God is (NOT) Dead

"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?"

Please don’t chop this up get me into trouble – listen to the end – I promise we are going somewhere with this…

Thought it would be fun to start to start off with a little Nietzsche, just to warm our hearts and lift our souls this morning. So Good morning, thanks for having me up here this one last time…

Believe it or not I once went to a wedding  - I lovely traditional full ceremony where instead of a bible reading  - a reading from Fredrick Nietzsche was read. He had some crazy ideas about marriage, I wouldn’t promote them at all, but he did have a very famous idea on the nature of God, probably his most famous quote being the one I just read. 

He was talking about modern, okay, 100 years ago = Philosophy, enlightenment, moral standards underlying society, etc – he wasn’t really talking about the Cross. You might say he was talking about the Idea of God, or the influence of the idea of God.

Why start with that thought, the elders of Medway tensely think to themselves? Well, guess where we are this morning in our walk through the book of John? 

John 20 is where we are – were you here last week? You know what has just happened? Stuart took us there  - the BIG THING HAS just taken place…. THE CRUCIFIXION. The death of Jesus.

So as we go there again – as we plant our feet on the soil of Joseph of Arimatheas Garden. And we wonder to ourselves what was on the minds of those present  - on that cold Morning – on the first day of the week, in the darkness. Literal darkness, spiritual darkness, sure, why not…

Jesus – the Son of God sjoe we spent some time on that idea in the last few months – the verified authenticated proven son of God – God made flesh – part of the Trinity – one with the Father – Son of God.

He is… gone . Crucified – he has given up his spirit said the verse. His side has been pierced – blood and water flow – sign of death. 

Not only is he dead, as the saying goes – he is dead and buried. 30kgs of spices and ointments and treatments, wrapped in burial clothes – in a tomb, buried according to Jewish custom. 

And that’s right where we begin our passage this morning. The low point of all scripture. Or the high point, if you like. As Stuart said last week – The cross is the Crux. 

But it is the darkest day. So Lucky me. I suppose things can only get better from here

Let’s consider the scene together. John 20 Verse 1

The Empty Tomb

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

And that’s the passage for the morning. It’s a good thing that we know what’s coming, isn’t it?

It starts – in darkness, with Mary Magdalene visiting the tomb – remember the Marys’ at the cross last time I spoke – a picture of devotion. Commitment – long after the rest have scattered. What is this busy body doing at a tomb before dark of all places –  she should be safe at home – or even in hiding. Is she grieving, mourning? Verses later will say she is weeping. 

To her, Jesus is Dead

She watched him die. She was there when it happened. Hope is lost . This is the end. There is no miracle, there is no bait and switch substitution – there is just the cruel, gruesome crucifixion. There is no mercy, there is no resurrection (yet), there is just death. Nothingness.

Have you ever watched someone die? I was at the hospital bedside when my father passed. We saw it happen. The end of a human life. It is terrible. It stays with you. And you comfort yourself, and you think happy thoughts about better places, but the person who was alive in front of you, is no longer there – now it is just a lifeless body.

And they don’t even know where the body is!

But we know the story – we’ve known it since we were young – Hallelujah – He is risen. And we fast forward, get into the overtaking lane and fast-track our way to the happier part of the story. 

It’s coming people, sure as the rising sun, but let’s just pull off the road and park for a quick contemplative moment. 

Here in the darkness.

God is dead. Jesus has GONE. 

If that is true… what does that mean. Like those conditional statements you have in computer programming. I was sitting prepping yesterday while my son was doing a computer course… and he’s learning about things like IF and THEN.

IF- abc THEN xyz. Follows. It has to follow. Whether you like it or not. It must follow. 

What are the following, logical, consequences, if this is really the case – and I want you to come with me here…

Let’s start with Jesus himself – Jesus who according to scripture, was there in the beginning – outside of time – supposedly eternal in nature – living forever – there at the beginning of creation. Jesus who has being saying these beautiful, timeless things giving such eternal assurance to his followers – I’m going to prepare a heavenly home for you – you’ll live with me forever. 

But Jesus has been killed. Jesus is dead. 

Jesus who has up until now, dealt with everything that has come his way – every challenge, every fear, every risk – every threat - in His beautiful divine nature, calmly, ok sometimes not calmly, but dealt with, always in control, always with authority – you know what I mean. 

Even in his final scenes  - my hour has not yet come, my hour has not yet come, ah – my hour has come – he is owning his timeline – Pilate, you think you have authority – but you only have authority because it was given to you by the Father – so a sense of controlling of events, all going according to plan – to prediction, according the will of the Father – 

But now Jesus lies dead in the grave. Death has not been defeated – death has defeated Jesus – so it seems. Jesus is a mere mortal, not in control at all. Jesus is not the greatest – because a quick trial with some shaky charges and an indifferent Judge – has pretty easily, pretty quickly – taken his life. The life of a King – given up so easily? Man has had his way – or so it seems.  IF / THEN

Think about what that means!

We spent a lot of time in the past few months talking about Prophecy. We spent time thinking about the signs and wonders pointing to Jesus as God – certifying, authenticating his divine nature – miracle! Healing – power over nature. Events that were seemingly out of his control aligning perfectly to the very detail – with predictions and prophecies that are hundreds of years old – all perfectly fitting into place – and here comes the biggest moment of all – the biggest sign, the biggest wonder, the biggest revelation of Jesus Supernatural power – and he seemingly fails

Jesus lies dead. Buried in the Grave. The natural world (in which all things die) has triumphed over the supernatural. What do those signs even mean – if at his greatest moment – this death is the end. Can we even believe the rest of those words – could we possibly even take Jesus teaching seriously – if at the point of his greatest act – he is defeated? 

OR SO IT SEEMS.

Hope is lost – as they stand there in the dark, confused, without their leader, their touchstone, the object of their fervor – the subject of their devotion. He’s left them abandoned and scattered. Unsure of a future. Unsure of what to believe. Questioning no doubt. Seeking the light to lead the way – but all they have in front of them is an extinguished flame. Snubbed out – by man.

He claimed to be the light of the world – but they stand in darkness

God is dead. There is no hope. 

OR. SO. IT. SEEMS.

Let’s PRAISE GOD - continue on in the verses

Mary gets to the tomb – what does she see? She sees that the big stone has been moved. How did that happen? Where are the guards? 

She is now upset – she is running – she is shouting – exclamation point in my text, and she is confused – her incorrect conclusion – they? They have taken the Lord out of the Tomb, and We don’t know where they have put Him. 

Still refers to Jesus as Lord – I suppose that’s a good sign, but it does seem like she is referring to a body…i.e. a dead body.

We see Simon Peter and the Disciple who Jesus loved – John himself – are back on the scene – also a good sign I guess – I thought they had disappeared, maybe we need to give them more credit– okay great. 

By the way they’re also now running (everybody’s running here) down to the tomb, but what do they find, an empty grave. 

The burial clothes have been removed. Strange, not the chaotic scene a graverobber might have left behind. Someone has taken of the wrapping carefully – placed it down, carefully – some translations have folded. So just imagine Jesus calmly sitting there taking off his dressing, folding them up, leaving them there in a neat pile and heading off. But Mary and Simon and John are very confused. What happened here?  Where is the body?

And here. Right here! is where the whole thing turns…. He saw and believed. He saw and believed,

By now I really don’t need to remind you, but I will anyway. The last few verses of this very chapter contain a key verse in the Gospel of John

³¹ But these are written that you may believe^[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Believing  - not just observing – being present to see – but the belief – that faith that springs forth from that.

He saw and believed – believed what?  What do you think? Must have believed something – and you would think something pretty special – did he GET it? Oh I think he did. I think he got a whole lot. Even though the next verse will say he didn’t yet understand that Jesus HAD to rise from the dead. He very much believed that he was alive. That the reason that they could not see his dead body right now, was not because someone had misplaced the body. Or that some grave-robbers had come in the middle of the night, dealt with guards, moved the stone and stolen the corpse. 

No, the reason He could not see a dead body, was because JESUS was not dead.  

See - He didn’t need to actually see Jesus – they would see Him later.

He knew, just from the empty tomb alone – that something was up. It clicked – it made sense. Hold on – this isn’t actually as confusing or alarming as it seems – somehow – there in among the folded burial linen – there in the absence of Jesus dead body – was Hope. Was Life. Was an indicator of the promises and the prediction that Jesus had been making. There on the darkest morning, the light (in Johns mind at the very least) was beginning to shine – He believed. It seems more likely – having followed this journey with Jesus for so many weeks and months – that Jesus was alive – 

See the Linen – this means He is alive – the tomb is empty  - He is Alive. Does it all make sense? Does he suddenly have all the answers? … I don’t think so, no. Are there still unanswered questions – of course there are. How was the stone rolled? Don’t know exactly. Not important. Where are the guards? Don’t care.

Where EXACTLY is he right now – THAT DOESNT MATTER

ONLY ONE THING MATTERS  - and he gets it

JESUS IS ALIVE

So now, let’s retrace our steps through our ANTI-sermon (again, I do hope you understood what we were doing there – a reminder of the importance of reading texts in context I guess) our little upside down narrative of a few moments ago. IF / THEN What logically consequentially – MUST follow?

God is NOT Dead God is Alive

If …then …– everything is flipped

Jesus lives – this is not the end of the story – there is more. The subject of our faith, our devotion our passion – is on the move – is still at work. It’s not over. Not even close.

Even death – cannot stop this Jesus. Death is defeated. Where is your sting! Death could not hold him. He has power over nature – power greater than nature – Supernatural. Yes he can make promises about the future, about life after death – because what is death to him?

Yes Prophecy still holds true – and the GREATEST THING that was ever prophesied – way greater that bones being broken or not, or crowns of thorns or his side being pierced – HIS PREDICTED RESURRECTION has come true. Instead of his death discounting and disqualifying all the authentication and validation before it – his resurrection gives the strongest endorsement possible to the identity of Jesus to the supernatural nature of Jesus. Prophecy can be trusted, Jesus can be trusted – all those things he said, about God, about Himself, about forgiveness of sins - he is exactly who He says He is.

And who is He? He said maaany things. For the sake of time, let me pick out the most appropriate right now and take you back a few chapters to John 11  - back in June I think Lawrence took us through John 11. Jesus at the tomb of the dead Lazarus – dead for four days! And what did Jesus say – about himself? Do you remember?

John 11  - 

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

I am the resurrection. Strange thing to call yourself. But then he goes on to show his resurrection power in Lazarus. And now goes the full step further in affirming that for himself, here on the third day. And He hasn’t even shown his face yet. 

There's a beautiful point coming out here about the nature of belief, and faith as well. I always think about Jesus revealing himself to his disciples after his resurrection, you know, in person, face to face. He appears – they examine his body and his scars – because that’s what it took for them to believe. Doubting Thomas and the gang, you know. Literally seeing and touching is believing…

But here – ahead of that – John believes. His evidence, his basis, is some burial linen lying in an empty tomb. And his faith rises out, springs forth. 

People will tell you that faith, here in 2024 is just nonsense. That faith is believing something in the absence of evidence. The absence of proof.

Faith has never been that. To paraphrase John Lennox – an Oxford Mathematician who you should really check out – It’s the exact opposite. Faith is very much based on the evidence before you. It’s not belief based upon nothing. It is belief that has a basis. What was it that caused you to first believe? How did you first encounter – the LIVING – not Dead God? Probably not a voice in the sky – probably not literally being able to feel the nail scarred hands – to see his pierced body… hey weren’t those first disciples lucky hey, easy for them to believe –

But you probably saw and heard through His word, through His Church, His people.

For John here – it was enough to see the burial clothes. To know – HE IS ALIVE. Hope is alive. Hope lives. He holds the future. We can face tomorrow finish the sentence for me – because He lives.

What shall we fear – even death is not the end – our Saviour goes before us into eternity – just like HE said he would. He is alive in their minds, He is alive in their hearts.

Is He alive in your heart this morning? 

He lives in us – he lives with us as we grow, as we mature. He works in us, he works with us as His Kingdom is established on earth. 

Because the Tomb is Empty.

1 Cor 15:

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection from the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

The final thought for the morning is deeply personal. The greatest consequence for you – as you sit here this morning, of the cross, and particularly the RESURRECTION. Is that your sins are forgiven. Your biggest cause for praise and worship and gratitude – is that in dying and rising again, your sins, past present and future have been dealt with – nailed to the cross with Christ.

And that you can even come before him. That you even have the OPTION to believe, that he can and breathe his life into our cold hearts.

IF/THEN 

The empty tomb means that our sins are forgiven.

Romans 4:25 says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

And so this morning – we, individually have to make something of this story. I pray that we too, would see the story – and we would believe. We give Glory to the Risen King – to our Living Hope.

Lets close together in prayer:

Our Father, we’ve planted our feet in Josephs garden this morning – we’ve gone to the Tomb. We’ve seen – through your marvelous word – and been reminded. The Tomb Is Empty, the Body is Gone, Jesus is Alive. We can only wonder at the Hope that springs out of that observation – the belief and faith.

Thank you that we serve a living risen saviour. We live in a time that wants to act as if You are Dead, even in ideology and thought and philosophy. But we thank you that you are eternal. That you have resurrection power over death, enough to raise Jesus, enough to raise us from our sinful dead natures, and enough to bring us into glorious living eternal hope. Through the death and resurrection of Christ our Lord. We see, We believe, We give thanks. Amen.