WEBVTT 00:00.942 --> 00:04.605 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, to begin this morning, I heard you guys already do this. 00:04.785 --> 00:06.727 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to do it in English. 00:06.747 --> 00:08.829 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to knock this egg off here. 00:08.849 --> 00:09.449 [SPEAKER_00]: Hold on a second. 00:11.531 --> 00:13.473 [SPEAKER_00]: You can respond in English or in finish. 00:13.633 --> 00:14.174 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't care. 00:14.234 --> 00:15.275 [SPEAKER_00]: He is risen. 00:15.295 --> 00:30.628 [SPEAKER_00]: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no 00:30.828 --> 00:37.175 [SPEAKER_00]: Now on the Sabbath toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magnellin and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 00:37.815 --> 00:45.203 [SPEAKER_00]: And behold, there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 00:46.184 --> 00:51.049 [SPEAKER_00]: His appearance was as if lightning and his clothing were white as snow. 00:51.089 --> 00:56.515 [SPEAKER_00]: And for fear of him, the guards trembled 00:57.507 --> 01:02.674 [SPEAKER_00]: But the angel said to the women, do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who is crucified. 01:03.555 --> 01:07.740 [SPEAKER_00]: He is not here for He has risen as He said. 01:08.882 --> 01:10.264 [SPEAKER_00]: Come see the place where He lay. 01:10.324 --> 01:19.316 [SPEAKER_00]: Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead and behold He is going before you to Galilee, there you will see Him. 01:20.677 --> 01:21.979 [SPEAKER_00]: See I have told you. 01:22.718 --> 01:28.084 [SPEAKER_00]: So they departed quickly from the tomb with the fear and great joy, and they ran to tell his disciples. 01:28.485 --> 01:36.154 [SPEAKER_00]: And behold, Jesus met them and said, greetings, and they came up and took hold of his feet, and they worshiped him. 01:37.235 --> 01:40.079 [SPEAKER_00]: Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. 01:41.100 --> 01:45.165 [SPEAKER_00]: Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and I will see them there. 01:46.630 --> 01:52.698 [SPEAKER_00]: While they were going behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priest all that had taken place. 01:53.920 --> 02:05.836 [SPEAKER_00]: And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave us efficient some of money to the soldiers and said, tell people, his disciples came by night and stole him away while we were sleeping. 02:07.138 --> 02:16.350 [SPEAKER_00]: And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. 02:16.448 --> 02:19.275 [SPEAKER_00]: And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. 02:20.898 --> 02:25.990 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 02:27.414 --> 02:29.298 [SPEAKER_00]: And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him. 02:30.501 --> 02:31.343 [SPEAKER_00]: But some doubted. 02:32.726 --> 02:35.352 [SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus came to them and said, 02:36.209 --> 02:56.084 [SPEAKER_00]: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all the things that I have taught you and behold I am with you always even to the end of the age. 02:57.366 --> 02:59.770 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the gospel of Christ Jesus. 03:03.648 --> 03:07.755 [SPEAKER_00]: Grace to you and peace from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, Amen. 03:11.661 --> 03:19.113 [SPEAKER_00]: Believe it or not, this Easter morning that we begin by dancing the YMCA and by practicing that He is risen. 03:19.133 --> 03:22.939 [SPEAKER_00]: In our Texas morning, it actually starts with grief. 03:25.403 --> 03:27.546 [SPEAKER_00]: It begins pretty quietly. 03:28.825 --> 03:34.331 [SPEAKER_00]: Matthew tells us that it was early, earlier than most of you would like after the late night last night. 03:36.133 --> 03:50.929 [SPEAKER_00]: As if the first day of the week and it was donning, the rising sun is creating a softness in that moment, it's kind of a fragile light just beginning to push back the darkness. 03:52.791 --> 03:56.655 [SPEAKER_00]: And into that dim morning, a few women, 03:56.821 --> 04:10.295 [SPEAKER_00]: A few people who loved Jesus, they make their way toward a graveyard, toward a tomb with a dead body and a body that they probably think is already rotting in beginning to smell. 04:12.537 --> 04:16.582 [SPEAKER_00]: They have no expectation of a miracle on this Easter morning. 04:18.183 --> 04:21.647 [SPEAKER_00]: They're carrying just grief around with them in their hearts. 04:22.387 --> 04:33.396 [SPEAKER_00]: That kind of grief that if you've ever really lost somebody that you love very much, that you know settles deep into your chest, sometimes we describe it as being numb. 04:35.118 --> 04:51.972 [SPEAKER_00]: But for them it's deeper than that because this man who they're now grieving, they had bet everything on him and everything they hoped for seems to have just fallen apart before their eyes. 04:52.778 --> 05:05.782 [SPEAKER_00]: They listened to Jesus, they believed in Jesus, they trusted in Jesus, and they really, really thought and hoped in the fact that he would be the one who would finally change everything. 05:07.966 --> 05:15.580 [SPEAKER_00]: They trusted that he was the Messiah, that not only they, but that their people had been longing for it for so long. 05:15.695 --> 05:23.363 [SPEAKER_00]: through tribulation and captivity that he would finally come, that he would set them free, that he would restore Israel. 05:26.066 --> 05:27.608 [SPEAKER_00]: And now he's dead and in a tomb. 05:30.111 --> 05:32.213 [SPEAKER_00]: Not too long ago, they watched him die. 05:34.235 --> 05:36.798 [SPEAKER_00]: They saw the Romans bring out the cross. 05:39.060 --> 05:43.525 [SPEAKER_00]: They saw him agonizing as he was 05:45.682 --> 05:50.970 [SPEAKER_00]: They watched him as he hung their suffering and dying. 05:53.233 --> 05:55.717 [SPEAKER_00]: They heard him say his final words. 05:58.041 --> 06:01.506 [SPEAKER_00]: They watched the soldiers pierced his side with a spear. 06:03.269 --> 06:06.133 [SPEAKER_00]: They saw the blood and water flow out. 06:08.136 --> 06:13.444 [SPEAKER_00]: They knew he was dead. 06:14.099 --> 06:22.950 [SPEAKER_00]: They watched him placed into a tomb and then they saw some men move a seemingly immovable stone in front of that tomb. 06:25.974 --> 06:29.779 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it felt to them as final as anything could ever feel. 06:32.762 --> 06:38.790 [SPEAKER_00]: So they came this Easter morning, not with anticipation, but with sorrow. 06:39.918 --> 06:50.314 [SPEAKER_00]: Just trying to do the last thing for Jesus, their friend, the person that they loved, the last thing that they knew how to do, to honor Him in some way. 06:52.017 --> 06:59.428 [SPEAKER_00]: You see, they were coming to prepare His body to be in that tomb, not for three days, but to be in that tomb forever. 07:01.737 --> 07:09.947 [SPEAKER_00]: They were probably wondering and muttering amongst themselves how on earth are we going to remove that stone so that we can even get to the body? 07:13.110 --> 07:15.433 [SPEAKER_00]: They didn't approach his tomb with hope or happiness. 07:17.275 --> 07:21.941 [SPEAKER_00]: They were only there with apprehension and a quiet resignation. 07:22.962 --> 07:26.226 [SPEAKER_00]: A resignation that told them they had a job to do. 07:28.602 --> 07:35.877 [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's probably closer to where most of us, many of us, or at least some of us, are on Easter mornings like this. 07:37.861 --> 07:43.772 [SPEAKER_00]: More of us than we'd probably like to admit, I didn't know what to expect this weekend. 07:43.813 --> 07:45.636 [SPEAKER_00]: You probably knew more than I. 07:45.656 --> 07:50.526 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think maybe some of you showed up this weekend, and it's been great. 07:53.122 --> 07:55.485 [SPEAKER_00]: but that it's also been a heavy time for you. 07:55.645 --> 08:02.714 [SPEAKER_00]: A heavy season, a heavy last few months, a heavy last few years, a heavy life in general. 08:05.057 --> 08:11.465 [SPEAKER_00]: You've been carrying around questions, prayers that seem to go unanswered. 08:13.227 --> 08:17.513 [SPEAKER_00]: Places where your hope has worn a little thin. 08:19.475 --> 08:22.639 [SPEAKER_00]: I've talked to you this weekend, so I know you believe. 08:22.720 --> 08:36.498 [SPEAKER_00]: I know you have faith, but I also know that many of you have been walking in the early dawn kind of light, where things still feel pretty uncertain. 08:39.321 --> 08:47.732 [SPEAKER_00]: I love that this was a text that was chosen for me this morning because this text reveals that that's exactly where this story meets you. 08:49.366 --> 08:54.033 [SPEAKER_00]: That is where the resurrection of Christ Jesus your Lord and Savior is about to meet you. 08:55.174 --> 09:05.769 [SPEAKER_00]: Because just after the women are approaching with these heavy hearts, heaven interrupts and ends any intention that they had going on in their head before that. 09:07.832 --> 09:15.964 [SPEAKER_00]: And before anything changes for the women, something odd happens, the ground beneath them begins to shake violently. 09:17.311 --> 09:40.770 [SPEAKER_00]: Matthew says that there was a violent earthquake and an angel descended from heaven and approached the tomb and rolled away the immovable stone and then he does something completely unexpected completely weird he just sits on it he rolls away the stone and he takes a seat right on it 09:43.822 --> 09:52.351 [SPEAKER_00]: I've never thought too much about that part of this text until I was preparing for this morning, and then I thought, what a striking image is that? 09:53.672 --> 10:01.461 [SPEAKER_00]: This stone was put there so that nobody could get to the body, so that nobody could actually steal it and say that he was risen. 10:03.483 --> 10:13.153 [SPEAKER_00]: And the angel just moves the stone, and then sits on it. 10:14.298 --> 10:17.902 [SPEAKER_00]: That stone represented finality and death. 10:19.564 --> 10:21.847 [SPEAKER_00]: And now, it's just a seat. 10:23.950 --> 10:26.252 [SPEAKER_00]: It's no longer an immovable object. 10:27.093 --> 10:33.742 [SPEAKER_00]: It's something that has been subdued, something that by the power of God has been brought under dominion. 10:35.684 --> 10:41.571 [SPEAKER_00]: And nearby we hear that the guards trained Roman soldiers, 10:43.390 --> 10:44.891 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what they do for a living. 10:47.134 --> 10:49.216 [SPEAKER_00]: They're completely overwhelmed by that sign. 10:50.237 --> 10:51.938 [SPEAKER_00]: They don't know what to make of it. 10:52.679 --> 11:00.286 [SPEAKER_00]: Matthew says that they shook with fear, that they became so terrified that if you would have walked by them, you would have thought they were dead men. 11:02.709 --> 11:09.415 [SPEAKER_00]: These were the ones that were assigned to keep watch over death, quite a job. 11:11.015 --> 11:17.965 [SPEAKER_00]: And now they themselves are undone and made to be dead by what they're witnessing. 11:20.087 --> 11:28.639 [SPEAKER_00]: But the angel knowing what's going on over what the soldiers does not turn to the soldiers and address them, they're going to have their own problems moving forward. 11:29.420 --> 11:30.622 [SPEAKER_00]: But he turns to the women. 11:31.203 --> 11:36.550 [SPEAKER_00]: The ones that were there in their grief to just do a job, and he says something simple to them. 11:38.200 --> 11:43.448 [SPEAKER_00]: Angels always say this to people, by the way, if you ever see an angel, expect this to come out of the angel's mouth. 11:45.751 --> 11:46.612 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't be afraid. 11:49.396 --> 11:50.218 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't be afraid. 11:52.581 --> 12:00.873 [SPEAKER_00]: He goes on to tell them, I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified, but he is not here. 12:02.396 --> 12:06.081 [SPEAKER_00]: He has risen just as he said. 12:08.035 --> 12:10.779 [SPEAKER_00]: just as he said. 12:10.819 --> 12:16.987 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a quiet confidence in that statement just as he said. 12:18.529 --> 12:22.013 [SPEAKER_00]: What looked like an ending was in fact not an ending. 12:22.113 --> 12:29.563 [SPEAKER_00]: It was a complete fulfillment of everything that he said was going to happen as he preached to them in his ministry for the last three years. 12:30.264 --> 12:37.553 [SPEAKER_00]: It was in fact a fulfillment of everything the scriptures had ever prophesied about from 12:40.705 --> 12:43.148 [SPEAKER_00]: And then the invitation comes. 12:44.370 --> 12:51.379 [SPEAKER_00]: I said he is risen, but I can see on your face, you saw that awful day when he died, you don't believe me. 12:52.921 --> 12:55.504 [SPEAKER_00]: Here, come and see the place where he lay. 12:55.544 --> 13:00.191 [SPEAKER_00]: Step inside, look closely. 13:00.211 --> 13:08.181 [SPEAKER_00]: Take in what you see, take in what happened. 13:09.292 --> 13:23.938 [SPEAKER_00]: He is risen, oh come on guys, he is risen, and then they move from the tomb to the road. 13:25.100 --> 13:31.671 [SPEAKER_00]: The women are given a very specific direction, go quickly and tell his disciples and so they leave. 13:32.461 --> 13:35.726 [SPEAKER_00]: Matthew says, they leave with a mixture of fear and joy. 13:35.746 --> 13:38.770 [SPEAKER_00]: Something shifted, they don't know quite what? 13:38.910 --> 13:40.853 [SPEAKER_00]: They've trying to take it all in. 13:41.414 --> 13:46.061 [SPEAKER_00]: And as they go, Jesus does what Jesus does. 13:48.324 --> 13:49.706 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus meets them on the road. 13:51.308 --> 13:57.557 [SPEAKER_00]: Not in a great spectacle, not descending from heaven with angel singing and sunshine in light. 13:59.309 --> 14:10.640 [SPEAKER_00]: But in a moment, in the flesh, as a person standing in front of them, Jesus meets them on this resurrection morning, and it feels almost ordinary. 14:12.762 --> 14:17.827 [SPEAKER_00]: He's simply just there, and he says, greetings. 14:20.510 --> 14:29.198 [SPEAKER_00]: The risen Christ who had died on that awful cross is now alive standing in front of them, 14:32.570 --> 14:39.737 [SPEAKER_00]: He stands before them and that moment is both simple and obviously completely overwhelming for them at the same time. 14:40.598 --> 14:45.042 [SPEAKER_00]: We know it's overwhelming because they fall at his feet and they begin to worship him. 14:45.482 --> 14:46.603 [SPEAKER_00]: They hold on to him. 14:46.944 --> 14:48.846 [SPEAKER_00]: They don't want to let him go again. 14:51.508 --> 15:00.737 [SPEAKER_00]: Because when the reality of who Jesus is becomes clear to you, 15:02.877 --> 15:08.224 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus knows they're afraid, so he reiterates and he speaks gently to them. 15:08.284 --> 15:14.393 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, do not be afraid, do not be afraid because I am not dead. 15:14.433 --> 15:17.697 [SPEAKER_00]: I am risen just as I said. 15:17.737 --> 15:23.265 [SPEAKER_00]: Now go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee and they will see me there. 15:24.477 --> 15:28.143 [SPEAKER_00]: You see, even in the resurrection, Jesus does what Jesus does. 15:28.563 --> 15:33.912 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus draws people into himself and then he sends them out to go preach the gospel to others. 15:35.013 --> 15:41.423 [SPEAKER_00]: He brings them in, he makes them his and then he says, now you go out and you be my mouth to the world. 15:42.265 --> 15:48.274 [SPEAKER_00]: Now ladies, you go out, you be my mouth to my brothers, to disciples and tell them to meet me in Galilee. 15:50.448 --> 15:51.790 [SPEAKER_00]: But Matthew is pretty good. 15:51.850 --> 15:58.141 [SPEAKER_00]: He knows that there was another crowd at that tomb that saw the resurrection, and they don't know what to do with it either. 16:00.104 --> 16:05.994 [SPEAKER_00]: So, Matthew tells us also about what goes on with the guards who were there. 16:07.577 --> 16:09.480 [SPEAKER_00]: Because there is another reaction happening. 16:09.941 --> 16:14.228 [SPEAKER_00]: The guards, as we know, were so afraid that they were like dead men. 16:15.997 --> 16:23.807 [SPEAKER_00]: And so in fear, they're not going to go to their Roman bosses who will kill them for messing up so badly. 16:23.847 --> 16:30.736 [SPEAKER_00]: In fear, they go to the religious leaders that demanded that they be there in the first place and they report what happened. 16:30.756 --> 16:35.743 [SPEAKER_00]: And they're probably saying, like, you made us do this, you got to get us out of this. 16:38.474 --> 16:46.364 [SPEAKER_00]: and the leaders respond quickly because they don't want the message that Jesus actually rose from the dead going out to the world. 16:47.266 --> 16:53.534 [SPEAKER_00]: That's why they killed him to stop this thing in its tracks where it was in the first place. 16:55.436 --> 16:56.558 [SPEAKER_00]: So they respond quickly. 16:56.858 --> 16:58.240 [SPEAKER_00]: They gather up some money. 16:58.300 --> 17:00.523 [SPEAKER_00]: That sounds familiar. 17:01.765 --> 17:04.448 [SPEAKER_00]: 30 pieces of silver to betray your Lord. 17:06.166 --> 17:16.080 [SPEAKER_00]: They gather up some money, they create a story, and they tell the soldiers to say, say that the disciples stole the body while you were asleep. 17:17.742 --> 17:21.247 [SPEAKER_00]: The soldiers were probably saying, I can't admit that I was asleep while I was on guard. 17:21.267 --> 17:22.229 [SPEAKER_00]: Do they're gonna kill me? 17:24.011 --> 17:25.493 [SPEAKER_00]: And the religious leaders say, don't worry. 17:25.894 --> 17:28.317 [SPEAKER_00]: If the governor asked that question, we'll clear it with him. 17:28.577 --> 17:31.381 [SPEAKER_00]: After all, we are the ones that made you go there. 17:33.444 --> 17:35.447 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a strong explanation, 17:36.389 --> 17:49.663 [SPEAKER_00]: But it allows them to avoid the larger implications of the fact that they did not do their duty there at that night or the fact that they were overwhelmed by something they can't talk about and angel and a dead man coming to life. 17:52.285 --> 18:03.477 [SPEAKER_00]: They need to dodge this one because if Jesus really rose from the dead, if Jesus really rose from the dead, it changes everything. 18:04.823 --> 18:13.802 [SPEAKER_00]: You see, sometimes when people are faced with the facts of the resurrection, they would rather settle for an explanation that keeps life more manageable than that. 18:15.686 --> 18:19.715 [SPEAKER_00]: Because when you face the resurrected Christ, it calls for surrender. 18:20.777 --> 18:25.347 [SPEAKER_00]: It calls for you to surrender everything that you thought you knew before that point. 18:26.947 --> 18:33.196 [SPEAKER_00]: It causes you to face the fact that Jesus said He was God and that He proved it by rising from the dead. 18:33.256 --> 18:37.022 [SPEAKER_00]: And He said, if you believe in Him, you'll have life eternal with Him as well. 18:37.343 --> 18:41.649 [SPEAKER_00]: And that can be overwhelming when you see that it's actually true. 18:45.034 --> 18:55.570 [SPEAKER_00]: Now sometimes we would all rather settle for a manageable Jesus, rather a manageable Jesus 18:58.773 --> 19:03.981 [SPEAKER_00]: But the story they created has never had the weight that the empty tomb has. 19:04.903 --> 19:08.228 [SPEAKER_00]: They tried to spread the story that his body was stolen, but guess what? 19:08.589 --> 19:18.705 [SPEAKER_00]: It never took, and the resurrection did take, and Christianity spread throughout all the world, even to Finland, even to America. 19:21.706 --> 19:25.335 [SPEAKER_00]: And now the disciples meet him, they're uncertain. 19:25.676 --> 19:33.936 [SPEAKER_00]: So far, it's just a bunch of women that have come and told them a crazy tale about the fact that their friend, that they know as dead, has risen from the dead. 19:35.039 --> 19:38.668 [SPEAKER_00]: Even in olden times, people don't just raise from the dead. 19:42.901 --> 19:43.962 [SPEAKER_00]: But they go to Galilee. 19:44.703 --> 19:46.966 [SPEAKER_00]: They've seen Jesus do crazy stuff before. 19:47.587 --> 19:49.890 [SPEAKER_00]: So they say, we might as well take the trip to Galilee. 19:49.950 --> 19:55.837 [SPEAKER_00]: Might as well do what these crazy women want us to do to the place where they've been directed to go. 19:55.877 --> 19:58.780 [SPEAKER_00]: And then they see Him. 20:01.744 --> 20:02.825 [SPEAKER_00]: He appears before them. 20:02.945 --> 20:06.290 [SPEAKER_00]: And they have the exact same responses to women. 20:07.231 --> 20:10.815 [SPEAKER_00]: All they know how to do at that point is to worship Him. 20:12.382 --> 20:14.104 [SPEAKER_00]: But Matthew notes something else. 20:14.545 --> 20:19.350 [SPEAKER_00]: Matthew notes that yes, they worshiped him, but some of them doubted. 20:21.052 --> 20:23.655 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want you to know that this will always be the case. 20:25.257 --> 20:25.618 [SPEAKER_00]: Always. 20:26.759 --> 20:30.784 [SPEAKER_00]: These are people that follow them around 24, seven, for three years. 20:30.864 --> 20:34.708 [SPEAKER_00]: They are the ones that with their own eyes, saw him perform miracles. 20:35.009 --> 20:42.017 [SPEAKER_00]: These are the ones that with their own eyes, saw him raise people like Lazarus from the dead, 20:44.225 --> 20:53.798 [SPEAKER_00]: Fear always creeps in, always, but in the face of their fear, they were confronted with the bodily Christ. 20:56.361 --> 21:05.794 [SPEAKER_00]: They stand there in front of the risen Jesus who still working through the means and they're still working out what this all means. 21:06.955 --> 21:09.378 [SPEAKER_00]: But that is where the risen Jesus meets him. 21:09.619 --> 21:15.206 [SPEAKER_00]: And that is where Jesus meets you this Easter morning because he is risen. 21:20.453 --> 21:21.635 [SPEAKER_00]: We've probably should pick a language. 21:25.560 --> 21:27.202 [SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't wait for them that morning. 21:27.262 --> 21:29.165 [SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't wait for you this morning. 21:31.648 --> 21:36.895 [SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't want you to hang on 21:38.191 --> 21:40.114 [SPEAKER_00]: That's not why he sent me here today. 21:40.575 --> 21:46.846 [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't set me here today to wait for you to sort everything out before I speak his words to you. 21:47.727 --> 21:49.751 [SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't wait that morning with his disciples. 21:49.831 --> 21:53.216 [SPEAKER_00]: He steps into in between them and he says this. 21:54.198 --> 21:55.961 [SPEAKER_00]: All authority has been given to me. 21:56.302 --> 21:57.964 [SPEAKER_00]: All authority on heaven and earth. 22:00.368 --> 22:01.330 [SPEAKER_00]: All authority. 22:02.862 --> 22:07.669 [SPEAKER_00]: If you had any doubt that this could ever happen to me again, don't doubt it can't. 22:08.270 --> 22:09.612 [SPEAKER_00]: All authorities been given to me. 22:12.757 --> 22:14.419 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the result of the resurrection. 22:15.340 --> 22:18.545 [SPEAKER_00]: The one who has crucified now stands with all authority. 22:20.047 --> 22:28.600 [SPEAKER_00]: And in that authority he comes to you and to them calling and saying, go therefore and make disciples of all nations. 22:29.103 --> 22:34.250 [SPEAKER_00]: go and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 22:35.452 --> 22:41.600 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm going to translate this better for you than it's probably translated and to finish and better than it's translated into any English. 22:42.361 --> 22:49.731 [SPEAKER_00]: Just so that you don't get the sense that you're following Jesus is relying on whether or not you do all the deeds that you think you have to do. 22:49.852 --> 22:58.924 [SPEAKER_00]: It goes like this and teach them to believe everything that I've taught you about me. 22:59.478 --> 23:10.710 [SPEAKER_00]: about Jesus, their lives, the disciples' lives are no longer what they expected it was going to be before this moment. 23:13.112 --> 23:27.848 [SPEAKER_00]: The disciples are now part of something much larger, they're now tasked with carrying the message of a risen king of a risen Savior into the whole world, and then he gives 23:30.511 --> 23:35.439 [SPEAKER_00]: And I will be with you always, even to the end of the age. 23:37.462 --> 23:49.901 [SPEAKER_00]: In other words, they're not being sent out to be his mouthpiece, to be his preachers, to be his apostles, to be his disciples, to be his evangelist, to be his apologists in the world alone. 23:53.286 --> 23:55.489 [SPEAKER_00]: He will always be with them. 23:57.967 --> 24:01.211 [SPEAKER_00]: He will always be with you. 24:04.875 --> 24:08.380 [SPEAKER_00]: So what does the empty tomb mean for you on this Easter morning? 24:10.342 --> 24:18.532 [SPEAKER_00]: You see, we can sometimes get wrapped up and thinking about that this story is only about what happened that morning so long ago. 24:21.275 --> 24:23.738 [SPEAKER_00]: But that's not why God sent me here today. 24:25.220 --> 24:35.671 [SPEAKER_00]: God sent me here today to tell you this, particularly, that the resurrection of Christ Jesus has happened here, right here, right now this morning for you. 24:38.094 --> 24:42.799 [SPEAKER_00]: God in Christ is still working for you, right here and right now. 24:45.041 --> 24:54.231 [SPEAKER_00]: Even in all the moments of your unresolved feelings, he speaks into your doubts and he meets you at your doubt. 24:55.274 --> 25:02.024 [SPEAKER_00]: The risen, alive Christ Jesus saying to you, personally, I am always with you. 25:05.449 --> 25:11.559 [SPEAKER_00]: He has called you into a life that is shaped by something greater than you ever could imagine it would have been. 25:13.281 --> 25:18.970 [SPEAKER_00]: It's now not shaped by all your fear, all your doubt, all your wonderings about what if 25:19.355 --> 25:20.917 [SPEAKER_00]: How is everything going to turn out? 25:20.997 --> 25:23.639 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so worried my anxiety is overwhelming me. 25:23.940 --> 25:25.401 [SPEAKER_00]: My fear is overwhelming me. 25:25.521 --> 25:27.323 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not shaped by any of that. 25:30.066 --> 25:33.089 [SPEAKER_00]: It's now shaped by his death and resurrection for you. 25:34.550 --> 25:37.073 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's your identity and that's who you are. 25:39.716 --> 25:42.659 [SPEAKER_00]: That morning, the women came expecting to find a body. 25:45.241 --> 25:47.083 [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, they found a living savior. 25:48.008 --> 25:58.177 [SPEAKER_00]: The disciples gathered that morning in complete uncertainty, trusting the women's word, and instead they found themselves standing in the presence of a risen Christ. 26:00.138 --> 26:07.985 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you came this weekend expecting just a good time or some fun, and now you're faced with so much more. 26:10.367 --> 26:17.053 [SPEAKER_00]: Your risen Lord and Savior stands in front of you with His pierced hands and His arms stretched 26:18.451 --> 26:28.707 [SPEAKER_00]: claiming you as his own, saying, I love you so much, so much that I gave everything for you. 26:30.930 --> 26:34.195 [SPEAKER_00]: And now in my resurrection, I give everything to you. 26:36.258 --> 26:41.927 [SPEAKER_00]: All that is mine is yours and I am risen and because I am risen, you will rise also. 26:43.149 --> 26:45.893 [SPEAKER_00]: And in me, you will have life eternal. 26:47.915 --> 26:50.399 [SPEAKER_00]: That declaration still stands for you. 26:51.701 --> 26:53.364 [SPEAKER_00]: The stone has been rolled away. 26:53.625 --> 26:56.209 [SPEAKER_00]: The tomb is empty, and Jesus is alive. 26:57.712 --> 27:10.834 [SPEAKER_00]: Not only has a moment in real time and in real history, which it for sure was and is, but as a present reality for you here right now. 27:12.620 --> 27:16.704 [SPEAKER_00]: And the words first spoken at the tomb continue to echo to this day. 27:17.184 --> 27:21.028 [SPEAKER_00]: He is not here for he has risen. 27:21.068 --> 27:26.553 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the last one. 27:27.114 --> 27:27.814 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's do it better. 27:28.395 --> 27:29.115 [SPEAKER_00]: He is risen. 27:29.135 --> 27:29.416 [SPEAKER_00]: No, he's not. 27:29.436 --> 27:33.419 [SPEAKER_00]: No, he's not. 27:33.440 --> 27:33.540 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 27:34.781 --> 27:42.508 [SPEAKER_00]: Now may the peace of God which surpasses all of our human understanding, keep your hearts in minds, 27:42.691 --> 27:43.353 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen.