WEBVTT 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:22.320 This podcast is a great great parkway. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:47.600 Jesus, we asked that you would in a few seconds would you flood us with the quickest reminder of our disgraceful sin against you. 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:58.560 And we can feel freshly that that has been cleansed, that has been washed, that has been forgotten, that has been rightly paid for. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:11.599 And that those who put their trust in you, those whom you have saved, those who've been made new and alive in you, they stand before you clean. 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:17.760 They stand before you, not facing judgment. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:22.719 They stand before you with the very righteousness of Christ. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:36.000 Lord, this morning, would you land on us in a one-on-one conversation where you speak from the text and then give us clarity on how we then should live. 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:39.760 This we ask, this we expect from you. 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:40.719 Amen. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:42.480 Please be seated. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:43.200 I'm glad you're here. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:44.879 My name is Blake Hardcastle. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:48.239 I am the spiritual formation pastor at Grand Parkway. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:58.400 Part of what that means is I have care and oversight in our Sunday morning Bible studies, in midweek Bible studies, in missions. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:06.400 And on occasion, I have responsibility to be God's mouthpiece and deliver the word to us. 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:10.319 What we need most, we will get this morning. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:15.280 We need God to speak to us, and He will speak from His Word. 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:18.159 It's what we desperately need to hear. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:31.120 This morning, Clyde mentioned it's kind of a it's an odd text in that Jesus' death has occurred, and just when you thought it couldn't get any lower, or it will get lower. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:36.639 In fact, we'll take a snapshot at this the most pathetic funeral that's ever existed. 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:40.400 And then will be confusion. 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:41.919 Where's the body? 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:49.520 And then one person, Mary Magdalene, will have a very quick encounter with the risen Jesus. 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:54.479 Not enough to where everyone's convinced, just enough to where she brings the news. 00:02:54.800 --> 00:03:05.520 But I think this is the text God wants to bring this morning to address where you feel buried in life. 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:08.800 Where you feel in a grave. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:12.960 I think he says to you this morning, it will not end this way. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:17.840 We're gonna walk through the text and then we'll we'll land on somewhere significant. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:29.439 So this morning, uh what's gonna happen is we'll see from the text there's some questions that uh the persons in the background in this scene are asking and thinking. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:32.719 And they're really the same questions that you and I ask and think. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:36.479 It's questions like, God, have you forgotten me? 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:38.240 Me forgotten. 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:40.560 Me, your servant? 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:42.560 Do you love me? 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:45.360 Are you gonna leave me like this? 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:50.000 Let's walk through the text and then we'll unpack this together. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:52.719 John chapter 19, where we left off last week. 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:54.319 This is verse 38. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:04:06.080 After these things, these things are the death of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus but secretly, for fear of the Jews. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:19.199 So he believed Jesus was the Messiah, had his hopes in that, was kind of monitoring closely, but secretly. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:21.920 He didn't let anybody else know. 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:27.199 Certainly didn't let those he he uh lived and worked with know. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:38.240 But he's got some power because he's able to approach Pilate and ask that the body, he could take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:42.800 So he's got some kind of pretty high political status, political connection. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:45.920 And he goes secretly and says, have this body. 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:47.839 And Pilate's not supposed to do this. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:58.079 The Romans, if you were a criminal of sedition, so uh an uprising against the Roman Emperor, uh, you needed to be publicly shamed before and after death. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:01.439 Left to exposure, let the animals consume you. 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:06.480 Jews would permit you to be buried, but only with other criminals. 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:08.959 And Pilate doesn't do either one of these. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:11.360 He said, ah, yeah, you can have them. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:14.720 You can put them in the tomb you want. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:21.759 Nicodemus, verse 39, was also who earlier had come to Jesus at night. 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:24.560 It's still the same secret approach to Jesus. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:26.639 Let us know about this. 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:34.000 Came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 75 pounds in weight. 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:35.839 He didn't carry this by himself. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:37.600 Both these guys are pretty wealthy. 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:42.720 They have servants, and the 75 pounds seems like this is a little excessive, right? 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:47.199 Especially for a rushed funeral and preparation and burial. 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:54.480 When Herod the Great died, over 500 servants carried spices to his burial. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.959 These are two wealthy men, and everyone else is scattered. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:01.120 The disciples, gone. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:03.360 His mother, gone. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:06.160 Peter, definitely gone. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:12.000 John writing the gospel, the one Jesus loved, he's not there. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:13.920 Just these two. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:19.360 These two kind of on the fence disciples. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:37.279 They uh they prepare him for death and they they they wash the body and they take the linen, which is expensive, and they begin wrapping parts of the body and packing the spices in between the limbs and the layers of fabric and packing on top. 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:56.160 And as they're wrapping this body, uh you can imagine that they begin wrapping the hand, and they remember this is the hand that touched this man who was paralyzed, and he got up, rolled up his mat, and walked out of there. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:02.879 This is the hand that made some kind of slurry and put it on the blind man's eyes, and he could see. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:13.279 This is the hand that was covered in this garment, and someone reached out and touched the edge of it, and this long-term disability left her body. 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:17.920 It dives deeper. 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:20.079 God, have you forgotten us? 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:22.560 Why would you let us be tricked by this man? 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:25.120 Do we missee what we saw? 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:27.519 And they wrap, they cover the head. 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:35.600 These are the lips that spoke confounding truth to the best experts in the law. 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:38.800 How is it this happened? 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:40.720 How is it that we were duped? 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:42.720 How is it you let this happen? 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:48.079 We were certain, the disciples were searching, we were pretty sure, but following a distance, this was the one. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:50.000 How can this be? 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:57.839 And if you were there rapping and laying him in the tomb, you would be thinking some of the same things. 00:07:58.160 --> 00:07:59.759 God, have you forgotten us? 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:01.279 Do you love me? 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:03.199 This is how it ends. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:05.519 This is a pathetic funeral. 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:08.240 The most significant person who's ever lived. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:12.160 God who enfleshes himself, the God man. 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:14.000 This is what we celebrate at Christmas. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:23.120 God comes in flesh has one of the most insignificant, rushed memorials, burials in history. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:33.919 The one who should have the most significant, the most fan hair fair, the longest line, the most days of remembering gets this little quick thing before the sunset. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:45.679 Verse 1 of chapter 20. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:55.039 Now on the first day of the week, Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while still dark. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:56.639 It's dark out. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:00.559 She can't see into the tomb. 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:01.600 She's not expecting to. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:07.679 She's expecting to come, and there'll be a big stone in the way, and there'll be a Roman guard. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:10.480 That's not what she sees. 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:14.879 In fact, what she sees is very distressing and very confusing. 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:16.240 It's still dark. 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:20.080 She saw the stone have been taken away from the tomb. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:30.879 Verse 2, so she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They've taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they've laid him. 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:34.799 She doesn't say, Woo! He's resurrected. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:36.879 Stop crying. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:43.440 She was already grieving. 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:48.159 And now it's just a sucker punch to the gut. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:57.279 Already all my hopes are dashed, and now I can't even I can't even go s pay my respects. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:07.919 She probably thinks there's been a grave robbery because this is what would be the most likely explanation. 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:16.480 In fact, Emperor Claudius is so common or so pervasive, he orders capital punishment for the crime of grave robbery. 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:19.759 Someone has come, someone has moved the stone away. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:21.759 I don't know where he's at. 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:23.360 He's not there. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:28.080 Peter and John, they respond, they don't respond by, well, let's talk about this. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:30.240 They go slowly, tell us again. 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:31.120 Now, are you sure? 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:33.200 They don't question, they just get up and go. 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:35.519 Verse three and four. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:40.879 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going to the tomb. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:45.360 Both of them were running together, and the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:46.559 Verse 5. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:53.039 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen clothes lying there, but he didn't go in. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:56.320 And so maybe there's enough, barely enough light now. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:59.679 He can look in, and it's really confusing. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:02.639 Because there's no stone, no guard. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:05.600 There's the burial cloths. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:08.639 There's no body. 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:10.159 I mean, they're not that big. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:13.360 Can't really not allow corners to hide in. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:21.120 Verse 6, then Simon Peter came following him, and he went into the tomb. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:22.159 He passed John. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:33.039 John's just looking in, and he saw linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:39.200 Neither one are saying, Oh yes, resurrection. 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:45.519 They're confused, they're shocked, they're hurt. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:56.480 They're confused because the likely explanation of thievery now doesn't make sense. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:12:00.559 Because thieves, when they break in, they don't leave money on the floor. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:04.639 The linen and the spices, these are expensive. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:07.279 You didn't just have this laying around. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:10.879 It would be much easier, okay. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:12.639 Let's just pick the whole thing up. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:16.399 The body, and you know, some spices are gonna drop on the ground, we won't get it all. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:19.840 Let's pick the whole thing up, put it on the thing, drag it out. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:22.480 They don't leave money there. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:27.360 They're not gonna fold up a head shroud, a facecloth. 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:30.559 This is very confusing. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:34.960 It's in stark contrast to the resurrection of Lazarus. 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:40.000 When Jesus raises Lazarus, he tells him to come out and he comes out of the tomb with all the grave clothes on. 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:43.600 We don't know. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:45.120 We're not told in the text what happens. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:54.480 We don't know if what's going to happen in a couple chapters verses from now, where Jesus comes, there's a locked room, and 120 are gathered, and he enters in. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:55.200 We don't know. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:59.600 Does he just kind of pass through and get up out of this wrapped bondage? 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:00.799 We don't know that. 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:03.440 But we do know there's no body. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:08.080 Verse 8. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:09.919 Then Simon. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:18.080 Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first went in, and do not miss this. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:21.039 He saw and believed. 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:28.639 John walks in, and John, writing his gospel, says, This was the moment. 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.279 I didn't understand everything. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:36.879 It didn't all make sense yet, but that was the moment. 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:39.200 Something birthed in me. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:43.279 Well, before this, I didn't sleep well. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:44.240 I cried. 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:45.679 I was depressed. 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:47.759 I felt like a fool. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:50.000 Felt in danger still. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:55.120 And then Mary told us he's not there. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:57.279 And I ran to the tomb. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:02.559 And I had hope. 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:11.759 John tells us that they didn't know, they didn't understand the scriptures that he must rise from the dead. 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:18.320 You know, later on, they they re-see the Old Testament and they see, oh yes, God will come as the Messiah. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:23.519 He will come as the rescuer of his people and the judger of God's enemies. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:28.799 And like most of the Jews, they have thought this is going to be one guy one time. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:31.759 God's going to come in, boom, Romans, you're gone. 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:33.919 Come in, set up the kingdom. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:35.840 And God's that's not what I'm doing. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:38.480 In fact, the enemies I fought are sin and death. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:41.440 And I come the first time offering repentance and grace. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:45.279 When he comes a second time, it's the second half of the office of Messiah. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:49.759 When he comes a second time, it is judgment, final judgment for all God's enemies. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:53.200 John sees and believes. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.000 The simplest explanation for what John sees. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:02.399 It's not thievery, it's not trickery by the Romans. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:04.559 It's not mockery by them. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:07.759 It's that he's no longer dead. 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:10.720 He raised Lazarus. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:13.039 Maybe he has just raised himself. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:16.159 G.A. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.159 Carson describes this way. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:24.080 He says, the rapid growth and the preaching of the early church are really unexplainable. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:29.120 There's nothing that makes sense without the empty tomb. 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:34.399 And to stop this nonsense, all that had to be done was produce the body. 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:39.039 The Jews, the Roman leaders, they had custody of his body. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:43.039 All that had to be done was, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:44.720 You guys stop saying that. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:45.679 Bring him out. 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:47.279 See, there's the corpse. 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:48.799 There's the wounds. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:49.279 See? 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:50.720 Rotten away. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:56.399 All that had to be done to stop this was bring the body. 00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:58.720 It never could be done. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:04.159 Verse 9 and 10. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:06.320 They didn't understand. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:08.799 They go back to their homes. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:12.080 Verse 11. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:15.120 But Mary stood weeping. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:17.279 Now they go back confused. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:19.039 They go back not really clear. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:21.519 Her story's corroborated. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:24.960 But he hasn't appeared to them yet. 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:28.639 Mary, we don't know that they missed each other. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:30.320 She obviously went back to the tomb. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:30.960 We don't know that. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:32.000 Did she just stay outside? 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:32.720 We don't know any of that. 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:35.440 We just know that John fast forwards. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:38.159 Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:40.399 Sobbing. 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:52.879 And when she stopped to look into the tomb to see, she doesn't see what she expects. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:56.559 Now she's expecting, look, it's bad enough he died, bad enough he's buried. 00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:58.399 Why did they desecrate the grave? 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:00.559 Why did they shame? 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:02.000 He's already a fraud. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:04.079 You don't need to do all this. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:06.880 It's all already, all hopes are dashed. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:08.559 There's no need to make it worse. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:10.720 You can't really make it any worse. 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:12.400 Verse 12. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:21.039 She saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:24.160 She didn't expect this. 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:29.599 And in fact, we're told here in a second what she's thinking, verse 12. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:32.000 We saw two angels in white, verse 13. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:33.839 They say to her, Why are you weeping? 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:38.160 She says, They've taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they laid him. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:41.680 She didn't have hope of a resurrection. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:46.319 She just wants to grieve. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.279 And even now this was withheld from her. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:55.839 Now it says two angels, if you were to read the other gospels in Mark, it's the angel described as a young man dressed in white. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:58.799 In Luke, it's two men dressed in clothes like lightning. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:06.000 In Matthew, the angel pierces lightning, clothes as white as snow, and uh frightens the guards and rolls back the tomb. 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:06.799 What is it? 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:07.920 Is it one or two, Blake? 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:09.440 How many, how many angels? 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:19.680 Our modern assumptions of how facts should be portrayed and recorded are not the same as the way they're recorded in ancient literature. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:24.880 Secondly, a gospel is not a play by play, and then this and then this and then this. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:26.720 A gospel is like a photo album. 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:32.240 You just open, and you don't say everything that ever happened, you just kind of give picture after picture after picture. 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:35.359 You sum up a whole week's vacation in five photos. 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:44.400 And so as John is opening the photo album, um he's communicating what's true without our our modern limitations on that. 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:45.839 Okay, was it one or two? 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:49.440 It probably was two, and one had a more prominent role. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:52.079 Verse 13. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:55.759 They speak to her, and it seems kind of rude. 00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:58.160 Woman, why are you weeping? 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:00.160 It's a little bit of a rebuke. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:04.799 She said, They've taken away the Lord, and I don't know where they've laid them. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:11.920 She doesn't know what they know, she doesn't understand what they understand. 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:15.519 To her, why would she not be weeping? 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:17.039 Why would she not be sobbing? 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:19.279 How can you say to me, Why are you doing that? 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:20.640 What's wrong with you? 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:23.519 She doesn't know he's resurrected. 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:26.640 We are just like Mary. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:27.599 Let me pause here. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:29.119 We'll circle back to this in a little bit. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:34.000 We're just like her in that we do not know all that God's up to. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:45.279 We experience something and take a little bit of data, and then we extrapolate and think, well, this must be what God's doing, or this must be what God's not going to do. 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:50.079 And we feel all and more what she felt. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:54.720 Verse 14. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:57.119 Jesus appears. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:19:59.200 But she doesn't know it yet. 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:05.359 Jesus, having said this, she turned around and she saw Jesus standing. 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:12.240 So she turned back to angels, and maybe she feels a presence of someone, turns back and doesn't recognize him. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:15.920 Maybe it's the blurry eyes from the crying, or maybe it's in this state. 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:19.039 In some way, he's kind of shifted a little bit. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:27.039 You know, the those on the road to uh those on the road did not recognize him. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:29.519 Those at the sea of Tiberius did not recognize him. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:31.119 They're out in the boat, and he calls them. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:32.960 They don't know it's him yet. 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:36.640 She does not know yet, and she thinks he's the gardener. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.200 It says, Woman, why are you weeping? 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:40.319 Who are you seeking? 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:43.680 So the first is a little bit of a rebuke again, and now it's an invitation. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:45.119 So thinks he's the gardener. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:51.680 So if you've carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him away. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:56.880 We, let me pause here. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:59.440 We like Mary, we too weep. 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:07.200 We get stuck in circumstances, and sometimes it's our own doing, sometimes it's someone else doing to us. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:11.759 Sometimes it's someone else who's hurting, and we just know them, so we're we're sucked into that. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:14.799 And a lot of times it's a mixture of all kinds. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:19.200 And and it begins to feel like a grave. 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:24.160 It hurts, and it feels like a death. 00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:30.079 It feels like we're losing control, losing power, losing hope. 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:39.839 And it looks like frustration, looks like sadness, looks like confusion, looks like anxiety, it looks like anger, it looks like boredom, it looks like fear. 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:44.240 And at the core of this, we don't know what God knows. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:48.319 We don't know how the story ends. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:53.920 And in some ways, we we can't imagine a resurrection. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:59.759 And we think in our heart, these things. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.359 God, have you forgotten me? 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:03.039 Do you really love me? 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:04.960 Are you going to leave me like this? 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:07.200 Are you going to leave me in this grave? 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:10.079 Let me give you a couple examples. 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:12.319 These are just generic examples. 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:17.599 But they they label some categories. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:24.960 I think of a girl in her mid-30s who is the oldest of some sisters, and she's single. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:28.559 She wants to be married, wants to have a family. 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:38.000 And our little sisters, they have married, and the youngest sister, the most recent family gathering, has said, Hey, I got some news. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:47.519 I'm pregnant, and everyone's happy, and she's even happy, but it's happiness that's mixed with death, with pain. 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:49.599 And she hides it. 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:54.720 And they try to be gentle and not overdo it in front of her because they know she's hurting. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:23:00.559 But she's asking in her soul, God, have you forgotten me? 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:02.720 Do you love me? 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:05.359 Are you gonna leave me like this? 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:20.160 I think of a man in his 40s, and really from no fault of his own, markets change and companies downsize, and he's one of the losses, job loss. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:22.240 And he's let go. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:24.799 And life's pressures, they don't they don't stop. 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:39.279 So there's still mortgages and there's still food and there's still utilities, and I guess there were vacation plans, and there's still tons of responsibility, and there's really no immediate jobs on the horizon. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:47.440 And in the midst of what feels like a grave, God, have you forgotten me? 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:49.119 Do you love me? 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:51.759 Are you gonna leave me like this? 00:23:53.519 --> 00:24:05.519 I think if a retired adult did the right things, worked hard, and delayed gratification, saved, raised their children, and now it's time to enjoy their golden years. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:13.279 They still got energy, they got time and money now to be a blessing to people, and it's time to travel and see things. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:20.720 And a routine checkup, discover some abnormalities and some further tests, confirm. 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:22.559 Is it cancer? 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:27.440 It begins orbiting the soul of these questions. 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:30.640 God, have you forgotten me? 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:33.440 Do you love me? 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:36.319 Are you gonna leave me like this? 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:39.839 I think of a teenager. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:48.240 She uh job transfer for her dad, and so she's at a new school, and it's a new year. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:53.599 But a lot of these kids know each other, and they've known each other for a while. 00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:57.440 And it's just hard to break into those friend groups. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:24:59.039 It's hard. 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:07.920 And school becomes a mini grave where you go and die every day. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:14.160 And wish why why could Dad not got a job where I live, where I had all these friends? 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:18.880 Where going to school was life-giving, it wasn't crushing me. 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:25.599 And her soul is thinking and feeling, God, have you forgotten me? 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:27.599 Do you not love me? 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:30.799 Is it always gonna be like this? 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:33.680 These are just examples. 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:36.079 There's no one's specific story. 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:46.400 But my guess is, because we share the same fallen human condition, this orbit somewhere in your soul. 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:53.920 That there may be one, maybe more than one grave that you feel like, yeah, I'm I feel like I'm buried in something. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:56.880 I feel like I'm entombed in something. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:01.599 And yeah, part of me is asking, God, do you see this? 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:03.599 You still love me? 00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:06.240 You gonna leave me here? 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:19.599 These are examples of what it feels like for what Peter says in 1 Peter 2, verse 21. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:28.880 He says, For this you've been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so you might follow in his steps. 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:41.759 You see, what God is doing in your life is where we are in the gospel of the death, burial, and resurrection, he is retelling this story in your life. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:44.000 He's retelling it. 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:51.440 Well, it's not the same kind of death, Jesus died, not the same kind of burial, but it feels like death. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:55.119 It feels like being buried. 00:26:55.200 --> 00:26:57.839 And it I need some kind of resurrection. 00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:03.759 Oh, there's one coming and the life comes when he returns, but I need resurrection out of these circumstances now. 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:07.920 Let me show you a painting. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:10.319 This is Rembrandt's night watch. 00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:12.160 It's helpful for a lot of reasons. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:20.480 One, Rembrandt was a master of using shadow and light to kind of give the impression of movement on things that were still. 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:38.480 And so in this painting, the edges are really dark in the surrounding, everything but the three focal points. 00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:42.880 The two gentlemen in the foreground and the girl with the chicken. 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:43.279 Right? 00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:44.720 These are the three focal points. 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:46.240 I have no interpretation of this. 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:47.440 That's not the point of this. 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:50.480 The point of this is this is what God is doing in your life. 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:56.559 He is painting a picture that retells the story of Jesus. 00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:03.279 And when it feels like death and feels like burial, he's painting the dark edges. 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:07.920 And he will complete the image. 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:11.519 And the completion will not just be, whoo, look at me. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:16.240 The completion will be what we're gonna see in the next three verses. 00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:21.279 It will be, I have seen the Lord. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:30.400 It will be Jesus front and center in the circumstances of your life where no one could misinterpret what happened to you. 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:37.839 No one could, their eye couldn't stray to something else that God wants, that God doesn't want them to focus on or give credit to or glory to. 00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:44.000 And you would never, you would no longer be a secret disciple like Nicodemus or Joseph Arimathea. 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:48.400 You would you would have no trouble declaring the Lord's the one who did this. 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:52.640 Let's get back to the text. 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:55.200 Last three verses, verse 16. 00:28:56.799 --> 00:28:58.480 He says, Mary. 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:02.319 And she turned and said to him, Remboni. 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:05.119 She now knows him. 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:07.119 She now knows who he is. 00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:09.119 And she is shocked. 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:11.839 Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:15.440 Your translation may say, Stop touching me, don't touch me. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:30.000 Clearly, something's happened where she has lurched at him and grabbed onto him as any of us would with what we thought was lost and never irrecoverable, is now right in front of us. 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:33.440 We would grasp onto it. 00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:38.960 This verse 17 is a little tricky in the English. 00:29:39.119 --> 00:29:46.880 Don't cling to me, for I've not ascended to the Father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I'm ascending to the Father and to your Father, to my God and your God. 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:48.160 We should hear it this way. 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:51.440 He's not saying, now don't touch me, stay away. 00:29:51.680 --> 00:29:54.480 He rather is saying, stop doing this thing. 00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:56.559 And we should look at this way. 00:29:56.799 --> 00:29:57.359 Hold on. 00:29:57.519 --> 00:29:58.640 You can let go of me. 00:29:58.799 --> 00:30:00.480 I'm not going anywhere yet. 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:01.279