공동체와 양육

Because He Lives (Jn 20:11~18)

2018.04.01P. Stephen Cha

Because Jesus lives, the empty tomb is not the end. The risen Lord calls us by name, makes us children of God who belong to him, and sends us to tell others what we have seen of him, so we can face tomorrow with hope.

The empty tomb points to a risen Lord

Mary, Peter, and John found the stone rolled away and the linen cloths lying where Jesus' body had been. Some people claim the women went to the wrong tomb, or that Jesus only fainted and later escaped, or that someone stole the body. But if the women had gone to the wrong tomb, the authorities could have pointed to the right one. A man who had only fainted would not have convinced his disciples that he had conquered death, and the disciples would not have died for a lie. The most reliable explanation of the empty tomb and the grave cloths is that God raised Jesus from the dead with a new, transformed body.

The risen Lord meets us in our weeping (vv. 13-16)

The angels asked Mary why she was weeping, and Jesus asked her the same question. Mary was so focused on finding a dead body that she did not recognize the living Lord standing before her. Jesus gently rebuked her sorrow and reminded her of what he had told his disciples: he would suffer, die, and rise again on the third day. Then he said her name, Mary. He knows each of us by name, and he loves us. Our tears do not hide us from him.

Jesus brings us into a new relationship with the Father (vv. 17)

Jesus told Mary not to cling to him, because he was ascending to the Father. The eternal Son became one like us, lived a perfect life, and took our sins as our substitute. Now he returns to the Father as one who has paid for our sins, and he says, my Father and your Father, my God and your God. This is the covenant promise fulfilled: God becomes our God, faithful to us, protecting, guiding, and leading us. Whatever we fear, God knows it and will strengthen and sustain us, because he is our Father.

We are sent to tell what we have seen (vv. 18)

Mary was an ordinary woman whose testimony people in that day did not value, and she had once been controlled by seven demons. Yet Jesus chose her to be the first witness of the resurrection. She did not need eloquence or cleverness. She simply said, I have seen the Lord. God can use anyone, whether a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, or a parent, to share who Jesus is and what he has done. Wherever we are, we can testify to the hope we have.

Because he lives, death no longer holds our future

Martin Luther once sank into despair, convinced that everyone wanted to kill him. His wife, wearing mourning clothes, told him that their father had died, and when he said God does not die, she replied that he certainly acted as if God the Father were dead. Many of us act the same way when we are buried under our problems. But our God is not dead; he is alive, and he brings the future into the present. The kingdom of God is certain because Jesus has risen, and those who trust in him will live forever. Eternal life begins today, and when our time here ends, we only change our address.

Apply to Life

  • Let us trust that the risen Lord knows our names and meets us even in our tears.
  • Let us hold to the good news that Jesus has paid for our sins and that God is now our Father and our God.
  • Let us bring our fears about death and tomorrow to the living Christ, who holds the future.
  • Let us tell others what we have seen of the Lord, wherever God has placed us in our daily lives.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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