WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.400 Okay, for a little while we're going to look at this passage this morning on the resurrection, 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:11.759 and then we'll sing together and then we're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper, which 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:16.000 seems truly appropriate today as well. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.960 So I know there's got a lot of vistas today and maybe quite a lot of vistas who are not 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:26.560 from Edinburgh, so this illustration I'm having at the beginning might not mean so much to 00:00:26.560 --> 00:00:27.560 you. 00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:28.559 I'm going to read Rebus. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:34.200 Ian Rankin is an Edinburgh writer and he writes crime novels and he bases them in Edinburgh 00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:40.039 and of course his main character is Inspector Rebus and I love him and I love reading these 00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:44.000 novels because I really feel involved in them. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:49.159 You know when I read about Arden Street or I read about Spotterswood Street or St Leonard's 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:54.560 Police Station, not that I know that in great detail, of course, but I feel you know that 00:00:54.560 --> 00:01:01.960 when I pass these particular streets or police stations or iconic parts of the city, and 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:08.240 I feel really involved because I know them so much and it triggers the power of my imagination 00:01:08.240 --> 00:01:13.680 as I read the book and it makes it so that when I actually pass these areas and immediately 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:18.599 think of Rebus or I think of the story or I think of something to do with that. 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:26.919 However, when it comes to this chapter, this is the single most important chapter of fact 00:01:26.919 --> 00:01:30.719 that has ever been written, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:32.119 It's not fiction. 00:01:32.119 --> 00:01:37.599 It's not a novel so it's very different in that respect from Rebus. 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:45.599 But there is a sense in which it's similar because you are and I am also involved hugely 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:51.439 in this passage, you may feel it's very distant from you, very not relevant to your life or 00:01:51.439 --> 00:02:01.119 to your existence, but every human being is very involved in this account because Jesus 00:02:01.119 --> 00:02:06.359 did what he did for humanity and he did what he did for people. 00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:14.519 And your response to this story has huge consequences for the meaning and the direction and the 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:17.719 focus of your life now and eternally. 00:02:17.719 --> 00:02:22.520 And I know that very often we come to church and expect it to be kind of inconsequential 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:28.520 or maybe just a social hour together that comes and goes and doesn't really impact our lives. 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:35.439 But I really do hope and pray today, as I do every Sunday particularly, but just generally 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:41.360 when we are looking at God's Word, that it will impact all of us today much more powerfully 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:44.500 than even we anticipated coming to church. 00:02:44.500 --> 00:02:50.080 You may be set aside this twenty-five minutes just to have a quick wander through your mind 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:54.240 about all that you need to do in the next week or what you would rather be doing than 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:55.240 here. 00:02:55.240 --> 00:03:04.199 But I would hope and pray and plead with you to find that it is more significant this hour 00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:09.280 than you ever imagined it could be and that you will meet with the living God because 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:10.680 we believe God is living. 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:15.879 And this is His living Word and Jesus is a living Savior in a way that you could never 00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:19.360 have anticipated or expected. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:21.280 So I am just going to look at two aspects. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:24.640 This is a well-known story to us as the Christian church here. 00:03:24.640 --> 00:03:25.640 We know the resurrection. 00:03:25.640 --> 00:03:30.000 You have probably read Matthew twenty-eight hundreds of times and maybe it just seemed 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:33.000 like, yeah, I know that story. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:36.159 And that is really amazing. 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:42.240 So I just want to look at two aspects of this chapter today that I think remind us of why 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:45.919 it is important and also why it is very relevant to us. 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:50.000 And the first is the awesome nature of this chapter. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.159 So really there are awesome things happening in this chapter. 00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:58.000 But also I want to speak about how down to earth it is. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.319 So there are aspects of it that are really awesome and powerful. 00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:04.319 They are aspects that are very down to earth. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:07.799 And I think that is really important when we consider it. 00:04:07.799 --> 00:04:11.079 It is awesome because of several things we see in this. 00:04:11.079 --> 00:04:15.239 And the first being that death does not have the last say. 00:04:15.239 --> 00:04:19.120 Now that is what we think, don't we? 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:21.279 And we use the word death in that way all the time. 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:22.279 It is the end of the road. 00:04:22.279 --> 00:04:23.279 Well, that is it. 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:24.279 Death is finished. 00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:25.279 It is covered. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:26.279 Death is the end of the road. 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:29.199 But death doesn't have the last say. 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:35.959 And it is a hugely significant fact for all of us who are mortal, all of us who will one 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:41.480 day sooner rather than later for some of us face death. 00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:45.759 Because this happened, and we are told very specifically, this happened on the first day 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:46.759 of the week. 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:51.480 Easter Sunday we know is the first day of the week. 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:54.759 And that mirrors creation. 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:58.919 It mirrors the very first day that is spoken of in Genesis chapter 1. 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:05.560 And on that first day when God was creating, He separated darkness from light. 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:09.560 Or He brought light into the darkness of creation. 00:05:09.560 --> 00:05:15.439 And what we have here in this terminology is a reminder of a recreation. 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:17.840 Something so cataclysmic and so important. 00:05:17.840 --> 00:05:21.319 It is like the original creation, but better. 00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:22.319 It is a recreation. 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:23.840 It is a new day. 00:05:23.840 --> 00:05:25.560 It is a new beginning. 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:27.040 It is an unbelievable hope. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:31.640 That is why when we celebrate the Lord's Supper and it talks about His blood being the blood 00:05:31.640 --> 00:05:38.560 in a new covenant, because it is a new day and something new and very important has happened. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:44.520 And we see it even in the circumstances of the hour that the people surrounding Jesus 00:05:44.520 --> 00:05:51.640 and the people around Jesus move from being an absolute and total darkness and misery 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:58.039 into the light and into the hope of meeting this resurrected Savior. 00:05:58.039 --> 00:06:03.719 And that newness continues to be hugely significant. 00:06:03.719 --> 00:06:05.879 That death doesn't have the last say. 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:11.120 And it is very significant when we think of the days that we are living in just now. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:23.879 We are sophisticated and world where we are so modern and so developed and mature. 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:29.920 And yet we have thrown ourselves into murder and chaos and killing as a European people 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:30.920 again. 00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:31.920 Great darkness. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:38.519 There is great darkness around us and sometimes you may see great darkness in your own heart. 00:06:38.519 --> 00:06:44.759 There is inexpressible guilt and a need for forgiveness and a despair. 00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:51.199 And that darkness can be changed into light when we recognize that death doesn't have 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:57.759 the last say and that Christ has risen in order to give us new hope and new life and 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.560 eternal life as we trust in Him. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.719 There is no greater day and no greater claim. 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:12.640 It's an act of unconceivable love that Jesus, the Son of God has done what He has done so 00:07:12.640 --> 00:07:19.360 that we, so that for us death does not have the last say and that we can know even though 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:26.320 we die yet we will live when we trust and rejoice in Jesus as Savior. 00:07:26.320 --> 00:07:32.480 So there is this reality that on the first day death does not have the last say. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:39.120 But also it's awesome because there's an angel in the story, an angel of the Lord, big, scary 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:47.640 angel, you know, and not a soft, sappy kind of thing, but a big, strong, fearful being. 00:07:47.640 --> 00:07:53.160 And there's an earthquake just to add to the awesomeness of the event. 00:07:53.160 --> 00:08:00.360 And you know Jesus later on in verse 28 speaks about having authority in heaven and on earth. 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:05.280 And it's as if these two things come together in the angel and in the earthquake. 00:08:05.280 --> 00:08:10.560 When heaven and on earth are symbolized as it were, or signified, or represented by the 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:15.920 angel who comes to bring the good news and by the earthquake which speaks of the whole 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:19.040 earth being affected even by what Jesus is doing. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:24.040 The unseen spiritual world and the natural world come together. 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:31.280 Even hints and images of Genesis chapter 1 and what God was doing in creation, angel 00:08:31.280 --> 00:08:33.200 of the Lord and the earthquake. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:43.600 And it's also awesome in the claim of Jesus in verse 18, Jesus said to them, all authority 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:46.200 in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:50.519 Not just all authority in the Middle East, not just all authority in Jerusalem, not just 00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:55.079 all authority for Christians or for those who believe, all authority in heaven and on 00:08:55.079 --> 00:08:58.199 earth is given to me. 00:08:58.199 --> 00:09:06.600 And it kind of that summarizes the old theology as it were of the resurrection, is that the 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:14.799 resurrection gives this amazing vindication of what Jesus came to do, what He taught, 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:18.519 what He claimed, what He said He would do. 00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:24.679 And it's vindication that God the Father is content and happy with what He did, that 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:26.399 He was innocent. 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:32.600 He wasn't paying the price for His own sin, otherwise He wouldn't have, He would have 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:34.199 stayed dead. 00:09:34.199 --> 00:09:44.039 He had paid the price for our sins, and He has risen defeating death having paid the 00:09:44.039 --> 00:09:48.879 price, paid the ransom as it were for our sins. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:56.360 And He's bodily resurrected to remind us that there's a bodily resurrection. 00:09:56.360 --> 00:10:01.480 It's not, we're not just going to be floating about as souls in heaven. 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:04.639 The victory over death in the grave is total. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:07.360 It will be both spiritual and physical. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:15.680 And He is this physical, real body, a death and corruption and disease is also defeated 00:10:15.680 --> 00:10:18.240 in Jesus Christ's resurrected body. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:20.279 And that changes everything. 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:24.279 Death is defeated and will ultimately be destroyed. 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:31.360 And for all who trust in Him, there is forgiveness and hope of a physical resurrection and living 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:33.279 with Jesus. 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:35.039 The physicality is really important. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:37.279 You know, the body is really important, isn't it? 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:39.120 Not just the soul. 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:42.639 Our bodies really matter, and the resurrection speaks to that. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:47.959 And so people saw Him, people touched Him, we're told that we've seen by up to 500 people 00:10:47.959 --> 00:10:49.480 at different times. 00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:55.639 Witnesses saw the resurrected Jesus because that seals all that He said and all that He 00:10:55.639 --> 00:10:56.720 did. 00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:02.799 All the gospels before, all that He mentioned is sealed in the fact that He is raised from 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:06.759 the dead and He did what He said He was coming to do. 00:11:06.759 --> 00:11:09.319 It's what all the Old Testament is pointing to. 00:11:09.319 --> 00:11:16.120 The whole story is in a sense pointing to this one day. 00:11:16.120 --> 00:11:20.879 And as we trust in Him, we can know that we are justified. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:25.240 Not because of who we are or what we've done or our goodness, but because what Jesus has 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:33.559 done in our place, we can be forgiven and we are empowered to live differently. 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:38.039 The same power that rose Jesus from the dead, the Spirit of God, that rose Jesus from the 00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:43.919 dead, Jesus' own power, what He was raised from the dead is available to us. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:48.399 We are given the Holy Spirit of God inside us. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:51.959 So for every Christian, the moment they've come to Christ, actually their resurrection 00:11:51.959 --> 00:11:52.959 has begun. 00:11:52.959 --> 00:11:55.599 The resurrection has started. 00:11:55.599 --> 00:12:01.519 So that even though we feel outwardly we are fading away, some of us more quickly may 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:07.799 be than others inwardly, we're being renewed because there's this great power of the living 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:12.519 God that has been gifted to us. 00:12:12.519 --> 00:12:19.759 And Jesus in His ascended glory prays for us and prays on our behalf. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:22.120 And there's no one like Him. 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:24.360 There's no one like Jesus Christ. 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:27.879 And He is a purpose in this world. 00:12:27.879 --> 00:12:31.919 Having authority over heaven and earth, even when we don't understand it, and I'm the 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:34.799 first to admit there's so many things that we don't understand. 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:36.320 We don't understand His timing. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:38.879 We don't understand He allows certain things to go on. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:40.840 But He says He has authority. 00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:45.480 He says He's waiting patiently for everyone who will believe to come in and then He will 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:46.480 return. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:50.399 We'll speak about that in the Lord's Supper that we do this until He returns. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:54.519 And until He returns, He says, I will be with you. 00:12:54.519 --> 00:13:01.519 And He says I've given you a task to do, is to share this good news with the world. 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:02.840 There's much mystery, isn't there? 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:06.199 There's much folly, there's much evil, there's much death. 00:13:06.199 --> 00:13:11.000 But please remember today, death doesn't hold the keys. 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:14.360 Evil isn't victorious. 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:19.480 Jesus Christ on the cross and through His resurrection has shown the world. 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:25.680 And uniquely, there's nothing and nobody like Him that He holds the keys and all authority 00:13:25.680 --> 00:13:28.960 is given to Him in heaven and on earth. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:32.120 So it's an awesome account. 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:36.440 It's awesome truth that we've been shared with in this message. 00:13:36.440 --> 00:13:40.000 But sometimes awesome just doesn't touch us, does it? 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:47.519 Because it's kind of out with our experience and maybe it feels a bit far away and distant. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:51.799 But can we also know that it's very down to earth? 00:13:51.799 --> 00:13:56.679 This story with all this awesome power is also very down to earth, both in the way the 00:13:56.679 --> 00:14:04.840 angels act, the angel acts and in the things that Jesus does. 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:08.319 So what's the most down to earth part in this chapter? 00:14:08.319 --> 00:14:10.240 Don't be afraid. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:14.720 That's what the angel says to Mary, to those that are too much. 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:18.639 What Jesus says when He says, don't be afraid. 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:22.320 You know the moment they'd come from? 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:23.320 Terrible moment. 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:26.040 They weren't going to see a resurrected Savior at the tomb. 00:14:26.040 --> 00:14:28.879 They were going to anoint His body with oil. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:31.600 They were going to do what they were doing in the Middle East. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:36.200 They would anoint the body with oil. 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:37.840 They were going in great sadness. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:39.639 Their life had been absolutely destroyed. 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:44.399 The one they'd put their hope in as it were, been crucified and taken from them. 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:52.759 Great darkness, post-traumatic stress, despair, a loss of dreams. 00:14:52.759 --> 00:14:58.120 And then, you know, the whole future had been taken from them as it were. 00:14:58.120 --> 00:14:59.120 And then an earthquake. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:00.120 And then an angel. 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:01.120 No wonder they were afraid. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:02.120 No wonder they didn't know what to do. 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:03.120 What on earth is happening? 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:12.519 And as it was unfolding, the recognition is that, and we don't think this very often, 00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:16.639 the truth, truth can be scary. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:20.480 The truth of Jesus claims, the truth of Jesus' person. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:24.519 The truth of talking about these things, not pleasant for us, not pleasant for me, we don't 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:34.960 like talking about life and death and need and guilt and big issues like that. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:37.159 It can bring great fear. 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:41.759 And yet, the angel says and Jesus says, don't be afraid. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:43.799 I know it's very down to earth about this. 00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:48.480 I don't know if this is just me or maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I think it's 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:52.279 remarkable that the angel just sits in the stone. 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:56.399 You know, he's this big, massive, scary angelic being. 00:15:56.399 --> 00:16:00.519 You know, he could have just stood up and been just even more frightened, but he's kind 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:02.279 of sitting. 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:11.159 And that's usually, you know, that, that, it puts people at ease a little bit when you're 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:15.240 just sitting down rather than standing awesome and powerful. 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:17.559 When you sit down, you're kind of putting people at ease. 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:25.000 And it's like this amazing spiritual being is just, come on, envision him sitting cross-legged 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.159 on the stone and just says, look, don't be afraid. 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:30.159 Don't be afraid. 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:34.360 And Jesus says that too, because Jesus knows what we're like. 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:36.360 He knows what we're like. 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:39.839 We tend to be afraid of truth. 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:45.240 We have his claims, afraid of really bad things and rightly so. 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:50.560 But when our trust is in Jesus, he says, don't be afraid because all authority is given to 00:16:50.560 --> 00:16:51.560 me. 00:16:51.560 --> 00:16:56.000 But there's also, I think, the understated message of verse 5 and 6 of the angels. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:58.360 The angel speaks and says, look, don't be afraid. 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:00.360 I know you're looking for Jesus who was crucified. 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:01.360 He's not here. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:04.240 He's risen. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:06.840 Just as he said, come and see the place where he lay. 00:17:06.840 --> 00:17:08.799 Now that's very factual. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:12.480 It's very down to earth. 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:14.839 It's very understated, isn't it? 00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:15.839 There's no big fanfare. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:19.399 They just say, listen, he's alive. 00:17:19.399 --> 00:17:21.000 And he said he was going to be alive. 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:23.159 He talked about that. 00:17:23.159 --> 00:17:26.720 In Mark 931, he says, look, I'm going to be handed over to the chief priest and we'll 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:27.720 be put to death. 00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:28.720 And the third day I'm going to rise again. 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:34.919 He told them, but it didn't seem to go into their mind and their heads. 00:17:34.919 --> 00:17:36.440 But they're just saying, look, it's all there. 00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:43.680 Don't be surprised just that you weren't listening to what he said he was going to do. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:45.320 Understated message. 00:17:45.320 --> 00:17:50.559 And then they say, and also Jesus says, go and tell my friends. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:52.880 Go and tell my friends. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.279 Jesus made close friends. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:00.160 He had that Peter, James and John as closest than he had the twelve disciples, the women 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:02.880 around him and many, many people. 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:09.160 And he wanted the women around him, Mary and others and the disciples to be told. 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:12.360 Tell my friends, you know, that's what you do, don't you? 00:18:12.360 --> 00:18:15.280 When you're something amazing to say, who do you want to tell? 00:18:15.280 --> 00:18:18.360 You don't really, well, maybe it's different now with Twitter. 00:18:18.360 --> 00:18:22.480 Maybe you just all put it on Twitter or Instagram. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:23.760 Would Jesus have done that? 00:18:23.760 --> 00:18:25.040 I don't know. 00:18:25.040 --> 00:18:27.640 But he wanted his friends to know. 00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:30.160 His friends were hurting. 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:32.080 His friends were in pain. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:33.079 They were grieving. 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:35.679 And he said, look, tell them. 00:18:35.679 --> 00:18:36.679 Tell them. 00:18:36.679 --> 00:18:38.759 I want them to know. 00:18:38.759 --> 00:18:40.720 And that's very real, isn't it? 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.319 It's not fabricated. 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:48.279 There's no great decree where he's breaking news to the whole world. 00:18:48.279 --> 00:18:50.879 That would be the storyline of a novel. 00:18:50.879 --> 00:18:54.519 What we have is Jesus saying something very simple. 00:18:54.519 --> 00:18:59.559 And then the most ordinary thing of all, down to earth thing is verse nine, where Jesus 00:18:59.559 --> 00:19:03.399 met them and he says, greetings. 00:19:03.399 --> 00:19:10.759 If we were to translate that today, he would say, and Jesus met them with a smile and said, 00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:13.000 hello, that's what it is. 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:18.200 He said, hello with a smile because the word in the original means joy and grace. 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:23.679 And he just said, hello, is that not the most understated return from the dead that you 00:19:23.679 --> 00:19:25.679 could ever imagine? 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:30.720 Hello to his friends, hello with a smile. 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:36.080 That's the encounter that we look for with Jesus. 00:19:36.080 --> 00:19:45.759 As that one word of hello, it's like all of his amazing grace and character is verbalized 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:49.960 in that single infinite expression. 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:51.960 Hello. 00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:55.400 And that's the kind of Savior you need and I need. 00:19:55.400 --> 00:19:58.280 And I know and you know if you're a Christian. 00:19:58.280 --> 00:20:02.440 It's not some kind of vague power out there. 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:06.880 Not kind of someone we're scared of coming into his presence. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:14.280 It's the one who says to us, hello, because he loves us and because he wants us to know 00:20:14.280 --> 00:20:15.280 his grace. 00:20:15.280 --> 00:20:20.920 And then he says, of course, in a very down earth way at the end, verse 20, behold, I 00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:22.600 am with you. 00:20:22.600 --> 00:20:24.800 I'm with you till the end of it. 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:29.519 That's what we need, a Savior who is with us. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:32.879 As we trust in Him, we can know Him. 00:20:32.879 --> 00:20:34.319 We can know His friendship. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:38.799 We can know His power and strength to overcome our sin and failure. 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:39.919 We can know His forgiveness. 00:20:39.919 --> 00:20:40.919 We can know His grace. 00:20:40.919 --> 00:20:46.039 He indwells us so that death no longer has the hold on us. 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:48.279 Its sting has been removed. 00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:54.279 And until the very end, with Him we have a purpose, a mission to tell people about His 00:20:54.279 --> 00:21:02.960 love and to see disciples being made so that He will say hello to many more people. 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:13.200 Now just for four minutes, along with it, I mean, there's a lot more in this passage, 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:18.639 but along with that awesome reality and the down earth truth, which I think makes it 00:21:18.639 --> 00:21:20.079 accessible for us. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:25.639 So you've got God and you've got us and we need the down earth truth to make the awesome 00:21:25.639 --> 00:21:27.960 something we can reach out for. 00:21:27.960 --> 00:21:34.519 But there's two clear responses also described here very quickly. 00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:40.240 And one of them is unbelievable is suppression. 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:45.319 So verses 12 to 15 speaks about the church leaders at the time, the elders, the assembled 00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:46.799 elders. 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:48.919 The guards went and told them what happened. 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:50.519 The guards saw what happened. 00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:52.480 They saw what happened. 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:54.360 They saw the resurrected Savior. 00:21:54.360 --> 00:21:56.080 They saw the angel. 00:21:56.080 --> 00:22:00.400 And they went and told the religious leaders who were the ones who would put Jesus to death 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:01.880 because they were jealous of Him. 00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:05.039 Didn't want Him around. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:08.400 Now think about that. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:10.800 They didn't not believe. 00:22:10.800 --> 00:22:13.680 They didn't deny that it happened. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:22.600 When they heard what had happened, they made this astonishing counter narrative to try 00:22:22.600 --> 00:22:23.880 and explain it away. 00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:26.799 And they said, oh, you tell, we'll give you lots of money. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:35.680 You tell everyone that the disciples stole the body away and you were sleeping. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:38.000 Dangerous for a Roman guard to say that they were asleep. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:43.039 But even the religious church's guards, if they'd been there as well, it was dangerous. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:49.200 So it's an early recorded example of alternative truth or propaganda or misspeaking. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:54.480 They didn't want the good news to get out that this remarkable thing. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:57.119 They didn't deny it. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:03.359 They suppressed it because they didn't want to lose what they had, their position, their 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:08.559 wealth, losing face among their contemporaries, the mockery of them being wrong and Jesus 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:09.559 being right. 00:23:09.559 --> 00:23:10.559 They're pride. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:13.839 They wanted to keep on hold of the authority they had of their lives. 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:15.559 But I want control. 00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:17.279 I don't want Jesus to be in there. 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:18.279 I don't want that. 00:23:18.279 --> 00:23:19.799 So they suppressed it. 00:23:19.799 --> 00:23:28.399 The grip of sinful autonomy being their own bosses was so great, so overwhelming that 00:23:28.399 --> 00:23:31.039 they changed the story. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:36.639 And it's a reminder for all of us, I think, that often it's not a question of evidence 00:23:36.639 --> 00:23:38.319 about Jesus. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:45.519 The quality of evidence of Jesus being resurrected and of his claims, the problem is not evidence. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:51.960 The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart, is that we have this antagonism 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:56.559 within us naturally against God because of our sin and our autonomy. 00:23:56.559 --> 00:24:03.119 And our wanting to go our own way, and he alone can break that because it's deathly 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:08.639 and it's destructive and it's deceiving and it's lies. 00:24:08.639 --> 00:24:14.079 And we see that often, don't we, the reality of the world, in the world in which we live. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:19.159 Chooses death and darkness and brutality. 00:24:19.159 --> 00:24:23.039 And people, when they hear the good news of the gospel, often treat it as scary or to 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:24.839 be suppressed. 00:24:24.839 --> 00:24:27.239 And very often, sometimes we do that as well. 00:24:27.240 --> 00:24:34.880 We'll suppress what Jesus is doing because it's too costly in our lives and we simply 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:37.400 believe the lie that it's going to be all right on the night. 00:24:37.400 --> 00:24:43.920 I'm sure it'll work out fine in the end, but that autonomy leaves us separated from 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:51.480 God's love and God's grace and from God's judgment. 00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:56.120 We're under God's judgment until we recognize that Jesus paid the price and was judged on 00:24:56.120 --> 00:24:57.120 our behalf. 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:02.959 And greater love is no man than this when he laid down his life for his friends. 00:25:02.959 --> 00:25:04.839 Suppression is one thing. 00:25:04.839 --> 00:25:07.479 And the other thing lastly is belief. 00:25:07.479 --> 00:25:10.199 We recognize that they believed. 00:25:10.199 --> 00:25:14.079 Verse 9 told us that they came and took hold of his feet and they worshiped him. 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:19.959 And verse 17, we're also told that they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. 00:25:19.959 --> 00:25:22.679 So worship, that's the aim of our lives. 00:25:22.680 --> 00:25:29.200 That's why we were created to be in a relationship with a Creator who is worthy of our worship, 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:35.039 knowing Him, knowing His presence, knowing His greeting, knowing His hello, knowing that 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:43.000 division and that separation being dealt with so that we can be in relationship with Him 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:44.000 again. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:50.279 And it's grounded in this down to earth reality that He knows what our lives are like. 00:25:50.279 --> 00:25:54.920 Psalm 103 says He knows what we're like and He remembers that we're dust. 00:25:54.920 --> 00:26:02.279 He knows that and He comes into that experience Himself, into our physicality, into our world 00:26:02.279 --> 00:26:03.879 and He understands. 00:26:03.879 --> 00:26:10.920 And more than that, He gives Himself for us in this remarkable way, the incarnate one. 00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:15.319 And we're called as these early disciples to believe. 00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:24.279 And believe faith is believing, having hope in what we cannot see but what is real nonetheless. 00:26:24.279 --> 00:26:29.679 And seeing and knowing that there is a very real spiritual world and being amazed by, 00:26:29.679 --> 00:26:36.279 go read 1 Corinthians 15, the amazing passage about the resurrection and its significance. 00:26:36.279 --> 00:26:38.879 Make your spine tingle. 00:26:38.879 --> 00:26:45.240 And Jesus Himself said, blessed are those who don't see like His disciples physically, 00:26:45.240 --> 00:26:47.319 but who will still believe. 00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:51.640 And we'd encourage like them to overcome doubt, full of doubt, aren't we? 00:26:51.640 --> 00:26:53.160 So many different times. 00:26:53.160 --> 00:26:57.519 It's easy to drift away from Him and from His truth, which is one of the reasons why 00:26:57.519 --> 00:26:59.799 we worship together. 00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:06.120 And remember, He calls us to respond to His living Word, to pray and be in relationship 00:27:06.120 --> 00:27:11.079 with Him and be committed to sharing that great good news. 00:27:11.079 --> 00:27:13.400 What a great calling we have. 00:27:13.400 --> 00:27:17.360 The empowers us just to live and reflect Jesus in our lives. 00:27:17.360 --> 00:27:19.519 I hope we are able to do that. 00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:21.519 I hope we love Him. 00:27:21.519 --> 00:27:26.800 And I hope if you don't know Him or love Him that you will meet Him today and that you 00:27:26.800 --> 00:27:28.160 will come to faith in Jesus. 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:29.160 I really do. 00:27:29.160 --> 00:27:30.680 I think that would be amazing. 00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:36.040 Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship 00:27:36.040 --> 00:27:39.600 of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore. 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:44.399 And all God's people say, Amen.