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Speaker 2Right. Hey, church. You're here. Happy Easter to you all. He is risen.
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He is risen indeed. He has. He is. And that is why we are here. Listen to this verse.
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This one's from Matthew. It says the angel said to the woman, do not be afraid, for I know that you're looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He is risen just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay, then go quickly and tell his disciples he's risen from the dead.
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If he had not, we would not be here. But because he has, we are. And we are here to celebrate. Amen? Amen.
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So why don't we stand up? We'll sing. And I need some help this morning. I really do. I'm I'm down a vocalist, and these songs are really high for me.
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So if I back off, you lean in and sing. Sing loud and proud. Would you do that today? All right.
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Speaker 3Right. Low in the grave. One more he rose. Rose. Hallelujah.
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Arose.
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RayAmen. Amen. Y'all can have a seat. Although, I wanna keep singing, honestly. I like singing a whole lot better than announcements but I'm put, I'm sing whatever's up here.
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How about this? Awana, usually happens on Mondays. It happens almost every Monday, not this Monday, okay? It's spring break and so, Awana is taking a break. Monday nights at first B happens almost every Monday night but not this week.
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It's spring break. We're taking a break. Children's church normally happens not during spring break, alright? Connect hour. Well, instead of connect hour, we're having pancakes down the hall.
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So, pancake breakfast. If you haven't already had it, feel free after this service is over. Go down the hall. There are guys have been cooking bacon since yesterday morning. The kitchen is so greasy.
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I mean, I walked in yesterday. It was like James Brown. It was good. Okay. I feel good.
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Sorry. Pancake breakfast. That's what's happening today. There's family fun night. That's happening.
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It starts after spring break. This is not during spring break either. April 15 to May 27. Honestly, during spring break, it's the biggest crowd I've seen in Jackson. So, it goes.
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Praise God. It's Easter. Amen. The young adults, these are coming up. I'm not gonna go into em at great length but for the next four months, if you're a young adult and you feel like ain't nothing to do in Jackson, there's plenty to do.
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This is what we're doing. April 8, there's gonna be dinner and improv show for you, May 14, helping out with the town cleanup and a mud season meal. We'll call the soiree. Shadow Mountain Campouts in June and then String Lake Picnic in July. So, those are the that's the base around which we're building, okay?
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Now, would you stand up, greet one another with a hey, a Heidi, hi, high five, hug, handshake, or he is risen.
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Speaker 2Lord, that is really our sincere prayer and our song to you. Really, you have you have risen, and because you you live, you say we also live. Just simply by belief in you, and it's your power that lives in us. And I I just thank you, God, for the the the perfect life that you live, the perfect death, that you died, and then coming and raising the life, to prove that you truly are the Christ, the Messiah, the son of God, who's defeated death, hell, and the grave for us. And as we sing this song and this this story, really, I just I pray that it would ring out, and it would really be our conviction and really our celebration.
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Amen. Are there mosquitoes behind me? Again, God, we we thank you that even though we we we fell, we blew it, that you came. You came in the form of Jesus. You lived that perfect life.
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You died that perfect death. You rose again. That's why we're here. But don't let us forget, Lord. We're still waiting for your return.
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We are eagerly waiting for your return. And as we do, Lord, I I I pray that it would just be our joy to to live for you, to be grateful and be in debt to you, to be filled up with joy because of you. And I'm praying that we could experience more of that as we draw near to you. You would draw near to us. And I thank you, God, for every gift that you've given.
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We acknowledge that that all these things are yours, and and and this worship through giving is just a way to say thank you, we trust you, and we're giving back. In Christ's name. Amen.
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RayAmen. Carl said, calm down there, buddy. Those announcements are kind of exciting. I love this. Amen.
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I love Jesus. I've got five scenarios to consider today before I get into the text of the morning and we have gone away from our study of Romans. We took an excursus last week into the gospels, the gospel of John primarily and we're gonna stick with John. I'm skipping over the whole upper room discourse and the crucifixion scene. Today is gonna be about Jesus' resurrection but I want you to consider these first, these scenarios first.
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Now, scenario one, in the distant past, that sometime, this might apply to you. You had gained your freedom by Jesus's direct intervention in your life. So, at some time in the past, you knew Jesus. He had given you freedom or liberated you from something. Maybe you were brought up with him or own Jesus.
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You spent time with his followers, maybe even considered yourself one of his followers. Those Jesus people offered you real community and you know what that's like. Still scenario one, maybe you've been spending your time mourning, M O U R N, morning Jesus. His passing in your own life where he is not there for you or you don't feel like he's there for you right now. You may have come today to remember him or just for the sake of tradition, linen pants, bright colored shirts, the norm for Easter.
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You might have just come because you always did this back when you knew those people. Remember, just for the sake of tradition, even if it's just to lament Jesus' passing in your own life, that's a possibility. Not really expecting or believing that he would ever be there for you again. That's scenario one. Scenario two, couple of things here.
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Maybe Something totally unexpected has come to pass like that typo right there. That was totally unexpected for me. You felt that you were left high and dry unexpectedly. All of a sudden, maybe even in a very sad way like a church split or a painful divorce that you did not expect to have happen. Maybe it wasn't your fault.
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Maybe it was. Something happening. All of a sudden, everything changed. An act of condemnation from somebody you thought was a friend. Maybe now, right now, in your life, you feel afraid and purposeless and weak.
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You're in a real pickle whether it's emotionally, spiritually, mentally, maybe financially, I don't know, and you're stymied and you're unable to do anything about it. All of your friends may be found in exactly the same situation. You're locked in, closed up, wondering what's going on, completely by yourself. Even if there are a bunch of people with you, you feel alone, okay? Scenario three, maybe you have been quite faithful in the past, very zealous even, I would say, for the Lord, for Jesus.
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Willing to die for him. Going charging the Hill. But lately, your hopes have been so completely dashed that you're disappointed and even though everybody else around you is jazzed especially on Easter morning. About Christ's resurrection. It's like they know a secret you don't know.
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You think it's going to take a personal miracle to convince you and you just haven't seen that miracle yet. Okay, that's scenario three. So, the three of those, we're going to cover this morning with the biblical text and then scenario four is this, and I've been thinking about this because I decided this Easter, what I would do is try to walk out Easter week as best I could in the same vein that the disciples did. So, walking through and wondering why he cursed that fig tree early in the week and asking him, why is that? Cursing something that bears no fruit.
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Wondering the next day, how this was going to go down? Seeing Judas make a deal to betray Jesus and then, letting the death of Jesus just sit. We did a Maundy Thursday service the other night where we watched the Passion of the Christ and that's heavy. I mean, that movie is pretty graphic. It's really really graphic actually and just letting the the death of Christ dwell for me for a while and Friday and Saturday were really kind of hard.
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If you consider what sin did, what the need for the crucifixion. If you consider that, it's a really, really heavy thing. So, maybe you experience the death of God in either college or high school, you had been brought up to believe in Jesus but all of a sudden, you were so mocked and scorned and ridiculed to the point that you just kinda gave in like Peter. You found yourself denying Christ little at first, time after time, maybe in words, maybe just indeed. Your belief to you began to feel stupid.
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And if it began to feel stupid, it stopped mattering, you stopped living contentedly in Christ, and before long, you were just readjusting priorities and self was rising to the top. Others were going down the list and Jesus was last. He mattered less than any of those. That's scenario four. So, somebody who knew of Jesus at one time but that dynamic relationship has fallen away and it's been kind of by choice over time and then scenario five, this last one.
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You have never had any first hand experience with Jesus at all. None. You don't know him. You and Jesus are perfect strangers. You don't know who he is.
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You don't know what all fuss is about. You don't know him and therefore, you don't believe in him. You don't put any kind of faith, any stock in him because you can't see him, you can't touch him, you don't know him, alright? So, that's the five scenarios. I think most of us probably fall into one of those except there is the sixth scenario which I didn't really cover which is, amen.
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It's Easter. God is good. I love him. I'm experiencing his peace. I feel like there's power in the name of Jesus and amen.
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That's great. There'll be plenty for y'all too, okay? Believing in the resurrection brings peace and purpose and power and I'm gonna get this from John 20. So, we've skipped over. Like I said, the whole upper room discourse that is after he's upstairs with his disciples and tell him what life is gonna be like without him bodily with them all the time because he's been with him for three straight years, you know.
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So, he's showing them in those four chapters, chapters 13 through 17. He's showing them what life is gonna be like without him, with his spirit but without him. Scenario number one, if you fit in the scenario number one, Mary Magdalene is gonna give us the example today, and this actually is Donatello's penitent Mary Magdalene. It was in about fourteen fifty three, four, five, somewhere in there. It's made out of white poplar.
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I was a sculpture major when I was in college. I love this. This is probably my favorite sculpture. I like it a lot. What's interesting about that too, just as a sideline, not going to do a full art presentation here but Mary Magdalene, the penitent Mary Magdalene, in the fourteen hundreds, all the way back to the five hundreds actually, Mary Magdalene had been lumped in with Mary who anointed Jesus' feet which is Mary of Bethany.
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We saw that last week and the other Mary who anointed his feet a different time who was called a sinner. And so Mary Magdalene in the five hundreds, Gregory the Great said, hey, these are all the same person. And so after that, all the artwork showed that they're the same person. Oftentimes when you see her depicted, she'll be a beautiful young lady. Sometimes, she's overcome with grief and she's penitent but she'll be a beautiful young lady usually bound at the feet of Jesus.
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Oftentimes, with an oil flask, flask of nard so she can anoint his feet or with a skull and the skull is not Jesus' skull. The skull that you see in her icon is about the fragility of life and that death is always present. So, that's the art lesson for today or part of it. Anyway, now, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early. Mary Magdalene has never been shown to be a sinner, any greater sinner than any of us, okay?
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We're all sinners. All of us are. There was not a specific sin listed for her. It did say that Jesus had liberated her from seven demons. Whatever those were, we don't know but he had set her free from seven demons and she loved him and she followed him thereafter.
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She was a woman of some means. She was supportive of his ministry and she followed around and when the disciples are listed, she's often listed right there with them. Now, on the first day of the week, that's Sunday. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Praise God.
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She saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So, she ran and she went to Simon, Peter, and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. This is from the book of John and I love that John doesn't call himself by name but he knew Jesus loved him and he always calls himself the beloved disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. So, she ran and went to Simon, Peter, and to John, the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. So, Peter went out with the other disciple and they were going towards the tomb.
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Both of them were running together. But the other disciple, that's John, outrun Peter. And he reached the tomb first. I love that. He outran Peter.
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Of course, John's about 17. Peter's probably in his forties. I feel for Peter. Reached the tomb first and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there. Maybe that's why we wear linen at Easter.
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I don't know. He saw the linen cloths lying there but he did not go in. That's Peter. No, that's John. He got there and he saw first.
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He looked in but he did not go in. He says, then, Simon Peter came following him and went on into the tomb. Peter, running ahead, jumping out of the boat, right? Peter's always the first in. Then, Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb and he saw the linen clothes lying there and the face cloth, the sweat rag actually in the Greek.
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He saw the sweat rag from his forehead which had been on Jesus' head not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Orderly and arranged. Then the other disciple who Jesus loved, John, who had reached the tomb first He went in and he saw and he believed and in John's gospel, we'll see the verb for belief 98 times. It's not used that many times in the whole rest of the New Testament but it is about belief and John knew that. He was writing his gospel later than the other guys and he was emphasizing what you need to get out of this is Jesus is trustworthy and can be believed, okay?
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The other tomb, the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went and he saw and he believed. John remembered. He knew. For as yet, they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. He's like, oh my goodness.
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Can it be? Is this real? Then, the disciples went back to their homes. Now, right here, since we're going to see Jesus meeting with the disciples in Jerusalem and this is happening just outside of Jerusalem. This has caused a little bit of problem for people.
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So, I'm going to just clear that up for you while we're here. Then, the disciples went back to their homes. All of them had homes in Galilee. Most of them in Capernaum but the homes part of it was put in there just to make it make sense to us. They went back to actually their own would be a much better translation.
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We they went back to theirs. They went back to their folks. Well, since it was a time for the Passover and all of them came down together. It's not just Peter but Peter and his wife, probably his mother-in-law too. Everybody is in town.
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Y'all know how that is. Summertime in Jackson. Everybody comes here, right? They went back to their own but Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. They had run back ahead and she had followed and she was standing there weeping outside the tomb and she wept.
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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. Now, Peter and John had run off by this point. She saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. This is actually a painting by Peter Paul Rubens and it's called Saint Mary Magdalene in ecstasy.
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Actually, some people call it the death of Mary Magdalene because they don't know the story or maybe they're considering that the angels aren't dressed in white so it couldn't be the same time. I don't know but she is overcome. The text doesn't say she fell out but again, Mary Magdalene, the tradition rather than just sticking with what the gospel said, there are couple of different gnostic gospels from way way later that were written because Mary Magdalene is an interesting figure and so people wrote about her and some of these things were contained in those extra biblical accounts. Just throwing it out there. It's dangerous.
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When we preach something that's not there because that has a way of growing into heresy, okay? They said to her, woman, why are you weeping? This is the message from the angels, the messengers of God. They said to her, woman, why are you weeping? And she said to them, they have taken away my lord and I do not know where they have laid him.
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Having said this, she turned around and she saw Jesus standing but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus, having just been resurrected in his glorified state, his glorified body. She did not recognize him immediately. Of course, when somebody has died and you're getting used to that idea, you don't expect to see em upright, right? She did not know that it was Jesus.
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Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Same thing that the angel said. Why are you weeping? What's so sad about this situation? Whom are you seeking?
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Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. And Jesus said to her, Mary, in the years that they have been together, how many times do you think Jesus had softly and tenderly called her name? Mary. Mary. And she turned to him then and said to him in Aramaic, Rabbi, which means teacher.
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And Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I'm not yet ascended to the father but I go to my but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God and Mary Magdalene went direct command, direct obedience. Mary Magdalene went, announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord and that he said these things to her. Now, this is, actually, this one's by Pietro da Cortona. Tanya and I lived in Cortona, Italy for a while. This guy was from Cortona.
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Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene. Often, she is overcome. She falls to her knees. She starts to worship and then she bends down and she grabs at Jesus' feet and it's called in in Latin or type. No limitangere means don't cling to me.
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Don't touch me. Nobody knows exactly why he said that. The whole glorified body issue later on with the disciples, he said, no, I want for you to touch me and no. He even ate some fish to let him know. It was real.
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There was not an apparition. It wasn't this collective imagination. It was real. He was really there. No limit Tangieri by Fra Angelico.
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It's very popular in the Renaissance. Frabarta Lomeo did the same thing. This one actually has the angels right here dressed in white properly. The sleeping Roman soldiers, it's a full harmony of the gospels right here. The other ladies are right there on their way.
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So, Fry Bartolomeo read his Bible. So, the scenario to consider right there. Number one is Mary Magdalene. She was entrusted with the news of the resurrection and for a lady in that time period, for a woman, she was the first one to see him. First one to get that message.
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That's an elevation for women right now and we see when she went to the disciples, they didn't believe her. That's about normal. For the time, maybe now too but she was entrusted by her loving God with the news of the resurrection. She was reassured and she was loved and she said it properly. I have seen the Lord.
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It filled her with hope. It filled her with excitement and she knew. You know, when somebody liberates you and they base their claim on the forgiveness of sins of being the son of God and they blaze their claim that they can forgive sin on the fact that I'm going to rise again. I'm putting to death your sin and then I'm gonna overcome it and rise again. It's a sad day when he dies but it is a joyous day when he rises again.
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The resurrection, I have seen the Lord. She knew it. It was real to her and her liberation was already complete but man, she went on from then. Most likely upstairs at the day of Pentecost and continued by tradition ended up in France, still spreading the gospel. Scenario number two, the disciples of Jesus, okay?
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If you fit in the scenario two, here you go. On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. Now, we know what happened just a few days before. This angry mob turns and crucify him, crucify him, crucify him, and Peter's denial. Oh my goodness.
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And all of them abandoned him. John was the only one that was left at the cross. As far as we know, John with Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, another Mary, are still hanging out there at the cross. On the evening of that day, the same day, resurrection day, the evening, first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them.
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The doors being locked. That's interesting. That's not the way normal bodies work in our world, right? You don't come in through locked doors But Jesus did. He came and he stood among them and he said to them, peace be with you.
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Now, if somebody just broke through or just came through a wall or a door and ended up in the room with me, I'm glad that he's saying peace. Alright? Peace be with you and that was the message that he brought. Peace. Now, what were they doing?
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They were fearful. They were locked in a room by themselves not knowing what to do. They felt completely powerless. Where a week before during the triumphal entry, can you imagine what they felt like? Oh, we're dividing up the kingdom, buddy.
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Who's gonna be first? Who's gonna sit on your right hand and your left hand? We are the top of the top. He's the king of Israel. Here we go.
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Then a week later, completely powerless. Their leader was dead. Locked in a room, closed off, not expecting Jesus. Although they had heard the news from Mary Magdalene, be expecting him. Peace be with you, he says.
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Peace. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side and then the disciples were glad. Then, the disciples were glad. I'm sure that peace be with you. One time, I was like, okay, okay.
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But after he showed him, no, this is really me. Then, the disciples were glad and Jesus said to them again, no, peace be with you. He reassured them. Again, he offers peace and right after that, he says something interesting just as or in the same way that, as the father has sent me, he left the glories of heaven above, right? And he was sent into the world.
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Carry a message of reconciliation and love and forgiveness for sin. In exactly the same way, in the same way that the father sent me, even so, just in that way, I am sending you. That's purpose. So, for those guys, having experience now the peace of a risen savior. The son of God, the one that they knew and believed in but had had their hopes dashed.
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He gives them his peace. Can you imagine what it would be like for Peter? Who had denied Christ? Christ told him he was going do it and he argued back with that and said, no, I won't. Yep, you're going to three times before the rooster crows and if Jesus comes into that locked room and you're Peter, what are you thinking?
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Smite me? Don't smite me. Lord, I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. No.
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He gave him his peace. Peace be with you. All of you. Peace. Between me and you, there's peace.
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Shalom. Complete peace. Shalom actually is Aramaic but peace. Peace amongst yourselves, peace with me, peace with God, peace is what I offer and then, he said and I want you to offer it to other people just in the same way that God sent me. I'm sending you peace and here's your purpose.
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Now, if you don't have the peace, it's real hard to act out on that purpose. You don't know what it's like. It's hard to sell something you don't believe in, isn't it? Ugh, I'm a terrible salesman. I'd starve to death.
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And when he had said this, after he said this, when he had said this, he breathed on them and he said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. Receive the Holy Spirit. That's power. So, the peace of God followed by the purpose of God. I'm sending you into this world to offer forgiveness of sin.
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Followed by the power to do something about it. You've got the word. I'm going to illuminate that word. He'd already told him that in that upper room discourse of four chapters we skipped. When the comforter comes, when the Holy Spirit comes, you'll be filled with power from on high.
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But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Power is what accompanies the Holy Spirit. His power. It's the power of God. Romans eight says and we're in a study of Romans right now.
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We're up to the beginning part of chapter three. At chapter eight says, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead, that same spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, if he dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will also give you life to your moral bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. That's a good promise. So, I'm skipping verse 23 for right now, okay? We'll come back to verse 23.
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But the scenario to consider. Number two, scenario number two is the disciples of Jesus. Jesus blessed them with peace. First, actually, it was just 10 of em in the room at the time. Peace first.
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He reassured them. Peace be with you twice and then he gave them a purpose in the same way that God has sent me. I'm sending you. And then he breathed on to them the power of the gift of the Holy Spirit. So, he's breathing that on em.
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These are 10 guys in a room, okay? Now, Pentecost, the day of Pentecost, there were probably hundreds of disciples in that room that day. So, scenario number three, if that fits you, doubting Thomas. We call him doubting Thomas. I put that in parenthesis.
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It's just Thomas. Thomas the twin, Didamus, Thomas. And here we go. Now, Thomas, one of the 12 called the twin, he was not there with them when Jesus came. Can you imagine being Thomas?
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He's going to get whatever and when he comes back, everybody's like, hey, Jesus came back. It was awesome. It's incredible. Mary said the same thing. Dad blasted and I wasn't here.
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I don't even believe it's real. So, the other disciples told him, what did Mary say? Mary said, I have seen the Lord. That's what she said when she saw Peter and John. That's what she said when she saw the disciples.
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I've seen the Lord. So, the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord. Praise God but he said to them, unless I, myself, personally, me, unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, I will never believe. Eight days later, he had to wait a week for his experience with Jesus. All these other guys are excited and anticipating.
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Still don't know what's going to happen with the Jews but they are filled with the spirit of God and understanding their purpose more and more as the days go by and eight days later, his disciples were all inside again and Thomas was with them and although the doors were locked, the same exact scenario. They're there and although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. Amen. He's a purveyor of peace. That's what he brings.
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He brings peace with himself and those disciples. All of them had abandoned him in some way. He brings peace between them and their God whom they had all sinned against just like we all sinned against. He brings peace among themselves in the same way Paul says, in the same way that God has forgiven you in Christ, be forgiven one another. Be forgiven one another just as God in Christ has forgiven you.
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Peace be with you, he says to Thomas and then he said, this is Jesus talking. Then he said to Thomas, reach your finger here and look at my hands and reach your hand here and put it into my side. This is a painting by Caravaggio. I used it a few weeks ago actually but I love it. It's one of my favorites.
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Put it into my side and do not be unbelieving. Jesus says, just as plainly as he can. Do not go on disbelieving. Do not be unbelieving but believing. And Thomas answered and said to him, my lord and my God, he's the same guy that after he raised Lazarus or right there around the time of chapter 11 before they go see Lazarus when they're coming up from Jericho.
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He says, let's go on up there and die with him. He's willing to die with Jesus in chapter 11. He's with him the whole way. He did abandon him at the cross. Everybody did.
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I mean, not John. But what he says right here is just as strong as ever. My lord and my God. Caravaggio is kinda dark but Caravaggio is almost always dark. The incredulity of Saint Thomas, the disbelief.
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Actually, that's the end of the disbelief of Saint Thomas right there. Thomas actually walked to India to spread the gospel. He was murdered in India, Southern India, on the other side of India. Amazing. Thomas needed a personal experiences of his own.
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Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and the place my finger into the mark of the nails. Not just see it. I I want to touch it. I want to be there. I want to know it.
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Place my hand into his side. I'll never believe. And you know what? Jesus was willing to give him that experience. You know why?
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Because Jesus wants for people to believe in him. He knows that God sent him for a purpose and that was the forgiveness of sins of anybody who would believe. Whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. So, he says to him, alright, Thomas, here here you are. This is what you've asked for.
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This is what you need. Put your finger here. See my hands and put out your your hand and place it in my side and do not disbelieve but believe. Praise God. He's offering peace and he's going to extreme measures.
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And Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Does this sound like he's getting on to him a little bit? I don't think so. I think he's saying, you asked for it, you got it. Not Toyota.
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You asked for it, you got it, Thomas, okay? Because you've seen me, you have believed. That gave him the strength that he needed to go do the purpose that God had for him which was spread the gospel. The Thomasite Christians are still in India today growing because of his original witness with them. You have believed.
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Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. How about all those Indians? That Thomas witnessed to. They had not seen Jesus. Some foreign guy, foreign culture.
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Pretty far removed but they believed and it's carried on. The reason that there are so many folks in this room that fits scenario number six that I didn't even mention is because we believe. Absolutely believe, and it was because of the witness of these guys. It's true and it works and it is to be believed, not disbelieved. It's not just tradition.
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It's full of the peace and the power and the purpose of God. So, Thomas, Jesus bid him peace just like all the other disciples. He also offered to meet Thomas at his point of need. Jesus is offering to meet you at your point of need. Now, scenario number four and number five, I mentioned are folks who have been around church but have walked away and folks who had never known Jesus at all.
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If either one of those fits you, hang on that verse with Thomas. Actually, this is a slightly different translation. This is a new American standard. No, I'll take that back. This is the ESB.
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That last one was new American standard. Jesus said to him, have you believed because you have seen me? Yet, they frame it as a question. Could be a question. Could be a statement.
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Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Is there anybody in this room right now that can say, I am blessed. I have not seen Jesus with my eyes but I am blessed to know him. Amen.
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Amen. Me too. So, those are our scenarios and it falls right now on you. So, where you are. So, back to John twenty twenty three.
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This one has caused some trouble over the ages. How do we translate this verse? How exactly do we lay this out here? And it's been translated a couple of different ways that are kind of problematic quite honestly. Verse 23, this is right after Jesus had said to them, breathe on them, receive the Holy Spirit.
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He given him his purpose just like God sent me. I'm sending you and now he says, if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. And if you withhold the forgiveness from any, it's withheld. That's a heavy deal. I mentioned like Smokey Bear.
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Only you can prevent forest fires. The disciples were plan A. He had given them his peace and they were experiencing it. He had given them the power. They already had his word.
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And they had given him the purpose. You take this message and you go. The message of the forgiveness of sins. The message of the love of God and the forgiveness of sins and he says, if you present to them under my authority, forgiveness of sins. Here on earth and they accept that, they are forgiven.
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Eternal life forevermore in heaven and if you present the message of forgiveness and they reject it here on earth, it is withheld. There is no postmortem conversion. There's not another chance. This is the chance. If you present the forgiveness of God and they accept it, they've got it.
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If you present the forgiveness of God and they reject it, they don't got it. I'm standing here today. I had to put this up here to remind myself to say this. I, Ray, stand here today having, even now, I hate standing in front of people, okay? Y'all know I have stage fright, something awful, but I don't have it here.
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Not here, not now. You know why? Because I've experienced the peace of God. I know that this is the purpose that he gave me to do. I rest in that fact and it's easy.
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It's not even hard at all because I have the peace of God that he has forgiven me of my sins. I am not perfect. I air again and again. I sinned again and again but I am forgiven and I know what it's like to feel forgiven. Having been given that peace and having been given this purpose, I want to extend that to you by the power of the Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
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He is offering to raise you from your sin and forgive your sin. He loves you and he cares for you. So, I'm extending to you right now the forgiveness in Jesus name. If you accept it, your sins are forgiven. If you reject it, I hope somebody else will extend it again.
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On this side, because this is all there is. On this side, this is your opportunity. Now, this is not all there is for eternity. There's incorruptible hope as Peter calls it. There's heaven for sure.
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But I'm offering you the peace of God. And this is the way this chapter ends and it's the end of chapter 20. It's John's purpose statement for why he wrote this gospel. If you hadn't read it lately, read it. It's good.
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John is great. It's all about belief. I don't know anybody that could read it and not fall in love with Jesus. If you're longing for a relationship with God, read John. This is the purpose.
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This is why he wrote the book. Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples. Some of them were written in the other books about it. Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book, this book of John, 25 pages long or so.
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But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, the son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name. That's why I wrote the book. If you're wondering, that's why I wrote the book and if you're wondering why I preach this message, that's why. So, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and have life in his name. Peace.
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Power and purpose. That's it. Amazing love. This is amazing love. Would you stand up?
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If you wanna come down this aisle because you're from the South, come on down. I'll meet you. Alright? If you, if you are not culturally comfortable with that, I'll meet you wherever you wanna meet. Brew Pub, I don't care.
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Wherever it is. If you'll stand with us, we're gonna sing This Is Amazing Love and This Is Amazing Love and This is why we celebrate Easter. Amen. Carl, you got anything?
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Speaker 3This song. Who breaks the power? Who breaks the power of sin and darkness? Whose love is mine and so much stronger. The king of glory, the king above all kings.
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That I would be set free. Oh, Jesus, I'm thankful all that you've done for me. Who brings our chaos? Who brings our chaos back into war? Who makes the earth and a son of God, the king of glory, the king of the volcanoes.
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Whose nations with truth and justice shines like the sun, all of its brilliance. The king glory, the king above all kings. This is amazing the is the king conquer the grave. Worthy is the king conquer the grave.
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RayThe benediction is from Ephesians 118 through 23 today. Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches in his glorious inheritance in the saints? And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe? According to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ.
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When he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. He put all things under his feet and gave him as the head over all things to the church which is his body, the continuing force of Jesus Christ. This is body. With his power, with his peace, with his purpose, his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
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In Jesus name, amen.
