AN EMPTY TOMB FULL OF HOPE

04 27 03



Pag-asa sa Panahon ng Walang Pag-asa
Hope in Hopeless Times

Matthew 28:1-10




Intro .
For the first few years he was a rising star and you supported him. On that 3rd year he was killed and your way up was blocked. Worst, your being with him was no longer charming but your way out too. Hopeless!
Three and a half years not only wasted, and the bright future drastically changed for the worst. To say that you found himself in a hopeless situation would be an understatement.

Today it seems that everywhere we look we find people in what seems to be hopeless situations. Hopeless situations. SARS. Inoperable cancer. Joblessness.

We can only imagine what it must have been like for those closest to Jesus between the crucifixion and the resurrection. Some had left everything behind to follow Him with expectation of Jesus becoming the next King of Israel and restoring it to is glory days of David and Solomon. But what they expected and what they got were two different things.

If there is one thing we can learn from Easter it’s that God specializes in hopeless situations.

On that Easter morning the stone wasn’t rolled away so Jesus could get out it was rolled away so we could get in.
God wants us to see the hope that comes from that empty tomb.
He wants us to realize that He has power over the most hopeless of all things even death.
God wants us to have hope and He wants us to live in that hope.
Many people work and strive to manufacture their own hope, move their stones so to speak, only to see them never move because there are times only God can move our stones and give us hope.
Today God wants to move the stones in our lives. He wants to give us hope.



What does God want us to do that we may have His kind of hope?

Body:
Matthew 28:1

1. God wants us to stay close to the Him in bright sun or none. Manatiling malapit sa Hari.

Kung manatili tayong malapit sa Hari matutugunan natin ang kawalan ng pag-asa.
Si Maria Magdalena at si Maria ay ang pinakahuling umuwi galing sa Krus. Sila din ang pinakauna na bumalik sa libingan ng Panginoong Jesus.
Nakita nila ang lahat. They witnessed the crowd go from hailing Jesus as Messiah to yelling crucify him.
They went from setting at His feet and listening to Him teach to standing at the foot of cross and weeping over His cruel death.
Why was Mary Magdalene with Jesus’ mother?
Mary Magdalene had no family obligations to embalm the body of Jesus. She went out of devotion, because she loved Jesus.
Paano na lang kaya kung sinabi niya, bakit nga ba ginagawa ko ito?
Dapat ginagawa nila ni Pedro ito!
They would have missed out in not seeing the hope in that empty tomb. When life is hopeless, when hope shies away from itself we need only need to stay close to the King.

2. He wants us to get involved with what He wants us to do. God fills with hope those who are involved. Maging involved sa nais ng Panginoon na gawin mo.

Isipin natin…. Sa daming lumapit sa kanya, napagaling at natulungan marami na sanang papunta sa libingan Niya. Noong kailangan nila si Kristo pumunta sila, ngunit noong pinatay Siya nagsitago sila.

Where were the lepers who had been healed? Where was the lame man who Jesus touched? Where were the blind? Where were the dead He brought back to life? Wala silang lahat!

They missed out on hope because they saw him only as a miracle worker doing something sometime in their life! They never saw Him as continually doing everything in our lifetime.

What about Mary Magdalene? She was involved with what the Savior wanted her to do even after he died so she was full of hope. She did not miss out on something special in her life because she was involved.



3. God wants us to expect the unexpected. When you’re involved with what the Lord wants you to expect what is unexpected. (v. 2-7) Kung involved ka sa kanyamaari mong I-expect ang kakaibang ginagawa Niya.

Naghahanap ba sila ng isang libingan na walang laman. Where they expecting to find an empty tomb? Where they anticipating the resurrection? No way! They were expecting to go to the tomb and embalm the body of Christ. But it all changed when they got there and the stone was rolled away. He’s alive and that changed everything not only for them but all the disciples all the way down to us to us 2000 years later on the other side of the world.
May 3 mensahe ang anghel sa kanila.

a. DO NOT BE AFRAID
b. COME AND SEE
c. GO AND TELL

This is the message of Easter: we have no reason to fear. God is alive. When our life is turned upside down and all seems hopeless, remember God’s specialty is hopeless situations. Once we have been encouraged through the resurrection power of God we’re to share that encouragement with other believers. Then we are to take the good news of the resurrection and go and tell the lost world.

I can see the two women making their way up to the tomb with their heads hung low from stress, trauma, heartache and hopelessness. But look at how that changes in verses 8-10.


4. God wants us to see that the unexpected which is His hope carries us beyond our present circumstances. (8-10) Nais Niya makita na ang hindi natin inaasahan ay siytang magtataas sa atin mula sa ating kalagayan ngayon.

Dalawang Maria, filled with joy, running and worshipping. Nauna sila sa nakakakita sa kanya. Was it not that in the resurrection Jesus was only reminding them, there is more to this old earth. Remember I am here in heaven prepared to received you.
The circumstances around us may be bad at times but we must be tuned into something better down the road. We must place our hopes not in this world but in heaven.

5. God wants us to see that this hope requires us to stay in God’s presence. Nais Niya na kagaya ni Pedro manatili tayo sa presensiya niya.

Si Pedro talunan, si Judas talunan at nanatiling talunan. Nagtaksil man si Pedro ngunit bumalik siya, ngunit si Judas hindi man lang bumalik sa kanya,

Judas went out and hung himself, because he was overcome with guilt. Peter went out and wept because He was overcome with conviction.
2 Cor 7:10
10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

Peter experienced forgiveness like he never knew, and was used of God to help establish the New Testament Church.

Conclusion:
God wants us to stay close to Him, he wants us to be involved with what He wants us to do. God wants us to expect the unexpected. God wants us to see that beyond our present circumstances is a hope brighter than today. God wants us to stay in His presence.