How Jesus Changed Everything

[SPEAKER_00]: Luke 24, 112 says, but very early on Sunday morning, the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

[SPEAKER_00]: They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance so they went in, but they didn't find the lord of the body of the Lord Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: As they stood there, puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed and dazzling robes.

[SPEAKER_00]: The women were terrified and bowled with their faces to the ground.

[SPEAKER_00]: The men asked, why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?

[SPEAKER_00]: He isn't here, he is risen from the dead.

[SPEAKER_00]: Remember what he told you back in Galilee?

[SPEAKER_00]: At the sun of man must betray into the hand of sinful men and be crucified and that he would rise again on the third day.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then they remembered that he had said this, so they rushed back to it from the tomb to tell his 11 disciples and everyone else.

[SPEAKER_00]: What had happened?

[SPEAKER_00]: It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened.

[SPEAKER_00]: But the stories sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn't believe it.

[SPEAKER_00]: However, Peter jumped up, ran to the tomb to look.

[SPEAKER_00]: Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings.

[SPEAKER_00]: You may take a seat and take a moment to prepare your heart for the message.

[SPEAKER_02]: All right, good morning, everybody.

[SPEAKER_02]: How you doing?

[SPEAKER_02]: Happy Resurrection Day, so glad to see everybody here.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I want to start off the message time today by asking you a question actually having a little bit of interaction here has anybody been blessed with some really good news lately anything you just are really excited about I'll give you a moment to think about it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Anybody have a piece of good news they've gotten lately anybody.

[SPEAKER_02]: Anything good.

[SPEAKER_02]: That is a piece of good news.

[SPEAKER_02]: What else?

[SPEAKER_02]: What else?

[SPEAKER_02]: Some good news you've gotten recently.

[SPEAKER_02]: New grand daughter on the way, okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: Very good.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's some good news.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_01]: Anybody else?

[SPEAKER_01]: Nothing from the wings.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: What's that?

[SPEAKER_02]: Another your cancer free.

[SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_02]: Praise God.

[SPEAKER_02]: That's awesome.

[SPEAKER_02]: Very, very good.

[SPEAKER_02]: Maybe one or two more.

[SPEAKER_02]: Some good news you've gotten lately.

[SPEAKER_02]: Hey, Sun came to church this morning.

[SPEAKER_02]: Awesome.

[SPEAKER_02]: That's great.

[SPEAKER_02]: Very good.

[SPEAKER_02]: We'll try not to embarrass you.

[SPEAKER_02]: Too late.

[SPEAKER_02]: One more.

[SPEAKER_02]: Getting baptized.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's awesome.

[SPEAKER_02]: Very good.

[SPEAKER_02]: Congratulations.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, probably a lot of us have had different pieces of good news lately.

[SPEAKER_01]: Some of you may be here because you've had nothing but bad news.

[SPEAKER_01]: Lately that might be why you showed up to church today.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's great to get good news.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes news that we think is bad turns out to be good.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like if you lose your job and then you end up getting a better job in the end or maybe your car quit's work and then God blesses you with an even better car that's more reliable and works even better.

[SPEAKER_01]: Today is going to be all about the good news.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's probably not a huge surprise, but there's a word in the Bible that means good news.

[SPEAKER_01]: What is it?

[SPEAKER_01]: You know what it is?

[SPEAKER_01]: It's the gospel.

[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.

[SPEAKER_01]: I knew there'd be some people that would know that.

[SPEAKER_01]: The gospel actually comes from a Greek word you angaleon.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you angaleon means...

[SPEAKER_01]: Good news, or gospel, that's right, very good.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, this is the word that the Bible uses to describe the message of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: So Mark talks about this in Mark chapter one.

[SPEAKER_01]: He says, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God's good news.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the Greek, that's you, Angolion.

[SPEAKER_01]: The time promised by God has come at last, he announced, the kingdom of God is near, repent of your sins, and believe the good.

[SPEAKER_01]: News, or you Angleon, that's what Jesus used to refer to as on message.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, when the first English translators were translating the word you Angleon into English, they thought very carefully about what word they were going to use and they chose the word gospel, which is a middle English word.

[SPEAKER_01]: It actually comes from an old English word, Gold Spell.

[SPEAKER_01]: And Gold Spell meant good.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then Spell, which meant story, but it wasn't just

[SPEAKER_01]: There's an important distinction there.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so when those first English translators were chosen a word, they wanted to make sure they chose a word that communicated, this is good news.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a good story, but it's also a true story.

[SPEAKER_01]: They believe that it was truth.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's very important for us today.

[SPEAKER_01]: But not everybody views the good news as a good news.

[SPEAKER_01]: The message of Jesus, some people look at it and they think, how can this be good?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, the first part of the gospel message says, you are a sinner.

[SPEAKER_01]: And there's nothing you can do to make up for that.

[SPEAKER_01]: You are a sinful person, you've broken God's laws and no amount of good that you do, nothing will outweigh the good will not outweigh the bad.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's nothing you can do to save yourself or earn your way into God's good graces again.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's it, how can that be good?

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, some people look at the message of Jesus and think how can this be true?

[SPEAKER_01]: The Son of God, coming to this earth, living as a person, a perfect life, dying on a cross, seen by hundreds or thousands of people die.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then rising from the dead afterward, it sounds like, like nonsense.

[SPEAKER_01]: I've never seen anything like that before, so how can this be true?

[SPEAKER_01]: And it certainly didn't seem like good news or true news to the disciples on Friday and Saturday.

[SPEAKER_01]: Most of them scattered after Jesus was arrested.

[SPEAKER_01]: Some of them came back around John and Mary and some of the others came and actually witnessed the crucifixion.

[SPEAKER_01]: They saw the brutality of the Roman death squad as Jesus was abused and beaten and mocked and pierced and raised upon a cross and eventually gave his last words in agony and died.

[SPEAKER_01]: But this was supposed to be the Messiah.

[SPEAKER_01]: This was supposed to be the Savior of Israel, and indeed the world, and now he's dead, and all hope is gone.

[SPEAKER_01]: How could any of this be good, and was any of it true?

[SPEAKER_01]: The custom after someone died in those days was to anoint the body of the deceased loved one with spices and perfumes and allows.

[SPEAKER_01]: They did this partly out of respect and honor, but also very practically to cover up the smell.

[SPEAKER_01]: of the body.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was a way of giving dignity to the body of a loved one.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so the women disciples intended to do this after the death of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: But when they went home and they tried to gather everything they couldn't get it already in time before the Sabbath came.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they couldn't do any work on the Sabbath.

[SPEAKER_01]: So they had to stop and wait until Saturday night to collect things and then Sunday morning to take it to the tomb.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's where we're going to pick up the story.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to be in Luke chapter 24 today.

Luke 24 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_01]: So turn there in your Bibles.

[SPEAKER_01]: You'll want to follow along.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to go through pretty much the whole chapter.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we're going to see three stories, three different short stories, three vignettes that happen all on Resurrection Day.

[SPEAKER_01]: And all relate to these questions of how can this be good?

[SPEAKER_01]: And how can this be true?

[SPEAKER_01]: The first story is called Ladies First.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's in Luke 24, verse 1, here we go.

Luke 24:1

[SPEAKER_01]: But very early on Sunday morning, the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

[SPEAKER_01]: They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance, so they went in, but they didn't find the body of the Lord Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them clothe in dazzling robes.

[SPEAKER_01]: The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground, then the men asked, why are you looking for the dead or among the dead for someone who is alive?

[SPEAKER_01]: He isn't here.

[SPEAKER_01]: He is risen from the dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: Remember what he told you back and galley that the son of man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and that he would rise again on the third day.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then they remembered that he had said this, I guess they forgot.

[SPEAKER_01]: So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his 11 disciples and everyone else what happened.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, married the mother of James and several other women who told the apostles what had happened.

[SPEAKER_01]: But the story sounded like nonsense to the men.

[SPEAKER_01]: So they didn't believe it.

[SPEAKER_01]: However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look.

[SPEAKER_01]: Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen rapids then he went home again, wondering what had happened.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now Luke gives us an abbreviated version of these events.

[SPEAKER_01]: Each of the gospel writers gives us their own perspective.

[SPEAKER_01]: They all match up together, but they all give us a little a little bit of a different look.

[SPEAKER_01]: And John gives us more detail into these events, because he was actually involved in them directly.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so from John we learn that yes, Mary Magdalene was among the women that went to the tomb, but she actually left before they saw the angels.

[SPEAKER_01]: She went and told Peter and John the body has gone, someone has taken him.

[SPEAKER_01]: She didn't get the message from the angels.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you piece all the accounts together, you can kind of see how it all fits and all makes sense.

[SPEAKER_01]: The other women saw the angels after Mary left.

[SPEAKER_01]: At some point, they tell the disciples about the conversation.

[SPEAKER_01]: They have the angels.

[SPEAKER_01]: Matthew tells us that they also had an encounter with Jesus on the way to telling the disciples.

[SPEAKER_01]: Probably before that happened Peter and John tells us, John was with him too.

[SPEAKER_01]: Luke only mentions Peter.

[SPEAKER_01]: runs to the tomb and they find that his empty John goes in and John wants us to know that he went in and immediately believed because, you know, he's humble like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then Peter, he goes in and Luke tells us that he walks out wondering what what has happened.

[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't believe.

[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't know what was going on.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when the women shared the story with the apostles, they thought it sounded like nonsense.

[SPEAKER_01]: The idea that someone had come back to life after

[SPEAKER_01]: And you got to wonder, these women who have been serving with them now for quite a while, these fellow disciples of Jesus, how have they not learned to trust them?

[SPEAKER_01]: For one thing, it might be because it just seems too crazy.

[SPEAKER_01]: They all saw him die, or at least many of them did, crucifixion was an ugly ugly thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: A brutal thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: No one could have survived that.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so they knew that he was dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: That was very certain.

[SPEAKER_01]: But also, in this day and age, the testimony of women was not considered valid.

[SPEAKER_01]: It couldn't be admitted into a court of law.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so just the culture was such that they would not necessarily be inclined to trust that the women were telling the truth, which is kind of a crazy thing to think about.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's this Greek philosopher named Celsius.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he sells his fans out there.

[SPEAKER_01]: You won't be in a minute.

[SPEAKER_01]: Celsius wrote about the story of the resurrection of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: He said that the accounts of the resurrection of Jesus are the hysterical fabrications of gossipy women.

[SPEAKER_01]: He said that if Jesus really wanted to prove his resurrection, he would have appeared to intelligent people.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now I don't think there are any fans of Celsius at this point.

[SPEAKER_01]: And please understand, that was a quote from Celsius, that were paraphrased from Celsius, that is not at all me talking.

[SPEAKER_01]: But this is the culture that existed at the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so in a sense, in their time, we can sort of forgive a little bit the apostles for being like, I'm not so sure if this is valid here, in that cultural framework.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so from the apostles perspective, they are thinking, wow, the Messiah is dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: His body is missing.

[SPEAKER_01]: The only people who claim to have an answer to this are women, who's testimony isn't really valid in our culture.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so the movement is dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: is gone.

[SPEAKER_01]: How can this be good?

[SPEAKER_01]: How can anything these women are saying be true?

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, I'm going to tell you right now that I think it's a good thing the apostles didn't believe the women.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm not going to tell you why.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to save that for later.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let's move on to story number two.

[SPEAKER_01]: Story number two is called Walking With Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: Walking With Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: That same day, two of Jesus' followers were walking to the village of Amaya, seven miles from Jerusalem.

[SPEAKER_01]: As they walked along, they were talking about everything that had happened.

[SPEAKER_01]: As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus Himself suddenly came and began walking with them, but God kept them from recognizing Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: He asked them, what are you discussing so intently as you walk along?

[SPEAKER_01]: They stopped short sadness written across their faces.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then one of them, Cleopause, replied, you must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about all the things that have happened here in the

[SPEAKER_01]: kind of funny that Jesus would ask that, isn't it?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, what are you talking about, guys?

[SPEAKER_01]: The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth, they said, he was a prophet who did powerful miracles.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people, but our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him.

[SPEAKER_01]: We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel.

[SPEAKER_01]: This all happened three days ago then.

[SPEAKER_01]: Some women from our group of his followers read his tomb early this morning and they came back with an amazing report.

[SPEAKER_01]: They said his body was missing and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive.

[SPEAKER_01]: Some of our men ran out to see and sure enough his body was gone just as the women had said.

[SPEAKER_01]: then Jesus said to them, you foolish people.

[SPEAKER_01]: You find it so hard to believe, all of the prophets wrote in the scriptures wasn't it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?

[SPEAKER_01]: Then, Jesus, though they didn't know as him, took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets explaining from all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, this is the first ever recorded episode of undercover boss.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jesus shows up,

[SPEAKER_01]: If no idea who he is, God keeps him hidden.

[SPEAKER_01]: These two men are walking on the road.

[SPEAKER_01]: One of them we know is named Cleopause, and the other one is almost certainly Luke himself.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because it was common to not mention your own name when you were writing one of these accounts.

[SPEAKER_01]: John did the same thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: He never mentioned his own name, even though he was talking about himself.

[SPEAKER_01]: And church tradition has held forever that this was Luke as the second person.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think it's fair to sum up the sentiment of these two men,

[SPEAKER_01]: With the two questions we've been talking about, how can this be good and how can this be true?

[SPEAKER_01]: Notice that they've already heard the report of the women and yet notice how they talk about Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was a prophet.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was a teacher.

[SPEAKER_01]: We had hoped he would be the Messiah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Are these guys believe us at this point?

[SPEAKER_01]: No, they don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: They think all hope is gone.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jesus is dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: The women are making up stories about him.

[SPEAKER_01]: How could any of this be good?

[SPEAKER_01]: And how could the testimony of the women be true?

[SPEAKER_01]: They don't believe it.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is interesting that God keeps them from recognizing Jesus, isn't it?

[SPEAKER_01]: Why do you think that is why would God not allow them to recognize Jesus?

[SPEAKER_01]: I think it's because He wanted their honest, authentic reaction.

[SPEAKER_01]: and he wanted it to be recorded for us, I think, too.

[SPEAKER_01]: If Jesus had shown up and they had immediately recognized who he is,

[SPEAKER_01]: They would have been amazed and certainly startled, but they probably pretty quickly would have gone, okay, I guess he is here.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right, let's touch him, make sure verify validate, okay, I'll go, but that didn't happen.

[SPEAKER_01]: Instead, we get this dialogue, where we get to see the doubt and the skepticism, the anonymity of Jesus produces honesty in them, and we get their actual raw thoughts and emotions, and they're unbelief in all of this.

[SPEAKER_01]: So then we read on verse 28.

[SPEAKER_01]: By this time they were nearing a Mayus and the end of their journey, Jesus acted as if he were going on, but they begged him, stay the night with us since it is getting late.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he went home with them as they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it, then he broke it and gave it to them and suddenly their eyes were opened and they recognized him.

[SPEAKER_01]: And at that moment, he disappeared.

[SPEAKER_01]: They said to each other, didn't our hearts burn within us as a talk with us on the road and explain the Scriptures to us and within the hour.

[SPEAKER_01]: They were on the way back to Jerusalem.

[SPEAKER_01]: There they found the 11 disciples and the others who had gathered with them who said, The Lord has really risen.

[SPEAKER_01]: He appeared to Peter.

[SPEAKER_01]: And from this point on, they knew that they could trust in the risen Savior.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they had no more doubts or worries because they all knew Jesus really came back to life.

[SPEAKER_01]: or maybe not.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's time for story number three.

[SPEAKER_01]: This one's called answers for skeptics.

[SPEAKER_01]: Look at verse 35.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then the two from Amaz.

[SPEAKER_01]: told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road.

[SPEAKER_01]: And how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread.

[SPEAKER_01]: And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them.

[SPEAKER_01]: Peace be with you, he said, but the whole group was startled and frightened thinking they were seeing a ghost.

[SPEAKER_01]: Why are you frightened?

[SPEAKER_01]: He asked, why are your hearts filled with doubt?

[SPEAKER_01]: Think about it after everything that happened that day and all of the people who witnessed Jesus and reported about it, I witnessed testimonies they still don't believe.

[SPEAKER_01]: So Jesus asks two very revealing questions.

[SPEAKER_01]: Number one, why are you frightened?

[SPEAKER_01]: Translation, they were startled by seeing Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: They didn't believe he had actually come back to life and so they thought it was a ghost.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so they're thinking, this isn't good, that's why they're scared.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what to do with the fact that the ghost of Jesus is standing here in front of us.

[SPEAKER_01]: This may not be a good thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Question number two, why are your hearts so filled with doubt?

[SPEAKER_01]: Translation, they didn't think Jesus was alive.

[SPEAKER_01]: They doubted the resurrection.

[SPEAKER_01]: So how can this be good and how can this be true?

[SPEAKER_01]: And then Jesus does the most amazing thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't bust out the whip.

[SPEAKER_01]: people who cheat other people in the name of God.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what Jesus used the whip for.

[SPEAKER_01]: But that's not what He does here.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jesus calls them out with His questions, but look at what He does next.

[SPEAKER_01]: Look at verse 39.

[SPEAKER_01]: He says, look at my hands.

[SPEAKER_01]: Look at my feet.

[SPEAKER_01]: You can see that it's really me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Touch me and make sure that I'm not a ghost.

[SPEAKER_01]: because ghosts don't have bodies as you see that I do.

[SPEAKER_01]: As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet still, they stood there in disbelief.

[SPEAKER_01]: With joy and wonder, but disbelief, then he asked them, do you have anything here to eat?

[SPEAKER_01]: They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he ate it as they watched.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then he said, when I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he said, yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's amazing to me that when his followers were still doubting still in disbelief, Jesus didn't judge them.

[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't condemn them.

[SPEAKER_01]: He just said, come check it out.

[SPEAKER_01]: Look at the wounds in my hands.

[SPEAKER_01]: Look at the wounds in my feet.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when that still didn't do it, he said, give me a piece of food and he ate it in front of them because I guess everybody knows ghost can't eat food.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, but that was the evidence that they needed.

[SPEAKER_01]: But here's what Jesus did.

[SPEAKER_01]: He got down on their level.

[SPEAKER_01]: He came down to their level and said, okay, you're doubting, you're skeptical, you're not sure if you believe, it's not that they were stubborn or rebellious, it's not that they were running from God.

[SPEAKER_01]: They believed in God.

[SPEAKER_01]: They just weren't so sure about Jesus coming back to life.

[SPEAKER_01]: They had a hard time believing it was really him that it was really alive.

[SPEAKER_01]: They had to be convinced that it was him in the flesh.

[SPEAKER_01]: There was no doubt that he had died.

[SPEAKER_01]: They all saw that, they knew about that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Many, many people saw that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Crucifixion was not the sort of thing you just sort of casually survived and then come back from.

[SPEAKER_01]: And in Jesus' case, usually the crucifixions take two or three days for someone to die.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was an agonizing thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: And eventually the death squad would come by and they'd be like, all right, it's time to get this over with.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they would break the legs of the person on the cross so they could no longer stand up to take a breath and then they would die of hisphyxiation.

[SPEAKER_01]: But in Jesus' case, when they came along to potentially break his legs, the prophecy said no bones would be broken.

[SPEAKER_01]: They found that he was already dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: So they pierced his side with a spear right up into his heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the Bible says that blood and water,

[SPEAKER_01]: or clear fluid poured out.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's how they knew that he was fully and truly dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know doctor, but my understanding is that that meant that the fluid had surrounded the heart and swelled up so much that it actually crushed the heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: You could say Jesus died of a broken heart, some ways.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that came out.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so they knew that he was completely and totally dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: The idea that he could have survived that.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then when put in the tomb,

[SPEAKER_01]: and then managed to come back to health and roll this ginormous stone out of the way and be standing in front of that was absurd.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's an absurd explanation of the resurrection.

[SPEAKER_01]: They knew he was dead, but they had to be convinced that he was really alive again.

[SPEAKER_01]: They needed an undeniable proof that their teacher had come back to life.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I want to tell you that it's a good thing they were so skeptical.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a good thing they doubted.

[SPEAKER_01]: I want to tell you it's a good thing

[SPEAKER_01]: that they did not believe the account of the women.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know that sounds crazy to say.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it may not have seemed like a good thing to them after they figured it out.

[SPEAKER_01]: It may not have even been a good thing from Jesus' perspective, but I think it's a good thing from our perspective number one, because I struggle with doubts and skepticism at times.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure a lot of us do.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so we can relate to what they experienced.

[SPEAKER_01]: But here's the big one.

[SPEAKER_01]: all of the gospels, by the way, record doubt in the resurrection.

[SPEAKER_01]: All of them have some acknowledgment.

[SPEAKER_01]: So all four of these people thought it was important that we understand they didn't believe it at first.

[SPEAKER_01]: His closest followers, the people that were with him, the people that saw Lazarus raised from the dead, the people that saw Miracle after Miracle, all of those people doubted the resurrection of Jesus, how can this be good?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because it makes their eventual belief so much more powerful.

[SPEAKER_01]: And their skepticism,

[SPEAKER_01]: is one of the best evidence as we have for the truth of the resurrection.

[SPEAKER_01]: Here's what I mean.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you wanted to fabricate a resurrection miracle at that time, there is no way you would choose women to be your eyewitnesses.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've already talked about that.

[SPEAKER_01]: They weren't considered reliable eyewitnesses, so the fact that God chose to have women to discover the empty tomb, and for women to be the first to see the risen Savior, the first to give testimony about his resurrection, that's actually evidence for the truth of the resurrection, because if you wanted to fake it, this is the worst way to fake it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And yet that's what God did.

[SPEAKER_01]: Secondly, the fact that the apostles found it so hard to believe the resurrection of Jesus at first, even after the women told them, even after some of them saw him, even after they saw him raise Lazarus from the dead and even after Jesus told them that this was going to happen, it makes their belief later and even more powerful testimony to the resurrection.

[SPEAKER_01]: See, they weren't sitting around, scheming on how to keep the movement going forward.

[SPEAKER_01]: They weren't coming up with some plan to steal the body and fake a resurrection.

[SPEAKER_01]: They didn't see the story of the women as an opportunity to put a positive spin on this whole thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: They were as skeptical as anyone about the resurrection.

[SPEAKER_01]: Even when the women saw the angels.

[SPEAKER_01]: Even when the women saw Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: Even when some of the men saw Jesus, the apostles still didn't all believe.

[SPEAKER_01]: They had to be convinced.

[SPEAKER_01]: with undeniable first-hand evidence, or they would not believe.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then they were so convinced that they were willing to suffer immense persecution and many of them even suffered death, because they weren't willing to deny the resurrection of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: That doesn't happen for a fake story.

[SPEAKER_01]: the way this all went down in the way it's recorded for us.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's part of what convinces us that this is true.

[SPEAKER_01]: If they were all convinced right away, if this was an easy process and Jesus just appeared to all of them and they went, hooray, he's back.

[SPEAKER_01]: That would seem like a very convenient story.

[SPEAKER_01]: but four different gospel writers record for us.

[SPEAKER_01]: In four different, very different accounts, but that all match up and sync up together, the doubt and the disbelief that eventually turned into absolutely convinced he really did come back to life.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's the true good news about how Jesus changed everything.

[SPEAKER_01]: and they finally believe.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's how this can be good.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's how this can be true.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's how we know it is true.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so my question for all of us today who are here listening to this and reading these words, 2000s some years later, is what do you think about it?

[SPEAKER_01]: Is it good?

[SPEAKER_01]: Is the message of Jesus good?

[SPEAKER_01]: And is it true?

[SPEAKER_01]: Is this the true good news, the gospel?

[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe some of you feel more like the nine AM disciples than the nine PM disciples.

[SPEAKER_01]: wondering, not sure if this makes any sense, and you're here now, maybe somebody dragged you here this morning.

[SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to raise your hand if that's you.

[SPEAKER_01]: But you're, maybe you're watching online right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: You've seen the songs, you see the smiling people, and you think, okay, this is lovely, but I'm not sure if I believe all of this.

[SPEAKER_01]: and your heart's just whispering to you, this is nonsense, don't believe it.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if that's you, if I'm describing you in your state right now, I want you to know you're in good company.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jesus' closest followers started the same exact way with doubt, with unbelief.

[SPEAKER_01]: They didn't start with faith, they started with, forget it.

[SPEAKER_01]: They were skeptical, they were grieving, they were tired of getting their hopes up, but look at Peter, look at his response, as soon as he hears that Jesus is gone, he jumps up and he runs to the tomb and he investigates what is happening.

[SPEAKER_01]: That was his next step.

[SPEAKER_01]: He moved from this can't be true, too.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm gonna go see if this is true, and eventually he learned that it was completely true.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so today, your next step isn't necessarily to leave here with all of your doubts alleviated and gone.

[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe your next step is just to run and investigate.

[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe it's to ask hard questions.

[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe it's to go read the words of Jesus and the gospel accounts about him in Matthew, Mark, and Luke and John.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're to talk with a person who brought you or with a pastor up here after the service.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's to investigate the person of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe it's to spend some time in prayer and talking with God and asking him to reveal the truth to you.

[SPEAKER_01]: to not dismiss it as some fiction, but to at least consider the possibility, but this is a good true story.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because if this story is true, and I believe all the evidence says that it is, then Jesus is still in the business of changing everything for us today.

[SPEAKER_01]: And He's transformed and changed so many lives here, including mine.

[SPEAKER_01]: And He wants to change and transform yours.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, not all of us may be in that place today.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want anyone who is a skeptic or doubting to leave here without at least being willing to consider the truth behind the resurrection.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I also recognize that for many of us, what we're already there, we believe we trust in Jesus, we know that he raised from the dead, but here's the problem we face.

[SPEAKER_01]: We still have doubts that crop up in our lives, don't we?

[SPEAKER_01]: We still struggle with our faith, many of us.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know there's a few of you out there with the gift of faith.

[SPEAKER_01]: You're like, I never struggle.

[SPEAKER_01]: Good for you.

[SPEAKER_01]: So happy for you.

[SPEAKER_01]: But for me and a lot of us, we still struggle with those sorts of things.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, here's one of the biggest ways that we struggle.

[SPEAKER_01]: We can come here on Sunday and we can put on a good face, and we can dress up a little bit, and we can hear about Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: But what really matters is what happens on Monday.

[SPEAKER_01]: Monday through Saturday is when we find out if what we talked about on Sunday was real, if it was true.

[SPEAKER_01]: You can believe it here.

[SPEAKER_01]: You can even believe it here, but you don't always live it here or here.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's the struggle that we have all the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so we need to be rebinded.

[SPEAKER_01]: about the death of Jesus that we talked about on Friday.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the resurrection of Jesus that we're talking about today.

[SPEAKER_01]: Not just to remember a change that happened in our life that day when we gave our life to Christ and we became new people in Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: But to remember that it's supposed to make a difference in how we live every single day.

[SPEAKER_01]: To remember that we're supposed to live like we have a risen Savior.

[SPEAKER_01]: And a lot of times we get caught up.

[SPEAKER_01]: and the difficulties and the challenges of this world, and they do bring doubt into our life, and we forget the fact that all of that is minuscule compared to what Jesus did for us, on the cross and when he rose from the dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: In a perfect world, we would all wake up every day, no matter how bad our circumstances are, no matter what bad news we've received recently, we would say, but it doesn't matter because Jesus rose from the dead and I am his child.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it's not a perfect world, isn't it?

[SPEAKER_01]: And so we still struggle with sin and with doubt.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so my question for those of you that this whole time we're saying, yep, I believe all that got it, good, this is great.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm on board, but I was already there.

[SPEAKER_01]: My challenge for you, this Easter Sunday, is to make sure that Monday through Saturday, you live like what happened on Sunday was real.

[SPEAKER_01]: You live like you have a risen savior.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you let everything else fall in comparison to that glorious,

[SPEAKER_01]: If we all do that, it's going to change the way we talk, it's going to change the way we act, it's going to change the way we live.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we all need that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Every one of us, I need that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't always live that way.

[SPEAKER_01]: I often don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's the reminder that we need this Easter Sunday.

[SPEAKER_01]: I wonder if you'd bow your heads with me as we ask God to help us in this way.

[SPEAKER_01]: Lord Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: The fact that you came and suffered and died for us on the cross,

[SPEAKER_01]: Remembering the agony that you went through and taking communion together as you told us to, remembering your blood that was poured out, your body that was broken for us, and Lord, we're thankful for your sacrifice.

[SPEAKER_01]: But we're even more thankful for your resurrection.

[SPEAKER_01]: that we have a risen Savior who is alive and with the Father representing us right now for those of us that have trusted in you, that we can believe in your sacrifice, not anything that we do and be made your child or be a part of your family.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's all wonderful.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's the best thing that could ever happen.

[SPEAKER_01]: But while we are on this earth and while we are in these bodies, we still struggle every day, God, just like the apostles did.

[SPEAKER_01]: We struggle with doubts, we struggle with sin, and we struggle with living like the resurrection really happened.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I've got to have two prayers today.

[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody here with me.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you're willing, lift these prayers up as well to God.

[SPEAKER_01]: God, would you for anybody who is here?

[SPEAKER_01]: Who is just not sure if you're real?

[SPEAKER_01]: Who's just not sure if this is good and if this is true?

[SPEAKER_01]: You show yourself in a special way to them this week.

[SPEAKER_01]: Would you just let them know how much you love them, how much you want them to be a part of your family?

[SPEAKER_01]: Got to pray that you would move and you're with your Holy Spirit in a special way to draw them to yourself.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then for those of us who have already accepted the good news and have trusted in you and were part of your family, but we don't always live in God.

[SPEAKER_01]: I pray that you would help us this week to make a fresh commitment.

[SPEAKER_01]: Make a fresh commitment to live out our faith.

[SPEAKER_01]: because we serve a risen savior.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so we can have hope, and we can have joy, and all of the bad news and difficult things and doubts that happen in this world or nothing compared to what you did for us Lord, we need that reminder.

[SPEAKER_01]: We need that reminder every day, help us to be that together for each other as we go out into the world this week.

[SPEAKER_01]: And in your name, we pray, amen.