The Emotions of the Resurrection     4-23-2000	tape 27

We have been studying the many miracles of Jesus, - and the camera is always trained on Him.  He is the central figure in the Gospels, He is the central figure in the NT, He is the central figure in human history, He is the central figure in heaven.  For all of eternity past and eternity future, Jesus Christ stands as the central focus of everything.

So now, on Easter Sunday we arrive at the greatest miracle of all.  All the other miracles are astounding, but they are eclipsed by the R - you might expect that this morning you would be in for a dazzling explanation of Jesus Christ in all His glory – describing Christ in brilliant glory bursting from the tomb and conquering death forever.

But when you read the biblical accounts of the resurrection, you don’t see Christ is all His glory – you hardly see Christ at all.  There is never a time in the gospels when Christ is more absent.

Instead the camera for the first time is taken off Jesus, and turned over here…
The ch. that report about the R (Mt.28, Mk.16, Lk.24, Jn.20) – Verse one of each of those ch. begins the same way:
Mt.28:1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
Mk.16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they mig
ht go to anoint Jesus' body.
Lk.24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
Jn.20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
The 4 gospel writers each took very different approaches in describing the R.  They are never more divergent.  However, one thing they all 4 have in common is that they all tell the story from the perspective of these women.
2:17
Why the focus on women instead of Christ?  Because the way the Lord has chosen to reveal Himself to us is through eye-witness accounts.  And there were no eyewitnesses present when Christ rose from the dead.  The first eyewitnesses on the scene are these ladies who came hours later.  They are the ones who told the Apostles, who told the world.

Christianity is like an inverted pyramid – and the R is the point.
 God took the most important event ever – the event on which all of Christianity stands or falls  and entrusted it to a group of women.

If this is a surprise to us, it would be a shock to the people then. In that culture women were considered unreliable witness and could not testify in court (too emotional – same rational for why Muslims say the testimony of 2 women = that of one man).

The foundation cornerstone of Xianity is based on the testimony of some women?  If the disciples were making up a fable in order to start up a religion, they wouldn’t do that.
4:07
But it is not surprising at all that God would do that given Scripture’s treatment of women.  Society didn’t consider them reliable, but God considered them reliable enough to entrust them with the most important testimony ever. - amazes me when people think Sc is anti-women.  Seems like Sc. goes out of its way to show the virtues of women and how precious they are to God.

same W that supported J financially – They were extremely devoted - especially Mary Magdelene  Jesus cast 7 demons out of her, and she had been perhaps his most devoted follower since.  No one loved Jesus like Mary.

Let’s join these ladies, and follow them step-by-step through their feelings.
5:13
FEAR
TT Mt.28:2 Women arrive – been Sunday for 12 hr. (next day starts at 6:00 pm).  Jesus said He would rise on the 3rd day, and it’s been the third day for 12 hr. now.   Coming to anoint a corpse.  None of Jesus followers had any hope at all of Jesus rising.  

Matt 16:21  From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 

They didn’t take that literally, or they just said, “I don’t understand that, so I’ll put it out of my mind” or they just didn’t believe it.  When God says something in His Word that is hard for us to take, we become very creative in figuring a way to dismiss it.  

(already missed the Res.)  Arrive and see a huge mess.  Mt. describes 

Mt.28:2 There had been a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
There had been an earthquake.  Debris everywhere (downed trees, limbs), soldiers laying all over, the stone removed. 
8:09
The women had been discussing what they were going to do about the stone – apparently didn’t know about the seal.  (explain how the stone was placed)  John – stone looked to have been carried away.
9:51
What does it mean that the appearance of the angel was like lightening?  The brightness?  Could the angel have been that bright?   “Angels, especially fiery ones, tend to cause great fear.”  

Does it also mean that there was some kind of flashing?  The guards are able to stay conscious for a few moments, during which time they are shaking, then they pass out.  Fear will do that.
Imagine you are one of the guards.  You have been told that the third day is the day.  You’re group is standing guard (2.5 hr.)- the others are sleeping.  As you  silently watch.  You can’t see very far out into the darkness, but all your senses are alert.  

You do not intend to be taken by surprise.  You don’t know if the disciples are dumb enough to try anything, (the Jewish leaders seemed concerned enough) but you  are ready for anything.  It’s kind of spooky standing here in the dark (although this was the full moon), but you were trained for this.  You have learned to master your fear.  Every Roman soldier had.  So you are OK…
12:31
Until the earthquake starts – all wake up –dark.  Your first thought is how violent the last one was, and you are full of fear.  Such a helpless feeling – no tremor – smash tombs open.  Limbs, trees falling

There is a brilliant light it the dark sky, and it’s zooming down right toward you!  It lands next to you - it’s an angel!  ANGEL CAUSED THE QUAKE  Your eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and this light is blinding, but you can’t turn your eyes away. 

Now this angel is looking over at you He moves toward the tomb.  That is your charge - anything happens to that seal and your life is on the line.  But you are very aware that if you mess with this angel your life would really be on the line.  Besides, you are frozen in fear - shaking.
14:08
puts his hand on stone – going to try to move it by himself - and literally sends it flying (drop kicked it, went bowling, chucked it)  That’s all you can handle - the last thing you remember – pass out.  None were still sleeping – the quake would have woken them all up, and seeing this angel put them all back to sleep.

But Mt. doesn’t say they went to sleep or passed out.  That is what happened, but look at the language he uses: they became like dead men. The irony of that is intended.  They are guarding a tomb, and they become like dead men. Their job is to see to it that Jesus remains a corpse – so what happens?  Jesus walks away alive and well, and they end up looking like corpses.  

Nietzsche was a 19th Century philosopher who became famous for his statement “God is dead.”  Someone suggested graffiti: “God is dead, signed, Nietzsche.”  A few years later, “Nietzsche is dead, signed, God.”  

“The body of Jesus will remain in this tomb,” signed, the guards.  And some ladies show up on the third day to anoint the body of Jesus, and the only bodies laying around are those of the guards. 
16:12
TT Lk.24
It was an AWESOME scene. Skeptics today have come up with some lame ideas to try to explain the fact that the tomb was empty.  But I have never heard anyone refute all these other amazing events that surrounded the resurrection.  

Often in Scripture, when God does some especially mighty act, man does not get to see it.  It’s too awesome for us to handle.  But instead God allows us to see the activity around the fringes of what He does – and even that is almost too much for our weak human hearts.  Those who witness the effects around the edges of God’s mighty works often come close to dying from fear.

The R was an awesome event.  Angels appeared, bright light, flashing, lightening – an event so awesome it literally shook the very foundations of the earth.

So they arrive, see all this mess, and then they see the angel.
In v.4 we see another emotion
Confusion
Not on behalf of the women – but the angels.  They are perplexed. Why do you look for the living among the dead? Can you imagine when God sent them to go to the tomb 12 hr. after the R?  “Why would we go to an empty tomb?  Jesus told everyone it would be empty today – it’s been empty 12 hr.  Surely no one’s going to be there looking for Jesus.”
“Trust Me, they will be there.”
Sure enough.  The angels are amazed.

but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! 
If you are looking for Jesus on the third day after the burial – of all the places in the entire earth, why would you come to a tomb?   You come to the one place in the universe that He told you He for sure wouldn’t be, and you expect Him to be here?  What are you doing here?

Mt.28:6 ...Come and see the place where he lay.
They didn’t say, “He’s risen – but don’t come in and look.  Don’t ask any questions.  You should just accept it by blind faith.”
When they say come and see – that’s the Gospel invitation to do empirical, scientific primary research.  The last thing God wants you to do is believe based on blind “faith” – because then your faith will always be weak, and will easily fail.

So the women come and see the aftermath.  Nothing says the angel then removed the stone to let Jesus out (He did exert the greatest power of the universe by raising himself from the dead and then wait around for someone to let him out) but to let the people in.
22
When we ask historical, critical questions about the R or anything else in the Bible, we are obeying the command to come and see.
Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 `The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " Only told 100 times 8 Then they remembered his words.

John 2:19  Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." 
21 …the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. 

BTW – when the angels say He’s not here, that demonstrates that it was a physical, bodily R – not some mystical spiritual R.  Some have said the R is just a figure of speech meaning Jesus is with us in spirit – His influence lives on - the Christ consciousness is ever present…
If that were true, the angels would have said, “He is now everywhere.”  When they said he’s not here, that means He was physically present in some other place.  

Lk.24:3 when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 
They are not persuaded of the R at this point, but it is clear that the body is gone.

Mk.16:8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Weren’t going to tell anyone until they talked to the disc.  TT Mt.28
23:30
HOPE
Mt.28:8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet…filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
Their fear turns into joy because of hope.  The unbelief in their hearts begins to crack.  When that happens, joy starts leaking in.  TT Jn.20
Lk.24:9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 
24:28
Why?  They were women, they were very emotional, and they may have been saying conflicting things.  Reported angels’ words, but MM didn’t even believe the angel:
Jn.20:2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"

“This is nonsense – we don’t believe.”  But there were 2, that the words from these ladies sparked a glimmer of hope in them.  P & J
25:05
Now there is a fissure that develops in their unbelief.  Their refusal to accept the truth of the R begins to crack open a little.
Jn.20:3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 

What’s the point of pointing out who outran who?  
#1 That’s the way eyewitness accounts read.
#2 It gives you an idea of what the scene was like.  Most adults don’t run anywhere.  Think of what it would take to get you to run somewhere.

Now suppose something happened that was so monumental, that you and a friend ran to go see.  Depending on what shape you are in, you might jog, or you might have a faster pase, but if there are 2 of you, you would normally run together.  

The fact that John outran Peter gives the picture that John was sprinting as fast as he could.

Broken, crushed, depressed, sorrowful – don’t run anywhere.  Grief is paralyzing, (other disc.).  The spiritual quality that gives you physical energy is HOPE.  Hope is the one and only thing that will solve depression.  And hope comes with faith.

1 Peter 1:3 he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

“How do I get hope?”  Dec.26 tape
27:10
5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. John is nervous about bursting into an illegal tomb.  I understand that.    P isn’t N about bursting into anywhere – probably knocked J over. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. (so much for the shroud of Turin) 

It’s pretty clear what happened.  If Rome moved the body, they would not unwrap it, then re-wrap the cloths.  If a grave robber stole the body, they would not take the time.

And Jesus’ body didn’t just somehow magically disappear.  The head cloth is folded and set aside.  Evidently Jesus did that to give a hint that He is physically alive.

How can a man raise himself from the dead?  God the Son never died.  Jesus the man did.  

When the third day came, God the second member of the T sovereignty decided to raise that body back to life.  

His spirit returned to the body, and suddenly, sometime that night, in the absolute solitude of that tomb, Jesus opened His eyes.

He drew in a breath, and smelled all those spices and perfumes (must have brought a smile to His face as those spices were put on Him as an act of love.  He passed right through the burial cloths just as later He would pass through walls, and He folded the head piece, carried it over, and set it down.

I don’t know if He exited through the back wall or what, but He leaves the tomb.  That’s what the evidence suggests.

8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.  J went from doubt and despair to belief that fast.
30:45 
Lk.24:12 Peter…went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Jn says J looked and believed, but Lk says P looked and wondered.

9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)  They didn’t understand it from the Sc.  They didn’t understand it from what Jesus had told them.  They wouldn’t understand it or believe it until they saw for themselves.
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes,
SORROW
(Unexpected – between hope and joy – doesn’t fit here.)

11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying.  Always last to leave – stays there after disc.
The word for her weeping is not a soft crying but a loud wailing

Mary is in the depths of despair.  When you have been shattered, anything bad is the end of the world.  In this culture it was an intolerable injustice to not allow a grieving person to pay respects or to do anything to dishonor the body within 3 days.  She has lost Jesus, whom she loved so much.  Her spirit was broken..
Her whole life was J, and now He is gone forever.  She had at least hoped to finish w/ her grieving and pay respects (believed spirit left on 4th day).  Wanted to anoint the body before decay totally took over.

It’s intolerable that the body is gone.  Last straw – it’s more than she can handle and she just falls apart.

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.
This may be a picture of the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies which was like the throne of God, and on either end there was a cherub.  This is the new throne of God.
13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
32:57
Can you imagine?  Crying?  now? She is weeping over the fact that the tomb is empty on the third day!  She’s crying because she wanted to see Jesus’ dead body.  She is weeping over the greatest thing that ever happened!  Most needless set of tears ever shed.  The angel had already told her what happened. This is the most incongruous behavior possible!

This shows the tragedy of love without knowledge and faith.  As Christians, Easter is our biggest celebration, because the R is the most wonderful reality there is.  Our response to the empty tomb is joy.  But we read about Jesus’ followers’ first reactions: fear, bewilderment, confusion, anxiety, alarm, sorrow, wailing and tears.

Why?  They didn’t know the truth, and when they heard it they didn’t believe it.  That’s the tragedy of love without knowledge.
35:05
Some ask, “Why do you focus so much on in-depth teaching?  Why such an emphasis on knowledge?  Why such long sermons?  You don’t need doctrine.  You don’t need knowledge.  You don’t need information.  Love is all you need.”  Mary M loved Jesus like no one else.  Beautiful that she loved so much but misguided.   

Love without faith can make you weep at the time of  greatest joy.  Affection for God without a deep knowledge of Him can create needless pain, can distract you from what God wants you to do, and can ruin your life.

The first commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, strength and MIND.  A shallow knowledge of Him will result in a shallow affection for Him, which produces a misguided kind of love.  Many Christians struggle and struggle in the Christian life, and don’t know why, and they read self-help book after book, but still have the same problems.  But if you ask them what God is like, they can tell you everything they know about God in one hour.

Very often those people have perpetual troubles because they don’t know God, and they don’t understand His Word.  Or maybe they do understand, but they just won’t believe.
36:49
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him."  During that whole convers. Jesus is standing right behind her! 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 "Woman," he said, "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."

She wants the corpse to be given to her, and she is weeping at the thought that her request may not be granted.

Sometimes we ask for the dumbest things.  We want something soooo much, and it would be the opposite of what is best.  
What if her request were granted - it would be cause for all people everywhere to weep forever.   (and people wonder why God doesn’t answer all our prayers 
JOY
Watch - the joy never comes until there is faith.

So Mary has no understanding of what is going on.  She is in the depths of despair.  
Her world has gone black.  But Jesus shatters that blackness with one word.
37:17
Jn.20:16 Jesus said to her, "Mary.".  You can recognize the voice of someone who loves you speaking your name.  Jesus said the true shepherd calls his sheep by name.
She knew that voice!
In an instant the deepest sorrow is transformed into the greatest joy!  Her emotions swing from the greatest extreme of grief to the utmost possibility of joy instantly.

She turned toward him
She had not been facing him - evidently she had only glanced at him before.

 and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
Mary grips him.  She is not going to lose him again.  (Finally has to say, “Let go”)
Then Jesus went and appeared to the other women, then to the Apostles several times, then to hundreds and hundreds of other followers – and each one, as they see the proof for themselves, the unbelief in their hearts is broken, and the sorrow turns to joy.
38:21 
So Jesus rose from the dead.  What does all this prove?  It’s proves a lot of things, but the most striking is in Acts 17:30-31
God now commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." 

Acts 10:39  "We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, 40but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.   41…he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." 
You have an opportunity now to evaluate Jesus Christ.  
But they day will come when it will be Jesus Christ evaluating you – on Judgement Day.  That evaluation will not be based on whether you were a nice guy, or went to church once in a while, or even if you agree to the basic facts about Jesus.

Jesus Christ will evaluate you based on whether you have been forgiven for the evil in your heart, and that forgiveness only comes when you come to a point where you repent of your sins, turn to Jesus Christ, and entrust your entire life to Him, and follow Him.  That is the response of true faith.
41:23
Acts 2:30 says that by raising Jesus from the dead, God the Father placed Him on the throne, and exalted Him to the right hand of the Father.
 34 The R was the Father saying to Jesus: 
"Sit at my right hand 
35 until I make your enemies 
a footstool for your feet." '  
36"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." 

Do you acknowledge Him as Lord?  Do you bow your knee to Him in humble reverence?  Or would you rather face Him someday as Judge?

“He is Lord”

1 Co.15:55-58  "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

It’s interesting that He only appeared to His followers. Acts 10:41  He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen-by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 

He had given adequate proof of who He was to the world in His miracles for 3 years.  God does not expect you to believe without proof.  That would be foolishness, not faith.  Faith is just simply believing what the evidence suggests.

However, you can reach a point when your heart is so determined not to believe, that He will no longer provide you any more proof.  If you have determined that you won’t believe no matter what, then don’t expect God to provide any further evidence.  He doesn’t require you to believe without evidence, but He does require a willingness to believe before He provides more evidence.

What about Mt.12:40 (3 days and 3 nights)?
Some say Jesus died on Wed. or Tr., but John is clear it was the day before Sabbath (19:31)

This is a figure of speech that was very common.  The Talmud says that any part of a day is considered a day and a night.  We do the same thing.  If you have three meetings in New York- one on Tue, one on Wed., and one on Tr.  You might say, “I’m flying to NY for 3 days for some meetings.”  Even thought you are arriving there one Tue and coming home on Tr.

How did they interpret this? 
MT 27:62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, `After three days I will rise again.' 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."

him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.

They interpreted it as he meant it - to mean that he would rise on the third day.  If he were in the grave three nights, he would rise on the 4th day.  But many, many times he said it would be on the 3rd day.

So why not just say, “3 days” - why go to the trouble of saying, “and nights?”  I looked up all the uses of some number of days and nights.  They seem to have used that when they wanted to emphasize continuous action as opposed to intermittent action.  So someone might say, “I worked there 5 days” but “I had this cold 5 days and 5 nights.”

There is significance to the fact that he rose on the third day.  Many very significant events happened on the third day - I counted about 40.
- Abr arrived at the place he was to sacrifice Isaac.
- God arrived on Sinai with thunder and lightning and earthquake etc.
- Hezakiah was promised healing on the 3rd day
- The temple was completed on the 3rd day of the month
- HOS 6:2     on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence
- Most important: no sacrafices were to remain beyond  the third day.  They were to be eaten, and if anything was left on the 3rd day, it was to be destroyed.

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2nd Q: How could Jesus’ physical suffering be sufficient?
30,000 Jews had been crucified by this time.  Many men went through similar suffering )though Jesus’ was especially brutal)  Some men have been tortured for years.

Some say that Jesus went to hell and was tormented there for three days.  
•	This way he is paying our penalty
•	1 Pe.3:18-20
•	Eph.4:7-10
Is that true?   Was there still something left to be paid after the death?  No - tetelestia

- that doesn’t solve the problem.  If it is an eternal penalty, and therefore could not be paid in several hours, how could it be paid in a few days?
- PE and Eph are no help, so how can we find out for sure where he was?  He tells us (“this day...in Paradise”)
- besides, he wouldn’t have to go to hell - what he suffered was hell.
So how does a few hours of mere physical suffering pay for an eternal, spiritual penalty?

What Jesus suffered was far more than a few hours of physical suffering.  Remember the physical suffering never even made him cry out, but when God forsook him it did.   In what way did God forsake him?  It doesn’t say - but whatever happened at that moment spiritually did make him cry out.

We know God is just, so for Jesus’ sacrifice to be able to pay the penalty for all sin, he must have, in that moment, endured an amount of suffering equal to all the suffering of every person in hell forever.   How could that happen in a moment?

We are finite beings who owe an infinite debt.  So the only way we can pay it is over an infinite time.  Jesus’ life, however, had infinite value, and so he could pay an infinite debt in a moment.

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