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This is Resurrection Sunday. And Pastor Wei shares with us his sermon entitled He Is Risen, He is Not Here. Let's be encouraged and renew our faith today.

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Once again, for our Resurrection Sunday service. Today is a special day for the church. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ today. And it is arguably the most important celebration for the church. It is at the heart of our Christian faith and the gospel message. The resurrection of Jesus is indispensable to our faith. Without his resurrection, we wouldn't even have the church. There wouldn't be followers of Jesus today. So Paul himself was an enemy of the church, persecutor of the Christians. An intern missionary, Paul, wrote this. He's well aware of this very issue. So he wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 12 to 19. And I'll just kind of highlight some of the key verses. Can I have the next slide? Thanks. And it says this if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. And your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God. Your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. If in Christ we have hope, in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then we are of all people most to be pitied. And in our gospel reading this morning, that's exactly where the disciples were. That was how they were feeling. All this time they spent with Jesus, that three and a half years with Jesus, was in vain. They misrepresented God and what he was doing during Jesus' ministry. Their faith in Jesus was futile. They were still in their sins. And they were of all people most to be pitied. They felt that way because Jesus, their teacher, their master, their Christ, was brutally flogged and then hung on the cross like a criminal, dying in agony and disgrace. And all they had done was for nothing. If I can, the next slide. No one believed that a dead person can save the world. To believe that is simply mad. And so the flame to their faith, their hope, their purpose was snuffed out when Jesus breathed his last breath. And that is where we are at in today's reading. If I can have the next slide and show the first two verses, there was no expectation that Jesus will be alive. On that Sunday morning, there was zero expectation that Jesus will be alive. We see that none of the disciples, none of the male disciples, and none of the 12, the ones closest to Jesus, none of them went to the tomb. None of them went to anoint the body of their master. Only three women went. Mary Magdalene, uh Mary, the mother of James and Salome. And likewise, they were not expecting Jesus to somehow be alive on their day. They bought their spices, uh, which would have been sweet smelling, right? They bought their spices to pour over the dead body of Jesus to mask the smell of decay. For them, they were only going up to finish the burial rites for a dead man. Uh next slide, and in verses 3 and 4, we see that maybe they were so emotionally distraught. Maybe they were just so tired because they couldn't sleep last night. But they did not think through everything. Right? When they when they were reaching, they realized how will we enter the tomb? Three of us, how are we gonna roll the stone away? Um Mark uh puts a note there uh and tells us that it is very large. Yeah, and I think that is really a gross understatement. Uh a stone like that can weigh anything between one to two tons, right? That's 1000 to 2000 kg. Uh certainly not something that that the just three women could could just roll over uh roll off. Um but behold, when they reach, we are told that it was already rolled back. And interestingly, the point about the stone being rolled back is actually not for the benefit of Jesus. It's not like Jesus needed the stone to be rolled away, right? In John chapter 20, verses 19, uh, we read this interesting uh, you know, we see this interesting scene. The disciples were all in a room, we are told the door is closed, and Jesus just walks right into the room without opening the door. In his resurrected body, nothing can hold him, even death could not hold him, much less a stone. So the stone was real bad, not for Jesus to come out, but for people to go in and see. So, if I can, next slide, we we read that they entered the tomb and they see a young man sitting at the right side dressed in a white robe. Um, they were alarmed. Verse 8 says, He said to them, uh, do not be alarmed, you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. Uh he has risen, he is not here. The term Jesus of Nazareth actually is a pejorative term, right? Um, you know, you are from Nazareth. What good comes out of Nazareth, right? Um and and and and this this nobody, this commoner died, but he is risen. That's the force of the message here. He was crucified and he has risen. And that actually is where really the summary of the gospel is, right? Jesus died. He was crucified, he was died and buried, but now he has risen. And this is a momentous revelation, especially for Jesus' disciples later on. Um, the empty tomb is evidence uh that Jesus was really not there. Um, perhaps you could argue, well, that does not mean that he was really raised from the dead. The tomb is just empty, right? And you know, people have offered other explanations. Uh, you read in Matthew chapter 28, right, that the Roman soldiers were saying, you know, go and spread this story that they stole the bodies actually. Um at least we know that Jesus really wasn't there anymore. But we do know that Jesus did, in fact, rise from the dead because the disciples themselves witnessed Jesus in his risen body. It was later confirmed when they met him in person. And the resurrection of Jesus is the only reason, really the only good explanation that this the disciples suddenly turned from being so despondent, right, in despair and distraught and and just kind of given up of everything. This just suddenly turned to uh putting their faith in Jesus again and preaching that Jesus is indeed the long-awaited Messiah. And it is so exciting here for them because the kingdom of God has truly come in Jesus Christ. And so, this is my first point here that we I think we can glean from Mark chapter 16, that the resurrection is a reality and there is power in the resurrection. All that happened in chapters 1 to 15 of the gospel of Mark has has all led up to this climatic point in our history. The Jews, and including Jesus' disciples, they have been waiting for God to come to work and to save, to liberate them. And now it has finally happened. Jesus' resurrection means that the faith and hope of Jesus' followers were not crushed along when Jesus uh with Jesus on the cross. It has now become a reality for them. The kingdom of heaven is breaking into our earthly world with salvation and liberation. And so Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 1, uh verses 19 and 20. He says, he writes to the Ephesians and says and prays that they may know the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. The resurrection power of God is presently at work in us. And I will draw just two implications for us from this point. First is that we have victory over death, right? Isaiah back in uh in his time, he was prophesying that God will come, God will liberate the people, and he will swallow up death forever. And Paul takes that, he quotes Isaiah chapter 25, verse 8, in 1 Corinthians 15, and he continues to say this oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? Death could not hold Jesus in the tomb, and neither can it hold us in the grave now. And so we need not fear death because it no longer has the final say over our lives. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead, the fact that God has the power to raise Jesus from the dead, give us full assurance that we will not uh see death as the final end to our lives, but that but that God will one day raise us from the dead as well. And so we have victory over death, and now we have new life and power in Christ. More than just uh having eternal life after death, salvation also actually means freedom from the power of this of sin in the new life and power that God gives us right now. Salvation means freedom from the power of sin. In Christ, New Testament writers tell us in Christ, we are all made new. We are no longer slaves to sin. Which means that by his power, we can break through our sins, break through our addictions, the toxicity in our lives, we can break through our pride, our fears, our worries, our ceaseless striving. We can break the endless cycle of chasing after the things of the world, chasing after the desires of our flesh, chasing and chasing and gaining more and more, and yet coming up short and empty. We are now a new creation with a new vision of what is truly life. And so, how do we live that new life? How do we receive that resurrection power that God has for us today? Jesus gives us a picture uh in John chapter 12, verses 24 and 25. Uh, of course, he speaks about his own death, but it was also a word for us, for his people. Uh, he says this um truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it. And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Of course, he writes about his own death and how he will come back to life. And it says the same for us as well. Unless we die and lose our life, we will not find the eternal life that is in Christ. And so Paul again writes in Galatians 2 20, he identifies himself with the passion of Jesus and he says this, I have been crucified with Christ. And it's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Church, if the resurrection didn't happen, or if today you are sitting here and you don't believe in the resurrection, then all is good. You don't have to bother with this, right? You don't have to think about denying yourselves, really. Um, eat, drink, and be merry. But if you believe in the resurrection and in its power for us today, if you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, then brothers and sisters, we can confidently die to ourselves. We can confidently deny ourselves, relinquish control, and say that there is a God and He is living in me now, and know that this will be the best life ever. One not fraught with endless striving and captivity to sin, but one that truly flourishes, one that foretastes the new creation. We can fully trust in Jesus and to be crucified with him so that we may have his life, and we can trust that God will not put us to shame for it. And so die to yourself to receive that resurrection power. We have to die to ourselves so that we may find the life of Christ in us. And so that that's the first point that I have, right? Resurrection is not just a past or it's just not a historical event that we just learn about uh and we celebrate once every year, it is a present reality that affects our life even today. And and uh that's the first thing. Jesus has risen, right? Jesus is alive, he has resurrected, and in his resurrection power, we have been saved. We have victory over death and a new life in Christ. The second thing we can glean from today's passage is really Jesus' love for his disciples. Um, there is a very short note there. Um, Mark is known for being very brief and very concise, and um there's a very short note there. But go tell his disciples and Peter. Tell his disciples and Peter. Jesus, after his resurrection, um, was going to regather his disciples. Yeah, and this is these are the same disciples who fled, who deserted him, uh, who really have just given up uh on all that they have experienced while being with him. Uh and the the angel of the Lord was very specific about one person in particular. There was one special note. Um, God wanted the women to go and tell the disciples and Peter. Now imagine you are Peter at that time. Yeah, you have fled like the rest, but more than that, you denied Jesus three times, and now you learn that your master actually is who he says he is, and he has risen from the dead. If I were him, I would think, man, I don't think Jesus wants to have anything to do with me anymore. I betrayed him three times, I denied him. Why would he want me? Why would he want me to come and meet him? Peter probably felt the most guilty. He was so gung-ho about following Jesus, even to the point of death, and he ended up you know denying Jesus. And yet, Jesus, in seeking to restore his disciples, wanted Peter to know I still have you in my sight. So go and tell the disciples and tell Peter as well. Make sure he comes. And Peter, I'm sure Peter really needed to hear that. We sometimes think that you know these biblical characters are almost like superheroes of the faith, right? They can do no wrong, they are always so you know, walking so tightly with God, and we feel like we can never measure up. Um, Mark, the gospel writer, is actually frequently showing us just how dense the disciples were. They could never really comprehend or understand what Jesus was saying, what Jesus was doing. And during Jesus' passion, they they failed him, right? There's no way else of putting it. They failed him. Um at the end of Mark's gospel, they were not even there at Jesus' tomb. They failed him, they had their failures as well. Um, and well, of course, Jesus also died for them. And now that Jesus has risen, he is calling them back, he wants to restore them. Um, in in other gospels, we even read that Jesus had a private conversation with Peter, and it really shows his tender love for his people. And I think that gives us relief, right? We may feel like we have messed up big time with the Lord, we feel like we've let God down one too many times, we strayed too far away, and I think, yeah, God probably, you know, just looking elsewhere, he doesn't have uh the sight uh to for me, he doesn't see me anymore. Um, and the picture that comes to mind here is the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15. I'm sure you are familiar with the the the parable already, and and like the prodigal son, we have squandered any inheritance and any goodwill from God, and sometimes we can feel utterly contemptible to him. But here we have a glorious message. If we humble ourselves and return to him, like the father looking out for his prodigal son every day, God will be there waiting to restore us, and God is here waiting to restore us this morning. If you want restoration, no one here this morning is beyond redemption. No one. Jesus died on the cross for you and I, and that saving grace does not run out. On this side of heaven, God is never done with you. So even if you have straight, you have failed greatly uh Jesus greatly, he does not give up on you. We can return to him and he will restore us, like how he restores Peter. So we have noted two things: one is the resurrection power, and the second thing is restoration from Jesus. The final thing we see in Mark 16 is this that Jesus caused his people to come and to realign themselves with God's purpose. So once again we go to verse 7. Um, now, but go tell the disciples and Peter that he is going before you uh to Galilee. There you will see him as he told you. Um, just as he told you, refers probably to Mark 14, when Jesus uh you know predicted his death and says that and and after I've risen, I will go to Galilee and I'll meet you there. Yeah. Um it is a strange journey from Calvary to Galilee. All hope died along with Jesus on the cross at Calvary. And now that Jesus has risen from the dead, he does not stick around. Um, and actually, he does not even ask the disciples, hey, let's convene at Jerusalem, the the religious center for for the Jews, right? But to go to Galilee, and there they will find Jesus. It is a journey back to the place of their calling, to the place of Jesus' proclamation of the kingdom of God, to the place where his power was profoundly demonstrated, but also back to where Jesus' ministry was largely misunderstood. In Galilee, the disciples were called, they became Jesus' disciples, they they heard his teaching, they witnessed his power, and yet they were never quite in alignment with Jesus. They could not fully comprehend what Jesus was doing or saying. And so going back to Galilee is going back to almost the place where they were called, the birth of their journey with Jesus, uh their training ground, so to speak. Going back to Galilee. Galilee, this time to see the risen Christ in person and to renew their ministry to realign with God's purpose for them. On Easter Sunday, we come back again to the reality of the resurrection of Jesus and how that entails the new creation and new life found in following Jesus. And so, church, on this resurrection Sunday, it is also a time for us to align or to realign ourselves as we remember that we are called to the purposes of God. We are caught for his purpose for us, for this church and for the world. When I was younger, I used to ride my bicycle around my neighborhood a lot. And I'm being young and kind of brash, I tend to uh ride into walls a lot. I crash into I crash quite often in the past. And from time to time, a lot of time actually, the front wheel will be bent out of alignment, right? It will just go sideways. And it's very frustrating. Have you ridden, have you ridden? Have you rode a bike that is that's just not aligned, you will just go everywhere, right? It's kind of impossible to ride a bike well. Um and was very frustrating, especially when I I used to like to ride without my hands, like like gung hole, I just egg on knee. Um but but I ride without red eye hands and just try to go a straight line, right? Um uh we will usually try to fix it by clamping the front wheel between our knees and you try to twist the handlebar, right? And you twist, twist, and then it gets too much on the other side. And you're gonna twist it back and then it gets too much on the other side, and it never really uh gets uh fully straight. Uh until I get someone who actually knows what he's doing. Um but that's me, I am not good at fixing stuff. Um riding a bike with alignment is so crucial, right? It makes things go, right? Having to sway left and right all the time. Um you not only get to your destination a bit uh longer, um, but also it's just not an enjoyable ride. Um and I think similarly for our lives, a diamond with God is really so fundamental and so crucial to our lives. Um when the disciples eventually met the new the risen Lord, their world was turned right side up again. And this time, this time, they gave their lives wholeheartedly to follow Jesus. And with the power of the Holy Spirit that descended on Pentecost, they became witnesses to Christ crucified in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And church, the Holy Spirit who worked through the disciples, is still active and working presently in our lives. And so, even now, as we realign ourselves to God's ministry, to become witnesses of Christ crucified, to retell the gospel by preaching with our words and with our lives, right? By embodying the mystery of the gospel, living our lives in accordance to our faith and our hope that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again. The Spirit of God gives us the power to live in that way, to live according to the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love. So that all the works of our hands in this earthly life may not be futile, may not be in vain, but be fruitful in the Lord. And so when Jesus rose from the dead, he calls for a response from the disciples. Go and tell them to come to Galilee. But it is up to them whether they wanted to go or not. It is up to them how they would uh respond. Uh the women responded by fleeing in fear and amazement in uh the last verse, verse 8. Uh, and uh in their fear, they chose not to say anything to anyone because they were so afraid, right? But of course, subsequently, we we we we we read from other gospels that they responded in obedience and recounted the whole thing to the other disciples. Uh the disciples also made their response, right? They could they could not stay and they could not uh ignore uh the the the women and so they took the faith and and and went to Galilee to meet Jesus. What happened a little over 2,000 years ago is not merely a historical record for us. The resurrection of Jesus Christ caused an explosive revolution that has reverberated through the course of history and is still unfolding today, church. It is still unfolding today as God is presently calling all of us to put our faith in the reason Lord. In him we find resurrection power for our justification and for our freedom. In him, we find restoration in our relationship with God, and in him we find our realignment with God's ministry and purposes. All things considered, our time here on earth is not very long. So may we live it well fully in the light of the resurrection of our Savior and King. And so today, if you feel the Lord speaking to you, if you feel the Lord tugging at your heart, if the Lord whispering something to you, calling you to Him, if you are seeking to receive salvation, restoration, or realignment, I would like to encourage you a little to come after service to speak with us. We'll have people here to pray with you. To come speak to us and we'll pray together with you.

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We pray that you've been ministered to by the Word of God today. If you'd like to know more about Eastern Christian Church, please visit our website at yccanglican.com. Have a blessed day.