The scripture reading for this morning comes from John chapter 20 Verses 1 through 10
John chapter 20 verses 1 through 10 And the word of God reads Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple the one whom Jesus loved and said to them They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him So Peter went out with the other disciple and they were going toward the tomb Both of them were running together But the other disciple out ran Peter and reached the tomb first And stooping to look in he saw the linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb He saw the linen cloth lying there and the face cloth which had been on Jesus's head Not lying with the linen cloth, but folded in a place by itself Then the other disciple who reached the tomb first also went in and he saw and believed For as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead Then the disciples went back to their homes. This is the word of the Lord to us. I have a question for you this morning What did you expect when you came here this morning? What did you expect when you came in? I'm sure there were certain things that you expected would happen You perhaps expected to sing some songs You expected to greet some people and if not greet them at least see some people here this morning This is a church and it's East Point Church. I hope you expected that the Bible would be read and That you would perhaps hear someone pray Some of you came expecting to hear Pastor Tony preach this morning Here I am
Whatever you expected I imagine that you came with with some At the very at the very least you came expecting that things would be as you expected them to be quote-unquote you might have you expected them to be Normal that things would be somewhat status quo Here is the deal your expectations Your expectations have the ability to either disappoint you Or leave you brimming with wonder and amazement Take for instance high expectations that go unmet You know those times when things don't play out the way you thought or expected them or envision that they would play out Those unmet Unmet expectations often lead to frustration and disappointment and anger and perhaps fear resentment and other negative Emotions Unmet expectations are hard to process But then There are some times when our expectations are far too inadequate We we go somewhere or we encounter someone and our experience or our Interaction far exceeds what our expectations were we had expectations of How they were supposed to go and what it happens They are far greater and far far more impactful than we could have even Ever imagined but here's what I fear. Here's what I fear most of us because we have been so burned and Less disappointed by Unmet expectations That we either have of people or circumstances or situations and and we set the bar so low On the expectations that we have or place on others So as to not feel that disappointment or frustration again Now Managing your expectations is a good thing if you ask me it is a very good thing We place unfortunately on people and on situations far too high expectations And so we find ourselves when those expectations are not met we find ourselves with those negative emotions that we mentioned Setting managing your expectations is a good thing But here is the problem with that We carry those low expectations into our relationship with God We assume that God is like us and if our expectations of him are too high, then he will disappoint us Brothers and sisters, here is what I want you to understand this morning Whatever Expectations you have around how God works or what he can do are far too inadequate Paul says in Ephesians 3.20 now to him now to him who was able to do far more abundantly than all that we can ask or think According to the power at work within us Our expectations of how God can work and what he can do are often too inadequate. They're too low listen to how Paul says it in 2nd Corinthians 9 and verse 8 and God is able He is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all Suspension see in all things at all times you may abound in every good work remember Moses When God told him that he was gonna go before Pharaoh That he was to go before Pharaoh and command Pharaoh to release the Hebrew people Moses is fearful and he says Lord, I cannot speak my tongue stammers and Listen to what God says in Exodus 4 11 and 12 Who has made man's mouth Who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not eyes the Lord? Now therefore go and I will be your mouth and teach you what you shall speak Brothers sisters, this is how God works his ways are not our way He he doesn't think on our wavelengths nor operate on our timelines His formulas are different than our formulas our expectations of how he works and what he will do are far too limited How do I know that? How do I come to that conclusion with confidence this morning? Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead means that our expectations of what God can do are never too high They are never inflated the empty tomb Gives us confidence to believe in a God who can do exceedingly more than all that we can think or imagine We will see that I believe in our text this morning Listen Those first century disciples had Expectations they woke up that Easter morning at first Easter morning with expectations The morning after Their Lord was buried they expected things to be as they expected them to be status quo When people die and are buried there is an expectation that they will remain so the disciples In some sense in a in a natural sense were were right to believe this They're right to believe this as we saw the last couple of weeks. There was no denying right it was very clear that Jesus Pastatoni made it clear really died He really died and really was buried There are witnesses and clear evidence that Jesus indeed breathed his last breath on the cross and and the Roman soldiers we said confirm that by piercing Jesus in his side and we we saw blood and and water rush out of his side It was no denying that his body had been prepared and and then laid and placed in a tomb There were those who performed this task at the risk of their own lives There was there was no incentive they had no incentive to fabricate this story or this detail And so the expectations of the disciples on that Sunday morning Where that Jesus Was dead and still in the tomb But as we mentioned expectations are tricky The disciples as we will see this morning in our text went to the tomb with some expectations But those expectations were far too low and they were going to find out that God could do more than they could think or even imagine
the text This text this morning is full of exceeded expectations and it starts with John Telling us who was first to see the stone rolled away Continuing with his theme of highlighting unexpected participants in this post crucifixion scene after Speaking of the faith induced courage the Nicodemus and Joseph of Aramacia John says that on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb of Jesus This is unexpected This is unexpected because you see in the first century sadly a woman's testimony was not considered valid They could not be called as a witness to testify in courts nor was their testimony considered to be reliable If you are building a case if you wanted to prove a point For you were wanting to get people to believe a message the expectation is that your witnesses and at least your first witnesses would be men That would have been the expectation of those hearing and reading this account But God is not like us His ways are not our ways They are far better The expectation may have been that the first eye witnesses to the empty tomb would have been men But God was doing something better. He was exceeding expectations He was dismantling the sinful idea that one gender was better than another gender He was calling attention to the value and the dignity of women and ultimate identity that rest in Christ In Mary being the first eye witness to the resurrected Christ And there are other women that the gospel writers tell us about Jesus was giving example to what Paul would later say in Galatians 3 and 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free There is no male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus
We need to stop setting our expectations so low in terms of who God can use as a witness for him None of them. Nobody in the first century would have thought a woman would be the first eye witness to see Jesus We need to stop setting our expectations so low. Could the Lord use a child to be a witness for him? Sure could We need to stop setting our expectations so low God will use those we least expect to be a witness for him Oh Mary Mary would be the first to the tomb is what John tells us he she got there first And the other gospel writers tell us that she She had gone early in the morning carrying Additional oil and spices to anoint the body of Jesus She went Expecting Jesus to be in the tomb when she arrived Her expectations were not met they were unmet The stone had been rolled away from the tomb and her unmet expectations didn't give way to joy or or Amazement it gave way to fear
John tells us that after seeing the stone the stone rolled away. She ran Mary ran She she was compelled to tell Peter and John what she saw and upon reaching them She utters the fear drenched assessment of the situation John 22 They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him Mary was convinced she was convinced that someone had taken the body out of the tomb maybe stolen the body of Jesus What what other explanation could there be for Jesus not being in the tomb What whatever she thought happened she obviously didn't think it was a good thing They stole the body they have taken the Lord she said Which is telling about her expectations When what she expected to happen Didn't happen her first thought was This is a bad thing Something negative has happened Don't we do this brothers and sisters Don't we do this all the time when things don't go as we expect our first thought is Something must be wrong Something must have happened things didn't go according to the way I think they should have gone Therefore there is some evil intent behind it Oh This was this was John the Baptist right he gets he gets put in Jason's preaching about the one who wants to come and and Jesus He baptizes Jesus and and he is put in jail for speaking the truth and what does he do? He questions if Jesus is really the Messiah are you really the one I should we look for another Something bad happens didn't go the way he was expecting it to go And he assumed something bad was happening We saw this with Martha Jesus delays in going to Bethany to attend to his sixth friend Lazarus and Martha is convinced that something bad something negative something evil is happening Brothers sisters When unexpected things happen Let's not be so quick to dismiss it as something bad or negative happening Let's not a rust to assume the the worst don't let fear grip your heart There is perhaps a better way for something you can say Perhaps you can ask the Lord Lord show me what you are doing You're sovereign oh lord. I know you are sovereign and you are in control of all things show me what you are doing Lord Help me see grant to me the eyes of faith. I know you are doing something Please show it to me Mary Mary thought something negative happened until she runs and tells Peter and John Peter and John upon hearing the reports of Mary they take they take off for the for the tomb But before they took off for the tomb we were told in another gospel that they thought Mary was telling an idol tale They thought she was just she was just playing with them or or What or was it wasn't telling the truth But once they finally finally believed her they they take off running for the tomb They want to see for themselves And perhaps find out Try to figure out what happened So they so they take off Running and and and and and I guess I'm assuming for some comedic effect I don't I don't know why else it would be there John John says that he out ran Peter to the tomb. It's like an old man joke because You know John was younger than Peter So so he was he puts it in there. We don't know why saying that saying that he John got to the tomb first before Peter and as as John gets to the tomb he he looks in and He too sees something unexpected Whereas Mary noticed that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb John notices as he looks in that the living cloth That That wrapped the body the dead body of Jesus are there lying in the tomb, but there is no Jesus there
yet perhaps Expected to see nothing in the tomb when he when when Mary told him that the stone had been rolled away but the linen clothes It appears through him for a loop Because he stops and just peers in to the tomb. He does not go in It gave him Pause John says he didn't go in but stood from the outside looking in John's response To the unexpected was not to be gripped with fear like Mary but his response Was with some trepidation He had some fear as well He was thrown off by the grave close still lying there in the tomb folded up We can probably assume that it this whole situation just overwhelmed him He was he was perplexed by the situation. He knew something was not right But at this point the resurrection was far from his mind. He was not thinking about a resurrected lord He probably started doing what most of us do When we encounter the unexpected If we don't run in fear like Mary did We begin to explain it away He started running through the scenarios perhaps and started speculating on what could have happened His first art perhaps was Know that that someone had stolen the body Somebody took took the body out of the tomb And here's the thing that was not a far-fetched idea The robbing of of of graves was a common occurrence People were buried with jewels and expensive oils and spices and therefore thieves would often pillage tombs for their riches For the riches that they contained Perhaps he thought the chief priests and and the other religious leaders took the body to discredit the followers of Jesus If if if they said if the followers of Jesus took his body and they said that Jesus rode from the dead Well, then we could just produce the body and say that they they weren't telling the truth Maybe the Romans took the body And placed in another tomb to prevent people from taking It and causing other issues scenario after scenario Race perhaps through John's mind as he tried to explain away what was happening why are these grave clothes still lying here But here's the thing Those grave clothes still lying there debunked all those theories If someone Oh or even move the body logic common sense says why would the grave clothes still be lying there What's the point What's the point of unwrapping the body leaving the clothes folded up there if you're going to steal the body
sadly This explaining a way of the events of Easter morning Have continued throughout the centuries The truth is I'm speculating on what John thought and what ran through his mind as he peered into that that tomb He he doesn't tell us what what he said or what he was thinking when he first saw those grave clothes He doesn't tell us why he kind of just stopped at the tomb didn't go in But I don't have to speculate About the theories people have developed since That first Easter morning to explain a way of the tomb to explain away the empty tomb Many Have tried to explain in a way saying that Disciples themselves They're the ones that stole the body They stole the body and that Jesus They kind of hit him somewhere in some remote location and that Jesus died a natural death later and and they did this So that the this to get Christianity off the ground And get it exploded right What they were saying would be true There are others who believe that If that it was all just a mass hallucination That that Mary and the other disciples wanted Jesus to be alive They wanted to believe you so much they they were so distraught over the crucifixion And they loved him so much that it just kind of became a figment of their imagination And this is the mass hallucination of of of of Jesus Then they weren't doing it in like a malicious way You just they love Jesus so much and they came up with this story And the last one I'll mention is the idea that the story grew over time It's the idea that you know when you tell a story over and over again It you begin to embellish it a little bit and and it kind of just takes on a life of its own It's oh Jesus they say never really rose from the grave The resurrection account is just basically a long a history long game of telephone
Over the centuries these have been the responses To the empty tune What's interesting is that
The unexpected right because it was unexpected The grave closed line there the empty tune it was unexpected the unexpected has not has not caused people to see or maybe ask What did God do What is God what is God doing what might he have to say about this The immediate response of people when they see the empty tune When when John saw the empty tune was passed to explain it's away Oh, we need We need to be careful that we don't think too highly of ourselves God still does be unexpected
He says someone We least expected Heels a disease that we didn't think could be healed And we don't attribute it to the Lord We just explain it away we come up with all different types of theories To explain what could have happened and we don't attribute it to the miraculous power Of God that was John's first inclination still perplex He stood outside the grave peering in hesitant to examine it any further Until Peter finally arrived Peter arrived at the grave and pushed to my side For for all the unexpected things that happened that morning What happened next one could have expected and predicted Peter went running into the tomb of course he did he was he was the brass Peter He was he was the loud mouth the the impulsive Peter he gets to the tomb and pushes John aside and he enters into the tomb I am not sure what what Peter was thinking none of the gospel writers tell us what Peter went Why and he went barreling into the tomb, but it seems from his actions he knew something was up It appears he entered the tomb not seeking information but seeking confirmation I think Peter was not sure what had happened, but he believed that God was up to something He too saw the grave close and then we read this John 28 then these other disciples this is John John who had reached the tomb first also went in and he saw and believed
Following the bonus of Peter and I don't think we should miss this I hope I'm not reaching here But sometimes it takes the face of others to help us evaluate the unexpected with eyes of faith
Rather than just explaining it away We need those to ask the right questions and dig a little deeper and they challenge us to take a look Don't just explain it away ask what is God doing
John Follows Peter into the tomb And as they look together at the close and I imagine explain exchange some thoughts John then says He saw And believed that morning the disciples woke up They expected that Jesus was dead and buried But despite Jesus saying several times Despite just saying several times that they would see him again They were not expecting the resurrection nobody woke up that morning expecting a resurrection And as they stood in that empty tomb staring at the grave close They realized that their expectations had been far too limited Jesus had really died and he was really buried and now he had really raised from the dead That was The realization that they came to John When he says he saw and believed is declaring his Faith his his belief in the risen Lord He he did not yet see him physically right we are told later on that Jesus appears to them
that morning All they saw was an empty tomb And grave close And that was enough For them to believe Believe what what did they believe what what could they have believed in believe they they would have believed that Jesus was who he said he was That he was the long prophesied Messiah and that he And that what he said to Martha was true in John 11 25 to 26 Jesus said to her I am the resurrection and the life Whoever believes in me though he shall die yet shall he live And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die do you believe this Jesus asked Mary Martha excuse me And he asked us this morning Do you believe this? Do you believe that Jesus was risen from the dead That the tomb is empty and because he lives you too shall live Oh, that's That's what John And Peter believed that morning the empty tomb Exceeded their expectations And that empty tomb changed everything Everything first first off they they saw the scriptures with with with new eyes Don tells us Why their expectations were so low He tells us That they were were not thinking about the resurrection they that that was not that was not in their in their framework that was not in their mind They did not understand the scriptures and how they pointed to that moment they were experiencing that morning But in the tomb As they exchanged notes They now saw clearly They should have expected this Psalm 16 and 10 perhaps ran through their mind where the psalmist says for you will not abandon my soul to Sheel or let your body your let your holy one see corruption
Not only could they have relied on the Old Testament scriptures They could have thought deeper and paid greater attention to what Jesus had said when he walked with them After Peter confessed that Jesus was indeed the Messiah the Son of God Jesus clearly stated to his disciples in Luke 9 and 22 The Son of man Must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed on the third day And on the third day be raised He's just one of the places just one of the places where he said it clearly But he also spoken in figures of speech saying that if they destroyed this temple then in three days he would raise it up again The markers and the indicators were numerous and clear The disciples when going to that tomb that morning should have had higher expectations
But they need not dwell On what they should have expected The tomb was empty now The tomb was empty now. They need not dwell on what should have happened Their expectations had now been exceeded and they were over joined. I love how Luke tells it He says that Peter left the tomb marveling marveling at what had happened I think he was running to the tomb in fear and Trapedation and and not knowing and he left running from the tomb with joy and with with with with marveling at what God had done
Whatever expectations they had They were now going to be exceeded Whatever expectations they had of what would happen next We're going to be exceeded Where death was once the expectation Because Jesus got out of the grave one could now expect eternal life For in the resurrection you do understand that death was defeated That's what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 and 55 when when Jesus got out the grave It was death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death. Where is your victory? Oh death. Where is your sting Death had been defeated And because death was defeated Jesus was simply the first fruits Those in Christ would be raised as well First Corinthians 15 22 but in fact Christ had been raised from the dead The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep For as by a man came death by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead For as an Adam all died so also in Christ all shall be made of life Or rather sisters when Jesus got out of the grave Our expectation of death Being the end of the story was no longer so that expectation was exceeded with the promise of eternal life Oh, but not only not only that When Jesus got out of the grave It meant that There is more to this life than we expect
First Corinthians 15 16 through 19 For if the dead are not raised Not even Christ has been raised And if Christ has not been raised your faith is futile and you are still in your sins Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished if Christ if in Christ we have hope in this life only we are of all people most To be pitied You and I can not only expect to live life But we can expect to live it abundantly Abundantly like the song says life is worth the living just because he lives Because he lives I can face tomorrow and not just face tomorrow. I can live it to its fullest Or rather sister Our God is able and does more than you and I Can think or imagine the empty tomb the resurrection of Jesus Christ confirm that It changed everything
therefore Therefore Can we can we stop projecting low expectations on God? The the God whom you pray to the God whom you say you believe in raised Jesus from the grave the tomb is empty Surely If he was able to do that surely then you can believe that he is able to heal your broken relationship Surely then if he got out the grave yet that he can save your most wayward family member or friend Stop managing your expectations when it comes to God
You and I can come here this morning. Yes And expect to hear singing And to hear praying and to fellowship one another with one another But you can also expect the spirit of God to make you new to to renew you to make you more and more like Jesus and you you can expect to to see God grant you victory over your sin You can you can expect to see God give you joy for sorrow
fact He says We ought to live our lives knowing the power of the resurrection Romans 8 11 The spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your model mortal bodies Through his spirit who dwells in you All that's the power of the resurrection. That's the power of the empty tomb The resurrection gives us confidence to believe God can do more than we can think or ask All the resurrection gives us the confidence to sing with with full assurance full belief That song children sing Perhaps a song that that you sing my God is so big So strong and so mighty There's nothing my God cannot do He got he raised Jesus from the dead Stop setting your expectations so low God is able to do far more abundantly than you can think or ask The confidence we have in that truth is that the tomb is empty Jesus got out of that grave and he lives He lives He lives Let's pray