The Road to Easter – Easter Sunday

Joke:  One Easter morning, a woman was on her way to church when her car broke down. Not wanting to be late for the special service, she ordered an Uber to pick her up. The car arrived, and she quickly jumped in the back.

Halfway through the ride, she asked the driver a question, but the driver didn’t respond. So she leaned forward and tapped the driver on the arm. The driver let out a loud scream, swerved into the other lane, almost hit another car, slammed on the brakes, and skidded over to the shoulder.

The woman and driver sat in silence for a minute from the shock of what just happened. Finally, she said apologetically, “Wow, I’m so sorry. I had no idea that tapping your shoulder would alarm you like that.”

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that it’s my first day driving an Uber. Before this I was driving a hearse.”

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 The Road to Easter: Because of Jesus

Do you know why we are here today? Because of Jesus!

On a Sunday morning over two centuries ago, everything changed.

Let’s do something this Easter. I going to make a statement, and then I want you to say, “Because of Jesus”

–   The sting of death is gone! (Because of Jesus)

–   We are victors! (Because of Jesus)

–   We are over-comers! (Because of Jesus)

–   We are more than conquerors! (Because of Jesus)

–   Guilt is gone! (Because of Jesus)

–   Fear has fled! (Because of Jesus)

–   We are called children of God! (Because of Jesus)

–   We are called friends of God! (Because of Jesus)

And so, today, we celebrate that everything has changed!  Why?  Because of Jesus.

Watch video www.skitguys.com

Let’s read how one of the gospels describes the day everything changed.

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.

Picture this, Mary goes to the tomb first thing in the morning – around sunrise – to mourn the passing of her beloved teacher, only to find the stone rolled away and Jesus’ body missing.

Something has changed, but what?

She runs to find Peter and “the other disciple,” John.   Probably out of breath, she struggles to understand. No one seems to understand.  And Mary thinks perhaps someone has moved the body to some unknown or unmarked gravesite?

Talk about a woman being the first one there.  Women’s testimonies carried little if any weight in the ancient world which is probably one reason the two disciples didn’t give what she said much weight.  But here’s what I think is so significant about that fact.  As people read that account it would help squelch the idea that the story was fabricated.  The writers just wouldn’t have wrote that a woman witnessed it because it would make the testimony that much less credible.   Jesus changes everything.

So, Peter and John take off to the burial site to find the linens lying about.  If they didn’t believe Mary’s words before they now see that they were true. Jesus was no longer in that tomb. Something big had changed.

But, the scripture tells us, they did not yet understand the magnitude of what had changed.

As stated in the video and as we are discovering, Jesus changes everything.

I know we don’t have time this morning to cover everything He changes. . . we would be here all day and then some.

However, let’s look at three things that changed because there was an empty tomb on the first Easter morning.

1. Peace In Our Hearts

Picture this Peter and John returned to be with all the other disciples, and they are hiding away in a locked room for fear of the Jewish leaders.

And later that night, this happened. . .

John 20:19–20 (NIV) – On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

The word translated as “fear” is “phobos” in Greek. It means “dread” or “stricken with terror.”

This was their condition that morning.

I don’t know about you but if for some reason I found myself stricken with terror, maybe I hear a warning on the news that someone escaped from prison and they saw him in my neighborhood.  I’m definitely locking the doors, turning the deadbolt, and pushing the piano up against the door!

And maybe that’s what they did, they for sure locked the door.

Then Jesus walks into the room. He speaks the word “peace.”  And I don’t know but if the doors are locked and someone that wasn’t there is now standing there, peace isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

But He shows his wounds so that they know it’s him.

And we see a transformation in these frightened followers. They become, as the Greek would be understood, overjoyed to the point of rejoicing.

Jesus arrives, and peace arrives with him.

And I don’t know about you church but there have been many times that Jesus showed up in my life and brought peace with him.

So, Jesus says, “Peace be with you” and that is no insignificant greeting offered by Jesus. “Peace be with you” is a statement of what Jesus just accomplished. He is bringing peace with him. Peace between the Father in heaven and his children on earth. A peace that Paul would later write is so amazing it is indescribable.

What a transformation. But this wasn’t the only transformation that day.

Remember Mary? Peter and John ran away from the burial site and just left her there, alone, to mourn.   Well, let’s head back there to check on Mary.

John 20:11–18 (NIV) – Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Mary,  alone, grieves not only for the life lost of Jesus but for the body seemingly lost as well.

Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed? Engulfed so deeply in grief that you can only sit, cry, and wonder, “Where is God?”

I think this is where Mary found herself this morning.

Without hope.  Without help.  Alone. Possibly questioning everything she has come to believe. Yet still looking for Jesus.

And in that moment, she hears a voice. One that, in her current state of mind, she does not recognize.

Then, one word changes everything. “Mary.” She’d heard that name all of her life, but now outside that empty tomb, with a familiar tone from the voice speaking her name, she turned and cried out, “Teacher!”

I may be wrong but when I read that text it makes me think she rushed toward Jesus similar to those videos you see where a soldier comes home and surprises their family and when they finally recognize them they run towards them.  I can imagine Mary doing that very thing running towards him yelling, It’s Him! He’s alive.

And in that instant, her grief turns to joy. Her confusion turns to peace. She can’t wait to tell the others what she’s seen. “I have seen the Lord!”

Maybe you can relate to Mary? You’ve experienced that deep-down feeling that the Lord is nowhere to be found?  It just seems he is nowhere near your situation that your going through.   You feel like you’re all alone in your sadness, and peace has fled?

If that’s you today allow the words Jesus said to his disciples on that first Easter morning penetrate your heart on this Easter, “Peace be with you!”

Because of Jesus just like Mary, Peter, and John, we can experience peace in our hearts.  We can have peace in the midst of every storm, in every situation.   We can because of Jesus.

The second thing I want to share that changed is. . .

2. Pardon For Our Sins

While most of us welcome the idea of more peace in our lives, we may not grasp the need for a pardon. A pardon frees someone from legal consequences or blame for a committed offense.

No matter how many times Jesus told his followers that he came to die for their sins, they just never seemed to grasp it.

Luke 24 tells the story of two friends walking home on that first Easter morning. Jesus shows up and walks with them, but they don’t recognize him. As they complain and question everything that has just happened, Jesus tries to clear things up for them again.

Luke 24:25–27 (NIV) – He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

First, aren’t you glad you are not one of these two guys who Jesus said was “foolish” and “slow to  believe”? Second, wouldn’t you have loved to be one of these two guys to listen to Jesus explain what was said in the scriptures?

A good look at the Old Testament shows us that sin entered the world, and we needed to be pardoned or forgiven for our sins. The story of Adam and Eve is meant to help us understand that.

While this can be seen in a few places, we can see the words written in Isiah 53, “He was pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed.”

After Jesus explained all this to the two guys on the road to Emmaus, he disappeared, and they took off back to explain to the disciples what they had experienced.

They’re telling the disciples what took place and in the middle of that meeting, Jesus shows up again:

Luke 24:46–47 (NIV) – 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Easter isn’t just a “get out of jail free” card. It’s a radical, life-changing forgiveness. The resurrection means our slate is wiped clean, and the charges against us have been canceled. Let that sink in! We’re not just forgiven; we’re set free to live in the fullness of God’s grace.

Let me pause here and share a story I heard awhile ago. . .

There was a woman who went to see a psychiatrist and after awhile in one of her sessions they arrive at a place where this woman, as a young girl was in a classroom at school and for some unknown reason the teacher just didn’t care too much for her.   And in school she called this little girl up to the front of the class gave her a piece of chalk and see told the girl, not to solve some math equation, not to wright down the answer to some problem posted on the board.   No she told the girl to write on the chalkboard I am a failure.

And then to make matters worse the teacher asked everyone in the class to write on the blackboard what they thought of the girl.

And as the woman is explaining this experience she had back in that classroom with that teacher the psychologist asks her, well, how did you respond?  How did you feel?

The woman tells her she was crying, I couldn’t look at anyone and all I wanted to do was die.

Now let me add an important part to the story.  The psychiatrist was a Christian.

And so, in his counseling there was always a Christian perspective to it.

And he said to her as a Christian psychiatrist.   I know that something else happened that day, but you were not aware of it.

But when everyone else had written on that blackboard, there was someone else in that classroom as well.   And when he got up from his desk and he walked up to the front he didn’t pick up a piece of chalk he picked up the eraser.

And he erased everything that was written on that board.   Then he picked up that piece of chalk and he wrote on that blackboard I love you.  Who was that last one to come to the front?  None other than Jesus.

See here the truth church, Jesus didn’t come in to the world to rub it in, Jesus came into this world to rub it out.

Because of Jesus, we have been given a pardon for our sins.

And church it doesn’t matter if the stuff written on your board is true or not, or half true, Jesus wants to wipe it clean.

Our sins our remembered no more. . .because of Jesus.

The last thing I want to share that changed is. . .

3. Pouring Out To Our Neighbors

One thing I love about this third point is that it reminds us that Easter isn’t just about me. It isn’t just for me. One of the most amazing things about Christianity is our call to love, serve, and help others.

Jesus spent about 40 days here with us following his resurrection? He didn’t just rise from the dead, give his followers a “peace out,” and head straight to heaven.

And I think he did that because Jesus always sought to love, serve, and help others.

Right before he ascended into heaven, Jesus said these words:

Matthew 28:18–20 (NIV) – Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Don’t miss that, the last thing Jesus told his followers to do was “pour out to your neighbors.”

Dallas Willard paraphrased this passage this way: “As you go throughout  the world, make apprentices for me from all kinds of people, immerse them in Trinitarian reality, and teach them to do everything I have commanded you.”

So, Jesus calls us to. . .

– Pour out to our neighbors by helping them see Jesus in such a way that they want to follow him as a disciple.

– Pour out to our neighbors by helping them immerse themselves into a life filled with love only found in God

– Pour out to our neighbors by setting the example of doing everything Jesus commanded us to do.

More than once, the apostle Paul used the phrase, “I am being poured out like a drink offering.”

Let’s be people known for our overflowing love, not just in words but in action.  Easter challenges us to have the same mindset as Christ, who didn’t just talk about love but lived it out in the most sacrificial way possible.

Because of Jesus, we are called to pour out to our neighbors.

Jesus Changes Everything.

And if you find yourself today wondering if Jesus really changes everything, listen to this:

1 Peter 1:3–4 (NIV) – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,

“He has given us new birth into a living hope.” How? “Through his resurrection.”

Those are not flowery words written by a poet. Those are the words of an old fisherman named Peter.

The same guy who ran to the tomb with John, “the disciple Jesus loved.” The same guy that Jesus once referred to as “Satan.”  The same guy who cut off a guard’s ear in the garden the night before Jesus died. He was the same guy who denied Jesus three times just before Jesus went to the cross. And he is the same guy who preached with such boldness just 50 days after that resurrection that thousands started following Jesus.

Do you know why?

Peter discovered peace in his heart, found a pardon for his sins, and started pouring out to his neighbors because of Jesus.

Jesus changes everything.

Show spoken word risen video

Easter isn’t a distant historical event; it’s a game-changer for us right now.

We have an unshakeable peace, a radical pardon, and a call to overflow with love to our neighbors.

So, let’s live in the reality of the resurrection not just on Easter but every day, allowing these truths to shape how we live and love. Amen.

Let’s go out there and make Easter a daily reality in our lives!

Communion – play Desperate during

 Jesus Christ shed His blood to cut a New Covenant with His creation. To forever bridge the divide of sin that had carved a chasm between man and God.

That New Covenant was prophesied by Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 31:31–33 (AMP) – 31 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was their Husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the Lord, I will put My law within them, and on their hearts will I write it; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.

So, God sent His Son to come to earth in human flesh to walk with us. Instead of a sacrificial animal, torn in two to signify the covenant, God offered His own Son—the spotless Lamb—whose body would be broken as the greatest sacrifice.

The blood that was shed was a covenant promise for all of eternity. Nothing would be the same. The blood of Jesus paid for everything. It washed us white as snow, so we could enter the presence of the Lord for ourselves boldly and without fear.

The blood of Jesus gave us freedom as it broke the power of sin over our lives.

Never again would we have to slice a cow on a hill to walk through it as a sacrifice. Never again would the priest have to go into the Holy of Holies, unsure if he would come out alive, in order to rectify the sins of the people for another year.

There was a shift in the atmosphere with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It changed everything forever.  And here’s the thing, Jesus never asked us to remember His birth but He did say remember my death.

So, we take the bread representing His body which was broken for us and the wine as a memorial of what Jesus did on that old rugged cross as He laid down His life for you and I.

So, as we play this song Desperate come and share, do this in remembrance of Him who brought us out of darkness into His marvelous light.   Who pardoned our sins and remembers them no more.