Easter Sunday Reflections

This morning, we are going to read the account of the resurrection from the Gospel of John. John chapter 20, if you have your bibles with you. John chapter 20, and we're going to read from verse one. Now on the first day of the week, which is 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. 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 do not know where they have laid him.

So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and 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. He saw the linen cloths lying there and the face cloth which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloth, but folded up in a place by itself.

Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture that He, who is Jesus, must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. 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. And she turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, assuming that she was hugging him, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.

But go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that He has said these things to her. On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where His disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, peace be with you. When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.

So far our reading. I want to show you a painting that I have shown a few years ago, actually. And this painting you won't find in the Louvre in Paris or in the Met in New York or the National Gallery. It is tucked away in France, in Paris, in an old railway station on the left bank of the Seine River. Painted in 1898 by a relatively unknown Swiss artist named Eugene Bernard.

Even in his time, this painting did not make much of a splash. Since popular artists in this time were moving away from this sort of old fashioned realism to what was to be called modernism in style. But today, to those who take time to find the old railway station, they often come away saying that viewing the canvas is akin to having a spiritual experience. I don't know if you can see that, see the detail a bit closer. But at the first blush of dawn, you can see the light from that sky.

Peter and John are shown to be rushing towards the tomb of Christ. They have just been told, as we have read, by Mary Magdalene that she and the other woman have found the tomb empty. That Christ had risen. Her words are still ringing in their ears, but as you can see, their faces and their bodies reveal they are not sure whether they can believe her. John, the younger of the two, wrings his hands together anxiously.

He had been with Jesus as Jesus died on the cross. He was the only disciple to stay with Him the whole way through. He looks as if he can barely bring himself to believe that Jesus Christ might be alive again. Or perhaps the desperation on his face is that of a man praying that the impossible could have happened, that Jesus had come back from the dead. And then we see Peter, the older one there.

If John had been Jesus' most faithful disciple, Peter had been His most faithless. He had been the one to verbally deny even knowing Jesus three times in His darkest hour. And in this picture, we can also see the desperation in his face. His hands grasped his chest as if feeling for courage, the courage that deserted him just a few nights earlier. Thanks, John.

Now, Bernard painted in such a way that they are shown to be leaning forward. You can see the motion. You can see the rushing energy of this scene. Walking briskly, about to break into a run. Now this obscure painting, however, is something that, although an amazing focus on facial expression, is full of energy, kinetic energy, motion.

It is a study of what desperation and anticipation and aching hope looks like. And so this morning, on Easter Sunday, I want to ask you, what is your heart saying to you? Does it, with desperate anticipation this morning, come to the tomb? Do you have a hopeful heart that the events of that day might be true? And this morning, if you believe it is true, do you know what it means?

Do you know what it means for you? I want to share three points with you. Three reflections. Firstly, that the resurrection of Jesus, His life and His resurrection, changes people's lives. The resurrection of Jesus changes people's lives.

We can see that in the life of Jesus' disciples. Wonderful things had been done by Jesus. Amazing miracles, amazing power had been shown by Jesus, and He taught and people responded to this and said, what authority this man has to teach in this way. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John show through these eyewitness accounts just what Jesus had done, but it also shows in humiliating truth just how pathetic these disciples were. They did not know Jesus even until the end.

They did not understand what Jesus was about. They loved Him. They cared about Him. They thought He was an amazing teacher, but they did not know who Jesus was and why He came. They doubted Him.

They misunderstood Him. And we see that if you read those gospel accounts, they were not even very friendly or nice. They were self-interested. And when Jesus was crucified, they wept and they grieved like men who had lost someone forever. Once Jesus had been crucified, the disciples ran and they hid.

We read it in this account of John. They were behind locked doors. The disciples who saw Jesus performing these miracles, teaching these amazing things. When Jesus died in their minds, He became like any other man. He came under the same curse that we all endure. But on Easter Sunday, when John and Peter see the risen Lord, when the other disciples see Him, when Mary Magdalene sees Him, they know that all that Jesus has said, that everything He had done, proved that all of it was true.

Before the resurrection, we see Peter denying Jesus three times at His trial. And as Jesus is being sentenced to death by the Roman and the Jewish courts, Peter is asked three times in three different distinct moments, you are the man who follows this Jesus. Jesus. And He said, absolutely not, three times. And then we see here in the Gospel of John the disciple Peter after the resurrection, after seeing the risen Jesus, He is a changed man.

The resurrection of Jesus changes Peter. After his denial of Jesus, it would have been understandable for him to have walked off into the sunset. He could have said, no, that is not me. See you later. I am going back home.

But Peter is the first one to witness the empty tomb. Without any expectation, we see that he does not believe it to be true. He has a heart full of doubt. Peter reaches that empty tomb and Peter sees the folded cloths. It was not a robbery.

Who packs away cloths neatly for a body snatch? And he starts to believe. And a few hours later, that very night, according to John 20, verse 19, Jesus appears to the disciples behind these locked doors, and from that moment on, Peter has no more fear. Never does he deny Christ again.

From that moment on, he spends the rest of his life travelling all over the world, as far as he could go, telling people about a man who rose from the dead, who claimed to be God, and could take away mankind's sin. Why does he do this? Why does he do this? Because he saw the risen Lord. In his mind, he realised that Christ is not a victim, but a victor.

Jesus did not lose on the cross. He had a victory so great that it swallows up sin and death. The resurrection is the gold medal to show the world that Christ had indeed won. Peter goes so far in his assertion and his belief, a changed man, broken, flawed as he was, radically changed that by the end of his life, he is crucified upside down for this message that Jesus Christ is alive. Brian this morning spoke about a changed life that is only possible to those who meet the risen Christ.

But someone may say, anyone can believe in a fairy tale of a man who comes back from the dead. How can I know it is real? Well, I would say a radically changed life is evidence, partly at least. But if that is not enough, even if a changed life is not enough reason to believe in Jesus' resurrection, there is another thing to point out. And that is that the resurrection of Jesus gives authority.

If you study all the world religions, and there are many, you will find probably a few similarities. They believe in God. They believe in the Creator. They believe that humans are on earth for a purpose greater than simply to live and die. But you will find, if you study these religions, some very big significant differences as well.

Go and study them yourself and you will find that no other religious leader died in full view of hundreds of witnesses at the hand of trained executioners who knew what a dead body looked like, who knew what a dead body was meant to do when it was dead. Whose body is placed in a guarded tomb sealed shut. And yet, this man was seen alive mere days later. And not only was he seen alive by these twelve, His followers, but by up to five hundred eyewitnesses. Five hundred eyewitnesses.

Listen to this. The Apostle Paul writes to the early church in Corinth, which is in Greece. And in First Corinthians 15, verse six, he says this: this is the gospel that I received and I pass on to you, that He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve, then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive even though some have fallen asleep. And Peter says that, guys, these witnesses are still alive. Go and talk to them.

But the point is there is no other person in all of history who has made the claims that Jesus made about dying for sin and about rising from the dead. Not even the most inspiring religious leaders have said that and then backed it up. Buddha is still dead. Confucius is still dead. Mohammed is still dead. We know where his tomb is in Mecca.

The fact that Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead might be the biggest reason for you to ever believe listening to a single word He said. Why? Because why trust anyone else? If a person claiming to be God told you that He would die and then did, and told you that He would rise from the dead after three days and He does, would you be inclined to listen a bit closer to what He had to say? Absolutely.

Christ's resurrection makes us sit up and listen because the resurrection gives authority to what Jesus said. Okay, okay. You might say, so if it does make us sit up and take notice of Him, and I mean, you can say the world has been radically influenced by this man over two thousand years. If these events did take place, if He rose from the dead, the next question is, how or why does that impact me? What does that have anything to do with me?

Well, thirdly, the resurrection changes our perspective on what is good and bad. Even if you leave this place this morning and you say to yourself, I cannot believe in this Jesus. It just cannot be true. I would say to you, if you cannot believe it, I hope you at least wish it is true. That you hope this might be true.

If you knew what the resurrection achieved for us, you would desperately be hopeful like the painting we saw of John and Peter. Why? Because the resurrection holds out hope that death is not the final word. Death is not the final word. You might struggle to believe, but here is something that you cannot or should not struggle to want.

This is something you may not struggle to believe. We all experience pain. We all experience death. We all experience suffering. Against this evidence in our hearts, we cannot argue.

We all care that things are bad in this world. We all care about the injustices. We all care about people in pain. We care about our mates in depression. We care about our family members experiencing loss, but I want to tell you this morning that if you care about any of these things, then I want to say you want to believe that the resurrection of Jesus is real.

Why is that? Because if it is real, if a power like that exists, if life after death exists, if flesh and bone can be brought back to life, a flat-lined heart can beat again, then the resurrection of Jesus says that death is not the final stage. It is not just seventy, eighty years on this little speck in the backside of the universe. Something lies beyond this life. And if Jesus' authority means anything to us, then hear this.

Jesus promised that all of humanity would be resurrected one day. All of us. Death is not a final word, but a temporary condition. I saw a quote this morning on my Facebook that says, death is not a full stop, it is now a comma. It is why Paul tells the church that it is only some brothers that have fallen asleep.

They are not dead, he says. They are just waiting. Jesus said that all of us would be resurrected one day, but here is the clincher. Some of us, having put our trust in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sake, on our behalf, those will be resurrected to life with God forever. All of us will be resurrected, however.

But there will be those who are resurrected to an eternity away from God as well. On that day, God will say to them, you lived your whole life as though you did not want me, and I will give you your wish. The bible says that every good thing in our life is a gift from God. Every good thing. Family, comfort, peace, a country like Australia to call our own. Every good thing is a gift from God.

Imagine an existence without God. And so today on Easter, we remember Jesus' resurrection from the dead. In that moment, God showed everyone that He is more powerful than death. God is more powerful than death and that gives hope. Death is not something to be scoffed at.

We do not laugh in the face of it. We mourn it. But death is not the final divider. Death has been overcome by the events of that first Easter. And so this is why Easter is the most important thing.

Forget Christmas. Christmas is nice. This is the most important thing to Christians because it means that in a world where injustice exists, violence, disease that are everywhere, God is not prepared to tolerate those things forever. Those things will finish. If Jesus Christ died on the cross on Good Friday, a couple of days ago, to forgive sin, to bear the punishment that was mine in His body, in His soul, to take my place, and if He was raised to life today on Easter Sunday in order to conquer death and sin, then we really have good news, friends.

We have good news. Sin and death has been destroyed. And we heard on Good Friday and Brian reflected on that, the heaviness of moment and we mourn. We cry that our Saviour would do that for us. That He would so love me.

But this is the good news. That I am so sinful and so flawed that Jesus had to die for me. He had to. If I was to come to God, and I will come before Him one day, and I stand before Him, I will have no leg to stand on for my sin. I am so sinful.

I am so flawed that Jesus Christ had to die for me. Yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus willingly died for me. What a Saviour. What a love. But here on Easter Sunday, hear the message that says, God the Father so valued and loved His Son.

He so valued and loved Jesus Christ that God raised Him from the dead to show the whole world that the mission of saving mankind was accomplished. And so this morning you must decide. It is a decision you make. You cannot float in and float out. There is a decision that must be made whether you are willing to receive this hope.

Everyone will be resurrected, Jesus said. But only those who put their trust in Jesus' love on the cross and make Him their King will receive eternal life. This is a free gift. It is the freest gift you can ever receive because there is no way you could have earned it. And it is the best gift you could ever receive.

Our church does not force anyone into anything. It is a church that holds no judgment because we are all beggars just pointing one another to where we find bread. So I cannot accept this gift on your behalf. And Brian, he cannot accept it on your behalf. But if something inside you this morning, and there are plenty of visitors here with us this morning.

I am speaking to you as well. If something inside of you has changed this morning, there are three steps. Three steps that I want you to take. The first is to make a decision. Pray to God this morning or tonight and tell Him that you are sincerely sorry for your sin.

Acknowledge it before Him. Say to Him that you turn from it, from that old life, and that you are ready to receive His forgiveness and then His acceptance. Make a decision today to give your heart and your life to Jesus. Firstly, make a decision. Secondly, speak to someone about this.

Do not let this simply be an in-your-head sort of thing. Find out more information. If you are sceptical about anything, talk to someone about it. Ask for them to pray. If God is real, He can reach into your life and He can change your heart and your mind.

Speak to someone about that. And then the third point is, join a church. It does not have to be this church. If you are visiting, you may join a church somewhere else. Get connected to a place that teaches the Bible.

That teaches from the bible what it says about this life. What it teaches about Jesus. What it says about who God is. Find Christians who can help you and encourage you. Brian also talked about the community that he has found.

Join a church. Make a decision. Speak to someone about this and join a church. In closing, friends, today we celebrate that God is in the process of making all things new. And it started with Jesus being raised from the dead.

That desperate hope we saw in the disciples of Peter and John, I wish we could have seen the part B. I wish we could have seen their faces afterwards because they would be beaming. What a painting that would be. And so this morning Jesus offers us again. Offers us again for the hundred and twenty-fifth thousandth time.

To receive Him, to believe in Him, to be forgiven by Him, and to receive the life that He has won for us because of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. Let us pray. Oh, Lord Jesus, our hearts cry out, hallelujah, today. We thank you for the love that you have shown to us. We thank you for the forgiveness that we have received.

That has been proven by that empty tomb. If the death was not sufficient, you would not have been raised to life. If my debt had not been paid, that life would not have been vindicated. And so Lord, all we can say this morning is thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Lord. We receive that life again. For those who may be hearing this for the first time or maybe understanding the significance for the first time, Lord, I pray for them as well. I pray, Lord, that they will not leave this place unchanged. I pray, Lord, that they will find you.

As your word says, if they seek you, they will find you. If they seek you with all their heart. And so I pray a blessing over them. I pray that you may be found by them or rather, as we heard again this morning, that you will find them. Father, we acknowledge that our debt to you is infinite.

Oh, but our God, that does not matter to you. And so now just in humble, grateful adoration, Lord, we offer our lives to you again in perfect obedience. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.