Dr. Rev. Joseph Son's Message (Good news of the resurrection)

Title: Good news of the resurrection

Scripture: John 20: 11 - 18

John 20: 11 – 18.

11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.

“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

16 “Mary!” Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

 

Jesus is risen.

Spread the good news of the resurrection.

If you believe that Jesus is risen, say Amen.

You are amazing. Do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus?

We believe that it was Jesus who gave us the faith of resurrection.

It is impossible to believe that Jesus was resurrected without receiving the gift of faith from God.

Therefore, believe in the resurrection of Jesus, believe that you have received the greatest blessing from God.

 

Beloved Saints!

In the course of our lives, when did we face the deepest night of despair?

Throughout your life, when?... Where?... For what?

① Some people may feel deep despair because they have been betrayed by others.

② Some people may feel deep despair because of the pain of losing a loved one first.

③ Some people may feel deep despair because their business is ruined.

④ Some people may be seriously ill and feel deep despair.

 

However, in today's text, a woman with a deep sense of despair appears.

Her name is Mary Magdalene.

He is a woman who was once haunted by seven demons and suffered from nightmares.

But Jesus healed her from her illness.

After that, she followed Jesus and lived a happy life.

When Mary opened her eyes early in the morning she gave thanks to God, and in the evening when she closed her eyes, she enjoyed God's peace.

For her Mary, meeting her Jesus, listening to her words, and fellowshipping with her was the greatest joy in her life and her reward.

 

Then one day, Jesus, who was his everything, was captured by Roman soldiers right in front of his eyes.

He is Jesus whom he loves the most.

However, Mary did not turn her head and waited for Jesus, expecting that Jesus, who had great authority and power, would come down from the cross, but Jesus died before the robbers.

At that moment, all her Mary's expectations and hopes disappeared like bubbles and soap bubbles in her.

When Jesus died, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus and placed it in the tomb he had dug.

And the Sabbath passed.

 

In today's text, early on the first day after the Sabbath, when it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus and was surprised.

She said, "The tomb door that should have been closed was open, Jesus' body was nowhere to be found, and there were two angels in white at the head and feet where Jesus' body was."

Then Maria sheds tears in great despair.

We find a great contradiction here.

Now she is Maria Why are you crying?

Because the body of Jesus is missing.

So what can she do to keep Maria from crying?

She just needs to bring the body of Jesus back to her place.

But what we need to remember is that if the body of Jesus had been left there, Christianity would not have existed.

Do you understand what I mean?

Now Mary is crying that the body of Jesus is gone, but the truth is that she is not crying now, it is time to rejoice.

Why? Because Jesus is alive.

 

So the angels are dumbfounded and ask the following question.

John 20:13a “Woman, why do you weep?” She says now is not her time to cry, it's her time to laugh.

 

1. Why shouldn't Mary weep? (Because Jesus is risen!)

But since Mary still does not know the intent of the angels' question, she speaks in disbelief.

John 20:13b “For I do not know where they have carried away my Lord.”

What is Maria thinking right now?

They say that people stole the body of Jesus.

She said that Mary had no idea that Jesus was resurrected.

She was full of thoughts that Mary had stolen and that she must find the body of Jesus.

She has no idea that Jesus is the one who has overcome her death power.

 

Like this, she said, 'If you don't have the right faith and don't realize the truth, you will cry a lot. On the other hand, when you have correct beliefs and realize the truth, you will have many things to laugh about.’

I bless you in the name of the Lord that you live a life of laughter every day as a person who has the right faith and has realized the truth.

 

* But let's stop here for a moment and meditate on verse 12, a very important spiritual truth. Verse 12 <Two angels in white sat down where Jesus' body had been laid, one at the head and one at the feet. . I want you to paint a picture in your mind. (Two angels at the head and feet of Jesus' body)

 

2. Dear Saints!

What do the angels at the head and feet of Jesus' body represent? What scene in the Old Testament does this painting overlap with? Did you remember?

It is the two angels facing each other on the mercy seat, the lid of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies.

In other words, the high priest enters the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement and sprinkles animal blood on and in front of the mercy seat for the forgiveness of sinners.

Beloved Saints!

The mercy seat is an altar for atonement for human sins.

The characteristic of that place is the place where God is present.

That is why there are angels who assist God.

However, the fact that there were two angels at the head and at the feet of Jesus is a model of the cover of the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies.

‘The empty tomb of Jesus is the place where God dwells. That is the place where the sins of mankind are forgiven. It is a place where we can live forever.’

‘It symbolizes that Jesus died for our sins, forgiving our sins forever, not just for one year, just like the Day of Atonement.’ Hallelujah

 

Beloved Saints!

I want you to believe that, ‘With Jesus’ death, we are all dead, and with Jesus’ resurrection, we can live forever.’

John 11:25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live even if he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Please believe that this word has been fulfilled.

By opening the tomb and resurrecting, Jesus proved that he is the owner of life, and I hope you believe that the resurrected Jesus is the one who can give us eternal life too.

 

Then again, if we connect it to Mary's tears, then Mara should not cry because Jesus' body is missing, but rejoice.

Because the body of Jesus was not stolen, but because he was resurrected to make us live forever.

That's why Jesus appeared as a resurrected body to wipe away Mary's tears and give her joy.

But Mary did not recognize the resurrected Jesus.

Why couldn't she recognize her?

Of course, the inside of the cave was dark, but because of the preconceived notion that Jesus was dead, they did not imagine that Jesus was alive at all.

And it is because the body of the resurrected Jesus was different from the shabby body of his life.

 

Then Jesus, who loves her Mary, calls her with her kind and kind voice to give her the faith of her resurrection.

Maria! (John 20:26a)

At that moment, Mary's body bounces toward Jesus like a spring.

The moment Mary recognized the voice of Jesus calling her name in her lifetime, just as sheep in the pen hear the voice of the shepherd and run away, she recognized the voice of Jesus and reflexively said, Rabboni (Teacher!). While calling, I was glad to hold on to Jesus.

Then Jesus stopped Mara from approaching, saying, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father (John 20:17 a).”

 

Why did Jesus do that?

What do you mean by not ascending to his father?

He is ascending, so why not hold on to him?

Is it because you're afraid your body will get dirty? Are you afraid there will be a scandal?

It has two meanings:

① Even if you don't hold on to it, it's because you won't leave again.

② When Jesus ascends to God the Father, the Spirit of Jesus, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, will come and be with us forever.

So you don't have to hold on to it.

 

3. Then, what mission does the resurrected Jesus give to Mary?

John 20: 17b “You go to my brothers and say to them” Whom is Jesus telling the truth of the resurrection to?

My brothers, the disciples who betrayed Jesus.

When Jesus was suffering, what did he say to the disciples who ran away and betrayed him without loyalty?

Go to my brothers, who are not enemies for life...

What we find in these words is that Jesus' love for his disciples is agape love, unchanging from beginning to end.

People change, Jesus never changes.

That is why Jesus is wonderful and great.

This is why we who are weak have hope.

Even if we have mistakes and faults, believe that Jesus will never give up on us forever and will return to lead us to the eternal kingdom.

And please look closely at verse 17b. “I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God.”

Those who believe in Jesus as their Savior become Jesus' brothers and have the privilege of serving the God of love as their father.

So from now on, we believe that we will receive whatever we ask of the Father.

In other words, please believe that the inheritance of God the Father's eternal life will become the inheritance of our eternal life in the future.

 

From the moment we believe in Jesus and become God's children, believe that God will be our Father and take care of us forever.

Even if we sometimes betray because of weakness, please believe that the God of love will not let go of our hand.

Even if sometimes we fall into the world because of weakness, please believe that the God of love will not let go of our hand.

Even if we sometimes sin because of our weakness, please believe that the God of love will not let go of our hand until we enter the eternal kingdom of heaven.

 

Mary immediately runs to the disciples as Jesus commanded and tells them.

John 20:18 “Mary Magdalene went and told her disciples that I had seen the Lord, and she said, ‘The Lord said to her,’” she was so overjoyed that she heard the news of Jesus’ resurrection.

The characteristic of a person who has faith in the resurrection like this is to live by conveying the good news of the resurrection of Jesus.

 

Beloved Saints!

Do you believe in the resurrected Jesus?

I wish all of us to share the good news of the resurrection of Jesus with our close family and neighbors, and to enjoy the happiness of resurrection.

A men