🌸This is the message in English( April 19 preaching)🌸

Sunday Message

April 19,2020

Pastor Satoshi Nagasawa

Title: When Jesus rose

Luke 23:50 ~ 24:8

⁵⁰ Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, ⁵¹ but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. ⁵² He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. ⁵³ Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock. ⁵⁴ This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation,^[a] as the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵ As His body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where His body was placed. ⁵⁶ Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint His body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law. But very early on Sunday morning^[a] the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ² They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. ³ So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.

⁵ The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? ⁶ He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what He told you back in Galilee, ⁷ that the Son of Man^[b] must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that He would rise again on the third day.”

⁸ Then they remembered that He had said this.

What happened when Jesus rose?

It was not by the work of man, but the work of God which caused Jesus to rise from the dead.

On the Sunday morning, those people who had witnessed the events of the crucifixion and were crying near the tomb, got to their feet.

This morning we would like to think about what happened when Jesus rose.

Joseph, from the town of Arimathea, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Then, he took the body down from the cross and laid it in a tomb. The women who had followed Jesus from Galilee saw everything. They went home and prepared spices and ointment to anoint his body.

Why did they do this? It was because they wanted to anoint his body. It was almost the Sabbath when Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross, so there was no time to anoint the body, which was the custom for funerals at that time. The Bible teaches us how important it is to show respect when burying people. It is not just a duty. It is natural that we should bury our beloved ones in a respectful manner. These women who loved Jesus wanted to show respect when they buried him. Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb, but the work of the burial was not yet complete. I think they wanted to anoint the body as quickly as possible.

It was the Sabbath so they could not do it that day. They took a Sabbath rest in obedience to the commandments. Then, very early on the Sunday morning the women went to the tomb taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. When they entered, Jesus’ body was not there. Very early on the Sunday morning the women were surprised to see a different scene from the one they had seen on the Friday evening. They had seen everything. On the Friday they had seen Jesus being buried and they saw the entrance being blocked off with a big stone. But what they saw was that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb and Jesus’ body was not inside the tomb.

They stood there puzzled and then angels appeared to them. They said, “He is not here. He is risen. “

Jesus is risen. So, how did he rise? We do not know those details. What is certain is that everything happened between Friday and Sunday. It happened while the women were taking a rest or sleeping at night. In other words, it happened while they could not do anything.

The resurrection of Jesus was nothing to do with the work of man, but purely the work of God.

One after the other, the witnesses said, “Jesus has been raised from the dead by God”.

It was because of the Father God’s work that Jesus rose. On the Sunday morning, the women saw the result of God’s work. What was in our minds when we woke up this morning? Those who wake up and are able to see what God has been doing in their life, are truly blessed.

I also think God is inviting us to focus on God’s work when we are awake.

In the world during biblical times, the day started in the evening and the morning followed.

Genesis 1: 5, 8, 13

⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

¹³ And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.

Mark 4:26-29

 ²⁶ Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. ²⁸ The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. ²⁹ And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”

　

It is not in the morning that the day begins. In the evening, the day begins. Getting up is not first. Sleep comes first, and then getting up in the morning. Evening is first.

Here is an important lesson for us. In the evening we go to sleep and take a rest, but God never stops working even when we stop our work. Rather it is in the evening that God started something new, I think. If that is true, we can go to sleep in peace with a sense of expectation for what the morning brings. And then we can wake up feeling good. So, in the morning we see God’s work which has already been done while we sleep and we join His work. That is the new morning. I think that the Sunday morning in this passage was such a morning.

Jesus rose while His disciples were sleeping. The women’s work had been stopped. They wanted to anoint his body but could not do so while they were sleeping. He rose while they were sleeping. Then they saw God’s work when they woke up. So they gave up their plan to anoint His body. Instead, they started to share the story of what happened and became witnesses. It was a new step. They let their own work go and joined His work, however, it did not happen immediately. On the Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene was crying near the tomb. Even though the angels said, “Jesus is risen,” they could not find the body.

John 20:11-15

¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put Him.” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.”

“Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.”

She was still looking for the body. Maybe she was still keen to anoint Jesus’ body and thinking about having a funeral for him, even though Jesus had risen from the grave and appeared to Mary. Yet she still said this. It seems as if her sense of time stopped on the Friday evening. It was as if time stood still from the point when Jesus was buried in the tomb.

Maybe she was full of sorrow.

We may also close our eyes because we are caught up by what has happened in the past.

Even if we have good news, we may not be able to see it. We may be occupied by regret and self-denial, so we cannot press on. We may choose to stay in the past. Mary noticed the risen Jesus, stood up and accepted Jesus’ words. What made her do this? It was Jesus’ calling. Jesus called Mary by name.

John 20:16-18

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Jesus called Mary, which made her take a new step.

The people who were crying near the tomb stood up and became witnesses.

Mary gave up the idea of anointing His body and focused on the Work of the Risen Jesus.

Jesus’ calling changed her life. Jesus’ calling changes each of our lives.

John 10:27

²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Mary was able to listen to Him. We can also listen to Him as He is our true shepherd.

He responds to our calling and reminds us of the fact that He is alive and working in our lives.

We want to listen to Him. Even if we might be caught up by something in the past and oppressed by sorrow, we know that God helps us to take a new step, just like Mary did.

We would like to focus on the truth that God is working in our lives even if it might look as if He has stopped working.

Let us focus on God’s work and seek Him in our daily lives. Let us work alongside Him just like those women did on that Sunday morning.

Let us pray.