The Resurrected King
Revelation 1:12-18
The Resurrected King
Revelation 1:12-18
Main Idea: The resurrection of Christ shows his glory and authority and gives us hope in place of fear.
I. The Revelation of Christ (1:12-16)
The Apostle John is given a vision of the resurrected and glorified Lord Jesus, ruling and reigning from heaven as the “Son of Man” (cf. Dan. 7:13-14). He is presented as the one fulfilling the role of:
Prophet (“the voice speaking to me”)
Priest (“clothed with a long robe”)
King (“golden sash around his chest”)
“Jesus was not standing off at a distance while his followers suffered for him. He was right there with them, walking in the midst of them, keeping their fire for the gospel burning, correcting them, watching over them, strengthening them. Some people in this world today are so suspect of the church. They’ve seen too much of what they’ve labeled as hypocrisy, and even though they might be interested in Jesus, the last place they want to be found is in the church. But Jesus is not ashamed to be found in the midst of his imperfect church. It is his preferred place to be. He chooses to be in and among his imperfect people who follow him and serve him in imperfect ways.”
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
John describes (in figurative language) seven things he sees about Jesus’ glorified appearance:
White hair: eternal divine wisdom (cf. Dan. 7:9)
Eyes like a flame of fire: penetrating discernment (cf. Dan. 10:6)
Feet like burnished bronze: strength and stability (cf. Dan. 10:6)
Voice like the roar of many waters: power and majesty (cf. Psalm 29:3; 93:4)
Right hand holding seven stars: sovereign care for his people (cf. Dan. 12:3)
Mouth: a sharp two-edged sword: cutting words of judgment or salvation (cf. Isa. 49:2, Heb. 4:12)
Face radiant and shining like the sun: divine glory (cf. Ex. 34:29ff, Num. 6:25, Mt. 17:2)
II. The Resurrection of Christ (1:17-18)
Though John responds appropriately to this majestic, glorious, and overwhelming revelation of Christ (cf. Isa. 6:5; Jn. 17:6), Jesus touches him and meets him with his grace.
John is told to “fear not” because:
“I am the first and the last” (cf. Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12)
“I am the living one… I died and behold I am alive forevermore”
Acts 2:23–24: … this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
“I have the keys of Death and Hades”
The revelation and the resurrection of Christ means…
He is worthy of our worship
We have hope beyond the grave
We can fear not
“There is no possible cause for fear to any soul that believes in Christ. You shall ransack the corruptions of your heart within; you shall count your trials without; you shall imagine all the tribulations that shall come tomorrow; you shall reflect on all the sins that were with you yesterday and in the past; you shall peer into the shades of death and horrors of hell, but I declare solemnly to you that there is nothing in any of these which you, believing in Christ, have any cause to fear… Carry this fearlessness in your life. Be of good courage. Jesus is King of Hades. Fear not.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, “Christ with the Keys of Death and Hell”
The Road
Luke 24:13-35
the Road
Luke 24:13-35
Main Idea: The crucifixion and resurrection of Christ fulfills Scripture, secures hope, and ignites faith.
I. Burdened Hearts (24:13-24)
We don’t know anything about these disciples; they weren’t famous, they weren’t members of the Twelve, they weren’t leaders – they were just common, garden-variety disciples like you and me… This little scene is remarkably ordinary and lacking in distinction; it is not a dramatic setting for a great event. There is no angel, no empty tomb. It is just two friends, clinging together in common misery, trying to comfort each other, going over and over the events as if the mere repetition of them would bring relief, seeking desperately to understand and accept, but dazed and numb with shock and grief. ~ Fleming Rutledge, The Undoing of Death, “Recognizing Jesus”
1 Corinthians 15:17–19: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
II. Unbelieving Hearts (24:25-27)
Jesus responds to these sad and burdened disciples in three ways:
The Source of their Unbelief: ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe…”
The Necessity of Suffering: “.. all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
The Key to Everything: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
1 Corinthians 15:3–4: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…”
2 Corinthians 1:20: “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”
III. Burning Hearts (24:28-35)
As the two disciples are enthralled in conversation with the risen Christ, they convince him to stay for dinner as evening approaches. At the table, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, and suddenly they “recognized” him. Their burdened, slow, and dull hearts had been melted and warmed by God’s grace as Jesus opened up the Scriptures to them.
Ephesians 1:18-20a: “...having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead...”
Seized by the Resurrection - Easter Sunday
Mark 15:40-16:8
Seized by the resurrection
Mark 15:40-16:8
Main Idea: The resurrection of Christ unsettles everything and evokes a response.
I. The Trauma of Death (15:40-47)
Death is always traumatic and an unwelcomed enemy and intruder (cf. 1 Cor. 15:26), but the crucifixion of Christ was especially traumatic. Joseph of Arimathea exercised “courage” because he was requesting the body of a convicted and executed man who was viewed to be cursed by God (cf. Isa. 53:9)
We owe it to those first Christian disciples to do our very best to understand the utter hopelessness of their situation after the crucifixion. They had invested their whole lives in what appeared to be a diabolical joke. They had seen their beloved Master scourged almost to death, dragged through the streets, nailed to a cross and abandoned to suffer public agony in the face of the obscene mockery of everybody in Jerusalem. Once they had basked in the reflected status of a celebrity who had been mobbed by large crowds; now he had been judged a nonperson, fit only for the most degrading and sadistic death that the human mind was capable of devising. If there had been any solidarity among his followers, it had vanished; not one person had dared to come forward in the Master's defense, and their supposed leader, Peter, had cravenly denied Jesus three times, There was nothing left… The Messiah was supposed to usher in the kingdom of God; for those disciples who had staked their lives on Jesus being that Messiah, it cannot be stated too strongly: there was no hope.
~ Fleming Rutledge, The Undoing of Death
II. The Shock of Resurrection (16:1-8)
Despite Jesus explicitly predicting his crucifixion and resurrection four times in Mark (8:31-32, 9:30-32, 10:32-34, 14:26-28), no one is expecting nor looking for Jesus to be raised from the dead. This is why the women are “seized… alarmed… trembling… astonished… and afraid.”
Mark’s ending points to a truth that often gets lost in the celebration: Easter is a frightening prospect. For the women, the only thing more terrifying than a world with Jesus dead was one in which he was alive.
~ Esau McCaulley, "The Unsettling Power of Easter”
III. The One Who Goes Before Us (16:7)
The resurrection of Christ should:
1. Challenge your reality (“see the place where they laid him”)
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
~ C.S. Lewis, “God in the Dock”
2. Comfort your heart (“go, tell his disciples and Peter…”)
3. Change your life (“he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”)
The resurrection of Christ is not just something to believe in; it’s something to be lived. Christ is not a dead teacher. If he was a dead teacher, then being a Christian would just be to believe what he said. Since he’s a risen Lord, he comes and penetrates our lives with a new order of being.
~ Tim Keller
The Resurrection of Christ | Easter
John 20: 1-18
The Resurrection of Christ
John 20:1-18
Main Idea: The resurrection of Christ means the curse is reversed and we have hope.
I. The Tomb is Empty (20:1-10)
Sunday morning begins with Mary Magdalene going to the tomb early in the morning while it is still dark on the “first day of the week.” John presents the resurrection as being the beginning of a new creation, with the “darkness” being pushed back by a glorious light.
Mary is presumably traveling to the tomb to mourn the death of Christ. Despite Jesus’ predictions that he would be raised, no one is expecting or looking for a resurrection. This did not fit into either the Jewish or the Greco-Roman worldview. Mary assumes a grave robbery has occurred.
As Peter and John show up at the tomb, they realize the burial linen cloths and the face cloth are both neatly folded up. Peter and John begin to “theorize” what has happened, and John himself “believes” as he steps foot in this empty tomb.
Acts 2:24: God raised him [Jesus] up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Isaiah 25:7–8: And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
Though they do not realize it yet, Christ “must rise from the dead.” Everything hinges upon the resurrection, and the empty tomb is an invitation for us. “The reason the stone was rolled away on Jesus's tomb was not so that Jesus could get out, but so that we could get in.” ~ Tim Keller
“The truest fact of the universe is an empty tomb. The Resurrection is the only evidence that love triumphs over death, weakness prevails over strength, and beauty outlives ashes. If Jesus is risen in actual history, with all the palpability of flesh, fingers, bone, and blood, there is hope that our mourning will be comforted, and that death will not have the final word.”
~ Tish Harrison Warren
II. The Curse is Reversed (20:11-18)
This resurrection encounter shows us that the curse of sin and its impact on the world is being rolled back. We see this in three categories:
The Setting: Jesus is buried in a “garden tomb” (19:41); gardens have great significance in the Scriptures from the Garden of Eden all the way to the “Garden-City” of the New Heavens and the New Earth (Rev. 21-22)
The People
Angels: In the Garden of Eden, angels were placed by the Lord to prevent anyone from entering & accessing (Gen. 3:24); in this garden, the angels are welcoming Mary into the empty tomb
“The Gardener”
“Mary’s intuitive guess, that he must be the gardener, was wrong at one level and right, deeply right, at another. This is the new creation. Jesus is the beginning of it. Here he is: the new Adam, the gardener, charged with bringing the chaos of God’s creation into new order, into flower, into fruitfulness. He has come to uproot the thorns and thistles and replace them with blossoms and harvests.”
~ N.T. Wright
Mary:
Unlike Adam and Eve who hide from the presence of the Lord and his call in Genesis 3, Mary’s eyes are opened and her faith is ignited as the “Good Shepherd” calls her name. John 10:27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Eve is deceived in a garden by the serpent, and sin enters the world and spreads to all of creation. Mary, who had felt the full weight of the serpent’s schemes (cf. Lk. 8:2), is the first to encounter the risen Christ in a garden, and is commissioned to announce the gospel that will spread to all of creation.
3. The Message
Jesus did not want Mary to “cling” to him because his presence was going to come to be with them in the Holy Spirit. Christ’s followers would have an even greater intimacy and relationship with him through the indwelling Spirit, our great “Helper” (Jn. 16:7).
The alienation of the Garden of Eden between humans and God and humans with one another has now been solved because of the finished work of Christ: “go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
All of humanity is living in one of two story lines: we either walk out of a garden into a tomb, or we walk out of a tomb into a garden. By God’s grace and in the power of Christ’s resurrection, we are being invited to new life and into a “living hope” (1 Pet. 1:3).