Let's try that again. Good morning. It's great to be here this morning. It's great to remember and to reflect on the resurrection of our Savior today. It has been a solemn week. Last week Sunday, we saw the parade to the cross. And before our Savior, there was death. There was scourging. There was persecution. There was a great work that was yet to be done. This past Friday, we saw His death on that cross. And today we have come together to recognize and to remember that our Savior today is no longer in the grave. Remember with me what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15. He said, had Christ not resurrected from the grave, we would still be in our sins. Today we remember that. Let's open up in a word of prayer because today we are going to go to the scene of the empty tomb. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. We thank you for Your great love for each and every one of us. And Father, we thank You for Your Word that testifies of Your Son, who did exactly as He said He would, that He would die, that He would be scourged, that He would resurrect from the grave. And today, we remember that marvelous truth, and Father, may that speak to our lives. Father, I pray that You would use Your Word today in a powerful way, not only in this service, but in the one to follow, Lord. We thank You. for all that You have done for us. We thank You for that marvelous work of You on that cross taking all the sins of the world upon Yourself. Father, for taking our punishment on that cross and then uttering, it is finished. Lord, we thank You for that and we remember that. Father, all of that would mean nothing had You not resurrected from the grave. Lord, we thank you that in your power, in the power of God, he did just that. He resurrected that third day and brings with him new life for anyone who would but trust in him to save them from their sins. We thank you for that. I pray that you would guide and direct as we look at the scene that is before us, the empty tomb. In your name we pray. Amen. If you have your Bibles, open with me to John chapter 20. John 20. I have a quote here by Wilbur Smith. As you're turning there, I'd like to read you this quote. Wilbur Smith writes this, We know more about the burial of the Lord Jesus than we know of the burial of any single character in all of ancient history. We know indefinitely more about his burial than we do the burial of any Old Testament character, of any king of Babylon, pharaoh of Egypt, any philosopher of Greece or triumphant Caesar. We know who took his body from the cross. We know something of the wrappings of the body and spices and burial clothes. We know the very tomb in which his body was placed. the name of the man who owned it, Joseph, of a town known as Arimathea. We know even where this tomb was located, in a garden, nigh to a place where he was crucified, outside the city walls. We have four records of this burial of our Lord, all of them in amazing agreement. The record of Matthew, a disciple of Christ, who was there when Jesus was crucified. The record of Mark, which some would say was written within 10 years of our Lord's ascension, the record of Luke, a companion of the Apostle Paul and a great historian, and the record of John, who was the last to leave the cross, and with Peter, the first of the 12, on Easter to behold the empty tomb. The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that he was more than a miracle worker, that he was more than a great healer or a great teacher. He was more than a prayer warrior or a carpenter. Jesus Christ was more than a great speaker. All of these things were true. But He was more than those things. Remember with me the claims that He made. In John 14, verse 6, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me. In that claim, He's saying, look, there is no other way to God but through Me. Then in John 10, verse 30, Jesus says, I and the Father are one. He's claiming equality with God of heaven. In Matthew 28, verse 19, we have the Great Commission in which Jesus says, baptize disciples in the name of who? In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He's placing himself within the Trinity there. These are marvelous claims, but let me remind you this morning that there have been other men who have claimed to be equal with God. There have been other men who have claimed to be the way to God. So what is it that sets Jesus Christ apart from any one of those men who have made those claims? H.G. Wells says, I am a historian. I am not a believer, but I must confess that as a historian, that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all of history. Why is that? The reason for that is because Jesus Christ died a complete death. There are those who would say, you know what, he resuscitated after he died on that cross. He resuscitated back to life and somehow he was able to move that tombstone out of the way when he was in his tomb. I don't see how that could have happened. He died a complete death, so what makes him different? Jesus Christ was who he claimed to be. He was God. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter one, he resurrected with power. That power was by the power of God. I think what a tremendous thing, I was thinking about this message today, I was thinking what a tremendous thing it would have been for you and I if we could have seen the events that the disciples saw. To have seen Jesus Christ make these claims. Jesus claimed that he would die, that he would resurrect from the grave. But then, to have been Mary Magdalene, to have seen that empty tomb, to have seen the stone rolled away, to have spoken with Jesus Christ, that would have been tremendous. It would have rocked our worlds, but today we have something amazing. We have the completed Word of God, which testifies of our Savior. And that is worth standing upon today. the message that the stone had been rolled away, put into motion four events. I want to take us to that empty tomb this morning in John chapter 20. We're going to see four events today that came about by the message that the stone had been rolled away. The very first event that we are going to see is the reaction. We're going to be in John chapter 20 verses 1 through 9. The very first event that came about from the message that the stone had been rolled away was the reaction. We see this in verses 1 and 2. Read along with me in chapter 20 verses 1 and 2. Now on the first day, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was still dark and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. The very first event, we see the reaction of who? Of Mary Magdalene. Notice with me in the text here, she is not alone. She says in chapter 20, verse 2, we do not know where they have led Him, or where they have taken Him. In Mark 16, verse 1, that passage would go on to reveal that Mary Magdalene indeed was not alone at this first visit to the tomb of Jesus Christ. We have to understand who is Mary Magdalene. If you'll remember with me, Mary Magdalene was somebody who had been personally impacted by the ministry of our Savior. She had been demon-possessed and witnessed His miraculous healing upon herself, upon her life. She had been delivered from those demons. Scripture would go on to reveal that she would be with our Savior throughout His ministry. She would accompany Jesus Christ in Galilee. She would, in chapter 19 of John, stand before the foot of the cross. As we see right here in John chapter 20, she would see that tomb, that stone, roll away. And then later on in that passage, we're not going to get to that today, but notice with me what it says in chapter 20, verse 18. She goes back to the disciples having seen the risen Savior. And she says this, I have seen the Lord. What a tremendous thing. What a tremendous thing. The resurrection had an impact on her life. But I want to go back to this scene, to verse 1 and to verse 2. Here she is, she's walking along, she's going to the tomb. They're about to put spices onto his body. And she sees that the tomb had been rolled away. And her heart sunk. She thought to herself, who took the body of my Savior? Where did they take Him? Jesus Christ was someone who was special to her. She wanted to know. She wanted to have an answer for this. Where was Jesus Christ? The stone had been rolled away. Who took His body? If you'll notice with me in John chapter Mark, excuse me, in John Mark chapter 16, the women were wondering as they were going to the tomb, who is going to move that stone out of the way? Somebody had that part already figured out. That was God. I love that. Her reaction, what was her reaction after having seen the stone rolled away? Well, she ran. says here in verse two, so she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved. She didn't go to the authorities, she didn't go to the religious leaders, she ran to those who had a relationship with the Lord. Now, if you and I were there, I suspect that we probably would have seen a very flustered individual. to have heard Mary Magdalene telling the disciples what she had seen with her eyes. That word there, for have seen. She saw the tomb. She saw the stone rolled away is the word blepo. To perceive by sight. She perceived that the stone had been rolled away, so she ran to the disciples, I believe very flustered, And notice with me what she concludes in her mind after having seen the stone rolled away. She says in verse two, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. She has assumed two things here. She has assumed that Jesus Christ, that the body of Jesus Christ, had been stolen. And she is also assuming that there was more than one person. One person couldn't have moved that stone out of the way. There had to have been multiple people. So Peter and John are among the disciples who hear Mary Magdalene say this. And they are wondering what is going on. Notice with me the second event we see here, the rush, verses 3-4. It says this in verses 3 and 4, follow along with me of chapter 20. So Peter and the other disciple went forth and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. After Peter and John had heard this message that Mary Magdalene had for them, that the body of Jesus Christ had been stolen, they wanted to know what was going on. What does it say there? They went forth, they exited the place they were currently in. to go see the empty tomb. This was a spectacular assumption in their minds to think that somebody had stolen the body of Jesus Christ as they were running. I can imagine John and Peter were probably thinking to themselves, who is responsible for taking the body of our Savior? Where did they place Him? Who was it? Who was involved? Who could it have been? Mary Magdalene, when she told them that the body had been stolen, they didn't say, praise the Lord, he's risen! They ran, they wanted to see what was going on. They wanted to see what all of the commotion was about. One thing is for sure, had the body of Jesus Christ been stolen from that grave, that would have been a very sad, sorrowful reality for these disciples and for the church. But history and facts do not prove that, do prove that, that he has risen from the grave. One thing that we can be sure of is that nobody will investigate a cemetery for someone who is living. As Peter and John were running to that tomb, they were probably expecting the Savior to be in that tomb. or to have seen or to have thought that somebody had stolen that body. That may have been what they were thinking. One of the things that you and I can do as believers today is we can take God at his word. When he says he is going to do something, we can rest surely on this, that he is going to do it. Do you hear that? If He says He is going to do something, then He is going to do it. I think sometimes as people we can be fickle and we can forget that God is in control, that He is sovereign. And it was within God's timing that Jesus Christ would resurrect from that grave. Did not Jesus say in John 2, verse 19, destroy this temple and in three days I will build it up. The temple, of course, being a reference to his body. Did not Jesus in Matthew 20, verse 17, take his 12 disciples and say to them in verses 18 and 19 that he would be mocked, that he would be scourged, that he would be put to death. and then say to them that, but, I will rise again. I will resurrect from the dead. Was not Peter and John there with him? Yes, they were. They heard these claims that Jesus Christ was making. And as Mary Magdalene comes to them and tells them, look, somebody has stolen the body of our Savior, I would expect to have seen them say, praise the Lord, he has risen from the grave, he is alive, he has done what he has said he was going to do. But we don't see that in the Scriptures. They're running. They want to find out what is going on. I believe that you and I, today, we can forget that God is in control. We can forget that He is sovereign and that He is in control over all things. The next thing on God's prophetic timescale is that He is going to come again for His church. There is always hope. when it seemed like doom and gloom for the disciples. Their Messiah had been put to death. We noticed that this past Friday as we looked at the past 18 hours of the ministry of Jesus Christ. What a tremendous thing. They ran, and I do not believe they were expecting a resurrected Savior. The very third event that we see is the ruling Verses five through seven. The ruling. As they approached that tomb, it says, and stooping, the two were running together and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. John came first. And stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came following him and entered the tomb and he saw the linen wrappings lying there. And the face cloth which had been on his head not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. John and Peter were about to make judgments. They were about to make rulings based off of what they were about to see in this tomb. John approached the tomb first. What we have to understand is that that tomb more than likely had a three to four foot entrance, which would have meant that John, as he approached that tomb, he kind of stooped over. He was looking inside to see what was in or what wasn't there. He stooped in to see what was there. Peter needed to bend over in Luke 24, verse 12. And Mary also had to bend over to look inside that tomb in John 20, verse 11. Now remember, John wasn't physically in the tomb in verse five. It says he did not go in. He was still on the outside, he was still looking in. Peter, on the other hand, comes up to that tomb, and he goes right in. He wants to see what is going on. He jumps, he goes right into the tomb. It says there in verse six, Simon Peter also came following him and entered the tomb. And he saw the linen wrappings lying there. John tells us in this gospel that Peter saw two things. He saw the linen wrappings, and two, he saw the face cloth. Now I want us to think about this. The accusation that Mary drew was that the body was stolen. But the scene that Peter was looking at before him said something completely different. What I understand about these wrappings is that they would place a first layer of cloth around the body and then they would put spices over that cloth and then they would wrap it up again and it would, to me it seems like this would be like a mummy almost. This is what Josh McDowell says concerning these grave clothes. He says the grave clothes give a silent testimony to the impossibility of theft. Think with me about this for a minute. If you were going to rob the body of Jesus Christ, why would you pull his body out of his linen wrappings and then rewrap that all up? It doesn't make any sense. This is what Merrill Tenney says. He says, no robbers would have rewound the wrappings in their original shape. For there would not have been time to do so. They would have flung the clothes down in disorder and fled with the body. Fear of detection would have made them act as hastily as possible. The silent evidence before Peter demanded something. It demanded an answer. Which leads me to the fourth event that we see this morning. And that is the result. We see this in verses eight and nine. Peter comes in, he sees the grave clothes lying there. So the other disciple being John, who had first come to the tomb, then also entered, he came into the tomb, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. John was the first to come to that tomb. Peter then followed him, went in, and then John came in, and it says that he saw, in verse eight, so the other disciple had come into the tomb, then entered, and he saw. There's a difference between the word saw, when Mary saw the stone had been rolled away, that word was blepo in the Greek, meaning to perceive by sight. This word here, saw, John uses, is a word in the Greek meaning Adon, And this word means that he comprehended with intelligence what was before him. He comprehended the fact that those grave clothes were empty. That's what he comprehended. And he believed. He believed with a faith that was based off of evidence. What we have before us today is something spectacular. It is an eyewitness account. of two men who were able to go into that tomb, they saw that the body had not been stolen, but that those grave clothes demanded an answer. In a courtroom, one article says, the bedrock of the American judicial process is the honesty of witnesses in trial. An eyewitness account holds a lot of validity in a courtroom. And the honesty of scripture concerning those who saw the resurrected Christ, I believe, is irrefutable. The empty tomb this morning shouts something. It shouts this. He is alive. He is alive! The silence of that tomb demanded an answer. He is alive. This morning as we conclude, I wanted to draw us to something that Charles Spurgeon said. He makes these words. He says, he died that our sins might die and lives that our souls may live. If you are wondering what all of this means for you, I want you to understand this. that Jesus Christ resurrected from the grave, and that's not the end of the story. He offers life. He offers life. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9 it says for by grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves is the gift of God Salvation is a gift from God, but Romans 3 23 says for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God Maybe you're here this morning, and you would recognize you know what I've never really trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior But I do recognize that I am a sinner. I want to let you know I That it gets worse. In Romans chapter six, verse 23, it says, for the wages of sin is death. But here's the good news. The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. I want you to know this morning, if you come in here and you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your personal savior, there is one who is alive. who has made a way, as he claimed in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. There is one who offers new life. And it is free for those who will simply trust in him. For those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ, I want to turn our attention to 1 Corinthians. Please turn with me there real briefly. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Verse 58. In view of the fact that the tomb is empty, in view of the fact that our Savior has risen from the dead, Paul says we would be still in our sins had Christ not resurrected from the grave. I just want to take our attention here, believers. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 58. It says, therefore, my beloved brethren, Paul writes to every believer, to Christians. He's writing to a church here. He says, My beloved brethren, to those who have trusted in Jesus Christ to save them from their sins, who believe that Jesus Christ died for their sin, that He took their punishment, and that He resurrected from the grave. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." The command there is to continue on, to press on, to continue serving the Lord. And I just want to make this challenge. There are those in our community, there are those around us, our friends, our family members that need this message of life. And we have that message. Let's go forth from this place today and proclaim that message. That He is alive. And we can do so with confidence because Jesus Christ and history proves that He has resurrected from that tomb. Let's close in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your great love for us. Father, we thank you for the life that you give so freely to anyone who would simply say, Lord, I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I trust in you to save me from my sin. Father, I thank you that the work that is being done in this world today, Father, is to be continued on. Lord, may we be challenged to continue on and to be faithful to you and to your word. Lord, our purpose as your people is to glorify you as we submit to your word. May we do that. In your name we pray. Amen. You are dismissed.