Embracing the Transformative Power of the Resurrection

At a certain point, we have to recognize that the evidence stacked up, the eyewitness accounts all add up to the truth, the truth that Jesus rose from the get the dead. And guys, what that means is that he is risen. He is risen. Our conquering King, he defeated death. He defeated the grave and he rose again. And so that's why we gather and we celebrate and we sing songs and we do all of this. And we pick out pastel colored clothing because like, because he rose, right? [00:46:23] (38 seconds) Edit Clip


And I think we have to ask this question. If he is risen, what am I going to do about it? And I want to take a look at this, this account that we have from John in John chapter 20, um, both like all of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, uh, tell us the story of the resurrection. But John's has just always felt so personal for me. And so kind of with this in mind of, of kind of this personal meaning of the resurrection, I want to take a look at John chapter 20 with you guys. [00:52:13] (34 seconds) Edit Clip


A couple of things here from these first two verses. First of all, if the disciples are making up a story here to convince people that Jesus rose from the dead, if they're lying, they're doing a terrible job because they make their first eyewitness a female. And in this time under Jewish law, women were not even allowed to testify in court. They were seen as such unreliable sources that their testimonies were inadmissible at this time. [00:54:30] (32 seconds) Edit Clip


You see, in this time it was actually common for authors to give themselves a nickname when they're in the story. It's a common practice for them. And the nickname that they give themselves tells you how they see themselves, how they define themselves, what their identity is. And so when John writes this here and he says, the one whom Jesus loved, what he is writing down is who I am. How I am defined, my worth, my value, my identity. It can all be wrapped up in this statement, I am loved by Jesus. [00:57:46] (37 seconds) Edit Clip


And how would it change your life if your worth, your value, your identity could be wrapped up in the statement that you are loved by Jesus? Not by what you do for a living, not by how many kids you have, not by what car you drive, not by where you're from or what sports team you cheer for, but if your identity, value, purpose, all of it could be wrapped up by saying, I'm loved by Jesus. So John shares with us right there how he views himself. [00:58:31] (36 seconds) Edit Clip


When does she know it's Jesus? It's a real question. When does she know it's Jesus? When he calls her name. When he calls her name. I have the absolute privilege of getting to be dad for Tyler and Allie. And Tyler's five, Allie's three. And, and so boy, dad, like that's its own thing, right? You guys, you guys know what I'm talking about. Those of you that have boys, right? Well, there are lightsaber battles. Okay. And wrestling matches. [01:18:43] (32 seconds) Edit Clip


And so sometimes I'll see like if I can get kind of closer to her or like crouch down or get ready for it. Right. And then I'll just say, Hey Allie. And when she hears her name, she turns and her face lights up and she screams in this octave that is not natural for human beings. And she runs and throws her arms around me. And I get it. Like I'm just a guy who was away at work for a few hours. Right. And Jesus is Jesus. And he was dead. [01:22:55] (40 seconds) Edit Clip


That just like Jesus called the name of Mary, God has called your name. Jesus has called your name. He's alive. And he has called you to come and to be his follower. He wants to know you. He wants to be with you. We read in John chapter 12. And when these are the words of Jesus. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself. He said this to indicate how he was going to die. [01:24:54] (41 seconds) Edit Clip


See, Jesus told them, Hey, when I am lifted up on the cross, what's going to be happening there is I'm going to be drawing everyone in to me. I'm going to be drawing everyone to me. The goal of this, the reason for this is so that I can be with you. We read in Mark chapter 15 about the temple. This is during the death of Jesus as he is being crucified. And Jesus is on the cross and there's this curtain in the temple. And the curtain is there to divide. It is there to separate. [01:26:36] (39 seconds) Edit Clip