Resurrection Sunday

Most of you, if you were even born yet, don’t remember where you were on the morning of March 25th, 1993.  I remember vividly where I was.  I was being woken up from a deep sleep.  I was a bit disoriented, but quickly realized the entire house we were living in was shaking back and forth.  Both Stacey and I threw on our clothes and ran outside, standing in our driveway while the 5.7-magnitude earthquake shook our house.  That earthquake, whose epicenter was near the town of Mt. Angel, Oregon, not far from where we lived, caused over $25 million in damage.  It was the largest earthquake the PNW had experienced in over 10 years.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been in an earthquake, but it is a surreal experience.  There’s nothing solid to hang onto.  It seems like everything around you is shaking and moving.  Even though it usually lasts only a few seconds, it feels like it goes on and on.

This is how Resurrection morning started for Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James. It began with an earthquake.

Matt 28:1-2 (CSB)—After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb. There was a violent earthquake …

If you’ve been with us over the last few weeks, we’ve been focusing on the final week of Jesus’ life, called the Passion Week. Today we celebrate the most important day of that week, Resurrection Sunday.  

The Sunday before the resurrection, Jesus entered Jerusalem.  A lot happens while He is in Jerusalem for those 7 days. One of the things that Jesus does during those 7 days is remind the disciples why He is there.  He clearly tells them His mission.  He tells them plainly that He is going to die, but that they will see Him again.

Matt 20:17-19 (CSB)—While going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples aside privately and said to them on the way, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death. They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.

I’m not sure what happened after Jesus told them that.  Maybe they thought, “There goes Jesus with those crazy parables again.”  Maybe they didn’t believe Him, or maybe they just weren’t paying attention.  Whatever they were thinking, when what He tells them actually happens, they kind of lose it.  On Thursday, He is arrested, and on Friday, He is crucified and dies just like He said.

As He is being arrested, Jesus tells the disciples this:

Matt 26:56 (CSB)—But all this has happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and ran away. 

These men and women had been following Jesus for three years.  They had invested their lives in learning from Him and anticipating the coming of God’s kingdom.  But then He’s arrested.

What is it that Mike Tyson said?

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

—Mike Tyson

Suddenly, the disciples get punched in the face.  All that bravado about how they would never abandon Jesus goes out the window.

Now we come to Sunday and the two Marys, who, I might add, were obviously the bravest of Jesus’ followers.  Am I right!?  They went to the tomb where they expected to find the body of Jesus.  

Friday was Passover, and Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, so they had to wait until Sunday morning to go to the tomb to anoint His body with perfume.  Why anoint His body? The Jews did not embalm, and it was so that as the body decayed, it wouldn’t smell.  That’s what they intended to do that morning.  They were expecting to find the dead body of Jesus.

Matt 28:1-6 (CSB)—After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards were so shaken by fear of him that they became like dead men.  The angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

The angel reminds the two women that Jesus told them this was going to happen.  At this point the women were probably thinking, “Oh yeah, come to think of it, Jesus did say some stuff about arrest, floggings, crucifixion, and resurrection.”  The angel was reminding them that Jesus had made some promises and was fulfilling them, just like He said He would.  

Did Jesus need the angel to move the stone out of the way so He could get out of the tomb?  No!  Absolutely not! The angel moved the stone out of the way so the women could see for themselves that Jesus had done what He said He would do.

Don’t take my word for it, the angel said. Check it out for yourself.  Come and see the place where he lay.

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I know that some of you here this morning feel like there is an earthquake in your life.  There’s nothing solid to hang onto.  It seems like everything around you is shaking and moving.  And it feels like it’s going on and on and on, and it may never end.

Your earthquake may be a difficult marriage, or a hard relationship with your kids, or your parents.  Maybe it’s financial difficulties.  Maybe it’s your job.  Maybe life just feels hard right now.

Whatever it is, it feels like you got punched in the face.  And the plan you thought you had has now gone out the window.

Here’s what I’m really wanting you to hear this morning:  Even though Jesus’ enemies did everything in their power to silence Him.  Even though they punched Him in the face repeatedly, both figuratively and literally, even though they threatened Him, arrested Him, beat Him, flogged Him, and crucified Him, 

Nothing could defeat Him.  

The cross that they crucified Jesus on did not have the final word.

Just before Jesus is arrested and then crucified, He says this to His disciples:

Jn 16:32-33 (CSB)—Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” 

My plan for you, says Jesus, is that you will have peace even when it feels like you’ve been punched in the face.  How will I give that?  Through my victory, He says, because I have conquered the world. My victory is your victory.

Later, in Eph 1, Rom 8, and other places, the Apostle Paul reminds us that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us, and that power enables followers of Jesus to find peace in suffering, and instead of living like victims of our circumstances, step into our role as overcomers. Instead of being victims of our sin, we can overcome and find freedom in Jesus.

If you are a follower of Jesus, this is your inheritance.  This is what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8.  He says that when we choose to follow Christ, we become God’s adopted sons and daughters, heirs of God’s kingdom and co-heirs with Christ.  This inheritance comes to us because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

This is why the resurrection of Jesus is so important for us to understand.  The final week of Jesus’ life was part of God’s plan to restore His family.  The Bible says we are separated from God because of sin.  We are separated from our creator, from our Heavenly Father.

There is no denying that we have all sinned and that sin is a dividing wall between us and God.  God’s plan to destroy the wall of division was to send a perfect sacrifice to pay the price for our sin.  A price that we cannot, no matter how hard we try, pay on our own.  So He sent His one and only Son to do the work for us, to suffer and die in our place.  

Jn 3:16-17 (CSB)—For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Not only did Jesus suffer and die for us, but in a declaration of victory, God raised Him from the dead.  This was God’s way of saying, the sacrifice of Jesus was enough.  The price is paid in full! God now offers us forgiveness from our sin, restoration in our relationship with Him, new, abundant, and eternal life as we walk with Jesus.

How do we take hold of this new life, this overcoming kind of life?

In Romans 10:9 and 13, it says how:

Rom 10:9,13 (CSB)—If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

I want you to come and see for yourself what God can do in your life.  I did this when I was in junior high, 46 years ago.  It has changed my life, and it has changed my future.  How did I do that?  I prayed a very simple prayer …

It is not a prayer that saves you, but it is a way to express your heart to God. Here is the prayer I prayed and if you have never given your life to Christ, you can do that today.

Here is the prayer: God, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to pay for my sin. God, I receive your free gift of forgivenss. Thank you that you raised Jesus from the dead declaring victory over sin and death. God, I give you my heart and my life. Help me to follow you faithfully and learn what it means to be your child. Amen.