Four Things to Do on Easter

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This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we love to help you know God’s Word better and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement. And if you’d like to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip’s free weekly devotional. You’ll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive resource offers designed to help you stay strong in your faith, all delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy, and you’ll be glad you did. Go to connectwithskip.com and join the list today. That’s connectwithskip.com. Now, here’s Pastor Skip with a special Easter message on this Good Friday edition of Connect with Skip Heitzig.

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I was on Google the other day, and I typed in a simple question. What should we do on Easter? And this is what Google suggests. Easter egg hunt. Exchange Easter baskets. Brunch at a local cafe. Here’s one. Have lunch with the Easter bunny. Do the bunny hop. I don’t even know what that is. Can any of you do the bunny hop? Let me see it. Also, Easter bingo. And then, finally, make hot cross buns. That’s what Google suggests we do on Easter. Americans will spend $22 billion on Easter items and related activities. $22 billion. They will spend $3.1 billion on candy alone for Easter. And this is an interesting fact, 60% of parents still send Easter baskets to their kids after their kids have moved out of the house. I don’t know if any of you are those parents. Over in Croatia, it’s a custom to light Christmas fires in the center of a area and then people bring out their own logs to make the fire bigger. There’s a town in France that takes 40 chefs to make an omelet with 15,000 eggs to feed thousands of people in town. And finally, there’s a Greek island named Corfu, and their Easter tradition is to throw pots off the balconies, pots filled with water to ward off evil spirits. What do Christians do on Easter? We do this on Easter. We celebrate the resurrection and we don’t just celebrate the resurrection as an historical event. We celebrate that this is the day death died. This is the day death has been defeated and new life, eternal life is possible. You’ll notice that the theme this year The theme and the message in this little icon is cross equals love. The cross is the demonstration that God so loved the world. And it’s true, Jesus Christ took our death sentence. He served our term. And then on the cross, he said, it is finished. The cross equals love. But I would also say the empty tomb equals love. Because without the resurrection, Jesus would still be dead. And because of the resurrection, he’s alive. He’s here right now. And he’s here to help you today. And the Bible says that he was delivered up for our sins, but he rose again to make us right with God. He was raised from the dead for our justification. Now in Matthew chapter 28, we have the resurrection story. And the resurrection is the core of everything we believe. It is central to our faith. What do I mean by that? Well, in the New Testament, there are over 300 different references to the resurrection. It was the central theme of all the apostles preaching in the New Testament. Because the resurrection addresses our fear of death and our hope for the future. I suppose the most famous clock in all the world is the clock in London, England, known as Big Ben. Big Ben towers up above the Houses of Parliament on the north end of the Houses of Parliament. You can see it from all over central London. Big Ben. Big Ben. plays four major notes from the fifth and sixth measure of Handel’s Messiah. It’s the part that says, I know that my Redeemer lives. So I love that. They’re playing the notes that speak about the resurrection. So think of it this way. Londoners set their watches and navigate their day by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They don’t know they’re doing it, but they’re doing it. And I want to just suggest to you that you navigate your life by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are four notes, four commands that the angel gives here. They’re very, very simple commands. Come see Jesus. Go and tell. Come, see, go, tell. Let me read you the story. This is Matthew 28, beginning in verse 1. Now, after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door. I love this part. and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen. As he said, Come, See the place where he lay, where the Lord lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, I have told you. So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples’ word. Come. See, go, tell. Now, I’m not surprised that the angels were here at the resurrection. I think all of heaven was incredibly interested in the days that happened in Jerusalem. at the death and the burial and the resurrection. The angels were there announcing the birth of Jesus. They were there when Jesus was tempted in the Garden of Gethsemane. It’s no surprise that the angels were there for the resurrection. And I don’t know how the angels look. Everybody’s suspicious whenever somebody says, I saw an angel. They’re sort of like Elvis Presley sightings. Angel sightings are sort of like Elvis sightings. You know, you’re never sure if that really happened, but whatever they look like, they must have been awesome because they were afraid. And the angel had to say to the women, don’t be afraid, because that was their natural inclination to be scared. Something else to note, it says the angel rolled the stone away and then sat on it. The angel rolled the stone away, not to let Jesus Christ out of the tomb, but to let people into the tomb to see that it was empty. That’s why it was rolled away. So come, see, go, and tell. Let’s consider those four commands. First of all, come, the angel says. Come, that’s a word of invitation. It’s an important word because there would have been a lot of things to keep the women from coming to the tomb. I can think of a few. Natural fear. Graveyards are spooky, especially when it’s dark. Whenever I travel overseas, I like to go and take pictures in cemeteries, but I remember being in Scotland one night when it was dark, and I got to tell you, it was spooky to be in that graveyard. Also, it would have been scary to come to an empty tomb. And why do I say that? Because they weren’t expecting an empty tomb. They looked and they saw the stone was rolled away, and I’m sure they were wondering, why is it open? Did robbers come in to steal the body or to steal some items? Why is it open? They were not looking for anybody but a dead guy. And number three, there were guards, it says, at the tomb. Guards were stationed there to watch the tomb. The procurator, Pontius Pilate, gave a command that the tomb would be guarded and it was sealed. And if you broke the seal, the penalty was death. Now, we’re not sure if these were temple guards or which would have been Jewish guards, or if these were Roman guards. If they were Roman guards, there would have been 16 men, armed men. Twelve of them would sleep in a semicircle. Four would keep watch, four at a time. If the four who were keeping watch fell asleep, they would be killed. So it was a big deal to guard a tomb. But the women were invited and they came and the angel says, come, like come inside. And come is a great word. It’s a great word of the gospel. Jesus never said to people, go away. You bother me. He said, come. And come is a welcoming word. Jesus always welcomed people. And we just want to know, we want you to know that you are welcomed here today. No matter what you’ve done, no matter what your background is, no matter what you did yesterday even, you are welcome here. And that’s a word that we find often in the Scriptures. The curious disciples asked Jesus, Teacher, where are you staying? And Jesus said, Come and see. When Jesus walked on the water and Peter saw him, he said, Lord, if it’s you, command me to come. And Jesus said, come.

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You’re listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Back with more of this special Easter message in just a moment. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps make clear, practical Bible teaching available to families who are searching for hope, healing, and God’s truth. And this month, we want to thank you with a powerful resource focused on restoring God’s design for family. When you give, you’ll receive Reconnecting with Family, Pastor Skip’s new book drawn from more than 30 years of biblical teaching and pastoral wisdom, while pointing you back to God’s timeless plan for healthy, God-honoring relationships. We’ll send Reconnecting with Family as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support the ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer. Now let’s return to today’s teaching.

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You remember when the disciples were trying to keep the children away from our Lord and Jesus said, let the little children come to me for such is the kingdom of heaven. And then to the rich young ruler in the New Testament, Jesus said to him, come, follow me, and you will have treasure in heaven. I want to just ask you a simple question. Have you obeyed this simple command to come to Jesus? Yes, you’ve come to this stadium. We’re glad you’re here on this very cold morning. We’re glad you came to church. But have you come to Jesus Christ? Maybe some of you haven’t come yet to him because, like the women, you’re a little bit afraid. You’re afraid of what others would think about you. Or you are afraid that you’re not good enough to come to him, clean enough to come to him. You don’t have to clean your act up. You don’t have to clean your life up to come to Jesus. You come as you are. He’ll clean you up. You come as you are. He’ll clean you up. He loves you the way you are, but he loves you too much to leave you the way you are. So you just come as you are. And this word come is a refreshing word because the religion of Jesus’ day was not an inviting situation. It was very intimidating. The religious systems around Christ were were not characterized by open hands, but by folded arms. They were not welcoming, they were warning to people. I found this little article. I’m gonna show you a picture if we can get it up. There’s a couple in Wadsworth, Illinois that built a very unusual home, a 7,000 square foot pyramid covered in gold paint, surrounded by a moat. and they planned after building the house to put sharks in the moat. How would you feel about coming over for dinner? You might be dinner for the sharks. And the religious system of Jesus’ day was surrounded by sharks. It was intimidating. What do I mean? First of all, it was restrictive behavior. Jesus said concerning the spiritual leaders, they crush you with impossible demands and they never lift a finger to help ease the burden. So they were very restrictive. Also, they were very protective. They referred to the law of God as offense. to guard a hedge, to keep people in. But anytime you build a fence or a wall to keep people in, you are also building it to keep people out. And in the temple, there were courts for the priests, for the men, for the women, and for Gentiles. That would be you and me. And there was a wall that said, death to any Gentile who comes past this point. So it was very restrictive. It was very protective. It was also very accusative. The religion of Jesus’ day made a person feel that whatever they did, it wasn’t enough. To Jesus Christ, the religious leader said, why do your disciples not keep the tradition of the elders? When Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath day, The religious leader said to him, it’s not lawful for you to carry your bed. What a weird thing to say to a guy who’d been healed. How about, hallelujah, you can walk. But all they could say is, it’s unlawful for you to carry your bed. And so imagine how refreshing it was when Jesus Christ came into that religious system and said, come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Very, very different. So we’re glad you came to church, but we want you to come to Jesus Christ. You will find him to be very open-handed. So that’s the first word, come. The second word is see. See. See the place, the angel said. See the place where the Lord lay. Now that word, see, means to perceive or to experience or to encounter something. we would say, hey, come, check this out. Look carefully, investigate carefully this situation. The first word come is a word of invitation. The second word see is a word of investigation. The angel wanted the women to investigate. You don’t say come and see if you’re trying to hide something. You say come and see if you’re trying to show something. And you got to know this, Christianity has nothing to hide. It welcomes open scrutiny and investigation. It doesn’t just tell people, just jump in, just take a blind leap of faith. No, it says investigate carefully and make the right choice. Come and examine his claims, the claims of Christ. See for yourself. When Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, We have found him of whom Moses and the prophets wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael said, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And Philip said, Come and see. Come and check it out for yourself. And here’s the truth. Once you come, you will see. But you’ve got to come and check it out and investigate. And when you do, you’ll see. You’ll experience it. Your life will be changed. You will see life clearly. I heard a great story about an eye doctor who went on a mission trip overseas and he went to China and he performed surgery on a man who had cataracts. He was a blind man. He had so many cataracts he couldn’t see. So the doctor performed the operation. It was very successful. The man who had been blind could now see. And about three weeks later, the doctor looked up and saw 48 blind men walking toward him down the road. They had walked 200 miles holding a rope so they could hold onto each other. And they were led by the man who had been cured of his blindness by that doctor. You see, these men came that they might see. They were led by one who was blind and now could see. So come and see. Now you say, well, what would they see? It’s an empty tomb. What is there to see? There’s nothing to see. That’s the whole point. In coming into the tomb, they would see four things. They would see, first of all, the humility of God. This is how far God would condescend. He would come into this world. He would live as a man. He would die a death. He would be buried in the ground. The Lord of eternity that inhabited time and space, this is his humility. It says in Philippians 2, he made, Jesus made himself nothing. Nothing. He poured himself out. As one person put it, no other religion has at its heart the humiliation of its God. Or put it this way, the Son of God became a man to enable men and women to become sons of God. So what would they see? They would see the humility of God. Second, they would see the reality of sin. You want to see what sin will do? Look at the tomb. It killed Jesus. You want to see what sin will do? It killed Jesus. Now, I know sin is not a popular subject. People usually mock it, make fun of the idea of sin. You got to know this. Jesus took sin very seriously. So seriously, he left heaven to come to this earth to deal with it. In the words of Isaiah the prophet, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. You know, in the world of the hearing impaired, the deaf have a beautiful sign for the name Jesus. They point to their hands with their fingers. They point to where the nails were put into the hands of Jesus. So to say Jesus is to point to their hands. He is identified by his sacrifice. So when looking at the empty tomb, you’ll see, number one, the humility of God, and number two, the reality of sin. But you’ll see something else. You will see the mortality of man, men and women. Every grave should remind you of this truth, that it is appointed unto every man once to die, and after this the judgment.” You know, I love Easter sunrise service, but I’m also reminded of several people that I know, friends of mine, who are now gone from this earth. They’ve died. They’ve crossed over into eternity. But there’s something else the empty tomb would show us. Not just the humility of God, not just the reality of sin, not just the mortality of man, but also the victory of Christ. The victory of Christ. The angel said, come, come into the tomb. I want you to see something. And they looked and you know what they saw? Nothing. That was the whole point. Nothing. Nobody’s there. You see, there are three main credentials that Jesus Christ had. Number one, his impact upon history. Number two, fulfilled prophecy, predictions made in the Old Testament that he fulfilled. And number three, the resurrection. The resurrection. There was a man in Africa, a Muslim, who was converted to Christ. One of his friends was angered that he had given his life to Christ and he asked him, why? Why did you convert to Christianity? And so the converted man said, let me explain it to you this way. Suppose you’re going down the road. And as you’re going down the road, the road forks into two different directions, and you don’t know which way to go. And at the fork in the road, there are two men, one dead and one alive. Which one are you going to ask directions from? The dead guy or the one who’s alive? That’s why I’m following Jesus, because all the other guys are dead. Only Jesus is alive. so come come see the place where our lord lay and then he gives two more commands he says go and tell verse 7 go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and indeed he is going before you into galilee there you will see him behold i have told you so it’s great to come and see But don’t linger at the tomb too long. The angel wants their fascination to become their motivation. Don’t keep this a secret. Don’t reduce the empty tomb to a sacred tradition or a holiday or even an academic pursuit. Tell people what you’ve seen. Tell people what you’ve experienced.

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Pastor Skip’s new book focused on restoring God’s design for family and relationships. Give today at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip.

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Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast your burdens on His wood. Make a connection.

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Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God’s never-changing truth in ever-changing times.