The Jesus Way: Finding the Way of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke | Donovan Rillion | The Resurrected Way

Happy Resurrection Day, or as most people know

it, Easter. And I know that word has some controversy

around it, but what we're celebrating is new

life. It's resurrection. It's arisen from the

dead testimony. And so this morning, we proclaim

that we serve, that we live for. that we have

been redeemed and saved by a risen Savior, a

resurrected Lord. We don't serve someone laying

in a tomb. We didn't gather here for someone

who is dead. We gathered here for someone who

is alive. Today is special for followers of Jesus.

Today is a special day because we're not just

remembering an ancient story. This isn't just

a fairy tale, but this is something that really

happened. It is the greatest moment in all of

human history. Today is the day that we recognize

that we celebrate with an extra emphasis a risen

king. And because we're talking about a great

comeback story, I want us to look at the life

of a man named Douglas Bader. In 1939, Douglas

Bader, a young British pilot, was training for

his job. He was in the military. He was a pilot,

and he was training for fighter missions. And

in his training, he had a crash. His plane crashed,

and because of his injuries, he had to have two

or parts of both of his legs amputated. One of

his legs was amputated just below the knee. One

of them was amputated just above the knee. And

so as you can imagine, that would make flying

pretty complicated for Mr. Bader, right? It made

life difficult for him, but he didn't give up.

Even though he was told he may not walk again,

he was told he definitely wouldn't fly again.

Well, Douglas Bader was given two prosthetic

legs. And if you can imagine prosthetic legs

in 1939, I can't imagine they were that great.

I mean, when I think of it, I think of like the

peg legs that pirates have. Either way, Douglas

Bader got these prosthetic legs. He learned how

to walk again. He learned how to run again. He

was able to train and eventually get back in

active duty. And Douglas Bader, after relearning

how to fly, he got back in the military and became

one of the most successful pilots in British

military history. He didn't just fly again. He

had renewed life. Because I want you to imagine

the thing that you have trained for so long to

do, the thing that you knew was your purpose,

that you felt was your calling, the thing that

you believed was your life is taken away from

you. And maybe you're laying in a hospital bed

and you're thinking, it's all over. My dream's

been cut away from me. Maybe for you, it's living

in this life where you feel like things just

don't go right, like nothing ever seems to work,

and you just feel like you're as good as dead.

Maybe it's you've been trying to achieve something.

You've been trying to become something, and you

just can't get there. You can't seem to make

any headway, and it feels like your legs have

been cut out from under you. I don't know what

your dead moment looks like. But I do know that

we all have that place where if we're not careful,

we can live in the tomb. And for Douglas Bader,

he's laying there and he's probably feeling sorry

for himself. But I've got to imagine that somebody

that accomplishes what he accomplished, he couldn't

have stayed in that sorrowful state too long.

I mean, I imagine he probably pretty quickly

thought, I'm going to fly again. I don't care

what that doctor says. I'm going to have my life

again. I don't care what the doctor says. And

I think about Jesus. laying in the tomb. I mean,

he's dead. But I have to imagine that in whatever

spiritual state he was in, he knew. He knew that

this was not it. This wasn't the end of his story.

And for you, whatever it is, if it's the failed

relationships, if it's the crushed dreams, if

it's the sin that keeps trapping you, if it's

those moments in life where you just keep hearing

that whisper in your ear of, this is just who

you are. Or this is just what you're going to

be. This is just your circumstances. This is

your life. I don't know what your dead moment

is. But the resurrection of Jesus shows us that

we should never, ever believe that what's dead

has to stay dead. And so first truth this morning

that I want us to know is that what is dead does

not have to stay dead. Because where? there is

death. Jesus shows us that there is a chance

for new life. And to illustrate that a little

bit more, I think we have to go back to the gospel.

And so we go to the gospel of Luke in chapter

23, and we see the reality of what Jesus endured

first, the death that he had to suffer. So I

want you to read this with me. If it's underlined,

I'd like you to read it out loud. I know there's

a lot of text on the screen, but if you can see

that, if not, in your Bibles, Luke 23, verses

Luke 23:32–43

32 through 43 in total. Two others who were criminals

were led away to be put to death with him. And

when they came to the place that is called the

skull, there they crucified him. And the criminals,

one on his right and one on his left, and Jesus

said, Father, forgive them, for they know not

what they do. and they cast lots to divide his

garments. And the people stood by watching, but

the ruler scoffed at him, saying, He saved others,

let him save himself, if he is Christ of God,

his chosen one. The soldiers also mocked him,

coming up and offering him sour wine and saying,

If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.

There was also an inscription over him, This

is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals

who were hanged railed at him saying, are you

not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the

other rebuked him saying, do you not fear God

since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

And we indeed justly for we are receiving the

due reward of our deeds. But this man has done

nothing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me

when you come into your kingdom. And he said

to him, truly I say to you, today you will be

with me. and paradise. Jesus, completely innocent,

having done no wrong in his life, having never

sinned, having never committed any crimes, Jesus,

perfectly innocent, willingly steps into suffering.

willingly steps into a situation where he takes

on punishment, where he takes on a beating, where

he's mocked, where he has to suffer, where he's

rejected and enduring this brutality, hanging

between two criminals as if he were a criminal

himself. Jesus in his perfect innocence does

this. And for who? The people who would mock

him? The people that would laugh at him and ridicule

him, the people that would pretend they don't

know him, the people that would betray him, the

people that would beat him? Yes. Yes. Jesus would

do that. And I believe he would do it a thousand

times over for those people. And guess who else

he did it for? Us. Because there are days where

if I'm not careful, I act like I don't know Jesus.

And maybe it's not like I actively pretend I

don't know him, but I live in a way that the

world sees me and they're like, there's no way

that person knows Jesus. One of the worst insults

I could ever get is when someone says, you're

a preacher? Yeah, I know. And maybe for you,

you haven't heard someone directly say, you're

a Christian? You're a follower of Jesus? the

one who was full of grace, who was sinless, who

was merciful to death, he died for us, even when

we don't live for him. And just like the man

on the cross, Jesus forgives. And he looks at

the crowd. He looks at the people scoffing at

him, for the soldiers mocking him, for the man

next to him, ridiculing him, and he says, Father,

forgive them. They don't know what they're doing.

And I don't want you to mistake that for weakness.

Jesus forgiving, Jesus showing mercy, Jesus showing

grace, there is not weakness. That is strength

to a degree that I can't even imagine because

we live in a world that says, if they hurt you,

hurt them back. We live in a world that says,

if they're going to kill you, kill them first.

But Jesus says, put me on the cross. I'll take

it. And Lord, God, give them life through my

death. It's a grace that is so bold that we can't

even imagine it. And right there next to him,

you see the gospel in real time. This man who

admits his guilt, who realizes that he deserves

where he's at. You see a man who looks to Jesus

and he admits his guilt and he says, Lord, would

you remember me when you get to your kingdom?

Essentially he's saying, would you give me access?

Would you just remember me enough? And when I

hear that, I think about Lazarus. And when Lazarus

and the rich man, the rich man goes down to Hades

and Lazarus is in Abraham's bosom and the rich

man is looking up to heaven and he's saying,

would you just give me a drip of water? Well,

I can't give a drip of water to somebody I don't

know exists. And so I think this criminal is

saying, Lord, would you just grant mercy for

even a sinner like me? And Jesus says, absolutely.

Today you'll be with me in paradise. That's the

gospel. That's the Jesus way. It's a man who

doesn't have time to clean himself up. A man

who doesn't have time to earn anything or get

everything right and check all the boxes and

dot all the I's and cross his T's. This is a

man who just has to place his faith in who Jesus

is. And so I want to make this clear as possible.

Jesus died in our place for our sin. He rose

again so that we could be forgiven. So that we

could have more than just new life. So that we

could have full, abundant life. Eternal life.

That's the good news. And the good news is that

what looks like defeat on the cross, what looks

like the end of the story, what looks like the

moment that it all ends and we close the curtains

and it's over, what looks like defeat is actually

the setup for the greatest victory in history.

Because there's more to the story. It's not over.

And this is how the story continues in Luke chapter

Luke 24:1–12

24, verses 1 through 12. But on the first day

of the week, at early dawn, they went to the

tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And

they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

But when they went in, they did not find the

body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed

about this, behold, two men stood by them in

dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened

and bowed their faces to the ground, the men

said to them, why do you seek the living among

the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember

how he told you while he was still in Galilee

that the son of man must be delivered into the

hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the

third day rise. The tomb is empty. They just

witnessed this death. They've probably spent

the last three days sobbing. And you've mourned

the loss of a loved one before. I mean, you know

what that feels like, to grieve, to feel like

you can't do anything but cry, to feel like there's

no hope for tomorrow, to feel like there's no

reason to keep going. Maybe for you, it was like

you just couldn't even get up off the couch.

You couldn't get out of the bed. You couldn't

turn the lights on because you were just so sorrowful.

And to that, we look at it. And that's why we

say for the Christian, we don't grieve like the

world grieves because we know there's more to

this. And for these disciples, for these followers

of Jesus, they're grieving. But what the angel

wants them to know and what Jesus is trying to

show is we don't grieve like the world grieves

because there's life on the other side of this

tomb. Why are you looking for the living among

the dead? Why are you grieving? Didn't he tell

you? Didn't he tell you that he was going to

live again? Didn't he tell you that death would

be defeated? And this wasn't random. It wasn't

unexpected. At least it shouldn't have been because

Jesus had promised it. God promised it way before

any of these people were ever on earth. This

was something they should have known was going

to happen because as I like to say, God promised

it and we serve the ultimate promise keeper.

Our God has never once not fulfilled his promises.

And so when Jesus tells them and when God tells

them, when the prophets had told them that the

son of man would come, he'd live, he would die,

he would be buried and he would rise again. When

that was the promise made, the promise was going

to be kept and you could bank on it. And what

we see is resurrected life. And I love the question

the angel asks, why do you seek the living among

the dead? He's not here, but he's risen. He's

alive. You know, they came expecting a dead man.

They came like we go to the tombstone of our

loved one. Maybe we put flowers on the tombstone

and we make sure it looks good. That's what they

were doing. They were coming to make sure Jesus

was good, but he wasn't there. He wasn't there

for them to mourn. He wasn't there for them to

grieve. He wasn't there for them to lay by his

tombstone to sob. He was risen. God interrupts

that sorrowful expectation of death with life.

And I hope you hear this today. Our God still

interrupts sorrowful death with life. Spiritual

death and physical death. Again, the Christian

doesn't grieve like the world grieves. Because

we know that there's something beyond this. And

in the spiritual sense, Yeah, we may feel dead.

We may feel like we're separated from God. We

may feel like we just, we can't get our life

right and nothing seems to be going right. We

may feel like we've tried and we've tried and

we've tried, but we just don't seem like we have

that abundant life. We don't have that new life

that Jesus promised. But what I want you to know

is if you will give your life to God, he absolutely

will resurrect it. It just requires you actually

dying to yourself. Because something can't be

risen from a grave if it had never died in the

first place. And so we walk around and we say,

I just don't feel like I've got that new life

that Christians talk about. I don't feel like

I've got that resurrected life that Christians

talk about. And the question I would ask is,

have you died? How can you be resurrected? How

can you rise again a new life if you never murdered

your flesh? And so we look at this, and our God

is still a promise keeper. And if he promised

redemption, if he promised resurrection, I'm

telling you it will be true. We find ourselves

looking for life among, or we find ourselves

looking among dead people. Maybe we're living

in a dead space. But we were called to be made

alive. Jesus rising from the dead, coming out

of the grave, leaving the tomb empty. That is

the assurance of life for us because it's the

ultimate promise kept. And I don't know about

you, but when people keep their promises and

over time they keep keeping their promises, they

build equity with me. Maybe you've heard somebody

say, hey, haven't I earned the benefit of the

doubt? And if you're like me, some people would

look at me and be like, no, you haven't, because

you flake. But for Jesus, for God, he has never

flaked. He's earned the benefit of the doubt.

And he offers not just life, but a better life.

He offers full, abundant, eternal life, a life

that is different from the world. It is the Jesus

way, the way that looks brand new, the way that

is distinctly recognizable. That's the life that

he offers. As one writer put it, the resurrection

is not the reversal of a defeat, but the unveiling

of a victory. When victory happens, you get the

gold medal. You get the nice jacket. My brain

goes to NFL Hall of Famers and they get the gold

jacket. And I got to tell you, if I was an NFL

Hall of Famer and I had a gold jacket, I'd wear

that thing everywhere. Because I would want people

to know exactly who I am. I'd go to Walmart and

before I get out of the car, throw the jacket

on. Just so people know. That's the life Jesus

offers. He offers a life that when people see

it, they recognize exactly who you are. It's

a life that if you go out in the community, they

know the type of person you are. They know the

person that you say you serve. And you don't

just say you serve it. You live like you serve

him. They know your savior. They know your king.

They know the life that you have. Because you

don't look like dead people. Dead people look

like skeletons. They maybe have like rags on

them. There used to be a movie on Disney Channel

called Unwrapped. Anybody ever watch that one?

Under wraps, under wraps. It was like the mummy

came to life and everything was really scary.

But he just like walked around and you could

tell, like you're like, that's a dead person.

That is a mummy. That's not a living person.

And for us, we understand, like if you're in

Christ, you know that those outside of Christ

are currently dead. that they don't have the

connection to the giver of life being God. And

so you look differently than the dead person.

You don't have the bandages and the wraps on

you. You look like somebody who's alive. You've

got the gold jacket on. You should be recognizable.

And so what does all of this mean for us? Because

we've got to have a point, right? The first thing

I want you to hear is we don't just admire the

resurrection. I got to say this, and it shouldn't

be like a stepping on toes thing. I'm glad people

are going to church. But this morning, right

now, there are a lot of people sitting in pews,

sitting in seats. There may be someone in this

room right now sitting in the seat to admire

the resurrection. They're admiring this thing,

this story, this concept. But this isn't just

a concept that we look at. It is the way we should

live. It's the life that we're supposed to be

living in. It's not just something that, you

know, you've got the inspirational quotes that

you put on your wall, maybe in the classroom.

We've got the things, the golden rules and all

that stuff. It's not those things that we look

at and we're like, that's a cool quote. It's

not like a, that's a cool teaching and yeah,

that's really respectable that you follow that

teaching. That's not what we're talking about.

We're talking about a new way of living. The

Jesus way is not something that we just believe.

It's something we live. Jesus is alive. And if

Jesus is alive, then we should be living like

we're alive too. But unfortunately, so many of

us are living under wraps. So many of us are

living in the tomb. And what I want you to hear

is the same thing that Jesus said to Lazarus,

get up and come out of that grave. Get up. For

the Christian, for the one in Christ who has

been redeemed, who's had their life changed,

at least hopefully you have had your life changed.

We should be out of the grave. I think too many

of us, and this is why I love baptism, too many

of us, we go under the water and it seems like

we went under the water and the old flesh started

to separate, but we carried them back up with

us. And that is not how we were supposed to live.

When we go under the water, we leave the dead

body there. And we come back as something new.

So we don't just admire this raised living. We

live it. Yeah, we still face hardship. We still

face death. We still face danger. We still face

uncertainty, insecurity, but we cannot let that

keep us in the grave. This past week, I was speaking

at a Christian school in Montgomery, and my topic

was confidence in Christ. And I told the story

about Michael Phelps in the 2008 Olympics. Michael

Phelps was doing his 200 -meter butterfly. And

as he's swimming, he gets about halfway through,

his goggles started to fill up with water. And

if you've ever swam with water in your goggles,

you know that that's a very uncomfortable thing

to do. And for most people, at least I would,

I would just throw my hands up and quit. Like,

I can't keep going. I can't see anything. How

am I going to swim if I can't see? Well, Michael

Phelps doesn't stop swimming. He doesn't skip

a beat. He keeps on swimming and he gets to the

end and guess what happens? He wins the gold.

Yeah, life's going to be uncertain. It's going

to be uncomfortable. It may even be dark sometimes

and we don't know what's in front of us, but

we have to keep going because we know that on

the other side of this dark period is gold. It's

life. And so, yeah, it may be hard. But because

of the confidence we have in the Savior who defeated

death, we keep living. And the next thing I want

us to know is resurrection power isn't just a

concept. The power of a resurrected Savior, the

power of a God who has come to this earth, lived,

died, and then got out of the grave, defeated

death. That power that Jesus has given to us

is not a concept. It is a real life changing

truth. It should reshape everything about us,

the way we think, the way we speak, the way we

live, the way we respond to the world around

us. That power is real. And maybe for you, that

means forgiving someone you've been holding on

to bitterness toward. Maybe for you, it's forgiving

yourself. for the way that you've lived or the

things that you've done or the things you haven't

done. Maybe it's stepping into obedience in an

area that you have been very resistant to God

in. Maybe it's trusting and taking a step in

faith because you have been holding back and

you just haven't been able to step forward, but

you hear this idea of the risen Savior and it's

challenging you. And if it's challenging you,

let me tell you, take the challenge. Let it go.

Go with it. Maybe it's encouraging somebody who's

barely holding on. I don't know what the next

step for you is, but I know there's a next step

because there always is. And I also know that

if Jesus walked out of the grave, if Jesus was

able to come back to life, then whatever he calls

you into, you can trust him. Because if he's

got that kind of power over death, he has power

over your life. And it may cost you. It may even

hurt. It may be difficult. It may make you have

to change a lot of things about yourself. It

may make you go to places that you didn't want

to go. It may make you leave places that you

don't want to leave. But I promise you, it is

worth it. And I also promise you that it won't

defeat you. Because in this world, though pain

may be real, it may feel like it is everything.

Pain is only temporary. Death is only temporary.

Again, we serve a God who got up from the great.

And if he can do it, we can too because of him.

And so we live like the resurrection is real.

We live like the resurrection has power in our

lives. And so this morning, I want to speak really

quickly directly to anyone here who has never

placed their trust in Jesus. Maybe... This is

all new to you. Maybe you've heard these stories,

and you grew up hearing about Easter, and you

grew up hearing about Jesus, and maybe you even

grew up in a Christian home, but you never placed

your life in Jesus' hands. Maybe you've never

given your life up so that he can redeem it.

I want to tell you straight up this morning that

this isn't just any old story. This isn't just

some fairy tale that we gather over and you talk

about like the good old days of high school football,

like you make yourself sound like you were better

than you were. No, this is real. This is true

story. It is actually very historically proven.

It's scientifically verifiable. And so what I

want you to hear and I want to challenge you

is to understand and to believe, to have faith

in that this is a promise fulfilled. And it's

an invitation to step into life because Jesus

didn't rise just to prove something. He didn't

get out of the grave just to make something cool

happen. Like this isn't Houdini breaking out

of the water. Like this is Jesus, the son of

God, came to earth, rising from the grave to

secure something for us. He came and rose to

secure new life. He rose to secure forgiveness,

to secure a promised relationship, a restored

relationship with God. And in order to receive

what he has secured for us, we have to give up

something of ourselves. We have to give up the

life that we're holding on to. We have to give

up to the life that this world has sold us. See,

when I say give your life to Jesus, what I mean

is trusting in him. following him and surrendering

your life, the control of your life to living

in the way of Jesus. And that begins with faith.

Just like the man on the cross next to Jesus.

And that faith leads to the promise. And that's

why baptism is so powerful. Because in baptism,

we go under the water. And in that water, we

die to our old life. We leave that body, that

life in the grave. We don't bring it back with

us. We come out of the water and we are resurrected

just like our Jesus. We are raised to a new life

in Christ. A life that looks different. A life

that should feel different. A life that lives

different. And a life that spreads light to others.

And I believe that with everything in me. Because

I've experienced it. I've seen it in others.

And I would go as far as to say I'm sure there's

about a... 55, 70, maybe even more people in

this room who would say the same thing, that

it is the life that Christ has provided that

has changed them. You can be raised from the

dead. Every one of us can be raised from the

dead. And if you are in Christ, you will be raised

from a physical death one day. And that is good

news. The good news that we can go from guilty

to forgiven. The good news of knowing that we

can go from feeling hopeless to knowing that

we can accomplish, that we can fulfill the calling

that was set for our lives. And so if something

is stirring in you right now, if there's a feeling

in you, like maybe you're considering something

or you don't know what the feeling is, well,

I'm going to ask you to not ignore that feeling.

If there is a stirring, do not ignore that. Because

that could just be God drawing you in. That could

be Jesus calling you to get that new life that

he's promised, that he came to secure. And for

those of us that would say, well, I already believe,

I've already been baptized, I already follow

Jesus. If we sit in that boat, I want to ask

you a question. Are you actually living the resurrected

life? Or are you still holding on? Are you still

holding on to the old self, to the old life,

to the old passions, to the old desires? Are

you still holding on to the same selfishness?

Are you still holding on to the same greed, to

the same lust, to the same addictions? Are you

still holding on to the old life or are you living

a new life? As it says on the screen, are you

living the resurrected life? Or are you still

living among the dead? I don't want to live among

dead bodies. I'm just going to be honest. Like,

that sounds terrifying. Does anybody live near

a, like a, what are they called? Cemeteries.

Anybody live near a cemetery? Okay. Does that

creep you out? No? Oh, yes. Yeah. It's creepy.

Well, we got one that says yes. My house growing

up was like a block away from a cemetery, and

I always thought that was the creepiest thing.

I don't want to live among dead people. And likewise,

if I have the ability to live a good living life,

like abundant life, I don't want to live a life

that stays in the bed all day. I don't want to

live a life that sits on the sidelines. Maybe

you played sports or maybe you were in theater

and you got cast as the understudy, but you wanted

to be the main character. You wanted to have

the leading role. Well, in the life that Jesus

has called us to, there are no understudies.

You can be in the play too. You can be a part

of the act. You don't have to sit on the sidelines.

And what I mean by that is we don't have to live

in the tomb. Just like Jesus lives outside of

the tomb, we too can as well. So if there's a

stirring in you or you're questioning, have I

been living the resurrected life? I want to offer

an invitation to you this morning because there

is power in giving your life, surrendering your

life to Jesus. There's power, as the song says,

there's power in the blood. Power. There's power

in the blood. There's power in the risen Savior.

And that power isn't just a concept. It is the

marker of our life. So this morning, if you are

struggling, if you're questioning, If you don't

know where you're at, if you're confused, wherever

your life has you today, no matter how broken

you may feel, no matter how lost you may feel,

I want you to be able to trust and know that

there is hope for a new life for you. And so,

if you need prayer, if you need conversation,

if you just need support, and if you are ready

to give your life to Jesus, We want to offer

you the invitation, and I want to give you this

one last thing. I want you to just imagine what

it would be like if you could take communion

today for the very first time as a new creation.

Because there are people in this room, I know

you're in here. There are people in this room

who have not given their life to Jesus yet, who've

not had their life resurrected. Well, I want

you to think about, as we get ready to take the

Lord's Supper soon, you could take it. as a new

creation this morning. Whatever the Spirit is

stirring up in you, I want you to listen to it.

And if you need to respond, please do now as

we stand and as we sing.