Over 20,000 Sermons & Bible StudiesFree Online Sermons & Bible Resources

HomeSermon Search Sermon Of The Day Contact Us Worship Lyrics & Backgrounds

Search over 20,000 sermons, sermon outlines, sermon illustrations, bible studies and more!

Easter Year C 2001

Sermon: Easter 2001
Text: John 20: 1-18
By: Rev. Jason R. Hefner

The Resurrection of Jesus
(Mt 28.1—10; Mk 16.1—8; Lk 24.1—12)
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 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.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.


A friend of mine recently described Easter as “The Christian SuperBowl.” He was being humorous, but there is an element of truth to his words. Today is what we have been preparing for all Lenten season. Today we celebrate that which is most essential to our faith. Or as coach might say, “it all comes down to this.” The resurrection of Christ from the dead is the foundation of all we believe and hope for as Christians. St. Augustine once said, “Christian faith consists in believing in [Jesus’] resurrection.” The resurrection has been called the “chief article of our faith.” Without Easter, there would be no value to Christmas or Lent, Good Friday or Pentecost.

If you remove the resurrection, Christianity has no power, no purpose; it would be as if you took the engine out of your car. It might be nice to look at, but it is useless. As Paul wrote, “If Christ be not raised from the dead then our preaching is empty, and you have believed in vain. You are still in your sins, and we are, out of all the people in the world, the most to be pitied.”

It absolutely must be true that Jesus historically and really rose from the grave. Otherwise we have pinned our hopes on nothing. We, like fools who know nothing of the desert, have wasted our life’s energy chasing a mirage. We have believed a hoax. Indeed, many people have rejected the Christian faith precisely because they cannot confirm our central assertion: Jesus is risen from the dead. Of all the reasons to reject Christianity, this is the most sensible, for it at least understands what is at stake.

Because Jesus is alive, the claims he made about himself have been proven true. He is indeed God’s own Son. He took upon himself the sin of the world and through his death won forgiveness for all who trust him. God raised Jesus up on the third day and gave him all authority on heaven and earth so that we could believe His words, “Because I live, you shall live also.”

If you are familiar with the words of the gospel, do not mistake familiarity with sensibility. There is nothing of common sense or common experience in Easter. It is not easy to believe in the resurrection. When we celebrate Christmas there is at least a note of possibility. We have seen babies born. The same is true of Good Friday: people die. But to what may we compare the empty tomb? Nothing. It is unique. Utterly supernatural. Easter morning exposes to us the mystery that undergirds all we believe about Jesus.

By “believe” we mean something more than just intellectual assent. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is not merely an event of history that we acknowledge. It is not simply a creed we recite. We must respond to the resurrection, we must be changed by it. If God raised Jesus from the dead and therefore truly will raise each of us to life as well: What implication does that have for our lives right now? How shall we arrange our priorities today if resurrection awaits tomorrow?

I am sure that at one time or another, many of you have had a certain entertaining question put to you that has been put to me. What would you do if you only had one day to live? Easter puts a different question to us: What will you do, if you would live forever?


For the joyful news that the gospel is, it is also weighty. It is a challenge to manage our lives with an eye focused on the day to day and the other searching eternity. St. John once wrote that those who believe in Jesus will walk just as Jesus walked. They will be servants; they will deny themselves and to put first love and mercy. That is scary.

Throughout our lives we constantly have to ask ourselves how many of our “life-chips” are we willing to bet on a certain choice. I for one, sometimes hold the cards of my life close to my chest. With only one life to live, I do not want to waste my options on bad bets. Neither do you. When it comes to something as potentially life changing as being a Christian, we are right to experience some fear, some apprehension, some doubt. We experience those feelings when we do simple things like decide to change jobs, relocate or make a financial investment. How can we not experience some of the same feelings when we decide to live for Christ? It is a decision that will impact every area of our lives.

I began my life for Christ a number of years ago. In preparing for this morning, I had to ask myself again, the simple and yet essential question: What does the resurrection mean to me? I am still asking that question and here I have discovered the mercy of God. This might sound curious to you, but so it goes with God’s ways. God does not grant us the full implications of the resurrection all at once. Yes, the truth that since Christ lives we also will live transforms us. But it does so over time. Just as God led the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land, so God leads us slowly and steadily into the resurrection life. Patiently God guides us, mildly God corrects us, giving us in each season that which we can bear to receive and taking from us that which we can bear to release.

The disciples were with Jesus for three years, before they experienced the resurrection. Paul retreated to the desert for several years after he encountered the risen Christ. All of them spent the rest of their lives proclaiming eternal life and at the same time working out what that good news meant to them.

Similarly, we do not simply believe or disbelieve in the resurrection, as if that settled the matter. We encounter the Risen Christ, and over time and through experience he teaches us what it means that he puts his life in us. We believe and discover at the same time. We are works in progress.

When Mary approached the tomb that first Easter morning, she was looking for a body. I don’t know what you are looking for today. It could be something as intimate as love or acceptance; or it might be something simple like a nice morning with family or friends. Maybe you came looking for Jesus. What you have found is the empty tomb. He is risen. Your life has begun anew all over again.