Resurrection Joy (Easter)
(16) "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father." (17) Then [some] of His disciples said among themselves, "What is this that He says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, 'because I go to the Father'?" (18) They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is saying."
(19) Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'? (20) "Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. (21) "A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
(22) "Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
Intro
Joy: The passion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; gladness; exultation; exhilaration of spirits. It includes emotional happiness, but is much more deeply rooted.
Happiness goes up and down because our emotions can go up and down, but joy is connected to truth - and truth never changes.
Christianity is all about joy
Matthew 13:44
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Romans 14:17
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Heart Check:
- Is remarkable joy the tenor of your life?
- Is your life marked by joy?
- Do you think of the resurrection often? Does it fill you with joy?
Context
- The upper room discourse
- Sweet time of teaching and instruction from the Rabbi to his disciples. The last before Christ's sufferings.
- They disciples knew that they and Jesus were marked and hunted. They knew that there were in the "lion's den" in Jerusalem.
- Jesus is their one uniting, calming factor. But Jesus is going to go away??? What is that about??
Outline
- The resurrection of Jesus brings joy
- Resurrection joy can not be taken away
The resurrection of Jesus brings joy
"Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice,
Jesus intended for his resurrection to have a joyous effect upon his disciples.
The fulfillment
Matthew 28:1-8
(1) Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. (2) And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. (3) His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. (4) And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. (5) But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. (6) "He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. (7) "And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you. So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word."
To good to not be true
Luke 24:40-41
When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"
The disciples were so filled with joy, they thought it was too good to be true. Well, today I proclaim to you that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is too good to not be true.
Why the resurrection brings joy (5 reasons)
1. The resurrection means that everything that Jesus said is true.
The same one who said "On the third day the [Son of man] will rise again" said "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". Jesus spoke such sweet and seemingly impossible promises, and his resurrection is as a stamp of validity to every one of them.
The resurrection proves that Jesus really is the Son of God. The resurrection proves that he really is the "resurrection and the life".
2. The resurrection means that the kingdom of God is truly here, and it is truly unstoppable.
The kingdom of God is not a theoretical state of mind, anymore than Jesus' resurrection was a state of mind. Jesus Christ actually raised from the dead with a glorified body, fully demonstrating his power and dominion and authority. How do you stop a king who rises from the dead? How do you stop the kingdom of the one who reigns forever and ever? It is unstoppable!
3. The resurrection means that the power of death is broken.
From Adam until that moment, death had reigned triumphant because sin had reigned. Yes, there were glimpses of God's resurrection power throughout the history of God's people, but in the end everyone still died. Enoch and Elijah were carried away by God before death, but aside from that, every, single other person on the planet for all time had experienced the sting of death - because all of sinned. Even Lazarus, though resurrected, would still die again. He would still experience aches, and pains, and colds, and sickness, and wrinkles, and gray hair, and the steady decline into the ultimate and final grip of death.
Until that glorious Sunday morning. For the first time ever, death itself was beaten. Jesus arose with a resurrected body that lives forevermore. That foe of death who had held humanity in its icy grip since the days of Adam was defeated.
Revelation 1:18
"I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
4. The resurrection means that Christ's sacrifice was accepted.
Observe these two facts. Fact #1: Death only has power over those who have sin. Fact #2: We need a perfect, sinless sacrifice to atone for our sins. If you don't have that, you could have thousands of people die on your behalf, and it would not move the needle one bit.
By rising from the dead, Jesus proved that he was sinless - and that therefore, he was our perfect and sufficient sacrifice for our sins. Hallelujah!
Acts 2:23-24
"Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; "whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
How do you know that Jesus' blood truly is enough? How can we know that his work is enough to apply to even my greatest sins? First you must look upon the cross and see the man who said "It is finished"... But then you must see the empty tomb and the resurrected Christ who says "Rejoice!"
5. The resurrection means that eternal life is real for you
God does not portion out eternal life into little gift packages. He doesn't say, "Here's some eternal life for you... And here's some for you..." It's more accurate to conceive of it as there is ONE who has eternal life - and that is the Son. And in God's mercy and grace, he brings us into His Son. And so we experience eternal life because HE experiences eternal life. We will be resurrected because HE was resurrected. We will be in the very near presence of God because HE is in the very near presence of God. We are adopted sons of God because HE is the only begotten Son of God. We are precious to God because the Son is precious to God.
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
Resurrection joy cannot be taken away
"Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
Why?
Why did Jesus tell his disciples that their joy could not be taken away from them?
1. Because resurrection joy never changes
No one can change historical fact. Not you, not me, not the Devil. Not even God, for God cannot contradict his own decrees. No matter what is going on in your life today, Christ is still risen! He will never die again. No manner of failure, difficulty, defeat, challenge, sickness, persecution, trials, or anything in between can change that reality.
- Have you fallen in sin? Christ is risen! As it says in Hebrews 7:25, "He ever lives to make intercession" for you.
- Are you lonely, or feel that you don't fit in or don't have a place? Christ is risen! He is the one who is closer than a brother, and he has gone into heaven to prepare a place for you (John 14:1-3).
- Are you feeling fearful or timid? Christ is risen! When you know that you will rise again with immortality, what is there to fear?
- Are you experiencing persecution - even unto death? Christ is risen! He has entered into heaven ahead of you and will welcome you there. As he said - "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven." (Matthew 5:12)
How do you take away the joy of a man or woman who knows the resurrected Christ?
2. Because resurrection joy is an endless well
We will spend all eternity rejoicing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We will never get tired of the theme. The greatest movie or novel can't hold a candle the Gospel. It is the greatest story ever told!
3. Because we only have more joy to look forward to when we rise.
This psalm is prophetically speaking of Jesus' resurrection. (Peter uses it in Acts chapter 2).
Psalm 16:8-11
(8) I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. (9) Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. (10) For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. (11) You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, the place of ultimate life, pleasures, and joy. That place is our destiny! And though we experience untold joy now in this life in Christ - 1 Peter 1:8 says "Joy inexpressible and full of glory"... It pales in comparison to the future that awaits us.
The greatest and deepest joy that we experience now will be but a shadow compared to the sunshine of joy on that day. For in that day we will see more clearly, we will know more deeply, we will understand more profoundly... and thus our joy in God will that much more rich.
That joy will be untainted by the sorrows of sin and brokenness, and unclouded by the dimness of our spiritual sight. As it says in 1 John 3:2, "we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."
Matthew 25:21
"His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
Conclusion
"Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
Joy was the fuel for Christ's mission
Hebrews 12:2
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
What was that joy? The joys of resurrection and all that came with that - ascension, fulfilling the will of his father, being in his father's presence, the delight in his bride - the church.
Application
- Do you never experienced this resurrection joy? Come to Christ!
- Have you allowed someone or something to take your joy? Or rather, have you given it up? Are you trying to fill your joy with lesser things?
I want us to think deeply about the resurrection of Christ, and all that it means. And I want us to be the most joyful people on earth! That doesn't mean that we always have plastic-y smiles on our faces. We live in a broken world, and there is real challenge and brokenness that we encounter every single day. But beloved, I want "Christ is Risen" to be the refrain of our hearts and our constant source of joy.