Going Away Empty-Hearted

Let me start with a scenario for you this morning.

Every day a gentleman went to work.

Every day he would ride the elevator all the way from his apartment down to

the ground floor of the high-rise apartment building he lived in.

But when he came home from work, he would only ride the elevator back up to the sixth floor.

Floor then he would take the stairs up to

his apartment many stories stories higher in the building he

did this every day unless it rained and on

the days that it was going to rain he would he would ride the elevator all the

way up to the floor of his apartment why well here's another one for you to

think about ann is lying on the floor dead there's broken glass and water all all around her.

Stuart is asleep on the couch, seemingly oblivious to the death that has occurred. How did Ann die?

Well, did you ever play those kind of mind games where you were presented with

a scenario and you had to figure out what happened by asking questions that

could only be answered with a yes or no?

Now, I want you guys to be paying attention for the rest of the service so so

that you don't spend the entire time trying to figure out what went on,

I'm going to tell you the answers to those two scenarios.

In the first one, the reason the gentleman only went up to the sixth floor on

his return home from work was because he was a short man, and the sixth floor

button was the highest one he could reach on the panel.

But on the days it rained, he took his umbrella with him so he could reach the

higher buttons for his floor.

Or in the second situation, it might help you to know that Ann is a fish and Stuart is a cat.

And the water and glass all around Ann on the floor is from the fishbowl that

Stuart had successfully knocked over.

So let's try one more. Get this scenario. On Friday night, a man dies.

He's buried on that same night. on sunday

morning some of his friends arrive at the

tomb to pay their last respects only to discover that

his body is gone what happened well that's

the situation we're going to look at this morning john chapter 20 verses 1 through

John 20:1–18

18 early on the first day of the week while it was still dark mary magdalene

went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance So

she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple,

the one Jesus loved, and said.

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.

Both were running, but the other disciple ran ahead of Peter and reached the tomb first. Verse 1.

He bent over and looked in at the strips of cloth lining there, but did not enter.

Then Simon Peter came along behind him and ran right into the tomb.

He saw the strips of linen lying

there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head.

The cloth was still lying in place, separate from the linen.

And initially the other or finally the

other disciple who had reached the tomb first

also went inside he saw and he

believed they still did not understand from scripture that jesus had to rise

from the dead then the disciples went back to to where they were staying now

mary stood outside the tomb crying as she wept she bent over to look inside

the tomb and saw two angels in white seated where Jesus'

body had been, one at the head and one at the foot.

They asked her, woman, why are you crying?

They have taken my Lord Jesus, she said, and I don't know where they have put him.

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, woman, why are you crying? Who is it that you are looking for?

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, sir, if you

have carried him away tell me where you have put

him and i will get him jesus said

to her mary she turned toward

him and cried out in aramaic rabboni which

means teacher jesus said do not hold on to me for i have not yet ascended to

the father go indeed to my brothers and tell them i have i'm ascended to my

father and your father to my god and your god mary magdalene went went to the

disciples with the news,

I have seen the Lord.

And she told them that he had said these things to her.

According to one of the passages of this same account, a group of at least three

women approached the tomb where Jesus' body had been laid.

They were going to finish the job of preparing Jesus' body for burial since

it was buried in haste because of the Sabbath.

As they got closer, suddenly a thought occurred to them, who's going to roll

away that stone, that huge stone from the door of the cave?

But in spite of the obstacle, they kept on going, not knowing what would happen when they got there.

When they got to the tomb, they found a scene that they did not expect.

They found the soldiers that guarded the tomb lying on the floor,

or lying on the ground, looking very much like they were dead,

and Stuart was no better to be. No, that's not in there.

But more amazing than that, they found the stone rolled away from the entrance

to the tomb, so they walked past the guards and entered the tomb where Jesus' body had been placed.

When they got there, they discovered that the body was gone. on.

Suddenly two angels appeared and proclaimed to them that Jesus had risen.

The angels told them to go and tell his disciples so that it was exactly what they did.

When they got there, they caught their breath for a moment, and when they began

to excitedly tell all that they had seen and heard, but the men didn't believe

them. You know, that's how men are sometimes.

It sounded like a bunch of gibberish to them. Guards that seemed to be dead. The stone rolled away.

Men in bright clothing. Jesus alive.

They seemed to gasp as they said it. None of it made any sense.

None of it made any sense to the men who were in that room.

But the message was intriguing enough to provoke two of the disciples,

John and Peter, to go to the tomb to see for themselves. selves.

So John, Peter, and Mary Magdalene ran off to the tomb to see for themselves

that they could figure out this mysterious occurrence that had happened that day.

There was an empty tomb. No one doubted that part of the woman's story,

but what they needed to decide for themselves was why it was empty and what it all meant.

What was the reason for the empty tomb being empty? The same thing that you and I must decide.

We have to decide that for our eternity.

We all agree that that there's an empty tomb. It's proven.

The tomb is empty. It's still empty.

You wouldn't be here today if you didn't believe that. But the question is,

how are you going to respond to that empty tomb?

How is it going to affect your life?

Three different people came to the tomb that day, and each one responded in a different way.

The first one to arrive at the tomb was John. When When John heard the news,

he jumped up and ran with all of his might to get to the tomb.

He wanted to believe. He loved Jesus.

Of all the disciples, he had been the most faithful. He had been in the courtyard

when Jesus was interrogated and sentenced to die.

He had been at the foot of the cross when Jesus hung there dying.

He had willingly taken Jesus' mother to his own home to care for her as his

own mother. he was so excited about the possibility that Jesus might actually

be alive that he ran faster than he'd ever run before.

But when he got to the tomb, he didn't go in.

He looked inside and saw some of what Mary had said was there, but he stayed outside.

Maybe he stayed outside because he had to catch his breath after the long run. I would.

Maybe he stayed outside because he was afraid.

What if Mary was wrong and Jesus' body had simply been moved to another part of the grave?

He didn't want to see Jesus all mangled from the torture of the beating on the cross.

What if once he and peter were inside the tomb guards who had been hiding suddenly appeared,

it could be that this was only elaborate hoax to

try to trap them hoax set up by the roman officials they'd taken jesus body

away to lure the disciples there and once the disciples arrived they would be

in the position to arrest the disciples and say that they had caught them trying

to steal the body to make it look like Jesus had risen from the dead.

After a few minutes, Peter arrived at the tomb. Peter, the impulsive,

brazen one, the one who has a mouth the size of his foot, walked right in without

the slightest hesitation.

He said everything just as Mary had said.

The linen that had covered Jesus' body was all neatly lying in place like Jesus'

body had had simply dematerialized from inside the clothing.

When Jesus arrived and entered the tomb, John figured that it must be okay to

enter, so he went in with him too.

They both saw all the evidence, but they had different responses to the evidence.

John saw and believed the empty tomb was enough evidence for him that what the

other women had said was true.

Jesus really had risen from the dead.

John didn't need to see Jesus to know that Jesus was alive.

He had heard Jesus' prophecies about his coming death and resurrection,

and now here was the tomb, the empty tomb.

It was proof enough for him.

There are many people like John here today. Even though you haven't seen the

risen Christ, you still believe simply because there's an empty tomb and because

there's a testimony of Christians throughout the centuries to the fact that Jesus is alive.

We don't need to see to believe.

We join with John in being the ones of whom Jesus spoke only a few verses later

in the same chapter when he said, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

John reacted to the empty tomb with belief.

But then there was Peter. Peter was a little slower than John to arrive at the tomb.

Maybe it was because John was younger than Peter, or maybe it was because of

all those years of fishing had given Peter arthritis of the knee and back.

Or maybe it was because he too was afraid of what he might find and was a little

little reluctant to get there too quickly.

He wasn't really afraid of soldiers. He had whacked the ear off of one of them,

only to have Jesus heal that and spare him from certain execution.

Peter wanted to see Jesus, but there was a part of him that dreaded the idea,

a part of him that must have been very afraid.

The last time he had looked into the eyes of Jesus was just after he had denied Jesus three times.

If Peter saw Jesus, he knew he was going to be confronted with his sin and guilt.

He wasn't sure that he could handle that. Peter's vision was clouded by the

pain that he felt over his past.

He wanted Jesus to be alive. He wanted it with all of his heart,

but he didn't know how he was going to be able to face it.

Maybe there are people like that here today. you want

to believe that jesus is alive you want to believe that he's forgiven

our sins you want to believe that he's overcome us but

you have too much history maybe you've got too much pain from past hurts maybe

you've just got the got the sense that what you've done is just too bad too

much maybe you've held off in your response to jesus love and wonder if it's too late.

Maybe it's just too difficult to believe that Jesus' resurrection could wash

away all of your sin. Let me tell you something.

Jesus can and will forgive your sin. If he's forgiven the sin of this man,

he can forgive your sin as well.

No matter how big or small, Jesus can and will heal your hurts.

No matter how old and ingrained your hurts are, Jesus can and will receive you

you and forgive you, no matter how long you've waited, even if you're slow in

getting to the empty tomb.

You see, there's nothing you have done that's beyond the scope of Jesus's forgiveness.

Peter went in and examined the evidence for himself.

He saw the linen that had wrapped Jesus' body in the piece of cloth that had been over his head.

It was enough to prove that something had happened, but he just wasn't sure

if it was enough to prove that Jesus was alive.

Another account of this event in the book of Luke says that Peter was wondering

to himself what had happened.

He was a skeptic. He needed more evidence.

Then Peter did one of the most foolish things of his whole life. and he did a lot of them.

After seeing what we would call a miraculous event, Peter did something that we would never expect.

According to the passage we read this morning, he simply left the tomb and went

home, unchanged, unmoved, undecided.

Something as important as the resurrection of Jesus, and Peter left without

even coming to a conclusion as to what had happened. If Peter had hung around

just a little while longer, he would have gotten to experience the same miracle

that Mary was about to see.

But he didn't have enough evidence to come to a conclusion about the event because

he didn't hang around long enough.

Too many people in this world and in the church today are like that.

They see the initial evidence of Jesus' resurrection and power,

but they pass it off and go home without coming to a conclusion.

Conclusion too many people don't have enough evidence to

place their faith in jesus because of the simple reason

that they don't hang around long enough to find out

they don't read god's word enough they don't spend enough

time around god's people they don't spend enough time in prayer they walk out

of the church door of the church just before the miracle happens and they miss

it they aren't present to see the miracle of god's changing power they simply

leave the scene on change and undecided.

I wonder what you're like today, still unsure of what had taken place.

Peter walked away. He hadn't seen Jesus face to face, and he walked away from

that empty tomb, still unsure what had happened.

Then there was Mary Magdalene. When Peter and John left, she stayed behind to

try to make some sense of the whole thing.

As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white

seated where Jesus' body had been, the angels asked a good question, why are you crying?

Well, duh. She had just come to the tomb to dress her master's body with more

spices for the long burial, and it was gone.

Back over in verse 1, we see that the women had come to the tomb while it was still dark.

That not only talks about the fact that the sun hadn't risen yet It talks about

the condition of their hearts It was the deepest, darkest time of their lives Mary was depressed.

Psychologists will tell you that depression comes When you have lost something

of value to you When you have lost something, whether it's a person Or job,

or anything When you've lost something that's of value to you You begin to get depressed,

You wonder what's going to happen to you.

The more valuable the person or thing that you lose, the deeper you sink into depression.

Mary had lost that which was more valuable to her than anything else. She had lost Jesus.

It meant her very life, and it meant a lot to her. To her, Jesus meant release.

The book of Mark records some information about Mary Magdalene that's not recorded in any other Gospels.

Now, you must know that this passage of Mark 16,

9-10-20, which I'm referring to, is also not contained in the earliest manuscripts,

but it was recorded after the fact as people that remembered what Jesus had

done and what Mary had done.

According to this passage of Scripture, when she had met Jesus,

Mary Magdalene had been enslaved by seven demons.

Jesus had cast the demons out. Jesus had freed her. He had released her from

the bondage of those demons.

That's what Jesus does to every one of us who surrenders to his will.

He releases us from the demons that are controlling us.

To Mary, Jesus also meant peace. You who are parents know what it's like to

have several different little people pulling on you at the same time,

all trying to get your attention to do something for them.

Imagine having seven demons living inside your head, constantly steering you

in different directions that you do not want to go.

When Jesus had released her, she had found peace that she had never known before.

To Mary, Jesus meant forgiveness.

Not only had Jesus released her from those demons, but he had released her from her sin.

It is also believed that Mary Magdalene was probably the woman caught caught

in adultery that the leaders brought before Jesus and set them in the middle

of the circle where Jesus was deep.

Wanting him to condemn her for a life of prostitution.

But Jesus had forgiven her from all her actions and told her that her condemners

were gone and he's not going to condemn her either.

And he said, go and leave your life of sin.

To Mary, Jesus meant someone she could believe in. When Jesus was alive,

Mary had been part of a group of women who financially supported his ministry.

She had believed in what Jesus was doing. She had believed wholeheartedly and

was following him day after day after day. Everyone needs someone to believe in.

To Mary, Jesus meant leadership. She was lost without Jesus.

She had given her life to Jesus.

Her life had brought meaning, his life had brought meaning to her life.

Now that he was gone, she was like a lost little puppy dog, not knowing what

to do or what to believe in.

She thought that all that was lost, and so she cried.

But then a miracle happened. It happens when we cry sometimes.

It happens when we're at the bottom of the pit looking up.

It happens when we don't even know we can look up at the bottom of the pit.

We're not even sure where we are.

But then the miracle happened. She came face to face with a man she thought was dead.

When she ran to the disciples, she shouted out, I have seen the Lord with my

own two eyes. He's alive.

And seeing the Lord, that's what Mary wanted more than anything else,

and she wanted it more than anyone else did.

She wanted to see him so badly that she hadn't allowed the comments or threats

that the soldiers made at the foot of the cross to push her away.

She wanted to see Jesus so badly that even though his face was covered in blood

and his body was mangled from torture, she didn't turn away in disgust.

She wanted to see him so badly that when his body was taken down from the cross

and placed in the tomb by Joseph of Arimathea, she stayed and helped.

And when the tomb was sealed with a stone rolled across the entrance,

she sat outside the tomb watching and waiting.

The only thing that could pull her away was the fact that it was the Sabbath.

But as soon as the Sabbath was over, she was back at Jesus' side again.

She wanted to see Jesus desperately.

She got her desire. she said, I have seen the Lord.

Each person here is like one of those three witnesses to the empty tomb.

All three of them had been told what had happened that day.

Mary had been told by the angels, and Peter and John had been told by the other women.

All three saw the same empty tomb and experienced the same evidence,

and all three had different reactions.

Many of us are like John. We see the empty tomb and we believe.

Jesus says that you are blessed. Rejoice that Jesus is alive.

It means that you will live with him for eternity. You believe simply on the

faith of the empty tomb and what was told you and what's written.

Some of us are like Peter. We see the empty tomb and we don't know what really happened.

We don't know what to believe. There's something going on, but we're just not sure what it is.

And so we simply go home unchanged.

And undecided. You see, I don't understand all this religion stuff.

I don't understand why people would willingly get up every Sunday morning,

give up their sleep and free time, and come to church.

There's only one way that you'll ever understand. Stick around.

Stay around long enough. Only when you come face-to-face with the risen Lord

and have him pronounce his forgiveness over your life and your sin will you understand.

Only when you experience Jesus Christ face-to-face.

Will you understand and believe? But you can't just come on Easter and expect

to have a face-to-face encounter with God.

For that matter, even coming to church every Sunday is not going to do it.

Coming to church every Sunday and believing you're a Christian is like standing

in the middle of the garage and believe you're a car.

It just doesn't do it. Just coming doesn't do it.

Stay a long time at the foot of the cross.

Stay a long time at the empty tomb. Only when we come and stay where Jesus is will we encounter him.

Jesus will come and stand in front of you and will ask, do you love me?

Then you can respond and receive the experience of the risen Christ.

I've got to tell you a story about the Islamic faith.

You know, we pray for those who are of the Islamic faith to come to know Jesus.

And did you know that for many years, even decades?

Muslims have been coming to faith in Christ when they see a vision of a risen

Christ coming to appear before them, and he tells them he is Jesus,

the Son of God, and God himself, and they fall on their knees and repent and

turn to Jesus as newborn Christians.

If he can do that to Muslims, I bet he can do it to us too, don't you think?

And then some of you are like Mary, Mary, you see the empty tomb,

you see the change in people's lives, and you think that there has got to be

some practical explanation for what had happened.

He really wasn't dead. He was just asleep, and he woke up in the middle of the

sleep, unwrapped himself from the inside out of those cloths, and went away.

Surely he wasn't really dead. Mary didn't believe at first either,

but she hung around long enough to have her questions answered when her faith

was grown. own, when Jesus appeared to her face to face, maybe that's like you.

Either you're not quite sure about what happened that day, or more likely,

you're not sure how what happened could impact your life on this day.

You say, what does it mean, and is it really relevant to my life?

Since Jesus is alive, Jesus can be to you all of those things that he was to

Mary, all those things that she thought she had lost,

but Jesus gave her release and peace and forgiveness and a sense of purpose and leadership.

So I wonder, which one are you?

My prayer is that if there is anyone here today who hasn't had that life-changing,

radical invasion of a face-to-face encounter with the radical and risen Jesus

Christ, that this might be the day.

What an Easter it would be. What a Resurrection Sunday it would be for you and

for us if today you experience the forgiveness and leadership of our Lord Jesus

Christ, and all you simply have to do is say, Lord, I need you. you.

I believe in who you are and what you've done for me, and thank you for providing

the forgiveness for my sins. Help me, Father.

Jesus, come into my life and lead me.

That's all we have to do. We just have to simply call on his name.

The scripture's full of times where people in their turmoil have called on Jesus,

have called on God, and God has answered.

You see, he's ready and waiting to start something new in you.

He's ready and waiting to raise you from the the depression and death of your

present life to a new joy, new life of joy in Christ. Maybe you're one of those that's just not sure.

You know, it's okay to talk to Jesus. It's okay and say, you know,

I'm really not sure, Jesus.

I'm not sure where I am. I don't understand all this. I don't know what's happening.

Father, the Father of the Bible, Jesus of the Bible, Jesus of existence,

I pray that you will make yourself known to me.

Scripture tells us if we ask God to do that, he will. Well, it tells us that

he's going to reveal himself to us.

Father, I pray that as we leave this service, this Resurrection Sunday,

I pray that if there's anyone here who does not know you,

or is not even sure about whether they know you, that we will spend enough time

in your presence so you will reveal yourself to us.

What a resurrection day that will be if today we come to do faith in you. In Jesus' name, amen.