Easter 2025

Introduction

1 Corinthians 15:12–14 “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”

Even Paul is saying that it is essential.

If Mary needs help to see

We will need help to see.

Easter is God’s resolution to our problem. Jesus Gives Everything We need to See Clearly and Follow Closely

Sometimes we need help to see

John 20:11–15 “But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.””

So Mary is not expecting to see Jesus. She is expecting to get over Jesus.

Mary was looking to grieve. She was looking for Jesus but looking for Jesus in her way, in her means, through her understanding.

She was looking for Jesus. But based on how she understood Him, not based on who He was or what He had said.

There is too much history in her perception. She watched Jesus get dragged away. She saw Him crucified, she watched Him die. She had shed tears for three days. She had invested too much into her grief to think anything different.

Colossians 1:20 “and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

Christ in every Context

Jesus Helps us to see

John 20:16 “Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).”

What would make it certain? Not your perception but rather another voice reaching through all that history, all that past, all that brokenness, and because He Himself has beaten death, in order to call you back to Himself.

Conclusion

John 20:17–18 “Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.”

Look at what Jesus is saying. All things are different.

God not a force out there. He is our God. God is not some impersonal being. He is our Father.

The resurrection of JEsus is the restoration of all things back to God through Christ. Jesus demonstrates that in His action and He reveals it in His words. The resurrection is not just to see things made right by some impersonal force. But that God who loves deeply and loves us entirely invites us to know Him personally and fully. Revealed in Christ God is not a God but ours. Revealed personally God is not just a Father but our Father.