It's good to be back.<\/p>\n
He is risen.<\/p>\n
>> He's risen indeed. Let's turn your<\/p>\n
Bibles to Matthew 28.<\/p>\n
Matthew 28. And as you turn your Bibles<\/p>\n
to Matthew 28, uh there is actually one<\/p>\n
correction that's not uh anyone's fault<\/p>\n
except myself. Um the of the title of<\/p>\n
the sermon, it says the influence of the<\/p>\n
resurrection. I'm actually going to<\/p>\n
change that to the to the riddle of the<\/p>\n
resurrection as you you see here. The<\/p>\n
riddle of the resurrection. I think<\/p>\n
that's a a clearer title uh to help you<\/p>\n
understand the sermon a little bit<\/p>\n
better. Um and and so just on that<\/p>\n
little note um so<\/p>\n
but let's<\/p>\n
now I have to turn.<\/p>\n
Okay.<\/p>\n
This is God's word from Matthew uh to<\/p>\n
the people of God.<\/p>\n
Matthew 28 verses yeah 1 through 10 and<\/p>\n
then jump down to 16- 20<\/p>\n
hear God's word. Now after the Sabbath<\/p>\n
toward the dawning of the first day<\/p>\n
uh the first day of the week, Mary<\/p>\n
Magdal and the other Mary went to see<\/p>\n
the tomb. And behold, there was a great<\/p>\n
earthquake. For an angel of the Lord<\/p>\n
descended from heaven and came and<\/p>\n
rolled back the stone and sat on it. His<\/p>\n
appearance was like lightning and his<\/p>\n
clothing white as snow. for the for fear<\/p>\n
of him. The guards trembled and became<\/p>\n
like dead men. But the angel said to the<\/p>\n
women, \"Do not be afraid, for I know<\/p>\n
that you seek Jesus whom was crucified.<\/p>\n
He is not here, for he has risen as he<\/p>\n
said. Come see the place where he lay.\"<\/p>\n
then going quickly and telling the<\/p>\n
disciples that he had risen from the<\/p>\n
dead. And behold, he is going before you<\/p>\n
to Galilee. There you will see him. See,<\/p>\n
I have told you.\" So they departed<\/p>\n
quickly from the tomb with fear and<\/p>\n
great joy, and ran to tell his<\/p>\n
disciples. And behold, Jesus met them,<\/p>\n
saying, \"Greetings.\"<\/p>\n
And they came up and took hold of his<\/p>\n
feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said<\/p>\n
to them,\"Do not be afraid. Go and tell<\/p>\n
my brothers to go to Galilee,<\/p>\n
and there they will see me.\" Then jump<\/p>\n
down to verse 16. Now the 11 disciples<\/p>\n
went to Galilee to the mountain to which<\/p>\n
Jesus had directed them. And when they<\/p>\n
had saw him, they worshiped him, but<\/p>\n
some doubted.<\/p>\n
And Jesus came and said to them, \"All<\/p>\n
authority in heaven on earth have been<\/p>\n
given to me. Go therefore and make<\/p>\n
disciples of all nations, baptizing them<\/p>\n
in the name of the Father and of the Son<\/p>\n
and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to<\/p>\n
observe all that I have commanded you.<\/p>\n
And behold, I am with you always to the<\/p>\n
end of the age.\"<\/p>\n
Thus ends the reading of God's word. The<\/p>\n
flowers fade, but the word of God stands<\/p>\n
forever. And this is God's word.<\/p>\n
All good. Humans are curious, aren't we?<\/p>\n
We're curious creatures. Uh we are<\/p>\n
inquisitive. Uh we like to ask a lot of<\/p>\n
questions. We like to investigate every<\/p>\n
part of the world.<\/p>\n
Now, we start out young and you you get<\/p>\n
the funniest questions from kids, you<\/p>\n
know, maybe it's, \"Do brown cows make<\/p>\n
chocolate milk?\"<\/p>\n
Or or after hearing uh that you were<\/p>\n
once told that you were in mommy's<\/p>\n
tummy, you might ask, \"Mommy, if you<\/p>\n
love me, why did you eat me?\"<\/p>\n
Now, here's one. What about uh when<\/p>\n
you're reading the Bible? Uh, daddy,<\/p>\n
what's circumcision?<\/p>\n
Does it have to do with the circus?<\/p>\n
Now, when you're a teenager, the<\/p>\n
questions change. It's who am I? Or who<\/p>\n
are you?<\/p>\n
Or who are we? Or what are we?<\/p>\n
See, deep inside every one of us,<\/p>\n
something awakens.<\/p>\n
Deep inside our bellies of our souls, a<\/p>\n
conscience wakens<\/p>\n
like a baby's cry in the night to a<\/p>\n
mother's ear.<\/p>\n
We are awakened and we have to figure<\/p>\n
out what's really going on in the world.<\/p>\n
What's really wrong with the world?<\/p>\n
We ask why.<\/p>\n
Why did this happen?<\/p>\n
Why death?<\/p>\n
Why life?<\/p>\n
Why meaning and purpose? Why?<\/p>\n
We're all born with the riddle of life<\/p>\n
in front of us.<\/p>\n
It's an ache in our soul.<\/p>\n
It might come in loneliness.<\/p>\n
It might come through happiness.<\/p>\n
It might come when nothing makes sense.<\/p>\n
or when you forget yourself and<\/p>\n
everything makes sense.<\/p>\n
Have you been there? Have you been there<\/p>\n
when when you feel like nothing makes<\/p>\n
sense in your life?<\/p>\n
Or maybe you've been when you feel like<\/p>\n
everything makes sense at least for a<\/p>\n
moment or two.<\/p>\n
See, there's that ache to figure out<\/p>\n
this riddle of life.<\/p>\n
What does it all mean?<\/p>\n
We begin here with these questions of<\/p>\n
life and meaning and death because this<\/p>\n
is where our text begins.<\/p>\n
It's still in the dark. Mary Magdalene<\/p>\n
and the other Mary. Now, we don't know<\/p>\n
who she is. There's actually a number of<\/p>\n
Marys in the New Testament, but these<\/p>\n
two women must see the tomb.<\/p>\n
They awaken in the middle of night. Now<\/p>\n
remember, there's no street lights or<\/p>\n
there's no urban uh pollution, urban<\/p>\n
light pollution.<\/p>\n
And they go out because nothing makes<\/p>\n
sense. They thought they had found real<\/p>\n
life in Jesus, but he ended with death<\/p>\n
just like everyone else.<\/p>\n
And so they have to see their their<\/p>\n
curiosity trying to figure out. And<\/p>\n
there it is again, the riddle of life.<\/p>\n
What's the meaning of life?<\/p>\n
What's the meaning of death?<\/p>\n
What's this all about? They're like,<\/p>\n
they're like you and I.<\/p>\n
We're like them and they're like us.<\/p>\n
The riddle of life is in front of all of<\/p>\n
us.<\/p>\n
Now, we might not think of it every day,<\/p>\n
but it comes,<\/p>\n
it haunts us,<\/p>\n
it confuses us,<\/p>\n
and it presses us to seek out.<\/p>\n
You have to see this because then you<\/p>\n
begin to see that this text from the<\/p>\n
Gospel of Matthew is really, really<\/p>\n
helpful for you.<\/p>\n
See, in Matthew 28, what we hear today<\/p>\n
is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ<\/p>\n
answers the riddle of life.<\/p>\n
It does so by inviting us to see. It<\/p>\n
does so by restoring us and then<\/p>\n
propelling us to go and to tell to<\/p>\n
influence the world.<\/p>\n
So let's look at that. Jesus was<\/p>\n
resurrected for us to see. Now let's<\/p>\n
look at the text. Verse one, Matthew<\/p>\n
28:1. It says, \"Now after the Sabbath,<\/p>\n
toward the dawn of the first day of the<\/p>\n
week, Mary Magdalum and the other Mary<\/p>\n
went to see the tomb.\"<\/p>\n
Now, one of the great first liners of uh<\/p>\n
the of English novels<\/p>\n
is Marley is dead to begin with. Marley<\/p>\n
is dead to begin with. It's from The<\/p>\n
Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. And<\/p>\n
you have to know that Marley is dead to<\/p>\n
understand the events that just hap that<\/p>\n
will happen to Scrooge, right? And for<\/p>\n
us, we must understand that when the two<\/p>\n
Marys came out<\/p>\n
after the Sabbath,<\/p>\n
the Sabbath that would have been on<\/p>\n
Saturday for them. You know, you know<\/p>\n
what happened three days ago? On Friday,<\/p>\n
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, they<\/p>\n
stood so close. They stood close enough<\/p>\n
to smell the death of their lord, of<\/p>\n
their meth, of their master, of their of<\/p>\n
their teacher, of their aan<\/p>\n
being humiliated,<\/p>\n
shamed, and died on the Roman cross.<\/p>\n
They saw it all through the their tears<\/p>\n
of loss.<\/p>\n
And now, three days later, still dark,<\/p>\n
maybe 4:00 am, 500 am.<\/p>\n
And what on what we would call Sunday,<\/p>\n
that's today for us, the two Marys woke<\/p>\n
to see their aan.<\/p>\n
And they knew this when they came to the<\/p>\n
tomb that dead people stay dead.<\/p>\n
Dead people don't rise<\/p>\n
for a Jew, especially not in the middle<\/p>\n
of history.<\/p>\n
Dead people don't come back to life.<\/p>\n
Mary Magdalene walked alongside the<\/p>\n
other Mary. Why? Or our text says to see<\/p>\n
the tomb.<\/p>\n
To see the tomb.<\/p>\n
To see. Why? To see. To understand.<\/p>\n
They had just experienced seeing Jesus<\/p>\n
on the cross.<\/p>\n
And in their hearts, a a flood of<\/p>\n
questions. And the downpour of the<\/p>\n
riddle of life overwhelmed them to see<\/p>\n
did death really happen to Jesus.<\/p>\n
Death to Jesus. The one who was and<\/p>\n
interrupted by a father who was pleading<\/p>\n
with him to come to his house because<\/p>\n
his daughter was sick and death to<\/p>\n
Jesus. the one who walks through the<\/p>\n
laughter and the mockery that was in<\/p>\n
that house because everyone presumed<\/p>\n
that now that daughter had died.<\/p>\n
The Jesus who walked into that room and<\/p>\n
walked beside her bed and said, \"Rise,<\/p>\n
little girl.\"<\/p>\n
And Tabitha got up from her eternal<\/p>\n
sleep.<\/p>\n
Or what about Jesus? When he was walking<\/p>\n
into the city, there was a funeral<\/p>\n
procession that was coming right at him.<\/p>\n
And Jesus zooms in on one person. Jesus<\/p>\n
focuses on the mother who had just lost<\/p>\n
her son, who had already lost<\/p>\n
her husband.<\/p>\n
She was a widow. and how Jesus<\/p>\n
walked directly to her and cared for her<\/p>\n
with compassion and then turned to the<\/p>\n
casket and said with the power of his<\/p>\n
word, \"Get up.\" And the son got up from<\/p>\n
the casket.<\/p>\n
She was restored to her son and the<\/p>\n
shame of death was removed.<\/p>\n
Oh, but then what about Mary Magdalene?<\/p>\n
Now, we talked we learned a little bit<\/p>\n
about this in the Easter morning<\/p>\n
service, but Mary Magdalene, who surely<\/p>\n
may be thought of the first time that<\/p>\n
she encountered Jesus, she was tormented<\/p>\n
by tormented with seven demons.<\/p>\n
It felt like death. And yet Jesus power,<\/p>\n
she was released and was raised,<\/p>\n
was given life. It felt Mary then<\/p>\n
devoted her whole life to Jesus because<\/p>\n
he was life to her and she thought that<\/p>\n
he was life and the answers of the<\/p>\n
riddle of life was there. But now death<\/p>\n
and the riddle of life still continues<\/p>\n
to come like a clock ticking tick tick<\/p>\n
tick. See death is a great equalizer.<\/p>\n
The wise preacher in Ecclesiastes<\/p>\n
says, \"How the wise die like the fool.\"<\/p>\n
So the rich, the poor,<\/p>\n
the honored, the shame,<\/p>\n
the king, the peasant, as one dies, so<\/p>\n
dies another.<\/p>\n
And so it is that the this is the great<\/p>\n
riddle of life.<\/p>\n
Plato the great uh philosopher of<\/p>\n
western culture said that the true goal<\/p>\n
of philosophy is to understand death and<\/p>\n
dying.<\/p>\n
See all religions and philosophies of<\/p>\n
the world try to answer the meaning of<\/p>\n
death and suffering. And until you<\/p>\n
figure out this question<\/p>\n
nothing else matters. Not justice, not<\/p>\n
love, not life.<\/p>\n
Now, our modern-day equivalents to<\/p>\n
philosophers old are the influencers of<\/p>\n
social media.<\/p>\n
There's an abundant of people telling<\/p>\n
you how to live and what is the good<\/p>\n
life.<\/p>\n
And yet when I search it, now I search,<\/p>\n
maybe you search differently, but or my<\/p>\n
algorithms come differently to me, but<\/p>\n
when I search YouTube and other social<\/p>\n
media outlets, I don't really hear a lot<\/p>\n
of people talking about death.<\/p>\n
Modern people have a way of avoiding<\/p>\n
death. Death and suffering are absent<\/p>\n
from most popular thinkers.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
We don't think that we can die.<\/p>\n
That's our that's what we think. We<\/p>\n
don't think that we can die. Rather, the<\/p>\n
message of social media is here is that<\/p>\n
you can outwit death by fitness or<\/p>\n
technology.<\/p>\n
You should be able to live above death<\/p>\n
and live immortal.<\/p>\n
But then there's that that rare occasion<\/p>\n
suffering and death rears its ugly and<\/p>\n
inevitable head and presence. You know,<\/p>\n
a video comes out, maybe you've seen<\/p>\n
these from influencers. It's titled the<\/p>\n
video I never thought I would have to<\/p>\n
make or I have a serious health issue<\/p>\n
and the riddle of life dick shows up<\/p>\n
again. Puck.<\/p>\n
One prime example of this. Do you<\/p>\n
remember what happened uh in 2022 with<\/p>\n
Chris Helmsworth,<\/p>\n
the god of thunder himself?<\/p>\n
He was making a documentary<\/p>\n
named entitled Limitless.<\/p>\n
The point of the documentary was that<\/p>\n
Chris was on an epic mission to find out<\/p>\n
how to live better for longer,<\/p>\n
surpass<\/p>\n
whatever we can do. And so then he goes<\/p>\n
gets genetic testing and the test<\/p>\n
results come back<\/p>\n
and what do they come? They show that he<\/p>\n
has a a very high risk for developing<\/p>\n
early Alzheimer's.<\/p>\n
Nobody can escape death. Not even the<\/p>\n
one who has a body but God.<\/p>\n
Now<\/p>\n
what then? What does Christianity say or<\/p>\n
do with suffering and death?<\/p>\n
One thing you need to see is that this<\/p>\n
narrative, this narrative, it in it<\/p>\n
invites us in. It invites it.<\/p>\n
Christianity doesn't say it just<\/p>\n
happens. Deal with it. Nor does<\/p>\n
Christianity say run from it or deny it.<\/p>\n
No. Christianity invites us in to see<\/p>\n
what God in Christ has done with death.<\/p>\n
Look at verse two. Look at the text.<\/p>\n
Look at verse two.<\/p>\n
There was an earthquake. There was a<\/p>\n
great earthquake and an angel appears<\/p>\n
from heaven and then the stone is rolled<\/p>\n
away.<\/p>\n
Now, what's going on here? This is quite<\/p>\n
a display of heavenly drama with lights<\/p>\n
and explosions.<\/p>\n
But don't miss the point. There is no<\/p>\n
implication here that all of this lights<\/p>\n
and drama and the rolling of the stone<\/p>\n
was to release and to resurrect Jesus.<\/p>\n
That's not the reason the angel didn't<\/p>\n
come to help Jesus escape. That's quite<\/p>\n
clear. Well, then why do why does the<\/p>\n
stone roll back?<\/p>\n
It rolls back to let the first witnesses<\/p>\n
in.<\/p>\n
It invites us in. Look what the angel<\/p>\n
said. Verse five and six. He says,<\/p>\n
\"Don't be afraid.<\/p>\n
Don't be afraid.\" Now, that's very<\/p>\n
understandable, right? Because if you<\/p>\n
ever been in an earthquake, right, it's<\/p>\n
a little bit scary. Don't be afraid. And<\/p>\n
then notice what the text says. For I<\/p>\n
know that you seek Jesus<\/p>\n
who was crucified. He is not here. For<\/p>\n
he has risen as he said. Come see. See,<\/p>\n
he's inviting. Come see the place where<\/p>\n
he lay.<\/p>\n
Maybe you're not a follower of Christ<\/p>\n
yet. Maybe you're still seeking truth.<\/p>\n
What Christianity is telling you is the<\/p>\n
same thing that it told these two womens<\/p>\n
with all the questions and riddles.<\/p>\n
Come into the tomb.<\/p>\n
Come closer. Come see that Jesus is not<\/p>\n
dead. Come see that Jesus has answered<\/p>\n
the riddle of life.<\/p>\n
Christianity answers the riddle of life<\/p>\n
and not by a new philosophy or a new<\/p>\n
YouTube channel or it doesn't offer a<\/p>\n
new way of a a pathway of life or a TED<\/p>\n
talk.<\/p>\n
Christianity Jesus Christ answers the<\/p>\n
riddle of life by his bodily<\/p>\n
resurrection over death and sin.<\/p>\n
Christianity. That's the answer. Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ gets up from the grave.<\/p>\n
The event of the resurrection answers<\/p>\n
the riddle of life from the inside out.<\/p>\n
Now, but even more,<\/p>\n
which is amazing, which is phenomenal,<\/p>\n
which is epic, but even more, it the<\/p>\n
text goes on. Why are the women invited<\/p>\n
in? And why are we today in Bangkok<\/p>\n
invited in to see? See, we are invited<\/p>\n
in because Jesus resurrected<\/p>\n
for us.<\/p>\n
See the Ning creed. The nice and Chris<\/p>\n
says he's resurrected for us and our<\/p>\n
salvation.<\/p>\n
He resurrected to restore us back to God<\/p>\n
from for all those who believe in him.<\/p>\n
See, Jesus was resurrected to restore<\/p>\n
Look at verses 8-10.<\/p>\n
So they departed quickly from the tomb<\/p>\n
with great fear with with fear and great<\/p>\n
joy and ran to tell his disciples. And<\/p>\n
behold, Jesus met them, saying,<\/p>\n
\"Greetings.\" And they came up and took<\/p>\n
hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then<\/p>\n
Jesus said to them, \"Do not be afraid.<\/p>\n
Go and tell my brothers, go to Galilee.<\/p>\n
There they will see me.\"<\/p>\n
So the women listen to the angel. That's<\/p>\n
always a good thing. And they they saw<\/p>\n
the empty tomb and their hearts are<\/p>\n
filled with fear and great joy. So<\/p>\n
there's a mix of emotions. So in their<\/p>\n
running, in their going, in their<\/p>\n
obedience, then Jesus appears.<\/p>\n
He appears to the women and he greets<\/p>\n
them. He says greetings.<\/p>\n
He's basically saying swatty cop.<\/p>\n
He's saying hello.<\/p>\n
This is very simple.<\/p>\n
This is this is a normal welcome. A a<\/p>\n
very simple normal greeting. A hello.<\/p>\n
Now, now on the surface, I was thinking<\/p>\n
about this. It's kind of odd that<\/p>\n
Matthew would record this. Again, it's<\/p>\n
so simple. It's so ordinary. It's so<\/p>\n
normal.<\/p>\n
Unless<\/p>\n
unless you're saying hello to somebody<\/p>\n
that your relationship has been broken.<\/p>\n
See, have you ever had this experience?<\/p>\n
Have you ever walked unexpect as you're<\/p>\n
walking uh you walk by a person that you<\/p>\n
have a broken relationship with?<\/p>\n
you walk by and maybe there's uh in that<\/p>\n
relationship there was betrayal or<\/p>\n
abandonment or maybe it's that person<\/p>\n
that you broke up with or even worse<\/p>\n
divorced.<\/p>\n
Maybe it's that person that kind of<\/p>\n
ruined your career or your name.<\/p>\n
You've been sinned against the the<\/p>\n
relationship. Well, they say is<\/p>\n
complicated.<\/p>\n
It's it's very complicated, you know. I<\/p>\n
mean, even simply, I know that sometimes<\/p>\n
it's hard for for Manny and I when when<\/p>\n
there's something against I we're kind<\/p>\n
of broken and sometimes hard to say<\/p>\n
hello, good morning, it's hard<\/p>\n
sometimes.<\/p>\n
So, see, saying greetings,<\/p>\n
saying hello to them,<\/p>\n
that's hard because everything you want<\/p>\n
to do is re you want to do is you want<\/p>\n
to reject them. You want to walk right<\/p>\n
past them. You want to forget them.<\/p>\n
You don't want to be noticed and you<\/p>\n
don't want to notice them. And so when<\/p>\n
Jesus appears to the women by saying<\/p>\n
greetings,<\/p>\n
Jesus is saying a whole lot more. See,<\/p>\n
Jesus tells the women, look what he<\/p>\n
says. Go tell my brothers. Go tell my<\/p>\n
brothers. Go tell his disciples, his<\/p>\n
chosen disciples, the disciples who<\/p>\n
denied him, doubted him, scattered,<\/p>\n
abandoned, left him to be crucified.<\/p>\n
Do you see what he's saying to the<\/p>\n
women? Go tell them, my brothers, I want<\/p>\n
to see them. I want to restore them.<\/p>\n
See, uh you see in how the angel in<\/p>\n
verse 7 says, \"Do not be afraid.\" And<\/p>\n
then also Jesus repeats this in verse 10<\/p>\n
saying the same thing. Do not be afraid.<\/p>\n
How can Jesus do this?<\/p>\n
Jesus when he appears to the women and<\/p>\n
then eventually to his disciples,<\/p>\n
Jesus approaches them based on his<\/p>\n
substitutionary work for them. What do I<\/p>\n
mean? See when he said on the cross,<\/p>\n
\"Father, forgive them.\" He's saying<\/p>\n
that, \"Father, forgive my brothers<\/p>\n
also.\"<\/p>\n
He's saying to them, \"Now, don't be<\/p>\n
afraid.<\/p>\n
I have perfect love for you.<\/p>\n
I'm for you. I'm with you.\"<\/p>\n
See, what does this mean? Jesus,<\/p>\n
he's not going to bring up what they did<\/p>\n
or what they didn't do sinfully or out<\/p>\n
of fear. No, Jesus approaches them in a<\/p>\n
fully restored, reconciled relationship.<\/p>\n
It's not that his disciples didn't sin.<\/p>\n
No, they did. But that Jesus takes their<\/p>\n
sin willingly absorbed it. The<\/p>\n
resurrection means more than you think.<\/p>\n
See, the apostle Paul said it this way<\/p>\n
that Jesus was raised for their<\/p>\n
justification. And then even in our<\/p>\n
assurance of pardon,<\/p>\n
what does it say right after that?<\/p>\n
Therefore, we have peace with God. We<\/p>\n
have peace. See, resurrection equits us.<\/p>\n
Resurrection declares us not guilty. And<\/p>\n
that relationally it means that G Jesus<\/p>\n
is totally for them because he has taken<\/p>\n
their unbelief,<\/p>\n
their denial, their faithlessness.<\/p>\n
Jesus does so because as Christ he<\/p>\n
became sin, their sin, my sin, your sin,<\/p>\n
and he has become the righteousness, the<\/p>\n
merit that they did not deserve.<\/p>\n
And so when he approaches them, he's<\/p>\n
saying greetings. He's saying, \"I love<\/p>\n
you. I'm for you. I'm coming to restore<\/p>\n
you.\"<\/p>\n
Here is where Christ and Christianity<\/p>\n
stand apart from every other religion.<\/p>\n
See, Jesus doesn't come back and say,<\/p>\n
\"Oh, now now you're going to need to<\/p>\n
earn and merit my love and receive my<\/p>\n
love and resurrection.\"<\/p>\n
Jesus doesn't come back as a vengeful<\/p>\n
God.<\/p>\n
Nor does Jesus come and offer lectures<\/p>\n
and lessons on how to resurrect.<\/p>\n
See, there's nothing in the Bible that<\/p>\n
teaches us how to perform a<\/p>\n
resurrection.<\/p>\n
It's not like Jesus is saying here,<\/p>\n
okay, I've resurrected and here are the<\/p>\n
instructions. Now that you know that<\/p>\n
resurrection can happen, now you have to<\/p>\n
figure out how to resurrect. And here's<\/p>\n
the five-step plan.<\/p>\n
See, look how Jesus comes to the women.<\/p>\n
He says, \"Greetings.\" It's greetings of<\/p>\n
grace because it's his grace.<\/p>\n
They're a gracious king who saved them<\/p>\n
from death and sin.<\/p>\n
Jesus has paid the price for them and he<\/p>\n
has come to them.<\/p>\n
Resurrection is God's work and God's<\/p>\n
work alone. his gracious power, not our<\/p>\n
earth. He restored their relationship.<\/p>\n
Don't be afraid.<\/p>\n
I'm for you. I love you. I'm with you.<\/p>\n
Do you know why this is critically<\/p>\n
important?<\/p>\n
It answers another riddle of life.<\/p>\n
Yes, death is a riddle to us, but also<\/p>\n
almost all cultures, I can say all<\/p>\n
cultures and and people know that it's<\/p>\n
it's your relationships that matter<\/p>\n
most. It's your family or your friends<\/p>\n
or your neighbors. It's that these<\/p>\n
relationships are uttermost important.<\/p>\n
It's your community makes life worth<\/p>\n
living.<\/p>\n
Or<\/p>\n
if you have a hard relationship,<\/p>\n
it's hard.<\/p>\n
It can feel like you're living in hell.<\/p>\n
See, Jesus when he tells the women,<\/p>\n
\"Tell my brothers, I'm coming to meet<\/p>\n
them.\" It he is telling us that the<\/p>\n
resurrection is more than a historical<\/p>\n
event. Though it is.<\/p>\n
See, too often Christians<\/p>\n
only think of thinking about presenting<\/p>\n
the evidence for the resurrection as a<\/p>\n
historical event as if they're giving a<\/p>\n
history lesson in a university.<\/p>\n
But that is not what Jesus does with his<\/p>\n
disciples.<\/p>\n
He meets them. He meets them. You you<\/p>\n
know what this means?<\/p>\n
The resurrection answers the riddle of<\/p>\n
life not by an event alone but by the<\/p>\n
very person of Christ himself.<\/p>\n
See the witness and the apologetic of<\/p>\n
Christianity is not is not enough facts.<\/p>\n
I can't give you enough facts about<\/p>\n
Christianity and the religion for you to<\/p>\n
believe. But what I can give you and I<\/p>\n
offer you today<\/p>\n
is Christ.<\/p>\n
Christ himself, Jesus Christ, comes to<\/p>\n
you personally.<\/p>\n
He comes to meet you. He comes to know<\/p>\n
you and you can know him. See, this is<\/p>\n
incredible because look what Jesus says<\/p>\n
about himself. Look at verse 18. All<\/p>\n
authority on heaven and earth have been<\/p>\n
given to me. He is the king of kings and<\/p>\n
rightfully so. There's no other ruler,<\/p>\n
no other king, no other person<\/p>\n
who has ever done what Jesus did.<\/p>\n
No king, no ruler, no person has ever<\/p>\n
got up from the grave.<\/p>\n
But then get this, the King of Kings<\/p>\n
comes to meet you.<\/p>\n
He comes to meet you and he wants to<\/p>\n
share in a relationship with you like a<\/p>\n
brother, like a friend, like a like a<\/p>\n
king who loves his people intimately.<\/p>\n
I will tell you<\/p>\n
that<\/p>\n
that will make you the most incredible<\/p>\n
restored person.<\/p>\n
The one I'm supposed to live for me has<\/p>\n
lived<\/p>\n
The one I'm supposed to live for has<\/p>\n
lived for me. The one that I rejected<\/p>\n
now receives me. The one the king wants<\/p>\n
me to meet with.<\/p>\n
Who am I?<\/p>\n
I'm known by my king.<\/p>\n
That will do.<\/p>\n
I tell you too that that this kind of<\/p>\n
love makes will make you an incredibly<\/p>\n
loving person.<\/p>\n
When you know that the king loves you<\/p>\n
like that,<\/p>\n
you can't help but love others with a<\/p>\n
kind of love like that.<\/p>\n
That g king that the king is Jesus and<\/p>\n
that he is powerful enough<\/p>\n
to protect you from all your enemies and<\/p>\n
to protect his relationship with you<\/p>\n
that he is always with you. So if you're<\/p>\n
if you're a Christian here, you can say<\/p>\n
that's my king. It's it's a king you<\/p>\n
want to follow and to worship and to go<\/p>\n
tell the world.<\/p>\n
The woman go tell the brothers and then<\/p>\n
Jesus commisss the brothers to go tell<\/p>\n
the world. Jesus risen was risen to go<\/p>\n
for us to go and tell the world. Verses<\/p>\n
19 and 20. Go therefore and make<\/p>\n
observe all that I've commanded you. And<\/p>\n
behold, I am with you always to the end<\/p>\n
of age. The strong exhortation here is<\/p>\n
go, go, tell the world. The resurrection<\/p>\n
of Christ answers the riddle of the<\/p>\n
meaning of life. The resurrection makes<\/p>\n
you incredibly active. See, in in most<\/p>\n
religions and in modern secularism,<\/p>\n
this life is all there is. It's over<\/p>\n
when you die. And so, there's no real<\/p>\n
difference of what you do and what you<\/p>\n
say or what you do don't do or don't say<\/p>\n
or how you do it. Therefore, ultimately,<\/p>\n
it's insignificant.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the resurrection says<\/p>\n
all of life matters. Every moment<\/p>\n
matters. Everyone matters. So invest in<\/p>\n
that. Invest in people because people<\/p>\n
last. Relationships last.<\/p>\n
So go<\/p>\n
here. The translation could be<\/p>\n
translated while going.<\/p>\n
While you are going, while you're going<\/p>\n
through your day and your life, know it<\/p>\n
all matters. Beauty and truth, you<\/p>\n
matter. Your neighbor matters. As CS<\/p>\n
Lewis says, you will never meet an<\/p>\n
ordinary person.<\/p>\n
But I can also say you will never meet a<\/p>\n
person who hasn't wondered about life,<\/p>\n
fear death, and questions the meaning of<\/p>\n
why all this.<\/p>\n
We all have the riddles of life in in<\/p>\n
front of us.<\/p>\n
And maybe that's you. Maybe you are even<\/p>\n
still a Christian and you have those<\/p>\n
questions. You know, it says in the<\/p>\n
text, you know, some worship but others<\/p>\n
doubted. It's mixed. There was hesitance<\/p>\n
at point.<\/p>\n
It took a little time to get an<\/p>\n
understanding here. So brothers and<\/p>\n
sisters, friends, wherever you are, be<\/p>\n
active<\/p>\n
actively going making disciples.<\/p>\n
This is where community plays a huge<\/p>\n
role. This is essentially what Jesus is<\/p>\n
saying. Go and make disciples, baptizing<\/p>\n
them, teaching them. He's saying that<\/p>\n
the message of resurrection forms<\/p>\n
communities,<\/p>\n
forms churches and then people in these<\/p>\n
communities are now in new with new<\/p>\n
identities and have answered the<\/p>\n
question, who am I? Who I belong to? I<\/p>\n
belong to the God of life, the king of<\/p>\n
kings, the god of love and I can be<\/p>\n
walked. I can walk in this grace that he<\/p>\n
has bestowed on me.<\/p>\n
See this community,<\/p>\n
Grace City, Bangkok, can be influencers<\/p>\n
to this city. So go help people believe.<\/p>\n
Trust that Jesus says to them and to us,<\/p>\n
\"Come in. Come and see. See the empty<\/p>\n
tomb.<\/p>\n
I've come to meet with you, to restore<\/p>\n
you.<\/p>\n
know that I have loved you and I will<\/p>\n
always be with you. This is the message<\/p>\n
of Christianity, Jesus Christ, the<\/p>\n
person and the work of Christ. Let us<\/p>\n
believe. Let us pray<\/p>\n
now.<\/p>\n
Lord, we thank you that you are good and<\/p>\n
that you got up from the grave because<\/p>\n
that was our that was our end. We don't<\/p>\n
understand so much about this life. But<\/p>\n
if we understand that you got up from<\/p>\n
the grave, that you resurrected all of<\/p>\n
life<\/p>\n
can make sense.<\/p>\n
And to know that you not only got<\/p>\n
resurrected for not just yourself, but<\/p>\n
for us that we know that we can be<\/p>\n
restored. So Lord, there are many here<\/p>\n
that need that restoration to need that<\/p>\n
they they know that they are fully loved<\/p>\n
and fully known and that you're with<\/p>\n
them and wherever they're at. We pray<\/p>\n
Lord that we would help people and be<\/p>\n
active in this city and that more people<\/p>\n
will come to see and to know and display<\/p>\n
Jesus Christ in his name. Amen.<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20260408","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=d7Y-_3GFadQ","video_id":"d7Y-_3GFadQ","video_duration":"37:44","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions\/41"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}