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.

Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.