He's Not Here, But

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This is a sermon that was preached on Resurrection Sunday. It emphasizes some of the similarities in the messages given by the angels at the empty tomb and the angels at the Mount of Olives when Jesus ascended into heaven. The message of hope is, "You will see Him again!"

Written Excerpts:

Mark 16:6-7 ^(NKJV) But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. ⁷But go, tell His disciples--and Peter--that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."

Introduction:

I saw a cartoon yesterday on Facebook that made me chuckle. It was a cartoon about pastors. The picture showed a man and woman leaving a church and they are standing next to the pastor at the door of the church. The man says, “You’re in a rut, Reverend. Every time I come here you preach on the resurrection!” Well, if you haven’t been here since last Easter, you might have the same impression after today’s message! J

Although, the resurrection message is not a bad message to constantly repeat. The Apostle declares, “If Christ be not risen, your faith is vain and our preaching is vain.” So, hopefully without surprising anyone, we’re going to be talking about the resurrection today.

When we heard the reading of the two passages of Scripture a little earlier, they were passages that provide details about two different events. The first text was describing the scene at the tomb of Jesus, and the second text was describing the scene at the Mount of Olives when Jesus ascended up into heaven. The message given to Jesus’ followers by the angel at the tomb was this: “He is not here.” But… go tell… you will see Him as He said.

The actual words stated by the angels following the Ascension is a little different from the scene at the tomb, but the emphasis is very similar. The angels mention that Jesus was taken up from them into heaven, so he is essentially saying, “Jesus is not here.” He is no longer with us. He then proceeds to tell the disciples that He will come again in the same manner as you have seen Him go. Just like resurrection morning, the message is: He is not here but you will see Him again.

In both cases, the angel states a present fact, then follows with a promise of future hope.

I.    The Present Fact

Facts are interesting things. Sometimes people have even characterized facts as “pesky” things. Why? Because they are what they are. You can’t change the facts. You can manipulate them, re-interpret them, try to obscure them, but real facts do not change.

1.    At the first scene, the tomb, there are two facts provided by the angel. The first one is: He’s not here in this grave.

The women had arrived expecting to find the body of Jesus still in the tomb, but the angel confirmed what they observed – the body is gone; Jesus is not here.

I can imagine that their immediate passion and desire is to see Him. The fact that He is gone raises all kinds of questions. If they can see Him it will eliminate the questions. For right now, even if they could just see His body, it would no doubt bring some level of relief. But He is not here, and the questions are mounting, especially with the strange words, “He is risen.”

Along with the fact “He is not here,” the angel provides a second fact that stretches the mind. “He is risen.” The first one is easy to comprehend because they can see that there is no body lying in the tomb. But the second statement must be taken on faith that the angel truly is real and is communicating truth. This fact can easily be verified, but not at the immediate moment. They must obey the words of the Lord communicated by the angel in order to verify the fact He is alive.

2.     At the second scene, on the Mount of Olives, there is a fact provided by a different angel: “This Jesus... was taken up from you” (He’s no longer here on this mountain or in this earthly life).

Jesus was gone. They obviously knew this fact already. They had watched Him rise out of sight. But I can imagine that they’re standing there somewhat stunned by what had just happened. According to the previous verses, they were expecting and hoping that Jesus was going to finally establish the Kingdom of God on earth and Israel would be delivered from the hated Roman occupation. But instead of preparations for a military campaign against the Romans, Jesus says a few words and then leaves.

In both of these scenarios, the facts are vivid and stark. In our own lives, sometimes the facts of life leave us stunned, bewildered, and shaken. Right when we may think everything is going great, things can suddenly turn for the worse. In the case of the missing body, this fact only compounded the foregoing fact that the One in whom they had hoped placed so much expectation, had been put to death by crucifixion. It seemingly can’t get any worse, but it does. Now His body is missing.

II.  The Future Hope

Well, the angel does not end with the cold hard facts of despair. He continues speaking to the women with a message of hope.

In the first case at the tomb, the obviously great news of hope to the women is this, “He is risen.” Wow, what wonderful, good news! Every Easter we try to emphasize this message of resurrection from one perspective or another. It was a message of hope. In light of all the emotions they had experienced just a couple of days ago, hearing that He is alive surely must have elicited exuberance in their hearts.

But, how? What really happened? It seems that there still must have been some mixed emotions. Joy? Yes! But still many questions. Their joy over the news of his resurrection was undoubtedly increased when they heard the next words from the angel.

1.     But you will see Him in Galilee.

I can’t imagine the joy and the hope that sprang up in the hearts of these women as the angel proclaims to them that they should go and tell the other disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee, just like He told them before His death. It’s no wonder that the Scripture says that they ran…

He was with us just a few days ago. He was taken away and put through horrible pain and suffering and then killed. He was buried in the garden tomb. But now we have the chance to see Him alive, again. The pain of yesterday can potentially be overcome with the joy of seeing Him again.

Oh my, dear friends, think of what I just said. “The pain of yesterday is overcome when we see Him again.” Easter; the resurrection, is all about getting a brand new view of Jesus. He’s not a helpless victim. He is the victor!

2.     But you will see Him again.

The scene at the Mount of Olives is drastically different, even though it has been just more than a month since Jesus was raised from the grave. Today He has taken His disciples out to the mountainside and offered more instruction. Then, in just moments, He rises off the ground and keeps on going right up through the clouds. He’s gone!

Again, it’s hard to comprehend their emotions. I’m sure there is amazement over what they just witnessed. But I’m also confident that there was a certain amount of distress. He’s gone, Again! Perhaps a very similar feeling as they had felt a month ago when He was buried swept over their minds and hearts.

Right at that moment, two men in white apparel showed up and gave them this message. This same Jesus who was taken up into heaven (He’s no longer here), will come again in the same manner as you have seen Him go. You will see Him again!

Jesus will return!

Conclusion:

This Easter morning in 2018 I have good news for you. The same Jesus who was crucified, buried and raised again, is the same Jesus who was taken up into the heavens, and is the same Jesus who is returning from the heavens someday. I encourage you to take heart. Whatever physical or emotional pain you may be going through, just focus on the future hope we have in seeing Jesus again.

One of the certainties of the resurrection is the return of Christ. Anyone who can keep his promise to rise from the dead can be trusted to return like he said!

Let us stand up and rejoice by singing the closing song: He Rose Triumphantly