New Life Group Study - Part 3 - Rock Point Church

But Peter sort of misjudges the distance. For him, it's more like a meter, 400 meter race. But for John, it's much more like a 100 meter sprint. So of course, John gets there first. He looks in the tomb, but decides not to go in. But even from his vantage point, he could see the tomb was open and empty.

Peter arrives out of breath, of course, and in he goes, just like Peter would. A closer evaluation reveals the most curious thing. The linen clothes were lying there, but they're all intact. Also, the single cloth napkin that had been around Jesus' head is not with the other grave clothes, but in a separate place.

But someone has not only taken the body away, but they're first taking the trouble of unwrapping it, which would be really difficult and a time consuming task. And why on earth would anyone want to do that, especially if they just wanted to steal the body? As both men were trying to make sense of the scene,

it appeared as if the entire body had just disappeared, leaving empty grave clothes. Jesus' wrappings looked like a collapsed balloon that just kinda slowly let the air gone out of it.

Then comes the moment when they had put it all together and it melts. It must have felt like a sense of relief like a first rain brings at the end of a long drought. Now their faith had finally turned to sight and they believed. They believed the new creation story had just begun. They understood

that the world had turned a corner out of its long winter into a glorious spring. Peter and John didn't believe that God just took Jesus' body to heaven. No, John is quite clear about this. He's talking about a resurrection. Now, everybody in the ancient world knew that resurrections

just couldn't happen. You know, it's often spoke about it even in the world of classical Greece and Rome as something that might somebody could imagine, but it would never occur. You know, the Jews believed eventually it would happen to all God's people at the end of time, the end of days.

When Lazarus was raised and returned to his old life, everyone knew he would have to suffer death again. And Lazarus needed help to get out of his grave clothes. Jesus left them behind altogether. Jesus had gone on through death into a new creation,

a new life beyond where death itself has been defeated and all life and all its fullness could begin at last.

Now, not long after Peter and John found the tomb empty, not knowing what else to do, just went back to Peter's hiding place. But Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb after they left. And there she stood weeping so loudly. For some strange reason, she was drawn back to the previously empty tomb.

But when she got there, she found two angels dressed in white sitting there where the body had been. Now, we can only assume from Mary's reaction that these angels looked like men and they weren't wearing wings and halos. But where did these angels come from? They hadn't been there a few minutes before.

Or maybe they had been. Sometimes we can only see angels through tears. The angels asked her, Why are you crying? Which might seem like a dumb question to ask when someone is who's and mourning by a gravesite,

but in another sense, this is an obvious question to remind Mary that she had no reason to cry, for Jesus wasn't dead but alive. All that Mary knew was that Jesus' body was gone and she didn't know who moved it or where to find it.

And then she turned around after talking to the two men in the tomb and out the corner of her eyes, she saw a strange figure she didn't recognize and she just intuitively thought it was the gardener. In so many ways, Mary was right and yet so wrong.

Jesus is now the new gardener who's charged to bring order to the chaos which ensued after Adam was kicked out of the first garden. And only Jesus can make this garden flower into fruitfulness. You know, his resurrection had made it possible to uproot all the thorns and thistles and replace them with fruit bearing plants.

Now, are several theories as to why Jesus told Mary not to cling to Him. Some have thought this was the that His resurrection body was so new, so different, that He didn't want Mary to touch Him and get the wrong idea, maybe thinking that He might be a ghost.

This theory surmises that Jesus' body was somehow different than our physical bodies because Jesus hadn't ascended yet to his father. But what's probably far more likely that Jesus' warning to Mary was more relational in nature.

He was forewarning her that their relationship was about to change. He wouldn't be just traveling around Galilee and Judea anymore, walking from village to village, sharing meals and discovering what really heaven's like. Instead, they would only see him for a short time, actually forty days.

Then he would return to his father, and that's why Jesus used that word cling. He was preparing Mary for a new reality when the spirit of God would reside in her and she'll have direct access to God, but Jesus will be with her physically no longer.

Sometimes the best way to quickly get over overwhelming emotions like Mary had is just to focus on something else like a task. So Jesus wastes no time in giving Mary something very important to do. You know, the true meaning of the word apostle simply means one who was sent. And in essence, Mary became

an apostle to the apostles because Jesus told Mary to go to his brothers and tell them the good news that he was alive.

It was probably music to the ears of the disciples when they heard that Jesus had referred to him as brothers, especially due to the fact that most of them went into hiding during Jesus' greatest time of need. Unfortunately, when Mary caught up with the group and relayed Jesus' message,

they really didn't fully believe her. For if they had, they wouldn't have stayed behind locked and closed doors, cowering fear of the religious leaders. Now, some of their unbelief may have been a result of a cultural bias.

You know, if someone in the first century wanted to invent a story seeing Jesus alive after his crucifixion, they wouldn't have dreamed of giving the star witness role to a woman, especially a woman of low reputation like Mary Magdalene. In fact, women in the first century

weren't called as witnesses because men thought they were too emotional and sometimes too irrational to be called to testify at court cases. Well,

hey, please don't shoot the messenger. I'm only reporting the facts. And let me just go on record, my wife would make a far more reliable witness than me. She's incredibly detailed.

That evening, all the disciples came together behind closed and locked doors because they still feared that the Jewish leaders desired to do to them what they did to Jesus. So

Jesus appeared with the normal greeting of any Jewish person who entered a place where people gathered. That word is the word shalom or in English peace. And believe me, peace was the last thing that was in this room. And for the short run, things were going to get a little worse before they get a little better.

For Jesus is going to give the disciples more responsibility than they ever expected or probably ever wanted. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever received a job offer or a promotion which you didn't apply and that was way above your abilities and expertise?

That's what the disciples were feeling when Jesus first appeared to them after his resurrection. In that moment, even Peter didn't immediately stand up and overpromise and underdeliver. In fact, no one was eager to take on this responsibility.

So, you might be unclear about what I'm talking about, the positions that Jesus was offering. Well, pick up your Bible and read John twenty twenty three. You know, here Jesus tells his disciples, If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. Now, would you be quick to take on that level of responsibility

after experiencing the worst day in history of the organization? And to make matters worse, at the height of the disaster, you decide to desert your post and go into hiding. What kind of CEO would offer a job promotion to a group of leaders like this?

But the worst yet might be to come. Verse 23 says, If you don't forgive their sin, they are not forgiven. Frankly, if anyone believed that they were the right person for that job, they probably need to have their head examined. But

Jesus knows the disciples were up to the task because he doesn't give them an option, but only a command. They are to do it. But of course we know that's not the entire story.

You know, this command comes after the crucial promise of the Holy Spirit. And the point of receiving the Spirit is not to give them some new spiritual experiences,

nor is it to set them apart from ordinary people like a holier than thou type of thing. No, the point is that Jesus wants to equip them to do in the whole world what He's been doing in Israel. As the Father has sent me, now I'm sending you. That's verse 21.

So the real question is, how does the message that Jesus preached that made total sense in Israel who was waiting for a Messiah and constantly thinking about God makes sense to a non Jewish world. Well, the only way to accomplish Jesus' commands is through the power of the Spirit.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, allow me to clarify, Jesus was not giving them the soon to be apostles the right to forgive sins. Only God can do that. What he did give them was the right to announce forgiveness based on a person's response to the message of salvation through Christ. Christ.

Finally, the light bulbs were turning on and the disciples finally understood their mission to go into all the world to preach the good news. But just like in most organizations, everyone wasn't present at that all important meeting. For ever the reason, Thomas missed the meeting in the upper room.

Although the other disciples were adamant they had seen Jesus, he just didn't believe him. He needed some type of physical evidence that Jesus was alive And before we're tempted to use that moniker, you know, doubting Thomas again, well, we have to at least acknowledge that all he really wanted was to see Jesus

just as the other disciples did. A week later, disciples were locked behind closed doors again, but this time Thomas was with them and suddenly Jesus appeared without walking through a door.

Then the Lord provided the evidence that Thomas was longing for. He showed him the nail holes in his hands and the wounds in his side. You know, in some strange way, Thomas has become the patron's sake for all skeptics who have trouble with believing without seeing.

But in that moment, Thomas didn't need to touch Jesus and he blurted out, My Lord and my God. And this and that fact Jesus came willingly. I mean, about this. He came willingly, gives all of us hope that those especially who often play Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.

Jesus didn't scold Thomas for doubting, instead He just met Thomas where He was at spiritually. Jesus seems to always respond to searching hearts, but listen, this is very important, but not to harden hearts. We should be mindful to respond to Jesus when He chooses to appear,

even if our response is not without doubts and questions. In about just a month or so after Jesus appeared to the leaven, no one will be able to see Jesus face to face anymore. Okay, I'll give you a couple people. Paul on the road to Damascus and John on Patmos, but that's about it.

This fact should motivate us to take every opportunity to seek the Lord when He may be found. And remember that those who believe without seeing, that's us, are really the true blessed ones. Let me pray for you.

Father, I just wanna thank you that you are still appearing to us. Maybe not in the flesh, but you are appear through your word. And thank you God for the people who've taken painstaking detail to make sure every word is correct. And many have lost their lives. We have so many Bibles

that were written in the tongue of the people, whether it be German or English or Spanish, who had to die because of that Bible. They had to die because kings and princes didn't want God's word in our hands so we would know the truth. God, never

let it be said of the people of Rock Point that their Bible is somewhere up there on the shelf gathering dust. Let it be worn. Let the pages be kind of ripping and torn and yellow because people have cried their way through it. Because this is how you appear to us now.

And it is as real and as close and as powerful as it is when it was with the disciples. God, let us never for sake you in your word because you are the living word.

And we thank you because you left no margin. We know how we're supposed to live. We know what we're supposed to be about. We know that you're alive and we know that your spirit lives within us and we can know what that means because of the power that we can understand that Bible. God, thank you that every weekend,

every class, everything we do is about the book. But really it's about Jesus, it's about God, it's about the spirit and it's about us. So God let us do what the disciples were just catching on to go into all the world and to preach the gospel.

Use words if you have to, but by doing good deeds and being kind but also telling people about why you have joy will change the trajectory of this world. Thanks for our mission in Jesus name, amen.