The Risen Christ challenges our tears and our fears
John 20:11-23
Jesus comes to those who are sad and anxious, to challenge our sadness, and to send us as the Father sent Him.
Time: T+0.5 Friday 3:00pm (T=7)
1. Why do we cry and hide?
2. Jesus challenges our sadness
3. Jesus sends us as He was sent
Three questions:
1. Why does our sadness need to be challenged in light of who Jesus is?
2. Why is it that we can go and tell the gospel, even when we’re afraid?
3. Would you pray that Jesus will send you to someone who was afraid or anxious this week?
Let’s pray, “Father, thank you for your Word, the Bible. Please help us to see Jesus even more clearly, love him more dearly and follow him more nearly, day by day. Amen.”
1. Why do we cry and hide?
What’s one thing or one person you’re most afraid to lose?
One of the things that I’m afraid to lose is my set of keys.
Two weeks ago, when KOGKids was about to begin, I got a call from Jenny asking about where the key was to the new gate that leads us to the school.
I didn’t know either, and, to be honest, I was in a little bit of a panic.
Where did I leave the keys?
And so, I went around the church to look for them.
Eventually, we found a spare copy of the key, and so we were able to open up the gate.
Where was our key? I left them in the new rectory.
I still need to get used to the fact that we don’t live on site anymore!
You’ll be glad to know that we’ve put a tracker with the key now, so we’ll know exactly where it is.
Why was I so worried about losing the key?
If I didn’t find it, it would cost the KOGKids ministry precious time.
Also, we would need to pay to have the lock removed and install a new one.
Though it would’ve been annoying, keys can be replaced.
But there are things in our lives that hurt us much more if we ever lose them.
It might be an opportunity for a dream career, a career that will make you live comfortably for the rest of your life.
It might be a relationship that you invested in heavily, whether it’s family, friends, or romance.
It’s a relationship that makes you feel good even when things are low.
It’s great when we have the things, but when we lose them, we grieve, we are saddened.
Our sadness over our loss shows us how important that thing or that person was to us.
As a minister, I have the privilege of having members of our church and members of the public share with me their sadness over their loss.
Often, they would share with me words of anguish and even tears of despair.
Many of us, I’m sure, would’ve had similar experiences, either as someone hearing about the sorrow or as someone expressing our sorrow.
The more important that thing or person is to us, the greater our sadness will be.
We see this sadness for a loss in today’s passage.
Please open your Bible to John chapter 20, beginning from verse 11.
‘But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb.’
The Greek word translated as crying here appears eight times in the Gospel of John.
Four of them are used here, in John chapter 20.
In this passage, we see Mary Magdalene is crying outside the tomb of Jesus.
She was crying over the loss of Jesus because she didn’t know where they had put Jesus’ body.
And so Mary Magdalene cried over her loss.
At the same time, the disciples were also responding to the loss of Jesus.
While some of them might have cried for the death of Jesus, we have no records of it.
Instead, in this passage, we have a record of the disciples hiding behind locked doors because the Jews had just crucified Jesus.
The disciples were afraid of the Jews because they might be next on the Jews’ list.
The disciples followed Jesus for up to three years, and Jesus taught them, fed them and protected them, even as He was being arrested by the Jews.
But now with their Master and Teacher gone, they’ve lost their direction, and they’ve lost their security.
And so, the disciples hid in a locked room because of their loss.
Both Mary Magdalene’s tears and the disciples’ fear were instinctive responses to their loss.
They didn’t have to think too hard before Mary started weeping, and the disciples started hiding.
It was their genuine reaction.
They didn’t plan to weep or plan to be afraid.
Their feelings were genuine; they acted according to how they felt.
In a world where there are so many lies, so many phony laughter and phony tears, it’s good to see genuine displays of emotions.
And they are genuine emotions from friends of Jesus over the loss of Jesus, no less!
These genuine displays of emotions are good for Mary and the disciples to have…or are they?
In today’s passage, we see Jesus coming to Mary and the disciples in their sadness and in their fear, but he doesn’t just tell them that everything is alright,” which is something we often say to comfort people.
Jesus does something far better.
And so, let’s dive further into today’s passage to see how Jesus himself responds to our tears and fears.
2. Jesus challenges our sadness
Mary Magdalene was crying outside of Jesus’ tomb.
When she stepped in, she saw two angels in white, sitting where Jesus’ body had been lying.
One sat where Jesus’ head would’ve been and the other sat where his feet would’ve been.
Look with me at verse 13, “hey said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put him.”
Angels are messengers from God, delivering God’s message to God’s people. They’re powerful, spiritual beings.
They were there in their thousands announcing the birth of Jesus.
Here, at the grave where they buried Jesus, there were two of them.
Notice that unlike other gospel accounts of the resurrection, they weren’t making announcements about Jesus’ resurrection from the grave.
To be sure, the Apostle John, the author of this Gospel, made it very clear that Jesus rose from the grave.
However, there’s something very personal happening here.
The angels were asking questions to draw out Mary’s understanding of what she thought happened to Jesus.
And so they asked, “Woman, why are you crying?”
Soon after, the angels’ master, the risen Lord Jesus himself, stood in front of Mary, and he asked the same question, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it that you’re looking for?”
Even though Mary was looking for Jesus, and even though Jesus was standing in front of her, she couldn’t recognise Jesus. She did not recognise the very One she was looking for.
Colin Buchanan, a famous Australian Christian singer, has been singing kid-friendly, memorable songs for over three decades.
We often sing his songs here at KOGKids.One day, I met Colin at the church I used to work in while he was filming there.
Though I’ve sung his song and watched his videos many times, I had no idea who he was for a full ten minutes.
I introduced myself as David, and he introduced himself as Colin.
I had always imagined Colin as tall (compared to the children in his music videos) and wearing a bright red shirt (which he did for many years in his music videos), but he was wearing different clothes that day.
I simply couldn’t recognise him
Mary was looking at Jesus but she couldn’t recognise him.
While it’s true that after his resurrection, many people didn’t recognise Jesus until Jesus revealed himself to them, and this would’ve included Mary Magdalene, there was another issue that stopped Mary from recognising Jesus.
Mary Magdalene was looking for Jesus’ dead body but not looking for the risen Jesus.
She was sad over her loss of Jesus, but the truth was Jesus was not lost.
As precious as her tears for Jesus were, Mary’s tears were shed for the wrong reason.
The premise of her sadness was wrong.
And so, when the angels and Jesus came to see Mary, they kept asking her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
They weren’t asking because they didn’t know why Mary was crying.
They knew very well that she was crying because she thought Jesus’ body was lost.
But they wanted her to think more deeply.
Why was she crying?
Did she believe what Jesus said when he said that he was the Resurrection and the Life?
Did she trust Jesus when he said that he had the authority to lay down his life and the authority to take it up again?
Or did she believe that Jesus was just a well-intentioned teacher?
Maybe she believed that Jesus did the best that he could but he failed and lost?
If Mary had believed that Jesus was Lord and that he was telling the truth when he said he would rise again, she wouldn’t be weeping.
However, her tears, as precious and as loving as they were, showed that she didn’t understand or believe what Jesus said.
It wasn’t until Jesus said her name, “Mary”, that Mary recognised who Jesus was. Look with me at verse 17, “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “Since I have not yet ascended to the Father.”
After seeing the risen Jesus, it seemed like Mary finally understood!
She fell on the ground before Jesus and tried to grab a hold on him.
She didn’t want to lose Jesus again!
But Jesus had another trip to make.
Jesus has risen from the dead; and now, he must ascend to the Father.
Forty days after seeing Mary Magdalene, Jesus would ascend to heaven, going back to his Father’s House.
But before he ascends, he wants Mary to deliver a message to his disciples.
Again, in verse 17, “But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Jesus invites his disciples to call his Father, their Father.
More than that, this Father is also Jesus’ God and the disciples’ God.
Just as Jesus has obeyed God absolutely, the disciples are called to do the same.
Jesus has opened up his relationship with the Father so that we, too, can relate to God as a son or a daughter relates to their Father.
Just imagine thinking that Jesus was dead, and his body taken away, and then in the midst of the despair, in the midst of the sadness, Jesus comes and affirms to Mary who He is.
At this point, I sympathise with Mary.
If Jesus were to come right now, into our Church, I want to hold on to him and never let go.
There are so many bad things happening in the world right now.
There are wars and rumours of wars.
There are people in our Church, some of whom are my closest friends, going through a very difficult moment.
If Jesus comes into our Church now, I would say to Jesus, “Lord, we need you. We need you here.
We need your love, we need your healing, we need your blessings. Stay, Lord, please!”
If Jesus were to answer, I don’t think he would say, “Everything is okay” or “Things are not that bad.”
In his loving voice, I suspect he will ask the same question that he asked Mary, “Why are you crying?”
I think there are times to cry, even in our prayers to God.
And yet, even in our tears, we must remember who Jesus is.
He is the Risen, Living Lord.
We might grieve at our loss, but we’ll not be consumed by our grief. For we don’t have a hopeless end, but an endless hope.
And so, rather than letting our emotions take over us, even when these emotions are genuine, we must see them in the light of the Risen Christ.
There may be many things in our lives that make us sad, but does the reason behind the sadness valid in light of the Risen Christ?
If our sadness is due to a loss, how does that loss stand in the light of the hope that we have in the Risen Christ?
Rather than weeping and crying over the lost body of Jesus, Mary became a messenger of Jesus’ message.
She understood that Jesus had risen and that the Person whom she thought she had lost commanded her to go to his disciples.
Verse 18, “Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her.”
3. Jesus sends us as He was sent
How did the disciples respond?
Look with me at verse 19. “When it was evening on that first day of the week,a the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews.“
They locked themselves up out of fear of the Jews.
Even though two of the disciples, Peter and John, saw the empty tomb and Mary Magdalene came in that morning to tell them that the Lord Jesus has risen, they were still afraid.
The disciples have lost their leader, their teacher, their rock, the one Person they depended on.
More than that, they’ve lost their confidence, their purpose and their faith.
And so, they hid behind locked doors.
A few years ago, my family and I attended CMS Summer School in Katoomba. Before our trip, we cleared the fridge as we’d be gone for a week.
Now in the fridge, there was milk that was expiring that day.
In a classic stingy Dad moment, I didn’t want to waste it, and so I drank it.
It turned out to be a mistake.
While we were having lunch, just as we were about to head to CMS, I felt unwell and had to use the toilets.
We were delayed for about an hour, but you will be glad to know that we go there safely.
Since then, I’ve developed a fear of milk that’s about to expire.
The disciples saw what happened to Jesus, and they feared that what happened to Him would happen to them.
However, Jesus didn’t want them to live in fear.
And so, even as they were hiding themselves behind locked door, Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”’
It must have given the disciples quite a fright!
Can you imagine someone suddenly appear next to you in your locked room?
They probably would’ve asked themselves, “Is this a man? Or a ghost?” And to reassure them, Jesus says to them, “Peace be with you”.
It’s a common phrase that would’ve been used by the Jews in Jesus’ time.
In fact, it’s still used by many Jews today.
שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם - Shalom Aleikhem
Peace be with you.
What does peace mean?
The peace that Jesus is talking about is a perfect life, where we live in perfect harmony with God and with people.
It’s the perfect life, lived perfectly under the Perfect and Holy God.
It’s only when we have this perfect harmony between God and man that we have true peace.
It’s a life where we’re right with God, where we’re right with people, living under God’s righteous rule.
To bring them peace of mind, Jesus showed them his hands and his side.
Jesus was showing them that he was the One whom they saw dying on the cross just three days ago.
He was the One who was raised from the dead, never to die again.
And so, everything is going to be OK now, right?
Jesus was with them and so they don’t need to be afraid as long as Jesus was with them.
But Jesus then says something quite unexpected, in John 20:21, “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”
Jesus has risen and he has come back from the dead, but he hasn’t come to stay with the disciples.
The disciples felt safe in their locked-up room, but Jesus says, in effect,
“Go, leave the safety of this locked-up room behind.
Go, not because you’re brave, not because you’re competent, but because I am sending you out there, just as the Father has sent me.”
Jesus is saying that they can have peace, but it’s not a peace that comes from hiding from the enemy or avoiding conflicts in general.
No, this peace that Jesus gives them comes only as we have peace with God, just as Jesus has peace with God.
Jesus has this peace with God, this perfect harmony with God.
And so Jesus would obey God the Father perfectly, even when God the Father sent Jesus to the cross.
And now, Jesus invites his disciples to share this peace, this harmony, that he shares with the Father by sending his disciples into the world.
This is a peace that comes when we obey and follow his will, just as Jesus obeyed and followed the Father’s will.
At the heart of this sending out from God the Father and God the Son is obedience.
God the Son obeys God the Father, who sends him out.
We obey God the Son, who sends us out.
How do we obey God the Son?
We don’t obey God the Son on our own, trying our best to follow him.
We can’t obey Jesus by our own power.
Rather, we obey Jesus by the Spirit that Jesus has given.
Look with me at verse 22, “22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
What Jesus did here is like a living parable.
He visibly breathed, showing them that one day, they will receive the Holy Spirit.
On that day, they will be filled with the Holy Spirit of God
On that day, they will live out a life of obedience to Jesus.
On that day, they will fearlessly proclaim the gospel.
What’s the consequence of believing or rejecting this gospel that Jesus’ sent his disciples to preach?
Look with me at verse 23:
“23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
True forgiveness comes from God himself, because only God can forgive sins.
However, Jesus here gives the authority to forgive to his disciples:
If the disciples forgive you your sins, your sins against God are forgiven, you will be right with God, you will live in harmony with God.
If the disciples don’t forgive you your sins, your sins are retained, you will remain on the wrong side of God.
If the disciples forgive you, you will have eternal bliss because your sins are forgiven.
If the disciples don’t forgive you, you will face eternal suffering because your sins are retained.
That’s a lot of authority that’s been given to the disciples.
How did the disciples exercise this authority? How do they determine whose sins will be forgiven and whose sins will be retained?
By their proclamation of the good news of Jesus.
We can respond to the gospel by either receiving or rejecting the Gospel.
There is no middle ground.
And so, friends, please trust in Jesus.
Your sin is what stops your from entering heaven.
Until your sins are forgiven, until you put your trust in Jesus, you will never enter heaven.
This is the authority that the first disciples of Jesus and all the disciples of Jesus who follow their teaching have:
If we tell our world the gospel, and they believe in Jesus, they’re forgiven.
But if we don’t tell them the gospel, they won’t be forgiven.
The disciples were afraid to tell people about Jesus because telling people about Jesus would put them in grave danger.
However, Jesus tells them to go tell the gospel because if they don’t, the whole world is in danger that continues beyond the grave.
That’s why God the Father sent Jesus into the world, that’s why God the Son sends us into the world, and that’s why God the Holy Spirit is given to us as we face the world.
The world has no idea of the danger that it’s in, and it has no idea how loving and powerful the Lord Jesus is.
That’s why we go out to the world, to proclaim the gospel, that they might be saved.
For two weeks in September, Stephen Ryman and I attended the Sydney Anglican Synod, which was like a parliament for Sydney Anglican Churches. One of the key decisions the diocese made was this:
“To grow our attendance in churches by five per cent for each of the next five years through conversion of the lost through faith in Jesus.”
That’s a big target to aim for.
It can feel daunting, even a little scary.
What can we do to see this growth in our Church?
Is there anything we can do to see conversion growth? Isn’t it God himself who gives the growth?
Yes! God gives the growth, and God chose to grow his church by sending Jesus.
That’s why Jesus sent his disciples two thousand years ago.
That’s why Jesus sends us today.
God wants to see people saved and he’s sent Jesus, he’s sent the disciples, and he’s sent us to do it.
It’s through us that God saves people from darkness into his light, as we share the good news of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Is it hard? Yes. Is it impossible? Yes.
Can God do it through us? Absolutely!
And so, where do we start? We start with prayer.
I have a rule in our Church: We don’t start any ministry without prayer.
And so, under God, let’s obey what God’s sent us to do.
To not go out to make disciples, to stay safe when we’re sent, is direct disobedience against God.
That’s why we have prayer meetings on Tuesday nights.
That’s why we start new congregations.
That’s why we have baptism and confirmation classes.
We do all these because God the Father has sent God the Son, and God the Son has sent the apostles and God the Son has sent us.
We thank God that he’s heard our prayers and he’s growing our church and our Bayside Mission Area.
We’ve been noticing a steady increase of people at our Church.
In our Bayside Mission Area, we experienced an increase of 9% over the past year.
Praise God! Even before we prayed, God is already answering our prayers.
And so keep praying that God’s will be done in our lives and in our Church, not living in fear but to go out in faith, knowing If God is with us, we have a peace that the world cannot ever take away.
And so, what’s one thing or one person you’re most afraid to lose?
The one thing you don’t want to lose, the one thing you can’t live without, is what’s most important to you.
Friends, Jesus could’ve stayed and lived peacefully in the safety of heaven.
He could’ve enjoyed eternal bliss without coming to earth.
But he loved the Father and he loved those who are his.
So much so, that he would rather die for us than to live without us.
Jesus would not lose anyone who belongs to him.
He doesn’t want to lose you.
But do we want him nearly as much? What would you rather have than Jesus?
Is there anything in your life you want so much that you would risk losing Jesus for?
Friends, the risen Lord Jesus has come to save those of us who are sad and anxious.
He’s come to challenge our sadness in light of his glorious resurrection.
He’s come to give us peace by telling us not to stay in our safety zone but to go with him to the danger zone, to a world that desperately needs the gospel.
He’s sent us to tell the world that there can be true peace between God and us and between us and other people.
Will you ,will I, listen and obey his call?
Friends, Jesus comes to those who are sad and anxious, to challenge our sadness, and to send us as the Father sent Him.
As we come before him, let’s see our sadness and our anxiety in light of his glory and grace.
Here are three questions for us to think about this week:
1. Why does our sadness need to be challenged in light of who Jesus is?
2. Why is it that we can go and tell the gospel, even when we’re afraid?
3. Would you pray that Jesus will send you to someone who was afraid or anxious this week?
Jesus comes to those who are sad and anxious, to challenge our sadness, and to send us as the Father sent Him.
Let’s come before Jesus now. Let’s pray, “Our Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to save a people like us. We are often so blinded by our sin that even when you clearly share your love and your grace with us, we still couldn’t see. Lord, heal our spiritual blindness. Open our eyes that we might see you more clearly. When we’re saddened by whatever loss we’re suffered, let us find our joy in you. When we’re afraid, let us trust in you. And Lord, please send us as the Father has sent you. Lord, here we are, send us. Amen.”