"I have seen the Lord!" These
are the words Mary Magdalene used on the morning of the first
day of the week following the crucifixion of Jesus. The Gospel
of John was the last Gospel to be written and the author was
familiar with the writings found in the earlier Gospels, namely
Matthew, Mark and Luke. In all four Gospels someone announces
Jesus has been raised from the dead. In the original ending of
the first Gospel written, Mark says the three women who came
to the tomb were informed Jesus has been raised from the dead.
They fled in terror and amazement and said nothing for they were
afraid. That is how Mark ends. Some authorities believe an additional
twelve verses are authentic. In these verses Jesus appears to
Mary Magdalene, to the two men returning home from Jerusalem
and to the eleven disciples at dinner. In Matthew, Jesus appears
to Mary Magdalene and another Mary and then to the eleven disciples
to whom He gives the Great Commission. In Luke, Jesus appears
to the two men on the road to Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem,
to Peter and to the eleven with whom He ate dinner.
In John, the last of the Gospels written, Jesus appears to Mary
Magdalene who touches Him, to ten of the disciples upon whom
He confers the Holy Spirit and then a week later to the eleven
disciples, including Thomas, who is challenged to touch His wounds,
causing Thomas to believe. In a final chapter some believe was
a later addition, Jesus also appears to seven disciples who are
fishing. He directs them to a large catch and then has breakfast
on shore with them. After breakfast Jesus asks Peter if he loves
Him three different times.
The Resurrection is at the heart of Christianity. One can certainly
lead a very good life following the teachings of Jesus without
believing in the Resurrection. However, the greatest promise
of God about our being forgiven and being given eternal life
is based upon Resurrection. Since Jesus was without sin, death
could not be something that held Him. In raising Jesus from the
dead, God accepted what Jesus did as payment for our sin. As
an act of Grace, when God gave Jesus eternal life, God also gave
it to those who believe all this to be true and who ask to be
included. If God has different plans for others, that is God's
business.
It was God's plan for Jesus to raise Him from the dead
because death is only for those separated from God, who is the
Spirit of Life itself. Jesus never separated Himself from God.
The question I have for each of you this morning is this: WHAT
IS GOD'S EASTER PLAN FOR YOU?
This story comes from Lee Strobel who is on the staff at Saddleback
Community Church. He writes in his book God's
Outrageous Claims:
"I used to consider the Resurrection to be a laughable
fairy tale. After all, Yale Law School had trained me to be coldly
rational and my years of sniffing for news at the Chicago
Tribune had only toughened my naturally cynical personality.
But intrigued by changes in my wife after she became a Christian,
I spent nearly two years systematically using my journalistic
and legal experience to study the evidence for the Resurrection
and the credibility of Jesus' claims to being God. I emerged
totally convinced and gave my life to Christ." (Homiletics,
April 2006, p. 60)
That was God's Easter plan for Lee Strobel. WHAT IS GOD'S
EASTER PLAN FOR YOU? I am indebted to Kathy Tosh for sharing
a marvelous Easter people story with me. It is too long to tell
here. You can ask Kathy for the email or I will send it to you.
It is about a woman named Edith Burns who asks people if they
believe in Easter. Using this question she leads many people
to Christ. When she is informed she is dying of cancer she thanks
her doctor for the "Good News" and then continues
to convert other patients in the hospital where she is confined.
Her biggest victory is bringing a very stern and skeptical nurse
to salvation. After Edith dies the nurse continues the ministry
Edith began as she starts to ask others if they believe in Easter.
What would your response be to that question this morning? How
would you explain Easter to someone else? Most importantly, WHAT
IS GOD'S EASTER PLAN FOR YOU? If you haven't figured
it out by now this question and your answer to it has far-reaching
implications for both your present and future life.
Easter people live Easter everyday, not just one day out of
the year. Easter people have an outlook about life that is not
possible for non-Easter people to have. Easter people know God
loves them so much that their mistakes in life have been forgiven.
Easter people know they belong to God no matter what happens
to them in this life. Easter people know regardless of what the
score is at this moment when the game ends they will be victorious.
I have lived long enough and preached enough Easter sermons
to know there is not enough proof for those who do not wish to
believe the truth about Easter. This could well be the last Easter
Sunday I will ever preach and how I long to have all of you
truly become Easter people. The faith that is required to accept
this story is itself a gift from God. If you have not yet accepted
the Resurrection story as being true, you need to ask God for
the faith to accept it.
In John 20:29, Jesus says to Thomas, "Have you believed
because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen
and yet have come to believe."
Henri Nouwen, the late Dutch Roman Catholic priest, teacher,
author and humanitarian wrote in his book, Our
Greatest Gift:
"The Resurrection of Jesus is a hidden event. Jesus didn't
rise from the dead to prove to those who had crucified Him they
had made a mistake, or to confound His opponents. Nor did He
rise to impress the rulers of His time or to force anyone to
believe. Jesus' Resurrection was a full affirmation of
His Father's love. Therefore, He only showed Himself to
those who knew about this love. There is probably no event in
human history that has had such importance, while remaining at
the same time, so unspectacular. The world didn't notice
it; only those few to whom Jesus had chosen to show Himself.
These were the ones He wanted to send out to announce God's
love to the world just as He had done."
These include the disciples, Lee Strobel, Edith Burns, Henri
Nouwen and maybe even you. WHAT IS GOD'S EASTER PLAN FOR
YOU? Easter people, it turns out are those called to do for others
what they know God has done for them. WHAT IS GOD'S EASTER
PLAN FOR YOU? |
