Living This Side of the Resurrection

This is Roger Parrott, president of Belhaven University.

Three years ago, we changed the traditional pattern of our chapel

program from hosting a variety of guest speakers, like all Christian

colleges do, and instead, I've been the speaker for all of our chapel

services.

This has allowed us to study more deeply the key themes of our

faith, and students have been responsive to chapel like never before.

This past fall semester, we spent the entire term looking at

Christmas.

And during the spring, my chapel messages all focused on easter.

In over 40 years of preaching college chapels, I don't think I've

ever experienced a more blessed time than this past semester.

Looking at the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ, students

asked the hard questions,.

And God brought clarity.

And as we address them head on in this series of sermons, I want

to share with you the capstone message of that series, in which

I not only summarize what we discovered studying the resurrection,

but look at what Jesus told his disciples during those 40 days

between his resurrection and ascension into heaven.

My message that day began with a short recording of Pastor S.M.

Lockridge's famous sermon, Sunday's Coming.

And then my 25 minute message follows.

I pray God may use this time of worship from Belhaven University

Chapel to bless you and to strengthen your faith.

It's Friday Jesus is praying Peter is asleep Judas is betraying

But Sunday's coming It's Friday Pilots struggling the council

is conspiring the crowd is vilified they don't even know that

Sunday's coming It's Friday the disciples are running like sheep

without a shepherd Mary's crying, Peter is denying but they

don't know that Sundays are coming It's Friday the Roman beat

my Jesus they robe him in scar they crown him with thorns but they

don't know that Sunday's coming It's Friday See Jesus walking

to Calvary his blood dripping his body stumbling and his spirits

burdened but you see it's only Friday Sunday's coming It's Friday

the world's winning People are sinning and evil's grinning It's

Friday the soldiers nailed my Savior's hands to the cross they

nailed my Savior's feet to the cross and then they raised him up

next to criminals It's Friday but let me tell you something Sunday's

coming It's Friday the disciples are questioning what has

happened to their king and the Pharisees are celebrating that their

scheming has been achieved but they don't know it's only Friday

Sunday's coming It's Friday he's hanging on the cross Healing

for Taken by his father Left alone and dying can nobody save him?

Oh, it's Friday But Sunday's coming It's Friday the earth trembles

the sky grows dark My king yields his spirit It's Friday Hope

is lost Death has sin has conquered and Satan's just a laughing.

It's Friday Jesus is buried A soldier stands guard and a rock is

rolled into place but it's Friday it is only Friday is a coming.

Sometimes our life feels like it's Friday.

The words of Reverend Lockridge here are.

Encouraging to me to remember.

Even in those times when it feels like Friday and everything

is honest.

Sunday is coming.

We've been through an overwhelming time this semester,

looking at Easter, and it's felt like Friday building and building.

And that's where we left off last time.

Remember?

We started this journey with Lazarus raising from the dead and

Jesus coming in on Palm Sunday.

Then he cleared the temple, took on the Jewish leaders.

We got to the Last Supper.

We got to Gethsemane, where he was crushed.

The arrest of Jesus, the mock trials, the horror of the crucifixion,

the darkness and the earthquakes as he died, and the veil

that was torn from top to bottom.

And then the Scripture takes us from.

All the heaviness of that to Sunday morning.

It reads like this.

Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene

and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.

Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord

had come down from heaven, rolled aside the stone and sat on

it.

His face shone like lightning and his clothing as white as snow.

The guards shook with fear when they saw him.

And they fell into a dead faint.

Then the angel spoke to the women.

Don't be afraid, he said.

I know you're looking for Jesus who was crucified.

He isn't here.

He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen.

Come and see where his body was lying.

Go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from

the dead and he's going ahead of you to Galilee, and you will see

him there.

Remember what I have told you.

The Resurrection is the linchpin our faith.

Everything points to the Resurrection and comes from the Resurrection.

The Resurrection is the linchpoint of human history.

The Resurrection is the centerpiece of the priorities of

our life are all lined out of the Resurrection.

The Resurrection, as we talked about this semester, matters everything.

And that's why we took several chapels to talk through the proof

of the Resurrection and why it matters.

And just to refresh you.

The Resurrection, we said, makes all the difference in our lives

because we have victory over evil and death.

Evil is woven into every problem of our world.

Everything that you can look at is difficult.

Every relationship, every societal problem, every.

Everything that is complex and makes life hard, all comes back to

evil in our world.

Jesus in the Resurrection had victory over.

Evil, and Jesus had victory over death.

You know, we don't like to talk about death, but death will

come to.

Each one of us, every single one of us.

We don't like to think about it.

We don't like to dwell on it.

But when we understand the Resurrection, we can dwell on it

with anticipation and hope.

Because we know Jesus promised all of.

Us eternal life if we follow him.

And then we have that.

Hope was restored in the Resurrection.

Hope was restored not just for eternal life, but for this life as

well.

And that there is hope in the battle with evil, and there is hope

that our lives can have meaning and significance.

And then we saw in the Resurrection that we received unlimited

love.

The crucifixion shows the depth to which God loves us.

It is hard for us to understand.

We can't comprehend or we can't even come to close to that

level of.

Love for the people, especially the people.

We don't even know.

But Jesus died for all of us.

And then the Resurrection is significant because we have our lives

transformed.

Jesus didn't want us to just come and muddle through life, just

make it somehow, somehow find a path, somehow find a way, somehow

kind of craft out a way forward.

He wants us to live abundantly.

He said.

Those were his words.

Come that you've had life and have it abundantly, and how to find

that joy and purpose and significance in life.

That transformation comes all because of the Resurrection.

You see the Resurrection, if you want to think about it this way,

as the most significant.

The Resurrection is the pinnacle of God's commitment to total

justice and his commitment to total love.

You see, God is 100% about justice.

If you feel like you haven't been treated fairly in life at times,

God cares about justice.

God will not be satisfied with anything except complete justice.

And at the same time, he's 100%.

Committed to love, a love that has no boundaries.

Well, how do you put the justice with the love?

The only way that happens is in the resurrection of Jesus as a

sacrifice for us, who then overcame all.

So we look at the significance of the Resurrection, and we spent

a whole chapel talking about that, and then we talked about the

proof, just to remind you the eyewitness biblical accounts that

we have these stories who, if you had made them up, you sure wouldn't

write them that way.

With all the details and the women who were there first and the

quotes of people who saw Jesus.

And essentially the writers are saying they're still alive.

Go ask them.

You can find out.

We're not hiding anything.

And so we know that they're true because of the way those gospel

writers reported the resurrection.

And then we had the empty tomb, the empty tomb so that not

Jesus could get out, so that we could see in and we could see

he really did rise from the grave.

And then we had the post resurrection appearances coming up

to over 500 different people who saw him during those 40 days

between the time of his resurrection and his ascension into

heaven.

And then we see, most importantly maybe the transformation

of the disciples, total change in their lives of who they were.

These were the guys who were with him for three years.

They were there at the Sermon on the Mount, they were there when

Jesus walked on the water.

They were there when he fed 5,000 people with a tiny little lunch.

They were there when he healed people.

But in Easter week, as we saw, they all disappeared.

They were gone.

They were scared to death and they ran away when Jesus needed them

most.

So after the resurrection, last time he.

Saw him was in Gethsemane, remember?

You remember what happened there?

They fell asleep.

They weren't even there for him.

And he finally said, I'll just forget it.

I'll use sleep.

I'll carry it from here.

That's the last time he saw him.

So he sees them again after the resurrection.

Well, what does he say to them?

I think that's the key question to take out of this post

resurrection period of time beyond the significance of what we

talked about.

And that's what I want us to look at this morning is what did

he say to them during that time?

Here's his first words.

Peace be with you.

Why are you frightened?

Why are your hearts filled with doubt?

Look at my hands, look at my feet.

You can see it's really me.

Touch me and make sure I'm not a ghost.

Because ghosts don't have bodies, as you see that I do.

They were overwhelmed by the resurrection.

It was as impossible for them to believe in the resurrection as

it is difficult for us to believe in the resurrection.

And they were there at the time.

Now the amazing thing is that Jesus had told them, on the third

day, I am going to rise from the grave.

He told them this over and over.

We know that Because Mark, who is very detailed in his reporting

in the Gospel, although there's so much he doesn't write

down.

And he says that, but he writes, three times Jesus told them,

I will rise from the grave.

You know, if Mark wrote down the three times Jesus said that,

that means Jesus said it over and over and over and over and over

again.

He'd been telling them, this is what's going to happen.

But when the time came, they weren't even expecting it.

So then he appears to them.

And what did he say?

Well, what would you say if you'd been through all Jesus has

been through on Friday and now on Sunday, you see them, these people

who ran away.

What would you say to them?

The people who deserted you when you needed them most, the people

who you thought you could count on.

What would you say to them?

You might say, well, you know, guys, I love you, but you really

blew it.

Guys, I love you, but I tried to tell you.

I tried to tell you over and over, and you never listened to me.

You don't trust me.

You don't believe in me.

You blew the test.

This was the moment.

This was the test.

And you got an F. You failed.

You flunked completely.

You got to do better.

That's what you think he'd want to.

Tell them, but that's not what he told them.

That's not what he told them at all.

He didn't scold them.

He didn't try to correct them.

He just gave them a way forward.

And three things he told them, peace be with you.

We see, but in the Gospels, we get detailed accounts of what Jesus

said.

Now, because of time, I'm not going to quote all the scriptures

back and forth to you.

So if you let me summarize.

Let me summarize essentially the three things, primary things,

that Jesus told his disciples between the time of his resurrection

and his ascension into heaven, which was.

Was 40 days.

Let's look at those three things.

The first one is this.

He essentially said, you underestimated me.

You underestimated me.

First of all, you underestimated my calling.

They had built their lives around Jesus and who he was and his

teaching and all that he was about.

But they missed that he was the savior of the world.

They underestimated his calling.

His calling was not just to be a great teacher.

His calling was not just to guide us in the daily activities

of life.

His calling was to save the world and to be a sacrifice on the

cross and to conquer sin and death.

That was his calling.

And, guys, you underestimated me.

I think so often you.

And I can look at Jesus and say, well, I just love what he teaches.

I love that he teaches turn the other cheek.

I love that he says, go the extra mile.

I love that he teaches me through this and that.

But some of this other stuff, you know, that's just a bit too far.

No, we underestimate Jesus.

His calling was his purpose.

The teaching was not the primary purpose.

Don't underestimate the calling of Jesus.

And that's what the disciples did.

And this is where the transformation begins in their lives.

From people who ran away on Friday.

To people who boldly marched into the future.

We underestimate the calling of Jesus.

And then I'm sure he said, you know, you underestimated the cost

of redemption.

You underestimated what a price had to be paid to deal with

the.

With the justice that God won't compromise on.

He will not compromise on justice.

And somebody had to pay that price.

And I paid that price with love.

You know, they wanted Jesus to come and save them from the Romans,

but what they didn't realize is they needed Jesus to come and

save them from.

Sin, which was their worst oppressor.

And I think too much.

Today we have Christians who are wanting Jesus to come and save

a political process or save a culture or save a public policy issue.

Instead, we need to be looking to Jesus as the one who paid the

ultimate cost of redemption.

And our worst oppressor is sin.

It's not these other issues that we.

Tend to focus on.

They underestimated the cost of redemption.

And then thirdly, they underestimated the power of God.

They completely underestimated the power of God.

Now, he had told them over and over, on the third day, I'm going

to rise from the dead.

On the third day, I'm going to rise from the dead.

You would think they would be lining up at that tomb on Sunday

morning to see it happen, but they were nowhere to be found.

In fact, Mary and the other Mary came with spices in order to

treat.

The dead body, and they assumed it was all over.

They underestimated the power of God.

They underestimated the power of God to overcome death and forgive

sin.

And remember, the proof that he forgives sin is that veil in the

temple.

Is ripped from top to bottom, which allows the presence of God

to be among us and us to be in the presence of God.

They underestimated Jesus.

And when you look at what he said to them during those 40 days,

this is the primary message that comes across first of all is

that you underestimated me.

You underestimated my calling.

You underestimated the cost of redemption and you underestimated

the power of God.

You know what I think often you.

And I live that way.

We underestimate Jesus.

We way underestimate Jesus in what he can and will do.

So that's the first thing that he said to them.

The second thing he said to them is read your Bible.

Read your Bible.

He points them to the scripture in several different instances.

When he talks to them, to the disciples or other followers, he

points them to the scriptures.

He says, you find it so hard to believe that the prophets wrote

all this in the scripture.

He keeps pointing them back to the scripture.

So if you're going to have your life transformed, it's got to

be grounded in the scripture.

Here's the thing.

Jesus knew the scripture was the word of God.

We don't act like that too often.

We act like the scripture is something that's a nice little add

on either to start the day or to end the day.

Yeah, if I have time and I can get up early enough, I'll read a

little bit.

If I have time, I'll read a little bit at night.

And that's a nice add on to kind of put a book in on the day.

And that's a good spiritual life.

No, to Jesus, the scripture was his life.

Jesus understood it really was the word.

Of God and so he made it centerpiece in his life.

And he so often quotes the scripture.

And so during this time in these.

40 days between his resurrection, the ascension, he's

pointing his disciples back to the scripture and essentially saying,

guys, read your Bible.

It's all there.

If you would have read it, you would know what was going to happen.

With this crucifixion and my rising from the grave.

It's all there.

Great admiration, direction to us again.

Now Jesus is turning over everything to these, to these disciples

for the future.

So he's trying to give them direction for the future.

First, don't underestimate me.

And secondly, read your Bible.

And then the third thing he says.

Is, go make disciples.

Make disciples.

Essentially he was giving them their marching orders for the future.

He was saying, this is your calling to make disciples.

Now it's kind of remarkable to me that here's Jesus, all he's been

through.

We just look at Friday, we look at all he'd been through on

Friday and here's this resurrection and he's come out of

the grave.

You would think he knows he's just got a Few days to talk to these

disciples.

And finally, guys, get it straight.

You blew the test.

You weren't there at the moment.

You don't seem to get the main thing.

Now here, here's the game plan.

1, 2, 3, 4.

Okay, you're going to do this, this and this.

I would have been.

If I knew I was leaving Belhaven in 40 days, I would be with

my team making plans to make sure everything was ready to go when

I.

Walk out the door and not Jesus, he said, don't underestimate

me.

Read your Bible and go make disciples.

That's the plan.

That's the plan.

He turns it all over to them.

Now, out of this, we take really.

Two insights that are helpful.

First of all, Jesus used them and turned it all over to him when.

They didn't feel qualified and ready to do it.

And I think so often when we think about making disciples, we

say, well, you know, my job to make disciples, Maybe I can get somebody

to come to church.

No, there are things we can do to make disciples even when we don't

feel qualified.

We don't have to have all the theological understanding.

We don't have to have the biblical literacy.

We don't have to have all that in order to help make disciples.

But Jesus said, this is our priority.

Even when you don't feel qualified, I will equip you to help

you make disciples.

Because this is everybody's job.

If you are a follower of Christ, your calling is to make disciples.

Jesus never said make converts, ever.

He said, make disciples.

People who understand the scripture, people who don't underestimate

the power of God and who what the cost of redemption is.

Those are the people we need to build up in our lives, and that's

our calling.

Jesus said, make disciples is your highest priority.

So you're not qualified.

But that doesn't matter.

That doesn't get you out of this.

You don't have to wait till you're qualified in order to make

disciples because these disciples of Jesus, at that point,

the 11 who were left surely weren't qualified.

They flunked the test.

But Jesus said, go do it right now.

Don't wait.

Secondly, out of this, we take that.

Making disciples is our highest priority.

All of you have goals for your life, and you should.

And they're exciting to hear about the things you want to do with

your life.

You want to build a career, you.

Want to build a family.

You want to have a place of significance and meaning and make

your life count.

And all those things are good, but your highest Calling Jesus makes

clear here.

Is to make disciples.

So if you have a great career and you don't make disciples, you

failed.

If you make a lot of money and you don't make disciples, you failed.

If you have a terrific family and you don't make disciples, you

failed.

Jesus said making disciples is our highest priority.

And when it comes to making disciples, all of us take one of

three paths.

You could be a person who draws people to God.

Do you do that?

Do you draw people to God by how you interact with them, how you

respond to them, how you show grace, how you show kindness?

Do you draw people to God by demonstrating the fruits of the Spirit

in your life?

You can be that kind of a.

Person who draws people to God.

That's disciple making.

It's not sitting down saying, well, let's.

Study these four scriptures.

That's not necessarily disciple making.

It's part of it, but that's not really it.

It's more importantly how you live as a Christian in interactions

with people you're closest to.

So you can be a person who draws people to God.

Secondly, you can be a person who pushes people away from God.

And there are a lot of folks who do that.

So you're tempted to do some stuff you shouldn't be doing because

it doesn't honor God.

And you, you pull other people along into that with you because

then you.

Feel better about your yourself.

If you can get others to walk farther away from God so that you.

Feel better, you can be a person who reacts in anger.

You can be a person who is selfish.

You can be a person who's bullying.

You can be a person who's, who's manipulative.

Those things push, pull people away from God as you demonstrate

not the fruits.

Of the spirit, but the fruits of evil.

As you demonstrate that, you can pull people away from God.

And the scripture talks very much about the penalty.

For those of us who pull people away from God, there's a high

cost to pay for that.

It's better to be the third, which.

Is essentially, you don't care.

You don't do anything.

You're just about you.

You don't draw people to God.

You don't push people away from God.

You're just you.

It's all about you.

It's better than the second one.

But there's no reason all of us can't do the first one of pulling

people to God.

You don't have to be qualified to do that because the disciples

surely weren't qualified.

They just flunked.

The biggest test of their life.

And Jesus said, go and make disciples.

So that's what Jesus told them during these 40 days.

You underestimated me big time.

Secondly, read your Bible.

It's a real thing.

And thirdly, go make disciples.

Well, one last thing he told them before we finish up.

He said this.

I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Two weeks from now, next week's spring break.

Week after that, we're going to have our last chapel.

And we're going to talk about the.

Ascension, when Jesus went to heaven.

And we're going to talk about the coming of the Holy Spirit.

And that's how God is with us always, even to the end of the age.

And in that, we can accomplish the challenge he gives us to go and

make disciples.

Let's say together our benediction.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what

God has prepared for those who love him.

God bless.

Have a good day.