Easter Service

2025

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Sermon Transcription:

We're going into the word this Easter morning, and I'm excited. I'm so excited because Easter really is the reason that we get together every single Sunday—to remind one another, to remind ourselves, and to be a witness in our community that Jesus did not stay in the grave. That's why the church started meeting on the resurrection day: to always be a reminder unto ourselves and to the people around us that our Jesus, when he satisfied the demands of the law and died in our place, that he did not stay in the grave. No, things changed when Jesus resurrected, and that's why the early church decided we're going to get together every resurrection day of the week—because we need to be reminded that Jesus changed everything. Cuz sin, sin is quite something, ain't it? I remember so well what it is like to stand in life looking for God from time to time, with my heart thinking about God from time to time, but to stand in life still with the burden of sin. I remember what it's like.

I remember so clearly feeling like God is real and he's everywhere, and I believed he knew everything—and yet, he may as well have felt a universe away from me. I remember what it was like to remember God. You ever been there? Where you remember God, and you realized you hadn't really thought of him for four days straight? I remember what that was like before coming alive in Christ—that God sometimes was a memory, and nothing could be a more condemning experience. Every time I remembered God, I was faced with the reality that I forgot about him. I remember what it felt like to try and pray. Nothing was more discouraging than seeing myself go to the place of prayer and try to pray. Never really knew what to say, ran out of words quickly. I always felt like I was alone in prayer; it wasn't a conversation. I remember what it was like looking for things in this world. See, the Bible tells us that God created all things for us to enjoy. Well, I was looking for things in this world, and I couldn't really enjoy it.

Every time that I found a thing in this world that I thought I really wanted and I would really like, I came to realize it doesn't really satisfy. I already know what I want next, and then, when I would get that thing, it would be unexpectedly empty. I remember being so surprised at times that I finally achieved a goal, or I finally purchased something that I saved for for a long time, or something of the likes, and I remember being so surprised sometimes with how empty I felt—or how empty it felt to achieve that thing or purchase that thing. I really believed it would be different, but I remember what it was like trying to enjoy the things in this world without Jesus filling my heart and still being under sin.

I remember what it feels like to be under the curse of sin. You know something about God, you may even believe that He's real, but you can't enjoy Him. You're in this world—clearly it's real—you can't enjoy it either. I remember what that was like. And it moved the people of God for generations. The Israelites for generations were moved to do whatever they could do to get from under that curse, to figure out a way back to God, and somehow, if at all possible, to have relationship with Him again—the way that Adam had and Eve had in the garden—and to know Him, and to walk with Him, to have a purpose, to be satisfied, to be happy, and to enjoy what God created you for. And then we read on Friday how Jesus comes on the scene. He celebrated Passover with His disciples before, but this time was different. He's sitting in that room that they prepared, and He did something that He hadn't done before. He took the bread, and He broke it, and He gave it to His disciples, and He said, "This is my body." And that shocked them.

The disciples knew what they were doing. They were celebrating Passover—done it for generations—because God, when they put the blood of a lamb on the doorpost in their little houses in Egypt while they were slaves, God set them free out of Egypt and told them, "I want you to hold this feast and remember what I've done for you." Generation after generation, they celebrate Passover. They've celebrated it with Jesus as well. They've walked with Him now for three years, and this time it's different. He hands out the bread and He says, "This is my body."

All this time, we were just remembering what God did in Egypt. We were remembering that little lamb and the breads that were baked—the unleavened ones—and then He hands out the cup and He says, "And this is the new covenant in my blood." And the disciples would have been so shocked, because they knew what Jesus was saying.

Moses had given the people of God a covenant with the Father, and all these generations they had lived by this covenant and tried to approach God through this covenant. It was the pride of their identity. This is what they did: "We are the people of God. We have the temple. We have the laws. We have the sacrifices. We have the prophecies. We await, one day, the Messiah." And here Jesus has Passover with the disciples—the very last Passover he would have with them right there in Jerusalem—and he hands them the cup and he says, "I'm giving you a new covenant in my blood. I'm giving you a new covenant." And we heard on Friday how the disciples weren't really getting it yet, not really understanding it yet, but Jesus began to show the disciples that he is giving them—and with them, us, and every person that has ever called on the name of Jesus—a new covenant.

Not a covenant between people and God, where God has obligations and people have obligations to keep, in the form of the Ten Commandments at that time, but Jesus—and we learn this from the Word, as the Bible tells us—the Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the world. This new covenant, this agreement between God the Father and God the Son, this agreement was made before the foundation of the world. And so Jesus goes to earth and does everything that is his obligation to fulfill his side of the agreement—of the contract, if you will—that he made with God the Father. And then, when Jesus is done, he cries out, "It is finished." He finished every demand of the contract, of the covenant, between him and the Father. Everything that was placed on him—to come to this world, to take on an earthly body, to carry the sins, to take the blame, to die the death of humanity—to finish his part of that covenant, that God the Father may begin to fulfill his part of the covenant.

I always like to make it very simple. The old covenant, when we refer to the Ten Commandments, was between God and people. That’s why we always break it. Amen? You’ve ever tried to be good for God, you know you’re going to fail that one. This new covenant between the Father and the Son is not with you—it is about you. That’s why you enter into the new covenant, the Bible says, by faith. It is about you. When you hear about what God has agreed upon with the Son about you, now we have an opportunity to enter into this covenant by faith. That’s why it’s not of works—because there’s no part for you in this covenant. God the Father said, "Son, people have turned away from us. People have turned to sin. What are we going to do about this? You're going to have to go. You're going to have to take on an earthly body. You're going to have to take on their sins. They're not going to honor you. They're going to reject you. They're going to betray you. They're going to spit on you. But if you will go, we can bring them home."

And Jesus says, "This now is the new covenant in my blood." This blood of the Lamb of God that the miracle in Egypt was all along pointing forward to—that one day, a Lamb would come, and by the blood of that Lamb, people would be set free from under the power of an enemy.

That covenant he tries to show to the disciples, but many people today—just like the disciples—have a hard time seeing what Jesus really means. Mark 16, we continue where we left off on Friday. Mark 16, starting in verse one. We're going to look at different Gospels to get as much detail out of this story as we can possibly find. The first four verses in chapter 16 of the book of Mark: "Now when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices, that they may come and anoint him.Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us? But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was very large."

We're going to look at a number of questions this Easter morning. The title is also a question of this sermon: Why are you weeping? Why are you weeping? But here's the first question that comes up in this story: Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us? They raise this question, this problem that they're thinking about, and then they begin to see something.

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was very, very large. They began to see something. Now you've been there, I've been there. Our minds, in our flesh—our minds love problems. How do you know? They just stay in our mind more easily than happiness and joy and solutions. And if there is any problem that could be possible, our mind just gladly takes it in. You really have to learn to put those things out of your mind, but our mind in our flesh just gathers problems. And we can think on them the whole day. Amen? And sometimes we don't do anything about it.

But sometimes, when we actually encounter the problem that we've been thinking about so much, we realize, Oh, that problem is not as big as I thought it would be. You ever been there? I've been there. But sometimes, just like right here in the story, you can worry for days. There are things you can worry about for years. There are problems that grow in your mind in size, and the problem actually never shows up in the entirety of your lifetime. They never needed to roll away a stone. They were never going to encounter that stone to be in the way. But they are wondering and worrying Easter morning as they walk to the grave, Who is going to roll away this ginormous stone? I can't roll that thing away. Who's going to do this for me? I'm all alone. I don't have the strength. And as we worry about our problems, and we have those times where we realize, Hey, everything just kind of fell in place, and this never became a problem—I worried for nothing, it kind of solved itself at times. It makes you wonder, Did God do that? Is God involved in this problem-solving moment in my life?

I'm telling you now, just like these women encountered, for all of your life there are problems that you will worry about that you will never encounter, because God already dealt with them. There will be so many problems—potential problems—that you and I may worry about, but we will never encounter them because God has already dealt with them. Sometimes you just haven't seen it yet, like these women that haven't seen yet that God already dealt with this big stone problem in their life. But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was very large—was very large. A large problem, if you will.

Continue the story in the book of Luke. We'll continue in verse three of chapter 24. We're going to find another question: "Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified,' and the third day rise again." And they remembered his words. Here we have the second question in this brief story of Easter morning. But this is a question that comes from heaven.

First, the question of the flesh: Who will roll away the stone for me? Big problem. Big worry. Never encountered the problem. Worried all for nothing. But here, heaven asks a question. And if I've learned anything throughout the scriptures, whenever Jesus—or whenever an angel, whenever heaven—asks a question, it's not because they don't know. It's not because heaven doesn't know and needs you to give the answer. It’s not because Jesus doesn't know. Usually, the people of God—or whoever's being addressed—actually has forgotten something. And Jesus doesn’t just want to come and correct and be harsh. He asks questions. He does it left and right to get people to think. And we read the last verse: And they remembered his words.

When heaven asks a question, usually you are the one that forgot something. And the question: Why do you seek the living among the dead? The first question heaven asks in this story: Why do you seek the living among the dead? Why are you even here? Why are you worrying about that stone? Why are you even looking in this grave? Why are you in the place where sin brought everything to death? Why are you here? Why are you seeking the living among the dead? And there's a people today in the church of Jesus that still do this symbolically, that still do this in their heart. It may sound a little different, but it is the exact same thing. It is the person that continues to say, "Oh Jesus, please forgive my sin, my sin, my sin. I feel my sin. I still feel alive to the sin problem. I still feel like the problem is not solved." Church, that is a death problem. When we come to Jesus because we feel a death problem, there's something we're not seeing. There's a resolved problem we're still worrying about. We are on a journey looking to expect to find the consequences of our sin. The consequences of our sin put Jesus in the grave. Amen?

And here, people are still expecting to find Jesus in the grave. In other words, they still expect for their sin to have power. They still expect for their sin to be a problem. And when they run to God, it is like they're going to the grave to go to God, and they say, "Oh God, my sin, my sin, my sin." And Jesus is not there. He already rose. He already purchased forgiveness for you. He already set you free. Already made a way for you. Hallelujah! He already made a way, taking you from that place of death, looking to bring you to another place. Why do you seek the living among the dead? Why are you looking for Jesus in the place where he paid for sin, as if that is still an ongoing problem? Why are you looking for Jesus? Why are you seeking the living among the dead? Why do you still approach God as if sin is a problem? Why do we at times still run to God because we feel our sin? It's because there are things we're not seeing clearly yet—just like these women, expecting to find Jesus in the grave, expecting to find problems.

We continue the story with Mary Magdalene in verse 11 of John chapter 20: But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her—next question—"Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her—next question—"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you've laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him, "Rabboni," which is to say, "Teacher."

Church, sometimes, just like Mary right here, panicking at the grave, sometimes we are still mourning and worrying over something God has already taken care of. But it can look like such a big obstacle to us. It can look like such an impossible miracle in our life. It's sometimes even easier to believe that that miracle would take place in someone else's life. But for us personally, it is harder to believe that that miracle would take place in us or for us or on our behalf. And we can find ourselves, in our Christian journey—whatever that means—we can find ourselves still mourning, still worrying about something that has already been taken care of by God. And the question comes forth twice—first from the angels, then from the Son of God himself: Why are you weeping? Why are you so sad? Why are you so worried? Why are you so overwhelmed? Why are you weeping? God already won.

God already accepted payment for your sins. Jesus dying on the cross to pay the price for your life, to buy your life free out of spiritual Egypt by the blood of the lamb and bring you into freedom, bring you into the presence of the Father, bring you into your justification. God already won. He accepted payment. Jesus paid on the cross. And when the Father rose him from the dead, for all the world watching, the Father was saying, "Payment accepted. He's not here. He's risen." And God sends a word in your situation. He sends a word in my situation through those questions—really: Why do you seek the living among the dead? Why are you weeping? Why are you weeping? Why are you weeping? Why is your heart heavy or sad, worrying that you're not right with God? Why is your heart weeping, worrying that you've spent too much time on the things of this world and now it's going to affect your life forever? Why are you weeping over your death situation—in your marriage or in your work or wherever you are living your life? Why are you allowing those problems to cause your heart to become heavy?

Why are you weeping? As far as God is concerned, the problem doesn't already exist anymore. He already paid. The Father already accepted the payment. And here we can come to God feeling heavy and feeling worried about how well God may hear me or listen to me or how He will receive me when I die and stand before Him. And the cry comes forth from heaven time and again: Why are you weeping? Nothing's wrong anymore. Why are you weeping? And to feel your sin, church, is a real thing. Don't let me discount that. If you still feel your sin, Jesus wants to show something to you this Easter morning: My sin, my sin, how will I get to Jesus? Who will roll away the stone? How will I ever get to Jesus? It is the feeling that says, Others may, but I can't get to Jesus. That stone is in front of the grave. He's in the grave because of my sin. I'm still struggling with my sin. I'm in my sin. The grave is closed. I can't get to Jesus. Who will roll away the stone for me?

It is the feeling of powerlessness and helplessness. I can't change my situation. What am I going to find? What am I going to find when I try to get to Jesus? And am I just going to be powerless with a big stone, a big separation between me and Jesus because of my sin? And the reality is, any person that ever looks up—as the women did—and come to Jesus Christ, come and run to Him, they come to find out Jesus already moved on. He's not waiting for us to weep and feel pain over our sin. He already wept. He already felt the pain of our sin. He's trying to show every single one of us that the grave is empty and that Jesus has moved on from the sin problem, and that He is bringing every child home to the Father. He already took care of the problem. He's not here. Jesus is risen. Jesus has moved on. Amen, amen.

Now there were believers that came to that grave. They believed in Jesus. They trusted Jesus. They followed Jesus. But they couldn't quite see very clearly what God had really done with the sin problem. And so their expectations were all off. And that's why they believed so much that they would have so many problems to encounter. That's why they panicked at an empty grave instead of rejoice. And I believe the Word suggests to us that we can trust Jesus. We can believe in Him. We may have even been already following Him for a while, as the disciples and these women included were. And there are things that Jesus still would love to show us, still would love to reveal to our heart and our understanding—places, spiritually speaking, that He would love to take us, lead us into, bring us into more understanding of what He has really done and accomplished for you and I.

Romans 4:23–25: Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses—or our sins—and was raised because of our justification. Because we have sin, Jesus had to go on the cross. That's what the Word is saying—because of our sins He was delivered unto the cross. But that's not where the story stops. What does the Word say? Who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification. Church, this is that new covenant that Jesus sought to give to His disciples. Your sins put Jesus on the cross. The Bible says that your justification was the reason that the Father raised Him from the grave. Do you understand that all along this agreement, this contract, this agreement between the Father and between the Son—the goal of that agreement was that you and I would be justified? That even though our pasts may be riddled with sin and mistakes, that somehow something would get done so powerful, something would get done in this universe that would allow sinners to stand before the Father justified—right with God, able to talk with Him again, able to be in relationship with Him again. Stand at a grave and rejoice instead of panic and worry and be concerned. Because of your sins, Jesus had to go in the grave. It is because you're justified that He rose from the dead.

Because the justification of your life was accomplished, the Father said, "Okay, You've now accomplished all things, My Son. Now it is My turn. I'm going to raise You from the dead in the same way that I'll raise them from the dead. I'm going to bring You home now to Myself—the same way I'm going to bring all of them home unto Myself." Church, it is because you are justified that Jesus rose from the dead over 2,000 years ago. This is not a problem that still needs to be fixed. This is not something you're still waiting for to happen—because it happened. Because God said, "Now I can bring them home. Now they have been paid for. Now I can be in relationship with them. Now I can safely bring them home and walk with them while they are still on this earth. Now I'm going to do My part." And He rose Jesus from the dead, as Christ had accomplished all of His part of that covenant. One of the things I love so dearly about the unreal gospel that Christ has given us—the way too good to be true gospel that I can look at and look into for the rest of my life and stay amazed—the Bible tells us that Christ is the head of the church and that we are the body, that we are the members, the limbs, if you will, of that body.

Now, every promise I ever make to your face is also to all of your body. Amen? When Jesus made us a part of His body and He came to live inside of our heart to claim ownership, every promise the Father ever made to Jesus now also applies to the hand and the feet and every part of the body. I can expect the Father to keep His promises to the head the way He keeps the promises to the hand or the foot or any other part of the body. I will never be the reason that the Father doesn't keep His promises, because Jesus is the head, and I'm just simply a finger on the body of the living God. I can expect the Father to keep every promise to me the way He kept His promises to Jesus, because I was justified by Christ Jesus—brought into the body of Christ—and now there's no problems anymore.

Church, when you learn to see that Jesus loved you so much that even death is not a problem anymore, you'll never encounter a problem in life anywhere close to the death problem, ever. And if death is not a problem for you because of the way that you are loved and the way that you are cared for by Jesus—surely, surely these little ones are going to be simple testimonies.

Surely God has a way to deal with the big stone. Surely God has a way to deal with a little bit of my spiritual blindness. Surely all of these things are going to be taken care of—because Jesus rose from the dead. That means I'm already justified. That means I'm already right with the Father. That means that Christ has given His own righteousness away to someone like me. He rose from the dead for this reason—because of our justification. Because our justification took place. This Easter morning as we remember specifically today the story of how people went to the grave—spiritually speaking—so blind, so full of problems, so full of worries, expecting more problems, panicking when they couldn't get past some of those things. And Jesus had a way of saying: "What? Why are you weeping? What's wrong? Can't you see nothing is wrong anymore? Can't you see that I'm risen? That means you're already justified. The greatest problem of all I dealt with. I took care of—without you ever asking Me, without you ever doing anything for Me." I did all of this for you—why are you still weeping?

I want to invite you, online and here in the house, to pray a very simple prayer with me. If you believe that Jesus is even willing to show you things that maybe you can't see, that Jesus is willing to roll away whatever stone seems to be between you and Him—and it's this immovable thing in your life and you can't fix it—if you even believe that He is good and that He loves you, I want to invite you to simply repeat after me: Jesus, thank you for justifying me. Thank you that you're not in the grave, but that because I'm justified, the grave could not hold you, and the Father rose you from the dead so that I would have a Jesus who is alive, a Jesus who will speak to my heart. Lord, I give you my problems, my worries about sin, my worries about death, and everything I may face in this life. Lord Jesus, help me to stop weeping. Help me to see what you have done and no longer believe in the power of my sin. Lord, I believe in the power of Jesus. And I bless you. In your name I pray, amen. Amen. Let's give the Lord a shout of glory! Lord, we bless you. You are worthy this morning, Lord God—as you are every day—but you've given us this day, Lord Jesus, to bless you and to praise you. And Lord, we will praise you yet once more because you are worthy and you are glorious, and you have given us the incredible miracle, the incredible challenge for us to believe that 2,000 years ago—over 2,000 years ago—we were justified. And so the Father responded to our justification by raising you, Lord Jesus, from the dead. Jesus, if you're alive, then I'm justified. Lord, help us believe the simple gospel: that when you said "It is finished," Jesus, that you spoke the truth. Lord, we may have many mistakes in our life, but Lord, let us be freed from this one mistake—that we would not trust you. Help us to trust you, to believe you at your word, Lord, that we may learn to worship you with all of our heart, because you have done for us what was impossible. You have set us free. Thank you, Jesus.

-Pastor Stan Mons