Incredible first words

 

We have spent the last week dwelling at the cross

Listening to Jesus’ last remarkable words.

We heard – pre-emptive forgiveness – ‘father forgive’ –

We heard of the paradise of relationship with God – available on the mountaintop but also when a criminal hanging on a cross.

We saw the new church created – a place for grieving heartbroken mothers, and despondent young disciples.

We heard Jesus cry out in pain – ‘why have you abandoned me God’?  Allowing us to follow – to be honest – real – authentic.

We have learnt about God’s thirst for us – as he pursues us with love and mercy

And we have seen ‘It is finished’…

God’s heart revealed – the reason he came done – us – won!

Into your hands, I commit my spirit.

And Jesus died.

 

They were not Jesus last words!

Today we swap the cross for the empty tomb and we hear incredible words for you and for me…

Let us listen…

 

Mary of Magdala has swapped the cross for the tomb.

But… the mood is the same… she is weeping.

Weeping for days as she watched her saviour brutally killed.

Now, this very morning, she has the added distress of Jesus body having been taken.

They have abused him, whipped him, tortured him and killed him – why could they let him now rest in peace?

 

Mary is weeping.

What is it we are weeping about this morning? /

What things lay heavy? Testing our sensitivities?  Getting us down?

What things keep us awake at night?

And who are we weeping with this morning?

Who do we know who is grieving?  Struggling?  Suffering? Distraught?

Friend? Someone on the news? 

Who is crying bitterly this day?

This morning we begin by being invited to stands with Mary as she weeps…

 

Let us just have one last look inside the tomb – we might be surprised what we see!

As we look in – we see Angels – both in white – one at the head of where Jesus should be laid – and one at the feet…

Where had they come from?

They were not there a minute ago when Peter and John were inside the tomb?

Or maybe they were

Maybe sometimes you can only see angels through tears.

When people are afraid, angels say ‘do not be scared’

When people cry, angels ask why? 

Why are you weeping? 

And its here we can name it – we can say the things on our heart.

My dignity has gone, my marriage has no love, my children do not talk to me, I have a parent with dementia, a partner with depression – I have little hope – little to live for – I am completely alone.

All out tears and pain summed up with Mary’s tears.

 

Mary is asked once again, this time by a man,

‘why are you crying’?

Who is this man?  What is it got to do with him?  Who is he? Wait a minute – maybe he knows… 

Through tears it is hard to see – Mary guesses it is the gardener…

Of course, she is wrong… but in another beautiful way she is right…

For this is the new creation of easter Sunday

Jesus is the beginning of it.

The new Adam, the gardener, charged with bringing chaos of God’s creation into new order, into flower, into fruitfulness.

He has come to uproot the thorns and thistles and replace them with blossoms and harvests.

And as we come with Mary to this mysterious man with all our pain and suffering- he can make something beautiful with us too –

The gardener is here – transformation is here – new life is here – hope is here – healing is here – beauty from ashes is here – tears to joy is here

This gardener is Jesus – the risen Christ – and he is here.

 

‘What are you looking for’, Jesus second word…

A question he asks each one of us this morning

What are we looking for?

Security?  Protection? Survival?  Achievement?  Success?  Love?  Happiness?

The Bible is clear that we are looking for God – desperate to be a in a right relationship with Him…

And Mary gets it right!  ‘I am looking for my Jesus’.

Mary is hungering and thirsting for Jesus and she finds him

And if we thirst and hunger – we will find him too –

Then his presence will be ours – and that presence makes everything else on the planet redundant – incomparable to the peace we have in Jesus

So, let us be looking for Jesus with Mary.

Not just this special morning… but when we are shopping, watching TV, listening to radio, driving, at work, because the good news that paradise relationship is in all those places too.

We just need to be looking!

 

The 3^rd word ‘Mary’.

Hear him say that name ‘Mary’

Now hear him say yours…

Because of the cross, wherever you go, whatever you face he is with you.

Every trial, every storm, every doubt – he is with you.

In that name ‘Mary’, he says yours, and it means ‘here I am with you – here we are together’

Hear him say your name – here the personal relationship

He knows you – created you – knows what is best and is creating a masterpiece out of your life

Here him say your name

The third word ‘Mary’

 

‘Rabbouni’ or ‘teacher’ – Mary recognises him at last – her rabbi

But she is wrong.

That was the relationship before the cross – now everything is different!

Maybe you had someone you called ‘Sir’ or ‘Uncle’ or MR and Mr’s growing up – and one day they say call me by my first name… a relationship change…

OR the day I was able to call myself a husband and a father.  A significant relationship change…

Well listen to the next word from Jesus…

 

In the gospel of John God is referred to as ‘my father, the father who sent me’

The disciples are referred to as ‘disciples, servants and friends’…

But now hear the amazing 4^th word

‘go to my brothers (YES BROTHERS – FAMILY) and say to them, I am going up to my father and your father (YOUR FATHER) to my God and your God (YOUR GOD)

Incredible words – now because of the cross – we are now brothers and siters with Jesus and his father is now our father – because of the cross – everything has changed.

Something has altered

A new relationship has been ushered in.

Those looking for the master – are welcomed into a new world – where we can know the untameable, unfathomable, all powerful God as our daddy. 

We are now his intimate children.

 

Finally.  The 5^th word. 

Do not cling to me Mary, go and tell my brothers’

No more watching and learning from me – I am now sending you to tell everyone about me.

Go and tell Mary.

And she does – she runs and declares the beautiful testimony

‘I have seen the Lord’

And for who search and find – for `all who have had tears wiped away – we shout with Mary ‘I have seen the Lord’.

 

Easter Sunday – amazing words.

Why are you crying – an invitation to offload and bring who you are and how you are

What are you looking for?  A challenge – and if we get it right

We hear our name – intimate relationship – paradise – every moment – every day.

We hear brother, sister and father – a new relationship

And we can only but respond to ‘go and tell’.

 

It has been an utter privilege journeying with you all this past week…

May you know this morning the risen Christ – the power of God almighty, father son and holy spirit – and may he with us all for evermore… Amen.

It is finished

 

The final words were muttered today.

‘It is finished’, came the cry…

How did he say those words?

Remember, he has been screaming in pain…

Remember, he is so so thirsty…

Remember the torture he has been through…

Remember that the way people die from crucifixion is through suffocation – the inability to breath.

So, hear these last words through gasped breath… through searing pain… 

 

But also hear them said, almost unbelievably, joyfully!

‘It is finished’

Hear it said through a slightly crooked grin or blood-stained smile,

‘It is finished’

In the same way as Michael Angelo would have shouted as he painted the last brushstroke on the Sistine chapel.

In the same way as Mozart would have shouted as he penned the last note of a requiem

Jesus full of accomplishment manages a victory cry ‘It is finished’.

 

But what has Jesus finished?

 

Jesus said earlier ‘my nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work’.

The will of God was to win us

To sacrifice himself – so that we may know love

And now today ‘it is finished’. 

 

Jesus came to reveal the heart of God.

Reading the OT without Jesus, its easy to misunderstand God.

To see hate when there is only love

To see rules and regulations when there is only freedom.

Jesus came so that we may never misunderstand God again.

Jesus said earlier in his great prayer ‘I have revealed you to the world’

An echo of the introduction to the gospel of John ‘nobody has seen God, the one and only has made him known’.

And my, how Jesus has shown the father’s heart.

Welcoming the sinner

Loving the outcast

Healing the sick

Standing up against injustice

To name a few… and now the great crescendo of love – death – dying so that others may have life

Showing the heart of God to the world – ‘It is finished’!

 

John has what is called the seven signs.

First – Jesus turning water into wine – 987 bottles of chateau neaf de Nazareth!  

Jesus’ dancing and having a great time.

That is what God is like.

 

Second – healing of the roman royal officials’ son

A man of high standing in the kingdom of herod.

Who swallows his pride to ask a carpenter for help?

And Jesus heals the boy from a distance.

That is what God is like!

 

Third – a healing of a paralysed man

A man stuck on the edge of a pool with supposedly magical powers

Desperate to be healed – desperate to be well

And with one word from Jesus – all is well!

That is what God is like.

 

Fourth – the feeding of the 20,000 people (they only counted the 5000 men)

A bit of fish, miserly rubbish bread – yet all were filled with leftovers. 

Abundance.

That is what God is like!

 

Fifth – walking on water

And when all who see are terrified

We hear the most common command in scripture

‘Do not be afraid’

That is what our God is like.,

 

Sixth – The man born blind able to see

That is what our God is like.

 

Seventh – raising of Lazarus from the dead. 

Raised with tears of passion in the eyes of Jesus.

That is what our God is like.

 

And now the incredible crescendo – the cross

Where all is sacrificed

Where the price was paid.

That is what our God is like.

 

Showing God’s heart

It is finished!

 

Jesus came to redeem the entire world

To bring back the paradise of the garden

To begin enlarging shalom once again

Making all right – with self – with other – with land and with God and…

‘It is finished’

 

Grace – Grace – utter amazing grace

‘It is finished’

The redemptive purposes of God fulfilled.

Now no sacrifices needed

It is finished.

 

And he shouts it and gives himself up to death – the lamb of God – perfect – spotless – sinless – righteousness – and takes away the sin of the world –

 

It is finished – hallelujah – hallelujah – hallelujah.

It is finished.

 

And then finally, almost peacefully,

‘into your hands I commit my spirit’– and Jesus died…

 

 

What is your it is finished?

 

Back to Sunday – father forgive.

Still beating yourself up about mistakes – sin – shame

IT IS FINISHED! 

You are forgiven – now go and fall into the arms of your saviour.

IT IS FINISHED

 

Back to Monday – paradise

Are you always waiting for life to be sorted in the magical fictional place of tomorrow? 

Are you waiting for the next best thing?

For this or that to be sorted to be finally free to enjoy life…

IT is finished.

Paradise is a relationship not a place

And on that Friday we call good – the curtain that kept God’s presence was split open – and what was once only available to one person – one time of the year was now available for everyone.,

IT is finished.

What ever you are going through – wherever you are – whatever you face

Paradise. 

And you can bring that paradise to others. 

Today – you can know paradise because

‘It is finished’

 

What is your ‘it is finished’

Feeling alone – lack of family – lack of community

Tired of little support

It is finished

A new community – a new family – the church – created at the cross.

A place to belong

A place to be seen

A place to love and be loved

A place to share joy and sadness

A place where Jesus is…  

Come because…

‘It is finished’.

 

Back to Wednesday – ‘my God, My God why have you forsaken me’

Filled with private doubts – deep searching questions – pain beyond belief

Tired of putting on an act – wearing a mask – trying to be someone you are not…

‘It is finished’

Jesus’ cry of doubt and of pain – allows us to be authentic – real – honest

And we find around us a community who will sit in the darkness and walk with us to light

And a God that understands and empathises,

It is finished.

 

Back to last night – I thirst

All those with low self-esteem – it is finished –

How dare we see that which God loves as imperfect and floored!

It is finished.

God thirsted after us – pursues us with goodness and love

It is finished.

 

Anxiousness – little hope – no purpose

It is finished

We can now be who we were created to be

In relationship with God

Forgiven

Paradise

Eternal life

Healed

Family

Shalom…

 

All because Jesus shouted, ‘It is finished’!

 

We thank you Lord – for ‘It is finished’. 

 

Everything has changed because of ‘It is finished’. 

 

 

I thirst

 

Ever been thirsty – you know – really really thirsty?

In 1996, a young marine corporal called Joey Mora was standing on an aircraft carrier patrolling the Iranian sea.

He fell overboard – but his absence was not known for 36 hours.

A search and rescue mission began but was given up after 24 hours.

No one could survive the sea for that amount of time.

His parents were notified that their son was ‘missing and presumed dead’.

The rest of the story is one of those that scriptwriters for movies would reject as completely unbelievable.

Four Pakistani fisherman found Joey Mora about 72 hours after he had fallen into the sea.

He was treading water in his sleep, clinging to a makeshift flotation device made from his trousers – a skill learned at military survival training.

He was completely delirious when they pulled him into the fishing boat.

His tongue dry, cracked and his throat parched.

Fast forward 2 year and Joey is being interviewed on a US chat show, where he recounted the unbelievable story of will to live and survive.

He shared that it was God who kept him alive.

His discovery was akin to finding a needle in the largest of haystacks.

He was asked, ‘what was the most excruciating thing’?

Joey said that the thought that took over his body, and pounded in his brain was one thing… water… water… water…

I thirst!

Have you ever been thirsty?

 

Jesus has claimed to be the quencher of thirsts in scripture.

‘Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty’

‘If anyone is thirsty, come to me’.

Jesus offered living water – and an abundant of supply.

Jesus promised to satisfy thirst for ever for those who believe in him.

And this Jesus is now saying his 5^th word from the cross ‘I thirst’.

The thirst quencher is now thirsty.

 

Had the water of life failed?

Had the water run out for good?

‘He thinks he can save others – but look – he can’t even save himself.

 

‘I thirst’

 

Thirst always means so much more in the bible than ‘I need a drink’.

To thirst is to yearn, to long for, to be desperate with desire.

And Jesus says, ‘I thirst’.

 

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus blessed those who ‘thirst for righteousness’.

Meaning, blessed are those who are desperate for God’s kingdom to come on earth – as much as Joey Mora thirsted for water.

The Psalmist prays ‘My soul thirst for God, the living God’.

Each and every one of us is made to be in relationship with God.

Made to join in the enlarging of shalom

Made to be bringers of healing and peace

Made to see justice.

Each and every one of us made for community.

Every single one of us, thirsting for God, and only when we are with Him, and we join in with what he is doing, does that thirst disappear.

We are so thirsty.

We try to hide it… cover it up with the next best thing… the new hobby, plaything, drug or indulgence but… when we allow ourselves to feel…

We are so thirsty.

 

And for the first time in Jesus’ life – as the greatest transfer took place – all our sin, and death, and darkness and separateness from God was placed squarely on the shoulders of Jesus…  He now thirsts like us…

He is thirsty… longing after God… longing after the presence of the father. 

Thirsting for intimacy…

I thirst. 

 

Jesus at the cross reminding us that he is fully human – thirst…

Jesus at the cross – experiencing every human emotion – every human desire –

So that as the writer to the Hebrews says – we can come to him – a high priest who empathises with all our struggles.

He knows what its like to be in pain, to not know the father’s presence, to live in brokenness and despair…

He understands

And he welcomes us to hear all of that summed up with ‘I thirst’.

 

But there was another thirst that kept Jesus going…

A thirst that helped him endure the whip, the beatings, the disdain, and the abuse. 

A thirst that helped him get up as he collapsed under the weight of the cross.

A thirst that got him to the cross when everything within him was terrified.

And what was that thirst? 

A thirst Us.

You and me.

 

God thirsts for us.

Gods got this thing for us!

God is determined – through creation, the words of the prophets, the teaching in the law, the birth of Christ and now on the cross – to get close to us.

God has an unquenchable thirst to have us.

Yes – even us!

 

In the beautiful 23^rd Psalm it says ‘surely goodness and mercy shall follow me for ever’

But a better translation is ‘surely goodness and mercy will pursue me forever’. 

God is so thirsty to know you and me – he is pursuing us with goodness and mercy. 

He will never stop chasing – never stop trying to win our hearts.

The prize that got Jesus through this dreadful week – us!

A right relationship with the triune God.

Eternity with us.

 

Too often we see the way of satisfying our thirst is to get to God..

But the only solution was God thirsting for us to such an extent that he sent his one and only Son down to meet us.

Here on the cross – he thirsts – so that we do not have too.

Leading us to thirst in a different way.

To thirst to know him and his presence.

To thirst to worship and praise

To thirst for Christian community that shows Gods love to the broken world.

To thirst for more of Gods kingdom to come.

We praise God because he said, ‘I thirst’.