He s Alive! Have You Seen Him? Easter Sunday April 24, 2011 Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-18

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1 Introduction: He s Alive! Have You Seen Him? Easter Sunday April 24, 2011 Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-18 Alleluia, He s alive! Have you seen Him? How about you, or you, or you? What! You haven t seen the resurrected Jesus Christ? Has no one here seen him? But, He s alive so certainly someone has seen him. In our first lesson the one not printed in the worship folder - St. Luke, quoting Peter, writes in verses 39-41, that the apostles were eye witnesses of everything Jesus did. They saw Him with their own eyes and witnessed His actions. They saw him heal people, bring people back from the dead, exorcize demons, read people s thoughts and motives, and feed people miraculously. They also witnessed Jesus crucifixion. They saw him die, his body prepared for a quick burial and they saw him placed in a new tomb. Peter s testimony included: We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen (:39-40). Peter believed it was important to God Himself

2 that the resurrected Jesus Christ be seen. Not only did people see him but some even ate meals with him, so he obviously is not a ghost, right? He s alive! Have you seen him? In John s Gospel, there are more eye witness accounts of people seeing the resurrected Jesus. In today s lesson from chapter 20, there is The Different Experiences of Three Eye Witnesses. Just a brief note about the power of the testimony of an eye-witness: In Jewish tradition the strongest evidence is from an eye witness, and more than one is required to ensure no one is convicted by one person lying. For example Deuteronomy 19:15, says: A single witness shall not suffice to convict a person of any crime or wrongdoing in connection with any offense that may be committed. Only on the evidence of two or three witnesses shall a charge be sustained. In the final instructions Jesus gives his disciples before his ascension he says this in Acts 1:8: 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. That is why God had Jesus seen by many people after his resurrection; so there would be ample 2

3 witnesses to testify as to what they had personally heard and seen. That s the strongest testimony there is. So, in today s Gospel, we encounter three people who went to Jesus empty tomb on that first Easter morning. There was Mary Magdalene a woman whom Jesus had forgiven of many sins. I identify with Mary. After Mary saw the empty tomb she ran to Peter and John and said: They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don t know where they have put him! She knew the tomb was empty but she didn t yet know Jesus was alive. Peter and John have a foot race from the Upper Room to the tomb. John was a little swifter and beats Peter to the tomb. He looks in and sees the strips of cloth used to hold the burial spices next to Jesus body lying about, but doesn t go inside the tomb. Peter arrives and immediately goes into the tomb. He, too, sees the strips of cloth and he also sees the cloth that was wrapped around Jesus head, folded and set apart from the other burial cloths. It was customary for the family to take the deceased and lay him on the end of a long linen cloth and fold the cloth in half over the body. Then spices were placed around the body, and everything was held together with strips of cloth wrapped around the body. Then the 3

4 body was laid in the tomb. Peter and John saw all that material lying in a heap, except for the face cloth. It was meticulously folded and set apart. It was incongruent. If thieves had broke in and unwrapped the body before carrying it out, leaving all the material laying around, why would they go to the trouble to carefully fold up the head linen and set it apart? Think shroud of Turin for a visual image. What if when the power of the life force sent by God came back into Jesus dead flesh it was like a small explosion. And the light from the explosion sent by God, that is the light of life for all of us, radiated through the flesh of Jesus; leaving behind a photo negative on the cloth that touched his body. And what if Jesus, after unwrapping himself, tossing the strips of cloth aside, took the time to fold up the cloth that had touched his face folding it carefully for all to see who came into the tomb; leaving it purposely aside from everything else so it would draw your attention to it. Our lesson says that after Peter went into the tomb, John followed, saw the folded cloth and believed. Why did he believe after seeing that folded up cloth? Because he saw the face of Jesus looking back at him, as if asleep. It was a face and a pose John had seen many 4

5 mornings when he woke up, or when Jesus fell asleep on one of their boat rides. John knew in that instant the power of God had brought Jesus back to life. He had seen Jesus resurrect at least three people during his ministry. He now believed Jesus was back. St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians said this about the appearances of the resurrected Christ. From 1 Corinthians 15:6, Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Jesus is alive! Have you seen him? Why have some in history been allowed to see the resurrected Christ, but not everyone? In the lesson from Acts, Peter is quoted as saying (:34) God does not show favoritism. Other then intentionally appearing to his inner circle of disciples, I guess the others who saw Jesus just happened to be there. However, after seeing him they, too, shared in the responsibility to testify to what they had seen: that Jesus is alive. Jesus resurrection was a terrible embarrassment to the Jewish leaders who orchestrated his death; and to the Romans who were responsible for his execution and guarding his tomb. Don t you think they did everything in their power to disprove the resurrection 5

6 stories circulating through Jerusalem? It was not in their best interest to have Jesus still alive! Three people looked into an empty tomb that first Easter morning. Mary Magdalene was the first. After Peter and John left she was still there crying. Again, she looks into the tomb, only now she sees two angels who weren t there when Peter and John looked in. Then she sees Jesus Himself. At first she doesn t recognize him, but he speaks to her and she knows it is Jesus. She saw he was alive. Peter was the first one to enter the tomb but nothing is recorded about how he responded. That s curious? Perhaps he was emotionally numb from everything that had taken place the past four days. He had attacked a servant, cutting off his ear, in the Garden of Gethsemane. After Jesus arrest, he had followed to the Chief Priest s house. That took courage. John also was there. Then, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, ending that awful night. Then Jesus was taking to Pilate s; and the crowd refused his offer to let Jesus go free, instead shouting, Crucify him, crucify him! Then he was tortured and made to carry his cross on the Via Dolorosa. Exhausted from lack of sleep and loss of blood, he keep falling. When Simon of Cyrene 6

7 was grabbed out of the crowd, don t you think it was like a sword going through Peter s heart he would have gladly carried Jesus load at that point. Then Jesus was crucified and lifted up for everyone to see. Many people yelled insults at him, mocking him, making sport of him, becoming mob crazy. Then Jesus died, and I suspect the light just kind of went out of Peter s bulb. He was spent. Later, he goes back to Galilee to return to fishing. Jesus follows him there and gives him three opportunities to affirm that he loves Jesus. Jesus forgiveness restored the fire to Peter s belly, and brings him back into the family of faithful disciples. But, apparently that Easter morning he was too depressed and exhausted to think or feel? John is next in the tomb. He looks at the cloth that had covered Jesus face and immediately believes he is alive. Done, Settled! Over 500 more disciples see Jesus alive, and after Pentecost the believers begin to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. Many People have actually seen the resurrected Christ; have you? What About Us Who Haven t Seen Jesus? He s Alive! Have you seen Him? Like Mary who saw Jesus but didn t recognize him, and like the two men who traveled with him on the road to Emmaus but didn t 7

8 know who it was until he blessed the bread they were going to eat for dinner, I think a lot of people have seen Jesus but didn t know it was him. I haven t seen Jesus that I know of; but, I ve been blessed by God s amazing grace. Like Mary who didn t recognize Jesus until she heard his voice, I ve heard Jesus speak to my soul, and I ve never been the same. He s Alive! Have You seen him? I haven t, but I ve heard him call my name with a depth of love that still brings tears to my eyes. I haven t seen him but I ve felt his presence as he has embraced me, and I ve felt the tenderness and the strength that came from him. I haven t seen Jesus in the flesh, but I ve heard his voice, and I ve felt his embrace, and I ve seen his likeness in the faces of his brothers and sisters during tender times, and tough times. When I went on my first Cursillo experience, the Methodist Walk To Emmaus, I had a special moment. I was weary. A group of people were singing a song I was aware of but didn t know. That night it came alive for me They were singing: Have you seen Jesus my Lord? He s here in plain view. 8

9 Take a look, open your eyes, He ll show it to you. He s Alive! Have You Seen Him? Have you ever stood in the family with the Lord there in your midst? Seen the face of Christ on your neighbor, then I say, you ve seen Jesus my Lord. There are many people to whom I need to say: thank you for showing me Jesus! This Holy Week I saw Jesus on different faces, and through different acts of love and service. Thank you for showing me Jesus. I needed it. And, I hope and pray that I have also showed Jesus to someone else. I need that too. He s alive! Have you seen him? 9