 Let's open our bibles to John's gospel chapter 20 We're gonna look at verses 11 through 18 this morning John chapter 20 verses 11 through 18 Obviously this passage picks up After the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ beginning at verse 11 reading to verse 18 John writes 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 that 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 Ramoni, 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'm ascending to my father and your father and to my God and to your God Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things To her now. Let me lay a foundation Before we get into this there's some obvious things that we could be referring to but I Would begin by reminding you of something that occurs later on something that occurs in the book of Acts And it's recorded in chapters 3 and 4 of the book of Acts in that particular portion of scripture We have an event that takes place where Peter and John had gone to the temple at the hour of prayer And as they were about to enter into the temple There was a beggar who was there who was asking for Financial support from those who would enter in to that temple and as they were about to enter in this beggar Asked Peter and John for some money and the Bible tells us that Peter and John stopped and That Peter looked down at this man and he said to the man look upon us or look at us The scripture says that the man gave them his attention expecting to receive something from them But at that point Peter gave him something far better than money Peter gave him something that was much better than the finances that he wanted Peter looked at him and he said to him this he said silver and gold have I none But such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nathreth. I sent you rise up and walk He gave him something he didn't ask for what he wanted was money But what he needed was the ability to walk God has a way of doing that by the way He has a way of giving us not necessarily what we're asking for but he gives us what we need and in the case of this man What he needed to do is he needed to rise up and he needed to walk And so God performs a miracle and this man is instantly healed the Bible says that he That Peter reaches down takes him by the hand begins to lift him up and that strength came into the man's feet Into his ankles into his calves his thighs. He had complete equilibrium. He was able to stand began to walk He began to leap he began to praise God and as this occurs There is an electric kind of charge that goes to this to this crowd that sees this take place This is a man who had been crippled from birth. He was over 40 years of age. They were filled with wonder They were filled with amazement at what had happened Now as they gather around to see this Peter was given an opportunity to preach about Jesus Christ And so as he's speaking to them he begins by saying why are you looking so intently at us as as if by our own power or godliness? We made this man to walk and he went on to preach He began to preach to them the Lord Jesus Christ now that he was crucified. He died. He was buried But that he was alive Well, that caused a real problem Because many came to faith in Jesus because of that and the Jewish Religious Council was assembled and and and they were interrogated and As they were being interrogated Peter boldly proclaimed to them that Jesus who was crucified had been raised from the dead And he said to them the stone that you have rejected has become the chief cornerstone And there's salvation in only one name and that is the name of Jesus Christ Now they saw their their boldness and it upset them deeply and they regarded them as uneducated Untrained but this healed man was standing there with them and they they could say nothing against it there was nothing they could do and So they said how are we going to solve this problem? So their solution was They commanded Peter and John to never preach in the name of Jesus again We read in Acts 4 19 and 20, but Peter and John answered and said to them Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God a you judge For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard We cannot help but speak the things that we have seen and heard the United States we have Surveys polls taken Where over 80% of the respondents will declare themselves to be Christians Over 80% It's something that has remained Pretty firm in terms of the percentage for many years now over 80% of those are polled will say that they are a Christian and What I've discovered over time is that many of those refer to themselves as Christians? Simply do so because at one time or another they went to church or perhaps as a child or young adult or whatever They received water baptism, and so they had been to church. They've been baptized whatever They they have followed the rules of their particular religious faith and all in and so when asked what are you they will say I'm a Christian and so when I see them at as those who are able to say I can speak to you concerning those things that I've heard Because I received catechism or because I received Bible studies in Sunday school or because I had a praying grandmother Or my mom used to read the Bible to me at night or I've been to church services I've heard the gospel. I can speak to you concerning Jesus Christ I can say to you certain things that are are salient as it relates to him I can tell you that he's the second person of the most holy trinity that he was crucified died buried that he rose The third day I can give you this information So I can speak to you concerning the things that I've heard and there are many people who can do that We can speak in that way Before I got saved if you approached me and began to speak to me about Jesus Christ and asked me questions about him And I realized I come from a different time I came from a time when people actually read the Bible and spoke concerning Christ more openly and So if you'd have approached me and said to me Do you know anything about Jesus because I had gone to catechism because I had received certain ordinances of my church I was able to speak to you and say to you. Oh, yes, I know who he is. I could speak to you concerning his virgin birth I could say to you that he died on a cross That he was buried the third day He rose again from the dead that he ascended into heaven that he sits at the right hand of the father That he's going to come to judge the living and the dead that he sent the Holy Spirit to reside in those who would receive I could tell you those things because I learned those things and the apostolic reeds and the various things that I was taught to memorize I Could speak to you concerning the things that I had heard But I could not speak to you concerning the things that I'd seen and There are a lot of people today who can speak concerning the things that they have heard So they can go to a church service and maybe even go regularly But they cannot speak from a personal experience. They do not know the risen Christ. They only know of him And the Bible teaches us that we need to have more than just head or said knowledge We need to have heart knowledge a knowledge of God from the inside and many people are missing heaven by 18 inches the distance from their head to their heart and What we want is we want to celebrate the reality of a faith that is that is rooted in an actual event the resurrection of Jesus Christ Because it's this faith that we embraced that has transformed our life It isn't that we have just chosen to believe something we have seen and we have heard we know that God transforms lives We know that he can transform our life because he has Transformed our life through our faith in Jesus Christ And that's what we're looking at here as we look at a story Concerning a woman by the name of Mary as she sees her risen savior Now as we look at this I want you to see that Mary Magdalene here has been undergoing incredible emotional trauma When we think about it, we need to remember the events of her week just one week before she had seen Jesus enter into Jerusalem and Jesus had come in on and to a tremendous reception and As he had come in that Palm Sunday The people had lined the streets and and had been crying out as they were waving these palm branches And they were saying Hosanna to him save now save now and there was this exhilaration There was this excitement that had taken place there Jesus and his followers as we know I'd come to celebrate the Passover The Passover is a celebration of of joy and and it's festive because it's a reminder on a yearly basis of how God Delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt's bondage We Christians recognize that it is a celebration of how God can actually save us from the bondage of sin and Jesus had come in to celebrate this wonderful celebration because he indeed is a Passover lamb who was slain So the celebration was intense But things didn't go as she thought they would because after celebrating the Passover meal Jesus had been arrested. He had been tried. He'd been beaten and he had been killed on Friday Mary had stood by the cross by Jesus's mother Mary Magdalene had watched as her beloved Savior had died By now it's only three days since that event had taken place The shock the pain are still fresh within her Two men one named Joseph of Arimathea another by the name of Nicodemus Had given Jesus a hasty burial and when they took Jesus from the tomb Mary and some friends followed to see where he was buried It's now early Sunday and Mary has returned to the tomb in order to complete his burial Now John only mentions Mary, but Luke tells us that there were others because in Luke 24 1 It says on the first day of the week very early in the morning They and certain other women with them came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb Well here in John chapter 20 we we see why we see what had happened and She has now seen that this stone has been taken away and what does she do? She she ran and she came to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them They've taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they have laid him And and that causes them to be greatly agitated and they run to the tomb Verse 4 tells us they both ran together and the other disciple out ran Peter came to the tomb first And he's stooping down and looking in saw the linen cloths lying there yet. He did not go in Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb and he saw the linen cloths lying there in the handkerchief It had been around his head not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also and he saw and Believed and so we see the events that are taking place They both view this tomb, but they have different reactions Peter only sees an empty tomb But John saw and he believed that Jesus had risen from the dead and after viewing that tomb They had returned to the other disciples who had remained home But Mary as we see in verse 11 stood outside by the tomb and noticed She's weeping and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb Can you imagine for a moment what she was going through? Bible tells us very clearly that she was weeping that word weeping is a strong word in the original language in the Greek language It means strong crying. It speaks of mourning It speaks of pain and it speaks of grief She's crying as if her heart is broken She's mourning and weeping was such great and intense sorrow Because Jesus's body is not there She doesn't realize that her sorrow will soon be turned into joy The Bible tells us in Psalm 30 verse 5 weeping may endure for a night But joy comes in the morning Sometimes before the Lord breaks into your life you go through a time of pain and sorrow that you think is unbearable You think you'll never get through it and without him you never would Part of the work of the conviction of the Holy Spirit is when he awakens you to your condition He awakens you to your lostness. He awakens you to your pain. It awakens you to your sorrow He awakens you to your grief and to your loneliness He awakens you to the reality of a life without him the darkness that surrounds you and the pain that you live in 24-7 he awakens you to that it's called the conviction of the Holy Spirit and God has a way of doing that because weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning And God has a way of awakening us through these things and that's what he's about to do here with his beloved Mary She's standing out there weeping and as she's weeping notice verse 11. She stooped down and she looks into that tomb She's unwilling to leave the tomb She's fearing that his body had been stolen Now this is a woman who truly loved the Lord Jesus Christ She loved him with all her heart She loved him with all her heart because he had forgiven and he had restored her She was a woman the Bible tells us who had at one time been severely demon-possessed and Jesus had come and delivered her of These demons and that caused her to love him very greatly Reminds me of another woman found in scripture. She's recorded in the gospel of Luke in chapter 7 a woman Who had come into a dinner party that Jesus had been invited to this woman had come in and stood there at the door And she began to look around that room till she could find where the dignitaries would be seated and She saw where the chief place was the place of honor and she knew that that was where Jesus the Messiah would be The Bible tells her tells us that she came and she approached and as she came to that table where Jesus was in his He's laying on his left side and he's reaching to the table with his right hand and his feet are stretched out That she came and she began to weep as she approached him and as she began to weep She was weeping so severely that the tears began to drip from her eyes and began to trail down her chin and drip off of her chin onto his dusty feet and As she saw that she became very aware of what was happening and she undid her hair She knelt down and began to dry His feet with her hair and as she did that as she held the feet of Jesus She she kissed him in adoration and thankfulness and and the man who had invited Jesus to that dinner was a man by the name of Simon he was a Pharisee The word Pharisee speaks of a religious individual the word actually means a separated one And he was an individual who took pride in not having to do anything to do with sinful people He wouldn't come into contact with them So he thinks within himself if this man truly were a prophet He would know who and what matter of woman this is who's touching him for she is a sinner This was a woman who is notorious for her sin She wasn't simply like the rest of us in the sense that we are all sinners because the Bible says all have sin And fall short of the glory of God But when she says this woman is a sinner he's saying this is a prostitute This woman is a woman that even a blind man literally could see she is she is a prostitute She is a sinner and he is allowing this woman this sinful woman to touch him if he were really a prophet he would know Jesus looking at Simon says Simon I have something to say to you and Simon says him will say on What do you have to say? He says I want to tell you something. He says there were two men Who owed another man some money One owed him a little some the other owed him a great some But the one who has owed the money Completely forgave both of them. I want to ask you a question Simon Which one of those two are going to love him the most? Simon says well, I suppose the one who owed the most and That's when Jesus responded and said indeed, you know Simon to be honest with you You didn't give me the basic customary welcomes or forms of welcome that every Jewish Gast should have received you didn't wash my feet. You didn't anoint my head with oil You didn't give me a kiss of greeting He says I want you to notice this woman Do you see this woman because Simon obviously didn't see her as a woman. He just saw her as a sinful person He says you see this woman She's been kissing my feet. She's anointed me She's washed my feet with the tears I want to tell you something Simon Though her sins are great yet, they've been forgiven and He says because the one who has been forgiven much Well, that same person loves much You know what I've discovered in the years that I followed the Lord is sometimes we can forget where we came from After a few years of walking with the Lord We might begin to think ourselves to be a little bit better than the average person Not above the average person maybe even a little bit above the average Christian And I believe that God would have us come back to the place that we first met him and remember what we were When we got saved that brings humility into our life and an ability to communicate to those who are still in that place We got rescued from God would have us to have humility and understanding and the bottom line is if you've been forgiven much Then you ought to love much because look at Jesus Christ has done for you Look at how he has forgiven you of your sins how he has cleansed you how he's given you a brand new life Look at all the blessings that he has given to you and it's not because we are so good It's because he is so good and because he has loved us so much. What a savior we worship What a God that we have who has loved us and given himself for us And so as we look at this she's there weeping and she is she is so upset and so Tearful because she thinks that the body of Christ has been moved and she doesn't know where it is and so Mary was one who loved Jesus She was devoted to him. She was a genuine Christian disciple Now as other disciples could not be found But she wasn't afraid of being associated with him She knew that faith in him resulted in a brand new life. So she wasn't ashamed She wasn't ashamed to be identified with him She was not ashamed to to let people know even though his his men even though his men were hiding for fear of the Jewish authorities She wasn't ashamed to be known as one who followed after Jesus Christ Paul would say it like this I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes for the Jew first and then for the Gentile. I really believe by the way that it's time for the church to stand up and be counted I really believe it's time for us to stand up and say I believe in Jesus Christ. I'm not ashamed of the gospel I'm not ashamed of him. He transforms lives. There are too many men and women today who are quiet We need to open our mouths We need to open our mouths. I mean you look around right now. Excuse me while I preach you look around and you see What's going on? You see so much antagonism for Jesus Christ We have university professors who are saying to their students This just happened last week write the name of Jesus put it on the ground stand up and stomp on his name and You have people getting upset over that. Why are they getting away with that? Why didn't they put the name Buddha there and say jump on Buddha? Why didn't they say step on Muhammad? They said step on Jesus white because his is the name above all names That's why because the enemy hates the name of Jesus, but we celebrate it Because he's alive That's why it isn't just because we're in the United States in its fair game You know what? I believe I believe that Christian leaders need to stand up and there's a proper time for outrage And we ought to be outraged at how they're treating Jesus Christ We need to stand up and speak don't be ashamed of the gospel Don't be trying to be the most popular person in the classroom. Don't be intimidated by your professor Don't be so concerned about where your co-workers think about you There's only one person you ought to care about and that's Jesus Christ and what he has to say about you and one of these days I want to hear him say well done my good and my faithful servant That's what I want to hear. I don't care if the boss says I like you or don't like you I'm the boss here. I like me anyway, but I don't care. I Never did you know what? I was a hippie when I got saved They didn't like hippies. So what do I care? You didn't like me as a hippie. You don't like me as a Christian What does that matter to me? There's only one person I care about who really likes me and that's Jesus Christ and for whatever reason He's chosen not only to like me He loves me and if I can live in his love I can put up with anything else and that's a whole bottom line Isn't it don't be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ It is the power of God unto salvation to anyone who believes Don't be ashamed of it is a message message of life and it's a message that Satan wants to quench He doesn't want people to speak of Jesus. He doesn't want us to live for Jesus, but I've made up my mind I'm gonna follow him and if I have to go by myself I will go by myself, but I'm gonna follow him and I don't care what the world says I care what he says why because he's alive and I follow a risen savior That's how it works and that's how it ought to be Now she's looking into this tomb and she sees two angels who are there ones at the feet the others at the head and and they begin To speak to her and they say woman. Why are you weeping? In other words your tears are unnecessary. You should be rejoicing He's alive. He's risen, but she doesn't see that yet. So she answers. They've taken away my lord I don't know where they've laid him Somebody's removed his body. I don't know where they've taken it And as this is going on verse 14 when when she said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and and did not know That it was Jesus. Jesus said to her woman. Why are you weeping? Who are you seeking? She's opposing him to be the gardener said to him sir if you've carried him away Tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away Well, she turns and sees Jesus, but doesn't recognize him. Why well, it's early in the morning. She's emotionally distressed She's blinded by her tears. She didn't expect to see him alive. Therefore. She's confused But the question comes why are you weeping and whom are you seeking? Now as understandable as her emotion is at that moment Well, her reaction really is wrong. She'd forgotten what Jesus had taught his disciples in John 1428 he had said you heard me say to you I'm going away I'm 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 She should have been rejoicing that his body was gone Because he had told him his body would be gone. She was aware of his teaching But it was something beyond her ability to grasp at that moment And so what does she do? Well, she says in verse 15 if you've carried him away. Tell me where you've laid him Now we'll take him away That's a great picture of the burden of religion a small woman carrying around a dead body Religions invented by men basically have disciples who are burdened by their dead teacher and This dead teacher cannot personally help Cannot personally comfort cannot communicate cannot do anything but burden In our world many attempt to make themselves acceptable to God they turn to self-help and self-discovery books they go to seminars They have an inner sense that they need something else go about trying to find the answer Problem within them is sin sin that makes a separation between them and their God sin has a way of breaking communion and The sin that they have has caused them to have no relationship with the living and holy God You see Christians do not carry around the body of a dead master We have a living Lord We have one who loves us who carries us and one who delivers us Jesus said in John 10 11. I am the good shepherd and the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep So we have a living master who lay down his life for us only to take it up again. I Heard the story of an African Muslim who became a Christian some of his friends asked him Why have you become a Christian? And he answered well It's like this Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road divided in two directions And you didn't know which way to go and There at the fork in the road were two men one dead One alive Which one would you ask which way to go? See we don't go to a dead man We go to the living Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's what Easter is all about. Isn't it that he's alive Well as this has taken place and she's saying that she will carry his body for 16 Jesus said to her Mary She turned and said to him Roboni, which is to say teacher Mary There's just something about the way that Jesus spoke her name that cost her to instantly recognize Who this was that tenderness That personal touch That recognition how many times had she heard him speak her name and All it took was just him mentioning her name just saying the name Mary and she understood This is my savior. I Don't know how many people we have in this room who when you were in school perhaps you're still in school and maybe true of you right now, but For those of us who went through school and high school especially and and survived those four years I Wonder how many in this room were were the big men or big woman on campus? You know how many star athletes we have here? Whenever you walked into the campus or pulled up and the people will say oh there's so-and-so or Whenever you walked by people would say oh hi. How are you and people wanted to get to know you? That wasn't me. I'm just wondering how many of you actually experienced that Because I was not that I Was the guy who was you know, I had two friends Jim and Bill and I was the guy that the girls would say It's nice meeting you Jim. It's nice meeting you Bill and what's your name? I was what's your name? True story and so For me. I mean when I was 14 my mom bought me a pair of glasses I was going to grow into and There were there was a cartoon character called superfly and so my glasses were like half the side size of my head And so and then I had pants that I was going to grow into So I was quite the specimen. I was not the big man on campus ever And so what do you do when you're not the big person on campus or whatever the best known? Well, there are things within you that can happen and one of those things for me Was that I I would just begin to hope and wish that somebody would know who I am So I could I went in the direction of just doing things for people's attention. I did crazy things I did criminal things in order that somebody would say oh you shouldn't do that or David They'd say my name and I know it's a lot deeper than what I'm explaining it be But there was this inner need within me to be known by somebody cannot somebody please know who I am Please and I didn't have anybody that in my life. I felt really at that point cared So I tried to find my fulfillment in Relationships and discovered that there was no girl on campus or any girl that I ever met who would ever be able to Give to me the love and attention I needed. It just wasn't humanly possible And so that's why I didn't have successful dating relationships. It just didn't work Didn't work until one day. I heard a message called the gospel and The message told me something that's amazing the message told me something I'd never really heard before the message told me that there is a God in this universe the most powerful majestic holy God He knows your name and he loves you and When I discovered like Jesus said Mary when I discovered that Jesus also says David I Love you That changed my life Because I came into connection with the most powerful wonderful compassionate loving Person in the universe God and he said to me in his gospel I love you so much That I sent my son Jesus Christ To pay a price that you yourself cannot in your own effort ever paid You see God's standard being perfection and me being imperfect all have sin and fall short of the glory of God No matter how hard I could try I could never be good enough and I knew that Didn't take a whole lot of preaching to convince me. I was a sinner. I knew I was a sinner But I didn't know that I could have a savior who would actually accept me forgive me and change me I didn't really know that until I heard the gospel and Then out of eternity God's voice spoke Whatever your name may be as a Christian. He called your name And he said your name and So that changed me Because I was now forgiven. I was being transformed and I stopped looking to people To give to me the attention and cause me to have a sense of value Because if God loves me That's all I really need And when I discovered that I Actually became comfortable in my own skin When I became comfortable in my own skin I was able to be a real person and God ultimately brought a young woman into my life Who could accept me as a real person and not a caricature of what I thought she wanted and As a result of that I could be David Loved by God and loved by Marie God does that and so when Mary hears Jesus say Mary She knows immediately it's my dear master and she goes and she clings to him and he says don't cling to me The work has not been completed. I have yet to ascend Don't try and retain me here because I need to move to be with my father And as a result of that she told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her Which is what we're called to do too To tell others that we've encountered the Lord and that he has commanded us to share the good news of this gospel Jesus Christ is the Savior that God sent into the world We were separated from God through our sin, but Jesus took human flesh upon himself and he dealt with it Our responsibility in the salvation matter is to confess our sins repent and by faith to receive his offer of life To embrace him by faith and pursue him and as we yield ourself to him The Bible says we can become the temple of the Spirit of God and the Spirit of God himself will dwell in us He'll produce his fruit within us the fruit of love and the other things that are so necessary He'll empower us by his spirit to live for him He gives to us his word to direct our footsteps and he also writes his word on the tablets of our heart And he causes us to desire those above anything else and our lives very slowly, but very surely are changed Because we have a living master living within us directing us because he has saved us He's alive and we follow him and he has given to us life. How did we receive it? By confessing God Forgive me. I'm a sinner Wash me with your blood Jesus Come into my life and transform me. I believe that you died. I believe that you were buried But I believe you rose the third day and I believe that you can live within me And that's called being born again. And that's how we got saved. No other way By faith through the grace of God We received the living savior Jesus christ and he has transformed our lives