Seeing with Resurrected Eyes

After spending $2 million a year, he has gained somewhere around 5 years of life, barring a car accident or some other tragedy that no supplement or high-tech device can overcome.

Bryan Johnson is on a journey to defeat death.

A pursuit everyone of us wants, to avoid death, to live forever.

There is an awareness in all of us that we weren’t created to die.

Death is an enemy we all face (just like taxes), but the tactics, treatments, and tools we look to to defeat it fail over and over again.

Easter tells the story of how death was defeated, fully and finally.

And it is an invitation to all see with new eyes, resurrected eyes.

No longer seeing things from the perspective of death, but through the promise of eternal life.

Matthew 27:62–28:10 CSB

62 The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come, steal him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 “You have a guard of soldiers,” Pilate told them. “Go and make it as secure as you know how.” 66 They went and secured the tomb by setting a seal on the stone and placing the guards. 1 After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. 4 The guards were so shaken by fear of him that they became like dead men. 5 The angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you.” 8 So, departing quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell his disciples the news. 9 Just then Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came up, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus told them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”

Far too Easily Satisfied

We have been reading a devotional throughout the Lenten Season (40 days before Easter).

One passages really stuck me:

I am convinced that, for most human beings, satisfaction is a much bigger problem than dissatisfaction. Let me explain. We sinners have a scary ability to be satisfied with what shouldn’t satisfy us. We are all too easily satisfied. We are able to be satisfied with conditions that are way less than God’s original design for us or what grace now makes possible for us...

The cross of Jesus is the result of God’s dissatisfaction with the condition of the world that he made and of the people that he placed in it. God was unwilling to be okay with what was not okay. So he moved, but not with the agenda to condemn, but rather to redeem. God sent his Son to fix what was broken, to restore what had been destroyed, and to make dead things live again. —Paul David Tripp

When we see the world through resurrected eyes, we can start to see as God intended and as Jesus’s resurrection makes possible.

1) Seeing the WORLD through resurrected eyes.

The word “fear” or “afraid” comes up several times in this passage.

And it shows up in more places than it is even stated.

Like with the Pharisees in the end of Chapter 27.

They were driven by fear...

What were they so afraid of that they would go to Pilate, a Pagan, Roman politician on the Sabbath day (the day Jewish people were to devote only to worship of God), in order to demand that Jesus’ tomb be sealed and guarded?

Were they afraid of the disciples? All of whom had ran away when He was arrested.

Were they afraid of the crowd? Who were the very ones easy persuaded to demand Jesus be crucified the day before.

No they weren’t afraid of anyone outside of the tomb, but the one inside the tomb.

They were afraid of Jesus.

They had seen and heard of His miracles and had heard Him say He would rise after 3 days.

Even though they didn’t believe Him, they couldn’t help, but believe a little.

That that was a scary thought… “What if He really does rise from the dead?! Then we would have to explain that to the Jewish people and the Roman authorities. It would really make things difficult for us.”

So they put up what they thought were surefire ways to keep a risen dead man from coming out of a tomb.

But their efforts are no match for the power of God.

Early on Sunday morning, another earthquake shook the place where Jesus was buried.

An angel from Heaven descends, rolls back the stone (breaking the seal), and sits on top of it.

The guards tremble and freeze with fear.

Up until Sunday morning those soldiers probably considered themselves strong and capable men.

They could handle a grave robber coming.

Their world, though challenging and confusing at times, probably seemed fairly routine and manageable.

But what they witness on Easter morning changes everything.

I think the guards were gone by the time the Marys get to the tomb.

The guards had ran away to the Pharisees to report what had happened (vs 11).

So the angel’s words are only to them: “Do not be afraid...”

Later, Jesus repeats those same words to His disciples and the women… “Do not be afraid”.

Fear is one of the most motivating emotions we have and there are A LOT of things to fear in this world.

We fear being alone, getting hurt, being poor, getting sick, or being rejected.

We fear something happening to someone we love, being hurt by someone we think shouldn’t hurt us, or unintentionally hurting someone we should never hurt.

And of course, we fear death...which is kind of the underlying fear behind all the others.

And these fears drive our lives and motivate much of the decisions we make in life.

But Easter offers a different perspective.

Hebrews 2:14–15 NLT

14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

The moment Jesus’s heart started beating again, His lungs started breathing again, and His brain started firing again, He broke the chains on our slavery to the fear of death.

When Jesus tells the Marys “Do not fear” He is inviting them to see the world with NEW eyes.

This world is full of troubles and trials, but through His death and resurrection Jesus has overcome the world.

John 16:33 ESV

33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

2) Seeing our LIVES through resurrected eyes.

One of the details we often point to in the Easter story is that Jesus first revealed Himself to women.

In the ancient world, women were not considered valid witnesses, so there testimony in court was worthless, and so it was odd that Jesus would choose them to be the first to see Him resurrected.

But the oddness is actually a validation of the Gospels’ credibility.

No made up story is going to put women as the first witnesses of the Risen Jesus.

But the women mentioned were particularly significant.

When Mary Magdalene first met Jesus she was possessed by 7 demons, which Jesus had driven out of her.

Then there is the women who isn’t Mary the mother of Jesus, or Mary the mother of James and John, she is simply “Other Mary”.

Nother Granny story

One woman has an assorted past, and the other is somewhat insignificant.

But these women are the ones Jesus chooses to use as the ones to announce His arrival and the new world He is ushering in.

The next group is a collection of blue collar workers and cultural rejects.

Not necessary the best groups to choose to make a big splash.

But the resurrection of Jesus transforms the way we should see the value, significance, and mission of our lives.

Faith in Jesus isn’t just a ticket into heaven, it is an invitation into new life:

2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new ha

Romans 6:4 CSB

4 Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.

Our value doesn’t come from our worldly wealth, our power or popularity, or how much success we have had in life.

Through faith we become cherished sons and daughters of God.

Galatians 4:4–7 NLT

4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

Jesus also invites the Marys to join His mission.

Though they might be considered insignificant in the society they lived in, they had a significant place in His kingdom.

Jesus doesn’t call people to follow Him who have everything together or have particular skill sets that He thinks will be handy.

He calls people like you and me, who have assorted pasts, flaws and failures, and who are inconsistent and easily detracted on our best days.

And He lovingly calls us to follow Him and to share Him with others.

The resurrection of Christ invites us to see our lives with NEW eyes, with resurrected eyes.

3) Seeing our FUTURE through resurrected eyes.

It wasn’t long after the Mary’s saw the risen Jesus that Peter also made it to the tomb.

John tells us that he and Peter raced to the tomb and Peter lost.

When they get there all that remains in the tomb was Jesus’s burial clothes.

Later, Jesus shows up in the place they were staying.

I can imagine the moment Peter saw Jesus the first time after His resurrection.

I can imagine there were tears and hugs and shouts of joy.

But the significance of the resurrection took a while for Peter, and the others, to understand.

Years later Peter wrote this:

1 Peter 1:3–5 CSB

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:6–9 CSB

6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The invitation of the resurrection is to live forever.

But not in this broken world.

If Bryan Johnson could actually be successful in defeating death through physical and medical means, he would still be in a world full of sickness, injustice, war, famine, natural disasters, broken relationships, and so many other awful things.

But Jesus was raised in order to give us a LIVING HOPE in an inheritance that is not going to rot away, not defiled by sin, and will not fade away with time.

So as we live this life with its “various trials” we have hope in a better world, a resurrected reality that is coming because Jesus has paved the way.

You were created to live forever! And, through faith in Jesus, in His life, death, and resurrection, you can live with a hope that will not die.

For those of us in Christ, this world, this life, is as bad as it will ever be. What waits for us is endless joy, eternal satisfaction, and inexpressible love.

Don’t be too easily satisfied with anything less.

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