6/18/2018 Sunday, April 1 This is Easter AND April Fools Day! If you believe in the resurrection of Jesus, are you some sort of April Fool? Hope or Hoax? Some women claim the tomb is empty, and angels announced to them that Jesus is alive again! Luke 24: 1-6, 9-10, NIV On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things…to the apostles. 1
6/18/2018 “We’re Not April Fools!” The apostles didn’t fall for this silly talk! Luke 24:11, NIV But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Foot Race To The Tomb! Peter and John decided to check it out for themselves. John 20:3-8, NIV So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. Jesus Appears To His Apostles! To them, it seems too good to be true! Luke 24:36-43 , NIV Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. 2
6/18/2018 “Doubting Thomas” He needed to conduct his own investigation! John 20:24-28 , NIV Now Thomas…was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them… Then he said to Thomas, “Put you finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Anything But Gullible! We are convinced the resurrection is true because the apostles were so hard to convince! Because they doubted, we don’t have to! The Case For Easter is solid! “Blind Faith” Isn’t Irrational! You’re not an April Fool if you believe that Jesus defeated death! John 20:29, NIV Then Jesus told [Thomas], “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 3
6/18/2018 “Pity The Fools!” If Jesus is not alive, we’ve fallen for the cruelest hoax in history! 1 Corinthians 15:17-19, & 32, NIV And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied…If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” He’s Alive! No Fooling! So physical death isn’t the END of the road; it’s only a BEND in the road! What’s around the bend for you? 4
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