Resurrection

[0:00] Okay, I'd tell you open your Bibles, but just wait. Being Resurrection Sunday, as I was thinking and praying about like, you know, what to teach on, what the Lord would have us to look at.

[0:15] You know, do we do a deep dive into one part of the resurrection? Obviously, we can't do a deep dive into the whole thing. That would take a while. And just kind of as I was piecing it together and looking at the different accounts, I think what we're going to do, something a little different.

[0:30] We're going to actually read through the entire resurrection account in chronological order. So as I was kind of putting it together and seeing the different events, I mean, we know that on the first day of the week, on Sunday morning, the tomb was empty, the stone was rolled away, and then the women went.

[0:45] But Mary Magdalene was there too. And then Peter and John came at one point. And it's like, okay, but then what about when Jesus appeared to them in the upper room? When was that? Was that a week later? Is that the day of?

[0:55] But I think it'll be just a super fun exercise and a big blessing. We're just going to go through it. And I've actually put the scripture, like I said, in chronological order.

[1:06] So I'm going to throw up on the screen and you can read it, read along with me. And we'll just kind of see where the Lord takes us. I'm not going to comment a ton as we go along. I'm going to try and refrain from commenting a lot. Until we get to the end, where I want to get to is we're going to end up at the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus meets a handful of the apostles and sits down to breakfast with them.

[1:26] And there he says to Peter, if you love me, feed my sheep. And that was the section that kind of the Lord put on my heart to begin with, as far as the application. But we're going to kind of make a running start to this.

[1:36] So, shocking title, Resurrection, which was very shocking at the time. Father, thank you so much for your word, Lord.

[1:47] We're excited to just see the truth, Lord. We don't have to guess. So much of the religion today, Lord, is, Lord, we know it's all false. But so much of it, Lord, is just so fluid.

[1:59] It all is dependent upon the moment and the man and the person. And I think it's, was it the Book of Mormon has been revised some, I don't know how many thousands of times, but they don't tell you that because they don't want you to know.

[2:13] Lord, there's only one book that's true. It's the book of Jesus Christ. It's the word of God. And so we thank you for that this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. But just to get a little context, last week we ended chapter 31 of Genesis.

[2:26] We looked at Laban and Jacob as they parted ways. Praise God, we will not see Laban again. We have to move on to Esau, right? When you think you got rid of one guy, you get rid of Laban and in front of you is an Esau.

[2:40] So we'll get to, we'll get to jump back into that next week. But we kind of ended looking at how Jacob, the man of the covenant, he provided a sacrifice on the hill of witness. And because of that, then all Labans can be a blessing.

[2:52] That he drew a line in the sand, the man of the covenant, Mizpah, where no Laban and no sin and no flesh and our past does not come back, does not cross that line.

[3:03] And that's the cross. And so as we look at the account, we're going to see Jesus in the tomb, or not Jesus in the tomb, but we're going to see the ladies, the women go to the tomb, the disciples go to the tomb.

[3:15] We're going to see that they're in the upper room. And so here's kind of a map showing some of that. You can see that at the top there is the garden tomb in Golgotha. So Jesus was crucified without the gate, and we are to go out.

[3:27] It says in Hebrews, we are to join him going out of the gate, bearing his shame. So he was outside the gate of the old city. And then the garden tomb, we know, we'll see in the account, was just a stone's throw away from there.

[3:41] If you look at the middle circle there, the big one, that's the temple. And right at the top of that is the Antonio Fortress. That would have been most likely where Pilate was when Jesus was brought to him when he stood before Pilate.

[3:51] And then they take him out to crucify him just a little bit north there to Golgotha. And then at the bottom, we see what is supposedly the upper room. Nobody knows for sure what the upper room is. It's in the city. That's all we know.

[4:02] So as we see people traveling around and back and forth throughout the narrative, this will kind of give you an idea. Golgotha exists, and it exists today. Golgotha means the place of the skull. And there it is.

[4:13] You can see in that picture a skull. I've been there. It does look like a skull. And if you look at photos as far back as there's some photos like from the 1800s when Great Britain was over there on expeditions, it's a skull.

[4:25] And they built some under Arab ownership. They built a bus terminal in front of it, so you cannot get up to it. But it is there.

[4:36] And just to the side of that is the garden tomb, which is there. It's been there too. And you can see there where the stairs kind of go over that little lip right there.

[4:46] That would have been the trough that they cut out for the stone to roll in. And if you go in the tomb, this is what it looks like. And this is important because we're going to find out that there are multiple people who go to the tomb will stoop down and look in.

[4:59] And at one time, they'll look in, and on the right is an angel sitting. And that would be where they had laid the body where Jesus was. He is not there. He is risen. So first, I want to start in, is that readable?

[5:15] Yeah, there's going to be a lot of text. In 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul gives us the gospel. And we know that Paul says, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also have you received, and wherein you stand.

[5:29] And he's going to give us the synopsis of the gospel. But he gives us some information about the resurrection as well, and the events that were happening that day, that we don't exactly get fleshed out for us in the gospels.

[5:42] He says, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand. By which also you are saved, you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you believed in vain.

[5:55] For I delivered unto you the first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. And that he was seen of Cephas, or Peter.

[6:09] And here he gives us an interesting order. Then of the twelve, after that he was seen of about five, above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present. But some are fallen asleep.

[6:20] Paul is writing this like 30 years later, or about that, 20 some years. After the resurrection. And he said, After that, he, Jesus, was seen of James, then of all the apostles.

[6:31] Last of all, he was seen of me also, as one born out of due time. So Paul gives us a little order there. He said he was seen of Cephas, he was seen of Peter, and we're going to see that. That Peter had his own particular meeting with Jesus on the resurrection Sunday.

[6:47] And then again, he was seen of the twelve. Well, as we go through the account in the Gospels, it's always referred to as the eleven. Who's not there? Judas. But Paul says the twelve.

[6:59] I thought this was pretty cool, because in Acts chapter one, before the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the enabling of the Holy Spirit comes on them, Peter stands up and says, Guys, we need to replace Judas.

[7:09] We need someone else. And so they put forth Matthias and Justice. And then they draw lots, and they pick Matthias. And remember the condition was that there had to be someone who was with them from the baptism of John and went in and out with them, was there with them.

[7:25] We know Jesus sent out the twelve to go cast out demons and prepare the kingdom. Well, he also sent out seventy who were apostles sent out. So Paul is ratifying here and saying, Yes, Matthias is the twelfth one.

[7:37] Because you may hear some people say, Well, Paul should have been the twelfth one. Paul was the one God wanted to put in there. No, Paul right here says he was seen of the twelve, which means Matthias was there when Jesus appeared in the upper room at that time.

[7:50] And then he says that he was seen of above five hundred brethren. So those are just general believers. And then of James. So he had a specific meeting with the apostle James.

[8:02] And then of all the apostles. So again, this is not the twelve. He's mentioned the twelve. And now this is apostles. That would be others that have been sent out that would have been with Jesus. And last of all, he was seen of Paul.

[8:14] Remember last week we covered a little bit of the crucifixion. We're going to back up a little bit into that. We're going to pick up in Matthew 27. So Jesus has been brought to the cross to Golgotha.

[8:28] And when they were coming to a place called Golgotha, that is to say a place of a skull, look at that picture, they crucified him. So Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

[8:41] And when the evening was come, there was a rich man of Arimathea named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple. He went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. We know Nicodemus was with him as well.

[8:52] Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb. You know, there is his own new tomb, right?

[9:06] Which he had hewn out of a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher and departed. Now the next day that followed. Now the next day that followed the day of preparation, and that's important.

[9:18] So there's the Passover and there's the day of preparation that happens before the Passover. The lambs for the Passover would have been crucified. I mean, crucified. They would have been slaughtered on that day, the same day Jesus was crucified, so that everybody would have their lambs then for Passover.

[9:31] Passover, if you look in the Old Testament, is always a Sabbath. Whenever Passover comes, wherever it falls during the week, it is a Sabbath day, a special Sabbath day. John will tell us that there was a high holy day before the Sabbath, which was the Passover.

[9:46] So this year, it happened to fall, that the Passover was on Friday, and then you'd have the regular Sabbath, and then you'd have Sunday, the first day of the week. Jesus would have been crucified on Thursday, the day of preparation.

[9:57] And then you'd have two Sabbaths, back to back. That's why we're going to see when the women come on the first day of the week, on Sunday, why didn't they come sooner? So they couldn't. They had to wait for the Sabbath to be finished, two of them back to back.

[10:09] And we know that Pilate will, the Pharisees will go to Pilate, the chief priests, and they'll say, break their legs, those that are on the cross, because we don't want them to be on the cross during the Sabbath, during the Passover.

[10:23] And then when they go, they find Jesus has already been, he's already given up the ghost, already dead. Now the next day following, that following, the day of preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together to Pilate.

[10:34] So they're coming to Pilate, which is kind of ironic. They're coming on Passover to Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, after three days, I will rise again.

[10:47] Command, therefore, that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people, he is risen from the dead, though the last error shall be worse than the first.

[10:59] Pilate said unto them, You have a watch. Go your way. Make it as sure as you can. So they went and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch. Well, they didn't need to make it sure.

[11:11] There was nobody going to take Jesus out of the grave for those three days. He didn't need a Rome seal on it. He had the seal of the scriptures. And then picking up Matthew 28, verses 1 through 4, in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.

[11:28] So we have our two Sabbaths over. Now we're getting into Sunday morning. If you remember, the Jewish Sabbath, the Jewish day, went from sundown to sundown. So at sunset, the next day began. And so they would have to wait until the Sabbath is over.

[11:42] And then Saturday night, the Sabbath ends, but it's dark, so they wait until Sunday morning. And we see what happens here in the morning. And behold, there was a great earthquake for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it.

[11:58] His countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him, the keepers did shake and became as dead men. The angel comes down and rolls away the stone.

[12:08] Why did the angel roll away the stone? He didn't do it to let Jesus out. He did it to let the women in. Jesus is going to appear to them in the upper room. It's going to say that they're in the room and the door is locked and Jesus appears in the midst of them.

[12:22] Jesus was already risen when this angel came and rolled away the stone. And so he rolls it back and in Luke 24, verse 1, Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, the women, come unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others with them.

[12:40] Mark 16, 3-4. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away for it was very great.

[12:52] So as we piece these accounts together, we see the angel comes down, rolls back the stone, the guards all fall down like they're struck dead. And then the ladies are approaching and they're so desperate to get there, they don't think until they're finally there, who's going to roll away the stone?

[13:09] And as they come on the, into the garden, what do they see? They see this angel sitting on the stone. Matthew 28, verses 5 and 7. And the angel answered and said unto the women, the ones sitting on the stone, Fear not you, for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified.

[13:25] He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly, and tell his disciples that he's risen from the dead. And behold, he goes before you into Galilee.

[13:37] There shall you see him. Lo, I have told you. You see two phrases repeated over and over. He's not here, he's risen. And then this phrase here, Behold, he goes before you into Galilee.

[13:48] Jesus, before he was crucified, told his disciples, after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. There you shall find me. And so, there's this constant emphasis to remind the disciples to go to Galilee.

[14:01] So at this point, Mary, Magdalene, she's there. You have Mary, you have Joanna, you have Mary, the mother of James, that's not Jesus' mother Mary, that's James the lesser. You have these women, Mary Magdalene, at this point, it seems like she turns around and runs, and runs back to Peter and John, in John 20, verses 1 through 2.

[14:19] Then she, Mary Magdalene, runs and comes to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him.

[14:31] We don't know where he is. So while the women are there, Mary comes, the tomb is empty, the stone's rolled away, there's an angel on it, and Mary goes back. Now Mary's going to meet multiple angels and eventually Jesus, and she's not going to believe any of them.

[14:46] But it's interesting, as we look at this, we'll see that never is her faith, never is she chastised for not having faith, and we'll see why. Mark 16, verses 5 through 7, And entering into the sepulcher, at this point now, they, the women, saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment, and they were affrighted.

[15:06] And he said unto them, Be not affrighted. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. Behold the place where they laid him.

[15:18] But go your way. Tell his disciples, specifically Peter, who has denied him, that he goes before you into Galilee. There shall you see him as he said unto you.

[15:30] And so the women, the other angel says, Come and see the place. He's outside. They then go down in and look, and they look in there, and there's a young man sitting on the right side, just as we said, in the tomb.

[15:41] On the right side, that's where the body would have been. And he tells them, You seek Jesus, but he's not here. Continuing to reiterate, Jesus is not here. He is risen. Luke 24, verses 3 to 8.

[15:54] And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed about, much perplexed thereabout, so it seems like they come out of the tomb, they're standing around, they're very perplexed. Behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.

[16:06] And as they, the women, were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they, the men, said unto them, Why seek you the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.

[16:16] What are they trying to get across to these women? He's not here. He's risen. Stop seeking the living among the dead. He's not here. He's risen. Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet with you in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified.

[16:34] And the third day rise again. And they remembered his words. Could you imagine their sorrow? Jesus has been crucified, the one they love, their Savior, their Master. And then it, clicking, it's the third day, like he said, and he's risen.

[16:51] Mark 16, verse 8, So they're supposed to go back and tell the disciples and they just kind of leave.

[17:06] They don't know what to think. They believe or they remember his words, but they're still very much perplexed. Scene change. Let's go now back to Peter and John. While the women have been in the tomb and are leaving, Mary Magdalene has just gone back and told Peter and John what's going on and now they're heading to the tomb as the ladies are leaving the tomb.

[17:26] In John 20, verses 3 to 11, it says, Peter therefore, when he heard from Mary Magdalene what was going on, he went forth and that other disciple, being John, John never refers to himself by name, that other disciple and came to the sepulcher.

[17:39] So they ran both together and the other disciple did outrun Peter and came first to the sepulcher. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying.

[17:50] Yet went he not in. Then comes Simon Peter following him and went into the sepulcher. So John beats him in a foot race but you can just see he's like looking in. Peter's like the last one, you know, he's like, well I'm just going in.

[18:01] I was in first. You might have beat me but I got in first. And so Peter goes in and he sees the linen clothes lie. Remember it said Joseph of Barimathea wrapped Jesus in clean linen and laid him in the tomb.

[18:15] And the napkin, that was about his head. And so they would have wrapped his body and then they also laid this like cloth upon his head, around his head. It was not lying with the linen clothes but wrapped together in a place by itself.

[18:29] So Jesus did not, you know, wake up from death and tear the clothes off just as he exited the tomb without needing the stone rolled away. And just as he will show up in the upper room without needing a door open.

[18:41] He just passed right through the grave clothes. But it's, you know, he just turned around and he took the little napkin or whatever, the thing that was on his face and folded it up and laid it there. Like, it wasn't an accident, guys.

[18:52] I really did this. So they see it laying there. Then went in also that other disciple. So John goes in as well, follows Peter, which came first. He followed Peter who came first to the sepulcher.

[19:05] And he saw, John saw, and believed. But John believes Jesus is risen from the dead. For as yet, they knew not the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. So they had Jesus' words, but they didn't put that together yet with the scripture.

[19:18] We're going to find out why. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. What do you see missing from this account that the ladies had?

[19:31] They didn't have any angels. Nobody, nobody there. Peter and John get there and they just look in and they see the body gone. John believes, but there's nobody there. There's no one else there.

[19:44] John chapter 20, continuing on. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher, weeping. So Mary went with Peter and John, it seems like. They go in, she stands without weeping, they come out, John believes, and you can just see him, Peter, it's true.

[19:58] And Peter's like, I don't know. And so they go back home. They say, Mary, come on. And she's like, no, just leave me. And she's standing there weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher.

[20:09] And she sees two angels in white, sitting the one at the head and the other at the feet. The two angels, bookending the mercy seat, just like the seraphim over the ark, mercy seat in the middle, and the two seraphim bookending it.

[20:25] Here you have these two angels, one on each side of the mercy seat. And they said unto her, woman, why weepest thou? Interesting. They don't say, what are you looking for? And who do you seek?

[20:36] They say, why do you weep? You've already heard from that first angel who sat on the stone. He's not here. He's risen. Why do you weep? And she said unto them, because they've taken away my Lord, I know not where they've laid him.

[20:48] Mary loved Jesus and she wanted Jesus. She wanted Jesus back. There's any way she could get him back. And when she had said thus, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus.

[21:01] And now she turns around from the tomb and there's Jesus standing there. And Jesus said unto her, woman, why weepest thou? Whom seek you? She's supposing him to be the gardener. Said unto him, sir, if you've borne him away hence, tell me where you've laid him.

[21:16] I'm going to carry that dead body myself. I'll take him away. She was desperate to find Jesus. Mary was so desperate to find her crucified Messiah that she was not able to see her risen Lord.

[21:29] She was holding on so tightly to the crucified Jesus that she wasn't able to see the risen Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Mary. And I think he probably said it like, Mary.

[21:42] Like, that's me. And she turned herself and said, Rabboni, your master. And Jesus said unto her, touch me not. Doesn't mean like, oh, don't touch me. It'll contaminate me. He just means like, don't cling to me.

[21:53] You know if she grabbed him. He's like, you can't cling to me. You can't hold me. For I'm not yet ascended to my father. Really? What was he doing after the resurrection? Was he there? Was Jesus at the tomb the whole time that all these people are visiting?

[22:06] And he just didn't let himself be seen? He said, I've not yet ascended to my father. But go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my father and your father and to my God and your God.

[22:19] The resurrection has given access to God. The resurrection has opened the door so that God can be called our father. He said, go and tell my brethren this. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things unto her.

[22:33] Whether she got there before the other women or not, we don't know. But in the meantime, dun, dun, dun, dun, as this is taking place at the tomb, the other women, they're heading back. Jesus is making a lot of visits today.

[22:46] So he's just visited Mary Magdalene. In Matthew 28, verses 9 through 11, And as they, the women, went to tell his disciples, remember they went away telling no man because they were amazed and confused by this.

[23:00] Behold, Jesus met them saying, all hail. And they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him. Jesus meets the women. They know who he is and they come and they worship him.

[23:11] Then said Jesus unto them, do not be afraid. Go tell my brethren that what? Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee and there shall they see me. Where are they supposed to be?

[23:23] Galilee. Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch, that would be the soldiers who were on the ground, were they there the whole time? When did they get up and leave? When the women showed up, how long were they there?

[23:34] But at some point, they get up and they head back to the city and they showed unto the chief priests all things that were done. And we know they pay them off so that they said, don't worry, we'll tell Pilate you fell asleep.

[23:47] I know usually that would result in execution. We'll smooth things over for you and we're going to pay you off but you tell everybody the disciples came and overpowered the special forces of the Romans and that these fishermen beat you up and left you unconscious, rolled away the stone by themselves and took the body.

[24:08] You tell that story. What time do we have? All right, we'll look at this. Luke 24, verses 13, starting in verse 13.

[24:18] You know, we know the road to Emmaus and that Jesus appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. This fits right in here. And behold, two of them went that same day. So this we know, everything that's happened up till now has been early in the morning.

[24:29] The women went very early in the morning. Mary's gone back to get Peter and John. They go back to the tomb. Mary meets Jesus. Jesus meets the women on the way who are now traveling back into Jerusalem. And it seems like they all get back together now in the upper room.

[24:42] Mary and the women, Peter and John and the other apostles, and they're just talking about this. But in the meantime, these two men head to Emmaus, this village, kind of towards Joppa, to the west, towards the Mediterranean Sea.

[24:57] And it's seven and a half miles away from Jerusalem. And as they're traveling, they talk together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

[25:09] But their eyes were holding that they should not know him. So they're walking along and here comes someone else who kind of catches up with them. And he said unto them, what manner of communications are these that you have one to another as you walk and are sad?

[25:22] And the one of them said, whose name was Cleopas, answering and said unto him, art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? Are you the only person who doesn't know what's going on today? And has not known the things which are come to pass in these days?

[25:35] And he said unto them, what things? Tell me about it. And they said unto him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, we trusted that it had been him but that it would have been he which should have redeemed Israel.

[25:53] He was a mighty prophet and there were those of us who thought he was more than a prophet. We thought he was coming to redeem. And besides all this, today is the third day since these things which were done. Yea, but then there's these certain women also of our company, they made us astonished, which were early at the sepulcher.

[26:11] And when they found an odd his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher, Peter and John, and found it even so as the women had said.

[26:25] But him they saw not. So they rehearsed the day's events to Jesus. And it came to pass as he sat at meat with them, they invite Jesus in when they get to Eumaeus.

[26:36] He took bread and blessed it and break and gave to them. And their eyes were opened and they knew him and he vanished out of their sight. And they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven gathered together and them that were with them.

[26:50] Now we see the eleven where Paul says that he appeared unto the twelve. The difference between Matthias now counted among the twelve who was there at this time. But here it's referring to that there are eleven, the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus.

[27:06] Saying, the Lord is risen indeed and has appeared to Simon. So the two guys get back, they meet the eleven and the eleven say to him, hey the Lord has risen and he's appeared to Simon. So at some point after Peter and John go back, leave the tomb, Jesus appears to Peter by himself.

[27:24] And it was before these men had left for Eumaeus because they say, hey Peter and John went to the tomb but they didn't find him. Now they come back and they say Jesus appeared to Simon.

[27:35] So did Jesus appear to Peter before he met them on the road or when they were traveling back, Jesus met them. But at some point it seems like in the afternoon here, it's most likely afternoon, Jesus has appeared to Simon, to Peter.

[27:48] What do you think he appeared to Peter and said? Peter denied his Lord. We know by the time we're going to get to the Galilee and we will get there that Peter's with the apostles, he's with the disciples and Jesus will restore him to ministry.

[28:01] But I think at this point Jesus comes to Peter by himself and lets him know, Peter your sins are forgiven. I forgive you for that. And these two men, Cleopas and the other guy, they told what things were done in the way and how he was known of them in the breaking of bread.

[28:19] They are so excited. Jesus is alive. Who did they not believe? The women. They wouldn't believe the women. Why wouldn't they believe the women? Why did Jesus appear to the women first?

[28:29] Why was it only now that the apostles and these men were like, yeah, it's real because Peter saw him. Well, in this culture, in the Jewish culture at this time, in Judaism, a woman could not give legal testimony.

[28:41] Her testimony was not considered valid. She could be a litigate in a case. Like she could have a suit brought against her but she could not testify.

[28:53] So I think there's two reasons here. One, if the apostles were making this up, this story up, they would not have Jesus appear to women first because their word wasn't considered credible legally.

[29:04] So if you were making up that Jesus had risen from the dead, you'd be like, Peter saw him and John saw him and we were all there, you wouldn't have him coming to these women. And then two, Jesus is the second Adam, right?

[29:17] The first Adam chose the sin and sin entered the world but he was led into sin through deception by Eve and then the promise given to Eve within the curse was that the seed that you shall bear will crush the serpent's head and here Jesus is coming, the second Adam comes to Eve first, comes to the woman and says, it's done, I've crushed his head, it's finished.

[29:37] It's just really a beautiful picture. But here you have these men and what should they have done now? They should have said, well, let's go to Galilee because that's what we're supposed to do. Then the same day at evening, and this picks up in John chapter 20 verse 19, being the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and said unto them, peace be unto you.

[30:05] So now they're all there. They're all kind of talking and excited. Yeah, I saw Jesus. Oh, what was he like? Did he look different? Mary's like, I didn't even recognize him. I thought he was a gardener. Mary, are you serious? And then Jesus appears in the midst of them and they all go, what?

[30:19] Imagine we're sitting here and Jesus just is standing there. That would blow my mind. And then I'd cry a lot and I'd hug him and it'd be wonderful as we push each other out of the way.

[30:30] My turn with Jesus. Jesus, and he said unto them, and when he had said so, he showed them his hands and his side. He initiates this. We're going to find out Thomas is not there and eventually, you know, we kind of rag on Thomas a little bit because like, oh, Thomas, you know, you didn't believe without seeing.

[30:46] Well, Jesus initiates this here. He says to the disciples that are there, he shows them his hands and he shows them his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you.

[31:00] As my father has sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said unto them, receive you the Holy Spirit. And then in Luke 24, 45, it adds, then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures.

[31:15] And when Jesus breathes on you to receive the Holy Spirit, you receive the Holy Spirit. They're sealed. Ephesians tells us that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. But we know that Jesus will eventually tell them to wait, wait, I send you, but wait until you receive the promise of my father, which he will send, the Holy Spirit.

[31:33] Here's the Holy Spirit which seals them, which we'll find out baptizes them by one spirit into the body of Christ. But then there's a second working of the spirit, which is the spirit's work for enabling, to allow us to then go out and do the work God calls us to.

[31:48] But if you remember, it said that Peter and John didn't yet know the scripture, that Jesus must rise from the dead. Well, now their mind has been opened to begin understanding the scriptures in ways they never have before.

[32:00] Continuing on in verse, or in chapter 20 of John, but Thomas, one of the 12 called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him when he did come back, we've seen the Lord.

[32:11] But he said unto them, except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. Because they said to him, we've seen the Lord.

[32:22] He showed us his hands. He showed us his side. It's true. We have proof. We have witnessed it. And he said, oh yeah, well, I'm not going to believe that. Because Jesus said before he went to the cross, he said, many will come in my name saying I am Christ.

[32:37] Don't go to them when they say, oh, he's in the secret chamber or he's out in the field. He's like, I'm not going to believe unless I see it myself. And after eight days again, so here we have a time stamp of eight days.

[32:50] So we know the resurrection was on the Sunday following the weekend of the crucifixion. Eight days later would be the following Monday. Where were they supposed to be? Galilee. They're still in Jerusalem.

[33:01] Eight days later, his disciples were within and Thomas with him. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said, peace be unto you. Then said he to Thomas, reach hither your finger and behold my hands and reach hither your hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless, but believing.

[33:21] And Thomas answered and said unto him, my Lord and my God. And Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you've believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.

[33:33] What is the point or what is the, what is the emphasis in both of those? That you believe. Whether you've seen or not see, it's that you believe. And here Thomas now believes.

[33:46] And I didn't include it, but in one of the gospels it says, and Jesus begins to upbraid them for their hardness of heart and lack of unbelief because they would not believe and they didn't go to Galilee.

[33:58] John 21. Now we're going to pick up where we are in Galilee. I don't know when this is. Jesus was 40 days between resurrection and ascension.

[34:08] At some point, a handful of the disciples, we're going to find only seven. They're all in the upper room and only seven make their way to Galilee. I don't know how much later this is after the resurrection.

[34:19] We know that it's at least a couple weeks after because it was a week after they appeared to them in the upper room again with Thomas and now they've gone to Galilee. John 21 verses 1 through 3.

[34:30] And after these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias or the Sea of Galilee. And on this wise showed he himself that were together Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus.

[34:43] Thomas is like, I believe I'm going. I'm not going to be accused again. I'm not going to fail again in this. And Nathaniel of Canaan in Galilee and the sons of Zebedee and two others of his disciples.

[34:53] So a number of them from Galilee. And Simon Peter does something interesting here. He said to the rest of them, I go fishing. Like I'm going fishing. And they say unto him, you can already begin to see here the leadership that God has called him to.

[35:09] They say unto him, we also go with you. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately. And that night they caught nothing because you fished at night when the fish were active and feeding. So Peter at this point, he decides he's going to go fishing.

[35:23] You know, some of the characteristics of Peter as you look at his life at this point right now at his life, who is Simon Peter? Well, Simon was with the disciples of Jesus right now.

[35:34] That's a good thing. He's with the disciples. Simon has witnessed the resurrection. He knows that Jesus has risen. And Jesus has met with him now. He has his own personal meeting and then two times in the upper room.

[35:46] He's met Jesus three times. He's received the Holy Spirit. He understands the scriptures. And he has chosen with only a few others to obey and follow Jesus. So why does he choose to go fishing at this point?

[36:00] I think as another meeting with Jesus drew closer, I think Peter decides that he's going to go back to something he knows, something he's comfortable with. You see, Jesus had met with Peter and I think Jesus had told Peter, I forgive you.

[36:14] But in Peter's mind, he loves Jesus. He wants to be with Jesus. But he knows he can't serve Jesus. He's failed. And he knows he's going to fail again because he knows himself now. And as the despair sets in over knowing who he is, Peter knows he's failed at his discipleship and chooses then to go back to something he's good at.

[36:36] What I think with Peter, as I was looking at this and just thinking of all of us who, we know the resurrection, right? We are disciples of Jesus. We've partaken in the resurrection.

[36:47] But I think for Peter that he'd not yet appropriated the resurrection fully for himself. I think he knew what the resurrection meant to Jesus. He was risen again. He knew what it meant to his sin.

[36:58] They're forgiven. But I don't think he had fully appropriated what the resurrection meant now for his life going forward. Continuing on in verse 4 of John 21, But when the morning was now come, after fishing all night with no fish, Jesus stood on the shore.

[37:14] But the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said unto them, Children, have you any meat or any food? Do you have anything to eat out there? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship and you shall find.

[37:29] They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it in for the multitude of fishes. Therefore, the disciple whom Jesus loved, John, said unto Peter, you can just picture him grabbing Peter, Peter, that's Jesus.

[37:42] It's the Lord. Now when Simon heard that, when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girded his fisher's coat on him, for he was naked, he had just his shorts on, essentially, and cast himself into the sea.

[37:55] Simon wanted to be with Jesus. Peter loved Jesus. He wanted to be as close to him as he could. Where did this coat come from? For three years, he's been a fisher of men with Jesus.

[38:06] Where did he find this old thing that he left behind? Jesus said, Come, I will make you fisher of men. And somewhere, he had this old thing laying around. Peter goes back to what he knows, what he's always identified himself as.

[38:17] Like, this is all I got. Jesus, I love you. I want to be with you, but I'm just going to be a fisherman. You know, that's all I'm good for here. And Peter, he loved Jesus. And Peter wanted to be with Jesus, but Peter also knew that he had failed Jesus, and that on his own, he did not have the capacity to stay faithful to Jesus.

[38:37] And the other disciples then came in a little ship, for they were not far from land, but about 200 cubits, or 300 feet, dragging the net with the fishes. As soon then, as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals, and fish laid thereon, and bread.

[38:51] And Jesus said unto them, Bring the fish which you've now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, all by himself, 153. And for all, there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

[39:06] Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? Who are you? For they knew it was the Lord. Jesus then comes and takes bread, and gives them, and fish likewise.

[39:20] When was the last time he gave them loaves and fish? Fish, right? And there's enough for all of them. And here he is again, handing them these loaves and fishes. This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was risen from the dead.

[39:33] Only seven of them. The fourth time for Peter, but only seven of them as far as the rest of them. By dining with Peter, Jesus was showing Peter that he was still Peter's friend, his provider, and Lord, despite the fact that Peter had gone fishing because of his current state of despair because Peter knows who Peter is now.

[39:57] And then when they had finished eating, Jesus says to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He's going to ask Peter that three times.

[40:09] And if we need to look at the Greek to see the word for love here because there's two different uses of it. There's agapeo, which Jesus says to Peter, do you love me? Which is an unconditional love, a love that does not fail.

[40:20] And then he will use, Peter will respond with a different word. Peter said unto him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He uses the word phileo, which means, Lord, I like you. You're my friend.

[40:32] But it's not unconditional. It's like, I like you right now. This is great right now. But I know in a moment I could deny you. And Jesus said unto him, feed my lambs.

[40:43] Peter, take care of the little ones. I'm not asking you to do anything hard, Peter. He said unto him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me unconditionally? Do you agape me? He said unto him, yes, Lord.

[40:56] You know that I love you. I really like you, Lord. You know that I want to be with you. You know that. He said unto him, feed my sheep. He said unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas.

[41:09] And Jesus says unto him, do you like me? Simon, son of Jonas, do you phileo me? And Peter was grieved. Cut him to the heart to hear Jesus say it like this. Because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me, phileo me.

[41:24] He said unto him, Lord, you know all things. You know the capacity that I have for this. You know how I failed you. You know all things. Thou knowest that I really love you.

[41:37] And Jesus said unto him, feed my sheep. Peter was grieved because Jesus was asking for an unconditional love that Peter had already discovered he was incapable of.

[41:48] Jesus said, Peter, do you love me unconditionally? And Peter said, I'd like to, but I can't. I can't, Lord. You can't trust me. I can't serve you. Look at all these fish we caught together, Lord.

[42:00] Just send me out to be a fisherman. I'll give it all to the Lord and you can use it for the ministry. And Jesus responds and says, truly, truly, I say unto you, when you were young, you girded yourself and you walked where you would.

[42:15] But when you are old, you shall stretch forth your hands and another shall gird you and carry you where you would not. And then John tells us in writing the book, this spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God.

[42:28] And when he had spoken this, Jesus had spoken this, he said unto Peter, follow me. The resurrected Jesus was able to affirm to Peter that Peter would make it.

[42:38] That Peter's life would bring glory to God by following Jesus in current faithfulness when you were young and in future faithfulness when you are old.

[42:48] He said to Peter, you're going to make it, Peter. Your death will glorify me. You're not going to fall away. And then after that, he says, follow me. I can keep you, Peter. Peter knew that in himself he did not have this capacity.

[43:01] The only way Peter would be able to overcome the despair and failure of his own frailty was to put all of his hope in the promise of the resurrected Lord.

[43:13] Peter was to follow Jesus not in self-effort but in resurrection power. Who is Peter? Peter was with the disciples. He had partaken of the resurrection.

[43:25] He had received the Holy Spirit. He understood the scriptures and he was following Jesus and obeying his words. And yet he had not fully appropriated what the resurrection meant for his life. In Romans 6, starting in verse 3, it tells us, know you not that so many of us as we're baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.

[43:48] It's not talking about water baptism. It's talking about in Corinthians, it will tell us that we are baptized by one spirit into Christ. We are baptized by the Holy Spirit. We are brought in to Christ.

[44:00] And as we've been brought into Christ, we've been brought into his death. Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life.

[44:13] We don't stay at the cross. We walk in newness of life. For if we've been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Likewise, reckon you also yourselves.

[44:27] Consider it so. Believe it so that you are dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness under sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead.

[44:43] There was a time when you were dead in trespasses and sins where you could not yield yourself to righteousness. You could not choose to do righteousness or sin. You were under the condemnation of death. You were under the authority of sin.

[44:55] That's who we were, sold under sin. Now we can have the freedom to choose righteousness. So Paul's saying, you are free. Don't use your freedom to turn around and choose the sin.

[45:07] Choose righteousness. Why? Because we're alive from the dead. Like Mary, in many ways today, the modern disciple will appropriate Jesus' death on the cross for their sin.

[45:19] We can hold on to the crucified, dead Savior who has forgiven our sins, but we can stay there continually remorsing over our fallen state and our frailty and our sin and recognizing, thank you, Lord, you've forgiven me.

[45:33] I'm going to heaven, but I'm just going to fail again because I know who I am. Thank you for the cross that forgives me over and over and yes, we are very thankful for that. We confess our sins. He's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[45:47] But we don't stay there. We are to live as those that are alive from the dead, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ. Romans 8, 11, If the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken, literally give life to your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwells in you.

[46:09] That which had no capacity for life, that which was always failing, which was only frailty, now has a capacity for life through the spirit. The thing that at one time represented our biggest failure, now through the spirit and now through the life that comes through resurrection, that area of my life can be totally transformed.

[46:33] Ephesians 1, 19 and 20, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe? According to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead.

[46:45] The mighty power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead now lives in us and works in us. What is God's power towards us? What is God's heart towards us? Is it that we stay in our sin, that we stay at that place of Jesus is in the tomb, Jesus is crucified, he's not here, he's risen.

[47:02] Why do you seek the living among the dead? We now have that same resurrection power living in us according to the working of his mighty power.

[47:15] So as we look at the resurrection account, it's just fascinating to put it in order and to see all the times it's reiterated, he's not here, he's risen. He's not here, he's risen. And how long it took them to move from the place of unbelief and remorse and fear to this place of accepting that he's risen.

[47:33] Peter, who had met with Jesus alone, who had obeyed him, who had received the spirit, who understood the scripture, still needed Jesus to bring him further along into this truth of what resurrection life meant for him.

[47:46] and then beyond that, as Jesus leads them out at the end of those 40 days between his resurrection and his ascension, he led them out as far as to Bethany, and this is Luke 24, verse 50, and he lifted up his hands and he blessed them, and it came to pass while he blessed them he was parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

[48:11] But there's the promise of his return. Acts chapter 1, verse 10, And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven?

[48:28] This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. Guys, God has a work for you to do. Don't stay clinging to the crucified Lord.

[48:42] and not be able to see the risen Savior. Don't look to the physical person of Jesus that you miss what he's done inside your physical person.

[48:55] That God wants to use you in a way that we could never on our own. Just like Peter, we can let the word of God affirm to us that we will make it, that our lives will bring glory to God as we follow Jesus in current faithfulness and future faithfulness, not by our own power and effort, by the exceeding greatness of resurrection power.

[49:18] Today, let us not cling so tightly to our crucified Savior that we fail to see the risen Lord. The gospel is that Jesus died for our sins according to scripture, that he was buried and three days later rose again so that we can live in newness of life.

[49:36] Appropriate Jesus' death on the cross today for sin, but do not stop short of also appropriating his resurrection for life. He died for our sin and now he lives so that we can have life.

[49:49] The same power that rose Jesus from the grave lives in us. Amen? Amen. Let's close with a worship song and just celebrate his resurrection.

[50:04] You know, Peter and Mary and all the rest of them, there is a process after appropriating Jesus' resurrection life, after believing that Jesus was risen from the grave, there was a process to the point where they were willing to let go of their unbelief, their fear, and the past.

[50:24] But even then, Jesus said, now wait. Wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. Don't try this in your own effort. And I know for myself, I can and have in the past stayed at the cross and never moved from there.

[50:40] Still expecting to see Jesus crucified essentially again for my sin. Not that we don't go back to that fountain that's been opened to us, right? That cleansing blood. We don't go back there to be cleansed, but we don't stay there.

[50:53] We continue on in resurrection life. Peter never went back to fishing again. That old coat, who knows what happened to it. He never needed to go back once Jesus had spoken to him.

[51:06] And so this morning, let Jesus speak to you. I hope that he has. And allow you to release the past, whatever it is that keeps you at a place where you're not walking in victory.

[51:19] And then walk in resurrection power. Father, thank you so much, Lord, thank you for the resurrection power that we have living in us, the same power that rose Jesus from the grave.

[51:31] Death could not hold him. The tomb couldn't hold him. He didn't need that angel to roll away the stone. He didn't need anyone to unwind his grave clothes like he said when Lazarus rose from the dead and he said, go unwind him. He didn't need anybody to do that.

[51:44] He didn't need the grave to stay sealed by Rome to stay there for three days to fulfill scripture, to fulfill the payment for my sin. And the Lord, how great when you rose from the grave three days later.

[51:58] Death defeated, sin done away. There's no more sin. Jesus will never deal with us according to our sin again. He'll never look at us condemned and under sin.

[52:13] The Lord, this morning or this afternoon, Lord, I would just ask you to speak afresh to us the truth of that resurrection power in our own lives.

[52:25] Lord, we love you. Like Mary and Peter, we want to be with you. But Lord, we see our own frailty and we see our own shortcomings. And Lord, we're people who have walked with you.

[52:37] We know the resurrected Lord. We know what it is to have the Holy Spirit in our lives and to understand the scripture. But Lord, have we been walking in resurrection life?

[52:50] Have we been living as those that are alive from the dead? Or am I still living as though I'm under death? Am I still yielding my members, my body, my decisions, my heart, my mind to things that I've been set free from?

[53:06] Thank you, Jesus, for the promise of the Father that allows us to walk in victory. And like Peter, we can with assurance say, we will make it because you are faithful. Your love is unconditional.

[53:18] And thank you that it's your unconditional love in me that allows me to walk in victory. In Jesus' name, Amen.