#7- Jesus’ Resurrection Changes Everything
John 20:1-10 - Victory Fellowship
April 9, 2023 - Rev. Roderick Grabski
Resurrection Sunday
I. It’s All Connected
We have been talking about God’s story, the story of God and His people found in the Bible. It’s easy to miss the fact that the Bible holds a story. We been asking, “Is there a connection between the God of Adam and Eve and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? And what in the world does that have to do with Jesus?” And the real question is, “What does that have to do with me?”
What we have discovered is that in fact there is a story here. There are common threads that run throughout. We have discovered that it is this story upon which all great stories find their structure and their parts. It is within this story that we find any hope that our story might have meaning.
We have talked about the inevitability of uncertainty in our stories—that in a story, you don’t know what is coming next. You don’t know what the next chapter will be. It is a mystery we live into. Life is more like a story than a formula or a timeline.
II. The Big Moments
Still, there are some big moments that are expected. They are on the schedule. You can tell when a big day is coming. You can sense it. A good storyteller lets you know that you have arrived at one of those monumental, story-changing moments. You can feel it, like your first kiss, or your wedding day, or standing on top of Pikes Peak, or that first big deal that you seal, or the first time you hold your grandchild. A good storyteller lets you know leading up to that, that this is a big day. Read slowly; pay attention; these moments will shape the character forever.
A. Recap
I want to recap the God Story for you as we have looked at it together. In the beginning is our Introduction. There, we learn about the main character of this story, God.
We are introduced to God and He is powerful and mysterious and just by speaking can set the whole world in motion. After speaking humans into creation God takes an incredible, unprecedented step - God speaks to that which He created.
Immediately we know this God is different from other gods. We saw this as Thread #1 in the story: God speaks because God desires relationship. God doesn’t want to be a far off God.
The laughable dream of Abraham showed us Thread #2: If God makes a promise, God keeps it.
As we watched the wandering people of God get frustrated in the wilderness, we found Thread #3: God will provide all you need for the journey.
Then with David, we saw an unlikely little shepherd boy become king—Thread #4: God calls the unlikely and gives them a better story.
We talked about how the Soundtrack to this whole story is the prophetic voice singing over us the beautiful message of Thread #5: God’s love is reoccurring and relentless.
The people of God were waiting, waiting for a new king, the real king, the king God would send. They are waiting on Resolution. A young boy, born to an unlikely family, Jesus, whose name means Yahweh rescues, rides into Jerusalem on the first day of Passover.
Jesus comes riding in on a donkey and the people recognize Jesus of Nazareth as King. They say “Here is the King of Israel, Hosanna, save us.”
B. The People’s Big Day
This is our big day, the moment we hoped for, the moment we knew would come; we could sense it coming in the story, and here it is—our defining moment—God will make things right; God will give us our rightful place; God will save us.
This is the first of the week, and by Friday, they have nailed that man, the one they said was King, to a piece of wood. We want to think that we wouldn’t have done that, but everything about the story and our story points to the fact that we would have.
III. The Big Days Don’t Always Go As Expected
A. This Can Be Disappointing.
The disciples, Jesus’ closest friends, spend Friday and Saturday and into the night, thinking how in the world did this happen? This was going to be it, our big day, our defining moment. Now the story is over.
And if you have ever experienced something you think is over, it’s an empty, lonely, scary feeling. When the thing you need most is done—the part of the story you need most to continue—you feel lost. And this was one of those from every possible angle. It’s done.
Likewise, for Mary, it’s over. Mary showed up at the tomb that morning and it was over. Done. Jesus himself had said on the cross where they could hear him, “It is finished.” Mary comes to the garden alone. She sees the empty tomb, runs to tell Peter and John. They come, investigate the situation, and go home, which is their way of dealing with the doneness of this situation. Video
And then suddenly she’s not alone. The rest of the story for Mary is…
11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” 16 “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). 17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
B. This Can Be Transforming
Mary thought Jesus was the gardener, but He said her name. And she knew. It wasn’t over. It wasn’t done. Jesus wasn’t gone. He wasn’t dead. She wasn’t dead inside. She wasn’t done. Her life wasn’t over.
It was Jesus. The Jesus relationship wasn’t over. She knows it’s Jesus and that He is God.
And He still speaks to call into relationship, that God kept his promise, and that Jesus has been all she needed for her journey. And he calls her, the unlikely one, and has given her a better story. And the story of a reoccurring relentless love that will not give up on her, will go the grave and come back and not give up.
This is what they call in story, or in a movie, the Twist Ending. Sometimes it is called the big reveal, or the moment of truth.
Finally it all makes sense. Most great stories do this. When hope is lost, the unthinkable happens.
C. This Changes Everything
Now this Jesus story says I can take whatever you’ve got and give you the best prize.
Perhaps it is a Twist Ending to your story. You didn’t see this coming: that Jesus could come and take your SCARS – your thread of betrayal, deceit, messing up, or whatever it is that you think defines you, and speak to you. He speaks your name in a way that you will know it’s Him and keeps His promise of life and hope to you and gives you all you need.
He writes you a better story, unlikely though you may be, and you see how relentless Jesus is in telling you that He loves you.
It changes everything. Easter is the Twist Ending we’ve all been waiting for. The sun rose this morning, same as it has for thousands of years, same as it did the first Easter morning. It says, God is not done. Jesus is not dead. He is alive. He has risen. He has risen indeed.
And now you know. God is in this Story. Your story is woven into God’s story. Telling the story of your encounter with Jesus helps others to know they, too, are part of the God Story.
PRAYER
SONG: God is in this Story
John 20:1-10 NLT
Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— 9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.
