 Today we're in John's Gospel and we're going to be looking at verses 11 through 18 as I share with you out of John's Gospel, a portion of Scripture that relates to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and so let's begin reading together here in John chapter 20 at verse 11. I'll read to verse 18, give some introductory remarks and then move into our study. John chapter 20 beginning at verse 11, but Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, woman why are you weeping? She said to them because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him. Now when she had said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She's supposing him to be the gardener said to him, sir if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary she turned and said to him, Ravoni which is to say teacher. Jesus said to her do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my father but go to my brethren and say to them I am ascending to my father and to your father and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her. So we come to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ when Paul was speaking to thee or writing to the Corinthians he said that if Jesus Christ was still in the grave then we of all people would be most to be pitied because we're preaching a message that isn't true Jesus Christ he said if it were not true it's still in the grave so what's the point but we as believers know that the resurrection is the center of our faith we know that Jesus Christ was a good man there's no doubt about it even secular writers will say that Jesus Christ was a good man Jesus Christ we know was a prophet and there's no doubt about that you spoke out the word of God to the people Jesus Christ was a teacher he committed to us teachings that that people had never heard before and he did so with an eloquence and a depth that was unchallenged in his day and he was all of those things he was a good man he was a teacher he was a prophet but he was more than that you see if he was not raised from the dead then he remains in the grave to this day and though and though we claim to have relationship with him in reality we would be no different than anybody else who simply has a favorite teacher or a favorite philosopher but Christianity is built on one central belief one central teaching one central doctrine and that is that Jesus Christ died he was buried but on the third day he rose from the grave and and that's why we gather here today to celebrate the the resurrection story of Jesus Christ and that's why the church gathers every week as a fellowship that's why we gather sometimes every day as a fellowship that's why I individually follow Christ in a personal way from Monday through Sunday because he's alive and he has done something in my life that has transformed me so we gather here on Sundays to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ we've done so since his resurrection and today this is what we'll be looking at now let me give to you a background a little bit of a context for you to be able to view this passage by in doing so I'm gonna I'm gonna harken to some of the scriptures that were said from verses 1 through 10 I'm gonna point to a few things because I want to develop a context with you you see at this time Mary who is called Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene has undergone incredible emotional trauma just one week before she had seen Jesus enter into Jerusalem to an incredible reception it's called the triumphal entry Jesus Christ had come into the city of Jerusalem he had descended from the Mount of Olives and as he had descended by the trail or through the road from the Mount of Olives as he had come down and was approaching the city of Jerusalem people from Jerusalem began to pour out of the city of Jerusalem people who were accompanying him began to follow after him and the two crowds converged and as the crowds began to converge they began to cry out and they were crying out Hosanna save now blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord blessed is the king of Israel and they were doing so with great passion they were doing so with great enthusiasm they were throwing palm branches onto the ground so that he would go over them and and they were waving palm branches in the air as he entered in through what is called the triumphal entry and as he was coming the religious leaders the Pharisees began to cry from the crowd and they spoke to Jesus and they said to him rabbi tell your tell your disciples to to be quiet because they didn't appreciate the praise that was being given to Jesus Christ as he as he was about to enter into into the city and and Jesus said I tell you if they were to to be silenced the very stones themselves would begin to cry out in other words if you try and stop will praise for man creation itself cries out to the worship of God to the worthiness of Christ now Jesus entered in he went through a few things during that week and finally he celebrated Passover with his disciples as he was celebrating Passover he was celebrating with them the memory the memorial of how the Jewish people were delivered by God from Egyptian slavery now in the midst of all of this things were not going as as Mary had thought they would you see after celebrating the Passover meal Jesus had been arrested one of his own trusted disciples a man by the name of Judas was paid off 30 pieces of silver which is the price of a slave and he arranged an opportune time to betray Christ knowing that Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane as was his habit he brought a detachment of officers and they came into that garden and they took Jesus Jesus actually submitted himself to them had he desired to of course they could have never have taken him but they did they took him they tried him they beat him humiliated him and ultimately they crucified him Mary Magdalene was there when that happened Mary was there with John and with Mary the mother of Jesus and she saw the Lord Jesus Christ as he was crucified she heard the words that he spoke as he was hanging there on the cross and she watched him as he in the most agonizing way died and the pain the pain of seeing this broker heart that had happened on Friday just three days before the shock and the pain would still be fresh within her it had just happened just this morning after first service I was in the front talking to and praying with people and one of the members of our fellowship a lady in our church approached me and she had this broken feel to her her shoulders were slumped and and her face was was drawn and her eyes were filled with sorrow and and she said to me pastor can you pray for me can you pray for me my husband died on Friday my husband died on Friday and I looked at her and I said you know what Mary was feeling you know the pain that Mary felt because she saw Jesus die and you don't get over that kind of pain you don't get over that kind of grief that kind of trauma you don't get over it that quickly and Mary is suffering she is suffering at this moment a sense of loss and sorrow the grief now it had been three days and the shock and the pain are still fresh within her Jesus had been crucified on Friday but he did to receive the burial that that Mary thought that he deserved when you look in chapter 19 of John verse 38 it reads after this Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus and Pilate gave him permission so he came and took the body of Jesus and Nicodemus who at first came to Jesus by night also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and allows about a hundred pounds then they took the body of Jesus and and bounded in strips of linen with the spices as the cousin of the Jews is to bury it wasn't in embalming that was taking place it was a perfuming they would put the perfumes in there just to break up the stench of death that would arrive normally around the fourth day now she didn't believe that that Jesus received the kind of burial that he deserved but it's interesting to note that when it says in verse 39 of chapter 19 that they used about a hundred pounds that tells us that that was sufficient to bury 200 people so they gave to him an abundance if you will of spices and all but still she said that's just not enough he needs more honor than that so Luke tells us in chapter 23 verses 55 and 56 the women who had come with him from Galilee followed after and they observed the tomb and how his body was laid they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils and they rested on the Sabbath according according to the commandment so at dawn Mary and some of the other women came to the tomb in order that they might complete his burial Luke tells us in chapter 24 verse 1 on the first day of the week very early in the morning they insert another women with them came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb stone roll rolled away from the tomb well that's what John is saying in chapter 20 verse 1 when he says on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb now when you picture the tomb and all it would have been a hollowed out out of rock perhaps and they had they had the stone that would be in the shape of a wheel and the stone was large it weighed 6,000 pounds and it was placed on an incline and so the stone would have been like a wheel rolled down the incline and then there was something carved out of the out of the stone that when the wheel hit it it would lock in and then they had placed a seal on it so that if somebody had moved that the seal would have been broken and that would have been evidence that grave robbers had come and taken the body of Christ and so because the Pharisees had remembered what Jesus said when his own disciples had not they were afraid that his disciples would come and take the body of Christ away and then the report would go out that he had been resurrected and they were concerned and they had said the last deception will be worse than the first and so they had done this they had put the stone in order to prevent anybody from stealing the body now as we look at this we see Mary coming to the tomb and Mary coming to the tomb reveals something for us it reveals a tremendous love for Jesus Christ she had a love that drove her on a love that caused her to get up early and to be there as early as possible so that she might be able to finish the burial it also shows us that she has courage because she wasn't afraid to be identified with Christ in an open fashion even though Rome was undoubtedly looking for his disciples it shows us that she had a zeal there was a fire within her heart for this man as well as a respect for him because it was dangerous for her to be there when you look at Mary you see a great example you see a great example of a thankful sinner you see a great example of somebody who has come to realize how much God loves them she loved him deeply and the love that she had for Jesus did not originate with her it wasn't something that she invented you know we love him because he first loved us the love that she had for Jesus that gave her the courage and gave her the zeal and all that love that she had for Jesus came out of a heart that had been touched by the grace of God and that's the best way isn't it to serve the Lord not out of out of compulsion because you have to do that because you think if you do certain things and you do them long enough and you do them well enough it's going to cause God to have favor with you there are people who date like that they think if they pretend there's somebody else and they do certain things that the other person may like that they may be able to artificially win their love for them but when they take the mask off and they begin to show what they really are they don't necessarily retain the love that they earned under false under false conditions one of the greatest things that happens is when you're just basically drawn by the love of God because you're not trying to do something to perform something to make him love you God loves you already God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son the world didn't begin to draw God's love he loved us before and that's how it works and that's the grace of God and she understood that and so what happens while she ran to inform the Apostles it says in verse 2 she went and told John and she told Peter and they came to the tomb now Mary and other women with her saw that the stone had been rolled away and they had looked into the tomb in Mark 16 5 through 7 it says entering the tomb they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side they were alarmed but he said to them do not be alarmed you seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified he's risen he's not here see the place where they laid him but go tell his disciples and Peter that he's going before you into Galilee there you will see him as he said to you well this they did but the majority of the Apostles didn't believe them Luke tells us in chapter 24 11 and 12 their word seemed to be like idle tales they didn't believe them but Peter arose and ran to the tomb and stooping down he saw the linen cloths lined by themselves and he departed marbling to himself and what had happened and so in verse 3 here in chapter 20 of John Peter therefore went out the other disciple and were going to the tomb they both ran together the other disciple out ran Peter and came to the tomb first he's stooping down and looking in saw the linen cloths lying there yet he didn't go in Simon Peter came following him went into the tomb he saw the linen cloths lying there the handkerchief that had been around his head not lined with the linen cloths folded together in a place by itself the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also saw and believed for as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead the disciples went away again to their own home it's interesting to note as is typical in the Gospel of John that John leaves himself unnamed I want you to notice how he refers to himself in verse 2 he refers to himself as the other disciple notice verse 3 once again he refers to himself as the other disciple he left himself unnamed there are other times when he speaks of himself in this way he says I am the one whom Jesus loved and I've said this before but it bears repetition at this point when I was a younger believer and I would see the scripture I'd be reading the scripture and then I would be reading how that he refers to himself as the one whom Jesus loved I thought what an arrogant thing to say the one whom Jesus loved like he didn't love everybody else and I thought that's kind of a prideful thing isn't it I mean sit down you know and say I'm the one who Jesus loved I mean if I walked in this room and I said you know I'm the one who Marie loves you'd say yes so what you know I when I read the Bible though and I would see that he referred to himself as the one whom Jesus loved it bothered me and yet here we have it in John 20 he's referring to himself as the other disciple also calls himself later on and before one whom Jesus loved but I find it interesting to note and I'll say this quickly but it's interesting when you compare and contrast the comments that the Apostle Peter made and that and the way that John identified himself because the Apostle Peter said to Jesus though all forsake you yet I never will I would even die for you so what was he saying the Apostle Peter was saying I love you I love you though all would forsake you yet I would never I love you what are you saying Peter was saying I love you more than these I love you more than the rest when you look into the Bible and the Bible gives us a commandment the commandment is you're Israel the Lord thy God is one and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all they soul with all thy strength all your mind there's a command that God gives to the people love God with everything within you now we behave on the basis of the things that we love it's not just what we believe that motivates our activities because we believe a lot of things we don't do you'll see this in just a moment you're gonna see it with Mary we're motivated normally by the things that we love and so God says to us love me with all of your heart because when you love me with all of your heart mind strength when you love me in that way then we'll have relationship so God calls us to love him with everything not just a portion but with everything that's what the Bible teaches us to do then you have you have guys like Moses Moses who was inspired by God to write Deuteronomy chapter 6 that included that that call to worship God and then you look at the life of Moses and you discover that as much as he loved the Lord God he misrepresented God and didn't even enter into the promised land so it causes me to realize that though I'm commanded to love God with everything within me it is also possible that I will fail to do that you look at a man by the name of David King David everybody knows King David but if I say King David give me a name associated with him what's the first name that comes to mind Bathsheba the first name that comes to mind with David is always going to be David and Bathsheba it's not David in Solomon it's not David in any of his other wives it's not even David in Goliath it is normally David and Bathsheba why because we remember his failure not his success that's how it works and yet David is somebody who wrote so many Psalms he would be seated out in the wilderness he was a shepherd boy and he would say when I behold the stars when I look at the heavens and the stars that you have created it causes me to wonder what is man that you should even consider him the son of man that you would even give him a thought David was a kind of person it's called the sweet psalmist of Israel who would write love songs to God his heart was filled with love for God God spoke of David in this way he said he is a man after my own heart and yet David committed sin with Bathsheba David got Bathsheba's husband Iriah killed David was of that sort and it teaches me something guys it teaches me that though God commands me to love him with everything within me and he does that even the greatest people in the in the Bible never loved him that much they did love him but we all fail and so it caused me to begin to realize that the safer self identification will always be not David the one who loves God but David the one who is loved by God because if I can understand even a little bit of his love for me it changes my entire way of living because I'm loved by the greatest person in the universe and so are you God so loved the world you might as well put your own name in there God so loved you and he so loved you he gave his son but here we have Mary we have Mary somebody who loved the Lord so very much he had an incredible love for Jesus Christ and you have Peter who loved the Lord and you have John who loved the Lord but Peter and John are there viewing an empty tomb Peter has a different response than John Peter sees an empty tomb John sees and believes that Jesus had risen from the dead as I mentioned a moment go out of Luke 24 12 it simply says that Peter departed marveling to himself at what had happened you see Peter was still dealing with the guilt of denying the Lord his eyes were still clouded by what he had done we know that later on Jesus will restore his beloved a possible at that moment he's going through pain and as this is all taking place verse 11 Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping and as she wept she stooped down looked into the tomb when it says Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping that word weeping is a very strong word it speaks of mourning with pain and grief it speaks of strong crying Mary did love the Lord and she was crying as if her heart would break have you ever cried like that some in this room have like your very heart would break have you ever cried with such pain that it feels as if your heart hurts that there's a pain that's so deep inside that that tears aren't even quenching the pain I have and I think some of you have to the loss of something the loss of a mama the loss of a dad the loss of a child the loss of a grandmother a grandfather a friend brother sister something that is so severe and so so deep the loss of a relationship the loss of a marriage and you cry as if your very heart is going to break and that's how she was doing she was crying as if her heart would break and she wouldn't leave she didn't want to leave the place that the Lord had been buried in she feared that his body had been stolen that it would be abused by the evil people that took it and as she's standing there her mind is filled with all the evil that could be happening again Mary loved the Lord with all of her heart he had forgiven her he had restored her she had an incredible testimony an unbelievable salvation experience with Jesus Christ the Bible tells us that she was severely demon possessed she had seven demons and Jesus delivered her and after she'd been delivered by Jesus she followed him as a grateful sinner would she reminds me of an unnamed woman that we find in the gospel of Luke an unnamed woman who who comes to a dinner party that was being hosted by a man by the name of Simon who was a Pharisee and during that day the Pharisee would invite very often the leader would invite somebody to the place and as he invited him to their place he would spend time with them and ask them questions and and the city could be invited to come and join in this particular meal and and so Simon had invited Jesus Christ to come to his house for a dinner and as Jesus was there reclining at at the meal because they didn't they weren't seated in tables as we are with chairs they would have a low lying table and they had cushions and they would lay on their cushions on their left side with their left elbow on the ground and or on the cushion in the right hand they would use to reach and to take the food off the table and and so Jesus was there with his feet outstretched and he was reaching and he was eating and as this is taking place the people are there at this dinner party when suddenly the room becomes silent because a well-known sinner has entered into the room prostitute and as this prostitute has entered into the room you could almost hear the sound diminishing until it's silent as she's making her way through the room and she's weeping as she does so perhaps even stumbling with the tears blinding her eyes until she makes her way to Jesus and as she's weeping there her feet that are spilling off of her chin begin to to run on his feet and causing little rivulets of tears and all and and she kneels down and she takes the hair her hair and begins to dry his feet and then begins to kiss his feet and Simon is watching this and is disgusted by this and he says if this man truly were a prophet he would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him because she's a sinner I mean everybody knows I mean you don't even have to be a prophet to know a prostitute when you see one what's wrong with this man why is he allowing her to touch him in such a fashion and that's when Jesus speaks to him I have something to say to you Simon he says well say on there's a man Jesus says who who had a debt of money owed by two others one owed him a great sum the other a lesser amount and and the man who was owed the sum of money from both of those debtors completely forgave both of them I want to ask you a question Simon who's gonna love him most and Simon looking at Jesus says well I suppose the one who he you know who had the biggest debt and that's when Jesus just hit Simon between the eyes you see this woman you know a lot of people don't see other human beings what they what they see are bad people threatening people mean people we have a tendency of judging on the outside we we think that our experience in life gives us the ability to have that kind of discernment that's not always true is it some of the most special and sweet and loving people I've ever met where the ones I was first afraid of I remember a guy who was in one of my Bible studies many years ago was a Thursday study and he was a big dude he was a big dude big dude and he'd always sat in the same place every Thursday always sat in the same place and he would just his eyes just pierced through me every time and I would look him I'd be teaching and he'd just be staring me down and it made me uncomfortable I thought man what's with this guy why is he mad dogging me what I do to him and it really did it worked on my head well later on he he actually was a barber and he started cutting my hair and one day I was talking to him and he says you know I came to the Thursday Bible study I said yeah I remember he said yeah I would stare at you I said I remember and he says you know what I was thinking and I said no what he said I was thinking man I want to cut his hair that's a fact that's a true story I'm not kidding that's a true story I started laughing you never know and it's important isn't it important do you see this woman isn't it important for us to see human beings and not the activity of that person we're all sinners not a single one of us is perfect other than Jesus Christ we know that what gives me the right to judge somebody else I am a sinner saved by the grace of God and I don't have a right to say oh Jesus can't save you you got tattoos man oh you got marks of the monster beast and you got pierce scenes I mean what's with us today Jesus Christ has a way of not only catching the fish but he has a way of cleaning it after he catches it and it's up to him to do that and he does it through his word by his spirit and through the loving fellowship of brothers and sisters who encourage people to walk with Jesus Christ he does it that way so he says do you see this woman yeah you can clap now that's a good thing yeah yeah now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna loop that clap through every message I ever give and put it on the radio and they'll think we've got a fantastic church but anyway do you see this woman and then he says listen I came in and you didn't show me the great courtesies that are normal for any guest you didn't wash my feet you didn't anoint my head with oil you didn't even give me a common kiss of greeting those are the three basic things that would happen if you went to somebody's house you'd walk in they would kiss you you'd be seated they would wash your feet then they'd anoint you he said you didn't do any of that but this woman here this woman here from the moment I came in has been ministering to me he said something that I think is beautiful he said in Luke 744 it says that that he turned to the woman and he said to Simon do you see this woman I entered your house you gave me no water for my feet she has washed my feet with her tears wiped them with the hair of her head washed my feet with her tears now yes I'm certain that issue was coming to Christ there were tears that formed on her chin but there's something that goes along with that I was mentioning this the other day if you go to Israel you'll go into some of the shops that sell antiquities and and you can go into a shop and they will have different things that are a couple thousand years old and all or they've been fabricated to look like something that came out of that period and they have what they call tear vials tear vials you can buy a tear vials in Israel to this day we've been in the shop we have seen them and you can buy them they're called tear vials because they are remembering that that the psalmist said to the Lord to keep my tears in your bottle are they not written in your book and so during the time of Christ the women could have what is called a tear vial it was like on a chain if you will it was like a necklace and all the pain that you would fill in all the tears that would come out of sorrow she would collect in the bottle then she would seal it and then when she went through a trauma or mourning or deep sorrow again she would unseal it and she would catch more tears the tear bottle was about six inches in length and could hold some fluid so when this woman came to to Jesus and washed his feet with her tears it's very possible that she was washing his feet with the tears that she had collected that were reminders of her pain and her suffering and the grief of a lifetime and she used these tears to wash Jesus's feet because Jesus had healed her broken heart Jesus had won her love she had been a very sinful woman but she had been cleansed by a very loving savior she said my broken heart has been healed because of you and I kissed your feet for bringing me your love that's what Jesus has done for you and that's why we respond in love to him we serve him and we love him because he first loved us never forget that and I don't serve him to make him love me I serve him because he does love me and that's how it works in the kingdom of God Mary was like this unnamed woman Mary knew she had many sins but Mary also knew that she was forgiven and again that produces love and Mary loved Jesus and was a devoted follower and she was a Christian disciple his men they were nowhere to be found but she wasn't afraid to be an associated in the open with Jesus Christ she knew that that faith in him had resulted in forgiveness in a brand-new life and because his message was of truth and love for her she had the courage to identify with him it's like what Paul says in Romans 1 16 when he said I'm not ashamed of the gospel it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes for the Jew first and then for the Gentile she wasn't ashamed to identify even though it was dangerous she wasn't ashamed to identify and she looks into this tomb she sees the angels and they ask her a question verse 13 woman why are you weeping in other words your tears are unnecessary why are you crying you ought to be rejoicing that his body is gone and here you are sobbing your heart out while she answers in verse 13 they've taken away my Lord I don't know where they've laid him somebody removed his body from the tomb I don't know where they took it now this is interesting because Mary reminds me of myself and many other believers that that are alive even to this day Jesus is alive the Bible teaches us that he's alive that's why we celebrate the resurrection of Christ that's why we celebrate Easter because he's alive we sing he's alive we we we read scriptures that tell us he's alive and then when we go through a problem we act as if he isn't we act as if they've taken away the body of my Lord and I don't know where he is we think that sometimes that we're left on our own that we've got nobody to help us and and yet the Bible teaches me very clearly that that Jesus Christ ever lives to make intercession for me that he's alive that he's transformed my life that he has made it possible for me to have life in him and and it's all based on not simply the preaching of the gospel without the resurrection but it's the resurrection that certifies everything he preached is true because if the Lord Jesus Christ would have died and remained in that tomb then then we of all people have a feudal faith of vain faith because we're teaching that Jesus is alive when in reality he's dead and that makes him no different than Buddha or Muhammad or any other person who brought religious or philosophic teachings to the world but we believe that Jesus Christ is alive and if we believe that he's alive then we need to understand nobody took his body away he's still present with us and he's able to help us in our time of need that's what it means to be a Christian and that's what it means to live for him because he's alive and he's there to take care of the need because he loves you and he's willing to do it we need to understand that today because a lot of people are what are called practical atheists on the one hand we know our doctrine but on the other hand we don't live it but the Lord has said no I'm alive and you know that Paul in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 said it like this he said blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ every spiritual blessing we receive through Jesus Christ because he's alive we are new creations all things are passed away because he is alive we have been redeemed from the kingdom of darkness because he's alive we can overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony because he's alive we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ who loved us because he's alive we are heirs of God and joined heirs with Jesus Christ because he's alive we have life because the one who has the Son has life and the one who does not have the Son of God does not have life because he's alive we have love because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts because he's alive we have joy and it's a joy that no man can take from us because he's alive we are forgiven because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin because he's alive we have peace we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ because he's alive we have provision because my God shall supply all of my need because he's alive we have power because Jesus said you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you and because he's alive we have a home in heaven because Jesus said in my father's house are many mansions and I go and prepare a place for you I rejoice because Jesus Christ is alive and that is something the church needs to remember he's alive as this is taking place it says in verse 14 when she said this she turned around saw Jesus standing there didn't know that it was Jesus Jesus said to her woman why are you weeping whom are you seeking she's opposing him to be the gardener said to him sir if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away Jesus said to her Mary she turned and said to him Ravens which is to say teacher Jesus said her do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my father but go to my brethren and say to them I am ascending to my father and your father to my God and your God Mary Magland came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord that he had spoken these things to her why are you weeping you see she didn't recognize him it's early in the morning she's emotionally distressed she's blinded by tears she didn't expect to see him alive she's confused so he says why are you weeping then he says whom are you seeking under stress and under grief Mary has forgotten the promises which incidentally is what happens to us too we can go through stress and grief and forget his promises now he had said in John 1428 you have heard me say to you I'm going away and coming back to you if you loved me you would rejoice because I said I'm going to the father for my father is greater than I rather than weeping and sorrowing and carrying on the way that you are you really ought to be rejoicing because I've gone to prepare a place for you but as this is taking place she may have been aware of his teaching but it wasn't something that she could truly grasp at that moment you see she's still learning the basic lessons of the Christian faith here's a little practical thing for all of us in this room just because the Lord may want to teach us a lesson doesn't mean that we learn the lesson the first time there are things that the Lord will teach you over and over again until you finally get it then he moved you to another lesson that's how it works when Jesus was with his disciples in John 13 and and he was washing their feet and all and the Apostle Peter got upset at Jesus because Jesus was washing their feet and he had said to him you will never wash my feet and Jesus speaking to him said if I don't wash your feet you have no part of me and the Apostle Peter then says then basically give me a bath because I want to be close to you and Jesus said something that I've marked in my heart it's found in John 13 verse 7 where Jesus said what I am doing you do not understand now but you will know after this there are things that you go through and lessons that you're in the process of learning that you're not even aware you're learning yet but you do learn them and later on you're able to connect the dots spiritually and say oh so the Lord let me here to do this because he had something that he was going to do with me over here and he was teaching me something here so that I might be prepared for something over there and that's what's taking place in Mary and and so you do not feel discouraged that it seems that you learn the same kind of lesson over and over again just begin to learn the lesson so you can move on now it says in verse 15 supposing him to be the gardener she said if you carried away him away let me know and I'll go and take him I'll take him away myself that's a great picture of the burden of religion a small woman carrying a dead body of a teacher religions invented by men basically have disciples burdened by a dead teacher and their teaching our own efforts can't result in spiritual peace with God only forgiveness can heal your soul and that's what Jesus Christ came to do to forgive us and that's why we come to him in faith it's not that we try to make ourselves better we can't make ourselves good at all it's simply coming to the realization that I'm not good enough I had a friend of mine many years ago now when I first got saved and I was speaking to him and I said Nick you need to give your heart to Christ and he says I intend to do that and I said and when are you going to do that he says when I can get myself cleaned up enough to offer myself to him and I said Nick that means you never will because you're never going to be good enough for Jesus Christ come as you are and he'll clean you up you come as you are there may be some in this room right now saying you know I I'm not worthy and and with you I say amen none of us are I'm not worthy but he is I'm unable but he is able I can't forgive sins but he does I can sin but he forgives my sin I don't take that as an excuse excuse to continue in sin I just thank God for the grace that delivers me from its power and its oppression and so the Lord wants to do that work in us you see Christians don't carry around the body of a dead master we have a living Lord we have a Lord who loves us we have a Lord who carries us we have a Lord who delivers us even as it says in Isaiah 46 verse 4 where God said even to your old age I am he and even to gray hairs I will carry you I have made and I will bear even I will carry and will deliver you I'll do that you're like you're my baby and I will carry you so as this is taking place verse 16 Jesus said to her Mary and she turned and said to him rub on rub on he means my dear master my dear teacher she hears the voice of the shepherd a personal shepherd who personally knew her and he spoke her name in a way that she she heard I don't know about you maybe I have some people I'm sure I do who were big people on campus you were the big woman on campus everybody knew your name or the big man on campus everybody thought you were the coolest thing I wasn't that nobody knew my name as a matter of fact whenever I was introduced I was always the end you say hi Bill how you doing hey Jim how you doing and you that was me that's me I'm the hey you and for the longest time I'm telling you the longest time I thought I wish somebody knew my name I wish somebody knew my name and I did all kinds of crazy things to get attention so that somebody would remember how crazy David is you want to know what happened finally one day the Lord said it doesn't matter if anybody else knows your name I do he calls a sheep by name and you may be one of those invisible people you may be one of those who thinks that nobody knows that you're even alive let me remind you there is somebody who knows you're alive his name is Jesus and he loves you and he gave his life up for you he loves you he calls a sheep by name a personal shepherd who personally knew her he says to her in verses 17 and 18 will roll to a conclusion he says do not cling to me let me go there's a new work that is occurring I'm no longer to be physically present with you you see in John 14 he said in verse 15 to 18 he said if you love me you'll obey what I command and I will ask the father and he will give you another comforter to be with you forever the spirit of truth the world cannot accept him because it either sees him nor knows him but you know him for he lives with you and will be in you I will not leave you as orphans I will come to you I will not leave you without support I will not leave you without fellowship I will not leave you alone I will not leave you as an orphan I will come to you a holy spirit will live within you and will be within you and never leave you when my mom died a couple years ago now one of our friends Sandy Macintosh the wife of Mike Macintosh was speaking to me and I'll never forget how with her gentle sweetness and I love I love I love Sandy very much and Sandy was looking at me with the gentleness of such a sweet heart and I'll never forget she looked at me and my mom died and she said you're an orphan you're an orphan and I said yeah I've been thinking about that my dad's with Jesus and now my mom is with Jesus yeah but I'm not an orphan Jesus said I will not leave you orphans I will come to you no I'm never alone he is with me he never leaves me he never forsakes me he dwells within me Jesus is with you too if you're born again and he doesn't leave you alone he made a promise that he would always be with you and Jesus went to heaven that he might send the Spirit to dwell with us and what does she do well in verse 18 she came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord he had spoken these things to her she testified of what Jesus told her and even to this day believers are commanded to tell everyone we share we share with family we share with friends when we have the opportunity and it's a proper moment we share with co-workers we share with any we have opportunity to share with about Jesus Christ and that's what we're doing today we're sharing that Jesus Christ is alive we're sharing that he is willing to be with us that he is willing to be in our life Easter is special to me in many ways and I'll close with this obviously there's the biblical reason for it being special but it carries with it a special memory I got saved in 1970 I brought my sister Madeline to faith in Christ the day I got saved the day I got saved December 27 three weeks later I led my mom and my dad to faith in Christ they told them what Jesus had done and they came to faith in Christ a couple years later three and a half years or so later my brother Frank came to faith in Christ when Frank came to faith in Christ I started teaching a Bible study in the city of Ontario in 1974 and a young woman showed up at that Bible study by the name of Marie and Marie two weeks into the Bible study attending with me was led to the Lord by my sister Madeline and Marie came to faith in Christ tell somebody tell somebody tell somebody and watch what God will do my sister Becky though my sister Becky hadn't come to faith in Christ so she became interested in the claims of Christ and when I went into the military in 1971 my sister Becky began to attend a church a local church it wasn't a Calvary church it was a local church in Santa Fe Springs there was a woman who served there on staff who seduced my sister into lesbianism when my sister turned 18 and my sister Rebecca began to live a lesbian lifestyle for over 20 years and one day in the city of Ontario I was talking to Becky in front of my sister Madeline's house and I said Becky I love you with all of my heart and there's nothing you can ever do that will make me as your brother a shame to view or not love you I love you with all of my heart I said honey I said your lesbianism isn't the worst sin sin separates you from God but it is the sin that is your besetting sin it's the sin that you're practicing I said and I'm concerned and so I'm gonna tell you the truth and I shared the gospel with her more clearly face-to-faith sitting there in the front yard at my sister Madeline's house on Harvard Street 700 block of Harvard in the city of Ontario Becky spoke to me and she said well you know I've been thinking about that but whatever you're my brother I love you and I appreciate your care I said it's not just it's not it's not just care sweetheart those who commit such sins will not enter the kingdom of heaven I'm not concerned simply for your behavior I'm I'm concerned for your eternity and this sin makes a separation and you will not enter the kingdom of God and I'm greatly concerned for you and I'd see her and sometimes she'd have one of her friends she didn't have a lot of relationships but she did have long-term relationships with couple women two three women they would come I would see them but they live in another state she lives in New Mexico and one day in 1998 on Easter I was doing exactly what I'm doing right now giving a study coming to a conclusion and I gave an invitation as I will in a moment and I gave more than one opportunity and the very last opportunity I said listen if you're here and you know God is speaking to you please get up give your heart to Christ and I have my eyes closed and then I opened my eyes and right in front of me in the center aisle in the very back is my dad and my mom my sister Becky standing there as Becky gave her heart to the Lord Jesus Christ on Easter 1998 and she struggled at first because the entanglements of such a lifestyle are not easily broken but she has been free and has been walking with the Lord now since she gave her heart to Jesus in 1998 God forgives sin God forgives sin and and I believe this with all of my heart tell someone tell him how much God loves him tell him that Jesus died on the cross for them tell him that that we're all sinners in need of the grace of God and that Jesus was buried but on the third day he rose from the dead for our justification that he ascended into heaven sent the Holy Spirit to endow all those who believed in him and prepared a place for us because one day one day one day I look forward to seeing him face-to-face and I am longing to hear these words I am longing to hear him say well done my good my faithful servant I am longing for that and I pray that you are too that that motivates your life I don't care about the well-done's of men I want to hear the well done from Jesus Christ the one who saved me gave his life for me and may you have the same hope