WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.080 Good morning, everyone. Good morning. We all look at things very differently, don't we? 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:16.200 I just want to give an example. I've got here a glass with some squash in. Hands up if 00:00:16.200 --> 00:00:24.280 you would say this glass is half full. Yeah, quite a few. Hands up if you would say this 00:00:24.280 --> 00:00:34.359 glass was half empty. Yeah, a few as well. One glass of juice with half amount in it, 00:00:34.359 --> 00:00:45.560 and we see it differently. Well, in our reading today that we've just heard, we heard the 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:52.640 account of what happened on the very first Easter morning. A woman named Mary went to 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:58.840 visit the tomb. Now, a tomb is another word for a grave, where the body of Jesus had been 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:05.600 laid. When she got there, she found that the stone covering the entrance to the tomb had 00:01:05.600 --> 00:01:11.560 been rolled away. She ran to find someone to tell them what she had seen, and she found 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:19.760 two of Jesus' friends, Peter and an unnamed friend, but actually commentators believe it 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:26.100 was John. And Mary said to them, they have taken our Lord out of the tomb, and we don't 00:01:26.099 --> 00:01:32.939 know where they have put him. The three of them immediately ran to the tomb. When they 00:01:32.939 --> 00:01:40.799 got there, they all saw the same thing, but they didn't look at it in the same way. Each 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:49.299 one looked at it differently, just as we looked at the glass of juice differently. First of all, 00:01:49.419 --> 00:01:55.899 we have Peter, who looked and was curious. We are told he went into the tomb and looked 00:01:55.900 --> 00:02:02.940 around. He saw strips of linen laying around and saw the cloth that Jesus had been buried 00:02:02.940 --> 00:02:10.640 in folded neatly and placed where the body had been. We can imagine Peter's curiosity and 00:02:10.640 --> 00:02:21.020 him saying to himself, hmm, interesting. Secondly, Mary looked at the tomb and was very sad. We are 00:02:21.020 --> 00:02:26.560 told that she didn't actually told that she didn't actually go in. She stood outside and wept. She 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:36.100 thought someone had stolen the body of Jesus. Thirdly, John looked and believed. We are told 00:02:36.100 --> 00:02:43.820 that John went into the tomb, he looked around, and yes, he believed. Now, I don't know much, 00:02:44.180 --> 00:02:50.379 how much John understood of what was going on, but I think he believed that Jesus had risen 00:02:50.379 --> 00:02:59.719 from the tomb just as Jesus said he would. So three people all saw the empty tomb, the same tomb, 00:03:00.379 --> 00:03:09.120 but we have three different reactions. One was curious, one was sad, and one believed. And I wonder 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:17.960 which reaction you relate to the most today. Are you like Peter and curious about the Easter story? 00:03:17.960 --> 00:03:27.300 Perhaps you have some questions like, did Jesus literally, physically rise from the dead? Or was his 00:03:27.300 --> 00:03:37.000 body stolen from the tomb? Perhaps you're asking, why did Jesus have to die? Or what does this story 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:45.540 mean for me? What's it got to do with me? It's okay to have doubts and questions. We don't have to try 00:03:45.539 --> 00:03:52.379 and abandon them and ignore them, but try to find the intersection of what we hold to be true 00:03:52.379 --> 00:04:00.459 and what leaves us baffled. We need to claim those questions and doubts as what propel us forward 00:04:00.459 --> 00:04:09.959 into a better understanding of God, the God we worship. God can handle all our questions and doubts that 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:23.840 are a very real part of our faith. Romans chapter 8 verse 39 reminds us that nothing at all can ever 00:04:23.840 --> 00:04:34.579 separate us from the love of God. No grief, no hurt, no anger, no mistakes, no hardship, no question, 00:04:34.579 --> 00:04:44.500 or no doubt. In his resurrection, Jesus got rid of every boundary that had the potential to separate us 00:04:44.500 --> 00:04:54.180 from God, even and especially the boundary of death. This is the good news of the risen Jesus. 00:04:54.180 --> 00:05:03.480 Perhaps you relate more to Mary. Mary thinks something valuable and precious has been taken from her. 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:13.000 She doesn't realise that Jesus has risen as he said he would. She's experiencing overwhelming loss and grief. 00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:22.280 Her weeping is completely understandable. She is upset and confused, stricken by the painful reality 00:05:22.279 --> 00:05:30.059 that comes with lost hope. Perhaps life and all of its challenges has taken its toll on you. 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:37.359 You have come here today hoping to hear the good news of Easter, hoping to be filled and transformed, 00:05:38.139 --> 00:05:46.259 but actually you struggle to share in the joyful occasion because life is just so hard for you right now. 00:05:46.259 --> 00:05:56.120 Perhaps you are held by grief in its many forms and can't see past the empty tomb to the risen Jesus. 00:05:57.180 --> 00:06:06.939 That's okay. Jesus knows and understands and wants you to come to him as you are, trusting in his deep love and comfort. 00:06:06.939 --> 00:06:17.620 He will listen to our burdens and respond with eternal promises, just like he did with Mary on that first Easter morning. 00:06:18.019 --> 00:06:24.120 He will meet with each of us. That's the good news of the risen Jesus. 00:06:26.159 --> 00:06:32.079 Perhaps you relate more to John, who looked at the tomb, saw it was empty and believed. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:37.000 Life is good. Life is good. You have no major questions or doubts. 00:06:37.500 --> 00:06:41.579 You believe Jesus is exactly who he says he is. 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:45.819 Your spirit is lifted on this special Easter day. 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:51.819 But God has more for you. That's the good news of the risen Jesus. 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:59.979 Whether you feel curious like Peter, weeping like Mary or believing John, 00:06:59.980 --> 00:07:05.360 God wants to remind you, wants to remind all of us that he loves us. 00:07:05.860 --> 00:07:13.879 He sent his son Jesus to die on the cross and then to rise again out of his great love for us. 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:18.620 He has a good plan and a purpose for each of our lives. 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:27.379 And he invites you to do life with him, just as you are curious, weeping or believing. 00:07:27.379 --> 00:07:34.060 God wants to lead each and every one of us into a full life with him. 00:07:34.620 --> 00:07:42.879 And when we decide to let him lead our lives, it's one decision that we will never regret making. 00:07:43.339 --> 00:07:46.439 That's the good news of the risen Jesus. 00:07:47.939 --> 00:07:48.920 Let's pray. 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:55.980 We thank you, Lord, for your amazing love for us. 00:07:56.640 --> 00:08:03.980 Thank you that Christ is risen, which proves that tragedy is turned into triumph. 00:08:04.759 --> 00:08:07.400 Defeat is turned into victory. 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:10.759 Evil is turned into good. 00:08:11.520 --> 00:08:14.920 And hopelessness is turned into hope. 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:24.420 Please help us all here today to know the risen Lord today and always. 00:08:25.020 --> 00:08:25.620 Amen. 00:08:25.620 --> 00:08:25.819 Amen. 00:08:25.819 --> 00:08:25.920 Amen. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:25.920 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:25.920 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:25.920 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:25.920 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:25.920 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:25.920 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:25.920 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:25.920 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:25.920 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:25.920