Empty Expectations

Well, good morning, sore Church, Good morning. Friends, Family. I hope you guys are doing well this morning. Um, I’m really excited to Share the word with you this morning, we’re gonna be talking about empty expectations. We’re gonna be looking at John chapter 20 I’m gonna walk you through those 1st 10 verses there. Um, but before we do, I think it’s customary right to say he is risen and you he is risen. Indeed. Amen to that. Amen to that. So why are you turning to John chapter 20 I want to share with you some of my first world problems. Maybe you can laugh at my misery. Um but it’s connected to today’s message about expectations again. First world problems, nothing too major. Right? Um, so my vehicle, the car that I drive has a backup sensor, every time I put the vehicle in reverse, it beeps and it lets me know that something is behind my vehicle or something is in in the rear of my vehicle. And the intensity of the beat increases the closer I get to something, this beat has conditioned me like one of Pavlov’s dogs. Right to the point where I’ve become somewhat of a bad driver when it comes to putting my vehicle in reverse, which is a problem. When I drive my wife’s minivan that does not have the beeping backup sensor. And so every time I hop into that van and I throw it into reverse, conditioned like one of Pavlov’s dogs, I hastily back up, not hearing the beat, not worried that there’s anything behind me until I hear a crunching sound and my wife saying, you just scratched up my van again again. Mhm. Every time I get into her van, I have expectations, but they are empty because she does not have a backup sensor in the back of her van. And today we’re gonna talk about empty expectations and we’re we ought to have our expectations. So I’m gonna walk us through john chapter 20 verses one through 10, beginning in verse and the first verse, jOHn says 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. one of the very first things we see here is the highlighting of the first day of the week. Which is significant because whether you understand it or not, we gather on the first day of the week and we gather on the first day of the week because it is the Lord’s day, it is the Lord’s day because that is the day that the Lord was raised from the dead. This is unique. This is different because in the jewish culture, according to the old testament, the sabbath was at the end of the week, saturday, but jesus was raised on the first day of the week and so realistically, every sunday is a reminder of resurrection, sunday, the Chavez according to old testament law was a day of rest and worship. Now sunday has become the day of rest and worship the resurrection of the Lord points to the ultimate rest. The rest from the plight of sin and Brokenness and the curse of sin that is upon the world. It is a promise of the rest that God will give us from even the pains of death as jesus overcame death. So the first day of the week is for us a witness of the promise that we have in christ jesus. And there was no coincidence that the writers of the new testament like to highlight the Lord’s day, the first day of the week mary Magdalene, she comes to the tomb early while it is still dark. Now that is quite risky for a woman at this particular time in history, it’s dark out. She’s headed to place of burial, she’s headed to a grave site, so to speak and to do so in, in the cover of darkness was risky, but why does she do it? Why does she do it? Why is she headed so early in the morning to get to the tomb mary is still grieving and we know from other accounts you didn’t go alone. There were at least two women that went to the tomb this early in the morning. They’re grieving, they’re unable to rest, they’re unable to move on so quickly having witnessed just three days prior jesus being nailed to the cross and him breathing his last breath, they are restless and they are grieving and they are mourning but they get to this tomb and the stone has been rolled away. This is interesting. This smells of a conspiracy. This was a large stone that was rolled to the entrance of the tomb, something that one person couldn’t do on their own. You need a group of strong individual, strong men to roll the stone away and she is utterly concern that perhaps someone intending to to do further harm and disrespect to the Lord jesus christ has taken his body. And so we read on in verse two, it says 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 again. She is concerned that there has been a grave robbery in a sense which wasn’t uncommon at this particular time. In fact In 80 40, the Emperor Claudius, he has signed the death penalty to anyone caught robbing graves because people did it some out of just malicious intent and others because they have political agendas. And so whether it was to desecrate the grave of a political enemy or to prop up their own political agenda, they would rob a grave or they would desecrate a grave, they would do something to the tomb. It was a concern here of mary. It is a concern now of Peter and john that the political enemies of jesus have taken his body and that they intend to do further harm or danger to the reputation and the name and the ministry of christ, why won’t they simply allow him to rest? Is the concern, they’ve already nailed him to the cross, They’ve already put him to death, Why won’t they allow him to rest? And so mary’s concern, she comes to Peter and john, Peter being the leader of leaders of the disciples and john self described as the one whom jesus loved, she testifies to them. Now this is also important as they are being told about the empty tomb because in this particular time and culture and day and age you needed the testimony of two men to verify a thing And so in verse three Peter went out with the other disciple and they were going towards the tomb and both of them were running together But the other disciple, Outran Peter and reached the Tomb 1st. Now john in his old age has written this account but he is reflecting on his glory days when he out ran. Peter. Peter was probably 15 years older than John at the time but John is thinking you know these young people need to know that I used to be able to run back in the day sometimes when I’m playing ball with the youngsters and they run by me, I like to tap them on the shoulder, you know, I used to be somebody someday, I used to be able to run a lot faster and jump a lot higher, you know, the pride of an old man won’t die easily, but john in verse five, stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in and then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb, He saw the linen cloth lying there and the face claw which had been on jesus head, not lying with the linen cloth, but folded up in a place by itself. Again, you need two male witnesses to establish a thing and here they are to establish what mary and the other women have reported to them that the tomb is empty, but john it’s a little bit nervous about going into the tomb, Peter being older, not his concern, he walks in and he examines the place again, I mentioned to you that grave robbery was something that was common during that time, but the evidence is not pointing to someone breaking in in a haste, quickly shredding the burial cloth and making a mess of the place. The evidence points to someone not being in a rush, carefully thoughtfully folding the grave clothes. and so in verse eight, it says, then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in and he saw and believe Verse nine for us yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. Peter is looking at the evidence, the empty tomb and it’s not looking as if grave robbers have taken the body. So now he is perplexed. But it says that john he then goes in and he examines what Peter saw and he begins to believe, he begins to believe that somehow jesus must not be dead, he is no longer dead now. It’s not fully clear to him how or why this has taken place based on what verse nine says, it says they didn’t understand based on this scripture, but john being the younger, he’s starting to believe that jesus is no longer dead, Peter, you’re just a young man, you’re just not really thinking about this sensibly. And it says that the two of them went back to their homes probably discussing what they saw, john probably trying to express and I think he’s alive and Peter probably saying nah something’s fishy here. But I don’t know about that. That’s that’s crazy. But this entire empty tomb scene, it’s just an example of jesus blowing up the expectations of everyone. I mean all the trappings of death from seeing him breathe his last breath on the cross being placed in a tomb with a very large stone placed in front of it. Some records say that there was a seal on the outside to make sure that people would know that it was broken if if someone tried to move it. And yet he’s not inside. He’s not there, death which is supposed to be final and permanent has now become a mystery. Jesus is blowing up all of the expectations of even his closest followers. And they did have expectations of him. They had some expectations of him that were not so good. In some cases, then they had some expectations of him that were very human considering their circumstances. Let’s look at a few of their expectations. They expected a conquering military leader, not a sacrificial lamb. They expected war and bloodshed between Rome and Israel with jesus leading Israel to victory. They did not expect to see the shedding of the blood of the messiah. And finally, when it seemed as if he could no longer disappoint them by dying on the cross and being placed in the tomb, they expected to find a dead body in the empty tomb and they expected to find a dead body in the tomb. But and yet they found an empty tomb. Jesus is always blowing up the expectations of others. He will not be shackled by expectations of well meaning people. He will not be shackled by the expectations of this world. He will not be shackled by my expectations or your expectations of him. He will not even be shackled by the expectations of death. He is Lord his lord and he is life and the reason why mary and others are grieving and are perplexed by these things because in him was life and they were drawn to that life not life epitomized love and righteousness and goodness and generosity and kindness and that love was so magnanimous. It it drew you into it to hate. It meant that you were absolutely of the devil. Even when you think about this from the standpoint of being a christian that love and makes you to stand up in a public setting like this and sing songs to him. And if you’re trying to understand that and a natural sense, it doesn’t make sense. Why do this? Why sing songs? Why saying these words? But when you understand the life that was in him and who he is, you can’t help but to do so, you can’t help but to live a reality that will become an eternal reality for the people of God. There will be no b grunt told people in heaven, there will be no embarrassed people to sing his praises in heaven. Only passionate worshipers who believe in him who saw his life, his love, who tasted of his resurrected life in this life, It will be those surrounding the throne of God for eternity, joyfully giving him praise and glory. And even then he will still be blowing up all of our expectations more majesty, more glory, more power, more wisdom, more splendor than we could ever imagine you see when it comes to expectations. The word, anticipation comes to mind, expectations are all the things that we anticipate will happen and daily we expect and anticipate certain things will happen. Sometimes you expect good things and other times we expect unpleasant things. Sometimes others place expectations on us and we can feel it and it feels heavy and other times others can place expectations on us and it can breathe confidence in. We place expectations on others. Whether we spell it out for them or not, we placed those expectations on them. And if they don’t meet those expectations, we are disappointed with them or frustrated with them. When we believe that good expectations are being fulfilled, we’ve become very happy. And when we believe good expectations are not being fulfilled, we’ve become very disappointed. Great expectations can invigorate our souls and great expectations can overwhelm our souls. But expectations are reality, expectations are part of life. And expectations impact our attitudes and our outlook on life. Expectations are the background music playing in the human heart. I was watching a movie with my family recently and my daughter asked this question, she says, dad, why are they playing this? Very sad and and not so pleasant music now? And I said it’s because they are shaping and expectation for what is about to happen. And if you listen closely to the music playing in your own heart, what do you hear? What’s the sound like? Is it a pleasant sound? Is it joyful? Or is it sad, melancholy? Fearful early that morning. It was sad for mary later in that morning. It was fearful for john but then it became more optimistic. The sound hope starting to grow in him. But what about you when you think about your life, what do you hear? What’s the music like? What’s the sound like in the background of your heart for the last couple of years? Many And you’re anticipating the next global pandemic for the next funeral, next war, the next political disappointment. Most people are anticipating more pain, more frustration, more disappointment in life, more challenges, more heartache. And they find it hard to anticipate anything good from life and when it becomes that challenging, it becomes difficult to know who to trust, Where to place your trust this empty tomb, there’s a witness to us. We are to place our trust in christ And for many of us we can say yes and amen to that. We know that and yet we forget it. Music starts to play in the heart and we forget it. I want to remind you here in the closing moments for some of the reasons why you ought to remember and you have to fight to remember so that your expectations can be in God and shaped by who your God is and what he has done for you and what he’s promised to you. Just based on a very historical fact. First Corinthians 15 and six says that over 500 people. So the resurrected christ who left that tomb empty. Over 500 people I saw him and they were willing to die declaring that they had saw him. But you you you can be deceived and die based on being deceived about something right, but you don’t make up a lie and be willing to die for Over 500 people in history saw that tomb was empty and that that man who was placed in the tomb lived again and they were willing to die proclaiming that he is the life. So this empty tomb is a witness to us. It is a witness to the words of Christ John Chapter II, verses 19 and 22, long before Jesus went to the cross, Jesus declared this to a group of religious leaders in his day, he said, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. And the Jews then said, it has taken 46 years to build this temple. Speaking of the temple in Jerusalem where people would travel for sacrifices and for worship and I said, will you raise it up in three days, but he was speaking about the temple of his body when therefore he was raised from the dead. His disciples remembered that he had said this and they believed the scripture and the word that jesus had spoken the empty tomb witnessed to the very words of christ empty tomb, witness to all of the scriptures, testimony about the messiah. So we aren’t afraid to put our confidence and our trust in him. We want our expectations to be shaped my hand because of his word. Next. The Empty tomb, Witness to the Life of christ Acts 2: verses 22 and 24. Peter preaching to a crowd of people, many of them who had earlier weeks earlier, had asked for jesus to be crucified. They cried out to pontius Pilate the roman governor crucify that man, and Peter stands up and he preaches to his crowd. Look at what he says to them. Men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth. A man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst as you yourselves know this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and Foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. His life. He lives. It’s a witness. He shapes our expectation. We trust in him. Lastly, the empty tomb, Witness to the authority of christ john 10 17 and 18, jesus says for this reason the father loves me because I lay down my life, that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my father, the men who nailed him to the cross under his authority, operating according to the fore knowledge and a definite plan of God. The tomb that was borrowed for three days was borrowed according to his authority and knowledge and and for planning and death, which seems so insurmountable, has no authority over it cannot keep him, cannot hold him So the words, the words and the life and the authority of christ. They lay the foundation for great expectations in this life and the empty tune is a witness to that reality. Empty tune may have been for mary Magdalene, an empty expectation. But it became a blessing when she realized what it meant. He is God, and trusting in him, compels us to expect great things from God. How can we not? He has allowed us to taste the new creation. That’s what his resurrection points to. The new creation and christians when we believe in him and we turn from sin to life in him, we taste of the new creation. It’s in us. And we look forward to the wholeness of it. And because we have that deposit in us this new creation. This promise that we should be made like him forever. We expect great things from our God. We trust him. Every time we gather, on the first day of the week, we gather to put on display the promise and the hope of the new creation. Look what God, look at what God can do as he redeems sinners, as he delivers people from the power of sin and unbelief as he brings people to life. Look, you’re alive, but until you know, jesus, we’re not really alive until today Church, if you’re in this room and you’re not in on this, what God is doing and displaying the new creation and his people, you need to get in on it. You don’t need to delay it any further. You need to have the expectation that I want to get in on whatever God is doing in my generation, in my day, I offer my life freely to him and I expect him to do great work in and through his people. That’s Church, William Carey, the Father of Modern Mission said this expect great things from God and attempt great things for God. You know what he’s saying there, he’s saying, it’s not about your strength, Is that about your ability? It’s about the God you trust in. It’s about the God that you know, the one who left the tomb empty. A w Tozer said this. The true church has never sounded out public expectations before launching her mission. Her leaders heard from God, they knew their lords will and did it there. People followed them sometimes to triumph, but more often to insults and pub public persecution and they’re sufficient reward was the satisfaction of being right in the wrong world. They had tasted of the new creation. They knew what was coming, They knew where to place their hopes. You gotta get in on this here at sore. We believe that is more and more people began to trust christ and get in on this. Be all in with him. That we will begin to see the city and the surrounding region shaped by the glory of God changed by the glory of God. As our lives begin to follow. After Godly expectations, conforming to godly expectations that our families will begin to love and gather around the word of God and worship God. And that will begin to teach our neighbors to do the same and that our Children will have as their highest hope, their highest dream to glorify God in life to make God their highest aim. And then a lot of great ideas will come to our business people and yet their highest goal will not be the highest profit. But the glory of God. We’ve got to get in on this. What is God doing? What is he doing in our generation? Will you dare to believe and expect great things from your God. Now none of this will happen overnight. None of this will happen next week or next year. But we dare to believe we set our expectations in christ. We hope in him, we’ve been given a taste of the new creation. We can’t forget it. We can’t ever forget it. You know, I want to look at one last verse here as I close this morning in my devotional time, I read psalm 22 and it was so fitting. The first verse says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That is what Jesus said when he was on the cross, jesus quoted that verse. But then the progression of this song, excuse me. and verse 27, he says, the Solomon says, all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nation shall worship before you for kingship or Dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nation’s that empty tomb has led to nations gathering today, worshiping and remembering the man jesus christ and the world will not forget him because he rules, he reigns, he will have his church the new creation, he will have it And you need to get in on it. You need to be about this. Amen. Okay. And then let us pray father in heaven. Thank you. Thank you, jesus. You said that you we’re doing a new thing. We thank you that you are doing that Lord in the hearts of your people. You’re doing that in your church and God, you’re inviting others to get in on this. God. I thank you that the offer of salvation is a free offer and yet it will cost you your life. But God, you’re so worth it! You’re worthy of our lives. I pray this morning, God, as we reflect on this easter sunday that we would remember that you are a great god and that we would not insult you or venue by thinking little of what you can do with our little lives. I pray this in jesus name. Amen.