MK040 Sermons
Nobody But Jesus (Audio)
Each one of us have days to stand out in our minds and we remember all the details of those specific days. This time of year, one day I remember very specifically is the birth of my daughter, Alicia. We had been told that she could come in any time. She was our first child and so we were a little uncertain about how this whole process would unfold. And I was scheduled to speak at a good Friday service and I had arranged someone to fill in for me in case we wouldn't make it there. But made it through the good Friday service, made it through the Easter service. She still hadn't arrived yet, but the middle of the night, Christine started to have some contractions and we knew that she was likely on her way. And so the other thing that added to a little bit of my anxiety is the hospital was a half an hour away. And so we got up that morning, went to the hospital, went to the doctor's office, they checked her, they said, "Nah, she's coming, but not quite yet." So they said, "Go home." Mike, I'm thinking a half an hour home and then a half an hour back. And so we turned around drove all the way home, half an hour home and as we got home, we were there for just a very short time. Contractions started escalating and so we went, made our way back to the hospital. As we made our way back to the hospital, labor was quite intense over the next four hours and I was the chief cheerleader and feeder of ice chips. And it seemed like a hard task that she was going through, but I really couldn't tell you other than that. But about 6.30 that evening is when our daughter, Alicia, arrived April 1st, 1991. It's a day that I will remember for the rest of my life and a lot of the details surrounding the specifics of that event. By 8.30 that evening, Christine was back in her room with Alicia quietly sleeping and I was released from my dad and father duties to go home and watch the NCAA championship game of the final four that evening. I have no idea who played in the game. I have no idea who won the game. See those things don't really matter, but I do remember all the details around the birth of my daughter. And each of us have those significant days, those days that we remember, those days that are somehow etched in our minds and we don't forget them and there's nothing that will remove them from our memory. Maybe it's a first kiss, maybe it's the day your spouse asks you to marry you, maybe it's your wedding day, maybe it's the birth of your children, maybe it's the day you experience a tragic loss. Whatever those days are, we remember the details very specifically. We also remember details about days that not only affect us individually, but collectively as Americans who remembers what happened on the picture that's going to come up on the screen on this day. Anybody here remember what happened on that day? You weren't alive, buddy. You don't remember. Okay, we got a few that remember that was the day Kennedy was shot. My dad would always tell me, son, I know exactly where I was when that happened. And then I experienced that a few years later in my life when this event took place, who remembers where they were when this event took place? Kind of figuring out some of your kind of squinting at it. That was when President Reagan was shot and they were scurrying him, pushing him off to the side, and so you might remember where you were when that event happened. What about when this event happened? How many of you remember where you were when that event happened? Okay, a lot more hands remember where you were when the challenger exploded, and then most recently, how many of you remember where you were when this event happened? How many remember where you were when that event? A lot of us, a lot of us. And so we have these events kind of fixed in our minds and we know exactly where we were and those events stand out and we won't ever forget them. And today on Easter Sunday, we celebrate a very significant day as well. The day in which we remember when Jesus rose from the dead, and what makes this day so significant? I mean, this event is celebrated globally by more people than any event in human history. So what makes this event so significant? You know, is it the colored eggs? Is it the baskets of candy? Is it kids getting dressed up? Is it the family over for dinner for him? What is that? If you're a person of faith, maybe the day is significant because you remember on that day the significance of why Jesus died and that he died for your sins. And that not only did he die, but he rose again and by rising again, he gives you hope of your eternity and what that would mean for you if you have a relationship for him. But why is that event so significant? Why is this day so important? Sometimes we can remember how important a day is by imagining what it would be like if that day didn't occur. As pictured for us in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" by Jimmy Stewart who played George and George was going through this difficult experience of his life. And Clarence, the angel showed up and he said, "Imagine what it would be like if you were never born." And so he walks him through his little town of Bedford Falls there and he sees Potterville that had taken over the town and he sees what life would be like if the, you know, if they're savings, the barely savings in loan was not there. And he gets a glimpse of what life would be like if he was never born. But what would life be like if Jesus never rose from the dead? What would life be like? Paul asked that same question and I want us to take a few minutes and look at that. If you have your Bibles, if you would turn to 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 15, if you have a tablet or a phone or wireless device, you can connect on our network and follow along there. Our guys have some Bibles, they're going to pass them out. The page is on the screen of the Bibles that they're passing around down to you. So what would it have been like, what would life be like if Jesus never rose from the dead? What would life be like? Well, Paul in 1 Corinthians is answering some skeptics who are wrestling with some of these issues. And as he's answering some of these skeptics in 1 Corinthians 15, he asks this first question. He says it makes this first statement, "If Christ has not been raised, you're preaching is useless, and so is your faith." I guess I got to go get another job. You know, it's what I got to do. He said, "Preaching is useless. There's no point in doing what I do on a weekend, week out basis, but not just this specific role, but preaching is a declaration. It's a kind of announcing of good news." He said, "There's really not much to talk about." And he says, "So is your faith. The thing you put your hope in, your confidence in, the thing that governs your life, the thing that sets boundaries around things that you don't do and gives you direction on things that you do, that's all gone. It's all off the table. It's no longer there." Verse 15, "More than that, we are found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead." They basically said, "I guess we're liars. Paul, all the disciples, we're a bunch of liars." What we say really isn't true, and you may know that Paul and the other followers of Jesus wrote the whole New Testament. So all that we have here, that's just a bunch of lies, and it can't be believed if Christ isn't raised from the dead. And he said, "But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised." Verse 16, "For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either." Basically says, "You don't have any hope of your eternal destiny of life beyond this life." Verse 17, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins." Again, your faith is futile. It's a waste of your time. You should be doing something else with your time, with your Sunday mornings. You should be doing something else with the time that you spend reading in the Bible. You should be doing something else with the time you spend praying, with the time you spend serving. You should be doing... Your faith is a waste of your time. It's futile if Jesus never rose from the dead. And he also says, "You're still in your sins." Or another translation says, "Your sins haven't been forgiven." In the Old Testament, the Jews for centuries, because of instruction that God gave them, would take a perfect lamb. And they would kill that lamb, and the lamb symbolically, the blood of the lamb would wash away all of their sins. And sin carries with it a penalty, a price that has to be paid. And that penalty was paid for by Jesus' death on the cross. And Paul says, "If Christ never rose from the dead, you carry the weight. You carry the penalty. You carry the consequence not only now, but for eternity, for your sins." But the death of Jesus Christ frees you from. And then look in verse 19, he says, "If only for in this life we have hope in Christ we are most people to be pitied." He says, "If our hope is only for this life and nothing to come, I feel sorry for you." Someone should have pity on these people. That's what Paul says. I think, wow, those are some pretty strong statements that he makes about the resurrection. And so it really points to the fact that if this event didn't happen, if this event isn't true, if this event is somehow a myth or a fable and didn't really occur, then everything that most of us have planted and built our lives is a sham and a waste. And we should just go start over and do something different. So how do I know that it really happened? How do I know it really happened? Well this morning I want to challenge you not to believe it happened because the Bible says it happened. And you might think that's kind of a strange statement for John to say. But I want to challenge you to believe that this event happened because Matthew saw it happened. Because Mark saw it happen. Because Luke saw it happen. Because John, James, Peter, Paul and hundreds of other people saw that Jesus rose from the dead. There's eyewitness testimony that this event occurred. And the fascinating thing about this story is that his followers didn't even understand the story. They didn't even understand it. You ever had that experience where you're watching a movie with someone else and you've seen the movie before and they haven't seen the movie and so they don't really quite know what's going on in the movie? I went with my family this past weekend, we went down to Kendig Square and watched the 250 movies down there. And so we watched Star Wars and most of my family hasn't seen many of the Star Wars. They're like, "What in the world is going on?" I kind of knew what was going on because I watched most. They're like, "What is that? What's that?" They didn't really know I knew what was going on. And the disciples, the whole time they're here on the earth, they didn't really know what was happening. If you read the Gospels, one of the things that says over and over again is they understood this after Jesus' death and resurrection. They understood this after Jesus' death and rest. They understood this. They were kind of clueless. They were just along for the ride and all these amazing things were happening and things were changing drastically. But they didn't really understand what was going on. And as the story unfolds, it kind of happens in this way that as Jesus was going about performing these miracles and feeding people and even raised his good friend Lazarus from the dead, the crowds were swelling. They were getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And instead of that being a cool and exciting thing, it was an intimidating thing for the religious community. It was so intimidating for the religious community that the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the chief priests and the teachers, the three different groups in the religious community, they all merged together and said, "We have got to take this guy out." Because if we don't take this guy out, something bad is coming down. Say, "Why did they think something bad was coming down?" Because remember who was ultimately in control in that part of the known world, Rome. And when something got stirred up and Rome heard about it, they came in and heads rolled, people died. It was a massacre and they squelled the rebellion over and over and over again all throughout the Roman, and that's how they remained in power. And so these religious leaders knew that if something was boiling up and weren't trickled back to Rome, they were at risk of losing everything. John records this for us in John 11, verse 48. Look what he says. He says, "This is the religious leaders. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and what will happen then?" The Romans will come and they'll do what? Take away our temple and our nation. We will lose everything. They could not risk losing everything. And they had to find a way to stop him. Maybe this afternoon you'll be with some family over dinner, and as often happens when you're with family over dinner, is some stories get retold, that have been retold and told and told and told again. And as these stories get retold, you may have heard them and you could retell the story yourself, and they're kind of describing the story in generalities, and then they get to the meat of the story, and then it slows down, they give them all the details. Well, that's what happens in the gospels. There's all these things happening with Jesus, and then as they get to the last week of his life, the story slows down and we get all these details about the last week of his life. My wife is a writing teacher, and she teaches kids to write term papers and write creative, do a lot of creative writing, teach them how to write creatively. And I don't think she's ever given them this assignment, but I thought, what if she gave them an assignment, and she asked them to write themselves into the story, so they get to be part of the story somehow. And as I was thinking about this, I thought, what would the kids most likely do? Would they most likely do A, write themselves into the story as some kind of a hero that saves the day, or B, would they write themselves in as the coward that gets framed when the crisis happens, when the moment is intense, and they run and hide. Which one do you think they would most likely write themselves in the story? How many think they would write themselves in as A? Let me see your hands. How many think they would write themselves in as B? Nobody. Nobody. So if the disciples were making up this story, if they were fabricating this story, if they had schemed and said, "Let's make this up and prove it," do you think they would write themselves in as the hero that saved the day, or as the scared coward that ran and hid when things got tough? As A, right? But if you know anything about the story, what happened to the disciples? They ran. They hid. They tried to stand up for Jesus, and they got threatened, and they denied, they even knew Him. And they were hiding for their lives. And if Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were making up this story, I don't think they would written themselves in as scared cowards, but more likely as heroes. You know, when Jesus was crucified on the cross, He was killed in the most horrific way known to people of that day. And when He was crucified, He was hung on a cross, and they didn't just do that kind of back out of the way. Crosses were put in public places. Crosses were put on main highways. They were like 272 or 222, and you'd have to go buy them every single day and say, "Why would they do that?" Because the Romans wanted you to see that cross, and no, you did not want to be the next one hanging on that cross, so don't do what those people did. And then they would hang those individuals on the cross, they would die this horrific death, they would leave their bodies on the cross, they would decay, the birds of prey would come and pick at them, and then later what little bit was left of their flesh and bones they'd scrape off and throw into a dump. But that's not what happened with Jesus, was it? No, because very shortly after Jesus died, an individual by the name of Nicodemus, who we don't even know if he was really a follower of Jesus, he was interested in Jesus, we know that. And someone who was a Pharisee, who's supposed to be one of Jesus' enemies, they went to Pilate and they said, "Pilate, can we buy Jesus' body? We want to go, here's some money, we want to go bury the body." And when they did that, no one was there, no family, no friends, no grieving followers that he was gone. This guy that just a few days earlier, thousands of people were following, it seems kind of odd that now when he dies, nobody's there, nobody's there, except a quasi follower of his and one of his potential enemies, who is a Pharisee. A quote from an individual that I like to read said this about the story of Jesus, he said, Jesus' enemies had more confidence in the Jesus movement than Jesus' followers. Jesus' enemies had more confidence in the Jesus movement than his own followers. Because what did his enemies say? They said, these people are going to try to steal the body, they're going to try to concoct the hoax, they're going to try to make this thing look bigger than it was, and so what did they do? They went to pilot right after they said, "Pilot, you really messed this thing up." We should have left his body on the cross, and everybody would have seen it, they would have known it this whole three days thing, that would have all been gone and done, but what did they say? They said, "Pilot, give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day." Because they knew what Jesus had said, otherwise disciples may come and steal the body and tell people that he's been raised from the dead. They were afraid the movement was going to go on. We know the next slide. He goes on to say, "This last deception will be worse than the first. Take a guard, pilot answered, go make the tomb as secure as you know how." Jesus' followers didn't believe this was going to happen, but at this point stealing the body was kind of dangerous and pointless, wouldn't you say? Because if Jesus' followers were not willing to stand up for him when he was alive, why would they do it when he died? Why would they do it when he died? Why die for a dead man whose death disproved everything that he had previously said? You remember what Jesus said? Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life, and he's laying in the tomb." Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and he's laying in a tomb." Why would they steal a body for someone who was laying there in a tomb? If you know the story, you know the disciples thought they were next. They figured they went after the leader of the movement, who were they going after next? His lieutenants, right? The people that everybody knew was around him. They might even have a board with their pictures and ranking them, you know? These are the ones that were going after next. And so they were hiding in a room because they thought they were next. If Jesus could not stay alive to keep the movement alive, why risk their lives to steal a body? The truth is, no one thought this resurrection was going to happen. Nobody did. The religious leaders didn't. They thought they would just steal the body and concoct a story, right? That's what they thought were going to happen. The Roman soldiers were like, "Oh, man, who drew that straw, you know, guarded dead body?" They didn't think it was going to happen. Jesus followers, they didn't think it was going to happen. They heard all these Old Testament prophecies about a Messiah and a deliverer. They never heard any Old Testament prophecies about a resurrection. The women who came to the tomb that morning, they came with these spices to anoint the body. The body had already been wrapped up by a couple of guys, and I guess the women didn't think that the guys did a good enough job and had to come and redo that the next morning, you know? Not quite sure why, but they didn't come expecting to find him risen. They came to anoint and take care of the body. Nobody expected a resurrection. No one thought a resurrection was going to occur. Another phrase that I like says this, "Nobody expected there to be no body." Nobody expected there to be no body. No one predicted it. No one knew it was going to happen. But something changed. Something changed. Because these followers of Jesus that were hiding in this room, that were scared to death, that denied they even knew him, they went from being the cowards that nobody would want to be to a few days and a few weeks later, standing there in Jerusalem with thousands of people around them saying, "You killed him. God raised him from the dead. He died for our sins, and you need to believe in him." What changed? What changed? The only thing that changed is they saw with their eyes a resurrected Jesus. They saw that he had risen from the dead. It's the only thing that changed. It's the only thing that changed from them cowering in that upper room, cowering afraid that they were next to be hung on a cross, to them being emboldened and confident and able to stand before thousands and invite them to choose to follow Jesus in thousands of people dead. The only thing that changed is that they saw a resurrected Jesus. Paul writes about that in 1 Corinthians 15, some 20, 22, maybe 24 years later. Do you think that seems like a long time to remember something? Well, if you're 15 in the room, 22 seems like forever, but if you're a little bit older, 22 years, I remember just like it was yesterday what that experience was like. And I left out a few of the details about that experience with my daughter being born. I remember just like it was yesterday. And so it's not impossible to believe that these fowers of Jesus could remember what it was like. And look what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15. Go back to verse 1. He says this, "Now brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received on which you have taken your stand." He says, "I want to remind you about what is really important, what you committed yourselves to." Look at verse 3. "For what I received, I passed on to you as the first importance that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. And look at these next verses that he appeared to Cephas," another name for Peter. And then to the 12. "And after that he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at that same time, most of whom are still living." Paul's writing to people in Corinth just a little ways away from Jerusalem. He said, "You know, if you're not really convinced of this, we can take a little field trip back to Jerusalem. And we can interview a whole bunch of people who they were still there. They saw it with their own eyes and they know that it happened." He says, "Some of them are still asleep." In the New Testament it describes someone who has died as a follower of Jesus as being asleep. You know why it describes them as going to sleep? What happens after you sleep? You do what? Wake up, some of you. That's right. That's what you should be doing right now, waking up, you know, just kidding. You know, that's what you do. You wake up, right? Because they believed that this is what would happen, that life would go on and that resurrection would happen. He goes on to say, "Then he appeared to James." Anybody can remember who James was? Jesus is what? His brother. His brother. That would be a pretty powerful testimony, wouldn't it? If your own brother came back from the dead, I think that would be a pretty powerful testimony. And then he goes on to say, "Then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, to one abnormally born, for I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called one because I persecuted the Church of God." Paul even says, "Jesus appeared to all of these people. And if you need proof that this really happened, that this was not a myth, that this was not a fable, go ask them because it changed their lives. And it didn't just change their lives. It changed my life. Because you see, I wasn't a good guy like those guys were. I was a really bad guy. I killed people who followed Jesus. And Jesus appeared to me. I saw him. I saw him. And he changed my life. And no matter what your story is this morning, no matter what your background, no matter what your experience, you have an opportunity to decide what are you going to do with this truth about the resurrection of Jesus? Because if this is true, if this is true, it changes everything. It changes everything. And maybe for some of you, you believed the resurrection. Maybe you've been taught it and you've heard it and you've believed it and you're not sure why, but you just kind of know it's true. And I hope this morning you walk away convinced that this is an event that happened. And this event changed the world. Maybe for some of you, you heard about this event and it's been kind of years since you've thought about it. And you've kind of put it in that category with some other things in the Bible that you're not sure if you can buy into. You can believe you can grab hold of these days. But maybe the truth is, as you sat and thought about it this morning, you're just a little bit curious. Because if this event is that significant and it changed all of human history, maybe you need to ask yourself why? Why is this event, regardless of an individual's faith and background, the most celebrated event in all of the world, regardless of their faith, regardless of the denomination, why does everyone celebrate this single event? And maybe you need to commit yourself to asking more questions, to exploring more intentionally about why this event changed everything. I want to invite you to bow your heads and just take a moment for you to sit and think through what I said this morning. And if the reality of Jesus dying on the cross and the truth of his resurrection is something that you're convinced of, then maybe today is a day simply of celebration because it's changed your life. Maybe you've come this morning because someone invited you and maybe haven't been to church in a long period of time and God's not really on the radar for you right now. But the truth is you can't deny the reality that Jesus rose from the dead, and so you have to do something with that. And maybe the step for you is just to say, "God, I'm going to be a little curious about this. I'm not buying into it all. I still have more questions than answers, but I'm going to be curious. And I'm going to keep being open to the fact that there may be more to this than what I've been willing to accept. God, I thank you for your amazing love for us. You loved us so much that you were willing to send your one and only son to this earth to die for the sins of all of us. And the reality of that death and the power of that death was realized when Jesus rose from the grave and defeated death. Because death is the result of our sin, separation eternally from God. And so God, for those who are curious this morning, I pray that they would sit with the truth of this resurrection, that this is not a myth or fable, but if it was a story to be concocted, they did a pretty bad job of it. But this was something that truly happened and eyewitnesses saw a resurrected Jesus. God, I pray that they would continue to look and continue to explore and continue to seek you. In order for those that are convinced this morning, I pray that today is a day of celebration for them. A day to say, "Wow, if this day had not happened, my life would be radically different." The resurrection of Jesus Christ has changed my life. And may they celebrate that today. In your name we pray. Amen.