Will Easter Exceed Your Expectations? (John 20:1-22)

VIDEO 

Will Easter Exceed Your Expectations? (John 20:1-22)

GIST: Jesus came to bring abundant life in the midst of brokenness, devastation, despair, emptiness, fear, and death (to name a few ☺️).

Easter is often a springtime activity lacking any lasting meaning. I have four kids, so I get it. I’ve been to the Easter egg hunts.I’ve cleaned up the candy wrappers. I’ve dyed the eggs. It’s easy to get sucked into what we expect this time of year to be like, bogged down by what society has turned it into, assume we already know the “Easter story”, give half-hearted ascent to that message, and move on with our lives. The problem is, the message of Easter shows us how God came to completely exceed expectations. And, if taken seriously, it’s not something we can just walk away from.

Today, I want us to look at the events of the first Easter Sunday as recorded in John 20. We won’t be able to cover everything expressed in these verses, but I want us to consider how Jesus exceeded the expectations of those who first witnessed His resurrection. Here’s our gist, and I really want us to hold on to this truth: Jesus came to bring abundant life in the midst of brokenness, devastation, despair, emptiness, fear, and death (to name a few ☺️).

Let’s walk through this.

I. Brokenness

“1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

Three days after His death, Mary Magdalene, along with several women close to Jesus (as recorded by the other gospel writers), went early in the morning to anoint His body. The sun was just beginning to rise. They were walking toward a tomb expecting to see the disfigured body of a man they’d followed and loved— a man who had poured out His life to show them the love of God. In the case of Mary, this was also the man who had rescued her from demonic possession. It was a somber, heartbroken procession to say the least. The events leading to His death had been jarring and traumatic. Their current circumstances were eery and uncertain. Their expectations were bleak… but the tomb was empty! They expected only brokenness but found none. 

II. Devastation

“3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.”

John records that Mary Magdalene then ran to tell him and Peter what the women found. The two disciples then booked it to the tomb. John, referring to himself only as “one loved by Jesus, adds this little side note about outrunning Peter. There could be a spiritual reason behind this (he was eager to get there, but afraid to enter the tomb), or he might have just been proud of his athletic accomplishment ☺️. Either way, the passage tells us they weren’t looking for a miraculous resurrection. They both probably came expecting to see the aftermath of a grave robbery. Instead, they discovered… folded laundry. Robbers don't typically tidy up after themselves. Jesus, however, left the grave clothes behind because He didn't need them anymore! Peter and John expected a desecrated crime scene but found order. 

III. Despair & Emptiness

“11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 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." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to Him in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.'" 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"--and that He had said these things to her.”

John’s gospel then picks back up with Mary. After this emotional roller-coaster, she was distressed to the point of irrationality. We see this in a couple ways. One, she looked into the tomb and appeared unmoved when angels showed up and asked why she’s weeping.  Then, when she turned and actually encountered the risen Jesus, she immediately assumed He was the gardener, and, as such, might have taken away the body. Why? She was heartbroken and expecting only emptiness. Until.. He called her name. She heard His voice, and that changed everything. It does the same for us. Early in his gospel, John records Jesus saying this: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” ( John 10:27-28). Mary came expecting despair but found perfect joy.

IV. Fear & Death

“19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”

The day ends back with the disciples. They’d heard Jesus had resurrected, but were still hiding out of fear for their lives (they were the known associates of a man who had just been crucified by the Roman empire). Then, Jesus showed up and gave them hope and purpose. He showed them His scars and filled them with the Holy Spirit. They were afraid and expecting death but found abundant life.

TAKEAWAYS

We all expect things out of life. Often, we are frustrated when these expectations are not met. A frequent accusation against God is that He fails to produce the kind of happiness, prosperity, protection, etc., we feel we deserve or at least need. The problem here is that we're assuming that our expectations are the gold standard. We don't allow for there being a better plan in mind. 

C.S. Lewis put it better than I ever could: “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.” 

Stephen Curtis Chapman expressed the same thoughts in his awesome song, “See The Glory”: “What is this thing I see/ going on inside of me?/ When it comes to the Grace of God/ Sometimes it's like/ I'm playing GameBoy standing in the middle of the Grand Canyon./ I'm eating candy sitting at a gourmet feast./ I'm wading in a puddle when I could be swimming in the ocean./ Tell me what's the deal with me?/ Wake up and see the Glory!”

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t want this to feel like a blindly optimistic graduation speech. I’m not saying if you come to Jesus life will be easy and all the pain of this world will just dissolve. That’s not true at all. This world will still hurt. There will still be brokenness, and devastation, and despair, and emptiness, and fear, and death. BUT, Jesus came to conquer sin, so it and its effects no longer have to have dominion over our lives because He came offering us rescue. If we believe in Him and give Him control of our lives, we’ll be saved; we’ll be His. Therefore, knowing we are looking forward to a day when life will be exactly as He designed for all eternity should change the way we see the pain of this world now. 

1. We see brokenness but know He came to make all things new.

2. We face devastation and remember He’s still sovereign.

3. We watch as He transforms despair into joy & hope.

4. We feel consumed by emptiness…until we find belonging in Him.

5. Our fear dissolves into faith.

6. Where there was once only death, we can now experience abundant life!

Don’t let the despair you’re dreading cause you to miss out on the hope He promises! Will you let the truth of Jesus exceed your expectations this Easter?

PONDERING... How Honestly Do You Pray? (Psalm 28)

VIDEO

How Honestly Do You Pray? (AM Sermon Notes)

GIST: Pray persistently. Pray honestly. Pray remembering who you are and what He’s done for you. And, pray for others to be saved. 

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 28

This morning we’re coming to Psalm 28. It appears to be a prayer of raw emotion. However, from what I’ve studied, it was also likely used as part of the liturgy recited before entering the temple. That would mean, this kind of praying was meant to prepare hearts for entering into God’s presence. That is exactly what we do every time we pray, so I feel there is something for us to glean here about our prayer life in general. Let’s read it, and then we’ll take it a section at a time together.

“1 Of David. To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary. 3 Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts. 4 Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward. 5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more. 6 Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. 7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. 8 The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.”

I struggled a bit with getting a concise sounding gist for this morning that would still make enough sense that if you walked away afterward (or fell asleep ☺️), you’d still understand what the passage is expressing. Therefore, I tried to err on the side of clarity rather than brevity for this morning's gist ☺️: Pray persistently. Pray honestly. Pray remembering who you are and what He’s done for you. And, pray for others to be saved. 

It’s a four-pointer today. None of those will be tremendously long ☺️,  but we should still dive straight in! Let’s walk through each section by asking ourselves a series of questions. First→ 

I. ARE YOU PERSISTENT WITH YOUR PETITIONS? (1-2)

“1...To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.” He starts here with both the→ 

Right Attitude and Action. We’ve seen this before, but it’s still worth remembering. He refers to God as his LORD and rock. Calling Him LORD refers to God’s complete sovereignty—He’s the one in control. Calling Him his rock recognizes God as the foundation of his life—He’s the one that makes David stable! He’s all-powerful and necessary for David’s life. Yeah, I’d say that’s a good place for our prayers to start. AND, that’s exactly what He’s doing here. He’s crying out to this God! Then, he demonstrates that he→ 

Understands Dependence. When he says “I need to hear from you, lest I go to the pit”, he’s expressing this truth: if we’re not communing with God, if Jesus is not a real and active part of our lives, there is only one alternative, and that’s Hell. He’s conscious of this from the very beginning of the prayer. God is everything, and again, he personally needs Him to be his everything! Keep that in mind, because he’ll come back to it. Also, he prays this with→ 

Persistency. He’s bold. He asks God not to be silent but to listen to his pleas for mercy. The idea here is that he’s been crying out, and he’s been lifting his hands up to the Lord seeking His face. But, at least it appears, he hasn’t yet seen a response. Are we persistent like this, or do we give up when we don’t “get what we want when we want it”? See, it’s easier to be persistent when you remember who God is and how much you need Him. It’s a lot harder to fake dependency for any real length of time. So, do you pray persistently with this perspective? 

Second question→ 

II. ARE YOU CONSCIOUS OF CONDEMNATION? (3-5)

“3 Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts. 4 Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward. 5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more.” This portion might be harder for us to process. Is he really praying for people to be judged? Can we do that? Should we do that? Let me try to answer that with a few observations. First, he→ 

Doesn’t Want To Be Counted With The Wicked. He’s honest in this section. Let’s not miss this. He doesn’t try to sound holy. He doesn’t try to fit his emotions into some kind of formulaic expressions. He’s real with his REAL savior. He wants to be with Him and doesn’t want to be treated like those who don’t love Him. Praying is pouring your heart out to God. You don’t have to sound right. You need to speak to the one who loves you. Pour out your heart, and if it needs changing, ask Him to do that! Secondly, he describes the “workers of evil” as having a→ 

Good Face, Bad Heart. This might not flow with the point I’m making this morning since we’re talking about how we should be praying, but I can’t just skim over the fact that we should be very careful that this isn’t a description of...us. These wicked ones put on a good face, but behind their masks was a selfish heart seeking its own gain. Man, we should take that as a warning. See, at the center of this request is a→ 

Call For Justice. That’s what this is all about: wanting to see God’s justice. It’s hard for us sometimes to talk about the justice of God. It’s easier to think about His grace. However, His grace is beautiful because He is just. He is not a God who winks at sin like it’s just not that big of a deal. It is a big deal. It’s self-destructive selfishness that destroys those He created to be loved! He takes this so seriously that He will not allow sin to go unpunished because that is not loving. It’s not compassionate to allow devastation to go unchecked and evil to flourish without result. So, He does punish sin with precisely the severity it deserves, and He chose to take that punishment on Himself, in our place, because He’s just and won’t turn a blind eye to sin. In essence then, David is asking God to be Himself, to remain just. And at the base of this call for justice is this imagery of→ 

Contrasting Hands. We see man’s works and God’s works pitted against each other. David doesn’t sugarcoat his prayers by the way, and neither should we. Yet, what he’s praying for here isn’t personal. These individuals are deliberately turning their backs on God, and he knows that results in punishment. We need to take the effects of sin seriously. The wages of sin is death, Hell, eternal condemnation. That’s why people need a Savior, not just adjustments to the comfort levels they experience in life.  David understood his position. Which leads to the third question→ 

III. DOES YOUR RECOGNITION OF GOD’S GRACE LEAD TO REJOICING? (6-7)

“6 Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. 7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” Nearly every time David prays, we see his petitions turn to praise. Why? Because if we’re honest with God and come before Him in truth, not just some kind of mumbling, we meet with Him and are blown away by what we remember there! What hits him first is that he’s→ 

Heard! How did he get from verse 5 to verse 6? Is he rejoicing in the punishment of the wicked? I don’t think so. Remember, from the beginning, he’s been conscious of his own position before God. He’s one of the wicked! He deserves justice, but gets mercy and salvation! Though he deserves the pit, instead he is experiencing the shield and strength of God. He’s trusted and has been helped. How wonderful is it to know that God really does hear our prayers. This is no trite truth. So, of course, this results in→ 

Praise! “He’s my fortress, so I will praise Him!” How else could he react? You’ve heard this from me before. How else should we react? How much praise happens in your prayers?

Which leads to the final question→ 

IV. DO YOU LONG TO SEE SOULS SAVED? (8-9)

“8 The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.” Coming face-to-face with his need and this broken world, he remembers that God is the Strength For His People. They, the whole world, need Him just as badly as we do. He’s their strength and without Him, they have none. He’s their Saving Refuge. Oh, this one has been hitting me hard the past few weeks. He’s where we belong. Everyone needs to know that! In a world of isolation and despair, He’s hope and He’s home! David sees this and cries not just for the wicked to be punished, but for them to experience justice through Salvation as they are Carried By Their Shepherd! Do you long to see souls saved like this? If you do, you’ll be praying about it.

TAKEAWAYS

1. Be persistent.

2. Be honest.

3. Take your position seriously. Remember the gravity of sin and the need for justice. Rejoice as a recipient of His mercy.

4. Pray for salvations. Not just improved conditions.

PONDERING... Spiritual Resurrection (The Resurrection of Lazarus Part 5: vs 36-44)

John 11:36-44  So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"  37  But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?"  38  Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  39  Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days."  40  Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?"  41  So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  42  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me."  43  When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out."  44  The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

Remember, this is one of the signs of Jesus that John records. All of these signs teach us something about Christ. Here, we see that the resurrection of Lazarus mirrors our own.

1. We're All Spiritually Dead

Colossians 2:13-14  And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,  14  by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:18  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

2. The Dead Can't Do Anything About Their... Deadness ;)

They don't raise themselves (even in zombie movies).

3. Jesus Calls Us To Life

The same thing that Jesus did for Lazarus, physically, He does for us, spiritually. This is salvation. Too often this is misunderstood in and outside the Church. It's not about bad people becoming good, or good people becoming better. Salvation is about dead people being brought to life!

Two Spurgeon sermons on this:

http://spurgeongems.org/vols43-45/chs2554.pdf

http://spurgeongems.org/vols28-30/chs1776.pdf

Ponder, pray, and propagate your perceptions!

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PONDERING... Killer Snakes and the Promise of Eternal Life

In John 3:14-15, right before arguably the most famous passage in all Scripture, Jesus alludes to Numbers 21:4-9, and compares Himself to a bronze snake. Let's look at that.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  15  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.-John 3:14-15

"4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food." 6 Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live."-Numbers 21:4-9

There are so many awesome parallels between these accounts. 

The people had sinned and were punished for this by killer snakes. In order to provide salvation from this punishment, Moses was instructed to make a bronze snake--the very image of what was killing them only without poison--and have people look upon it. 

We have sinned, and our punishment is also death. We might not be attacked by fiery serpants, but we are heading for the full wrath of God in fiery Hell. Jesus came and...2 Corinthians 5:21- "21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Our situation is equally dire. God, in His mercy, has provided us with an escape. By looking unto Jesus for our salvation, we will be given life!

Look, also, at it this way--Christ being lifted up (that is symbolic of His death and resurrection)--was an imperative for our salvation. This wasn’t an optional thing. Now, that is not to say that He had to die for us. We did nothing to impose this upon Him as a necessity. He could have left us in our sin. The imperative reflects our desperate need. There is only one way that we can be saved from our own death-leading, sinful condition. For that to happen, it was a must that Jesus be lifted up. Because He has been lifted up, anyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. 

Consider what the Israelites did with the bronze snake, however.

"1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. 4 He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan)."-2 Kings 18:1-4

Let us not be tempted to worship any sign of Christ in the place of Christ Himself!

Ponder, pray, and propagate your perceptions!

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