Call to worship: Isa 53:7-9 Opening: Christ the Lord Risen 2Day 166

Scripture: 1 Cor 15:17-20 Closing: He Lives 251

Blurry Vision

There are two time a year when we are confronted with our beliefs, whether we

realize it or not; at Christmas and Easter. During each of these holiday seasons we

review the facts and reaccept and reaffirm our beliefs. Often we do this without

consciously knowing what we are doing. Of the two events the most important is Easter;

however, the most recognized is Christmas, which is, in my humble opinion, the devil’s

attempt to subvert the sacrifice of Christ. Since at this time we are confronted with

renewing our beliefs, what do we believe?

Acts 2:23, 24, 30-32. This is a pretty bold statement. The Apostles believed that

their Master, their Leader, was put to death, they saw Him die. They also saw the same

man come back from the dead and they touched Him. We believe that the leader of our

belief system died and came back to life. That’s a powerful thought! Now, everyone in

the world is religious, whether they want to admit it or not they are religious. Religion is

a set of beliefs that you live your life by and so atheists, and agnostics, etc are religious.

Many religions are based on philosophical positions and ideas, codes of ethics, things of

this nature. But there are about 4 religions that are based on personalities. Of all the

world religions that are based on personalities only 1 claims that its leader came back

from the dead. That’s Christianity. When was the last time you really thought about

that?

There is no denying that the 4 Gospels vary in their narrative of the life of Christ.

In fact there are only a few things that they all record; namely the events starting with the

Last Supper until the Resurrection. Besides the major events that Jesus was arrested,
tried, crucified, and arose on Sunday they all record two seemingly minor details. That

Joseph of Arimathea asked for and received the body of Christ, which he placed in his

new tomb; and that Mary Magdalene was one of the first at the tomb on Sunday morning.

However the 4 Gospels have not all mentioned the same minor events before, so is it a

coincidence or are they in fact major events? I have yet to find coincidence in the Bible

everything is there for a reason.

John 19:38. From Matt, Mark and Luke we find that Joseph of Arimathea was a

member of the council, meaning the Sanhedrin, and that he opposed the actions taken by

his constituents. The other three Gospels say that he begged for the body of Jesus. Mark

says that he went boldly before Pilate (KJV). Look at the risk that he was taking. First

he is not supposed to enter the house of a gentile, because of Passover, and we don’t

know that he did. Secondly, he was taking a great personal risk, who knows how Pilate

will react after being badgered, blackmailed and forced to kill a man he thought was

innocent. There was no guarantee that Pilate would grant his request. Joseph wasn’t

family; Pilate probably knew who he was, so why would he be asking for the body. And

most importantly he was revealing where his loyalties lay. Everyone would soon know

that he was a sympathizer of Jesus Christ. It would be detrimental to his career, social

standing, everything would change. Why would someone who has been a secret follower

of an individual come boldly forward at His death? It makes no sense, because

someone’s death is the low point in their career. Yet it is here when Joseph comes

forward, why? Joseph was committed to a man who was dead and not yet risen. That is

a remarkable commitment. So convinced that Jesus was who He claimed to be, Joseph
stepped out in faith and courageously gave Him the dignified burial He deserved. He was

drawn by his love for Christ, even if it meant losing everything he valued in life.

Joseph was also fulfilling prophecy. Isa. 6:9 says, "His grave was assigned to be

with wicked men, yet [He was] with a rich man in his death" (NASB). Regardless of the

prophecy, when confronted with the death of Jesus, Joseph faced the same decision that

we are faced with today. The prophecy does not specifically name Joseph so it could be

any rich man. When brought face to face with the death of Jesus, Joseph could no longer

remain a disciple and be secret. The same is true with us. The decision must be made to

become a follower of Christ or not.

I was reading some Easter sermons on the internet to prepare for this sermon,

actually it was more like skimming, and there was one on the seven words Jesus spoke at

the resurrection. In reference to the two questions that Jesus asked Mary. And the

question was asked why did Jesus first reveal Himself to Mary. At that time women were

second class citizens, so if you wanted people to believe that you were alive you would

tell the most senior of your male disciples, ie. Peter, not a woman. So this sermon went

on to say that it was fitting for Jesus to reveal Himself to Mary first because this is

symbolism, because Eve first sinned in the garden and now Christ brings this full circle

by revealing Himself first to a woman in a garden. Honestly, I never made it through the

paragraph. The whole sermon was talking about Mary, a woman, so when I got to this

paragraph one word jumped out at me, symbolism. Where do we find a woman as a

symbol? In Rev. 12, right? The first is the woman in white, the pure church. Wait, you

thinking, you can’t mean that Mary is a symbol of the end time church. That’s exactly
what I’m saying. I don’t know if anyone else has ever noticed this before, but it hit me

like a ton of bricks. One of the gifts of the Spirit is a word of knowledge.

Rev. 21:1. Light is always used in reference to God. Rev 1:16 describes Christ’s

face “like the sun shining in its strength.” This woman is clothed with the brilliance of

Christ. White represents purity, brides traditionally wear white, and this woman is

clothed with the purity of doctrine and action. Mary wasn’t always pure though, she had

been a prostitute and Jesus had cast seven demons out of her. Seven is the number of

perfection in the Bible, so she had been perfectly enveloped in sin. So how can Mary

qualify as a symbol of the pure church with her background? Rev. 18:4. Mary had

answered the call to come out of sin. When Martha told Jesus to have Mary help her in

serving, Jesus responded that Mary had chosen the one thing that Martha needed to do.

That she had responded to Christ’s call to listen and spend quality time with Him. Christ

had cast the demons out of Mary, she was not still possessed. This brings up Justification

—just as if you had never sinned. If we can claim Justification by faith Mary should be

able to as well. So at this point in her life Mary is a pure woman, because she has come

out of her life of sin.

Matt 28:5-7. Mary is given a two-fold message: first that Jesus is risen from the

dead and secondly that He will meet the Apostles in Galilee. Rev 14:12. Part of Mary’s

message was a command—Jesus would meet the Apostles in Galilee—and they would

only do that if they had the faith that He was risen from the dead. As Seventh-Day

Adventists we have two main messages in our name, the seventh day Sabbath and the

second advent of Christ. One is a Commandment of God, the other is because we have
faith in Jesus—and faith that He will do what He said that He will come again to receive

us unto Himself in heaven.

John 20:2-10. Mary faithfully delivers her message, yet most do not believe.

Only a few, Peter and John, respond favorably. Luke says that the message was

considered idle tales by the hearers. After reviewing the scene at the tomb John believed,

Luke says that Peter marveled, yet they both left and went their own way to their homes.

Imagine how frustrating and disappointing to Mary that must have been—to have only

two individuals respond positively to her message, they verify what she said and then

they say, “great I believe what you say, but we’ve seen all we can see. Ok well, lets go

home.” Can’t we relate to this scenario? More often than not it is frustrating to have a

message that is different from what people have been hearing, what they are expecting to

hear, and what they want to hear. Yet our message is one of great hope and joy! One

that we should want to share. Jesus is risen! He is victorious over sin and death and the

grave! Halleluiah! And He is coming back for us!

John 20:11. John and Peter leave, but not Mary. Even though John believes and

Peter marvels, their attention is elsewhere and they depart. Rev 12:17. The “remnant

who have the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Again there is

the emphasis on the two-fold message but this time it is a remnant that has the message.

Mary is the remnant who remained. One person out of 120 is definitely remnant.

Mary has done what was asked of her and now she stands alone. Think about the

emotional roller coaster ride that she has been on in the last hour or so; first she is

grieving because Jesus is dead, then the joy and excitement that He is alive, the

disappointment that few don’t believe her message, followed by the leaving of those who
did believe what she said. Most likely she is very confused at this point, and has two

questions. Where is Jesus? What do I do now? But there is no one to answer those

questions, and so she begins to weep in sorrow and frustration. Rev 6:9-10. The cry goes

up “how long O Lord?” This is the cry of the martyrs. Notice what Mary does next,

weeping she stoops down and looks into the tomb. She looks into the place where death

resides. Looking into the place where her Master has gone before. Second Selected

Messages pg 380, “The Church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall.” The

church is going to go through a rough period. It will not be popular to be an Adventist,

so many will leave that it will seem that the church will cease to exist, but it will not die.

Why won’t the church fall and die? Verse 12. It won’t cease to exist because Jesus has

placed His angels on either side of the path to guard and protect us. Peter and John didn’t

see the angels and they went into the tomb. Why didn’t they see the angels? Because

they left too soon. If you are taking a train are you going to get off early if you know that

it will reach its final destination safely? No, you will stay on board regardless of the

other passengers or the view or a myriad of other discomforts because the train will get

you where you need to go. Don’t get off the train just because it’s going through a tunnel

and you can’t see the light at the other end. Don’t get off this train, the church, because

God has promised a safe arrival at the final destination, heaven.

Verse 13. Why are you weeping? It is a normal question and should receive a

normal answer, yet Mary’s response in essentially, “Where is Jesus?” Her only thought

is finding her Lord. She is willing to look at death, look into the grave, just let me see

Jesus. Her only desire is to see Jesus. What are you looking for? Is it Jesus? Are you

looking for Him no matter what? Mary was. The pure woman in Rev never stops
looking for Jesus. We may not see Jesus in our trials, but He has promised that He will

never leave us nor forsake us.

Verse 14. Obviously the angels did not give Mary an answer because she turns

away, and blinded by tears she sees Jesus but does not recognize Him. Do we sometimes

fail to see Jesus in our own life? Do we get caught up with a woe is me mentality that we

almost miss Jesus standing right in front of us? Do we recognize the signs of the times

that the second coming is right on top of us? Or are we asleep?

Verse15. Jesus asks the same question that the angels asked, why are you

weeping? Is there any reason to fear where Christ has already gone? We sing anywhere

with Jesus I can safely go, but do we really believe this? Do you act like you believe it?

Mary’s response shows her focus is still on finding Jesus. She isn’t paying attention, still

crying, not answering the questions, but she is doing one thing right. She is still looking

for Jesus! How persistent are you in your search for Jesus? Don’t give up now, not when

He is so close. He will not let you pass by unaware that he is there.

Verse 16. With one word Jesus gets Mary’s attention. With one word her search

comes to an end. Don’t give up looking for Jesus, because just like that you can find

Him. When Jesus called her name Mary recognized Him. Jesus said, “My sheep know

my voice.” Do you know the voice of Jesus? His call is powerful, at His shout the dead

will rise. His call can breathe life back into your spiritual life as well. But that can only

happen if you recognize Him.

Verse 17. Mary proves that she was truly seeking Christ because she tries to hold

on to Him and never let go. Rev 14:4. The 144,000 follow Jesus wherever He goes, they
cling to Him. Have you made the attempt to cling to Jesus? Not as Jacob did who let

Jesus go after he was blessed but do you follow Jesus everywhere?

Verse 18. Have you found Christ? Have you tried to cling to Him and something

is amiss? If so, is your work for Jesus complete? Mary couldn’t stay with Jesus because

she still had a testimony to give, a work to do. So what did she do? She dried her tears,

because she has found what she was seeking, her questions have been answered; she has

seen her risen Lord. Rev 21:4. There is no more reason to cry. Mary is triumphant and

joyful because she is convinced that Jesus is risen? Her faith is revived, she has seen

Jesus, she has touched Him, and there is no more need for sorrow anymore.

Having looked a small part of the resurrection of Jesus Christ you must now

decide if His is the person you want to follow. Will you renew your commitment to the

one who gave His all for you? Or is this just an idle tale for someone else to accept? The

choice is yours and there are but two paths before you. Down on Jesus has gone before

us to mark the way and He says “follow me.” The other you are on your own. Do you

believe as Mary did that your Savior is risen? That there is no need to fear or worry, that

our walk is not in vain. That we ha a reason to celebrate and have confidence, because

Jesus is not in the tomb but is alive forevermore!