Matthew 27:45-50 (ESV) - Now from the sixth hour a there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
Matthew 27:57-61 (ESV) - When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
Matthew 28:1-10 (ESV) - Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
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Columnist Herb Caen, of the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote, “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”
There are some who are always running from something. There are some who run for something. Some have given up and are not running at all. They have given up. They have no drive in them anymore. They may not see anything worth living for. The Christian is running towards Jesus Christ. We are running for something. The Christian has something to live for. We gather every Sunday because we are seeking a deeper relationship with the Lord God.
Looking at the story above, the two Marys were confronted by an angel. Matthew 28:5, “the angel said, “I know that you seek Jesus … who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen.”
The women were seeking Jesus. They were at that time seeking a dead Jesus, but the Angel cleared that up, “He is risen.” There is no dead Jesus to seek or find. Only a living Jesus! They went from looking for a dead Jesus to seeking a living Jesus, a living Savior.
I do not know if you are here this morning because you seek Jesus. Perhaps you are here seeking brownie points with God by going to church on Easter. Perhaps you seek a way to clear or quiet your conscience by attending church on Easter. Perhaps you are seeking to quiet a family member who has been begging you to go to church. Whatever the reason, I am glad you are here.
I can tell you with certainty that the majority of us who are here today seek a Crucified Savior. We seek a Resurrected Savior, a Living Savior. A Jesus who holds eternal life in his hand and gives it freely to those who seek Him. We seek a Jesus who ascended to the place of all power and authority. He rules and reigns over everything—in the heavens and the earth.
Who is this Jesus we seek? He is a Needed Savior. We seek Jesus because we need Him to forgive us and cleanse us from our guilt and sin before the holy God.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know; nothing but the blood of Jesus.
The Blood of Jesus refers to His sacrifice on the cross. You may be sitting here wondering why you should seek Jesus with such fervency. Because we all need Him as our Savior. We need Him to save us from justice, the justice of God. We need a Savior in this life and the next life.
He is a needed Savior, and He is a Wonderful Savior. Muddy Creek Baptist Church sings hymns that have truth in them. We don’t sing songs just because they are catchy, but songs with truth. Songs that put our focus on God, on the Gospel, and remind us of who He is, like,
He took my sins and my sorrows, He made them his very own;He bore the burden to Calv’ry, And suffered, and died alone.
How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be:How marvelous! How wonderful, Is my Savior’s love for me.
Another song we sing is “Wonderful, Merciful Savior.”
Counselor, Comforter, Keeper, Spirit we long to embrace You offer hope when our hearts have, Hopelessly lost our way, Oh, we've hopelessly lost the way
I could speak for hours and hours on how wonderful our Savior, Jesus, is. There is so much to say about Him. He is Faithful, Gentle, Strong in our Defense, Patient with us, Compassionate, and Understanding. He draws closer to us when we are weak, wounded, or worried. He stands over us like a lioness over her cub. He leads us to green pastures and beside still waters for rest and peace. He restores our souls when our faith is drained, when our shield of faith is covered with arrows from the enemy, and our helmet of salvation is dented up. When we find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death, he is right there leading us through the valley. He is with us in the valley.
Oh How marvelous! Oh How wonderful, Is my Savior’s love for me.
The Choir sang of how wonderful our Savior is.
“Magnificent, Marvelous, Matchless Love too vast and astounding to tell, forever existing in worlds above, now offered and given to all.Oh, fountain of beauty eternal, the Father, the Spirit, the Son, sufficient and endlessly generous, magnificent, marvelous, matchless love.”
You do know, don’t you, that this world takes and takes from you. It will use you until it is done with you, and then spit you out. But our Savior gives freely and gives and gives. Yes, this is the Jesus we seek. He is a Wonderful Savior.
He is also a Faithful and Trustworthy Savior. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His love and care for us never flinches. He is steadfast and unchanging. We never have to ask ourselves, “I wonder what kind of mood Jesus is in today? I wonder if He still loves me the same?” His love is faithful, enduring, and unflinching.
He is a Strong and Mighty Savior. Our Savior rose from the dead! Three days buried, and He rose from the grave. Do you know anyone who is that powerful, someone powerful enough to defeat the ultimate enemy of death? Do you know anyone who died, remained dead for three days, rigor mortise had set in, the brain had stopped functioning for three days, the heart had stopped beating for three days, no oxygen to the lungs or heart, and was put in a tomb, then raised himself up alive? Oh, and will never die again? Jesus raised some people from the dead, but they would die again. Jesus will never taste death again.
He is a strong and mighty savior. Our Savior is so powerful that He is a Life-Changing Savior. One of the great things about Jesus Christ is that He never leaves you as He found you. He loves you too much to leave you broken, lonely, shackled by the power of sin and hopeless and helpless and unclean before God. Jesus doesn’t leave you in the ditch, half dead. He tends to your wounds. He takes you into His care as a good shepherd does. You may not know this about Jesus, but when we are weak and hurting or afraid and struggling, that is when He is closest to us. Like a shepherd, He runs to the hurt lamb and takes it into His special care.
Not only does He work to transform you with grace to greater grace, but He will prune us like a fruit tree so that we will grow even more. His Spirit will work in you to conform you to the likeness of Christ. This is what Romans 8:29 tells us. Jesus gets the true “Life-Time Achievement Award” for never giving up on each of us in this life and the life to come.
He is also an Eternal Savior. That means forever. The Bible tells us that those who belong to Jesus Christ have their names written in His Book of Life. The choir's last song reminded us of this eternal promise from Jesus. Those who belong to Him by faith have their names written in His Book of Life. This is the Lamb’s Book of Life. He wrote our names in it with a permanent marker. He wrote our names in big, bold, and His non-erasable, non-fading blood. Is your name written in His Book?
And when Jesus returns and sets up His eternal kingdom on this earth—after removing all injustice, unrighteousness, evil, death, and sin, the Bible says that we will reign with Him. He will reign as King in His kingdom, and we will be with Him. We who belong to Him will live for Him forever. He is an eternal Savior.
Lastly, He is the Only Savior. There are mockers who complain about Christianity’s hardcore belief that Jesus Christ is the only way to God, the only way to heaven. “That is so unfair. Why can’t God make many ways?” they will argue. I would reply, “Why do you need more than one?”
A group of coal miners working underground is suddenly shaken and trapped by an earthquake. The tunnels have collapsed. There is no way out. The air is running about. But there is no way of escape. Hours go by, and fainting and passing out have already begun. Suddenly, they hear drilling. Then a hole is made. Oxygen is piped in. There is hope. Someone is coming to rescue them. Then there is a crash of rocks, and a hole is made large enough for each man to crawl out into freedom. A way has been made.
Do you think one of the coal miners is angry, asking, “Why can’t there be more than one way of escape? Why didn’t the rescue crew offer us more options?”
There could be only one way to God. There is only One who could fulfill the requirements to pay our debt to God. Jesus! No one else could live a sinless sacrifice and needed someone to die for them. No one could be truly man and truly God. No one else could represent man, and who could represent God? No one else would lay down his enemies and take their eternal punishment of the wrath of God. No one but Jesus. There is no other Savior, only Jesus, the Son of God.
And if you are here and do not know Jesus, hear me today and see it all around this room, Jesus will always meet and surpass your expectation of a Savior. His promise stands and speaks to you today: “Whoever comes to me, I will in no way cast you away!”
Yes, this is the Jesus we seek. He is the Only Savior, and He is a Wonderful Savior. This morning and every morning, we seek a crucified and risen Savior. We seek a wonderful Savior, a capable Savior, a willing Savior, and a strong Savior. As the Choir sang, “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, what a Savior, what a Savior.”
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