A Finished Work – John 20:1-7 – Part IV

 

A Finished Work – John 20:1-7 – Part IV

(Easter Sermon 2004)

 

Conclusion

 

As we celebrate Easter this year, I hope we will truly celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior from the dead. Let’s dispense with an annual withdrawal from work and normal routines to participate in a brief period of piety and reflection. Let’s rejoice over the bedrock doctrine of our faith. Let’s realize that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us.

 

Discovery of the folded burial cloth liberates us to live to the fullest. It empowers us to realize the potential of our God given talents and fully actualize our natural abilities through disciplined personal application. It is a perennial reminder to each disciple that God in Christ conquers death. Accordingly, Almighty God’s love ands power eradicates fear that paralyzes us and cancels sin that burdens us. The folded burial cloth remains the surest sign of Christ’s finished work of salvation.

 

Historians record the legendary battle at Waterloo in which the famed British general, Wellington, and his inexperienced soldiers fought fiercely against Napoleon’s formidable troops. On a particular day of combat, the fight lingered well into the night. The hovering darkness and raging conflict made it difficult to determine whether one held an advantage. The will to fight and win sustained both sides; neither would relent despite their adversary’s resolve and nature’s harsh conditions. It became apparent that sunlight would remove the veil and reveal the victor. Still, a dense and penetrating fog accompanied the dawn of a mid-June Sunday in 1815. As it yielded to the ever-present sun, anxious observers of the conflict who had stayed up during the night looked across the water for indication of who won the struggle. Some held telescopes which they positioned adequately to read a banner that provided an official communique. To their horror and dismay, they squinted and read the lamentable words, “Wellington defeated.”

 

Imagine the grief and agony of the British people and other allies. They failed to rebuff Napoleon and his campaign to commandeer their history, religion and literature. Assuredly, he would subjugate them thereby imposing French culture, customs and traditions upon them. Conceivably, they stood amazed that the fierce fighting of their forces proved inadequate to protect and preserve their way of life. They would not only lose a military conflict, but they would surrender their distinct and unparalleled English way of life. Wellington’s defeat would equal a decimation of their history and civilization.

 

Let’s also imagine the grief and horror of the disciples and women who attended to Jesus of Nazareth on Good Friday as they watched His cruel and unjust crucifixion. With a savage indifference to the Person on the cross, Pontius Pilate acquiesced the death sentence for a man who healed countless people, taught them the ways of God and preached the emergence of the kingdom of God on Earth. Despite Jesus’ innumerable good deeds and the lack of any evidence that He was an insurrectionist, He was still put to death utilizing the most debasing and harsh method. The people who participated in His three-and-a-half-year public ministry and witnessed His divine love and grace toward countless marginalized people were forced to watch this indignity. Powerless to stop it, they stood paralyzed and flabbergasted that the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth would end in such a horrific way. Essentially, Christ has been defeated by the Roman government and death.

 

As the sun appeared on center stage and drove the remaining fog away on that fateful June Sunday in 1815, the despondent viewers of the war looked again. They understandably hoped against all odds that their previous observation was incorrect. To their delight, when the fog lifted and they again peered through their telescopes, they saw the full banner which read, “Wellington defeated the enemy!” They won rather than yielded to Napoleon’s tyranny. It was as if the lifting of the fog resurrected their dreams and hopes for the future of their way of life.

 

In the Ancient Near East on the first Easter morning just after sunrise, the disciples and followers of Jesus learned when the fog of grief and despair yielded to the dawn of the resurrection that Christ defeated death. Accordingly, disciples can personalize the resurrection. Know that you are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus who unconditionally love you. Say to the existential death in which you may linger, “Christ defeated death and therefore I win.” The Lord recalls you to life. He recalls you to new life as He redeems any adversity or challenge you may encounter.

 

On this Easter Sunday morning, rejoice in the finished work He accomplishes! Rejoice in the folded burial cloth which signifies the defeat of death.

 

 

 

 

This sermon originated in the pulpit of First Baptist Church Capitol Hill in Nashville, Tennessee where I served as Pastor from October 2000 to May 2008. I first preached this message on Easter Sunday 2004.