Rock Point Easter - Saturday, April 11

59 min

Pastor Bill Bush · Apr 12, 2020 · 4 min read · 59 min listen

The empty tomb is greater than any empty room — Jesus proved Himself the way maker, miracle worker, and promise keeper by rising from the dead.

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Scripture in this message

Big Idea

Even when Easter feels strange or isolating, Jesus is still who He always was — the way maker who conquered death. Like the first disciples, we can misunderstand or miss Him until He calls us by name, and once we hear Him and see Him clearly, our darkness gives way to His light.

Key points

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1We can mistake Jesus for someone smaller than He is, just like the disciples did that first Easter.
Pastor Bill tells a story of being mistaken for a Target employee because of what he was wearing, and connects it to how the disciples mistook Jesus for someone who would simply fix their political and personal problems rather than recognizing who He truly was.
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2Mary found the tomb empty and assumed the worst, never imagining resurrection.
Working through John 20, Pastor Bill shows how Mary Magdalene, despite following Jesus and seeing His miracles, ran to tell Peter and John that Jesus's body had been stolen rather than considering He had risen.
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3Jesus is the way maker who reconciles us to God through His death in our place.
Pastor Bill explains sin as rebelling against God's ways and trying to be our own god, which separates us from a holy God. Jesus lived perfectly and died in our place so we could be justified, made right with God.
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4Peter and John moved from glancing to theorizing to truly believing, but still went home still hiding.
Pastor Bill unpacks the Greek words for see in John 20:5-10, showing John progressing from a glance, to Peter theorizing about the folded head cloth, to John seeing and believing that Jesus rose as promised, yet they still returned to hiding, not yet living in the light.
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5Mary encountered the risen Jesus but mistook Him for the gardener until He called her name.
Pastor Bill walks through John 20:11-16, describing Mary's ugly crying and confusion, her assumption that the man before her just worked there, and the turning point when Jesus spoke her name and she recognized Him as Rabboni, her teacher.
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6Recognizing Jesus happens when He calls your name, not when you solve your immediate problem.
Pastor Bill tells about his young daughter Micah, stuck and screaming under her bed in the dark, who only calmed down when he turned on the light and said her name. He applies this to how Jesus meets us in our fear and confusion by calling us by name.

Application

Listen for Jesus to call your name, and let that be what turns the light on in your darkness.

Recognize Jesus for who He really is
Don't settle for treating Jesus like someone who just fixes your immediate problem; see Him as the way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, and light in the darkness.
Listen for Him to call your name
Whether you already believe or are still stuck in fear and confusion like Mary, pay attention for Jesus speaking into your specific situation rather than looking past Him.
Say yes to Jesus for the first time
If you've never put your faith in what Jesus did on the cross, pray the prayer of surrender offered at the end, inviting Him to forgive you and become your way maker.
Follow Him as the way maker going forward
For those who prayed, commit to learning to follow Jesus daily and to visit rockpoint.io to click 'say yes to Jesus' so others can pray with and support you.

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“what I want to look at is this the story out of John chapter 20 on that resurrection morning, the Easter morning of what happened. And I think we're gonna see is the disciples”
From the transcript
“Jesus said this. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me. So Jesus is the way maker because He is the way”
From the transcript
“There's only one way to be made right with God, and that's through the Waymaker Himself, Jesus. Because we've all sinned, as the Bible says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
From the transcript
“Verse three, it says, Peter and the other disciples started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first”
From the transcript
“But anyways, they both get there. He gets there first but look what it says in verse five, He, meaning John, stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there but he didn't go in”
From the transcript
“But then, verse eight. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first, in case you forgot that he won the race, also went in. And he saw and believed”
From the transcript
“And it says in verse nine, For until then, they still hadn't understood the scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. So now he's putting together scriptures”
From the transcript
“But then the verse 10, the powerful response that they had says, Then they went home. What? He's put all the pieces together. He's right there. And they went home”
From the transcript
“Verse 11 says, Mary was standing outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she stooped and looked in”
From the transcript
“she turned to leave and saw someone standing there. Verse 14. It was Jesus, but she didn't recognize him”
From the transcript
“Dear woman, why are you crying? Jesus asked her in verse 15. Who are you looking for”
From the transcript
“And then in verse sixteen, one word changes it all. Mary, Jesus said. He just called out her name”
From the transcript
“So she runs to him and must she goes to embrace Him. But verse 17 says, Don't cling to me, Jesus said”
From the transcript
“and in verse 18 it says, Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, I have seen the Lord”

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Day 1

Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb before the sun was fully up, and the first thing she registered was absence. The stone was moved. The body — as far as she could tell — was gone. Her immediate conclusion was not resurrection; it was theft. Someone had taken Him, and she didn't know where they had laid Him. That's a deeply human response. When the thing we were counting on disappears, our minds race toward the worst explanation available. Mary loved Jesus. She had followed Him, served alongside Him, watched Him die. And still, in that moment of shock, she could not yet see Him as someone who conquers death — only as someone death had taken. It's worth sitting with that honestly. Most of us have stood in our own version of that garden, staring at an empty place where something or someone we needed used to be, and our first instinct was panic, not hope. The sermon pointed out that Mary didn't yet recognize Jesus as the Waymaker — the One who doesn't just help navigate problems but actually overcomes what we cannot. That recognition would come, but not yet. Today, simply notice where you are. The journey toward resurrection sight often begins exactly where Mary began: in the dark, confused, and looking.

For reflection

Where in your life right now are you staring at an empty place and drawing the worst conclusion — and what would it mean to leave room for a different explanation?

Pray

Pray for honesty about the places where fear is shaping how you see your circumstances right now.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message centers on a single question Jesus asks on the morning of the resurrection: 'Who are you looking for?' Take a moment before you dive in — think about what first drew you to this story, whether you grew up with it or heard it fresh.

Discussion questions

1
In John 20:1-2, Mary's immediate conclusion is that someone has taken Jesus' body. What does that reaction tell us about what she — and the other disciples — were still expecting from Him at that point?
2
The message describes three people at the tomb — Mary, Peter, and John — who each respond differently: one in hopeless confusion, one forming theories, one believing but still going home in the dark. What do you notice about why the same empty tomb produces such different responses?
3
In John 14:6, Jesus says, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.' The message builds on this to describe Jesus not just as a helper with immediate problems but as the Waymaker who conquered sin and death. What's the difference between those two ways of relating to Jesus, and why does it matter?
4
In John 20:15-16, Jesus reveals Himself to Mary by simply saying her name — and that one word moves her from weeping confusion to 'I have seen the Lord.' What does it mean that recognition came not through an argument or a miracle, but through being called by name?
5
The message uses the image of an 'empty room' — a situation that feels hopeless or dark — alongside the empty tomb. How might the reality of the resurrection change the way we, as a community, sit with one another in those empty-room moments?
6
The message points out that John believed the resurrection and still went back home hiding in the dark. What might keep someone — or a group of people — from letting what they already believe actually pull them out of a fearful place?

Pray together

Ask God to make Jesus known to us as He truly is — Waymaker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, Light in the darkness — and for the courage to respond when He calls our names

Ask Rewind about this message

Scripture in this message

Rock Point Easter - Saturday, April 11

Big Idea

Key points

Application

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

7-day devotional

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Small-group discussion guide

Open

Discussion questions

Pray together

Go deeper

Love Defined | Week 4

Evidence of Eternity | Week 1 | Message

PROVEN | Week 4 | Sermon

Iconic Jesus | Week 3

Iconic Jesus | Week 1

Easter 2018

Rock Point Easter - Saturday, April 11

The big idea

Ask Rewind about this message

Scripture in this message

Big Idea

Key points

Application

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

7-day devotional

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Small-group discussion guide

Open

Discussion questions

Pray together

Go deeper

Love Defined | Week 4

Evidence of Eternity | Week 1 | Message

PROVEN | Week 4 | Sermon

Iconic Jesus | Week 3

Iconic Jesus | Week 1

Easter 2018