The Tomb Is Still Empty

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Sermon from Fuge 2022 – North Greenville University

John 20:1-21 – You cannot follow a risen Savior and simply go back to a normal life. If the tomb is still empty, then everything has changed.

Summary

  • Mary Magdalene – The fact that the first missionary from the empty tomb was a formerly demon-possessed woman with a shady past means God can still use you.
  • Disciples – Jesus still graciously pursued those who were oblivious to His repeated warnings.
  • Angels – Even the heavenly beings struggled to communicate the depth of Jesus’ love for this ragtag group of misfits (cf. Mt. 28:7, 10).
  • Jesus – Jesus was never let down by His disciples because they were never holding Him up in the first place.

Matchless One

  • Joseph – beloved by his father, stripped of his coat; Jesus
  • Joseph – tempted by Potiphar’s wife, didn’t sin, but punished for doing the right thing; Jesus
  • Joseph – imprisoned wrongly met a baker and a cupbearer in prison that was supposed to provide a meal for the King; Jesus
  • Joseph – could have killed his brothers for their lies, betrayal, and desertion, but Jesus…
  • The Ark of Covenant – two angels; Jesus – one at the foot and head
  • Gen. 2:15 – took the man and put him in the garden to work it…Jesus thought to be the gardener (John 20:15)

Significance

  • You cannot follow a risen Savior and simply go back to a normal life.
  • Jesus didn’t rise from the grave so that you can still linger in your tomb.
  • If even death has been defeated, then peace should be assured.
  • Jesus doesn’t see you as failures but as family.