Sermon Nuggets Mon Dec 22
Theme- Resurrection
Verses- John 20:1-18
Vs. 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Wide Eyed.
That first Christmas Shepherds came to see the place where Jesus was born. They worshiped the child. 33 years later the disciples came to see the place where His body was laid. When Mary saw Him alive, she worshiped the savior.
One SS teacher told the 5th grade class that Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb. She wondered if they knew why? One student said, “Jesus only used it three days."
Well he did give it back. So perhaps that was the best answer. Some people have gone to the Holy Land and if they have the place correct, stood in the empty tomb. If that was the case then Joseph’s family decided not to use it for him after that, but kept it empty.
We celebrate the Birthday of Jesus Christ this week. It is when he received a human body. In our passage of study we celebrate the resurrection of this body. But it is not the same as Mary delivered. I am not speaking only of size and maturity. It is a new body that is not bound by death. It is a new body not hindered by walls or space. Jesus could do more amazing things that what his previous physical body allowed.
Although we celebrate many birthdays of people, there is only one celebration of a resurrection. Everyone else has graves or places where their ashes have been placed who have passed on, but there is no place for Jesus’ body.
Perhaps no fact in ancient history has so fully proven as the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
A couple of years ago we looked at the Case for Christmas written by Lee Strobel. As an atheist, Strobel, who was a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, made it his task to disprove the resurrection. Drawing on expert testimony first shared in his blockbuster book The Case for Christ, Strobel examines the medical evidence, the explanations for the missing body if in fact it was mission. He examined the evidences of post resurrection appearances of Jesus and the reaction of the disciples. Was it a superstitious myth or life-changing reality? According to the evidences and interview of a variety of people, the startling findings changed him from atheism to a follower of Jesus Christ. He evidentially quit his job and joined the staff at the Willowcreek Church near Chicago.
Jesus was no longer bound to this earth. He could no longer be betrayed, or killed or die again as like what happed to Lazarus. His body was not incorruptible. Lives were tremendously changed after seeing the resurrected Lord. Immediately the Christian church began and hundreds followed because His identity was no longer hidden from the people as it was when He was growing up in Nazareth. Jesus is God come to earth as a man and took our sin upon his body in his suffering and death and rose again to defeat the powers of Satan and death and says all who believe in me will never die.
The Shepherds were introduced to the message of the angels who proclaimed the birth of the Savior. They responded by saying, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
Mary was introduced to the message of the angels who said, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen just as he said.”
What Christmas brought in hope, the resurrection bought in reality. God continues to bid men and women to come to and see, and then believe.
Pastor Dale
