Easter Sunday 2023
Introduction
I don’t remember much from the movie, The Wizard of Oz, except, at some point in the movie, flying monkeys attack Dorothy. If I take that one scene out of the context of the whole movie, I would think I was watching a horror film. We must always remember the larger context of the story we are in.
The Passage
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her. John 20:1–18
Explanation of Passage
On Thursday evening, Jesus had His last supper with His disciples. After His arrest and sham trial, He was executed under Roman law and Jewish approval. We also know from elsewhere in the New Testament, that Jesus died under Satanic approval (Colossians 2:15). What the Romans, Jews, and Demons didn’t account for was that Jesus also died under God’s approval (Isaiah 53:10).
On Sunday, the Lord’s day, the first day of a new week, Mary saw that the stone covering the tomb was moved (v.1).She then ran to tell Peter and John that Jesus’ body was stolen (v.2). After hearing the news, Peter and John ran to the tomb. John arrived first but Peter went in first (vv. 3-4). They saw the linen wrappings laying in the tomb with the face cloth rolled up by itself (vv.5-7). When John saw the wrapped up linen, he believed (v.8). We’re not told exactly what he believed. We know from verse 9 that John didn’t understand yet exactly what happened because He didn’t understand the scripture. After this, both Peter and John did not understand the scriptures, that Jesus must rise again from the dead, so they left for home (vv. 9-10).
While Peter and John went home, Mary apparently traveled back to the tomb as well and stayed outside the tomb looking inside while she was crying (v.11). Inside the tomb, she saw two angels sitting where Jesus head and feet once were (v.12). The angels asked Mary why she was crying and she said that “they have taken her lord and she doesn’t know where they put Him (v.13).” After she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus (and didn’t know it was Him). He asked her why she was crying and who she was looking for (a question he already knew the answer to; v.14). Mary thought Jesus was the gardener and somehow took Jesus from the tomb. She wanted to get his body (v.15). Jesus responded by saying her name. That’s when she turned and called him “teacher (v.16).” Jesus then corrects Mary for holding on to Him so tightly. Because He hasn’t ascended into heaven yet, she doesn’t need to hold on to him so tightly (v.17). Mary then went to the disciples saying she saw the Lord (v.18).
The resurrection is the story of the whole world. Mary, John, and Peter find themselves a part of that story.
Jesus Reveals the Purpose of the World in the Resurrection
Notice, Peter and John saw the empty tomb but missed what the full meaning because they didn’t understand the scripture (v.9).
God’s story is not your story. God’s story begins before history. In Genesis 1:1, in the beginning, God was already there. On the first Sunday, God began His work week creating the heavens and the earth. On Friday, God made Adam in His image to be a king over this world (Genesis 1:26-28). In Genesis 2, God places Adam in the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep the garden (Genesis 2:15). That is the same phrase used to describe the Old Testament priests in the temple (Numbers 3:7-8). In the Old Testament, the high priest would enter the holy of holies at certain times and represent God’s people before God’s throne. In the Holy of Holies, stood the ark of the covenant which had two gold angels bowing before God. God made a world where Adam was a king and a priest and a gardener. In God’s world, Adam and Eve fit into God’s plan, not the other way around. So, when we get to Genesis 3, and Satan tempts Adam and Eve to be the main characters in God’s story (Genesis 3:5). This sin through humanity into a whirlwind of sin. Each generation seems to grow more and more determined to erase God’s name from the front of the book and rewrite themselves as the main character. Do you know who tries doing the same thing in every other story? The bad guys. We are the bad guys in God’s story. Our sin is the reason every tear, sorrow, pain, and evil exists. Every page of scripture from Genesis 3 to Revelation 22 is about God saving the bad guys.
When God the Son entered into this story as Jesus the man, He entered the story as the main character to fix what Adam ruined. Jesus is the true king over this world. He is the priest who cultivates and keeps God’s sanctuary clean. He is also the gardener. So, when He comforts Mary, He is fixing what we broke (Revelation 21:4). He is redeeming the world. Jesus forgives our sins by carrying them with Him and dying with them on the cross. When Jesus died on the cross our sins died with Him. But our sins did not walk out of the grave on Sunday morning. They stayed in the grave.
You are in God’s story whether you like it or not. In God’s story, you don’t get the resurrection without the cross. You don’t get new life in Christ without first crucifying the old life.
Jesus Restores all that is Broken in the Resurrection
Like John and Peter, Mary saw the empty tomb and also missed what it meant. She thought her teacher and helper was dead. When Jesus first met Mary, she was possessed by demons (Luke 8:2). The man who healed her and restored her died on Friday. Now on Sunday, His body is no longer in the tomb. In her world, she was restored only so she could be broken again. But that’s not the point of the story because Mary is not the point of the story.
Even though God is the main character in His story, He makes His people better characters in his story as well. As God restored people to Himself and His will, He also restores them as well. Jesus brings reconciliation between God and Man through joy and hope. Jesus doesn’t leave you worse than when He found you.
A central point in Scripture is God loving people who don’t deserve it. The resurrection proves God is all loving and all righteous. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty our sin deserves. The resurrection also proves you sin against God. Jesus restores sinners. But He does it in ways that you may not understand.
How to Celebrate Easter Sunday?
1. Repent and believe.
Jesus is savior and Lord. You are not. You are either in Adam or in Christ. Everyone in here was born in Adam. We were born like Adam. We reject God, we live for ourselves, we live in sin, and we die. But Jesus came to be another Adam. He lived for God and died for us. If we confess our sins, our sins are no longer counted to us. If we trust in Him, His righteousness is counted to us. When we let go of our sin and trust in Jesus, God no longer counts our sins against us (Romans 8:1).
2. Rejoice today.
Death and sin no longer reign. Jesus does. He heals the sick. He forgives the sinner. And He raises the dead. Rejoice! This means everything that burdens you and enslaves you can die, and you can be free. Those burdened with sin aren’t free to do anything worthwhile. They are too busy trying to pay off their guilt. You are free to live righteously because of Jesus. You can live rightly in your work, family, relationships, business, finances, etc.
3. Rejoice tomorrow and the next day.
Easter isn’t a holiday of remembrance, but a holiday of celebration. The same Jesus who comforted Mary comforts us. The same Jesus who assured Thomas assures us. If you aren’t comforted and you aren’t assured, then it’s because you refuse to believe the tomb is empty. Jesus said we are more blessed who have not seen Him and still believe than all those who saw and believe (John 20:29). Why? Mary and the disciples lived in a world where death reigned and they saw the man who beat it. All of us were born in a world where death no longer reigns. Jesus does. So keep on rejoicing!
Conclusion
History is all about dead people. We live in the year AD 2023. AD is an abbreviation for Anno Domine which means the year of our Lord. If Jesus stayed in the ground 2000 years ago, who knows what our calendars would read right now. But because Jesus rewrote history, history is no longer about how everyone died but about how one man defeated death. All of your history books are about how death wins. Death always gets the last word. Well, not really. Now, Jesus does.