[0:00] Certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.
[0:15] So the sisters sent to him, saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill. But when Jesus heard it, he said, This illness does not lead to death.
[0:25] It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of Man may be glorified through it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
[0:37] So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this, he said to the disciples, Let us go to Judea again.
[0:49] The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you. Are you just going there again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day?
[1:03] If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him.
[1:14] After saying these things, he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. The disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.
[1:30] Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest and sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died, but for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.
[1:48] But let us go to him. So Thomas called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
[2:04] Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.
[2:21] Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again.
[2:35] Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.
[2:50] And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.
[3:04] When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, The teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.
[3:15] Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
[3:32] Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
[3:52] And he said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, See how he loved him.
[4:07] But some of them said, Could not he open the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying? Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb.
[4:19] It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.
[4:34] Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? So they took the stone away. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
[4:51] I knew that you would always hear me. But I set this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me. When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.
[5:07] The man who had died came out, his hand and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him and let him go.
[5:21] This is the word of God. Thank you. Thank you. Great. Well, good morning, everybody.
[5:32] And welcome to our Easter service. If you don't know me, my name is Kevin. I'm one of the leaders here at Watermark. And whether you are a regular part of the Watermark family, or whether this is the first time you are dialing in, a warm welcome to you.
[5:47] We're so glad that you've joined us this morning. And it's great to be together. Thank you, Jeremy and Julie and Leo. Great time of worship. Before we do anything else, let's pray together.
[5:58] And so will you join me as we pray? Heavenly Father, great and sovereign Lord, majestic God, risen Savior.
[6:09] God, thank you for Resurrection Sunday. Thank you for this day in history, which is not just a day in history, but it's a day in which we get to experience once again your resurrection life and power in our lives.
[6:23] Christ, we thank you so much for the wonder of the gospel. Father, as we look around our world, much like Mary and Martha, there is so much to weep about, so much that causes us to grieve.
[6:37] Father, this morning we ask you, just like you did 2,000 years ago, to this family in the village of Bethany, come and draw near to us. Come and minister to us.
[6:48] Come and open our eyes to see your glory. Come reveal yourself to us this morning. Father, come and give us fresh hope and confidence in you. Father, this morning we ask that you will write your gospel story deep in our hearts.
[7:03] Father, for those of us that have been Christians for many years, we pray once again this morning, make it fresh and real to us. For those of us, God, that have just recently started to follow you and trust you and obey you, God, open our eyes to the wonder of the gospel and of Easter.
[7:20] Father, for those of us this morning that are still on a spiritual journey and still seeking and exploring, we pray, come and show us the truth of the gospel. Come and reveal to us your resurrection glory.
[7:33] God, this morning as we look at this passage, we ask you to come and take these words off of the pages of scripture and make them alive in our hearts, we pray. Come and open the eyes of our hearts to see you and to see your glory.
[7:45] We pray these things in your wonderful name. Amen. Amen. Now, this passage that we are looking at this morning is a fascinating passage, and there's so much in here.
[7:57] We're not going to get to cover it all, unfortunately. But the context is that this is happening around the time of the Easter weekend. The passage just before this, Jesus in John chapter 10, he describes himself as this good shepherd that lays down his life for his sheep, for his followers, his disciples.
[8:17] And the passage immediately after this, the religious leaders in Jerusalem gather together in secret council and discuss how it might be that they can arrest Jesus and have him killed.
[8:31] Jesus is causing too much of a stir. This scene in particular causes too much of a stir. And they decide it's better to get rid of him. And this scene precipitates the leader to his death and ultimately his resurrection.
[8:44] And so while this isn't Easter weekend exactly, it's a few weeks outside of Easter weekend, the Easter story is looming large behind what's happening here.
[8:54] And it's anticipating the Easter weekend that's coming. Now, what happens in this passage is Jesus is with his disciples. He's about 150 miles away.
[9:05] And he gets a message that his dear friend Lazarus is desperately ill. Well, look what Jesus does. Jesus does something really strange. Because look at verse 5 and 6.
[9:17] It says, Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, or therefore, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he decided to stay two days longer in the place where he was.
[9:32] You see that? He loves Lazarus. He loves this family. They're dear to his heart. And yet, when he hears that they're ill, rather than rushing back to be by their side, he decides to stay where he is.
[9:45] Why would Jesus do that? Well, the answer is given to us in verse 4. Look at what it says. Verse 4 tells us, I wonder how many of us feel like you're living in those two days.
[10:15] When the world is collapsing. When the world is collapsing. Chaos is ensuing all around. Things are going wrong. And you feel like, God, where are you? Or God, if you know what's going on, please come and rescue me.
[10:28] And it feels like God might be saying, let's just stay where we are for a few more days. Have you ever felt like that? You're living in the two days? Why does Jesus do this?
[10:41] We know one of the reasons why he doesn't do it. At least we know it's not because he doesn't care. Because look at what he says. He says, Jesus loved Martha and his sister and Lazarus.
[10:51] So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was. Whatever his reason is, it's not because he doesn't care about them. Verse 4 tells us, He does it that the Son of God, that's Jesus, may be glorified through it.
[11:05] Now, at first, that may sound strange to us as well. Because we may feel like Jesus is saying, Listen, let's just stay here, let him die, I'll go and raise him from the dead, and then everyone will worship me and tell me how amazing I am.
[11:18] It sounds a little narcissistic, right? In John's Gospel, whenever John uses the word for God to be glorified, he's not talking about the worship that he is due or the praise that he is due.
[11:32] When John talks about God being glorified, or specifically Jesus being glorified, it means God revealing or disclosing or making known something about Jesus' nature and character, which previously is hidden.
[11:48] So in John's Gospel, he says that the cross is the moment that Jesus is glorified. It's the moment that reveals something about Jesus that apart from his cross, we wouldn't have known about him.
[11:58] Jesus says here that this moment, God is going to use this time to reveal or disclose or show something about who he is that apart from this, Mary, Martha, and the disciples would not know.
[12:12] So what is it that Jesus wants to show them? What does he want to show us? In this passage, we see four things. We're going to see very briefly. We see Jesus' surprising anger, Jesus' radical claim, Jesus' astounding exchange, and his miraculous validation.
[12:32] So let's dive into the first one, Jesus' surprising anger. Look at verse 32 with me. Jesus comes and he's making his way towards Bethany. Mary hears that Jesus is coming.
[12:45] She's weeping and mourning the death of her brother. She hears Jesus on the way and she gets up and runs to where he is. And while she's there, she says to him, Jesus, if you had been here, my brother Lazarus would not have died.
[12:59] But look at verse 33. It says, When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
[13:13] Now, unfortunately, our English Bibles don't really help us here because most scholars agree that that's not a great translation of the original languages. The word deeply moved here actually means to be angry at something, to be indignant, to be even outraged at something that's happening.
[13:33] In fact, that word is used in contemporary Greek writing of the time of the Gospels to talk about horses that flare their nostrils, that snort and stampede in agitation.
[13:45] There's something going on here. Jesus is not just deeply moved like he's looked at the sunset or a beautiful picture. There's something that's riled him, something that's stirred him, and he's outraged about something.
[13:57] But what is it that stirred him so much? What's caused Jesus to get angry? Some people think that maybe it's Mary and Martha that are asking him to do a miracle.
[14:09] But that can't be the case because in verse 11, he says to his disciples, let's go and I'm going to raise Lazarus from the dead, before he's even spoken to Mary or Martha. What is it that's got Jesus so riled?
[14:23] Well, D.A. Carson, one of the greatest New Testament theologians of our time, says this. Jesus' indignation is aimed at the sin, the sickness, and the death in this fallen world that wrecks so much havoc and generates so much sorrow.
[14:42] Do you see that? Jesus is angry because he sees that the consequences of sin and death and sickness causes grief and pain and heartache.
[14:53] It's like he's looking at what's happening to his dearly beloved children, and he's saying, this is not the way that my father and I designed the world. This is not how it should be. Jesus is riled by the grief that he sees around him.
[15:08] Now, of course, it's not a cry of confusion. Jesus is not saying, where are you, God? How could you let this happen? He knows where it comes from. It comes from the fall. It comes from sin entering our world.
[15:19] But neither is Jesus powerless to do anything about it. He's not saying, I'm really sorry. I wish I could do something about it. In a few minutes' time, Jesus is going to raise Lazarus from the dead.
[15:30] In half an hour time, these tears are going to be tears of joy, not weeping. There's going to be a celebration happening. So why is Jesus so riled or angry at this moment?
[15:43] Tim Keller says it's because he's perfect, because he knows how to love perfectly. Jesus doesn't just say, come on, I'm going to sort it all out.
[15:55] Don't worry about it. Jesus, in this moment, he enters their grief. He enters their pain. He absorbs some of their pain and their weeping. Jesus knows how to weep with those who weep.
[16:09] J.C. Ryle was a 19th century pastor in England, and he writes this. He says, Friends, our world is weeping at the moment.
[16:55] Our city is grieving at the moment. I saw the headlines this morning saying Hong Kong has reached a grim milestone as over 1,000 people in our city have contracted the coronavirus.
[17:06] Friends, all over our world, people are grieving. We're weeping at the brokenness all around us. Loved ones are passing away. Industries are collapsing.
[17:18] Jobs are on the line. There is pain and sorrow everywhere we look. Friends, Jesus is someone who comes and he weeps with those who weeps. He grieves with those who grieves.
[17:30] He enters into the sorrow and the pain of our broken world. John says that when he saw Mary weeping, he was deeply moved. He was indignant.
[17:41] And the shortest verse of the Bible, verse 37, says Jesus wept. He wept with her. He wept at the sin and the sickness and the death of this fallen world that causes so much grief and generates so much sorrow.
[17:56] As J.C. Rouse says out, This Jesus in whom believers trust is the most tender and a feeling Savior. But that's not all. Look at the second thing.
[18:06] Jesus makes a radical claim. Earlier on in the passage in verse 21, Jesus goes to Martha. And Martha says the same thing that her sister Mary says. She says, Jesus, if you were here, my brother would not have died.
[18:20] And Jesus says to her, Martha, he says, Your brother will rise again. Now Martha says something very interesting. She says, Yes, Lord, I know that in the last day he will rise again at the resurrection of the dead.
[18:34] Now what's Martha saying to him? In a sense, Martha is saying, I know it's true. I know that in eternity, I know he will rise from the dead. I know that one day I'll be with him.
[18:45] But Jesus, where were you when it mattered? Where were you when he was sick? I know that one day everything will be fine. But Jesus, we needed you now. Where are you now?
[18:56] And Jesus says the most astounding thing to her. Look at what he says. He says, Martha, I am the resurrection and the life.
[19:07] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And anyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Friends, I wonder how many of us can resonate with Martha in this time.
[19:21] How many of us, our faith or our Christianity can feel a bit like that. We know that, yes, there's going to be an eternity. We know that, yes, there's coming a time, the new heavens and the new earth.
[19:31] There'll be no more tears, no more agony, no more pain. But where is Jesus now? Jesus says to Martha, he makes this radical claim. He says that life and death are in my hands, and I've come to bring life to you now.
[19:45] Now, in John's gospel, the word life is a major theme. It appears in almost every chapter throughout John's gospel. When Jesus talks about life, he's not so much talking about breathing as opposed to not breathing.
[19:58] He's not talking about having a heartbeat as opposed to not having a heartbeat. And he's not only talking about future life, one day in eternity, eternal life. There's elements of that.
[20:10] When Jesus talks about life, he's talking about this existential, abundant life that we get to experience here and now in the midst of our lives. In the midst of all the brokenness and the chaos around us, there's a fullness of life that we get to experience.
[20:24] In some ways, he's talking about an eternal life, the life we experience in glory, coming and breaking into our lives even in this world now. New Testament theologian and scholar N.T. Wright said it like this.
[20:40] Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is the beginning of God's new project. But not just to snatch people out of this dirty, broken world and take them to heaven, but rather to colonize earth with the life of heaven.
[20:56] See what he's saying? And then that's what Jesus says. I've come to bring life. I am the resurrection, but I'm also life, and I've come to bring it to you. I was talking to a good friend of mine this week, and he was talking about the transformation that's taken place over his life.
[21:12] Over the last six months or so, as he's learned to deeply trust God with some of the deepest areas of his life. And he said two beautiful things. He said, it feels like for the first time in years, I can breathe deeply again.
[21:28] Then he said, it feels like for years I've been wearing this straitjacket. I've been constrained, and I haven't been myself. I haven't been able to breathe properly. And for the first time in years, it feels like the straitjacket's been removed.
[21:40] And I can finally be myself and breathe again. I can finally be free. Friends, Jesus says he's come to bring life, abundant life.
[21:52] In fact, in the chapter before, John chapter 10, Jesus describes Satan as a thief, someone who comes to steal our joy, to cure life, to destroy our faith in God.
[22:02] But he says, I have come rather to bring life and life in abundance. Jesus says in John chapter 6, I am the bread of life. Anyone that believes in me will have eternal life, will never go hungry, will experience that eternal life in this life.
[22:19] Now, Jesus is making this radical claim that life is found in him. But look at what else he's saying. Jesus is not just claiming that he is a dispenser of life, like a shopkeeper that comes and dispenses life.
[22:36] He's saying that life is found as you come to him and trust in him and believe in him. Jesus doesn't just promise to give life as a gift or reward. He says that he is life.
[22:49] He says, I am the resurrection and the life. In John chapter 17, he's praying to his father and he says, Father, this is eternal life, that they know you, the one true God, and your Christ that you've sent.
[23:03] Eternal life isn't just something that Jesus gives. It's intrinsic to who he is. And this actually is a distinction between Jesus and every other founder of world religions.
[23:15] You know, the founder of every world religion will say, don't look to me, don't worship me, follow my teachings, follow my dogma, my disciplines.
[23:26] Remember Gautama Buddha, he's on his deathbed, and he says to his disciples, those who have gathered around his bed, his final words. He says, let my dharma, let my disciplines be your teacher.
[23:39] And Muhammad said the same thing. He said, don't worship me, follow the revelation that I give you, the words of the book. Jesus comes and he stands alone amongst every moral philosopher, every founder of world religion, and he says, don't just follow my teachings, come to me.
[23:55] There's not just life found in my words, life is found in me. If you follow my teachings, my principles, that alone doesn't give you life. Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life.
[24:08] And so he says, whoever believes in me. What does that mean? Well, it means more than just intellectual assent. It means to place the weight of our hope and our trust in him. Jesus is making this radical claim.
[24:21] He claims that the life that we hunger and thirst for, the existential fullness of life, is not found by avoiding him. But it's also not found by using him or trying to earn our favor.
[24:34] It's earned his favor. It's found by simply trusting him, by hoping in him, by believing in him, by surrendering to him. Jesus makes this radical claim that he is life and resurrection.
[24:48] Jesus claims to be one of the deepest philosophical questions that humankind has.
[25:03] All human beings ask the question, how are we going to put the world right again? How can we fix this broken world? Jesus comes and he says, I can. Many moral philosophers, religious leaders, gurus will give many good answers and have many good insights into human nature.
[25:21] Jesus stands alone amongst all of them because to the question, what can put the world right again? Jesus says, I can. Why should we believe him? How is he going to back up such a claim?
[25:32] The answer is found in the astounding exchange that Jesus does for us. At the end of this passage, we didn't get to read it, but I alluded to it earlier.
[25:45] After Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, the religious leaders take counsel together. And verse 53 says it like this. It says, after the counsel meeting, the religious leaders, it says this.
[25:57] So from that day, they made plans to put him to death. They come together and they agree how to arrest him and how it might be that they might exterminate him.
[26:10] The irony here is that in Jesus coming to Bethany to give new life to a dead man, Lazarus, is going to be the very thing that precipitates and brings about his own death.
[26:24] Tim Keller, commenting on this passage, says, Jesus knew the only way to interrupt Lazarus' funeral was to bring about his own. The only way to bring Lazarus out of death into life is to bring about his own death.
[26:40] Jesus in coming to Bethany and raising Lazarus from the dead is at the very moment precipitating and causing his own death on the cross. But friends, you know that that's not just true for Lazarus.
[26:52] That's true for every one of us. This is the astounding message of the gospel. That life is given to us. That we have hope and freedom and resurrection. That we can live both now and all eternity.
[27:06] That Jesus came to save us and to bring us life and new hope and to give us freedom. But that that would cost him his very life. Sally Lloyd-Jones says that his death on the cross was the only way that he could deal with the sin in our lives that was causing all the destruction and destroying us without destroying the very people in whom sin dwelt.
[27:30] Jesus came and he brought life to Lazarus knowing it would cost him his own. Friends, Jesus comes and he brings life to you and I knowing that it would cost him his very own.
[27:42] Friends, this is the heart of the gospel. The gospel message is not how to save yourself, how to rescue yourself. The heart of Christianity is not how to be a better person or how to engage in self-improvement.
[27:55] The heart of Christianity in the Bible is not how to be a better version of yourself. The heart of Christianity is that all of us are dead in our sin. Under God's just judgment.
[28:05] Alienated from the God that loves us and made us. And separated from him. But this God moved towards us in grace and gave us life and freedom. Jesus took the death that we deserved upon himself and gave us life in his place.
[28:21] But he did it knowing it would cost him his own life. Friends, this is what Christianity is all about. This is what Easter is all about.
[28:33] There's an old hymn from 150 years ago and it says this. Friends, this is what Jesus took our death and gave us life.
[28:56] Jesus took our sin and gave us righteousness. Jesus took our judgment and gave us favor with God the Father instead. Finally, Jesus' astounding validation.
[29:10] As we said earlier, many moral philosophers, religious leaders, wise men and women have said many wise things and do have good insight into human nature. But Jesus claimed to be more than that.
[29:23] Jesus didn't just claim to have the answers to life's questions. He claimed to be the answer. Jesus didn't just claim to show us the way to God. He claimed to be the way. Jesus Christ stands alone and says, in him life is found.
[29:39] But why should we believe him? What does Jesus have to back up such a radical claim? What validation does he have? How can he certify such a radical claim that in him is found life and abundance?
[29:50] In this passage, Jesus does eventually raise Lazarus from the dead. But as you probably know, Lazarus doesn't stay alive forever.
[30:02] In a few years' time, there's going to be another funeral. The grave that is now empty, the stone that has been rolled away, is once again going to roll back. And this tomb is once again going to be filled with Lazarus' body.
[30:16] Lazarus is alive, but he's not going to stay alive on this earth anyway, forever. But Jesus Christ stands alone amongst every human being, every religious leader, every teacher.
[30:27] Because the grave in which he was laid, the tomb which housed him, the stone which rolled away, has been removed. And that grave is empty, and it's still empty today.
[30:40] The tomb in which Jesus was laying was rendered, defeated, and has been defeated forever. Jesus stands alone because he died, but he came alive never to die again.
[30:53] Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. And he backed up that claim impressively by rising from the dead. Jesus said that Jesus died not because death was forced upon him, not because he came to an unfortunate end of a good man's life.
[31:11] He died because he laid down his life. He died because he gave it up for his followers. But he also rose again to seal his victory and to validate his claim, that he really is who he said he is.
[31:24] This is the remarkable claim of the gospel, that in Christ new life is found, because Jesus died but he rose again. And he's in heaven now, seated at the Father, alive and well.
[31:36] And he promises that those who trust in him get resurrection life as well. Many years ago, there was an American journalist, an investigative journalist, by the name of Lee Strobel.
[31:49] And he studied journalism, and then he studied law. And at one stage, he's working as the legal counsel at the Chicago Tribune newspaper.
[32:00] And previously, he had been a reporter, an investigative journalist. He's an atheist man. His wife is agnostic. And one day, his wife comes to him and says, Honey, you know that I'm an agnostic.
[32:13] But I've been doing some spiritual searching recently. And I've come to believe that Jesus Christ really is who he said he is. He really is the Son of God.
[32:24] And I think I'm his follower. And Lee Strobel says that this news was devastating. He thought it was the end of his marriage. He thought it was the end of his life.
[32:36] He said he thought his wife was going to become a boring, prude, introspective, lose all her life. He said, That's the end. My marriage, my life.
[32:46] This was devastating. But Lee Strobel decided to do something. He said, I'm going to investigate the claims of Christianity so that I can save my wife from this cult that she's entered into.
[32:59] But he also knew that Christianity hinged upon this Easter weekend, the death and the resurrection of Jesus. And if he could prove that that was wrong or false or fallacy, his claim was justified.
[33:12] And so listen to what he says. He says, As an atheist, I understood one thing about Christianity. It arises or falls on the resurrection of Jesus. After all, anyone can claim to be divine as Jesus did.
[33:28] Yet, if Jesus predicted that he would die and rise three days later and then did it, well, that would be pretty good evidence that just maybe he is who he claimed to be.
[33:40] In other words, Easter is the issue. As a law-trained journalist at the Chicago Tribune, I also knew something else. Dead bodies stay dead. I'd seen lots of corpses during my career as a reporter, and none of them ever regained life, especially after three days.
[33:58] So I figured it would be easy to disprove the resurrection and thus liberate my wife from her newfound faith in Christ. Give me a weekend, I told her, and I can shred Christianity's central claim.
[34:13] He investigates the claim of Jesus for three months, six months, 12 months, 15 months. Eventually, he says, After a year and nine months, one November morning, in the light of the torrent of evidence flowing in the direction of the truth of Christianity, in particular Christ's death and resurrection, I realized I could no longer swim upstream against the torrent of evidence.
[34:41] I was trained in journalism and law to respond to truth. And so after more than a year and a half of searching, I had to come to believe, I had to admit, that Jesus really is who he said he is, and he's my savior and my king.
[35:02] Friends, Jesus makes this radical claim. He says that in him is found life, life in abundance. He said that he came to die the death that we deserve to die.
[35:12] He came to take our sin and judgment upon himself so that we don't need to bear it. He came to be our sacrifice. How can we believe him? Why should we trust him? Why should we put our lives in his hands?
[35:24] Because he backed up that claim impressively. He didn't just die for the sins of the world, he also rose again. And he rose to give us life. He rose that he could prove that he is life.
[35:35] He rose that those who trust in him can get new life themselves. Friends, this promise that Jesus gives is true because he's died, but he didn't stay dead. He's alive and he's come to bring this life to us.
[35:48] All this because Christ, our savior king, died and rose again. Let's pray together. Will you join me as we pray?
[35:59] And then we'll take communion. Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you for Easter. Father, this morning, this Easter Sunday morning, we do praise you for the wonder and the truth of the Easter weekend, of Resurrection Sunday.
[36:16] Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for us. Thank you for taking our sin and our shame. Thank you for taking the just judgment of God that we deserve. But God, thank you that you didn't just die.
[36:29] You rose again, God. You defeated the grave. As Chris read to us this morning, God, you defanged death. You have swallowed up death. You have given us life that those of us who know you will never taste real death, but will live forever.
[36:46] Now in this life and with you. Jesus, thank you so much. Father, for those of us that are still searching, exploring, come and help us to see the wonder of the gospel of Easter.
[37:04] Jesus, come write it deeply on our hearts, we pray. In your wonderful name, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[37:21] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.