The Hope of the Resurrection

It's been two days since we were here last. We experienced and walked through and reflected on the events of Good Friday. We saw and we imagined those final moments of Christ on his way to the cross. We looked at the trial before Pilate and the torment of the crowds who wanted Christ crucified. Today, we come to the other side of that story, the resurrection.

And we come this morning in particular to a remarkable moment of a young woman by the name of Mary, a dear friend of Jesus, who in her grief goes to the garden tomb where Jesus had been laid. And what takes place there in those minutes is something that changes her entire life forever. Let's turn together this morning to John chapter 20, verses 11 through to 18. John 20, from verse 11. 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." After this, having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?

Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to Him in Aramaic, "Rabboni," which means teacher. Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, 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 had said these things to her. So far, our reading. This is the word of the Lord. We come to Mary just after she and some other women had gone to anoint, or to embalm, or to put spices on the body of Jesus on the first day. Verse one of John 20 tells us.

Mary comes to the tomb and she sees that the huge, enormous stone in front of the tomb had been rolled away, that it was open. And before even looking inside, she knows what's happened. She's wrong, but she thinks she knows. Jesus' body had been stolen. Now in those days, it was such a common thing for grave robbers to have gone into these tombs to loot them of any valuables that had been laid there with them, that we know from historical evidence, Caesar Claudius in AD forty wrote to the whole empire that grave robbers, the act of grave robbing, was a capital punishment.

So this was in that time. It was significant enough for this sort of statement to have been made in Jesus' time. Mary assumes that the body had been stolen. And she runs and she finds Peter and the other disciples and she tells them that the body is gone. And Peter, with John, the beloved disciple, runs to the tomb.

And they go inside and they see that there's nothing in there. The cloth that was covering Jesus is on one side and the other napkin, the towel that was on Jesus' face is on the other side. There's nothing in there. And they go away and they wonder what could have happened. And then we come to Mary, and what she experiences that day in the resurrection of Jesus changes her perspective on everything.

Because not only is the resurrection of Christ one of the most thrilling miracles in history, God is telling us today that it is the sign of the hope of the gospel. It's because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that we can know three things this morning. Firstly, that life after death is recognisable. Life after death is recognisable. Why is the resurrection that we celebrate today such good news?

Well, it's because we are creatures of love. Study after study will tell us the one thing that people treasure more than anything in life is not how much you've earned. It's not how much you've accomplished in this life. It's not how much you've learned. The thing we consistently treasure more than anything in life are those we've come to love.

Life is worth living because we love and we get to be loved. On the other hand, we see Mary crying her eyes out because the single hardest thing about life is losing a loved one. Mary Magdalene stands at the tomb beside herself with grief. In only a matter of hours, she has seen her friend and the great rabbi be betrayed by one of the twelve disciples, one of His own. He's been put through a kangaroo court on trumped up charges.

She witnesses Him being whipped to within an inch of His life and then finally hung up on a cross. Put simply, those hours have been devastating. Now she comes to the tomb ready to do a final round of embalming of the body, and she finds the tomb open with no one inside. And in Mary's mind, not only has Jesus suffered the indignity of a scandalously unfair death, now His body has been mistreated, undignified, stolen for potential valuables. Mary finds herself in a pit of despair this morning at the tomb.

It's really, perhaps, staggering for us sitting on this side of the resurrection to think, how does Mary not remember the words of the resurrection? Well, I think of a particularly interesting experiment that I participated in, perhaps you have as well, a video you can go and watch on YouTube where you are told to watch a few balls being passed around by people. I think it's a basketball. And you have to keep your eye on one ball to see where at the end of a minute it finishes. And as this ball is being passed and you're focused on it trying to track it, the real experiment, not the fake experiment that is the premise for you watching this video, the real experiment is that there is this huge black gorilla.

A man in a gorilla suit that walks all through the people passing this ball to each other. And the amazing thing is, if you follow that ball, you never notice that gorilla. Only afterwards they tell you that this is what's happened and your myopic, your concentrated narrow view on this ball has completely excluded the information of this gorilla walking through the scene. Something of that is what's going on here, I think. Mary, the other women, and the disciples are reeling from their loss.

The pain is so real. And with their minds fully focused on the tragedy, they never remember the promise of a resurrection. When we lose loved ones to death, there is just something in us that screams, this is not right. And we have to ask ourselves, why do we love life and hate death? Well, it's because we don't want to say goodbye to those we love.

Death is the ultimate enemy of love. And here, Jesus shows Himself physically resurrected to Mary, and all that He has to do is to say her name, Mary. And she knows. She knows that it is Jesus. He doesn't need to explain the resurrection.

He doesn't have to give any explanation, any premise to why He's there and how He knows her. He simply says, Mary, and Mary recognises Him. Again, there may be all sorts of questions about why she sort of first assumes that He's a gardener, and then when He says the name Mary, she turns around. But looking closely at the text here, I think we get a bit of an image that Mary is so focused on the scene of the empty tomb that when Jesus asks her, why are you weeping, her face, her back is actually rather facing Him.

And so she looks over, she sees someone, and she turns back to the tomb. It's only after a second time that she turns around at the name Mary that she realises what's going on. We also see two disciples in Luke's account on the road to Emmaus who don't recognise Jesus. We see Thomas and the other disciples who have to touch and see the hands and feet of Jesus to confirm that it's Him. And yet, something of Jesus, something of His person, His character has continued in this life after death.

This is the great news of Easter, this Sunday morning. Life after death is recognisable. The hope of the gospel is that the ones we love, even Christ Himself, has not been lost forever in death. Something continues after death. That's the first point.

Life after death is recognisable. The second thing is that life after death is physical. What good is it to be told that life after death is recognisable if you won't be able to hug and kiss and touch those that you love? Many religious studies or studies on spirituality in Australia will tell us that while we're not very religious anymore as a nation, most of us still believe in a concept of heaven. Go figure.

But the modern concept of heaven is of this bodiless soul floating through on clouds somewhere up there. It can't be more esoteric, more mystical than that. It's something that is not tangible at all. But the truth of the Bible couldn't be further from that. It doesn't give me, I don't know about you, but it doesn't give me any peace to think of myself as a floating spirit hanging out with some other floating spirits.

I want to trust, rather, in the Bible and what it is presenting to me because it is far more glorious. It tells me that everlasting life is concrete and physical. Everlasting life is concrete and physical, and it is the resurrection of Jesus that proves it. In His resurrection, we see what lies ahead for all of those who will benefit from His actions on the cross. Paul will write in 1 Corinthians 15, and He will say that Jesus is like the first mango of the summer.

You've probably seen those ridiculous auctions that they have every December in Melbourne and Sydney, at the markets there, where they auction at staggering prices the first mango of the season, the first box of mangoes, thousands of dollars. And Paul calls Jesus that box of mangoes, the first fruit. Those who put their trust in Him, Paul says, will be the fruit that follow after. This is what He writes, 1 Corinthians 15:22. For as in Adam, our forefather, all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

But each in His own order. Christ the first fruits, then at His coming, those who belong to Christ. Christ has risen first. Then at His second coming, those who belong to Him are also raised to life. What we see in the resurrection that Mary witnessed is a resurrection that is concrete and physical. We are told that Mary tries to cling to the Lord. She hugs Jesus.

She embraces Him. He is as real as that. The hope of the gospel is a concrete, a physical, a real body and bone existence forever. It was so real that Mary could hold on to Jesus that tightly and that long that Jesus had to say to her, you have to let go. You cannot cling to Me.

I have to ascend to the Father. The story isn't finished. But we see Jesus here in a physical body that you could touch. The overwhelming griefs that had flooded Mary's heart had been swallowed up in joy. And it was so reassuring to her because Jesus was back in the flesh.

She knew that He was really dead, and now she sees that He is really alive. Those scars in His hands, His feet, His side were real. His body was real. His heart was really beating, however, and His voice was really speaking. Mary sees Jesus alive and physical.

Perhaps sometime later, I don't know how long, the disciples remember what Jesus had said just the night before the cross in John 14:9. Because I live, Jesus said, you will also live. Because I live, you will also live. The hope of the gospel is that life after death, friends, is physical. It's concrete, and the resurrection of Jesus proves it.

Thirdly and finally, we see that life after death restores joy. Go and study any kind of world religion today, and you'll hear that nearly every one of them teaches something about a life after death. The Buddhists have nirvana. The Hindus have Shangri-La, and the Norse gods had Valhalla. But there's a significant difference when it comes to the Christian faith.

Those other religions promise a consolation for what's been lost. It says, you may have experienced a difficult but faithful life, so here, have seventy-two virgins. You've experienced great pain and suffering, but now, as the Buddhist concept of nirvana will teach us, you have a release from all emotions, so you won't feel sad again, nor will you feel happy again, because emotion is suffering. Look at any world religion and you'll find out something about a reward in the afterlife.

But the afterlife understanding of Christianity is rooted in what Mary saw. In the resurrection of Christ, we don't simply see a promise of consolation. It's a promise of returning something that's been lost. You see, the overarching story of the Bible tells us of a lost kingdom, of a God who is busy reclaiming that. It tells us of a humanity that has walked away further and further from God, and the Bible says that true joy, true fulfilment is only found in our return to that kingdom.

And the resurrection is the final part of that return. In the resurrection of Jesus, we see the truth not simply of a comfort that life continues after death, as comforting as that is, but that life will be all the more joyful because true life has now been restored. What is that true life? Well, the resurrection of the Bible is a restoration of all the things that are broken. The resurrection is a restoration of all the things that are broken.

It's a restoration to the state of existence which we inherently long for. And so the resurrection goes beyond physical bodies. The resurrection promises a restored nature as well, a moral character that is healed as well. In other words, if you are aware of all the sin that stains your heart, if you grieve over it, if you are painfully aware of how weak your character is, your hope in Christ doesn't simply give you this vague hope that here, have another go at reincarnation. Try again.

Nor does it give you this vague Aussie idea of heaven simply being an existence that continues on forever without death. Now the Bible says that we have been changed forever. Colossians 1:22, Paul writes, but now He, God, has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you wholly in His sight without blemish, free from accusation. The death and the resurrection of Christ explained in the Bible says that you are becoming virtuous. You will be completely transformed to be virtuous in every sense.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, we read, you will appear with Him in glory. God is busy reclaiming the lost kingdom and He is returning us to a citizenship worthy of that kingdom. That's why in our passage, Jesus' last words to Mary in verse 17 is that she needs to go and tell the disciples. What does she need to tell them? Well, He calls them His brothers.

Go and tell My brothers. And she needs to tell them this: I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God. Again, remember just a few chapters before, in the upper room discourse of Jesus, Jesus had told His disciples, had addressed His disciples as servants.

He said, I am your master. Now He calls them His brothers. Why? Because in His resurrection, because of His subsequent ascension to rule from heaven until that final day, and because He will send the Holy Spirit soon, because of these things, the disciples will share in His sonship with God the Father. They have become Christ's brothers through His death and resurrection.

And that truth is our truth. Jesus' living, His dying, His rising, and His ascending has made us sons and daughters of God. We are true children. So what do the children of a king inherit? The kingdom.

So if you are aware of the disappointment of this life, if you are aware of your own moral failings, the future for those who have placed their trust in Jesus, that future holds out for you a hope of a kinder, purer, more compassionate you in perfect existence. The resurrected life promises a restoration of joy, the long awaited return of what has been lost, and we find that in the kingdom that is finally restored at the final resurrection. It's so hard to imagine, isn't it, the emotions that would have gone through Mary's mind as she saw Jesus that day. Luke's account of the resurrection simply says that the disciples disbelieved for joy. Luke 24:41.

They disbelieved for joy. It was too good to be true. But what if it is all true? How would this change your life? Well, for Mary, it changes everything.

Mary had come that morning to rub embalming spices on the body of her friend. When she sees Him alive, she initially addresses Him as Rabboni, in Aramaic, teacher. And yet after a few minutes, the reality of what she is seeing before her own eyes starts to sink in. How does Mary talk about Jesus at the end of this passage? She says to the disciples, I have seen the Lord.

First, she turns and she says, Rabbi, teacher, it's you. She goes to the disciples and she acknowledges that He is Lord. And the resurrection changes the perception of the resurrection changes the reality of Christ Himself. He is Lord. During those ensuing days, when Mary and the disciples finally remember how Jesus had spoken about His death, that He would rise again after three days, knowing that this incredible prophecy had taken place and He had spoken truly, well, then they realised that everything else He had also said must be true.

He had spoken of His death as a payment for sin. He had spoken of God returning for His kingdom. He had said that faith in Him would cause them to come to the Father. And in that moment, in the garden, standing before Mary, she saw a person, not merely a friend anymore, but the resurrected Lord of life, and that changed everything. Friend, have you recognised Him as Lord?

The reality is that everyone will be resurrected one day to physical bodies, every one of us. But it's only those who know Jesus as Lord and Saviour who will experience eternal life in those bodies. Those, I have to say, who continue to reject Christ will only ever know eternal death even as they taste the resurrection. And so for the sake of your eternal life, please come to Christ this morning. Make Him your Saviour and crown Him your Lord because He is the Lord of life.

But if you're also here this morning as a Christian who knows and professes Him as Lord, let me ask you the harder question. Does your life reflect Him as Lord? Does your life reflect Him as Lord? Can you honestly say that your life is lived in complete surrender to Him? Or is He still a Rabboni, a teacher whose teachings are nice and ones that you dip into every now and then.

Jesus' resurrection is recognisable. It is physical and it is restorative, but it is also decisive. And you must make a decision with what He presents you because He lives. He is Lord. And may that reality have its full and final impact on our lives.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that in the reality which we remember this morning, which we proclaim to one another, that Christ is risen, risen indeed, we may be reminded of the concrete hope which is at the core of the gospel, that we will not die, but that we will live forever. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you said, I am the resurrection and the life. And, Lord, we pray that our hope, our belief, our trust in you as the resurrected Lord will be such a profound and deep part of our lives that by the power of the Holy Spirit that makes us believe in that statement, in that truth, we will be humble subjects to your lordship.

Help us to remember that we have now been raised to life, that we are seated with Him at the Father's side. And that, Lord, since that is true, we are continually losing ourselves of this old nature and taking on that resurrection life. Thank you for this hope. It excites us so much. It gives us so much joy, and it gives us strength, Lord, to face every day, even on this side, while we wait for that final restoration.

In the hope and the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ and His enabling through the Spirit, we pray these things. Amen.