Avalon Church by Pastor Don Dodge

April 12, 2020 BE CERTAIN: Defined by Easter | PART 3

In a world of uncertainty following Jesus’ death, the disciples never expected resurrection. So what could convince them that Jesus was alive? Listen to this Easter message to discover how you can “Be Certain” that Jesus is alive and discover his resurrection life for yourself.

Series: UNCERTAIN: Discovering Who We are Through Difficult Times,

Speaker: Pastor Don Dodge,

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:14-19, John 20:1-8, John 14:9, John 20:19-31, John 3:16,, John 20:2, John 20:6-7, John 20:8, John 20:19-20, John 20:25, John 20:31,

Video: https://www.facebook.com/avalonchurch/videos/1086234075082459/,

Sermon page: https://www.avalonchurch.org/sermons/be-certain-we-are-defined-by-jesus-resurrection/,

Sermon Notes: 2020-04-12_be-certain_pastor-don-doge.pdf,

Discussion Questions: 2020-04-12_uncertain-part-3_discussion-questions.pdf,

Notes:

Jesus died on Friday.

For his original followers,

…The world ended.

The only thing worse than Friday…

Was Saturday.

…They felt betrayed.

…Every hope they had… disintegrated.

It was on Saturday when the realization sunk in,

…Everything they had believed about Jesus,

…was wrong.

They had believed Jesus was sent from God.

That he was God’s long-awaited Messiah,

Israel’s promised King from the line of David.

But Messiahs are supposed to rule,

…They’re not supposed to be crucified as a criminal.

Saturday was a day of Uncertainty.

All was still not right in the world.

This COVID-19 crisis reminds us

that we are still connected to Saturday.

Watching on video

rather than being together on this holiest holiday,

…Reminds us that we live in Saturday.

But Church,

Saturday was not the end,

And Saturday is not the end.

Because Sundays are about resurrection.

Sundays are about new life.

On Saturday, few even dream of resurrection.

Jesus’ disciples sure didn’t.

Sometimes Saturdays seem hopeless,

But they’re not.

Because Sunday is just a few hours away!

You see, the resurrection

is what convinced Jesus’ followers

…that he was Messiah,

…the Son of God,

…God in a human body.

It wasn’t his teaching or the miracles

that convinced people of this.

…The power of all that was lost

when Jesus was hanging on the cross.

It was the resurrection that convinced them.

And it is the resurrection

That has been convincing people for the last 2000 years.

That’s why the Apostle Paul said in 1 Cor.15,

And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God…. [And] if your faith is useless, you are still guilty of your sins… [and] we are to be pitied more than anyone in the world. –1 Cor.15:14-19 (NLT)

If Jesus did not rise from the dead,

…If this story didn’t really happen,

…if the resurrection is NOT history,

…It’s time to get all you can,

…Make all you can,

…Experience all you can in this life

because when we die, it’s over.

But if Jesus is alive,

If he rose from the dead like he said he would…

Well now…

…That changes everything!

But how did we know?

How can we be sure this really happened?

…How did Paul know?

…How did the disciples know?

I’ll tell you one thing,

it was a surprise for them, too.

God

Because none of them expected a crucifixion,

…And none expected a resurrection.

Jesus never did what was expected.

On Palm Sunday,

As Jesus entered Jerusalem to the praises of the crowd,

…the disciples probably thought,

“Finally!

He’s acting like the king he has declared himself to be!

But then on Good Friday,

He declared himself a sacrifice,

Nothing fit their expectation.

And on that Saturday,

…As his body laid in that tomb,

Jesus disciples mourned,

Stunned… confused,

…And they expected Jesus to do

what all dead people do;

… stay dead.

In their minds,

…This was the end.

…Three squandered years of wasted hope.

What now?

But then, John, one of those in the room,

would later write, that

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. –John 20:1 (NLT)

Soon after,

…Mary was banging on the door

Where the other disciples were all hiding.

Peter and John answered.

Mary Magdalene was panicked and sobbing.

She says,

She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” –John 20:2 (NLT)

She wasn’t expecting a resurrection.

She was confused.

Scared.

And uncertain.

The body was gone,

and there is only one logical conclusion.

Someone took it.

In vs.3 and 4,

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.

John and Peter took off for the tomb.

John tells us that he outran Peter,

I have a feeling this was a detail he loved sharing,

…especially when Peter was around.

And when they arrived,

they saw something they truly did not expect.

He 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. –John 20:6-7 (NLT)

Who steals a body

Without the linens used for embalming?

…And who folds them?

John tells us this is the moment

when it started to dawn on him.

Verse 8 tells us,

This is when he first

he saw and believed. –John 20:8 (NLT)

This was NOT a body stolen.

This was a body come back to life.

This is the moment when a glimmer of hope

began to rise inside them.

Jesus’ miracles,

…they meant something.

Walking on water and calming the storm,

…it was real.

And that moment two days earlier,

when Philip asked Jesus

to show them what God, the Father, looked like,

… and Jesus left them stunned when he responded,

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. –John 14:9 (NLT)

In that moment standing there in an empty tomb,

They began to realize it all just might be true,

Jesus might be alive!

Then, that evening,

…As the disciples were all together

sharing about what they had seen earlier,

John tells us,

19… the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! –John 20:19-20 (NLT)

Filled with joy?!

That’s the understatement of the year!

Defeat was suddenly transformed to victory.

Despair to hope,

…For most of them.

But one of them was missing?

Do you remember who?

Look at verse 24,

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” –John 20 (NIV)

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” – John 20:25 (NIV)

Honestly, I think I’d have been just like Thomas.

Know why?

Dead people stay dead!

Vs.26, But…

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” –John 20 (NIV)

27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

“Thomas… it’s me.

I’m alive.

…This was my plan all along.”

And Thomas’ response?

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

It was all true!

What made these disciples believe Jesus was alive?

They were eye-witnesses?

That’s why we believe?

Almost every one of these eye-witnesses died

because they wouldn’t deny what they had seen.

Something turned their fear into boldness.

No one dies for something they know is a lie?

Telling what happened didn’t make them rich,

It cost them everything.

It didn’t make them famous,

They were despised everywhere they went.

They didn’t become comfortable,

Instead suffering persecution.

Our New Testament is a collection

of their writings about what they saw.

We believe because the resurrection changed their lives.

We believe because they shared it with us at great cost.

And we believe because Jesus continues to transform lives.

And we keep sharing.

You see, John knew this.

That’s why he closes this chapter with an invitation.

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. -- John 20:31 (NIV)

John shared what happened

…because he wants you

to personally know that Jesus is alive.

He saw him!

And he invites you to trust in Jesus as your Lord and God;

…To give your allegiance to him.

…To find your identity in him.

So that you can experience Jesus’ resurrection life yourself.

That’s why he wrote toward the beginning of the account,

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. –John 3:16 (NLT)

You see,

Because of the resurrection,

We can be certain that what Jesus said and did is true.

We can be certain that God loves us.

We can be certain that Jesus died and rose again.

And we can be certain that he offers us eternal life.

It’s now up to you to receive it.

That’s the invitation to all of us.

Will you put your faith in Jesus?

…Crucified to pay for your sins,

Resurrected in victory over death?

He invites you to follow him,