Three Encounters with Jesus (Resurrection Sunday) - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

I'm extra thankful this year. Extra strength in my voice to sing to the Lord because if you remember, last year we couldn't come to church. Remember that? You spent Easter in your living room, I believe, somewhere in your house. But God has graciously given us the opportunity to be in his house together.

So we praise God for that. Would you please, if you have a Bible with you, open to the twentieth chapter of the book of John. And as you meet me there, we're gonna pray one more time and ask the Lord to help us. Pray with me, please. Father, we ask now that the same impression that the word of God had on those two disciples on the road to Emmaus would be a reality in this place.

Lord, we ask that our hearts would burn at the revelation of who Jesus is, what he is capable of, what he can extend today to the desperate soul. Lord, we ask for an unusual assistance from the Holy Spirit upon the ministry of the word now exalt Christ? Would you show him to us, Lord? Blind us to everything less. Blind us to everything else.

And Lord, we know, we admit, we confess that apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, this word will not prevail. It must be delivered in his strength. So we depend and call upon him now for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ and for the sake of souls in this place who need to hear the truth of the gospel. We ask these things in faith, in Jesus name. Amen.

One of the beauties of the record of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, arguably, is the fact that you and I have been granted different vantage points to the same story. And that is important because it's more than just giving us different historical angles that make our faith more concrete as a case to be convincing because we are a faith that has evidence. Correct? But these different vantage points also give us one more reason to glorify, worship, and adore the Lord Jesus Christ. Every single angle, every single story, snippet should stir our hearts even more to realize that this Jesus is the same Jesus today, and I can draw near to him as these different people drew near to him and experienced him.

And so as we look at the book of John, that is certainly true. Because in these last two chapters, you can say that the Holy Spirit highlights three specific encounters with three specific individuals. And this is important because it's not just three different testimonies of beholding the risen Christ, because these three specific in the individuals were found in a certain condition of the soul. When Christ appeared to these three different people, they were in a certain place. They were not whole.

They were not complete. They were damaged in some sort. And the point I wanna drive today is that the resurrection is more than just about a historical moment, it's about personal encounter. It's about men and women meeting Jesus in a real personal way and allowing that to change them truly. And what we see here in these two chapters, though I would love to go in-depth with each of them, we would just skim the service and and touch them briefly, is that Jesus meets with Mary Magdalene, Thomas, and Peter the Apostle.

And again, as I said, each of these individuals are in a certain posture of heart. Mary Magdalene was extremely sorrowful. Thomas? Extremely skeptical. Peter?

Extremely backslidden. And here's the point I wanna make. You may be one of those three today, and what you need is an encounter with the risen Lord. What you need is a revelation of who Jesus is today, and watch how he can make anyone complete again as he restores them by his love. So we come to John chapter 20, and what's the background?

We are told here that on the first day in verse one of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. And so she approaches. She she launched to come and give honor and dignity to the slain body of her master and lord. And upon her arrival, she is startled because this large stone is removed from its rightful place. And so after this moment, she panics.

She doesn't examine the site. She doesn't investigate. She runs back to Simon, Peter, and John and alerts them. They've taken away the body of our Lord. And Simon, Peter, and John do not even ask a further question.

They immediately rise, and they have a footrace to the tomb. And as they arrive there, they do what Mary didn't do. They peeked into the tomb to examine to see what took place. And as they examined, we are told here that the linen cloths were in place, and specifically, the face cloth was folded. I find that quite fascinating.

Because in Mary's mind, she's thinking somebody or some people took away this body. Let me ask you something. Does a robber take the time to fold the clothes knowing the threat of being a possible captive as a thief, that tells us that somebody else took the time to fold this cloth. Can you imagine the sight of Jesus doing that? Resurrecting from the grave and making sure that people know that he was the one that rose.

And he folds that napkin and places it there. And they're bewildered. They're stunned. Without saying much, they just look at each other and look down to the ground, and and we are told here in verse 10, then the disciples went back to their homes. And now the site is as it was before, an empty tomb.

And Mary Magdalene, she remained. She was too grieved. She was too overcome with pain. And let's read now what happens. Verse 11.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. And as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at 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?' 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. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher.

Mary had a special connection with Jesus because she was not just called by Jesus to follow him. She was delivered by several demons, we are told in the gospels. She experienced a unique liberation by the power of Christ. And when she witnessed her lord crucified, I'm sure she saw her hope shattered in that moment. And so attached was she too, her master, that she wanted to honor him at his tomb.

And so she was overwhelmed. She couldn't even leave the site. And with tears streaming down her face, and perhaps even her throat being dry from weeping so hard, she peeks into the tomb and behold, she sees two men that were not there prior. One sitting at the head of where Jesus had laid and one sitting at the feet. Does that remind you of anything, Old Testament students?

Remember, Moses was given instructions to build different pieces of furniture in the house of God in that age. And one of the pieces of furniture was something called the Ark of the Covenant. It looked like a chest, but it signified the presence of God in the midst of his people, and it was the place where the high priest would come once a year to sprinkle blood as atonement, as a covering for the sins of the nation of Israel. But listen to these instructions as Moses was given the data of how to build this peace. In Exodus twenty five eighteen, we are told, and you shall make two cherubim of gold, of hammered work shall you make them, one on the one end and the other of the mercy seat.

So these two cherubim, these heavenly creatures, sat on one end of the ark, this chest piece, and on the other end. And their faces were down because that's where the blood would be sprinkled once a year. They were witnesses to the mercy of God as that ark was known as the mercy seat. Isn't that incredible? In the old covenant, you had heavenly beings testifying to the grace of God, and here we are in the new covenant.

Two angels, one sitting on one end and the other sitting on another. And they are also witnessing to the greater grace found in Jesus Christ of the new covenant through his blood and resurrection. Praise be to God. And so she sees this. And she is so overcome by her love for the Lord that she doesn't even consider the fact that there are two angels there.

She's not startled. She's not even impressed. She's so consumed with longing for her Lord that as they ask her, why are you weeping? She doesn't consider who are you? Where did you come from?

How did you get into this place? She just says, I'm looking for my Lord. Doesn't even mention his name. I'm looking for the one whom I love. She doesn't ask any further questions.

She just turns around and continues her search. And when she turns around, the very one that she was looking for is now standing before her, but she doesn't recognize him. And Jesus repeats the question that the angels asked. Why are you weeping? Why are you crying?

They're they're genuinely wondering. In light of the event that just took place that morning, why are you sad? Why are you filled with grief? And on the surface level, the answer is that she was crushed, obviously, that she could not honor her master. She was delivered from so much.

But if we examine closely, the real reason why she was overcome by pain was because she did not believe that her Lord rose from the dead. She really believed that he was dead, and that was his final state. That was the source of her sorrow. The presence of overcoming grief was due to the absence of faith in the resurrection, and I argue today that it is the source of many people's sorrows in this time. That there is an extreme sense of despair and paralyzing fear and anxiety.

Why? Because of what's happening? No. Because ultimately, because they don't realize that Christ is alive and he's well and he sees and he knows and he will return one day. So Mary is consumed by something that should not be there in light of the truth of who Jesus is, what he's done, and who he is today.

And so the question is valid because her grief was unnecessary. Why are you weeping? Why are you so bogged down? Why are you so crushed by life? The new covenant, the new testament ensures us that when we have faith in Christ, we grieve differently than the world does.

Paul himself said in first Thessalonians four thirteen, I write these things to you that you may not grieve as others do, that you would have a hope that others do not have. Why? Verse 14. Because you believe that Jesus died and rose again. You believe that as a result of that faith, you inherit a profound hope.

Listen. A hope so profound and deep and real that it expels grief and limits tears. Now it doesn't mean that as Christians, we don't grieve and we don't experience pain even at the loss of a loved one, but it does frame it appropriately. It is quickly extinguished and met with the realization that Christ is alive. And so what does resurrection power do?

It surges and imparts a hope in this very life. That's what it does. And that's what this world, this crazy, desperate, confused age needs. Because their hope doesn't rise higher than politics and the White House and a mere man who can bring some kind of direction for a people. We are a different breed.

We have a different king who holds different power beyond this age, beyond this world. And what's amazing is that we might ask, how does the resurrection of Jesus affect my day to day life? And I argue verse 16 of John chapter 20. Jesus said to her, Mary. Mary.

How do you think Jesus said her name? Think he rebuked her? Mary. Think that's how it happened? Or do you think that it was oozing with a compassion and a tenderness and a gentleness so sharp, yet so overwhelming that it pierced her in her soul?

I know that it pierced her in her soul. Why? Because right after, we are told she is immediately sobered from her sorrow, and she went from weeping to worship. Her name. What's so significant about a name?

Well, you can argue many things about this, but one thing for for certain, she knew that he would never leave her again. She was convinced in that moment, this is the one who called me to follow him, who called the demons out of me. I know this voice. He's alive, and he's mine forevermore. She did not have to worry about him abandoning her.

She did not have to worry about him not being present with her, following her, surrounding her, holding her. She knew once and for all, I have him. Do you believe that's how she responded? Do you believe that's why she was touched? I believe it.

Why? Because look what happens in verse 17. Jesus said to her, do not cling to me. She threw herself at his feet and held on to his ankles to the hem of his garment because she didn't wanna lose him again. See, death is a horrible thing, and some of you in here know the pain of death.

You know the sensations that come with it, especially when it's a loved one. Why? Because you feel robbed. Feel like someone was stolen from you, your source of comfort, a means of joy that helps you and assist you in this journey called life. Death swallowed up that person, and you feel as though something was taken from you.

And I'm sure Mary felt that way when Jesus died. They took away my lord. Death took away my lord. These men took away my lord. But in this moment when she realized he's alive, she could not help but throw herself at him.

And this posture, this grip was a call for for him to stay with her. Please don't leave me again. And Jesus assures her, I'm going to heaven, but you don't have to worry. I'll be just as present with you as I am now, physically. I love what Isaiah says in Isaiah forty three one.

Listen to these words. This is what God says. This is what God says. But now, thus says the Lord, He who created you, oh Jacob, He who formed you, oh Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name.

You're mine. What's significant about God knowing your name? Well, if he knows it in the sense of covenant, in the sense that you have a relationship with him, he possesses you. Knowing your name means I own you, and that's the greatest thing that you can know in this life. I pledge myself to you.

I will hold you. I will keep you, and I will bring you to where I am. Resurrection hope crushes sorrow. That's what we see from this encounter with Mary. But it goes beyond Mary because we're introduced to another fellow who was not dealing with sorrow as much as he was dealing with doubt.

Thomas, known for the nickname doubting Thomas. The same evening of this encounter with Mary, we are told that Jesus appears to the 11, but one guy was missing, Thomas. Thomas wasn't at church that morning, guys. And we don't know why. We are not told why Thomas was not there.

Look, verse 24. Now Thomas, one of the 12, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. Where was he? What was he doing? Was he afraid that the Jews were looking for them and he didn't wanna be caught with all the rest of them in one place?

Was he so disappointed with the fact that he gave up everything to follow this Jesus, all for it to now come to an end, so he just needed to back away from the crowd and just process what happened in these past few days, possibly. Regardless, one thing is for certain, Thomas did not believe that Jesus rose from the dead. He didn't. And he was so stubborn in that that in verse 25, so the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord. Now it's not just one.

We're talking about 10 others who said, we all saw him. Thomas wasn't impressed. Now we have to give Thomas some credit, can we, this morning? Thomas wasn't the skeptic his whole life. Thomas had a fierce devotion to Jesus.

If you notice, Thomas is mentioned only four times in four different scenes in the book of John. In the first two times, we see in John 11 when Jesus is known to be a target for assassination, and they're headed towards a way where people are wanting to kill him. Thomas says, let's go die with him. Let's go and he wasn't being sarcastic. He's like, well, if he's gonna die, might as well die with him.

That's devotion. You can't be get people to wake up Sunday morning to go see Jesus. This guy was willing to die for Jesus. And then Thomas was the one who asked that question where we got that wonderful verse, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Thomas said, Lord, where are you going?

We don't know where the way is. You're saying you're going somewhere. Tell us. I wanna be wherever you are. And Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the father except through me. And so we he we know that he has a history of love for Jesus, and now he's obviously disappointed. He's gone, and I can't follow him. He's gone. What about this kingdom?

And so when they come and tell him he's not easily moved, and this is a ministry for for a specific group of people right now. I am so thankful to God that God did not blush or was embarrassed about one of his own not believing in him, because now we have this story. Because if Mary's life ministers to the sorrowful, Thomas and his incident here ministers to the skeptical. You are well aware, but let me remind you today that we don't believe in a fable. We don't believe in a myth.

This is not something that you believe in just because mommy and daddy believed in it and you had no other choice and that's what you're familiar with. I hope not. God doesn't have grandchildren. He only has children. You have to have a personal relationship with him.

You believe for many reasons and one of the things that you can confine and have confidence is that we are an evidence based faith. There is record. There is truth. There are eyewitnesses. You take it to the bank.

You look and you examine and you realize that this holds weight to being real and true and beyond emotional subjective experience. And Thomas in this moment proves that in a sense that God is not intimidated by investigation. Jesus is not intimidated by your doubt. Especially like Thomas, if you have a heart that's pure and sincere and you long to seek and know the truth, Jesus can work with you. We're not dealing with some Pharisee that hated Christ and didn't want nothing to do with Christ and is now accusing of this truth.

We're dealing with somebody who's tender and really wants to know, I'm willing to follow this Jesus, but I need to see his hands and feet. I'm willing to surrender him, but I need to see something. Now, if you're a doubter in this place, that does not mean that Jesus is obligated to appear in your room tonight because you're desperate for that. It doesn't because look what Jesus says in verse 29. We just sang it.

Jesus said to him, have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Jesus, knowing that this story would perhaps cause people to want what Thomas had, reminds us and tells us, listen, you don't need to see to believe. You don't need to have the same encounter that Thomas had for you to come to saving faith. In fact, you're more blessed if you haven't had that miraculous moment because Jesus, over and over, even in his resurrection, proves that there's something more reliable, more strong, more trustworthy than a miraculous moment, than some audible or some visual experience that is supernatural.

Let me remind you that just because you have an experience doesn't mean that you will have saving faith. Richard Dawkins. Heard of his name? For the longest time, when it came down to debate, Christians would often ask him, what do you need to see to believe? What do you need to observe?

And he would mockingly come up with a different scenario every time. Well, I wanna see this pulpit get up and spin three times, or I wanna see I am God, my name is Jesus written in the sky, and he would he would just he would entertain the thought. But then just recently, he had just now said, I've been often asked, what do I need to see to believe? But I've determined, I can't believe in anything I see because my mind could be playing tricks on me. So I cannot believe in a perhaps illusion or deceptive image that my mind comes up with.

You know what that tells me? He doesn't want to believe. That's what that means. I've talked to enough atheists, and when you come down to the question, you realize that they don't want to believe. Right?

You don't want moral accountability. You don't want somebody who's transcendent over you and who is king over you and who holds your breath in his hand. You wanna be that person. Right? But beyond that, Jesus tells us in a different scene when he appears in his resurrection in a famous road called Emmaus.

In Luke 24 where there are two disciples, we have one of their names, and they are, again, sorrowful, disappointed, wondering how all these things took place. And as they're walking, Jesus appears on the road, but he he hides his identity. So they don't recognize who he is. And I find that story absolutely fascinating because he doesn't do so until the very end of the story. He shows himself when they invite him into his house.

But what about the hallway leading there? I mean, lord, it would have been a much quicker story, and you could have saved them from much pain and confusion if you just showed up and said it's me. I rose from the dead. Lord, it's you, and they would have fell at his feet. But he doesn't do that.

He comes. He cloaks himself supernaturally. They don't know it's Christ. And then when he asked them about the reason why their faces are so long, he says this in Luke twenty four twenty five. And he said to them, oh, foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

And then he takes him on the greatest Old Testament Bible study that you can imagine, that Luke did not write for us, leaving us through our imagination of what Jesus would have spelled out from Genesis forward. What was Jesus doing? One, he criticized their lack of belief in the resurrection, not upon experience, but upon the Word of God. Two, he was showing them that true faith comes from the word of God. So let me tell you something.

If you're a doubter, if you're a skeptic, the best thing that you can do is pay attention. Give your energy and focus, not to pounding your head for Jesus to appear to you in a dream or some sort, but to come to the scriptures. And believe that this is where Jesus will meet you. And that when you examine, and you study, and you compare, and you wait in the balance, you will see that his word is true, and that what he did is real. And that's why he says, you're more blessed.

You and I are more blessed if we haven't had some physical manifestation appear before us, yet we still believe. What is he trying to say there? You're more blessed if you believe who Jesus is and what he's done based on the evidence that he and his wisdom has provided for all mankind. You didn't search and screech and ask for something extra. You took him at his word, and not with blind faith, but by trusting and examining and looking and praying and seeking.

And you, because you do not see, will experience a measure of the Holy Spirit's work in your heart that is more real than if Jesus appeared to you physically. So if you're a person that is open to examining the word of God and allowing the Holy Spirit, the invisible Spirit of God, to work in your life based on truth, you're in for a blessing in this life and in the life to come. I love what Jesus does here, because look at verse 26. After Thomas says, hey, boys. I'm not believing you.

Alright? You said you saw it. That's great. I didn't see it. So unless I see his marks, put my fingers in there, I am not believing.

And I thought to myself reading this, it would be a perfect time that as as this man is even saying his last word that Jesus appeared. Wouldn't that be a wonderful story? As the word is still on his tongue for Christ to appear and say, Thomas, you wanna take back your words? He doesn't. Look at verse 26.

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. Eight days. Eight days of further doubt. Eight days of perhaps the disciples sitting across from Thomas.

We're telling you, man, we saw him. No. I'm not believing him. Day after day after day after day. That tells me something about Jesus even in his resurrection.

He knows when to reveal himself. He knows when to answer our need. It's It's not based on our timing. It's not based on our requests necessarily. He he knows when.

And when he shows up, it's amazing. He says here in verse 27, put your finger here and see my hands, and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe. In other words, when Thomas thought he was alone in that room with the other disciples, he did not realize that Jesus was there listening. He was just as real when he wasn't there physically as he was now when he appears.

Because he says, I heard you, by the way. So come on. Believe. And we are not even told that Thomas extended his hand. We just see here, have you believed verse 29, because you have seen me.

I can just imagine Thomas's face in that moment, the glare over his look. He probably didn't blink or swallow anything. He just stared at him and looked and realized he's real. And through this doubting man, we get one of the strongest claims of the deity of Christ, my lord and my god. My lord and my god.

And heretics would say, no. He was just overwhelmed and he just expressed himself like how most people do when they're stunned about something. Oh, really? So he blasphemed and Jesus let him go away with it? And he didn't even deny it.

He continues, he affirms it, and Thomas became a believer. And then we come to another man. Not just with Mary, the sorrowful, not with just Thomas, the doubter, and the skeptic. We come to Peter. And we are told here in John 21, after this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea Of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.

And what are we told? Verse three, Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. They said to him, we will go with you. They went out and got into the boat, and that night, they caught nothing. What's Peter doing going fishing?

Some would say Peter is just looking for something to do. He's looking for a means of provision because they didn't get any directions of where to go next. So let's just go and do what we we know what to do. Let's go fishing. And some say, no.

Jesus is calling this man to restoration, and he's finding him in the place where he was before Jesus initially called him. In other words, you went to do what you did before you met Christ. That's not a good thing. And if there's any doubt about Peter not being in the right place right now and reverting and going back to his old person, look here at verse 19 when Jesus finally encounters him. And after saying this, he said to him, Follow me.

Why would you say follow me unless, of course, at one point you stopped following him? So it's clear. I hope it's settled. Peter is backslidden here. Peter is willing to go back to the way life was before he met Christ.

And so Peter having that kind of personality, that kind of authority says, I'm going fishing. I don't know what's going on with this whole Jesus thing anymore. He appeared a couple times. That's great. But what are we doing?

Are we just gonna sit around here and just wait for his next appearance? I'm just gonna go back and do what I used to do. And several of them say, yeah. I guess we're gonna go with you. And they walk, and they follow him.

And they catch nothing. And all night, they're fishing out of frustration. This is a familiar scene. And finally, the sun is rising up. Isn't that what we're told?

We see here in verse four, just as day was breaking. Why? Because it's a new day, not just in the physical, but for Peter. It was gonna be a new day for Peter because he was gonna encounter the resurrected Christ in a special manner. Jesus stood on the shore, yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

Had the opportunity to go to Israel last year, and they take us to the supposed locations of where certain things took place. One of my favorite places was where they believe Jesus stood on the shore overlooking the Sea Of Tiberias. And they gave us free time after reading the story to just explore and pray and do what we wanted. And I came up to that rocky shore, and I looked out into the it was a foggy day. And I sat there, and I leaned on a rock, and I tried to visualize this moment.

The quietness of the water, the grayish skies, and there's a boat not far off from the shore, and here are several men yelling, and pounding the boat, and throwing a net, and yelling at each other. Why you're not doing this right? And then all of a sudden, a mysterious man shows up on the shore. And I wonder if he was leaning on something too, looking at them with his hand on his chin. He says in verse five, children, do you have any fish?

They answered him, no, like just one word. They're so frustrated. No. Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because of the quantity of fish.

Now look at this. There was one of them. There was one of them where it clicked, and he realized something so wonderful and miraculous could can only be traced back to one person who can perform such a thing. Verse seven. That disciple whom Jesus loved, therefore, said to Peter These guys had a cool friendship, it seemed.

They were together always, even in the book of Acts. He drives his elbow into Peter, and he says, Peter, it is the Lord. And what does Peter do? Only what Peter does. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and he threw himself into the sea.

I wonder if he thought that he was able to walk on water again. It's the Lord and his reflex. Listen. His reflex is to dive into the water, not wait for the guys to take their paddles out and get to the shore. He wants to make sure that John doesn't get to the tomb first, like what happened earlier.

He's gonna get there first now. You know what's so astounding about all of this? Peter was in a bad place. Peter denied Jesus three times. The very sin that Jesus said, if you deny me before men, I will deny you before my father and his angels.

Terrifying. And when John said, it is the Lord, what would you do if the last thing that you did for Jesus was deny him three times? Maybe dive in the water, but not towards him, away from him. Maybe sink your head into that boat and make sure that Jesus doesn't see you. But Peter knew something about Jesus, even in his failure, even in his sin, even in his backslidden state.

He knew that if I come to him, he will embrace me. He knew that if I come to him, he will restore me. He will meet with me. He will not expel me. He will not whip me.

He will sit with me. He will correct me, and he will bring you back into his fold. He dove into the water. This is what the resurrection is all about. The resurrection is more than God showing His power over death.

The resurrection is about reconciliation with men. The resurrection is about Jesus making a way for men to be restored from their sinful self and to have relationship with God again. That is what it is about. This is what Jesus is demonstrating in the last chapter of the book that proves his deity. It could have ended with that wonderful statement where we are told here in verse 30 of chapter 20.

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name. Why don't you just end it there? That's a wonderful kreshena. It's a wonderful exclamation point to your book. No.

We have an appendix. We have chapter 21. Why? To show what Jesus is about in the most practical of ways, restoration. I paid a price for you to be made whole again.

In a different gospel, when the women were visited by angels at the tomb, listen very carefully, the angel had a message for the woman to send forth to the disciples that were not there, And it's very powerful when you understand and read it slowly, and this is where we're ending. In Mark 16 verse seven, we are told by these angels, but go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you. Did you see it? Maybe you didn't see it because you're not Peter, But I know who would have understood what was just said, and it was the man who denied him three times.

Go tell his disciples and Peter And Peter. Why not just the disciples? Why and Peter? Is Peter not a disciple? It's as though the Lord told this angel, make sure that when you visit these women that you say go and tell the disciples and especially Peter.

I wanna see him. You know who would have really appreciated that? Peter. And I wonder the look on his face when these women crashed into the room and they said, the Lord said, tell the disciples and Peter to go and meet with him. Me?

Me? He's singling me out after what I did to him by that charcoal fire. Me? And so he calls Mary by name to restore her of her sorrow, and he calls Peter by name to restore him of his fallen state. And Peter knew that Jesus was calling him by name.

And ever since John chapter 21, Jesus has been calling names for two thousand years. And it doesn't look like him appearing to some people, though he is capable of that. It looks like your conscience. It looks like your heart. It looks like the inner man has the ears to hear things that these ears are not capable of hearing.

And I wonder today, without being emotional and trying to stir you, because unless this is real in your life, it doesn't matter how theatric I become. I wonder if in this place, you're beyond numbness now. You've done enough Easter services and Christmas services to feel something deeper within, and that's Christ calling you to Himself. And He shook your world enough, and he showed you the emptiness of your ways enough. And now, for some reason, on this particular morning, you sense and believe that this Jesus is not just some religious figure, not just some symbol, not just some mystical being.

He's real, and I feel like he's convicting me that I have not yet surrendered my life to him. So what do you do? Well, you do what the Bible says. You realize who he is in light of the truth that you just heard, and you repent of your sins and believe on his name, and you realize that you do need him. See, the resurrection is a wonderful hopeful truth, and all of you in here, I'm sure and I hope, will leave here with a song in your mouth, and you're gonna have a nice wonderful lunch with your family, and you're gonna have a glorious day with this beautiful weather because you come to church, you sang beautiful songs, and and that's it.

Yes. We were reminded, we took a spiritual shower, we're good. But I wanna tell you something about the resurrection that I often remind myself and remind others of every single year. The fact that he is resurrected means he's gonna return. He's not staying up there.

And he's not staying up there so that we can rehearse wonderful messages every single year, and dress in nice beautiful dresses and suits. No. Every single year, and not just every single year around this time, every single week, every single day, he's heralding the gospel through his vessels to make sure that there are people who will respond to it before he comes back. And he's coming back. Believe it.

And guess what? There's gonna be some people that have come to church their whole lives that are not gonna be singing pretty songs when he does. They're gonna bite their tongues wishing that they have repented and confessed his name before he showed up. Because when he shows up, we are told in Hebrews that he's not coming to deal with sin. He already did that, and he conquered the grave.

He's coming to redeem those who are expecting him, and judging those who denied him. That's not a popular Easter message, but it's still Bible. And it doesn't matter if it's popular. It's true nonetheless. And I'm trying to stir you to get you to at least come from the place of complacency to ask some questions about why this Jesus has made such an impact on history that he's affected the timeline of our calendar itself.

Ask, and don't let the nice weather and the pretty colors extinguish the conviction that you might be sensing, or at least the thought provoking insights for you to say, I should really consider if this Jesus is real, and if this book is true, and if he is calling my name. Let's pray together. Jesus encounters a sorrowful woman, a doubting man, and a broken man. And the resurrection heals all of that. Father, in Jesus name, we believe that we're praying to a living God.

And we ask in this moment, Lord, that you would make yourself known to those who don't believe that truth. And we're asking for those who believe that truth, that they would go from weeping to worship like Mary did. And they would lay their circumstance. They would lay their pain at your feet knowing that you know them by name and they belong to you. And if we belong to you, then you have complete control.

And if you have complete control, then all we can expect is good in our lives. Lord, only you can change the human heart. And so as we sing and worship the reality of the resurrection, may you at the same time draw those who don't know you to yourself. Lord, we plant the seed, you bring the increase. So we lay it before you.

And in this moment, for those who are true believers, we worship you, as though we take you by the feet in this moment, and we declare our love towards you for how you've changed us because we've encountered you in different ways. We glorify you in this place. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.