THE GREATEST DAY IN HISTORY - John 20:1-18

amen All right If you have a Bible or an

app let's open it up We are going to be

in the Gospel of John The Gospel of John

John 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20 We're going to be looking at

the first 18 verses John is writing to

us uh about an eyewitness account that

he experienced firsthand when it comes

to the to the resurrected Jesus And

here's here's what I want to continue to

to put in front of us really not just

this morning but but every Sunday that

we would corporately gather to to hear

the name of Jesus exalted uh and

glorified is that the resurrection would

not just be an event that we celebrate

one Sunday out of the year Praise God

for Easter Sunday Praise God That

normally people who would not be a part

of the corporate worship experience if I

can use that word are more open to hear

the gospel and and more open to hearing

what Christianity is all about and what

the resurrection means really more so

than any other Sunday But my challenge

is this that the resurrection of Jesus

that our celebration of Easter would not

be exclusive to this Sunday morning but

that we would not see it as an event but

that we would see it as a moment that

brings change and transformation to our

lives In other words we'll talk about

this a little bit deeper in just a

moment I pray that the resurrection

changes your life that it's not just

something that you mentally agree with

but it's something that brings

transformation to your life to your

heart to your marriage to your

relationships to your focus to your

perspective the way that you engage in

the community the way you begin to think

and the choices and decisions that you

make That all of it would be rooted in

the resurrection of Jesus and a and not

just in its theological truth but in the

power that it brings to our lives As a

matter of fact the Apostle Paul said

this in his letter to the church in

Ephesus he he talks about how the power

that raised Christ from the grave the

power that was demonstrated in full

authority in glory and majesty that he

indeed is the king of kings and the lord

of lords that that that same power rests

in you Maybe you've heard it this way

that that resurrection power is in God's

children How is resurrection power in

God's children Because you've been

resurrected in faith in Christ You've

been resurrected out of death and sin to

life eternal And what John does is he

begins to paint three pictures I believe

from our passage three pictures of the

resurrection why it should be personal

why it should propel us towards the

mission why it becomes the hinge and

really the cornerstone of our faith You

know if we think of dates or moments

throughout our life and and really in

the history of the world we can look at

particular moments that brought change

and transformation

I think of dates like July 4th

1776 Or what about this one September

11th 2001

Or let's see if some of y'all know this

one April 3rd

2004 was my wedding anniversary

We all have dates that we can look back

on and say that was the moment that

everything changed for me I think if we

look at the history of creation there is

one date that stands apart One date that

is different from the rest And John

writes about this on a Sunday

morning in a typical

graveyard The tomb rolls away And it's

not just Jesus escaping death

It's Jesus

overcoming death flexing power and

authority over all that Satan his demons

and his followers would attempt to rob

us of to steal and destroy In this

unremarkable tomb in Jerusalem we read

that death lost its grip We just sang

about it moments ago And and Jesus

Christ walked out of the grave And when

Jesus Christ walked out of the grave and

I don't want us to miss this this truth

this lifealtering truth When he walked

out of the grave in power and majesty it

was at that moment that hope became

possible to the world And not in a

general sense Hope became possible for

you hope becomes possible for your

marriage It becomes possible for

overcoming your addictions It becomes

possible for perspective and purpose in

life And and really this isn't just

history that we talk about that we learn

about that we celebrate This is truth

Truth that changes and truth that

transforms And so today I I pray that

with me we would together declare that

the day of the resurrection of our Lord

and Savior Jesus Christ indeed is the

greatest day in history

Jesus

overcame the resurrection It's not just

an event to admire It's a present truth

to live by So John here in chapter 20

it's an early Sunday morning Jesus has

just been crucified And make no mistake

Jesus is dead Okay There is no life in

him He has been buried He has been

anointed as part of Jewish tradition and

culture And this moment becomes the very

heart of our Christian faith It's not

just historical it's not just

theological it's personal and it's

missional

And what John does is he gives us a

firsthand account This is this is John

demonstrating to the world I have been

there I have seen this And here's what's

incredible John will write several other

letters in the New Testament John not

only wrote the Gospel of John he wrote

the letters of First John second John

Third John and then there's one more

letter he wrote Anybody know It's the

book of Revelation Well in first John

John says speaking of the risen Lord

speaking of his savior Jesus he says "We

can

know and we can experience the truth of

who Christ is." And so here in John

John 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20 as he begins to unpack these

beautiful pictures of what the

resurrection

means let's find out together here

chapter 20 verse one of John's gospel

Now on the first day of the week that's

Sunday Mary Magdalene came to the tomb

early while it was still dark Now this

is important to understand that that

John would not just in passing mention

some random fact that it's still dark

But but I want us to notice something as

we unpack the rest of our passage John

is painting a contrasting

picture that as it is still believed and

perceived that that Jesus is in the tomb

the disciples and Mary and elsewhere in

the gospel we find groups go and visit

fully expecting to see Jesus dead It is

indeed a dark moment But notice as we

continue to read how this is contrasted

with the revelation that Jesus is not

dead but he's alive that his glory and

majesty shines And let me just pause

here for for just a moment May maybe you

find yourself in in a season of

darkness Maybe you you are approaching

life feeling this way Maybe that's

through circumstance Maybe that that's

through the sin that is overpowering

your life Maybe that is through your own

personal decisions and and now you have

to reap the consequences from uh living

in rebellion before the Lord I I I want

you to know that that because of the

resurrection and because of the power

and might and the grace and the mercy

and the love that exists in Jesus Christ

that you can be transferred out of

darkness and into light You can be

resurrected out of death in sin and into

light everlasting So John continues it

says "While it was still dark and saw

that the stone had been taken away from

the tomb." So so what does Mary do Verse

two so she ran went to Simon Peter and

the other disciple the one whom Jesus

loved This is this is John referencing

himself And if you're anything like me

on the surface you you might feel why

does John refer to himself as the one

whom Jesus loved Is is he being a bit

conceited Is is he on a high horse And

that's not the case at all This this is

John not emphasizing a title uh from uh

from conceitedness but it's emphasizing

a title based on love That he that he

would be the one whom Jesus loved And

here here's what I want to let you in on

You're the one whom Jesus loves as well

The reason he went to the cross the

reason he rose from the grave the the

reason that the shepherd calls his sheep

by his name the reason he'll leave the

99 to to find the one lost sheep is

because he loves you And maybe there are

some lost sheep in here this morning

Maybe some of us have gone

wayward Here at the end of our service

we're going to have a moment where I'm

going to call you to respond to the

gospel And I pray that even now as the

Holy Spirit begins to move and and work

and maybe draw you to conviction and

accountability that you would not hold

off You would not push back but that you

would freely receive what God freely

gives And what did he freely give Who

did he freely give His son okay for you

to live the life that we couldn't live

in full perfection to the laws of the

father to die the death that we all

deserve because of our sin to have the

justice of God appeased to rise

victoriously from the grave 40 days

later he'll ascend back to the throne of

heaven So let's continue She ran here in

verse two went to Simon Peter and the

other disciples the one whom Jesus loved

and she said they have taken the Lord

out of the tomb and we do not know where

they have laid him So what did Peter and

John do Peter went out with the other

disciple and they were going toward the

tomb Both of them were running together

But the other disciple outran Peter and

reached the tomb first and stooping to

look in he saw the linen cloths lying

there This was burial culture and

tradition that they would wrap the

deceased in linen cloths This is John's

way again of saying Jesus has

died There is no life in him He

experienced the reality of

death He continues "Both of them running

together." The other disciple outran

Peter reached the tomb first stooping in

he saw the linen cloths lying there but

he did not go in Verse six then Simon

Peter came following him and went into

the tomb He saw the linen cloths lying

there and the facecloth which had been

on Jesus's head not lined with the linen

cloths but folded up in a place by

itself I didn't mention this during

first service and and and we never want

to allegorize the biblical text What

does that mean We never want to draw

something out of the Bible that the

author did not intend for us to draw out

But but here's here's what's important I

looked this up to ensure that that I'm

not speaking falsehoods here There was a

part of Jewish tradition particularly in

regards to master and servant that when

the master um was to get up from his

seat at the table if he was not done

with dinner if he intended to return he

would take the napkin and fold it up to

indicate to his servants that he's not

done he's coming back And so I think

it's a unique picture here that that

John is referencing purposefully uh as

we would read here in verse 7 of this

tradition What does that tell us It

tells us that Jesus is coming back Yeah

That our father has not left us alone He

is coming back Let's continue Verse

eight Then the other disciple who had

reached the tomb first also went in and

he saw and believed For as yet they did

not understand the scripture that he

must rise from the dead Then the

disciples went back to their homes But

Mary stood weeping outside the tomb And

as she wept she stooped She stooped to

look into the tomb She saw two angels in

white sitting there with the body of

Jesus one on the head and one at the

feet They said to her,"Woman why are you

weeping?" She said to them "They have

taken away my Lord and I do not know

where they have laid him."

Having said this she turned around and

saw Jesus standing but she did not know

that it was

Jesus Jesus said to her,"Woman why are

you weeping Whom are you seeking?" That

question is important We'll reference it

here in a bit Supposing him to be the

gardener she said to him "Sir if you

have carried him away tell me where you

have laid him and I will take him away."

Verse 16's the hinge here This is where

everything begins to transition Remember

how did John begin chapter 20 saying it

was still dark and and everything up

until this moment indicates this this

spirit of grief and darkness The body is

gone We do not know what has happened to

him But here in verse 16 we have a hinge

We get a view of the glory We get a a

scene of light shining forth Jesus said

to her "Mary."

She turned and said to him in Aramaic

"Raboni," which means teacher She

recognizes him And Jesus said to her,"Do

not cling to me for I have not yet

ascended to the father but go to my

brothers and say to them I am ascending

to my father and your father to my God

and your God." Mary Magdalene went and

announced to the disciples I have seen

the Lord and that he had said these

things to her And all God's people said

"Amen." Lord would you bless your word

Holy Spirit would you stir our

hearts as we continue this

morning I want to point us to three

pictures about the resurrection that

that John in his wonderful eloquent and

really poetic and and pictureful writing

really demonstrates to us And so here's

the first picture if you're taking notes

is that the resurrection is the

cornerstone of our faith You don't have

to have grown up in church or or even

attended church for a while to

understand that that Christianity hinges

on this truth As a matter of fact in 1

Corinthians

5:17 Paul will say this Paul will say

that if the resurrection is not real if

there's no validity to the truth of

Jesus rising forth from the grave then

your faith is futile That your faith is

in vain Later on he'll talk about how

our evangelistic efforts are all for not

and serve no purpose if Christ is not

risen from the grave If you're familiar

with the writings of Paul particularly

his letters to the Corinthian church

then you know Paul was writing to

correct the theology uh and really the

testimony of the Corinthian church There

was a lot happening in there in the name

of Jesus under the banner of grace and

truth And and and Paul is saying you

don't quite get it You don't quite

understand that they were forsaking the

power of the resurrection and really

what all that entails for Christianity

And Paul reminds him here in chapter

15:1 17 of his first letter that Christ

has indeed been raised from the grave

because if he didn't then all we're

doing is for nothing All we're doing is

for not And so our entire faith hinges

on the truth of this moment Because if

Jesus didn't rise from the dead if the

resurrection is false then we are

delusional and are liars But but here's

what I

love We have eyewitness accounts We'll

look at that in in just a moment We have

the gospel writings We we have people

who were alive during the New Testament

letters who could have combat it and

could have denied the truth but we don't

have anything like that whatsoever We

have historical evidence archaeological

evidence all of it pointing to the truth

of the resurrection of Jesus Go back

with me to verse

5 Here's what John

writes Stooping to look in he saw the

linen cloths lying there but he did not

go in Then Simon Peter came following

him and went into the tomb Now now

notice this that that John repeats

himself two instances here of the same

thing the same moment from two different

people What does he say about Simon

Peter That likewise Simon Peter saw the

linen cloths lying there Why is this

important

Because in this moment in time in Jewish

culture even today in some eastern

civilizations the the account of one

witness is not enough All right But the

account of two or more is enough So much

in fact that two or more witnesses is

enough evidence to allow it as testimony

in the court of law And so what John is

doing is he has demonstrated indeed

don't take my word for it Simon Peter

was there as well And if you're familiar

with the rest of the New Testament they

were there as well 40 days after Jesus

was resurrected appeared to hundreds of

people Let me tell you why this is

important This validates our victory Now

I've said it often and I say it again

because it's worth repeating As

believers sure we encounter hardships We

encounter difficulties and and

circumstances but we need to remember

that that in our fight in our efforts as

as Paul declares in the New Testament to

strain forward for that which lies ahead

the prize of the upward call of God in

Christ Jesus

Amen That when we

fight when we demonstrate effort and

strain forward we're not fighting for a

victory We're fighting from a victory

And often

times what we do is is is we

misunderstand this truth and we will

spend all our effort and all our energy

fighting for a victory And Jesus is

telling us the Holy Spirit is stirring

us to say "I've already won

The victory has already been

declared." And so what is John doing

John is demonstrating that the empty

tomb validates this victory that Jesus

didn't escape He

overcame He walked out in full authority

over sin death and evil Full authority

over all of

it Let me tell you what that why that

matters here Here's here's the

application You can build your life on a

lot of things Matter of fact some of us

to the detriment of our own

relationships to to sometimes our own

soul we attempt to build our lives on

things the things of this world

But there's one thing that we can build

our life on that that no matter what

happens will never collapse

And that's the truth of the gospel

that's been validated in the

resurrection of Jesus So the question is

what are you building your life on Let

me rephrase it Who are you building your

life on Is it on stuff Is it on power Is

it on control Is it cultural

Christianity What does your life look

like in reference to the gospel of Jesus

When life gets hard where is your

hope Let me tell you the addiction

that'll shatter and

break Relationships those will shatter

and break Your job will shatter and

break Your health will shatter and break

None of us are guaranteed tomorrow But

what we can be guaranteed is that there

is a savior who has risen victoriously

from the grave But but here's what's

incredible The resurrection is not just

theological truth I said it earlier It's

it's not just knowledge that we agree

with mentally The resurrection must be

personal That's the second picture we

see John painting that the resurrection

is personal So often we spend the

majority of our Christian life

particularly if you look at the data of

western culture esper especially

Christianity in

America a lot of

people are Christian only by

association They're Christian only by

word but it's never demonstrated in deed

Did you know if you call yourself a son

or daughter of God in other words if if

if you are to stand up and say yes Jesus

is my Lord and Savior then there is an

expectation in your life to live like

Jesus is your Lord and Savior And what

ends up happening is we live life

according to our way according to our

wants and according to our desires And

when we do that we don't make it

personal

Christ is not in us And here's why this

is important Unless the resurrection is

personal then it's not

efficacious In other words you can't

experience the power of God if God is

not your personal God Okay And so Mary

stands outside the

tomb She's

weeping Understandably grief has blinded

her She does not yet see nor perceive

the truth of the resurrection and she

doesn't even recognize Jesus when she

first encounters him But when are her

eyes open When is her heart receptive

Did you pick up on that Go back with me

to the beginning right here in verse

11 This is the moment that changes

everything This is where we begin to see

the transition from darkness to light

Says "But Mary stood weeping outside the

tomb and as she wept she stooped to look

into the tomb She saw two angels in

white sitting where the body of Jesus

had lain one at the head and one at the

feet And the angel said to her,"Woman

why are you weeping?" She said to them

"They have taken away my Lord and I do

not know where they have laid him."

Having said this she turned around and

saw Jesus standing but she did not know

that it was Jesus Jesus said to

her,"Woman why are you weeping?" Now

notice Jesus repeats the question but

what does Jesus also do

He adds to it It's not just about what

it's about who Did you notice that It's

not why are you weeping It's whom are

you

seeking I love these moments all

throughout the scriptures where where

God will ask questions where where the

authors will will really personify the

Lord in demonstrating when God asks

questions And often times we might read

that and we'll think well doesn't God

know Does he lack knowledge It's not

that God lacks knowledge These questions

are not because God doesn't know the

answer These questions are there because

God is drawing us out He wants to draw

something out of us Any parent can

relate to this You know your kid has

done something wrong but you ask the

question anyway what did you do It's not

because you don't know It's because

you're trying to draw truth out from

your child What God is doing is he is

drawing recognition out from Mary

supposing him to be the gardener It

continues She said to him "Sir if you

have carried him away tell me where you

have laid him and I will take him away."

Jesus said to her here it is

"Mary." She turned and said to him in

Aramaic "Raboni," which means

teacher What happened in this moment Her

eyes were opened and her heart leaps and

mourning is turned to joy Sorrow is

turned to

celebration Death into life The good

shepherd John tells us in chapter 10:3

calls his sheep by their name because

the sheep know the shepherd's voice Do

you know this is not

God through the son Jesus just saying

Mary This is God through the son through

the great and mighty shepherd saying

Roland And it's until that moment is

personalized that I'll never experience

the power the majesty the glory and the

beauty of the resurrection And maybe

some of us here this morning we have

never fully personalized salvation in

Jesus Maybe we've piggybacked over uh on

the faith of grandparents or brothers

and sisters or the fact because we go to

church every once in a while or because

we have the Bible app on our phone But

is Jesus personal to you Have you

responded to the name that he is calling

your name A personal God who knows the

number of days you have on this earth

the number of hairs on your head Jesus

sees you And here's what's beautiful The

resurrection is not about an empty tomb

or the absence of a body At least not

just but it's about the presence of the

living one Amen Mary had seen the empty

tomb but it wasn't until she experienced

the presence of the living one that

things began to change and he calls her

by name

Jesus knows your name And when he speaks

it he calls you out of grief He calls

you out of shame He calls you out of

fear because he's alive and he's calling

you to himself The question is do you

recognize his voice

Have you responded to him Because Jesus

doesn't stop there Right Notice that he

doesn't let Mary cling to this moment

but he pushes her and propels her to

move forward That's the third picture

that we see that the resurrection sends

us forward Go back with me to verse

17 Here's what Jesus tells Mary Do not

cling to me for I have not yet ascended

to the Father Now on the surface this

this might be confusing Why Why is Jesus

telling Mary not to cling to him Well

Jesus says "I've not yet ascended to the

father." But is there something more

happening there I believe this is John's

intention Because later what will Thomas

do Thomas will will touch the Lord

Doubting Thomas will move from from

doubt to belief because he sees this is

indeed the resurrected savior So so what

is happening here when Jesus says "Do

not cling to me."

I believe Jesus is not being cold but

Jesus is redirecting Mary By extension

Jesus is redirecting us What does that

mean It means that the resurrection

isn't about preserving the past It's

about proclaiming the future So many of

us can relate to this We'll look to

moments in our past and we'll say "Those

were the golden ages Those were greater

days." I I pray that we as a people of

God would never look to our past and say

those were greater days Praise God for

what he's done in the past Praise God

for his faithfulness Did you know 10

years ago the Grove First Baptist Church

here in Orange Grove celebrated our

first service 10 years ago on Easter

Sunday in this building Okay we can look

back and to see how God has been

faithful But I pray that we would never

be a people that looks back and say

those were our best days but that we

would always be a people moving forward

in mission moving forward under the

banner of God's glory saying our best

days are still ahead How is God moving

and working How are you moving forward

Jesus continues "Go to my brothers and

say to them I am ascending to my

father." Now don't miss this because

Jesus calls Mary by name Mary recognizes

this She she tells Jesus "Rabbi I know

who you are." And I love how Jesus

continues right This act of of being

personal with the father He says "I'm

going to my father and your father I'm

going to my God and your God." And what

did Mary Magdalene do She went and

announced She didn't stay in that moment

as wonderful and as beautiful as it was

but she went and announced What did she

go and announce I have seen the Lord

Church that's the mission Come on I have

seen the Lord We have seen the Lord And

so we go forward in praise and in

worship under the banner of his glory

and his power proclaiming I have seen

the Lord You have a story to tell We all

have a story to tell And when we tell

our story how God has glorified because

in telling our story people can

recognize how God has transformed us and

changed us Often times I've heard people

throughout my years in ministry they'll

say things like this "Well I don't have

a powerful

testimony I didn't have a prison

transformation experience God didn't

save me from

addiction I grew up okay I went to

church I got saved." And and and praise

God Yes And when we look at our

testimony that way I think we do a

disservice

to the glory of God because you are not

the main character of your story Christ

is And if Christ is the main character

of your story then that is a story worth

repeating That is a worth telling And

Christ is calling us not to sit in

moments but to go and announce And what

does Mary announce I have seen the Lord

And all he had said these things to her

Mary becomes the first witness of the

resurrection Resurrection propels us

where we become witnesses If you have

encountered the risen Lord listen you

have a message to carry in whatever area

God has gifted you in If you're a

teacher God has called you to carry the

message of hope in your classroom If

you're a coach in the locker room if

you're a business owner with your

clients if if you're a salesman out in

the field If you're in uh in the medical

field out with your patients And

whatever If you're retired then out with

your neighbors friends the clerk at the

grocery store Whatever it is the mission

never stops for you And and I think let

me just camp here for a moment I I I

think the

world is in the place that it's in Not

just because Satan Satan's days are are

limited and he's he's been granted um

minimal power to entice to steal kill

and destroy

Amen But in that moment in those days

what are we doing How are we pushing the

mission forward And I think the reason

we experience a lot with what we

experience is because we are not willing

to go forward We are not willing to

share what God has done We are not

willing to be examples of his testimony

of what God has done in us But but but

let me just say

this How are we living in light of the

greatest day in history

The greatest day in history wasn't

marked by a parade Yeah It wasn't marked

by a public declaration What was it

marked by An empty tomb a risen savior

and a woman weeping in the garden And

what did that moment do that moment

changed the world and it can change you

Amen So as we close let me just let me

just speak plainly

If you don't know the hope of the

resurrection if you feel stuck if you

feel a lack in passion a a lack in

purpose it it may be because you are

blinded by your sin Wow

because you have

clung to a

self-preservation worldhonoring

idol glorifying mentality And and maybe

I'm going out on a limb here but but I

don't think anyone in here would stand

up and say I worship

Satan but sin is very very

serious And the act of sin in our life

is rebellion and treas

to sin is to by its nature worship Satan

However none of us would say that But

the sin in our life would demonstrate

that Okay And so often times if if we're

not experiencing the hope of the

resurrection it's because we are blinded

by our sin We have traded the worship of

the risen Christ for the worship of self

for the worship of control for the

worship of comfort And you cannot you

cannot experience life in Jesus Christ

while still clinging to your

sin And so the tomb is

empty but your heart may still be full

of pride bitterness greed

self-righteousness Let me just tell you

plain and simple Jesus died for you

Thank you Jesus So that through your

faith through your trust through your

hope in him and in him alone you would

experience resurrection out of death and

sin to life everlasting Would you repent

of your sin Would you turn to Jesus

Christ Would you surrender to the one

who walked out of the grave that Sunday

morning and the one who knows your name

The greatest day in history can be your

greatest day because the greatest day in

history changes everything Let's pray

Lord thank you for your word Thank you

for your truth Thank you for

transformation and life change Thank you

Lord that you are a God that did not

remain in the tomb but through power

glory and in full demonstration of your

authority over sin death and the grave

you came forward in full righteousness

and holiness Lord I pray this morning

that if there is anyone who does not

know you as Lord or maybe the one who

has been struggling in addiction maybe

they've been camping out there for way

too long I pray that today right here

right now would be would be a day where

shackles are loosened strongholds are

broken and like the disciples in the

prison the doors fling wide open and

freedom is

experienced Jesus have your way It's in

your name we pray All God's people said

"Amen." Hey would you stand to your feet

this morning We're going to close our

service We're going to sing together Let

let the words of this song be the prayer

of your heart We're going to have a

moment of response What that means is is

our stage our altar is going to be open

If if you would like to place faith in

Jesus Pastor Eric or myself we'd love to

pray over you If you just need prayer if

you want to pray on behalf of someone or

maybe you just want to celebrate the

goodness of God we want to provide an

opportunity for you to respond how God

has spoken to you and how the spirit is

moving I love you church