WEBVTT 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:09.279 Let's just pray. 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:12.640 Father, we want to know you. 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:17.199 We want to know you and the power of resurrection. 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:18.879 We wanna know you. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:20.719 We wanna know your heart. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:22.559 We wanna know your thoughts. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:24.239 We wanna know your will. 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:26.879 We wanna know your emotions. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:30.079 We wanna know your desires, Father. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:44.079 Father, I ask that you'd pour out the spirit of wisdom and revelation of Christ, of what was accomplished, what has happened, what is available to us. 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:59.920 Lord, I ask that you would catapult us into new measures of truth, new measures of your love, new measures of your glory, new measures of our inheritance that you prepared for us. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:04.079 Lord, we want to know you and love you and be with you. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:18.560 The resurrection morning, the morning of surprise, the morning of wonder, the morning where everything changed. 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:22.000 If you want to turn to John 20, verse 1. 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:33.599 Now the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:45.040 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, They've taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:48.879 And I want you just to imagine that scene. 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:50.799 Put yourself in that scene. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:56.400 For a start, it was incredibly brave of Mary to go. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:00.079 The place of tombs was distressing. 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:13.199 It wasn't just distressing, but it was where they put kind of wild people, demonized people, people who were violent, people who couldn't live in normal places. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:15.280 They lived among the tombs. 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:20.240 And there she was, was dark, and she was alone. 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.759 Some of the stories say the other Mary went with her. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:31.759 Regardless, it was two defenseless women in the dark going to an intimidating place. 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:39.360 And to choose to go there shows a certain degree of courage, but also a certain degree of desperation. 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:47.520 It shows a certain degree of longing beyond natural reason, longing for the one that they were missing. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:51.360 Jesus said that the one who's forgiven much loves much. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:57.199 And here's Mary, so aware of the forgiveness that she'd received. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:02.159 So aware of what Jesus had actually done for her. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:16.240 And many times in the gospel it talks about how long before dawn, in the dark, Jesus used to go away into the wilderness to be alone with the Father and to pray. 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:19.120 So many times it tells us that. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:28.719 It went from the routine of Hebrew culture that at this time there would be prayers, this time there would be prayers, this time you would go for prayers. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:30.319 It went to a longing. 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:39.759 Jesus showed us a longing and a needing of the company of the Father, a need to just be alone with Him to pray. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:51.759 And here is the first whisper of the same longing, the same cry, the same going away in the dark long before day to be with Him in Mary. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:55.120 And these disciples, they'd lost everything. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:57.919 We know the end of the story, and they didn't. 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:21.199 All they knew was that they'd lost their Lord, they'd lost their friend, they'd lost their teacher, they'd lost their way, they'd lost their sense of purpose, they'd lost their community, they'd lost the one who made everything right, the one who healed, the one who delivered, the one who showed them what to do and what to think, and they'd lost him. 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:25.759 And Mary is looking and longing for that connection. 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:28.240 So while it was still dark, she went out. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:36.480 And when you've lost everything, if you've seen someone who's like lost everything, they start clinging to straws. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:42.240 Suddenly, even things that other people would count as rubbish, it's like, no, no, we've got to save that. 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:43.120 We need that. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:44.240 We might need that. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:05:00.160 And here she is clinging to a dead body, clinging to the routine that she knows that you go and embalm this body, you honor the process of grief that's expressed in embalming someone who's died. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:10.560 But she gets there, and even that possible comfort, that possible solace of I know this routine, I now know what to do. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:15.680 These are the spices, this is what I do when someone's died. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:18.879 Even that has suddenly been taken. 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:22.240 This shock of the body's gone. 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:27.360 And sometimes God disrupts what we're clinging to. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:33.360 Sometimes God disrupts our desperate herding around what we once had. 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:40.639 Sometimes what is lost, what seems devastating, it's actually a doorway into the new. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:46.000 And so she does the only thing she knows to do is to run to Peter and John. 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:51.199 The only thing in this shock, in this horror, they've even taken away the body. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:53.279 What else can they take from us? 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:55.360 What else can they hurt us with? 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:57.439 What else can be go wrong? 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:01.439 Nothing more can happen than even the body's taken. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:10.079 And she runs to tell them to somehow verbalize this grief and this shock and this pain and the anger. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:16.160 Verse 3, Peter therefore went out and the other disciple and were going to the tomb. 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:18.399 And they both ran together. 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:22.639 And the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:29.600 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying there, yet he did not go in. 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:45.199 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb, and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:51.920 Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also, and he saw and believed. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:57.839 For as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:01.439 Then the disciples went away to their own homes. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:03.519 It's just empty cloths there. 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:09.839 And the only thing that remained of Jesus there was his blood on those cloths. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:19.279 The only thing that continued to contend with death forever is the blood of Jesus left in that tomb. 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:25.040 And they see the cloths and then they see the handkerchief that had been around his head. 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:31.199 And I know some of you have heard us talk on this before, but it's so important I have to say it again. 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:39.839 It's noted that there's all the cloths and the handkerchief that had been over his face, placed over his face. 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:42.000 It wasn't lying with the other cloths. 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:46.639 So it wasn't just thrown there where all the other cloths were, but it was folded. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:48.879 It was set aside separately. 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:49.600 Why? 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:54.319 Because God wanted them to see and notice and understand. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:59.600 And it's named differently by John because it's not just a cloth. 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:06.079 He says it's a handkerchief, it's a napkin, it's what was put on the table as a napkin. 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:26.160 And as many of you may know or not know, in Hebrew culture, when there was a business deal, when there was a tension to resolve, when there was a discussion, when there was a debate, when there was a matter of ownership, they would sit at a table and they would go back and forth and back and forth. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:33.360 And when the discussion was finished, when the matter was settled, what was done was this. 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:42.559 The men at the table would take their napkin and they would fold it and they would put it down and place it as a statement. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:44.240 The discussion is over. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:48.480 The discussion is over, and it's not being opened up again. 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:57.679 When that napkin was folded, it was never to be brought up again, it was never to be debated again, it was never to be risen and contended for again. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:08:59.440 It was finished. 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:08.639 And Jesus took that napkin and he set it aside, folded, placed in the tomb, and said it's finished. 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:10.559 The discussion is over. 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:12.559 The discussion is over. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:20.799 The debate is over over ownership, over love, over people, over redemption, over the earth. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:22.320 It's finished. 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:25.919 And it was a sign of finality to the enemy. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:28.879 And it was a sign of finality to us. 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:30.080 It is done. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:31.600 No more discussion. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:32.960 No more debate. 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:35.840 No more wondering what the outcome's gonna be. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:36.960 It is done. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:39.360 The napkins fold it. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.919 And Jesus took that handkerchief that had been given him on the earth. 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:54.159 The wrestling against Satan on authority, on ownership, on access, the keys to death and the power of sin over humanity. 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:58.559 And he took it and folded it and said, discussion over. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:09:59.360 Final. 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:01.840 Death has lost its sting. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:04.159 Sin has been dealt with. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:05.679 I have authority. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:10.639 I've opened up heaven to humanity, never to be discussed again. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:32.879 Colossians 2, verse 13 says this, and you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he is made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that stood against us and argued against us. 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:41.360 And he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities and powers. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:11:01.039 Everything written against us, everything written against you, every reason why you couldn't be in the presence of the Father, everything that you'd done wrong, everything that held you back, everything that was done against you. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:09.200 He took it and he nailed it to the cross and he made a public spectacle of the power of sin. 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:10.720 It is finished. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:13.120 It's not up for discussion. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:22.799 The victory over shame, the victory over guilt, the victory over sin, the victory over separation, it's finished. 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:27.919 It was folded, the handkerchief by the Lord of heaven and of earth. 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:31.120 His blood speaks, it still speaks. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:40.960 His death and resurrection settled the matter for every person in every generation, in every culture, in every situation. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:42.320 It's finished. 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:50.559 And I believe if we listen, we can hear that cry resounding still now round the earth. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:51.919 It's finished. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:53.440 It's finished. 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:54.799 It's finished. 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:56.799 Sin has no grip. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:58.320 Death has no sting. 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:01.360 He disarmed the enemy and triumphed. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:08.399 Verse 11, John 20, but Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:13.200 And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:15.759 Peter and John had seen the empty tomb. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:16.720 It's shocking. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:18.559 It's it's overwhelming. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.120 It's it's their heads spinning. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:22.480 And they go home. 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:24.240 They just need to get space. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:25.120 They need to think. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:27.519 They need to go, what what does this mean? 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:29.440 But Mary has to stay there. 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:33.759 She has to, she just can't leave this mystery. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:36.320 She can't leave this moment. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:38.320 And she doesn't just stay there. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:39.519 She's weeping. 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:40.879 She's probably howling. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:43.440 She's just so overcome. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:45.840 But she can't look away. 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:51.279 And she bends down and she looks into that tomb again. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:13:00.559 And she sees, she saw the two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had laid. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:05.039 Then the angel said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:11.440 And she said to them, Because they've taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:17.679 This is this beautiful interaction in the place of grief with angels. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:21.919 We can skip through this, but something just got opened up. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:32.559 I know there've been angelic encounters before all through the Bible, but when there was conversation, it was usually the pre-incarnate Jesus communicating. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:40.720 And here, a person just got brought at that empty tomb into an open discussion with the angelic. 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:42.960 Heaven just bust open. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:49.360 This is our full inheritance to access God and to access heaven on earth. 00:13:49.600 --> 00:14:01.279 This is part of what we receive from the resurrection of Christ, the overcoming of every line of separation, every line of separation between heaven and earth. 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:02.480 Verse 14. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.799 Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:17.200 And whom are you seeking? 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:23.679 You know, in pain, in loss, in difficulty, in those moments of wrestling. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:26.320 It's always the Lord's question to us. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:28.000 Why are you weeping? 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:30.159 What is what is it? 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:31.600 What's the pain? 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:32.960 What's the grief? 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:34.720 What's the deep longing? 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:36.480 And what are you seeking? 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:44.960 He wants us to be able to verbalize to him what is the grief, what is the root issue, what's been taken from you. 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:46.320 Identify it. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:47.919 It's part of our healing. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:50.080 Jesus knows why she's weeping. 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:52.559 He knows that she's only seeing in part. 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:59.519 But part of the healing comes when she verbalizes to the Lord, I'm missing the body. 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:04.639 Telling him what's hurt us, what's confused us, what grieved us. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:10.799 Taking time to find out what the weeping really is, is part of restoration. 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.279 And he asks her, What are you seeking? 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:17.840 What is that you really, really, really long for? 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:20.320 What is the actual longing of your heart? 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:21.519 We can cover it. 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:28.480 She was busy just wanting to embalm with spices, go through the motions, have a project. 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:31.200 But he's like, What are you seeking? 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:33.440 What are you actually looking for? 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:35.440 What's the cry of your heart? 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:42.960 And we can cover up the deep cry with many things to do, with busyness, opinions, pursuits. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:47.919 But the deep cry is there, and the Lord is asking, What are you seeking? 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:48.879 Sit with him. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:50.159 What are you seeking? 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:53.360 What are you seeking from him in this season? 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:55.679 What are you really wanting? 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:56.960 Verse 14. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:07.519 She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:10.159 You know, sometimes we need to understand. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:13.200 Jesus doesn't always show up like we expect. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:16.000 She thought she knew what she was going to see. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:17.679 She thought she knew. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:20.559 It was sad but controllable. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:26.000 It was powerless, but she knew what to do with the Jesus she thought she was going to meet. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:31.679 Jesus is there, she is talking with the resurrected Lord, and she thinks it's a gardener. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:32.639 Can you believe that? 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:38.240 It says in Hebrews 13, 12, don't forget to entertain strangers. 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:43.600 For by so doing, some have unwittingly entertained angels. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:45.200 Sometimes we don't know. 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:49.200 God steps in, and it's not always what we think it will look like. 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:52.799 Allow him to stretch your understanding. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:55.840 Allow him to draw you into wonder. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:00.960 Allow him to draw you into surprise, into the unexpected. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:05.839 Do we want Jesus in the tomb or do we want to be surprised? 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:07.680 Do we want to be shocked? 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:09.920 Do we want to be led into wonder? 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:13.359 Because there's a whole lot of people who want him in the tomb. 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:16.960 Understandable, predictable, controllable. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:18.319 We understand Jesus. 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:19.440 He's there in the tomb. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:22.559 But Jesus, he's asking the questions. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:25.839 He's here seeking Mary out. 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:34.160 He's here confronting the deep cries in our hearts, making things new, leading us into new paths and new hope. 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:40.319 Verse 16, Jesus said to her, Mary, can't wait to see that in heaven. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:48.880 She's there weeping, loss upon loss, totally confused by the situation, disoriented. 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:52.960 And she finally thinks this gardener might know where the body is. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:54.960 And he says, Mary. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:58.480 And the way he said Mary, she knew it was him. 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:02.160 The way the Lord speaks your name, you know it's him. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:06.000 Because he speaks your name with perfect love. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:09.839 He speaks your name like nobody else speaks it. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:14.559 He speaks your name and there is perfect embrace. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:16.480 There is perfect hope. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:18.319 There is perfect knowing. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:26.559 There is perfect understanding of every strength, every weakness, every need, every joy. 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:29.839 When he speaks your name, you know it's him. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:39.279 And she turned and said to him, Rabbini, which is to say, teacher, let him call your name, let him draw you aside. 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:46.480 Stand in that moment where he speaks your name, and suddenly things change. 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:49.039 Suddenly possibility changed. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:52.880 Steve Mary was in the garden when the others had left. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:54.160 She lingered. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:55.759 She wanted something. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:57.759 She was searching for more. 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:00.240 She was restless till she had more. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:01.839 And then she heard her name. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:09.839 Verse 17, Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my father. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:18.559 But go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:23.279 And this is what I heard resounding all week for today. 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:27.839 I'm ascending to my father and your father. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:47.039 Don't cling to me in this limited version of what you know. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:51.119 He wasn't to be held in that earthly form. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:20:00.799 He was to ascend into the heavenlies, resurrected life, not just overcoming death, but opening up heaven for us. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:03.680 Jesus came to show us the Father. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:06.319 He came to make way to the Father. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:11.680 The Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus for calling God his Father. 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:18.640 It was the one thing, as soon as he referred to God as his father, up came the stones to kill him. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:28.799 It was an abomination to them that someone would dare to call God Father because to be a son means everything. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:33.440 When you're a son, you have access to all that is the Father's. 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:54.559 Again and again, Jesus talked about the Father, about doing the Father's will, about seeking the Father's will, about listening to the Father, about the life that was in the Father, about this relationship of intimacy and closeness and power and yet obedience and yielding to the Father. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:58.799 And he taught his disciples constantly about the Father. 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:01.759 He taught them to pray, our Father. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:06.079 At the Last Supper, he said, it's not, you're not going to ask me things now. 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:07.839 You're going to the Father. 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:11.279 But here in that garden, just the two of them. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:14.000 Something exploded on the earth. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:19.200 One conversation, one believer longing and seeking. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:26.240 Jesus explodes the revelation of the Father for all of history right there in that garden. 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:27.599 I love this moment. 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:39.039 I love that Jesus found the person longing and waiting and lingering and seeking and refusing to give up in the pain and go home. 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:48.240 I love that Jesus doesn't let Mary settle for her current understanding, the current revelation, the current joy. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:50.880 But he tells her there's so much more. 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:56.559 I love that he reveals mystery for eternity right there in a garden with one person. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.359 He didn't gather a crowd, he found her. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.200 Love that it's a message to the others. 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:04.880 Go tell the brethren. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:07.680 The revelation was ever for everyone. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:13.519 The spillover effect, the river pounding out to the others. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:15.359 Go tell the brethren. 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:22.559 I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God. 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:28.319 Do you know what happened in that moment when that shock wave, those words went out? 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:35.680 Jesus unveils on the earth righteousness that we are going to the Father, our Father. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:38.000 His Father is our Father. 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:40.000 His God is our God. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:45.279 And he brought us in to equal communion with the Father. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:48.079 This is the term for righteousness. 00:22:48.400 --> 00:23:01.200 Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 21, he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:03.359 Don't gloss over that, beloved. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:06.640 You are the righteousness of God. 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:09.440 You're not a little bit washed up. 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:13.680 You're not like a little bit made pretty before God. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:16.640 You're not a little bit, you know, better. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:19.039 He made Jesus sin. 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:20.799 Not carry sin. 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:23.359 He made Jesus sin. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:26.480 He made Jesus an abomination. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:30.079 He made Jesus every sin you can name. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:31.839 He made Jesus that. 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:41.440 And in making Jesus that, he made you his own righteousness, shining like the sun. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:44.720 He made you a son or daughter. 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:54.559 He made you come into his presence equally valued, equally belonging, equally accepted in the throne room. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:24:03.039 You know, Paul was saying something so outrageous you wouldn't believe it if it was not again and again in the word. 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:06.160 We have the righteousness of God. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:09.920 Do you know what the word righteous means in Greek? 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:12.240 It doesn't just mean cleaned. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:13.440 It doesn't mean that. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:14.720 It means equal. 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:16.319 It means equal. 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:18.319 It means equal. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:21.440 You have been given the righteousness of Christ. 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:25.920 You have been given equality with Christ before the Father. 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:31.759 You're not off-cowering in the corner of heaven going, I hope God doesn't remember this one. 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:37.200 You have been given equality with the esteem of Christ. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:40.640 How the Father looks at Jesus, he looks at you. 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:45.599 That same pride, that same glory, that same delight. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:48.480 Don't diminish the cross. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:55.200 Don't trample it underfoot, making it some small thing that somehow you can creep in. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:25:01.680 No, you have been made righteous, equal with Jesus before the Father. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:04.640 It's so profound, it should shock you. 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:06.559 It should take your breath away. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:11.279 It should arrest your life into going, what does this mean? 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:14.000 This is resurrection power. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:18.400 Everything Jesus has access to, you have access to. 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:21.839 Everything that he's been given, you've been given. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:28.640 Every possibility of intimacy between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, you've been given. 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:32.400 The Father does not clench his teeth when he sees you. 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:39.599 His shoulders don't tighten, he doesn't twitch, he doesn't wince, he celebrates. 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:44.480 He sees you, and his heart bursts forth. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:55.839 It's the victory of grace and it's the glory of the cross that we have been made righteous, holy, completely, transformed. 00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:58.880 And this is the mystery that we're discovering. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:09.920 And Jesus' voice there in the garden, going through history, I'm going to my father and your father, my God, your God. 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:18.720 Everything I have in relationship, in union, in wonder, in connection, in love, in intimacy with the Father. 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:19.839 It's for you. 00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:20.960 Come on. 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:26.880 And my question for us is this Is Jesus' Father your Father? 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:32.720 Or do you have a twisted, small, wrong image of the Father that's time to go? 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:36.319 Because Jesus' father was perfection. 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:40.160 Jesus' father was glorious love. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:41.759 It was power. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:42.960 It was close. 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:44.000 It was healing. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:55.200 And Jesus is inviting us to his father. 00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:57.119 He was going to our father. 00:26:57.359 --> 00:26:58.799 And he invited us there. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:12.799 In John 3, way back at the beginning, verse 13, Jesus is talking to his disciples and he says, No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven. 00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:15.519 And I'm sure their minds were like, wait, what? 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:16.079 What? 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:17.359 Was in heaven? 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:19.519 Came down from heaven, is in heaven. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:20.640 Where are you? 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:26.720 And what Jesus is doing is he's telling them right there at the start of his ministry. 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:28.960 He was living in heaven and on earth. 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:33.039 He was engaged with the reality of heaven while he was on earth. 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:34.160 It was both. 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:42.880 He'd already come down from heaven to earth, but he's still in heaven. 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:45.279 He's still engaged with the Father. 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:48.400 He's still aware of what's going on in heaven. 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:50.000 And Paul talks about it. 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:53.359 I don't know whether I was in the spirit, not in the spirit, I don't know. 00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:54.799 But I went to heaven. 00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:57.680 He tells us that we are seated now. 00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:01.359 It's a current verb, present tense verb. 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:05.279 We are seated in heavenly places in Christ. 00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:07.920 Now, that's not when you die. 00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:10.960 That's now you are already seated in heaven. 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:20.720 And as Moses lifted up the servant in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:29.200 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. 00:28:29.359 --> 00:28:36.880 For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. 00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:43.839 Says he was lifted up so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:49.519 Do you know that that word for eternal means no beginning, no end? 00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:54.799 When you believe, you get brought in to the unending kingdom. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:59.119 You get brought in to something that is not a future tense. 00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:02.079 You get brought in to the Father. 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:05.920 When we believe, we step into our Father. 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:08.799 We step into heavenly places. 00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:14.079 It just depends on you how much you want to see, how much you want to know. 00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:15.920 Because it's been opened up. 00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:18.079 My father, your father. 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:21.519 Make it your intent, make it your pursuit. 00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:28.400 That you live with the same reality, the same closeness, the same intimacy with the Father. 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:36.720 Make it your intent that you learn how to walk in the same power, the same glory, the same breakout as a son. 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:38.480 This is the invitation. 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:40.079 This is the call. 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:44.880 This is the message that Mary got told to go tell the brethren. 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:49.839 For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world. 00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:53.759 Do you know that word condemn is actually to separate? 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:58.000 Every line of separation is restored in Christ. 00:29:58.400 --> 00:29:59.119 Every line. 00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:04.240 Every line of shame, of guilt, of sin, of brokenness. 00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:06.960 It's absorbed into Christ. 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:17.039 In Ephesians 4 10, Paul says this he who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. 00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:23.599 Jesus ascended with a very clear plan, which was to fill all things. 00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:26.559 He ascended so we could be filled. 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:35.839 He ascended so earth could be filled with heaven, with the shout of heaven, with the joy of heaven, with the wisdom of heaven, with the reality of heaven. 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:44.640 And he calls us to ascend into that reality with the Father so that we can fill things. 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:50.160 That's how we are to pray on earth as it is in heaven. 00:30:50.400 --> 00:31:04.880 In Hebrews 10, verse 10, it says, For it was fitting for him for whom all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. 00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:16.000 For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren. 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:22.880 He who sanctifies Jesus, and we who are being sanctified are made one. 00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:28.319 And he is not ashamed to call you his brother, his sister. 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:38.960 He's not ashamed before the angels of heaven, he's not ashamed before the throne room, he's not ashamed before the whole earth to go, they're one with me. 00:31:39.359 --> 00:31:41.279 They're one with me. 00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:47.440 And you'll remember in John 17, Jesus prayed for us before the cross. 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:57.200 I hold fast to my absolute belief that on that night in the garden, when he prayed for every believer, he saw our faces. 00:31:57.519 --> 00:31:59.359 Wasn't some generic prayer. 00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:05.680 I believe the father showed us, showed him us, showed him all that would believe. 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:15.119 And he was there on his knees in the garden, yielding his life for the Father's cup and his will for the father's. 00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:32.000 And he prayed and he said, Father, as you are in me, and I in you, may they also be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. 00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:37.200