Beloved congregation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John begins with these words, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And we see there the beginning of the world, the beginning of the Bible, the beginning of Revelation. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The Spirit of God hovered over the darkness. And then God spoke, and He said, let there be light. And there was the first day, there was evening and morning, and God separated the light from the darkness, and He called the light good, and He called the darkness the night. And there was the first day and it was tovia. It was good. How beautiful is that? And we're going to see this morning this really interesting connection between the beginning of time in the Garden of Eden and the beginning of the new Christian era and the Garden of Graves. We're going to see together the marvel of the beginning of the creation of man on the sixth day, moving into Sabbath, of Christ celebrating the Sabbath in a way we didn't expect, of women celebrating the Sabbath, and moving on into the first day of the week, the Lord's Day, the day in which the Church of Jesus Christ, from the earliest times, we look at Acts chapter 4, celebrated the new Sabbath. John says, on the Lord's day, I was taken into heaven, and he worships the Lord God. And it was the Lord's day, and the people of God gathered together to hear the disciples' teaching, to break the bread, to drink the wine, and to celebrate together all of the goodness and the marvel of God sharing all things together in communion. All of this is coming together there in that grave. that graveyard that we really don't know exactly where that is anymore, which is good, because then we'd probably all run there and try to serve over there. The whole point of the grave, beloved, nobody's there. It's empty. Do you believe? Do you believe the witness? Do you believe the good news? Will you walk out of there more like Peter or more like John this morning? And when you do, will you just go home? Will you just be silent? or will you sing to the world like you just sang this morning, Jesus loves me, this I know, and up from the grave he arose. And so I bring to you the word under this theme, Christ resurrects to bring new life to John. First of all, we'll see the gospel announced, then we'll see the gospel's witness, and then we'll see the gospel confirmed. So let's hear the announcement of this gospel. It's the first day of the week, and John only mentions for us Mary Magdalene. So let's talk about Mary Magdalene and her Sabbath. What do you think Mary Magdalene's Sabbath is like? So children, do you remember anything about Mary Magdalene? We don't really know very much about her for how much she is mentioned in the Bible, but you know what we do know about Mary Magdalene from the Gospel of Luke? Jesus cast out seven demons from that woman. Now, we talk a lot today about mental illness, anguish, depression, just the struggle. Well, this woman knew it to the depth of her soul, into the deep recesses of her mind. She had been tossed and torn. She lived in the agony of not knowing God. And then Jesus spoke and gave her Sabbath. Jesus spoke and gave her rest. Jesus spoke and she was made new. And there she stood on that Sabbath, thinking about that she had rest, she was still strong in her mind, but Jesus was dead. And you can imagine, especially for any of you who have suffered with depression or deep sorrow, and then to go through that, her beloved is dead. Faith is gone, hope is gone, but there does remain love. I need to go see my Lord and my Savior. Now we know from the other Gospels there was other women with her. Those women have been already mentioned there by the cross, so probably John doesn't feel necessary. And John's doing something that's very particular, which is we need to find out about this great Gospel truth. So he's narrowing down to what you need to know. Mary Magdalene, has come to the grave. And she's expecting to find Jesus in the grave. And I want you to think about Jesus for a minute. And I want you to think about that Sabbath day for a minute. We talked a little bit about it last week, but now we need to talk about it a little bit more. So it's only a week ago from when this story is told, the first day of the week, the last first day of the week, Sunday, Jesus walked in Jerusalem. We remember that as Palm Sunday. Hosanna, loud hosanna. Thousands of people, tens of thousands of people are walking from the temple to meet Jesus, who's walking with Lazarus, who everybody has heard has been raised from the dead. They want to see this Lazarus, and they want to see this Jesus. And Jesus is riding on a donkey, like a king, like the prophecies of Zechariah. And Jesus is walking in with tens of thousands of people. And they're singing the Halal Psalms from Psalm 113 to Psalm 118, including then Psalm 118, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is he who is the son of David. Hoshianna. Save us, Lord. Save us. Oh, there's such joy and such excitement. And they want to make him their king. And when he walks into the temple like Jacob Maccabeus, or Judas Maccabeus of old, he walks in and he looks at everything just like he did. Like Maccabeus did. But then Jesus looked at him and said, no, I'm not going to be your king. Because you don't understand. Jesus wanted to be with his disciples. Jesus wanted to take some time. He was looking forward to that. And he was going to spend some time teaching them. And he washed their feet, didn't he? Took off his robe then, didn't he? That seamless robe. And said, brothers, you are going to go out into this world. You need to be servants as I am a servant. You need to sacrifice your dignity and your place so that the world may be washed and cleaned. Even as we've seen now with baptism, it reminds us, doesn't it, of our great need for this Savior, this servant, our Lord, our beloved Jesus Christ. And we know what happened after that last Passover. He commands Judas Iscariot, who betrays Him, After three years of devotion and love, his friend is going to sell him out for the price of a slave. And Jesus knows it. And then Jesus walks out and he faces it head on. We need brothers to go to Jerusalem, but not before I go to Gethsemane. And as Mary Magdalene wrestled and struggled in her demonic phase, So the Lord Jesus wrestles against the demons and the trials and the struggles and even the doubts that are within his own heart. Oh Lord, my God, let this cup pass from me. I do not want to be forsaken by you. I do not want to go into the depths of you. I want to be in the light of your grace and of your countenance. But know your will be done. I must drink of the cup right to the bitter dregs. I must suffer. I must struggle. Six days I must labor and do all the work before my Sabbath will come. Off to the priests and the fake trials. Off to the soldiers and the beatings and the mockery and the ridicule. Off to Pilate and crowns of thorns. And robes of mockery. And whips that rip the skin off his back. A night full of injustice. And in all of these things Jesus does in sin, one more time in the wilderness, taking on the devil, taking on the serpent of old. Six days you shall labor and do all your work as they hang them on a cross. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani, born of the virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. And as we saw last week, though the world wanted to humiliate him, though the world wanted to treat him as a common criminal, the Lord God said, this is my son with whom I am well pleased, and I will put him in the grave of the rich, and I will dignify him, and I will not leave him on the cross to hang there and rot, and I will not put him in some grave of the wicked, I will put him in the grave of the righteous. And then Joseph and Nicodemus come and baptize his body with pounds of perfume and ointment. And finally, in his death, Jesus is honored. Utterly misunderstood. And at the end of all of it, Jesus said, it is finished. The six days of labor has now finished and Jesus is finally at rest. Rest in peace, Lord Jesus. Rest in peace. For one 24-hour period, his body is in the grave, and he is quiet. No one is asking of him, demanding of him, taking of his time, beating him, hurting him, crucifying him. For 24 hours, the body of our Lord has some peace, and he is at rest. And now the one who has been given that rest comes to the grave and hoping to find that body of rest. And she is made aware of this unrestful thought. She looks in the grave. The stone has been rolled away. Who did this? It would take five, six, seven, or eight men to roll that great stone away. Who's done this? And she looks in, and there's no body there, just the claws laying there. Who would do this? Who would steal our Lord and Savior? And we know from the other Gospels, you sang about it, vainly they watch His grave. There are soldiers there, and there are earthquakes, and they have fallen as though dead, almost comatose. But you know what's interesting? It's not that someone had to take those cloths off of Jesus for him to walk out, and it's not that somebody needed to roll the stone away for Jesus to walk out. The Lord God, through the earthquake, with the angels, has rolled the stone away so that with Mary Magdalene and those women who are with him, and then Peter and John, we are going to look into that tomb. And what do you see? By the way, you see nothing. Blessed are those who have not seen and believed. But do you believe the text of what John wrote? Remember he said that at the end of what we saw there, in John chapter 19? that John wrote these things, and he who has seen has testified, verse 35, and this testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. There's nobody in that tomb that you may believe. This is the gospel. This is the good news. By faith we sang what we know to be true. Up from the grave he arose with a mighty victory o'er his foes. But when Mary goes there, there's love. I love him, but he's dead. There is no faith. There is no hope. But abides these three, there is love. And Mary, the youngest of all the women, runs, and she goes to tell Peter and John. Why Peter and John? Because Peter and John need to know. John's going to tell us that he needs to know, that they're not supposed to just go home. They're going to be sent into all the world to teach this great and amazing truth, the truth that the world doesn't believe, that scientists say is impossible. Islam says there's no way that the Son of God dies and will come again. The Jews say the Son has not come yet. The world has everything else all believe whatever you want, but do you believe the truth that Jesus Christ is alive that the tomb is empty and now as the Lord went to go get Peter and John as The Lord Jesus went to go get Mary Magdalene. He's coming to you this morning to get you Do you believe? And so Mary, who's the youngest, goes to tell Peter and John, we don't know what's happened to the body. Somebody must have took it. We don't know where they've laid him. There's not an inkling in her that Jesus is alive. There's no sense in her that Jesus Christ is living again, that he is resurrected. Somebody must have taken the body. And I think we get that. That would be the normal process of life. And yet, you know, Mary Magdalene had walked beside Lazarus. and she knew what Jesus could do. She had heard Jesus who had said, I lay down my life for the sheep, and I take it up again. She had heard that Jesus said, I give you the sign of Jonah. You children know that story. Jonah in the belly of a fish, and then up from the fish he arose. And Jesus says, in the belly of the grave I will be, and up from the grave I arose. But this is the good news. Now it says, again, the disciple, the disciple that Jesus loved the early church has always understood that to be John. Generally, the church has understood that to be John. If you don't, that's okay. But that disciple, likely John, outruns Peter because we know that John is quite a bit younger. We know that John is writing this in his later days as he's serving in Ephesus, probably in his 80s and his 90s. and he remembers every detail. He outruns Peter, and he looks in, but he doesn't quite go in, but Peter being Peter, even though he's denied Jesus, and where has he been lately? He just walks in. And we read there that he sees the linen cloths. Now I'm only gonna mention this for posterity, because many people believe that there is this shroud, and you can go to a place in Italy called Turin, And you can see the shroud. And if you look at that shroud, it looks like there is a body in that shroud. And many people believe that it was a shroud that Jesus was wearing. And then as he came alive, he passed through the shroud and then left an imprint of his body. And maybe people go there to worship it, to look at it. They believe that that's evidence of the resurrection. But notice what it says in our text, that Peter saw the cloths that were there. and that those cloths are bandages that would have been used, dipped in that ointment, dipped in that perfume, and then wrapped around Jesus. And I don't want to make too much of this, but don't you find it interesting that when Jesus Christ comes to earth, his mother wraps him in swaddling cloths, the angels say to the shepherd, this will be a sign to you, you will find the child wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And now, beloved, you will find the grave empty with those swaddling clothes, empty. Jesus is as alive as when he was a little baby in that manger. Peter looks in. He can't understand what's happening, but John now walks in with him, and he begins to believe. Now what are we to make then of these witnesses? What are we to think about when we walk into that empty tomb? Because doesn't it make sense that someone rolled the rock away and then took the body? And yet if you think about that, it really doesn't make sense. Because if Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea brought 75 pounds or 100 pounds depending which version or translation you read of all of these expensive ointments and perfume, then normally you rob the grave bandits to get something for yourself it would make sense that they took those claws either for themselves or for the perfume and the ointment so that they could take it make some money or at least get some benefit out of it why would they leave the claws lying there but there's also another issue there's that headband that handkerchief that normally would go literally it's translated sweatband that would have gone around the head of Jesus Christ. The idea then all of this wrapping would slow down the deterioration of the body. Why is it that there are clothes laying there untouched, unfolded, almost lying in a heap, but then there's that headcloth laying there folded neatly off to the side? Do you think Jesus was leaving them something to think about? Do you think Jesus was like, look at this, does this make sense? That people would come into my grave. You've had hardly any time because it was Sabbath. We've had soldiers watching this grave. You've been here since the very beginning. As the sun was rising. Do you think that grave robbers would have taken the time to do that? Something else is going on here, isn't it? I want you to think about that again. It's the end of the Sabbath, it's the beginning of the new day, and it's dark. It's interesting, right? We read that right from the very beginning. Now, the very first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark. Why do we need to know that? Do you ever think about that? Do you think John is simply stating the obvious? Well, the sun wasn't up yet, so it was still dark. But darkness in the Gospel of John, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and in Him was life, and life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness. When did Nicodemus come? In the darkness. When does Mary Magdalene come? In the darkness. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was dark and without form. Is there something going on here? Is it not because the first day of the week God is saying, let there be light, and he's enlightening us? Is it not that Jesus Christ has passed through the bench? Remember we talked about Lazarus' children, that he was wrapped, he was probably put in the grave standing up, and that he needed help, remember? He couldn't just walk out of the tomb, they had to help him because he was all wrapped up. He didn't pass through, somebody had to unwrap him. But not Jesus. Jesus passed through those burial clothes. Jesus passed through the tomb. Jesus didn't walk out the front door. The only reason the front door is open is so that you and I can see in. There's nobody there. The light is starting to shine. God is saying, when you walk into that dark tomb, let there be light. And that light is our life. That headband has been carefully folded by Jesus and placed on the side. I did that. And those clothes are laying that way so that we can understand that he arose from the dead and he's saying, I did that. Why did you do that? So that He could become the propitiation for all of our sins. He died on the cross. He is now received as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And up from the grave He arose. So, in Deuteronomy 17, verse 6, and then again in Matthew 18, we have the law of the witnesses. There always needs to be two witnesses, doesn't there? But we're getting all kinds of witnesses. Mary is saying the grave is empty. The grave is empty. The claws are there. The claws that remind us when Jesus Christ comes, and now they're empty. There's a witness there. God has left himself with evidence. Jesus has left you with evidence. The light is shining in the darkness. The Sabbath is over. Jesus is starting to work again. Jesus is doing the work of revelation again. Six days you shall labor. Now we're entered into the great day of rest. And as we live in that imperfect rest, as Christ will bring us into the fullness of that rest when he comes again, he's busy. And he's beginning. And he's saying, this is my revelation. And I give it to you. And I give it to you to be my witnesses on earth until I come again. And we're going to hear that that includes you too, women, next week. You too, children. That's why we're here on the planet as the saved people of God, to tell everybody that the grave is empty. It's why when you walk into an evangelical church, the cross is empty. We don't have a Jesus on the cross. We don't need a Jesus on the cross. We did, but not anymore. He's alive. He is risen from the dead, and he is Lord. And every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Samaria, and out through Judea, and into the ends of the earth, even in Canada, and Smithville, and Dundas, and in Cambridge, and Brantford, and St. George. Tell them this great story. Do you believe? Because Peter can't wrap his head around it, but John, we read, there's something there. And so we read, then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also and he saw and he believed. Do you believe? Help our unbelief. For as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise again. Does scripture mean there the entirety? The New King James gives us a capital S. Is it a particular scripture? But let's think about that. In the beginning God creates the heavens and the earth. And then God takes a man And he creates the body of the man out of the dust. And he breathes into that man, and that man becomes alive on the sixth day. And then it was very Tovia. It was very good. Man falls into sin. Jesus Christ comes. He's given a human body. Low in the grave He lays. Jesus my Savior. Waiting the coming day. Jesus my Lord. And then the body and the soul are joined together. Up from the grave He arose. Jesus is the resurrected one. Jesus is the glorious one. As was in the Garden of Eden. Where the man is created there in the garden of the graves Jesus is recreated Resurrected the firstborn of the dead it was always the plan of God that Adam was going to be the type of the second Adam that Adam was going to be the type of his son Jesus Christ the seed of the woman Satan now is crushed. He is lost. It's over and God used him to do it What now can Satan do? What can mortal men do to us? We belong to Jesus Christ. Do you not know that all of you who were baptized into His death, the first Adam, have been raised alive into the newness of life, the second Adam? Read Romans 6 today. Shall we go on sinning that grace may abound? No, you've all been baptized into the death of Jesus Christ. You're alive in the grave. This is our great story. You know, we've been talking about, just with different Christians and different people, are we wrestling, are we struggling in our churches, beloved? Have we lost our joy? That you go to just too many services and we're just feeling low and down, and I'm not good enough, and I can't be saved, and the world is going bad, and conspiracy theories, and all of this other stuff. Stop and think about what happened for you. Look into that grave. Jesus is alive. And where He is now, you will go. You were baptized into His death. Serve Him, love Him with joy, with a smile, with thanksgiving in our hearts. The day of Eeyore Christians is over. There is no dark cloud hanging over us. The clouds have been rolled away. The tomb, the stone has been rolled away. Do you believe? But if that wasn't enough, Psalm 2, why do the nations rage and people plot of vain things? The kings of the earth set themselves against the Lord and against his anointed. Let us break their chains, they say, but he who sits in the heavens laughs and he holds them in derision. I have set my son on my holy hill. He's alive. Or again, therefore my heart is glad, my glory rejoices, my flesh will rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor the Holy One to see corruption, you will show me the path of life. Psalm 16, Jesus is alive. Psalm 110 verse 4, the Lord has sworn he will not relent, you are a priest forever. in the order of Melchizedek. Psalm 118, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing. It's marvelous in our eyes. Psalm 116, I love the Lord the fount of life and death. He heard my voice. He's my joy, my consolation. He did not leave my soul in Sheol. And once more ye shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge my righteous service will justify many in their thought. And therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death. He was numbered with the transgressors, and bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." He's alive. I am the Good Shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. I take it up again. I am alive. Scripture had always told us about this. And whether we see Isaac near death on that altar, spared, or we see Jonah coming out of the belly of that fish. I know this is miraculous, but we're talking about God. I know we're talking about that which can't be done. The dead don't walk up out of the grave on their own, but we're talking about Jesus Christ, true God and true man, the beautiful Savior. Do you believe? That's why John has written this gospel. That's why he's told you everything he's told you. That's why the Lord God gave you a baptism today, with this sermon today, so that you would leave here convicted, all of you who have faith, to find joy and strength in your faith. Those of you who are wavering in your faith, to find strength in it today, and give your life in recommitment to the Lord our God. And those of you who don't have faith, to cry out and pray to the Lord, save me. Give me this faith, I want this faith. There is nothing more joyful, more beautiful, more marvelous than how Christ resurrects and as he gave faith to John, so he gave faith to you. Remember what God did when Adam fell into sin? Adam, where are you? And John and Peter are confronted with Mary Magdalene and Jesus' brothers, where are you? And they go home. The disciples went away again to their own homes. Even the shepherds went, come and see what the Lord has done. We have seen the child. We have seen the one who was born the Messiah. We have heard the angels. Hurry, shepherds, run. And the disciples, yeah, I don't know what to make of it. And so they go home. Jesus isn't done with them yet. And he's not done with you either. But in time, in your way, in your gift set, in your life experience, He will use you to tell somebody about this great truth. He's alive. The grave is empty. The clothes are laying there. The sweatband is neatly folded. What more do you need? The Bible tells me so. Amen. Let's pray.