[ANNOUNCER] The following
program is brought to you
by the friends and
partners of Time of Grace.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR JEREMY MATTEK]
Hello, I'm Pastor
Jeremy Mattek with Time of
Grace.
When our youngest daughter
was about two years old,
she was putting a piece of
her latest art on the side
of the refrigerator.
And once she got it up
there, she started backing
away from the refrigerator
very slowly so she could
admire and appreciate her
latest work of art.
She kept taking steps
backwards to get a bigger
and a better view but she
ended up taking one too
many steps backward.
She ended up tumbling
backwards down the stairs
leading into our basement;
tumbling down 15 wooden
stairs and landing on the
concrete floor in the
unfinished basement.
We were very worried that
something major had just
happened to our daughter.
But amazingly, she turned
out to be just fine; she
was okay.
There are so many
different things in life
that can make you feel
like my daughter tumbling
down the stairs; feeling
like you don't know what's
going to happen next,
feeling like you're
bruised, feeling like
you're battered, and it
can happen so often that
you might wonder sometimes
if it's even worth it to
keep going forward if it
might just be a better
idea to give up.
But Easter is a reminder
that Jesus has not given
up on you and it's a
reminder that no matter
how bruised and battered
you might get through
life, Jesus has guaranteed
that you will get through
it, too.
Pastor Jeske reminds us of
that this morning in a
message titled, "What if
Easter had never
happened?"
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MARK JESKE]
What do you suppose
it's like going to a
funeral when you don't
know what's going to
happen to the person in
the next life?
What do you suppose it was
like for the Corinthian
Christians - people living
in the Mediterranean world
at the time of St. Paul -
when they went to their
funerals?
What would they talk about
when they got together?
What was on their minds?
What emotions would they
have been feeling?
What thoughts would have
been going through their
heads?
What would they have said
to one another for
encouragement or meaning
or comfort at the time of
maximum stress in your
life?
I don't think the
Christians at Corinth had
much of a past to look
backward to with any
longing because before the
good news of the gospel
came to that part of
Greece, what we call
mythology - we talk about
the gods and goddesses of
Greek mythology - they
didn't call it mythology.
They thought it was
reality.
That was their reality.
That was the way the world
had been explained to
them.
So even though not
everybody believed
everything, that was the
best they had to hang
onto.
People pretty much knew
that there was a next
life.
In fact, our word "hades"
is actually the name of
the god, the person in
charge of the underworld
that the Greeks assumed
were ruling over the
spirits of the dead.
They did believe in an
afterlife but it sure
wasn't much to look
forward to.
The vast majority of
people would leave their
bodies behind and their
soul or spirit would go
forth, go across a river
if your relatives thought
to bury you with a coin,
you would pay Charon -
Charon the boatman - and he
would haul you across the
river and there you would
be set loose with the
imitation of a physical
form but yet you're a
disembodied spirit and you
would basically drift
around in the shadows.
The people who had died
were usually described in
the literature of those
days as irritable and
bored.
Does that sound exciting
to you?
If you had been an
evildoer, you would be
sent down to Tartarus
where you would be
tormented forever and
ever.
People, of course, were
terrified of that.
But the best it could get
were the Elysian Fields
where the heroes would go
- even that doesn't sound
so hot.
The poet Homer - who
relayed many of these
ancient legends who was
almost like the great
works of Homer were almost
like the Bible for the
Greeks and then later the
Romans - Homer said of
Achilles, the greatest of
the Greek warrior heroes,
Achilles, if anybody,
should have made it to the
Elysian Fields.
And in his songs and
poems, Homer has Achilles
saying, "I would rather be
the lowest slave on earth
than a king in the
underworld."
So if that's as good as it
got, what kind of future
do you suppose people were
excited about if they had
gone to a funeral in
Corinth before Paul got
there on his second
missionary journey?
I don't think very much.
They would have spent time
looking backward, trying
to have some pleasant
memories about the
deceased and possibly try
to put a good shine on the
person's life to persuade
the judges in the
afterlife not to throw
them into Tartarus.
But if the best it got was
a dreary, gray,
everlasting boredom and
irritability, what does
that leave you with but
emptiness and thinking,
"I've got to get it all
now because I've got
nothing in the future to
look forward to."
Paul came and brought a
message of Christ
crucified and risen and
that changes everything,
especially the way you
think about the meaning of
your life and the future,
the destiny, your
destination, where you're
headed to, changes
everything.
It changed it for the
Corinthians.
It changes it for you and
me, as well.
And I'd like to invite you
to go through the little
mental planning exercise
today to imagine what it
would have been like if
there had been Easter.
If Christ had never come
or if having come he had
failed along the way and
his body would have stayed
in the cave.
By now, of course, grave
robbers long since would
have plundered it; way too
easy and accessible.
If grave robbers managed
to get into the pyramids
of Egypt with their secret
chambers after they'd been
walled shut with these
immense blocks of stone,
there's no way that his
body would have been left
untouched after all these
years but he would have
stayed dead and you would
stay in the situation in
which you were born.
St. Paul had heard that
some of the early
Christians - perhaps being
persuaded by the Jewish
Sadducees - were losing
confidence in the idea of
a physical resurrection
from the dead.
In fact, that should come
as no shock to any of you
because there are
considerable numbers of
even Christians today who
are not so sure that
Christ physically rose
from the dead and they're
not so sure about your
physical resurrection
either.
Maybe it's from too many
Christians going to too
many completely secular
universities.
You know, one of the most
renowned geniuses in the
world of physics is
Stephen Hawking; a British
physicist.
He has had Lou Gehrig's
disease, ALS, for most of
his life so he would tell
anybody, "I'm not afraid
to die.
I've been living with
death for five decades."
A brilliant, brilliant
man.
And yet when Diane Sawyer
had an interview with him
and asked him if he
thought there was a heaven
he just snorted.
"Pphhbb," he said.
"Just a fairy story for
people that are afraid of
the dark."
And she asked him, "Well,
what secret do you still
hope one day to uncover?"
and he said, "I'd kind of
like to know the meaning
of the universe and why
the universe came into
existence."
So all his learning could
not even help him explain
what he was doing on this
earth and yet, he had the
temerity to blow off the
message.
Satan is always trying to
steal our confidence in
the resurrection of
Christ, which also means
the resurrection of you
and me and those that we
have laid to rest.
He's trying to steal our
funeral joy and we're not
going to let him.
We're not ever going to
let him but especially not
today; not on resurrection
Sunday.
Go with me, if you would,
to the book of 1
Corinthians - either if
you've got a Bible close
to you or you have a smart
device, you can look it up
with me now if you've got
a tablet or smart phone on
you - and I'd like you to
look at 1 Corinthians 15,
which all of it would make
a splendid family devotion
today.
Just let Paul talk to you.
It is an essay on the
meaning of the
resurrection of Christ and
a joyful anticipation of
our resurrection, as well.
And I'd like to savor just
one paragraph out of this
essay with you.
To me, it's almost the
heart and core of it
because it challenges you
to think, "Why is Easter
such a big deal?"
Well, simply because it
changes everything.
And here's what Paul had
to say.
Our reading today starts
at verse 12: "If it is
preached that Christ has
been raised from the dead,
how can some of you say
that there is no
resurrection of the dead?"
As I mentioned before,
half of the religious
leadership of the Jews at
Jesus time denied a
physical resurrection.
The Pharisees believed in
it but their counterparts
in the temple service, the
priests - sometimes called
the Sadducees - they were
the counterbalancing force
of religious leadership.
They were sort of roughly
half and half of the
Sanhedrin; the governing
body of the Jewish people.
The Sadducees were a
hereditary group so
because they were so
family based, they
basically owned all the
rackets and businesses
surrounding the temple
worship so everybody, all
the vendors who wanted to
rent space near the
temple, had to pay them
off.
So they slowly became
wealthy.
They also made a
calculation that it was in
their interest to kind of
cozy up to the Roman,
their Roman masters.
So the Pharisees hated
them because they were
nationalists and the
Sadducees were like the
Vichy French; they were
collaborationists, so they
had a lot of influence.
They also did not believe
in a physical
resurrection.
Why would they?
They had their heaven now.
They had power, they had
wealth, they had social
standing, they had
everything all organized,
they had their own sources
of income, their own
little rackets.
They weren't interested in
the next life because they
were having too much fun
in this life.
In fact, one of their
number would actually -
the high priest - would
chair the Sanhedrin.
Those were all hereditary
so they had a nice, cozy
game going on.
And I can understand how
there would be some people
in this congregation -
possibly some of them were
of Jewish descent - and
they had been taught that
in temple schools in
Jerusalem, if they were
ever there, or people who
taught them were taught by
these Sadducees.
And so the idea that Paul
had proclaimed when he
first came through Corinth
about the resurrection of
Christ didn't all
completely take root.
There were doubters and
skeptics in Corinth and
Paul, right now, is going
to go off on them with, I
would say, a quite a bit
of ammo.
"If it's preached that
Christ has been raised
from the dead, how can
some of you say there is
no resurrection of the
dead?"
If you don't believe in
the physical resurrection,
you have just eviscerated
Easter itself.
"If there is no
resurrection from the
dead" - now here come five
disasters - "then not even
Christ has been raised.
If Christ has not been
raised, our preaching,"
our proclamation, "is
useless."
In other words, we're
liars.
We're traveling scam
artists.
In other words, the church
is failing you too because
we have staked our
reputations on what we
told you.
"And if Christ has not
been raised, our preaching
is useless and so is your
faith."
Then you're fools and
suckers.
Then everything else we
told you, you have to
suspect.
You've got nothing
underneath you.
You're hanging out in
space like Wile E.
Coyote who has just run
off a cliff and then it
suddenly dawns on him as
he looks around that he is
standing on nothing but
air and that's you if
there is no physical
resurrection at Easter.
"More than that, we are
then found to be false
witnesses about God," and
if we're wrong about
Easter, we could be wrong
about everything for "we
have testified about God
that he raised Christ from
the dead.
But if he did not raise
him, if in fact the dead
are not raised, for if the
dead are not raised then
Christ has not been raised
either."
That's a packaged deal.
This is all bundled
together.
"And if Christ has not been
raised, your faith is futile."
It's pointless.
The Greek word "mataioo,"
means there's no point to
it; there's no harvest.
It's fruitless.
"You're still in your
sins."
So then Good Friday is
emptied of its meaning,
too.
So you're back on your
own, naked and guilty,
standing in front of God
on the Day of Judgment.
If you unravel Easter,
everything comes apart.
You've got nothing.
And think of all the
people you have buried in
the hope of being
resurrected in Christ then
also those who have fallen
asleep in Christ are lost.
So every hopeful Christian
funeral you've had up
until this point now has
become a meaningless joke.
You were lied to and you
lied to one another.
Do you see what's at stake
here?
"If it's only for this
life we have hope in
Christ, we are to be
pitied more than all
people.
But Christ has indeed been
raised from the dead, the
firstfruits of those who
have fallen asleep."
And the gospels are full
of the stories of the eye
witnesses of people who
have touched him, who ate
with him and who watched
him eat.
This was not just a
holographic representation
that came out of that
cave.
He's not a computer
projection.
He's not a computer
simulation.
This is not computer
graphics.
Jesus is not an avatar or
something else.
He is a real live human
being with flesh and blood
that was fully dead and
now has come back to life.
This is a big deal.
In fact, it's the pivot
point for in all of human
history and the entire
meaning of your life and
your relationship with God
is all hanging on what was
going to happen after
Jesus was laid in his
grave cave.
And the angels held their
breath; if they had breath
to hold they would have
been holding it, watching
to see if he made it.
First, it looked like he
had failed.
In fact, as you heard from
the Scripture reading in
March 16, what was the
dominant emotion in every
one of the hearts of the
people who surrounded
Jesus for the rest of
Friday and all day
Saturday and into Sunday
morning?
The dominant emotion in
their hearts was fear.
Fear, over and over, it
said they did not do this
for fear because they were
afraid.
And that's why the
physical resurrection of
Christ banished all their
fear.
Here's how this changes
everything: The physical
resurrection of Christ
demonstrates that his work
was accomplished perfectly
and immaculately.
He did everything right.
That means his work of
obedience was flawlessly
executed.
Obedience necessary to
counteract for your
disobedience and mine.
Your stupidity and mine.
Your recklessness and
mine.
Your failures and mine.
But his obedience was
perfect and his
resurrection proves it.
It also proves, secondly,
that the sacrifice he made
was acceptable to the
Father.
The angels were holding
their breath to look at
the Father's face if he
was still angry for the
Father's face on Calvary
was in a snarl of rage and
all of the blows landing
on the Lamb of God had the
Father behind them all
going, "Hit him again.
Hit him harder this time.
Pound those nails.
Strike that crown of
thorns into his head.
Beat his back.
Punch him again.
Spit on him some more."
And the Father, in this
way, was pouring his anger
on his Son and if that
snarl of anger and
judgment and condemnation
and rage was still on his
face when Jesus gave up
his last, all would be
lost because it would not
have been enough and the
Father would still have
had all that anger
leftover for you and for
me.
But there was joy in
heaven when the Father's
face broke out in smiles
for what it did was it
guarantees that Christ's
sacrifice was acceptable
to his Father.
And whereas before we'd
been guilty of everything,
now we in Christ
essentially have been
allowed to trade places.
And what you are heading
into when you die is not a
terrifying ordeal where
your life is going to be
dissected and every
failure come back to life.
What instead you're going
to hear is the same
welcome that the Father
gave to his Son: "Welcome
home, my daughter, my son.
Welcome home to the joy of
your Lord.
Well done, my good and
faithful servants;
innocent of all charges.
Pass through.
Come home."
And that's what we can
encourage one another
with.
This is what you can look
forward to as your life is
slipping away.
When you're feeling good
and healthy and you've got
enough money for now, it's
not so tough to say I'm
not afraid to die.
Let me just share with you
from the people that I've
been with as their own
life was slipping away.
They are anxious because
it's a little harder to
say how you ain't afraid
to die when death is right
there, right in your face,
and you have to go through
all of those emotions
yourself.
What was the meaning of my
life?
I can't believe I'm
slipping away.
How can the world get
along without me?
I'm losing everything and
you start to panic.
Easter takes away your
fear and it also means, as
Paul said, the dead, those
who have fallen asleep in
Christ, are asleep.
They're not gone.
Without Easter, without
the physical resurrection
of Christ, you would be
separated from those you
love and death would be
the ultimate chasm.
The resurrection of Jesus
guarantees that you have a
future with the people
that you have laid to rest
who fell asleep in Jesus
for they will wake up.
And the best of all is
it's not just for this
life that we have hope in
Christ; we have hope for
an eternity.
What this does is it
changes everything in the
way you view your life.
You don't have to get
everything now.
One of the things that
makes us so frantic and I
think that drives some
people to cheat and steal
is they think I've only
got one little slender
shot at having some fun
and I've got to get it all
quick now because the game
is soon over and that is
so not true.
You don't have to get it
all now.
In fact, you can't get it
all now.
Don't pressure yourself -
especially don't pressure
yourself to cheat or lie
or take shortcuts - to try
and enjoy some
satisfaction now because
you've got an eternity in
front of you.
You don't have to get it
all now because you're
getting it all later.
You understand this?
Nod if you get what I'm
saying.
Relax.
It takes all the pressure
off of you to be some kind
of superstar.
You can enjoy the people
around you without a panic
that it's all slipping
away.
You can enjoy your life
even if your dollars are
few.
Relax.
You're a billionaire.
When you die, you inherit
everything because Jesus
left you a fortune.
Relax.
Your life isn't slipping
away; you're just sliding
closer to the grand portal
for because Christ is
immortal, you are, too.
Ultimately, when you boil
it down, what changes
everything - the two
biggest things that really
matter - is that number
one, the resurrection of
Christ guarantees God's
favor upon you and
guarantees the forgiveness
of your sins.
And secondly, it
guarantees your
immortality.
This is incredible good
Easter news given to you
and me to give us hope and
juice and confidence and
joy in our lives so we can
enjoy our life, whatever
it might be, knowing that
we have the favor of God
resting on us.
And that whatever our life
situation may be, it's
cool because God put us
there and he will get his
work done through us no
matter what our situation.
And secondly, it
guarantees that you have
something to say - not
just to your own heart -
but to the people around
you, you and I have an
incredible message to
share and if you are
talking to somebody whose
life is slipping away and
you're groping for
something to say skip the
sports and skip the
weather, okay?
Just say Jesus loves you.
He lived for you and died
for you and rose again so
that you might rise again
and live with him and with
all the believers.
How can it get any better
than that because Easter
really changes everything.
Christ is risen!
[Audience: He is risen
indeed!]
Amen.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR JEREMY MATTEK]
Pastor Jeske just
gave us a great reminder
of the hope that Easter
allows us to live with.
I recently saw a story
about a single mother of
four children who built a
3,500 square foot home by
herself using YouTube
videos.
She didn't know anything
about how to build a house
or what all went into a
house, but she was coming
out of a really hard time
in her life; she had just
gotten out of a
relationship of abuse.
And she was in a lot of
pain and a lot of hurt
and, for whatever reason,
she decided to try to
build a house and she did.
And her four children, as
they grew up, they ended
up helping her and they
ended up building - just
with YouTube videos
teaching them along the
way - ended up building a
3,500 square foot home
that is absolutely
beautiful.
Easter is the reminder
that you have something
even better to look
forward to.
Jesus went to great
lengths to provide a home
in heaven where there is
no more death, where there
is no more pain, where
there's no more crying;
where every last sad tear
in your life is entirely
wiped away.
But he did not use YouTube
videos to build it.
He used his own blood.
He used his own life.
He used his own skin
because he believed that
you were worth it.
Easter is the reminder
that God thinks that you
are worth it.
That God believes you have
something to look forward
to.
That God believes that you
are going to overcome
everything that brings you
down on earth.
I wish you a blessed
Easter and I'll be back to
pray with you in just a
bit.
[PROMOTION] Time of Grace
is blessed with very
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I already answered a book
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And I've just written a
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150 new head-scratchers
called More Straight Talk.
Now, we won't have all the
answers to every question
till we get to heaven,
where we shall know fully,
even as we are known, as 1
Corinthians 13:12 says.
But in the meantime, it's
great fun to dig into the
word together, as we'll
get to do in my new book,
More Straight Talk.
More Straight Talk is our
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I would like to take a
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You are truly blessed
partners in this ministry
and without you, we would
not be able to bring the
hope of Easter to so many
other viewers.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus, We are so
grateful for your victory
on Easter morning.
Your victory allows us to
live with victory every
day.
Though we walk through
difficult times, though we
go through trials and
struggles, Easter is the
promise that one day we
will overcome because our
Savior Jesus did.
Help us to live with that
hope every day of our
lives, every day of our
existence, and help us to
share that hope with those
around us.
There are so many whose
souls have bottomed out
with discouragement and
despair.
But your Easter morning
grave gives us the
greatest victory of all
and lifts us to the
heights of heaven.
Thank you for giving us
such a glorious vision, a
glorious message, and a
glorious heaven.
In your name we pray,
Amen.
For Time of Grace, I'm
Pastor Jeremy Mattek.
A blessed Easter to you
and it all starts now!
[MUSIC]
[ANNOUNCER] The
preceding program was
brought to you by the
friends and partners of
Time of Grace.
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