.820 --> 00:31:04.400 of the world 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:05.920 is us running away 00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:07.080 from that beautiful garden 00:31:07.080 --> 00:31:08.980 and Jesus bringing us 00:31:08.980 --> 00:31:09.539 back to it. 00:31:09.580 --> 00:31:10.500 He is the gardener. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:11.900 The gardener of creation 00:31:11.900 --> 00:31:12.900 here becomes the gardener 00:31:12.900 --> 00:31:13.960 of the new creation 00:31:13.960 --> 00:31:14.680 and so finally, 00:31:14.860 --> 00:31:15.600 second application, 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:16.240 that means, 00:31:17.180 --> 00:31:17.980 look at what he says 00:31:17.980 --> 00:31:18.259 to her. 00:31:18.340 --> 00:31:18.740 He says, 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:20.680 don't cling to me. 00:31:20.940 --> 00:31:22.140 I have not yet ascended. 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:24.220 I go to my God 00:31:24.220 --> 00:31:24.880 and your God, 00:31:24.980 --> 00:31:25.600 my father, 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:26.340 your father. 00:31:26.660 --> 00:31:27.559 What is that language? 00:31:27.720 --> 00:31:29.380 That is covenant language. 00:31:29.640 --> 00:31:30.420 That is the language 00:31:30.420 --> 00:31:31.039 that comes from 00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:32.200 the Abrahamic covenant 00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:34.380 where God promised 00:31:34.380 --> 00:31:35.000 to Abraham, 00:31:35.519 --> 00:31:36.180 they will be, 00:31:36.360 --> 00:31:37.660 you will be my people, 00:31:37.840 --> 00:31:38.880 I will be your God 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:39.779 and now he is saying 00:31:39.779 --> 00:31:40.079 it to her 00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:40.980 for the first time. 00:31:41.460 --> 00:31:42.120 The resurrection 00:31:42.120 --> 00:31:43.299 fulfills 00:31:43.299 --> 00:31:45.240 all the covenant promises 00:31:45.240 --> 00:31:46.660 of the Old Testament 00:31:46.660 --> 00:31:47.700 and what is he saying? 00:31:47.740 --> 00:31:48.339 Don't hold on to me 00:31:48.339 --> 00:31:48.980 because I have got to go 00:31:48.980 --> 00:31:50.059 prepare a place for you 00:31:50.059 --> 00:31:51.960 and you see what he is saying? 00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:52.140 He said, 00:31:52.200 --> 00:31:52.839 because the covenant 00:31:52.839 --> 00:31:53.539 is fulfilled, 00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:55.940 everything that is true 00:31:55.940 --> 00:31:56.880 of me right now 00:31:56.880 --> 00:31:57.480 physically, 00:31:58.180 --> 00:31:59.099 resurrected from the dead 00:31:59.099 --> 00:32:00.599 is going to be yours as well 00:32:00.599 --> 00:32:02.720 so don't hold on to me. 00:32:02.759 --> 00:32:03.700 I go and prepare a place 00:32:03.700 --> 00:32:03.960 for you. 00:32:03.980 --> 00:32:04.539 Now that means, 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:07.259 and this is the last word, 00:32:08.460 --> 00:32:09.339 the resurrection 00:32:09.339 --> 00:32:10.539 that has already taken place 00:32:10.539 --> 00:32:11.220 in the past 00:32:11.220 --> 00:32:12.059 in Jesus' life 00:32:12.059 --> 00:32:13.319 means that your sins 00:32:13.319 --> 00:32:14.200 are forgiven today, 00:32:14.339 --> 00:32:14.720 that you, 00:32:15.180 --> 00:32:16.960 he defeated death and sin 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:18.039 and therefore you today 00:32:18.039 --> 00:32:18.720 can be forgiven 00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:21.220 but it also has to point you forward 00:32:21.220 --> 00:32:22.659 to what is not yet 00:32:22.659 --> 00:32:23.500 about the resurrection 00:32:23.500 --> 00:32:24.700 and that is that 00:32:24.700 --> 00:32:25.240 you still live 00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:26.240 in the veil of tears 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:27.139 and so if you come today 00:32:27.139 --> 00:32:27.599 and you say, 00:32:27.899 --> 00:32:30.079 yeah and my body 00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:31.680 is hurting today 00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:35.240 and my job is miserable 00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:38.879 and I've just lost somebody 00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:40.360 and there's the, 00:32:40.600 --> 00:32:41.440 we've got the diagnosis 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:42.680 that it's not going to go away 00:32:42.680 --> 00:32:44.140 and that's true 00:32:44.140 --> 00:32:44.740 of all of us 00:32:44.740 --> 00:32:45.600 at different times in life. 00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:46.380 It's coming, right? 00:32:47.340 --> 00:32:48.540 We're all in different places 00:32:48.540 --> 00:32:49.700 of suffering today. 00:32:50.260 --> 00:32:50.920 You've got to know 00:32:50.920 --> 00:32:51.560 that the resurrection 00:32:51.560 --> 00:32:52.600 is now 00:32:52.600 --> 00:32:54.080 and not yet 00:32:54.080 --> 00:32:55.780 and that everything 00:32:55.780 --> 00:32:57.040 that is true of him 00:32:57.040 --> 00:32:57.500 physically 00:32:57.500 --> 00:32:58.760 is going to be true of you 00:32:58.760 --> 00:33:00.600 and so I just want to leave you 00:33:00.600 --> 00:33:01.420 with these words. 00:33:01.900 --> 00:33:02.380 Paul says, 00:33:02.520 --> 00:33:02.920 therefore, 00:33:03.840 --> 00:33:04.200 you say, 00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:05.560 but the pain in my life, 00:33:05.559 --> 00:33:07.399 yes and the suffering 00:33:07.399 --> 00:33:08.859 of this present age 00:33:08.859 --> 00:33:10.099 is not worth comparing 00:33:10.099 --> 00:33:11.639 to the glory 00:33:11.639 --> 00:33:13.460 that is to be revealed 00:33:13.460 --> 00:33:15.460 in the sons and daughters of God. 00:33:15.579 --> 00:33:17.019 We will look back one day 00:33:17.019 --> 00:33:17.919 and say, 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:20.619 that was a faint, 00:33:20.779 --> 00:33:21.879 it's just a faint memory, 00:33:22.139 --> 00:33:22.960 the veil of tears, 00:33:23.879 --> 00:33:25.119 the life that I used to have 00:33:25.119 --> 00:33:25.859 that was so hard. 00:33:25.899 --> 00:33:27.240 It was just a faint memory 00:33:27.240 --> 00:33:28.200 and today you can look 00:33:28.200 --> 00:33:29.019 at every problem 00:33:29.019 --> 00:33:29.899 you have in your life 00:33:29.899 --> 00:33:30.259 and say, 00:33:30.440 --> 00:33:32.619 the life that is to come for you 00:33:32.619 --> 00:33:33.539 in Christ 00:33:33.539 --> 00:33:35.119 is unimaginably wonderful. 00:33:35.559 --> 00:33:38.179 And everything 00:33:38.179 --> 00:33:39.539 that is truly good 00:33:39.539 --> 00:33:41.519 you will experience in him. 00:33:43.819 --> 00:33:45.359 Mary came to the garden 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:46.659 to find a corpse 00:33:46.659 --> 00:33:48.259 and she left 00:33:48.259 --> 00:33:50.679 with the gardener king 00:33:50.679 --> 00:33:53.740 and that's the resurrection, 00:33:53.940 --> 00:33:54.720 that's what it does. 00:33:54.779 --> 00:33:55.619 The resurrection today 00:33:55.619 --> 00:33:57.179 can find you weeping 00:33:57.179 --> 00:33:58.740 at the tomb. 00:33:59.700 --> 00:34:00.980 It can find you weeping 00:34:00.980 --> 00:34:02.220 in whatever it is 00:34:02.220 --> 00:34:03.339 that's brought you to that point 00:34:03.339 --> 00:34:05.579 and it can change 00:34:05.579 --> 00:34:07.259 the direction of your life forever 00:34:07.259 --> 00:34:08.860 and give you true hope, 00:34:09.099 --> 00:34:11.619 hope in the time of fear 00:34:11.619 --> 00:34:12.400 that we live in. 00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:14.420 The good news, 00:34:14.599 --> 00:34:15.319 this is good news, 00:34:15.420 --> 00:34:16.219 it's his history, 00:34:16.299 --> 00:34:17.500 it has to reconfigure your life. 00:34:18.480 --> 00:34:19.619 So let it as we sing. 00:34:20.739 --> 00:34:21.159 Let's pray. 00:34:21.279 --> 00:34:21.440 Father, 00:34:21.559 --> 00:34:23.159 we thank you 00:34:23.159 --> 00:34:24.299 for the resurrection promise, 00:34:25.299 --> 00:34:26.380 the hope, 00:34:26.380 --> 00:34:29.599 and we come today 00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:31.140 to experience hope. 00:34:31.860 --> 00:34:32.800 So we ask that now 00:34:32.800 --> 00:34:33.440 as we come to you 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:33.880 in singing 00:34:33.880 --> 00:34:35.340 that you would help us 00:34:35.340 --> 00:34:36.800 to see what a morning 00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:38.640 gloriously bright 00:34:38.640 --> 00:34:39.440 as the king 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:41.480 enters into Jerusalem. 00:34:41.900 --> 00:34:42.400 And we ask 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:43.760 for that vision, 00:34:44.220 --> 00:34:45.360 take away unreality 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:45.820 for us 00:34:45.820 --> 00:34:47.160 and show us reality today. 00:34:47.500 --> 00:34:48.579 We pray that in Christ's name. 00:34:48.940 --> 00:34:49.180 Amen. 00:34:49.180 --> 00:34:49.300 Amen. 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:49.300