Title: People Met by the Resurrected Jesus
People met by the resurrected Jesus
Text/ John 11:17-27, 20:1-21:23
1. Introduction
It's Easter Sunday morning. The center of Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus. If it were not for the resurrection of Jesus, our faith would be in vain, and if our only hope in Christ was in this life, then we would be the most pitiful and foolish of all people (1 Corinthians 15:17-19). The resurrection of Jesus is both a historical event and a superhistorical event. Therefore, it is not an event that can be proved by human words or any other data. Resurrection is the miraculous event of the living God, and it is an event of faith.
Today, focusing on the text, I would like to share grace while meditating on the kind of person the risen Lord met.
2. What kind of people did the risen Jesus meet?
first. He met Mary Magdalene, who was grieving over her death.
The risen Lord met Mary Magdalene, who was infinitely sad and desperate in the face of the death of Jesus, whom he loved. When Mary Magdalene met the risen Lord, her sorrow turned into joy, and her loneliness turned into indescribable peace (John 20:1-18).
second. He met the disciples who were hiding because of fear.
He met the disciples who shut their closets in fear of the Jews who killed Jesus and were holding their breath in fear. After the resurrected Jesus told us to receive the Holy Spirit, we were freed from fear and gained courage and peace (John 20:19-23).
third. You met Thomas, who was wandering in doubt.
He saw that the disciples, who were in fear, met the risen Jesus and gained courage and peace, but Thomas, who was called Didymus, could not believe the words of the other disciples. I wandered in doubt as to how the dead could come back to life. Jesus met Thomas who was doubting. Thomas saw the Lord and was able to confess that He is my Lord and my God (John 20:24-29).
fourth. He met the disciples who lost their dreams and returned to their daily lives in frustration.
The risen Lord met the disciples who lost Jesus, lost their dreams, and returned to their meaningless daily life, who slowly died in frustration. And he gave them a new mission and a new vision (John 21:1-23).
3. What is the meaning of meeting with the resurrected Jesus in the text?
Who did the writer of the Gospel of John meet in the text of the resurrected Jesus? And how were those who met the resurrected Jesus changed? is realistically conveyed. The writer of the Gospel of John is delivering the truth that transcends time and space through this factual record. In other words, it clearly testifies to who the resurrected Jesus is and how people who have met the resurrected Jesus can be different then and now.
In other words, the resurrected Jesus is the same today as at the time of the first resurrection 2000 years ago, a person like Mary Magdalene who is engulfed in emptiness and sorrow before death; It is proof that you meet people who are buried inside. Thus, sorrow is transformed into joy, from fear to bold peace, from wandering doubts to mountain-like faith, from frustration to a person burning with a new sense of duty.
4. Then, what does it mean to meet the risen Jesus again?
We usually think of the Resurrection as when we die and then come back to life at the Great Judgment some time in the future. That's true, but that idea is only half true. Because resurrection is not only an event after death, but it is also an event that can happen even in the present moment. Therefore, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if they die, will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).
Therefore, the Resurrection is not only an event in the distant future, but also an event in the present, here and now. It is an event that can happen every moment in the field of life. It is the resurrection that burns from sorrow to joy, from fear to boldness, from doubt to confidence, from hate to love, from frustration to a new mission.
5. Closing Story
What does it mean that everyone who lives and believes in me will never die? In faith in Jesus, life and death are not separate, but holistically penetrated as one. Therefore, if you are filled with the Spirit of Christ, you can live a life in which the power of the resurrection is gushing out like a raging storm even in real life. And whoever lives such a life, on the last day when time and space change to a new dimension, in the morning when all the sleeping ones are awakened with the sound of the trumpet of angels, and in the morning when new heavens and new earth are dawning, Hallelujah before the living God! It means that you can participate in the feast of the Lamb that sings praises loudly. Amen!
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