[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the preaching ministry of the Agopic Baptist Church in George, South Africa.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're good morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm good to see you here today.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for the Lord's grace and allowing us to be back together.
[SPEAKER_00]: Much of the find your place, if you will,
[SPEAKER_00]: chapter 20.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we continue in this gospel this morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: John chapter 20 we're going to be looking in the beginning for verse 11.
[SPEAKER_00]: The title of the message this morning is
[SPEAKER_00]: would fit quite well, and that is sorrow is turned to joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's read together as we look specifically at this account that John gives us, and Mary Magnellin, at the tomb, and Christ appears to her.
[SPEAKER_00]: Verse 11, but Mary stood weeping outside the tomb,
[SPEAKER_00]: And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had laying, and one at the head, and one at the feet.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they said to her, woman, why are you weeping?
[SPEAKER_00]: She said to them, they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Having said this,
[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping?
[SPEAKER_00]: Who are you seeking?
[SPEAKER_00]: Supposing him to be the gardener she said to him, sorry, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus said to her, Mary, and she turned and said to him in the armec, Reboni, which means teacher.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus said to her, do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father and to my God and your God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord and that He had said these things to her.
[SPEAKER_00]: Father, as we come to your word this morning, I pray that you would help us as we
[SPEAKER_00]: would seek to look into your word this morning and see some truths that we can take from this and especially to be able to apply to our own life, our own need, our own situation.
[SPEAKER_00]: God is in your will, your spirit this morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
[SPEAKER_00]: As we read about the disciples and those that were close to Jesus, it is very difficult for us to
[SPEAKER_00]: really understand or to appreciate or identify with the emotions that they are experiencing with the suffering and the death of Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were not only close to him as someone who had been a friend, who had taught them and
[SPEAKER_00]: But he was the one in which they put their hope and from what they are able to comprehend it seems as if their hope is lost.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was reminded this week as I thought about these disciples and I saw, as you probably did in the news, the Israeli hostages returning to their families.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the reception that they received among their families, it was just an incredible demonstration of joy that they experienced, and it would have been, you can see, you know, in their reactions that it's credible joy that they're experiencing.
[SPEAKER_00]: After their loved ones have been hostage for two years,
[SPEAKER_00]: And many had died, and then there was this sense of not knowing, not knowing if you would ever see your loved one again.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, in me ways, like receiving someone back from the dead.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I cannot imagine that as they hear the news, that there's this piece,
[SPEAKER_00]: deal and that the hostages are going to be released.
[SPEAKER_00]: I cannot imagine that they just were afraid to believe that it would really happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Afraid that it wouldn't come true.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was just too good to be true, you could say.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I believe this is a similar to the emotions that these disciples
[SPEAKER_00]: And John gives us a little bit of insight into that here in chapter 20.
[SPEAKER_00]: When the news of the resurrection comes to them, it's just too good to be true.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like they just can't comprehend it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their minds just wouldn't accept it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And even earlier that morning when Marion and the other women were at the, at the tomb and found it empty and the angels head,
[SPEAKER_00]: said to him that he's not here.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's risen, and Luke tells us about that account, they still are struggling to comprehend that reality.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's still beyond their ability to take hold off.
[SPEAKER_00]: And, Luke, I want to just show you that account.
[SPEAKER_00]: I read it for you from chapter 24 verses 4 to 8, when they go to the tomb and find an empty, says in verse 8, and it happened that while they were perplexed about this, in other words, that the tomb was empty, behold, two men suddenly stood near them and dazzling clothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, why do you seek the living one among the dead?
[SPEAKER_00]: He is not here, but he has risen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee, saying that the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise again.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they remembered
[SPEAKER_00]: Although they remembered, they are still just perplexed, and in chapter 20 as we've read in verse 11, Mary is back to the tomb looking for the body of Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: And John points out that Mary is there crying or weeping, and this word is also commonly
[SPEAKER_00]: for the loud, welling of someone who had lost a loved one, and I just seen in the news again the emotions of these mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters who received their loved ones back, it reminded me of that emotion.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, in our western world with European influences, many people would discourage, you know, crying, especially in public or weeping.
[SPEAKER_00]: And certainly not the loud crying that is a customary in the Middle East.
[SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, each culture must find its own way, but generally weeping should not be discouraged.
[SPEAKER_00]: God made us as emotional people, and it is good and healthy to mourn and to weep.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we should not view weeping as a sign of weakness, as if, you know, if we just had enough faith, we wouldn't be, you know, sorrowful or mourning or weeping.
[SPEAKER_00]: But our weeping is different from the weeping of the world, isn't it?
[SPEAKER_00]: And Paul says that this way in one Thessalonians 4, he says, but we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers about those who are asleep.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's referring to the believers in Christ who have died.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he says, so that you will not grieve as those who,
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the world does not have hope in death.
[SPEAKER_00]: But because of the resurrection of Christ, we as those who belong to Christ have hope in the resurrection and being united with the Lord and with each other.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we weep, but in our weeping, we do not have this sense of hopelessness, hopeless sorrow.
[SPEAKER_00]: In chapter 16, Jesus is preparing or trying to prepare the disciples for what is about to happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in chapter 16, verse 20, He says, truly, truly, I say to you that you will cry and lament, but the world will rejoice.
[SPEAKER_00]: You will be sorrow, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: about the resurrection.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the Old Testament prophecies they are still in the shadows in their thinking.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus, even his direct teaching about his death and resurrection, they just couldn't take hold of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: They couldn't put it together in their thinking.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so Mary is there weeping.
[SPEAKER_00]: seized these two angels, and by the way, the angels have been there, but not everyone was able to see them.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Mary and the other women before did see them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And since they're the only ones, other than besides the Roman soldiers, when they saw these angelic beings, they were just struck
[SPEAKER_00]: You'd say they were knocked unconscious by the very sight of these angels.
[SPEAKER_00]: But in verse 13, we read that the angels said to her, woman, why are you crying?
[SPEAKER_00]: And she said to them, because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.
[SPEAKER_00]: The English word, woman, sounds a bit harsh on our ears.
[SPEAKER_00]: we just don't use it that way as an address.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unless we're being, you know, a bit sarcastic maybe or we're being, it's like a mild review or something.
[SPEAKER_00]: But in their culture in that time, this is not being unkind or being rude.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a normal address, I'll respect.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why are you crying, does contain a mild rebuke to marry it?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because, as we saw in Luke, she is seeking the living one among the dead.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we read in verse 14, when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, as she's there inside the tomb, she must see a glimpse of someone outside or there and at the entrance and turns, and if we're 15, Jesus said to her, woman, why are you crying?
[SPEAKER_00]: Same question.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then he adds, who are you seeking?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, obviously, Jesus knows the answer to these questions.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as we see in many situations, he asked the question, not because he wants to know the answer, but because he wants us, or those that receive the question to think about the answer.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the Lord wants to help Mary think beyond her sorrow, she might be able to see the risen Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: We also need to see the Lord, the risen Lord,
[SPEAKER_00]: in our times of sorrow, our times of trouble, our times of doubt.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's easy for us in those moments and those situations.
[SPEAKER_00]: The immediate problem to become overwhelmed by emotions, our sorrow, our discouragement, and lose the perspective of our risen Lord, of who we are in Him.
[SPEAKER_00]: imperative for us that we hold onto these truths.
[SPEAKER_00]: This blessed hope that the Lord often speaks to us about through the apostles.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we think of Peter in one Peter chapter one.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to read for you a few verses there, one Peter chapter one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Peter, as you know, was one of those that were
[SPEAKER_00]: He solved the impitude, he solved the clothing, and he went away, just wondering about Peter now writes, and one Peter 1, verse 3 to 7, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to his great mercy has called us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
[SPEAKER_00]: incorruptible and unfaithing, having been kept in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
[SPEAKER_00]: The contingent number 6 in this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while
[SPEAKER_00]: So that the proof of your faith may be more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well Peter was among those that had seen the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: But he's writing to believers in Asia Minor that had not seen the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he continues the next verse in verse 8 and says, and though you have not seen him, you love him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.
[SPEAKER_00]: whom are you seeking?
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a good question for us to ask ourselves, especially in the difficult times, who are we seeking?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because sometimes we act as if we serve a dead Savior, instead of a risen Savior.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we would give the impression that we also don't have hope in the future.
[SPEAKER_00]: May the Lord help us as He helped Mary to wipe the fog from her eyes and her mind that she might see the risen Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mary doesn't realize that she's there before the Lord Jesus Christ and she thinks that He might be the guard during so she asks him about the body of Jesus and where he is.
[SPEAKER_00]: and then Jesus calls her name, Mary.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in that moment, and in that instant, she recognizes the voice of the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the fog is lifted, and her sorrow is immediately turned to joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I can imagine that her rejoicing is with all the emotion of her previous sorrow.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think about those video clips of the family members who receive their loved ones back.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they're crying out.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they're jumping and just jubilation.
[SPEAKER_00]: But they're crying out is now with cries and tears of joy, and I can't see Mary like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't see her saying, Rabonai, you know, no, no, she's
[SPEAKER_00]: She's rejoicing and she's evidently falling down and grabbing his feet as the other women would later do when Jesus appears to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it is interesting that it's only these women who see the angels and they're the first that Jesus appears to before the other disciples.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it reminded me that God often does the opposite of what we think we would do or that he should do.
[SPEAKER_00]: In that culture and time, the testimony of women was not considered to be reliable.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the Lord chose them to be his first witnesses to the resurrection.
[SPEAKER_00]: And why Mary?
[SPEAKER_00]: Mary Maglon, she was one that had been at seven demons cast out of her by the Lord and delivered.
[SPEAKER_00]: And she of all people would know the power of Satan and the deliverance that the Lord gives to bring her out of the darkness into the light of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: And she, the other women were the last to lead the two.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're on that Friday night, and they were there the first on the Sunday morning, the resurrection, although they, they too do not understand God's purpose.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their devotion is undeniable.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their love is expressed, and the, the means that they had, the bringing spices to the
[SPEAKER_00]: and expressing their deep sorrow, and in our sorrow and our various trials that we face, and the unknown, the uncertainty, the times of discouragement, we also must seek the Savior.
[SPEAKER_00]: He makes the difference in our life, but we must seek Him as He is, not as we would
[SPEAKER_00]: not as we imagined he should be doing or is.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I want us to think about three things about the Savior that we must keep before us.
[SPEAKER_00]: We must remember.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we see that in this chapter, in chapter 21st of all, he is a crucified Savior.
[SPEAKER_00]: The disciples of Christ had not been able to
[SPEAKER_00]: put the prophecies and the types from the Old Testament together with what Jesus had been telling them.
[SPEAKER_00]: But from the very beginning, we had this revelation of the mission of Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: John the Baptist declares in John 1 verse 29, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
[SPEAKER_00]: was crucified.
[SPEAKER_00]: The reason he died was because of our sin.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus bore our sin and died that we might be forgiven.
[SPEAKER_00]: He became the propitiation for our sins.
[SPEAKER_00]: In other words, he satisfied the righteous demands of a Holy God so that we could be reconciled unto God.
[SPEAKER_00]: We could be forgiven.
[SPEAKER_00]: Think about Jesus, we must remember that's because of Him that we are forgiven, that our sins are taken away, and that we have a relationship with God, the Father.
[SPEAKER_00]: But in our thinking, we must not leave Jesus on the cross, or in the grave, because He is also a risen Savior in Romans 6, verse 4 and 5, Paul says it this way, therefore we were
[SPEAKER_00]: So, that his Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, we might, we too might walk in the units of life.
[SPEAKER_00]: For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is our confidence that we have.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we are to walk, or in the words live, in this newness of life, in this resurrection life.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is our forerunner, is the first fruits of all that will follow in faith, believing in Christ, is open the way for us, that we, to might follow.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the question this morning comes, do you know the resurrected, you know the crucifix crucified and resurrected Lord, do you know him?
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you turned to him and faith and believing the Lord extends an invitation to you this morning to come to him?
[SPEAKER_00]: The sentient will take place for another 40 days, but Jesus is going to remind Mary and the disciples that He is ascending.
[SPEAKER_00]: Verse 17 He says to her, stop clinging to me, or I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father and my God and your God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mary went looking for the body of Jesus, but instead of finding the body, she finds the resurrected Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: We could say the Lord finds her.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it seems that now that she's found him, she doesn't want to let him go.
[SPEAKER_00]: As if she could hang onto him or keep him, that he wouldn't leave again.
[SPEAKER_00]: We would have the same desire.
[SPEAKER_00]: We would like for Christ to just stay.
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't, won't things to change, do we?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm sure Mary would, and the other women did disciples as well, would like for things to continue on as they were.
[SPEAKER_00]: But God has a plan that didn't include Christ remaining with them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus would appear to them at different times over the next 40 days, and Mary would get a chance to know doubt to see him again, but he's reminding them that he must ascend to the Father, and that God has a better plan for them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is what he told him before you remember, as he was there in the upper room with
[SPEAKER_00]: John 16 verse 7 he says, but I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away or if I do not go away the advocate will not come to you, but if I go I will send him to you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so this is what Jesus was speaking of.
[SPEAKER_00]: In the ascension, return of the Lord to heaven, to the right hand of the Father.
[SPEAKER_00]: It opens the way for the Holy Spirit to come
[SPEAKER_00]: And to be with each believer, to dwell within the believer in a very personal way.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so Jesus tells Mary, go to my brothers and tell them.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is interesting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's the first time that Jesus refers to his disciples as his brothers.
[SPEAKER_00]: And through the death and resurrection of Christ,
[SPEAKER_00]: We are brought into a relationship with God as sons of God, in airs and join airs with Christ, as an incredible thought, isn't it?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's an incredible truth that Jesus brings to us.
[SPEAKER_00]: The writer of Hebrews links this statement about being brothers.
[SPEAKER_00]: He links it to Psalm 22.
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of the detail related to the crucifixion, it begins with my God, my God, why a few forsaken me?
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus pronounced on the cross, and in Hebrews 2, I want to read a couple of verses there from verse 11, He says, for both He who sanctifies, referring to Jesus as the one who sanctifies, and to those who are being sanctified, that's us, are all of one.
[SPEAKER_00]: was we're all of the one, the God.
[SPEAKER_00]: He says, for this reason, he's not ashamed to be called, not ashamed to call them brothers.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then he quotes from Psalm 22 and verse 22.
[SPEAKER_00]: He says, I recount your name to my brothers in the midst of the assembly I sing your praise.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the writer of Hebrews takes this statement by David
[SPEAKER_00]: recounting or announcing or reminding them of the Father to His brothers.
[SPEAKER_00]: Paul will say it this way in Romans 8 and verse 29.
[SPEAKER_00]: He said, because those who may for you, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son.
[SPEAKER_00]: brothers, wonderful truth for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And although Jesus is a brother to believers, we're not the same, aren't we?
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not saying that we're just like Jesus now.
[SPEAKER_00]: But because of Him, we have a relationship with the Father, but that relationship is not
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is one in essence with God the Father, and by His death and resurrection, we have access and acceptance to the Father through our union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so there is a great difference, but it's incredible that we've been brought into this
[SPEAKER_00]: And whatever our needs might be, no matter how dire the situation might become in our life, we know that we have an advocate, an inner cesser with the Father.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is one of the major themes within the book of Hebrews, is that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's there in power and might and all authority.
[SPEAKER_00]: but one who forever intercedes for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we must remember him as our ascended Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: He is there at the right end of the Father.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's praying for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I imagine, often his prayers are like the prayers for the Apostle Paul,
[SPEAKER_00]: before he denied Jesus in that moment of temptation.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus told him ahead of time, he said, but I have prayed for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Satan is desired to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when you are restored, he's already telling him ahead of time that he will be restored.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he gives him a job to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he gives us a job to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: He prays for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: He intercedes on our behalf, and by the Lord's death is crucifixion, the very presence there in the throne room of God intercedes for us that we have been forgiven, that we belong in the family, the family of God.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought about it in conclusion, the illustration, but decided there's really not a better illustration than the one that the writer of Hebrews gives in chapter 12 in verse one and two.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he uses the illustration of a runner in a competition like a marathon.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he says in Hebrews 12, verse one, therefore since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
[SPEAKER_00]: And I believe that the image here is like in a marathon, you have some who get their first across the finish line.
[SPEAKER_00]: And oftentimes those who finish, they'll stand around and watch the others come after them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And previously, Chapter 11, you remember he's talking about the Old Testament saints who have persevered in faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they are examples to us, they're witness, they're testimony of faith, is a encouragement to us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I believe they're also witnesses are watching us aware of us in our race.
[SPEAKER_00]: He says,
[SPEAKER_00]: and modishes laying aside every weight in the sin which so easily entangles us, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
[SPEAKER_00]: For consider him,
[SPEAKER_00]: who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself so that you will not grow weary, fainting and heart.
[SPEAKER_00]: The witnesses that's gone before they do encourage us by their testimony, by their witness, by their life.
[SPEAKER_00]: But we're not fixing our eyes on them.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're told to fix our eyes upon Jesus and we're to
[SPEAKER_00]: We went before us, who suffered for us, that we can follow Him and be with Him in the Lord, Father forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: The great truth for us this morning is we think about God's love for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: He sees us, He knows us in our weakness, He knows our frailty, He knows our sorrow, and He's there for us to intercede on our behalf, to encourage us, He's
[SPEAKER_00]: sent the Spirit of God to come and dwell within us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in many ways, Jesus is with us in the person of the Holy Spirit, to comfort us, to guide us, to help us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we must seek Him and look to Him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, Father, for this truth this morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: May we be encouraged by it.
[SPEAKER_00]: May we be admonished by it to live as people who serve a risen Savior.