The Day Our World Changed Forever Part 1 - John 20:1-10

1:30Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19, they've had a very rough weekend, very tormenting time. Failings, sin, thoughts going on in there, misguided notions, and yet a new day dawns for them. And it's exciting that we serve a God of new beginnings. But this is the day that changed our world forever. And if it sinks in, if you really approach this day, approach the words that we'll be working through today with faith, they will change your world forever, for sure.

2:18Before this day, the idea of forever was only a dream. Resurrection was little more than a wistful hope, maybe a lovely sentiment, but there was no tangible proof. There was no tangible evidence. And all around, death, like a cruel master, just seemed to rule humanity. Everybody went in, no one came out. No one escaped. And so, how does one develop a view of resurrection, even though? It's there in the Testament, written in the Scripture. How does one really come to a firm grasp of it when they've never really seen anyone exert a power over death?

3:14And then Jesus comes on the scene, one who can heal authority in every kind of realm, one who can even raise the dead. And yet, as we open our chapter, Jesus himself, Prince of life, is wrapped up in the grave clothes and sealed in a dark tomb as though death had once again conquered human hope and taken another captive. Well, that's where we find ourselves this morning. Let me read the first ten verses of John chapter 20.

3:57Now, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was still dark and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. So Peter and the other disciple went forth and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together, and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. And stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came following him and entered the tomb, and he saw the linen wrappings lying there and the facecloth which had been on his head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had entered, who had first come to the tomb, then also entered, and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes.

5:14I think we've all had difficult times or trials that have come to an end, and we've been able to close the book on maybe a difficult chapter in our life. I remember, and many of you remember, the long legal battle I was in being sued for a construction situation that I did not design, did not build, and that kind of thing. And the ordeal lasted a long time. But I remember when it was over and the settlement was made, and there was no way for them to take any more from me, or there was no way for them to pursue the matter. Further, it all came to an end. And I remember sitting down and taking up document after document, plans after plans, folding them up, putting them in a file, and setting it aside, all neat and orderly. It was over.

6:21I tell my kids as they finish a class in school: after you've finished the class, do what I call a post-mortem. Have you ever heard that term? Post-mortem? Take your notes, put them back in order, get rid of the fluff, get rid of, organize them, put them away, and then just put it together and set it. And there's always a good feeling because some of the classes can be very painful. And whether it's a sitting for a board exam or whatever it may be, getting to the end and just being able to put that aside. Maybe it's a finishing a task, a job, or maybe a certain difficult trial or relationship or situation or graduation, whatever it was, or maybe it's turning the page after a very difficult tragedy. I am thankful that God has appointed new beginnings. God's the God of new beginnings. And the very first line we read in chapter 20 is: Now, on the first day of the week, a new beginning, first day, a new day.

7:30A new week, a new hope set in that day. God's the God of new life, a new world took place that day, a world where resurrection became a certainty, where eternal life now no longer was just maybe an interpretation of what the scripture was vivid, it was alive, it was before their eyes. That's what chapter 20 is about. One who has gone into the grave, one who has come out, where resurrection life is now a certainty in humanity.

8:18What came out of that tomb was more than just Jesus. It was Jesus. But a lot more came out of that tomb that day. A lot more. You start seeing them one after another. You start seeing them coming out of their fear, coming out of their doubts, coming out of their failures. Resurrection, a whole new kind of living. Well, this morning, I just want to relive this moment. And I want us to focus on the testimony of two of the earliest witnesses. To the resurrection.

9:03And I'm not going to talk about people here, though they're there. No, I'm talking about inanimate objects that are testifying to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Although they are lifeless, these two objects speak volumes about what happened that day that changed our world forever. And I'm talking about the testimony of the stone and the testimony of the graveclothes. But I want you to interpret them properly. There were some that morning, there was one individual that morning that didn't interpret it properly. There was another individual who did. And I want to compare, I want to look, relive the moment. And I want you to understand the testimony of the stone and the graveclothes so that you will believe in the resurrected Jesus. So, first, we'll look at the testimony of the stone, the testimony of the stone.

10:16It's interesting how John testifies or relates the account of what happened that morning. He does it in very live and active terms. Even as we read it, many of the translations. Translate what happened in the past. John translates it as if he has closed his eyes and is reliving the moment and is telling you what took place. And he's testifying, this is what is happening. Enter into the scene and let me take you step by step through what happened. That's how he communicates through this. So we'll just start.

10:56At the opening scene, you have Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb. Now, who is Mary? Well, she's the Magdalene from Magdalen, a town up shore of Galilee. What do we know about her? Well, we know in Luke chapter 8, she was one from whom seven demons had gone out. Seven demons. We also know from John chapter 7 that the one who is forgiven much is the one who loves much. Mary knew what it was like to be under the bondage of satanic control. She knew what it was like to be incarcerated in a tomb. That's how she lived.

11:42Under the oppression of satanic possession, under sinful dominance, under a fear of judgment, this was the tomb that she lived in. And then she met Jesus. And he freed her. And from that moment, she loved. I mean, she loved. In fact, as a side note, and I'm going to get into it a little bit next week, a question that really perplexed me. Why did Jesus show up to Mary Magdalene first? Why? Why her? Why not Peter? Why not John? John's the disciple he loved.

12:31Why not his own mother? Why does he show up to Mary Magdalene first? You'll have to come next week. Profound. She loved much. She understood what it was to be like under satanic control. And she watched him be crucified. She watched death encompass him. She saw him wrapped up in the graveclothes. She saw him engulfed. And her worst fears came back. The one who had set her free is now bound. He's dead. Satan has won. That's what's going on. In fact, as you look at Matthew 27, she watches in verse 59 and 61, she watches Joseph come and lay Jesus in the tomb. She's the last one mentioned, or she is among the last two mentioned. She's there watching.

13:59And she's the first one mentioned coming. The last one to watch. The first one there. She loved much. She loved her Savior. And so she shows up. Now, notice what she's doing. Now, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was still dark and saw the stone already taken away. Let me change the verbs around as they would be in the original. It's like John is saying, now the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene is coming. While it is still dark, she is coming.

14:44And she is seeing the stone taken away from the tomb. That's how he's saying it. Mary comes early in the morning and she sees, present tense, the stone already taken away from the tomb. So that's what happens. She comes and she sees. She sees the stone. And she concludes something false. It's like her worst fears come over her. And she runs off in a panic, a dreadful panic. What did she assume? It'll be very clear in the next verse. She believed that the rolled stone testified that somebody had stolen the body.

15:40So she runs. She ran. Verse 2, she ran and came to Simon Peter. Literally, she is running and she is coming to Simon Peter. Or she runs and she comes to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. So she comes, she is running, she is coming, and she is saying, This is what the removed stone says. Someone has stolen the body.

16:14Grave robbers, perhaps enemies. They, it's probably referring to the enemies of Jesus. We don't know. Notice the. The plural there, we do not know. They have taken him away, and we, who is the we referring to? Only John has mentioned Mary at this point. But say it's probably either the, she could be saying it's the other women that are with her, and we read from other accounts. And by the way, I hear those who challenge the resurrection, they like to go to the accounts in the gospels themselves and start pointing out differences, but they can easily be harmonized. You have Mary setting out with a group. It's clear from the others, she was among other women, but it seems maybe she got there first. That shouldn't be too hard to expect. John gets there before Peter does, as we read, but she gets there. And certainly, John is telling his gospel from his perspective. John's not out there. So he's only testifying to the things he sees. He knows that Mary has gone out there. And what happens when Mary sees the tomb? She turns and she runs back and she comes to John and Peter. Now, I think, just as a detail to note, Simon, Peter, and John are in close proximity. Something, they got back together after that weekend. And boy, what a weekend it was, right? There they were.

17:54Probably some of the most miserable days in the lives of these men. Days in the aftermath of the crucifixion, their hopes were crushed. I'm sure they were dealing with feelings of hatred towards Judas, towards the Jews, towards the miscarriage of justice. Their hopes were crushed. They were drained physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. They were, I'm sure, in a spiritual quandary, theological confusion. They were plagued by their own personal failures and all that. That was a hard weekend.

18:40They were shaken. By the end of this short while, they are different men. And we'll see that change happen in John here in just a moment. But they're in close proximity, drawing comfort from one another. They're there. But Mary misinterpreted the testimony of the stone. She interpreted the situation through the lens of her worst fears. And friends, we can do the same today. We can look into what's going on around us in this world, and we could despair, and we can think somehow God has lost control, and something horrible is happening. Happening that even God isn't in control of. All these thoughts were going through the disciples. Listen, he has risen from the dead. He has trampled death by death. He is very much in control. He is very much accomplishing what he has intended to accomplish.

19:58But we can easily look around. We can look around, even in our circumstances, even on a small scale and a large scale, and we can start interpreting them through our worst fears. And guess what? When you start interpreting life through your worst fears, when you start seeing people's interactions with you through your fears, or you start seeing your circumstances through your fears, or whatever you can imagine, if you start interpreting through your fears, guess what? You will be incarcerated in a tomb. It is so suffocating.

20:31But Christ comes to liberate. So she panicked. She ran away. She ran away. She ran away. She interpreted her circumstances as if Jesus was not reigning. And where you interpret your circumstances as if Jesus isn't reigning, panic, fear, you can melt, be overwhelmed. I think many of us would agree with that theologically. Okay, yeah, he's raining. We've heard that. So up here, but it's hardly down here, isn't it? Sometimes we can get the theology right because we see it and we somehow reduce Christianity to just the right theological answers. No, it's more than that. It is to make its way into the heart. And you are to start looking and seeing in your circumstances, Christ is risen.

21:35That's the anchor. That's the foundation. He is alive. And there are implications that come out of that that touch even my little, small world that I live in. Steady anchor. Steady hope. Well, that's the testimony of the stone. Now let's look at the testimony of the grave clothes. So Mary's testimony prompts a hurried race to the tomb. Verse 3: So Peter and the other disciple went forth and they were going to the tomb. The tomb were running together, and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first.

22:23So you have an increase. Okay, again, so you. Just get the dynamics, get the movements. They went forth, they were going, they were running, and then John runs ahead. So you get this growing movement, intensity, and ask the profound question: why did John get there first? He was faster than Peter. He was faster than Peter. Some suggest that means John was younger. I don't know. Maybe. I know some people that can outrun me that might be older than me.

23:11But age and swiftness aren't always related, right? John was a faster runner than Peter. But it shows an intense desire on which John wanted to get there, right? I mean, there's an anxious race, an anxious desire to get to the tomb. And so John gets there first. And look at what happens in verse 5. And stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. So John comes up, stone, he sees a stone, looks down in, and he can see the linen wrappings. He can see the grave clothes. But at the idea, the word for sin. Here is this: he catches a glance of it. He can see it, he can see them there, takes notice of.

24:10So, John gets to the tomb, but he doesn't go in. Remember what you can think about the grave clothes in chapter 9, or just in verse 40. Read it last time. So, they took the body of Jesus and they bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. They bound him. And certainly, in chapter 11, you remember the whole event with Lazarus? You remember Jesus says, Lazarus, come forth. And in verse 44, the man who had died came forth bound hand and foot with wrappings. His face was wrapped around with a cloth. And Jesus said to him, Unbind him and let him go. So when Lazarus came forth, he is bound hand and foot, so he can't move hardly.

25:05And I don't know, somehow got out of the tomb. He has a face cloth on him, so it's separate from the wrappings that probably was to secure the jaw, cover the face. And that was the custom. And it's a stout binding. I think as you look at John chapter 11, it's pretty stout, so much so that Jesus said, unbind him. He's not going to. Be able to unbind himself. So John looks in and he sees those clothes that wrapped him and bound him. And they're there. Well, then here comes Peter. Peter gets to the tomb. I don't know how long. It doesn't seem like it was too long.

25:57He may have been second to the tomb, but he was the first in the tomb. He just comes in, whoosh, right on in. And then John will go in. But Simon Peter, verse 6, also came following him and entered the tomb, and he saw the linen wrappings lying there. And so, again, in the way John's telling the story, here comes Peter is coming, following John. He entered the tomb and he is observing the grave clothes. So as Simon Peter also comes, it might be a better way to say, and he sees the living, the linen wrappings.

26:45And he's observing them. This is a stronger term. This is a more, he is observed, he observes for more detail about the graveclothes. It's an interesting word. For lying there, the wrappings lying there. It's a passive verb. It's a present passive idea of being the ones being laid out there. Something had happened to them that they had been placed there. And the arrangement, and just even in the word itself, speaks of order and deliberate. It doesn't speak of they were strewn, but they were laid out.

27:33In verse 7, he sees the facecloth and the facecloth which had been on his head and not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. The language here seems to speak that you have the linen wrappings, the clothes that were around him in one place, and then you have the head covering that has been rolled up or folded up and set aside in a different place. So get the scene. What has happened here?

28:17By the way, I think I don't know how many of you are aware of the shroud of Turin, where it is an alleged relic. That goes back to the early centuries, and they claim that it is the burial cloth of Jesus. And there is the image of a man in blood that appears to have been crucified. And that just as I read this, and there's a lot of debate whether it is history, it's something that's very out there. How many people are aware of that? Okay, so I'm talking to people who are pretty informed about the Shroud of Turin. Well, as I look at this here, the Shroud of Turin does not seem consistent with John's description. The face cloth seems to be separate, and it's in a different place, and that would have absorbed, regardless, it just don't think it is consistent with John's testimony. So I don't think it is the burial cloth of Jesus.

29:29But notice something. It does say something here. The cloth itself has been deliberately set aside and in an orderly fashion. Now, who folded it up becomes the question. Thank you, really. I don't have very many possibilities, an angel or Jesus. Personally, and I can't substantiate it, but I can. Easily see Jesus doing it, right? Folding up a very difficult chapter in his life, coming to the end. And as a first moment of the resurrection, I mean, what scene does that give you?

30:16A picture of at one time he said, I have a baptism to undergo, and I am, oh, so wanting it to be over. And here's that moment where he's just putting it up. But these, what is clear here is that there's an orderly setting of these articles. Now, nothing is said here. John doesn't say anything about Peter's interpretation of what happened, but he does go on to say what his interpretation is. So, verse 8, what happens? So, the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.

31:14And this is a high point in the narrative we're in, but also a high point in John's gospel for him personally. This is where John comes in and he sees and he believes. He saw and he believed. John saw something as he went in, as he was observing what Peter observed. He saw something in the graveclothes that contradicted Mary's testimony, or maybe Mary's conclusion. Yes, he saw the stone's been rolled away. That much he agreed. See that? Believe that. But what was Mary's conclusion? Somebody has come and has taken the body away. That was her conclusion.

32:12But John saw something in those graveclothes that contradicted Mary's conclusion. And you can think about it. Imagine the scene. As he's looking upon the linen wrappings, as he looks at the facecloth over there, and as he's looking and observing the orderly fashion, he began to realize this is not the work of a grave robber. This is not the work of the enemies of Jesus. The very fact that the graveclothes are there, I mean, if this had been somebody wanting to take the body away, guess what? Roll the tomb, grab it, let's go, right? There's guards there.

33:00No, and especially it's a scene that speaks of orderliness. Neither friend nor foe. This was not the work of a grave robber, and this was not the work of the Jewish mafia that had sentenced him to death. No, John's like, he's alive. This is not the work of a grave robber. This is the work of my Lord. He's alive. John saw and he believed. He believed. Yes, he believed Mary's testimony that the stone had been rolled away, but he believed more than that. He believed he was alive.

33:58He saw in the graveclothes a testimony to Jesus' victory. That's what they're speaking about. That's what the stone is saying. A victory, a victory over death. He saw the grave clothes as trophies, a victory, trophies of triumph. Not just the leftover. Evidence that he's been further disgraced, as if someone had came and taken the body. He's alive again. John knew he was alive again. The evidence said he was alive again. And that's just the circumstances. But John still had to grow in his faith.

34:58He had to understand more about the scriptures. And that's what he goes on to tell us. Look at verse 9. For as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. Yes, he understood that these grave clothes speak of resurrection, but he still had to understand from scripture why he must rise. So he understood experientially the evidence, but maybe not scripturally. And that's why, you know, the very, it's interesting, the very day when Jesus meets on the road to, meets the men on the road to Emmaus, and he begins, and beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself. In all the scriptures, he didn't want them just to get carried off in the notion that he's alive. He wanted them to understand the scriptures and the necessity of why he is alive and what that does, what that implies for so many other things.

36:20And he wanted to make sure, in fact, in Acts 1:3, you remember there was for a period of 40 days, he spoke to his disciples concerning the things of the kingdom of God. And so he gives further instruction. See, it's not just enough for a disciple to know that Jesus is the Messiah or that Jesus rose from the dead. We need to understand the scriptural information that gives us insight as to what all this implies. It's not just that a man some 2,000 years ago rose from the dead. It's that this individual has conquered death. He reigns right now. He made promises that hold true to this day, who hold out promise to each of us in this room. And it brings about a certainty of what's to come. There's so many things more than just that he rose from the dead as some freak of nature or somebody who has done something, as some champion that has done something wonderful that is somehow detached from us. No scripture gives us insight into the so what of it all.

37:30He died not for his own sins. He died not for his own transgressions, but for ours. This is the one that he, this is the prophet whom the Lord God said he would raise up in Deuteronomy 18:15, who would cause to stand. And the word there is the same for resurrection. That God, even in Deuteronomy 18 and even in Deuteronomy 18, as he's speaking about this prophet that he is going to cause to stand, he uses language of resurrection. Even though it's very rightfully interpreted as he is going to cause, he is going to raise up, he is going to cause his prophet to stand.

38:29Still, there is the language of this. He is going to make him stand. And he says this about this prophet who he is going to raise up and cause all the world. He is going to see. And certainly, resurrection does it. It raises him up. And that is the means by which God raises up and shows and holds this one out as preeminent. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I commanded him, and it shall Come about that whoever will not listen to my words, which he speaks in my name, I myself will require it of him. In fact, Peter is going to pick up on this verse in Acts chapter 3. Stephen is going to pick up on this, and he's saying, Look, here is the prophet that God has caused to stand in your midst. You can't miss it. He has risen from the dead. And this is the one that God is elevating as an individual. And you look across the whole realm of humanity. There is not another contender that claims to have come out of the tomb.

39:40Read you something from John chapter 2. You remember way back when Jesus cleared out the temple? Let me take you back to verse 13 of John chapter 2. Passover, the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and he found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves and the money changers and seated at their tables. So he sees this man-centered perversion of temple worship. And in verse 15, and he made a scourge of cords, and he drove out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen, and he poured out the coins of the money changers, and he overturned their tables. And to those who were selling the doves, he said, Take. These things away. Stop making my father's house a place of business. This guy was zealous, right? He is going to purify worship in Israel and the world. He is not going to tolerate God's name to be defamed.

40:47His disciples remembered that it was written, zeal for your house will consume me. The Jews said to him, I think about the situation. He's torn up their whole temple worship, and the Jews come up to him, what sign do you show us as your authority to do this? Who gives you the authority to this? You owe us a sign to show us that you have some kind of authority to come in here and clean this place up. Why are you doing this? On what authority do you do this? Listen to Jesus' answer. Jesus answered and said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, It took 46 years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days. And then here's John's commentary, verse 21, but he was speaking of the temple of his body. So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered, that would include John, that his disciples said this, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

41:51So they listened. They believed the scripture. They believed the word. But here's Jesus saying, You want to know what authority I do this? Resurrection authority. I am going to clean up the worship on this earth. I am going to clean up worship starting among God's people. You see, Jesus is death. When you think about death itself, death is about separation, right? Jesus' spirit returned to his body because of his reunion with his father. Reunion in the flesh, because of reunion with his father.

42:38He was innocent of transgression. He was spotless of sin. He was not guilty of crime. His suffering was not for himself. That's not why he went to the cross. It was for his people. And his suffering was the way he was returning to his father. He was going back to his father through the cross. But in doing so, he was opening a way for his people to also go to his father. And in the very next section, he's going to say, I return to my father and your father.

43:19A relationship. No, Messiah must live forever. Micah 5:2 says he will arise and shepherd his flock. Jeremiah says, 23, 5, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he will reign as king, and act wisely, and do justice in the land. And in his day, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is his name by which he will be called, the Lord our righteousness. Isn't that interesting? Yahweh. Yod Hayvav, hey, that word that hardly cannot even be uttered in Orthodox Jewish circles. The Lord. And who is this Lord? The branch. The branch is God himself, Yahweh himself. Jesus, Messiah, Lord of all.

44:20Isaiah, child is going to be born to us. There will be no end to the increase of his government or peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. That's eternity, right? For that to be true, something has to happen, and it has to be resurrection. Because if he didn't die, guess what? He's some alien that comes here, right? If he is to die, he's something other than human, right? Or certainly. Other than he didn't take up on our likeness, we're fallen, right? And he takes up on our likeness, so he comes in our likeness.

45:14So he had to come like us, so he'd have to die like us. But if he's going to reign forever, he has to arise from the dead. And if he's going to shepherd his people, guess what he's going to have to have the ability to do with his people? Raise them up, right? Resurrection was necessary for him, and he himself had to be one who could raise up his people. That's God's plan for a glorified humanity.

45:49And Jesus Himself in John chapter 6, what does he say? I myself, this is the will of the Father, that of all he gives me, I lose nothing. The one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out, but I myself will raise him up. You see, he had to arise. 1 King had to arise from the dead, and he had to have the power to raise others, and we see that in his life, and now we see it in his death, we see him coming out of the tomb, and then the question becomes: who has the supreme authority over the Planet Earth, humanity. You don't have very many candidates, right?

46:37Chance? You think it's random chance? Is it death? No, there's one that's conquered both, right? There's one that has conquered the grave. The only other option is Jesus. There aren't any other serious candidates, not on this level, not that have overcome death. Look at verse 10. So the disciples went away again to their homes. But something had changed in John's heart. Come on, something had warmed his heart. So we've looked at the testimony of the stone. We've looked at the testimony of the grave clothes. And the contrast between Mary and John is striking, at least through the eyes of faith.

47:36Mary interpreted the situation through the lens of fear. John interpreted the situation through the lens of faith. Mary came to the tomb as one who had lost all hope, and after seeing the evidence of the resurrection, she was even more distressed. John, on the other hand, saw the same evidence and he believed. And this changed him. How easy it is for us to see a great wonder or God doing something incredible before our eyes, and yet we can completely miss it. We can totally misinterpret our situation, can't we? And the first question we really need to settle in our hearts, and I'm going to ask you: do you really believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

48:26That's an anchor. Do you really believe it? And I mean, not just up here. Does your heart really get the message as you approach and as you go through your days, your weeks, your circumstances, your trials, your situations, and even what we're going through as a nation right now? Are you looking through the eyes of resurrection faith? That all this has a conclusion. All of it one day will be wrapped up and folded and put aside, and we will have been better for the trial.

49:04Do you live in the light of the resurrection? Well, the day that changed the world forever was a day when the reality of the resurrection set in, at least into a few hearts. And I encourage you this morning. Let the reality of his resurrection set in. A new kind of living. Get out of your tomb. Let's pray. Lord, with great joy we can come before you this morning because of this day that we read about this morning.

49:53I imagine John leaving, his heart getting ahead of him, his mind racing, even maybe even trying to convince his heart of something his heart really believes. He knew. Father, what a change that would have been. And as we see, as news of your resurrection spread to your followers, what an awakening it caused. Father, for then, everything that is true, everything that was said in Scripture about the Messiah and the future of Messiah's reign, and we know is certain. Father, the offering that he made on our behalf, the veil truly was torn in two because of an accepted sacrifice, not simply because of a random chance. Father, we know all this was deliberate, all this was calculated, and all this was done. And we just thank you, Father.

50:57We thank you that you can just. Fold up something as horrible as the crucifixion, and just put it on a shelf and bury it in the knowledge of the resurrection. Father, let that be true of our lives, the situations we face. Let us hold our anchor steady upon the sure and steady foundation we have in Christ. In Jesus' name.