Latest / HBCWestminster / 4.12.20 John 20:1-10 Pastor Danny Gardner

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4.12.20 John 20:1-10 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Well, thank you to all the little squirts who helped with the reading this morning. Our text this morning is John chapter 20 and verses 1 through 10. I'm just wondering, church, if anyone else is tired of hearing bad news. It just feels like every morning we wake up to more sickness, more deaths, more social distancing, the longer we have to wait for our normal lives to return. And our family is trying to stay positive, but you know, it's hard.
• 0:28
  Every now and again, my frustration shows. This last week, our family ordered some shaved ice from a curbside, curbside shaved ice or whatever from a local place here in town. We were parked in the parking lot. A young high school girl came out to take our order. I rolled down my window. After we got done taking the order, she's standing there with her clipboard and her mask and whatever. And then she looked at me and she said, and can I get a name for the order?
• 0:55
  And I kind of paused and I looked around in the parking lot and I said, how about the only people here? Now, listen, I thought that was funny, but she sat down her pen and she simply walked away. I rolled up my window. I got rebuked in my car when that was done. Hallie just looked at me and said, wow.
• 1:16
  My oldest son, Pearson, then said, Dad, I always get so embarrassed when you do stuff like that. He's like, it seems kind of rude. I always feel like I have to apologize for you. And I just said, well, I thought it was funny, but okay. And so I was feeling a little bit convicted about it. When she came back with our order, she handed it through the window. And I just said, listen, I need to apologize. I'm really sorry for my snarky comment when you asked for the name order.
• 1:39
  And she just smiled and she said, that's okay. I thought it was funny. I actually wrote it down. That was your name for the order. The only people here just feel a little bit punchy recently. And I'm ready for some good news. Well, church, consider this for good news. In verse 9 of our text, it says, he must rise from the dead. He must rise from the dead.
• 2:10
  Many years ago, I was explaining the gospel to my oldest son who is 18 years old now, but at the time he was five. He had just started kindergarten. And when we share the gospel, we often word it the same way. And I did it this way again. I just said, Pearson, Jesus died on the cross for your sins. And he said, really? I said, yes. He died on the cross for your sins. And I said, Pearson, isn't that good news?
• 2:39
  But he didn't respond like it was good news. He was contemplative and honestly a little bit sad. And then it occurred to me that the way that we often share the gospel, and especially with kids, that simple phrase that Jesus died on the cross for our sins is true. But to a kindergartner, imagine what's going on in their head in that moment.
• 3:01
  To word it that way, that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and then leave it there is to leave Jesus in the grave. That's not good news for a five-year-old. He thinks Jesus is still dead. And so I thought, well, wait a minute, buddy. No, no, no. Listen, it's true that he died on the cross for your sins, that he was in the grave. But here's that he rose from the dead. Three days later, he's alive. Isn't that good news?
• 3:26
  His whole demeanor changed. His countenance changed. He smiled, this big smile. And he said, Dad, that's great news. If Jesus Christ be in the grave, then the good news of the gospel has fallen short, church. The resurrection is what makes the good news good. Listen to Arthur Pink. We cannot make too much of the death of Christ.
• 3:50
  But we can make too little of the resurrection. Our hearts and minds cannot meditate too frequently upon the cross. But in pondering the sufferings of the Savior, let us not forget the glories which followed. We believe in a resurrected Christ. And that is crazy to think about. We believe that a man really died and really rose.
• 4:15
  from the dead. And if we were to gauge how big a deal something is in your life based on how much you talk about it, how big a deal would the resurrection be? We actually believe that a man came back from the dead, and yet many of us don't really talk about it very much. Other things come up in daily conversation much more. As Christians, we believe that a man died, that he rose to new life.
• 4:44
  And church, being born again is more than just being raised in the church. It is a life committed to a risen Lord. We serve a living God. And that will be the takeaway this morning, church. Are we, in the midst of all of the quarantines and now the unemployment and the sickness, in the midst of insecurity, in the midst of economic downturns, are we making too little of the resurrection?
• 5:14
  And God forbid that we would allow the resurrection of Christ to be overshadowed by other things in our lives. The resurrection is the single greatest event in human history. The single greatest event, nothing will ever eclipse the resurrection. That is the pinnacle.
• 5:31
  human history. And no matter what else happens to us, no matter how extreme our circumstances, no matter how severe our lives become, the resurrection is still the greatest event in our personal lives as well. If you know the Savior, if you have been saved, if you have crossed over from death to life because of the gospel, then the resurrection is the biggest and best thing that has ever happened to you and will ever happen to you. It is bigger news than anything else.
• 5:58
  in our lives. And so let's study it again this morning. We are in a familiar passage. In fact, this is even a familiar sermon. Notice first in verse 1, Mary's courage. Look at John chapter 20 in verse 1. Now on the first day 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. Mary Magdalene was from the west coast of the Sea of Galilee.
• 6:26
  It was from Mary Magdalene that seven demons were cast in Luke chapter 8. And now you consider her courage. We find her going to a cemetery in the middle of the night to go to a tomb where a supposed criminal had been executed and whose body was now being guarded by Roman soldiers. Imagine the courage.
• 6:50
  Of this woman going in the middle of the night to a cemetery, to a tomb, to confront Roman soldiers. And I can't even muster the courage to speak to my neighbors about the gospel. Christ has said that it was those who had been forgiven the most that would love the most. And certainly Mary proves this to be true. I admire Mary Magdalene for her tremendous courage, but I suppose it makes sense considering what she'd been through. My dad.
• 7:22
  He used to tell me about the first time he ever met the man who would become his brother-in-law, the man who would marry his sister, who would become my uncle. It was in the early 1970s, and my dad was still relatively young. He'd only just graduated from high school, in fact. His sister was older than he, and she had met a guy who was recently home from Vietnam. A man who had served in the army for about 18 months was deployed to Vietnam and was just back, just back, had met.
• 7:51
  my aunt and wanted to pursue her. And so he showed up at my dad's house. He showed up at the people's house who would become his parents-in-law, my grandpa and grandma, in uniform, standing there. He wanted to present himself well and wanted to ask for permission to date my dad's sister. And so he shows up in uniform. He was not a large man, relatively small in stature, but in uniform, he was an imposing figure.
• 8:18
  And there was a man who lived in my dad's neighborhood at the time who drove a Harley. And this Harley was extremely loud. And he would just scream that thing up and down the street. It had loud, loud tailpipes and would just annoy the neighbors and really annoy my grandpa at the time. He would complain about it. That guy's back, down, back and forth, back and forth down the street, annoying the neighbors. My uncle, who was in uniform and who was trying to make a good impression, just said, I'll take care of it.
• 8:47
  My dad says that my uncle walked down to the sidewalk, grabbed a baseball size rock. And the next time that motorcycle came screaming down the street, he just went into a full windup and chucked this rock at the motorcycle, smacking and denting the guy's gas tank on this Harley Davidson. You can imagine this motorcycle dude on top of his Harley.
• 9:10
  bong off of that Harley. And man, he came squealing to a stop. And my uncle, without blinking, without flinching, just started walking at the guy to go and, I mean, I'm assuming beat the guy up. The guy stopped on his bike, looked back once at my uncle coming in uniform and just turned and drove away. My uncle came back to talk to my grandpa. He just said, let me know if he ever comes back.
• 9:36
  I can imagine, why was my uncle so courageous in that moment? Because of what he experienced. He'd been to war. And I can imagine him saying something like, I know that guy's trying to look tough. I know that he wants people to think that he's scary, and maybe he does scare some people, but I've just been to war.
• 9:59
  And what I've seen is nothing compared to that. You can't scare me. People have shot at me. People have tried to kill me in the middle of the night. You can't scare me. Imagine the courage of Mary Magdalene. She had been possessed by demons and now walking up like a Roman soldier supposed to scare her. Like, son, you have no idea what I've seen. It makes sense that those in our country who only have this life to look forward to,
• 10:31
  are so terrified of this virus because this is the only life they get. But church, consider for a moment what God has rescued you from. The flames of hell, eternal torment, his own wrath being poured out. If that's true, if God has saved us from hell, then we have nothing to fear on this earth. What are you going to do to me?
• 11:00
  The worst that could happen is our lives are taken and we go immediately into the presence of God, into glory and grace and love. Praise God. What an example that Mary Magdalene is. Redeemed and rescued from the Lord and now willing to do anything because of the courage that lives in her. This is why we can say with confidence, church, that the Lord has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control. That's first.
• 11:28
  Courage, but notice 2 Mary's confusion. Look at verse 2. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have laid him. They probably refers to the temple authorities. Her assumption is that Jesus' enemies were seeking to do something further to him. You can imagine her consternation, her distress. She's come to finish what the women had begun two days before.
• 11:56
  They couldn't help their Lord in his life. Maybe they can honor him in his death. And now finding the tomb empty, her mind must have been racing, her imagination running wild. The men who destroyed his body now sought to desecrate it. She could just imagine them parading his body through the streets. They've taken our Lord. They would, in her thinking, desecrate her Lord's body.
• 12:24
  through the streets of Jerusalem as a symbol of those who cross Jewish and Roman authorities. You know, Mary may have been the first to draw this conclusion, but she would not be the last. In fact, the number one theory as to the empty tomb, for those who believe that the tomb was empty but Jesus did not rise, the number one theory is that the body was removed by Jesus' enemies. But listen, church, how do we know that that's not true? Because if the body had been removed by His enemies,
• 12:55
  and then his followers had gone out and created, basically started a sect, a Jewish sect of Christianity, it would have been very easy to dispel the myth of the resurrection by producing the body. If they had it all along, all they would have to do is show the body, no, he did not raise from the dead. Here he is right now. The Jews could attempt to deny Christ's claims of deity and his miraculous power.
• 13:23
  They could attempt to deny the testimony of the Father given multiple times throughout Jesus' life and even the testimony of his disciples, but they could not deny the empty tomb. Why did they not produce the body? Because they didn't have the body. His enemies did not take it. Notice third, the tomb's contents. And if you look at verses three to seven, it says, so Peter went out with the other disciple. They were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter.
• 13:53
  This is probably the apostle John. He was younger and in better shape than Peter and he reached the tomb first and 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 and he saw the linen cloths lying there and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself. Mary, Peter, and John left in haste, as you can imagine, to reach the tomb.
• 14:24
  They found it exactly as Mary had said, agape and empty. The tomb's only contents, in fact, were the cloths that only a short moment ago adorned the body and head of Christ himself. And it was clear to Peter and John that neither friend nor foe removed the body, if it were a friend. So how about the second theory? Maybe his friends stole the body to cover up his claims that he would rise from the dead. But a friend...
• 14:52
  would not have taken the clothes with them. I mean, if they were a friend, would they not have taken the clothes with them in reverence? I think they probably would have. If it were a friend, why would they strip the body first? They wouldn't do that. They would seek to cover their Lord's shame. If it were a foe, they would not have been so painstakingly meticulous.
• 15:18
  Somebody who wanted to desecrate the body would not have stripped it and then neatly folded everything and left it in place. An enemy, I think, would have left the tomb in disarray. Christ's body was indeed missing, but the act had been deliberate and careful. Certainly, I think the supernatural was at work. Notice finally, the disciples' comprehension. Look at verse 8. Then the other disciple.
• 15:49
  who had reached the tomb first, that is, John 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. Notice here the wide range of faith among the followers of Christ. The Apostle Peter, even after seeing the folded garment, failed to grasp the full meaning of the event.
• 16:20
  Again and again, Christ had staked the truthfulness of his claims on his resurrection, and yet his own disciples did not understand. Standing there in front of the empty tomb, they still had trouble understanding the resurrection. I think another evidence of the truth of the resurrection is that it says nothing of the faith of Peter. In fact, Peter in this passage doesn't come out looking very good.
• 16:50
  If the claims of many critics are true, and that is that the church has manipulated the Bible, that the church generations and even centuries later has changed the text to make it fit their own doctrine and theology, then certainly they would have gone back and bolstered the faith of the church's primary apostle. In fact, I think if this were made up, if this were man-made, Peter would have come out looking good. His faith, in fact, would have been...
• 17:19
  but that's not what we see. He's not the first to reach the tomb. He's not even first to believe. The unnamed apostle is the one who is first to understand. Nothing is said of the church's foremost apostle. Beloved church, this is how we know that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. The Bible says that he is even now at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
• 17:47
  His resurrection is the single greatest event in human history. It's a huge deal because it represents the life-changing power of God. And Jesus has conquered death. It no longer has a sting. We who are believers will someday die, but death has lost its sting. We will grieve over those who have passed away, but we don't grieve as those who have no hope.
• 18:17
  because of the power of the resurrection. We know that there is life after death. Jesus has conquered sin. There is no longer defeat for the life of the Christian. You may say, well, since the resurrection actually happened, what does that mean for me? First, the resurrection happened, then it means that you serve a living God. Every other religion on earth serves a dead God, but not us. Our God rose from the dead. He died. It is true. Jesus died on the cross.
• 18:48
  for our sins. But church, he also rose from the dead. He made the penalty that was required and then rose to give us the hope of new life. We serve a living God. But it also means that the wrath of God really was satisfied. And here's why the resurrection is such a big deal. If Jesus had said, I'm going to go to the cross, I will be buried in order to pay the penalty for your sin. If he had stayed dead,
• 19:18
  We would never know if it actually worked. Did he actually pay it all the way off? We would have no assurance that his death actually paid the penalty that we owed. But his resurrection three days later means that Jesus really did satisfy the wrath of the Father. That the demand that the Father had made, that the law had made, that somebody must die, that life is in the blood.
• 19:47
  was proven when he rose from the dead. The fact that Jesus is alive means that the penalty actually worked. The gospel actually works. It also means that his promise to return will be fulfilled. The Bible says that Jesus will someday come back and rescue his church. Jesus will return. How do we know that he's going to return? Because if death can't stop him,
• 20:16
  then nothing can. Death can't even stop him. I loved Carla's song on Good Friday. And if you have not gone and listened to the Good Friday service, I would encourage you to do that. It's on the church website. I loved Carla's song on Good Friday. Death, be not proud. Don't be proud, death, because you can't kill me. You can't kill me. Someday even death will die because of the death and resurrection.
• 20:49
  I'm going to close with just a short passage from 1 Corinthians 15, talking about the resurrection of our Lord. In 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 20, it says,
• 21:20
  shall all be made alive. And that is the promise of God's word today, church, that we have, no matter what happens on this earth, that we have the hope of eternal life. Let's pray together. God, thank you. Thank you for saving us from our sin by the crucifixion and by the resurrection of Jesus. He is the first.
• 21:45
  fruits, the first resurrection from the dead. And Lord, we know because he has raised, we will also be raised. There will be a time where we die, where we discard these bodies and these bodies go to the grave. But Lord, our lives, our true lives will be resurrected and we will join you for eternal life in heaven where a moth and rust are not allowed, where sickness is not allowed.
• 22:14
  where thieves cannot break in and steal, where the enemy of our souls will be cast out forever. God, we look forward to that day, and indeed, Lord, we long for it. We thank you, Father, for the resurrection of Jesus. We celebrate it today, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, church, we are going to conclude our service by continuing to sing, and so let's do that.