Easter Sunday 2026 - Caleb Richardson

Oh, man. You guys look better than normal. Some

of you got sports coats. I didn't even know you

owned them. So starting with my son, I was like,

what? He came through the door and spoke. And

I was like, what is that? Well, we are here to

celebrate that the tomb is empty. The stone is

rolled away and Jesus is alive. All right. So

for Christians, though. Every time we go to church,

we say this around here all the time, every time

we go to church, the church gathers together

to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. So I'm

not sure how you came in here this morning. Maybe

you were drug in by a friend. Maybe you just

said, I haven't been to church in a long time.

I don't know how you came here, but I'm just

saying, I just want to tell you that Jesus wants

to meet you right where you're at. Maybe life

is tough for you. Maybe you feel like you just,

It's all you can deal with. I'm here to tell

you today, because of the resurrection, you have

hope. And so, as we look, as I look out at all

of you, you're all in different places, I know

that. Jesus wants to meet you right where you

are at today. And so, today, we're going to look

at the resurrection of Jesus. and a few of the

encounters and responses to that resurrection

and one of the things that we will see is that

jesus meets them meaning the people he encounters

he meets them right where they are he does the

same with us as well so today for most of us

many of us in this room you won't hear any new

information you've been down this road when it

comes to the resurrection What we, though, need,

every one of us in this room, is a divine revelation.

We need God's Spirit to press in. I can give

great information. We can read that scripture,

and it can bounce off you and deflect off you.

But what we all need is a divine revelation from

God. And so I'm going to start off by praying

for just that. And I don't care who you are.

You need the same thing. I need it, too. So let's

start off together. And I'm just going to talk

to God about that. And then we'll jump into this

text. Lord, starting with myself, I need you.

I need a divine revelation. I need the empowering

of the Holy Spirit to work through me today.

So will you grant that? And Lord, for the rest,

all of us in this room, I pray that no matter

where we're at, that you meet us right where

we sit. I pray for many in this room maybe that

this is a time that you want them to surrender

their lives to you. I pray, Holy Spirit, that

you will work in that too. And for us, many of

us in this room, we need to just awaken to the

way you come to us, the way you approach us,

how you come to us in relationship. So I pray

for that this morning as well. Lord, will you

take this text and you just make it come alive

to us by the power of your Spirit. Amen. So now

we're going to be in John. Now, if you didn't

get one of those little blue books, little blue

Bibles, not this one, but one in the back there,

I encourage you to just jump up, go grab it.

But we are going to be in chapter 20, although

we just started the Gospel of John, and we'll

go back to chapter 2 next week. But we're in...

In that section. So if you need a Bible, Bob's

going to hand you one. He's standing in the back

there. Just raise your hand. He'll grab one of

those for you. I just volunteered him. I think

call that voluntold or something like that. But

in chapter 20, what we're looking at in chapter

20 is that it's been three days since the burial,

crucifixion, and death of Jesus. So Jesus willingly

went to the cross where he became our substitute.

I want to expand this for a minute because it's

real important that even if you've heard it before,

that you remember it as we go into this. The

purpose and significance of Jesus going to the

cross, which is what we celebrate on Good Friday,

his purpose in doing that was to end the separation

that sin had caused. You and I, because of our

sin and because of all the sin of mankind, has

separated us from a holy God. And there was nothing

we can do. In fact, most of this Bible, half

of your Bible is pointing to Jesus because of

the problem that we got into back in the very

beginning in Genesis chapter 3 where he said

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

sin separates. The world's jacked up problems

all stem back to sin. And so Jesus had to come

because you and I couldn't do it. And so he came,

which was what we discover in John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

As we looked at in the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

That whole section there in the few verses of

John is all pointing to the fact that Jesus came

on a rescue mission. So he came to fix it, to

fix our problem. Like there was this massive

cavern between us and God. And Jesus knew that

he was the only way to fix it. So he came, entered

into our world. totally God, totally man, entered

into our world, walked, lived a sinless life.

But then that day on the cross, as he hung there,

on that cross, all of our sin was dumped upon

him. And the anguish that he experienced on our

behalf, and his blood was shed, and his body

was broken for you and me. And so... Why did

he do that? Because he loves you, and so much

that you needed a substitute that you might have

a way to God. So Jesus was raised up on that

cross for all of us. With great suffering, Jesus

died. In John chapter 19, if you just want to

John 19 · chapter mention

flip back there a little bit from what we read,

it says in verse 30 that when Jesus had received

the sour wine, which is basically just giving

somebody to stuff a stick up in his mouth, he

said, it is finished. And then bowing his head,

he gave up his spirit. He died. Christ was dead.

And for those who knew and loved Jesus, the unthinkable

had happened. And I want to challenge you to

enter into what they must have been feeling,

those who were close to Jesus. The Gospel of

Matthew tells us what happened immediately when

Christ died. And it's a crazy text, and I thought

we'd just read it because it should twist with

your brain a little bit, of what actually happened

in that moment. Matthew chapter 27, it'll be

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

up on the screen for you. It's starting in verse

51. It says this. Suddenly, this is right after

his death. Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary

or temple. This is where God was at, right? For

the Jewish people, that's where he hung out.

Notice that it's not torn from the bottom up,

but from the top to the bottom. Suddenly, the

curtain of the sanctuary, the temple, was torn

in two from top to bottom. The earthquake. There's

a massive earthquake. And the rocks were split

and the tombs were opened. And this is where

it gets crazy. And many bodies of saints who

had fallen asleep were raised. And they came

out of the tombs after his resurrection and entered

into the holy city and appeared to many. I don't

even know how to explain that. But something

supernatural happened in that moment. Then the

centurion and those with him who were keeping

watch over Jesus saw the earthquake and they

were terrified and said, Truly, this man was

the Son of God. So what a crazy, overwhelming,

supernatural experience that happened in that

moment. And put yourself in the shoes of one

of those followers of Jesus. So as for one of

those that saw Jesus, who loved Jesus, it was

over. Jesus is dead. They were probably full

of intense grief and maybe disoriented and maybe

overwhelmed and maybe scared for their own lives.

Jesus was dead. And this is what happened next.

Look at verse 38. After this, that's after his

death, Joseph of Arimathea, he's a very rich

man. Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple

of Jesus, but secretly because of his fear of

the Jews, which is reassuring for some of us

who struggle with boldness to step out as followers

of Jesus. You see a man right here going, ooh,

I'm hiding it. But he believed. And he went and

asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus' body.

And Pilate gave him permission. And so he came

and he took. his body away. And Nicodemus, another

one of those wealthy men who had previously came

to him at night, that's part of pointing back

to what we're going to cover when we get to John.

He also came bringing a mixture of about 75 pounds

of myrrh and olive. They took Jesus' body and

wrapped it in linen cloths with a fragrant spice

according to the burial customs of the Jews.

There was a garden in the place. where he was

crucified, and a new tomb was in the garden that

no one had been placed in yet. They placed Jesus

there because the Jewish day of preparation and

since the tomb was nearby. So Jesus is placed

in a tomb, and a very large stone is placed in

front. And three days now have gone by. And you

know what happens to a body after three days.

You know? It's rough. That's why they put all

that stuff around him. Make it smell better.

Three days had gone by since Jesus' death. It

was a sad, heavy, and confusing three days. It

is now early Sunday morning as we look at John

John 20:1

chapter 20, verse 1. Did you guys see the sunrise

coming up today? Isn't it beautiful? I always

picture this scene as kind of that moment where

it starts creeping up on Sunday morning. This

is what it says. On the first day of the week,

Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it

was still dark. She saw that the stone had been

removed from the tomb. So we know from the other

Gospels that There actually were a few women

that showed up at this. But what John does, and

this is really important, John wants to hone

in on this person, Mary. Probably they estimate

maybe three or four ladies were with him based

on the other synoptic gospels, the gospels that

work together. But John wants us to focus on

Mary. See, Jesus had freed Mary from possession

of seven demonic evil spirits and from sickness.

She was a jacked up mess. And Jesus heals her,

rescued her from a life of destruction. That's

really important to understand because you're

looking into the heart of Mary. You can imagine

the love and devotion that Mary had for Jesus.

I mean, you pick somebody that has actually rescued

you. It saved you from a life of destruction

and brought you to hope and purpose and health

again. You actually feel connected to that person.

And this is where Mary's at. So Mary and a few

of the other women come to the tomb to finish

this burial process, right? And putting more

fragrance and spices on. And we could go into

a lot of the detail that's surrounded. But basically,

it says in there, as the custom of Israel, the

Jewish custom. And that is, they have a process

of observing the body and then putting it into

a smaller little nook inside this tomb. And they

were coming to do that. But when they get there,

Jesus' body is gone. Look at verse 2. So she

went running to Simon Peter. Notice something.

If you're underlining stuff right here, underline

the word running. Everything in the Gospel of

John is like pregnant with meaning. It means

all the words matter. And so here's a good one.

It's like he's running. She just turns and runs.

Why? Because you need to know there's a sense

of urgency here. So she went running to Simon

Peter and to the other disciple, the one that

Jesus loved. Underline that. We're coming back

to that. And said to them, They've taken the

Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where

they put him. John, the author of this book,

describes himself in this event as the one that

Jesus loved. Now, a lot of people laugh about

this, because it is kind of funny. I mean, I

become like, I'm the one that Jesus loved. Like,

he loves you all. But John wants to make sure

you know that he was special. Okay, whatever.

But I think this tells us a lot about how John

felt about how Jesus viewed him. John knew that

Jesus was the creator of all things and the one

who came to us. John had walked with him. John

had watched him die. John is late in his life

when he's writing this and he's seen Jesus rise

from the dead and he knew that he was deeply

loved by Jesus. When you read the Gospel of John,

you cannot miss how much you are loved by Jesus.

Jesus loves you and wants to be in relationship

with you. John has experienced the love of Jesus.

And my question this morning for you is, have

you? I don't care if you've been to church on

and off your whole life. Have you experienced

the love of Jesus? So Peter and John hear that

Jesus' body is missing. Look at verses 3 and

4. At that, Peter and the other disciple, that's

John, went out heading for the tomb. The two

were running. There we go again. They were running

together. But the other disciple outran Peter

and got to the tomb first. Another funny part

in this. Man, you just cannot read some of this

and laugh. Like, what is he saying? Like, I'm

faster. I'm faster than Peter. I don't know why,

maybe Peter's old like me. Like, you understand

that, like, you can't, like, you know, like,

Brandon over there is way faster than me because

he's half my age. You hear that, Brandon? Like,

maybe that's what's going on. I don't know, but

he just, they're telling you this detail that

there's a sense of urgency. They're running to

the tomb as fast as they can get there. Oh, and

by the way, I'm faster than Peter. For some reason,

that's what John wants us to know. Look at verse

five. And stooping down, so Peter gets there,

right? Finally, John gets there and Peter gets

there too. So watch, this is what's happening.

Stooping down, he saw the linen clothes lying

there, but he did not go in. That's John. Then

following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered

the tomb and saw the linen clothes lying there.

And the wrapping that had been on his head was

not lying with the linen clothes, but was folded

up in a separate... place by itself. The disciples

show up and they discover something strange.

Jesus' body is gone, but his grave clothes are

still there and they don't appear to be disturbed.

If someone had simply stolen his body, It is

most likely that the clothes would be gone or

at least thrown on the floor or somewhere else.

And to see them perfectly lain, John says, that's

a detail you need to know. But here's a scene

in which the body is missing, but the clothes

seem to be undisturbed. Jesus' body had simply

been left behind. Now, verse 8. is significant

for John. Look what it says. The other disciple,

that's John, who had reached the tomb first,

wants you to know he's faster. Then he also went

in and he saw and believed. Underline that. He

saw and believed. Two things. John wants you

to know, again, that he's faster than Peter and

that he saw the empty tomb and what happened,

he believed. Now, if you remember back three

weeks ago, if you were here three weeks ago,

and you remember the illustration that we talked

about in John chapter 1, when I used the chair,

John 1 · chapter mention

for some of you that were here, and you probably

remember this, and I said, you know, there's

a difference in the fact that if you believe

that this chair will hold you, that's believing

that it will, but believing in is the fact that

I would actually sit and say, yes, I actually

trust it. To sit in this chair. So what John

is saying, he says, in this statement, he believes

in. It's not to believe that. That's information.

But it is to believe in the person of Jesus.

And then in verse 9, he says this. For they did

not understand the scriptures. that he must rise

from the dead. So here's what is a really important

piece to understand when it comes to believing

in Jesus. You don't have to fully understand

to believe. John believes, but he doesn't fully

understand. He doesn't understand the big picture

of the resurrection, even though most of this...

The Bible's been pointing this, and there's lots

of texts that would have been pointed, and Jesus

had talked about it, but it had not yet. Dots

had not connected. All the details weren't all

there, but it was still enough for him to believe.

John chapter 20, verse 10. Then the disciples

John 20:10

returned to the place where they were staying.

So the boys go home. Basically, they turn around

going, whoa. Almost like, we don't know what

to do next, so we're going to go home. But what

we see is that Mary, who's come back to the tomb,

stays. Look at verse 11. But many stood outside

the tomb. But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying.

As she was crying, guys, they understand something

about Jewish custom too. When they're grieving,

it wasn't a quiet. It wasn't a sniffle over in

the corner. It was a wailing. It was great grief

being poured out. Mary stood outside the tomb

crying, and as she was crying, she stooped to

look into the tomb. She saw two angels in there,

sitting where Jesus' body had been laying, one

at the head and one at the feet. They said to

her, woman, why are you crying? Because they've

taken away my Lord, she told them. And I don't

know where they put him. I don't know if you've

been so overwhelmed with grief. If you have been,

you might understand a little bit about what

Mary's going through. She's so overwhelmed that

all she's living in is hopelessness and despair.

She feels like the whole world is just crashing

in on her, even so much so that as she stoops

to look into the tomb, she sees two angels. Now,

that would mess with me a little bit, but it

doesn't affect her. When you're dealing with

grief, when you know you've been overwhelmed

with grief, everything just kind of is not important.

She sees two angels with her, and it doesn't

even faze her. The angels ask her, why are you

crying? This question means to ask, like, why

are you sorrowful, Mary? Why are you struggling?

It's almost like there's something different

going on here. Why are you crying? He's like,

duh, have you not seen it? They've taken the

body away. Mary explains that her grief is because

Jesus is gone. And she could not locate his body

like she wanted closure, she wanted to the end,

but now it's gone and she can't even have that.

She wanted Jesus alive in her life, but now Jesus

seems to be gone and she can't handle that. Then

the most unexpected encounter Mary could have

ever imagined. John tells us about in verse 14.

Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus

standing there, but she did not know who he was.

Mary is so consumed with her life, with her pain,

that she did not know Jesus. Is this true for

us today? Is this true for you, that where you're

living in is what you're consumed with? John

goes on, he says in verse 15, Woman, Jesus said

to her, Why are you crying? Who are you seeking?

Supposing he was a gardener, she replies, Sir,

if you've carried him away, tell me where you've

put him that I may take him away. Now, it's important

to understand here that I think in that moment

she just kind of turns her head and moves over

here to the corner in her grief. Jesus said to

her, Mary. Wow. Turning around, she said to him

in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher. It

seems that when Jesus said her name, Mary, that

the scales fell off of her eyes and she recognized

him. The other parts in John talks about the

fact that his sheep will know his voice. In the

minute, as soon as she says his name, it comes,

it happens. She realizes who he is. It reminds

me of a story from my own life. Some of you know

I grew up in the village of Ruby on the Yukon

River for most of my young years, up through

my teenage years. And one day at a camp I was

sitting at, I went down. So you've got to understand,

I believed that God existed. I believed that.

but I was sitting in the front seat of the boat

that we had parked on the edge of the river,

and I had my Bible open, and I was just kind

of like trying to talk to God, and I was like,

and honestly what was going on in there is I

didn't feel real close to God. See, I had the

information of God all over me. I had the information

of who Jesus was, but I hadn't really, in my

thinking, hadn't really received the transformation

or the revelation of God. And so while I sat

there in the boat, it wasn't a loud, audible

voice, but it was definitely an internal voice

that I heard God say to me, Caleb, I want a relationship

with you. I'm not a transaction, Caleb. I don't

want you to look at me like transactionally.

I want you to look at me relationally. I can

still see it so vividly today as I sat in the

boat. That changed everything. All of a sudden,

the Jesus who loved me was asking for me to be

in relationship with me. Have you ever heard

him call your name? Have you ever gone from belief

that to belief in Jesus? That's what he wants

for us today. Like John, many, Mary, have believed

Jesus is alive and he loves her and has come

for her. And of course, what would her response

be? She embraces Jesus like everything. And then

Jesus has this to say. So don't, this next part

can seem a little, little like, that's kind of

not very nice. But understand what she's doing.

She's just, she has lost Jesus. She clings to

Jesus, wraps her, and she says this in verse

17, don't cling to me. Now, I won't go into a

lot of this, but don't cling to me is not a harsh

term. It's almost a term of compassion in it.

Mary, don't cling to me. Jesus told her, since

I have not yet ascended to the Father, he said,

I got more to do. I got more plans. It's not

over. But go to my brothers and tell them that

I am ascending to the Father and your Father,

to my God and to your God. Mary Magdalene went

and announced to the disciples, I have seen the

Lord. Now what happened with Mary? She got excited

because life change, revelation, transformation

happens. And so he says, I want you to go and

tell the disciples that I have seen the Lord.

And she told them what he had said to her. And

I can just imagine she just turns in the book

and says, I've got to tell you what's happened.

Mary was hanging on to Jesus because she thought

she had lost him, but now she had him back. So

Jesus says, it's okay. You can let me go. Mary,

I have a mission for you. I want you to go and

tell others that I'm alive. Wow. Isn't that our

mission, church? That's what we're called. If

you're a follower of Jesus, that's your mission.

Don't just hold it to yourself. You're not a

bucket. You're a conduit. You get to tell the

good news to others. As we close today, I have

three questions for us to consider. Number one

is this. Has Jesus called your name? Is Jesus

drawing you to himself? Like I said at the beginning,

I don't know where you're at. I don't know your

journey. But God does. Friends, it's not a mistake

that you're here today. Jesus wants to be in

relationship with you. You don't have to have

it all figured out. The cross of Jesus shows

us that Jesus' love for you is real. It's not

lip service. There's action behind this love.

On the cross, Jesus took our sin, and he paid

for it. The resurrection shows us that there

is a newness of life for those who put their

faith into Jesus. The hope is there. A very famous

verse that many are aware of says this, John

3. We'll take it through 17 and 18. It says this.

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 this world

to condemn the world. That's what sin already

did. But to save the world through him. This

is what Easter is all about, guys. So today Jesus

is inviting you to come to him. That's what Easter

is. That's what every time we gather together

is to remember that Jesus has invited us in.

And today he's inviting you to come to him wherever

you are at. So that's the first one. And the

second question is this. Do you believe in Jesus?

Not believe that. But believe in. John chapter

John 3:18

3 verse 18 continues. It says this. Anyone who

believes in him is not condemned. But anyone

who does not believe is already condemned. Because

he has not believed in the name of the one and

only Son of God. Believing in Jesus means that

he is both now your Savior and your Lord. Savior

is what he did for you when he went to the cross,

suffered in your place, and he rose again from

the dead. He did that for you, and that's the

thing that gets us. You are saved by him, but

when you are saved by him, he then becomes absolute

Lord and Savior of your life. He is your life.

Your life rotates around him. That's what it

means to be Lord. Believing in Jesus means that.

And then the last question is this. We see it

with John and Peter. Are you running to Jesus?

Are you running to him? Peter and John didn't

hesitate or casually approach Jesus. What did

they do? They ran. Now there's place for those

who are skeptical. In fact, if you keep reading

in this, I don't have time to do this, but if

you keep reading, you're going to read about

a guy named Thomas who is very skeptical and

Jesus meets him right where he's at. So if you're

skeptical today, I get it. That's okay. You're

welcome here. But my question to you is, are

you ready to run to Jesus? I'm not just talking

about those who have not yet put their faith

in Jesus. I'm talking about running to Jesus

with all of your life. All of the time. So run

to Jesus today. C .S. Lewis famously presents

his argument, I think it's on mere Christianity,

about Jesus. He says, Jesus is either a liar,

a lunatic, or he's your Lord. Someday we will

all answer to what we believe in, truly. From

the things Jesus said and did, from his crucifixion

to his resurrection, the only conclusion is that

he is Lord. So how do you need to respond to

him today? Band, you guys can come up. Would

you bow your heads with me for a minute? Think

about those three questions. If you are here

today, And you have not confessed that Jesus

is Lord and Savior. And he is calling your name.

And you believe. Even if you don't have all the

answers. If that's you today. If you are ready

to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord of your life.

I just want to encourage you right where you

sit. Be bold. Raise your hand for a second. Nobody

else looking around. Right where you sit, I'm

going to encourage you just to pray to God right

now. Pray this way, then I'll help you walk you

through. But just talk to him. He hears you.

Father, here I am. I admit that I am a sinner.

I believe that when Christ died on the cross,

that it counted for me. I confess Jesus Christ

as my Lord and Savior. Let's pray together. Lord,

we asked you at the beginning to bring revelation,

to bring transformation by your spirit. Pray

that you'll continue to do that work in our hearts

no matter where we're at this Easter. That you

will, for those that raised their hand and prayed

that today, I just pray that you will help them

now in the next steps as they say, I want to

follow Jesus. Help us as a church to come around

them and to encourage them. For those of us who

need to get, instead of casually walking to you,

need to begin to run to you, will you help us

with that? Those who are struggling with their

belief, will you help us with that? So thank

you, Jesus, for rising from the dead and conquering

Satan, sin, and death and giving us a hope. Amen.

We, in our church here, do what we call a time

of response, which is basically we're going to

sing three songs. And it's a time for you just

to kind of reflect where you're at. And so if

you put your faith in Jesus today, The guy, Bob,

that was up here, he doesn't know this is coming.

He's one of our elders, one of our pastors. He's

going to be on that side of the room. Are you

doing communion? Okay, I'll be in the back. I'll

be in the back by that machine there. I'd love

to talk with you. Just to help you take the next

steps with that simple confession that you want

to follow Jesus. I'll walk with you. I'll talk

with you. If you're already a follower of Jesus,

we invite you to take communion. Let me explain

this real quick, how we do it here. There's going

to be two groups of people back with trays. If

you're new to us, if you are a follower of Jesus,

if you're not a follower of Jesus, just don't

worry about it. Please don't take it. Because

what communion represents for us is that Jesus'

body was broken, I believe. And his blood was

shed for me. And I consume this like I need Jesus.

Like he is the only answer. He's the only fix

for anything. And so when I go up there and I

take the bread that looks as represents Christ's

body broken for me and a drink of the cup which

represents his blood shed for me, I am saying

I'm about Jesus. And so we practice this every

week. So if you're new with us, we want to invite

you during any time during the next three songs

that we sing just to make your way out of the

chair, go to the back. You can take it, go back

to your chair, wherever, and just say thank you,

Jesus, for what you've done for me. And then

we're going to stand. So stand with me. We're

going to sing. If you need to sit there, you

can. But if you want to stand, this is a celebration

service. So let's rock it out, all right, church?

We've got three good songs. Let's go.