Resurrection Sunday, March 31st, 2024
From The Series: The
Providence of God
Part # 04 Providence
and the Resurrection
John 20:1-10
Mountain View
Evangelical Missionary Church
Happy Resurrection Sunday!
It is Resurrection Sunday this
morning here at Mountain View Evangelical Missionary Church. This morning, we
are wrapping up a four-part mini-series on The Providence of God. This
morning’s message is titled “Providence and the Resurrection”.
In the previous three messages,
we have examined how God was Sovereign over Creation, Sovereign over the
introduction of the Law and the purpose that the Law served, and on Good Friday,
we examined how God was Sovereign of the events of the Crucifixion and we
examined that providence through the actions of one man, Judas Iscariot. If you
missed any of those, you can get caught up by reading them on my Blog the
details of which are found on page 6 of your bulletin.
But let’s jump right into this
morning’s message if you please.
Please open your Bible to John
chapter 20 starting at verse 1.
READ JOHN 20:1-10
PRAY
Yesterday, I read a great quote
from Steve Lawson. Dr. Lawson said, “Today, we worship not a victim of
the mob, but rather a victor over the grave.” Let me repeat, “Today,
we worship not a victim of the mob, but rather a victor
over the grave.” I think that is a fantastic way that we should be looking
at Resurrection Sunday! We need to keep in mind that we serve a victorious King!
A Risen Lord!
On Friday we left here after the
service in a solemn mood, contemplating the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on
the Cross, and we should never forget that. It was so solemn, that nobody
remained behind for fellowship. But… we also left with a spark of hope. We were
called on to remember the Cross, but at the same time, to look forward… to the
empty Tomb!
We see in this passage of
Scripture that this is exactly what Peter and John were racing to see for
themselves. Of course, they were not the first to see the empty tomb. Three
women were the first to discover the empty tomb. After the crucifixion and
bodily death of Jesus, His body was claimed from Pilate by Joseph of Arimathea and
was joined by Nicodemus who brought 75 pounds of a mixture of myrrh and aloes
which would have been used to prepare the body for burial. All four Gospels
mention a linen cloth and burial strips. Three of the four Gospels mention that
the women were sitting outside the tomb observing what was going on.
The next day was the Jewish
Sabbath, so nothing was happening. As soon as they were able, per the Mosaic
Law, the women headed towards the tomb. There may have been something that the
women observed that they felt needed correcting. Perhaps in their haste, the
two men neglected to clean and prepare the body of Jesus properly or to the
standards of the women. Perhaps the blood and filth that Jesus was covered in were
not completely cleansed from the body. Whatever the reason, the women were the
first to be at the Tomb, even before sunrise.
The Gospels record that Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less, a name used to differentiate her
from Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome were at the tomb. The women saw that
the stone had been moved, and Mary Magdalene went running back to report to the
disciples.
She went to the two men who were closest
to Jesus, Peter, and the other disciple, the one that Jesus loved. This of
course is the name and descriptor that the author of the Gospel of John uses
for himself. Do you think there was a bit of a rivalry going on between Peter
and John? It kind of seems like a bit of a dig from John here, doesn’t it?
Look at verse 3, “3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the
tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and
reached the tomb first.” Again, a bit of a dig here at Peter from John.
Notice that John isn’t quite brave enough to enter the tomb. John was the
youngest of the Twelve Apostles perhaps still a young teenager. Some scholars
calculate that John may have been as young as 14 years of age. This was
probably why John was the only one of the Twelve present on Golgotha while
Jesus was being crucified.
Now look at verse 6, Peter being
Peter, ever impetuous, Peter blows past John at the entrance and goes straight
into the tomb. “6 Then
Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the
strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had
been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place,
separate from the linen.” We see the reference to “strips
of linen”. Isn’t it interesting that when Jesus was born, Mary wrapped Him in swaddling
clothes (see Luke 2:6-7) which were strips of linen cloth used to bind an
infant and here at the end of this portion of His earthly ministry, Jesus is
once again wrapped in strips of cloth? I don’t think that it has any
significant theological importance, other than the fact that it makes for
interesting bookends to the life of Jesus, and it illustrates the level of
detail that the Biblical writers took in the recording of these events.
Notice this other detail at the
end of verse 7, “The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from
the linen.” Separate from the linen.
These details bring to mind that during the night when Jesus received
His glorified body, it simply rose by passing through the cloths leaving them
in their place. We know that later on that evening when Jesus appeared to the
eleven when they were locked together in the upper room Jesus “appeared among
them” as if He could move through solid walls or doors.
John 20:19 says the following, “19 On
the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together,
with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood
among them and said, “Peace be with you!” It appears that in His
Glorified body, Jesus has the ability to move through solid things like cloth
and walls.
Look at the end of verse 8 and observe what effect seeing these things
had on John when he finally joined Peter inside the tomb, “He saw and believed.” Think about the honesty in that
statement from John. He acknowledges that it is only after “seeing” the empty
tomb that he can fully believe. We have to cut John a little slack because the
Apostles had not yet received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They were
still operating within their limited human abilities to grasp these great
truths.
I think for Believers in Christ it is easy to take for granted what a
great gift the Holy Spirit is for us. I mean think about it, these men spent
nearly three continuous years with Jesus and observed so many deeds that John
admits at the end of his Gospel that not even the whole world would have room
for the books that would be written. (John 21:25). Yet, all that experience and
teaching from Jesus went right out the window when they saw Jesus arrested,
Crucified, and dead on the Cross. Their faith died with Jesus on that
tree.
Until… they saw the empty tomb and believed. Their faith was resurrected
along with Jesus. I think that these statements just highlight the fragility of
our walk with Christ when we try to do it apart from the Holy Spirit. When we
try to have a relationship with Jesus based on our terms, putting aside the
arrogance of that for the moment, when we try to accept Christ in a limited
way, our faith is shallow and withers away at the first sign of hardship.
When we have a faith that is rooted not in our understanding, but
rather, in the understanding of who God is, which we arrive at through the
careful study of His Word and with the interpretive help of the Holy Spirit,
then our faith grows deep roots in healthy soil and we draw rich nutrients from
that soil to grow a healthy relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ.
Then Jesus appeared to the doubting
Thomas and restored Thomas’ faith by allowing Thomas to touch the wounds in
Jesus’ hands and side, Jesus gave the rest of us who were not there these words
of encouragement found in John 20:29, “29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you
have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” We are blessed in two ways. The first is
because we choose to believe, even though we have not seen. Our faith is
stronger than Thomas’ was. But our faith is not a blind faith. We
rely on the eyewitness testimony and the divine co-authorship of their words
that are recorded in the Bible. We also have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,
God living in us opening our eyes, ears, and minds to see, hear, and grasp
these concepts that God is teaching us.
That is why we are to show
patience and grace to the lost family, friends, and strangers that we share the
Gospel with. We saw on Friday, that the Father draws them to Himself so that
they may understand. Be sensitive to those whom the Father is drawing and join
Him in His work. We saw on Friday that we are the means through which the
Father works to accomplish His ends.
But Jesus tells us that we “are
blessed” because we believe without seeing. We are not believing based solely on
our reasoning powers. Not that we turn our brains off and not think. That’s not
what I am saying, what I mean is, that when we rely on just our understanding,
we will hit a wall, and we will have a crisis of faith when we come across
something written in Scripture that we do not agree with, or we do not fully
understand. When we are relying on our powers of reason, we run the risk of
being unteachable.
When we are unteachable, we close
ourselves off to the revealed truths that God has waiting for us. Truths that
may require faith to accept because they contain information outside our knowledge
set or experience. That is where the blessing of the Holy Spirit bears the most
fruit. When we allow ourselves to be taught by the Word of God, no matter our
age, or the length of time we have been walking with the Lord.
We run into trouble when we think
that the Lord has nothing new to teach us. When we think that way, we rob
ourselves of the rich experiences that we can enjoy when we draw closer to the
Lord by allowing the Holy Spirit to prompt and lead us.
Let’s get back to the Apostles
and their experience on that day. In one respect they really shouldn’t have doubted
that they would find an empty tomb. Jesus told these men at least three times
that He would be killed and then three days later He would rise again. The
Gospels record at least three other instances where people were raised from the
dead.
We don’t have time to turn to
them all today, but you will find the Scriptures listed in the bulletin. First,
there was the widow’s son in the village of Nain as recorded in Luke. Next was
the raising of the daughter of Jarius we find recorded in Mark 5:42. Thirdly,
we recall that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, which was the final straw
for the religious leaders in Jerusalem, for the events in Bethany with Lazarus
were too close to home for the elites, and Jesus could no longer be ignored.
And finally, we see Jesus of
Nazareth being raised from the dead here in John chapter 20. However, the
events surrounding Jesus are entirely different from those of the others for
three main reasons. First, the others were simply raised from the dead and they
would again die at the appointed time determined by the Father. Jesus was resurrected
into His Glorified body to never die again.
Second, the Sovereignty of God
was on full display in the resurrection of Jesus because it was Jesus who
raised Himself from the dead. Jesus was the only one who could raise the dead.
Look at John 10:17-18. Jesus is predicting this in detail months in advance of
the crucifixion. John 10:17-18 says, “17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my
life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but
I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority
to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Jesus predicted these events even earlier in John 5: 21 when He said, “21 For just as the Father raises the dead
and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give
it.”
Even back to the first year of His ministry, when Jesus cleared the
Temple for the first time as only recorded in John, Jesus said these words, “19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this
temple, and I will raise it again in three days” in John 2:19. Scripture
tells us that Jesus was referring to Himself at that time and not to a literal
raising of the Temple after being destroyed.
The third way in which the raising of Jesus is unique is that the raising
of Jesus was preceded by the unique death of Jesus. Indeed, we will all die one
day. Even Jesus died a human death, through the laying down of His life.
However, God was sovereign even in the act of the dying on a Cross, for the
Gospels make a point of saying that Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “It is
finished” before He gave up His life. Pontus Pilate was amazed that Jesus was
dead already when he received the report. Crucifixion could take days, and the
final cause of death was asphyxiation when the person on the Cross no longer
had the strength to raise themselves to take a breath. That was why the Roman guards
would break the legs of those on the wooden crosses to hurry things along. The
condemned would simply die with a whimper and a final gasp, not with a shout.
The guards were preparing to break the legs of Jesus so that He would
die before the Passover celebrations were to begin. Yet, the sovereignty of God
was on display there as well, in the prevention of the breaking of any of the
Savior’s bones. To completely fulfill the prophecies and for Jesus to remain
the acceptable atoning, substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf, His bones must
remain unbroken.
For that was the purpose of the death of Christ. To not only make a sacrifice
of His life for others but to become the sacrifice that was suitable enough to
the Father to repair the broken relationship between mankind and their Creator
God.
That was the plan, the plan that was conceived among the members of the
Trinity before the foundations of the World were laid. A plan that would repair
the relationship and bring us back to a relationship with the Father. A loving
relationship, a personal relationship, an obedient relationship. A relationship
that was broken because of the disobedience of our forefathers Adam and Eve.
You might think that that is unfair! Why should we be held responsible
for the wrongdoings of another? Mostly, because Scripture tells us this, and
ultimately, the Bible is to be our guide on these matters. Second, we cannot
accept the benefits for the many through the actions of one man, without
accepting the responsibilities due us from the actions of one man.
Romans chapter 9 makes this clear for us. Starting in verse 12, Paul
teaches us, “12 Therefore, just as sin
entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death
came to all people, because all sinned—“.
In order to claim the benefit we must admit the responsibility
we have through our common ancestry to Adam. This is known as original sin and
it runs completely contrary to what culture tells us, and a lie that we are
prone to believe, that we are essentially created good.
This is another of Satan’s lies, that are told to us so that we will be
lulled into a false sense of security and reject the Love of God as an unnecessary
thing unneeded by us good people. We must accept the first half to receive the
second half, the glorious gift of Grace.
In the 15th verse of the same chapter of Romans, Paul lays
out this case, “
15 But the gift is not like
the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much
more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus
Christ, overflow to the many!” Paul tells us that the gift far outweighs the
trespass. God cannot be outgiven. When we accept our responsibility for our
sinful actions, then God the Father multiplies that blessing through the gift
of Grace. God’s Grace can out-give our sins every day!
How is this possible, you ask? I’m glad you asked! The fourth chapter of
the Book of Hebrews contains some wisdom that helps to explain this to us.
Hebrews 4:15-16 says, “15 For we do not
have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have
one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let
us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” We can take
comfort that the Bible teaches that Jesus walked among us and that He was
subjected to all the same temptations that we give in to from time to time. Yet
he did not sin and therefore He remained the perfect spotless lamb and was thus
the only suitable sacrifice to the Father. Because He is familiar with our
temptations, Jesus has mercy on us and does not reject us. We become the
adopted children of the Father.
Precisely how does this work, what is required of us to do?
Romans 10:9 can’t make it any clearer, “9 If
you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Declare, believe, be
saved. It’s as easy as that. Once you sincerely declare, and sincerely believe,
you will receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who will guide you in
conjunction with God’s Word, to live a truly radical life than what you were
living previously.
Hebrews and Romans explain the how, and 2nd Corinthians
explains the why. 2nd Corinthians 5:21 gives us this explanation, “21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for
us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” We become
the righteousness of God because of the work of Christ. Because of the
free gift of Grace that He offers, which we accept by placing our trust in the completed
work of Christ. Our faith in the unseen, yet faithfully recorded life, death,
burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ then becomes the guarantee for us, and
we can add nothing to His completed work.
This faith, this assurance, allows us to sing along with the church in
Corinth with these words, “55 “Where, O
death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians
15:54).
As usual, we are running out of time, and we are going to observe the
Lord’s Supper today as a reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus made on our
behalf. Before we get to that, I just want to touch on the final point in
today’s bulletin and what really boils down to the application of this message
and really, the application of the whole series.
What significance does it have for our lives if God is Sovereign? If what
I have been saying over the past four messages is accurate, what difference
does the Providence of God have in my life?
One reason is that it gives a purpose for the things that we have
endured in our lives. Our hurts and our sufferings will not be meaningless. We
may not understand why we went through all that we went through, but we can be
like Joseph and exclaim, “You meant it for evil, but God used it for good.” (A
paraphrase of Genesis 50:20).
The second and biggest reason to understand God’s Sovereignty is so that
we may place our confidence and security in the completed work of Christ.
Let’s establish one thing upfront. This all depends on the character of
God. The Bible tells us that God can not lie. Hebrews 6:18 tells us, “18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable
things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold
of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.”
Titus 1:1-2 reinforces the same thought, “1
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the
faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—2 in
the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the
beginning of time,”
OK, over the past several months I have been building the case that God
is unchanging and now this morning we have confirmed that God cannot lie. We
can put our complete trust in Him because He cannot lie. If we find someplace
in the Bible where we think there is a lie or an inconsistency, the mistake is
ours and we must dig deeper to gain a better understanding of what the text is
saying to us. With that in mind, let’s quickly go through the following verses
and you can study them more in-depth at home.
John 10: 27-28 says, “27 My
sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I
give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them
out of my hand.”
John 10:29-30 informs us, “29 My
Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them
out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” Jesus
is using the imagery of a shepherd and His sheep to teach the security we can
find in knowing and trusting Jesus.
Hebrews 13:5 teaches,
“5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content
with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I
forsake you.”
Romans 11:29 reassures us of this fact, “29 for God’s gifts and his call
are irrevocable.” When God draws us to Him, and we are adopted into His
family, and we receive our share of the inheritance as Children of God, those
gifts are irrevocable.
Finally, this point from John 6:37-40, “37 All those the Father gives me will come
to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For
I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who
sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I
shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last
day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the
Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at
the last day.”
I want you to look at those words and draw
comfort from what the Bible is telling us here if the Father draws us, the Son
died for us, and the Gifts are irrevocable, since our Heavenly Father will
never be like some of the earthly fathers and He will never leave us nor
forsake us, no one can snatch us from the Father’s hand, and God can not lie… then
we can put our faith in Jesus and have assurance that our Salvation is
secure. If we can do nothing to earn it, how can we do anything to lose it?
We must not forget that great promise and we must
not forget what Jesus did for us.
CONCLUSION
You’ll be happy to know this
morning’s conclusion is brief.
Trust in Jesus. Trust the Word of
God. Be like the Bereans and search the Scriptures for yourself. If you are
here this morning and you do not yet know Jesus in a personal and intimate way.
If you have not yet placed your trust fully in His completed work. It is not a
coincidence. It is further evidence of the providence of God. He has put you
here this morning so that you can correct that in your life. Come and speak
with me after the service and I will tell you more about our Savior Jesus
Christ.
Let me leave you with this blessing.
24 “ ‘ “The
Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.” ’
Questions to
meditate on:
1.
Who does
the Bible say initiated your salvation?
2.
Who is
responsible for your salvation?
3.
If God is
responsible, how can we lose it?
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