The Stone Rolled Away

1960 California

“The Stone Rolled Away”

We all like sentiment, and we like to sing songs. If you are Irish, songs like “Danny Boy” or “Have You Ever Been Across the Sea to Ireland” bring sweet memories to your mind. If you are French, you will feel deep pride at the singing of the “Marseilles.” If you are Norwegian mist will probably come into your eyes at the singing of some of the songs you heard in you youth, and you will think of the fjords of Norway or the home farm back in Minnesota. If you are Scotch, you will thrill at the music of bagpipes and the songs your “mither” sang. And as Americans the "Star-Spangled Banner" causes pride to swell through your body whether you’re from Sioux Falls, South Dakota or Garden Grove, California.

If you are alone and lonely in a big city where the horns blare and all you see is concrete, you may long for the peace and quiet of the old hometown or the farm back on the prairies and the familiar sounds such as the crowing of the cock. There are not many cities where you would hear the crowing of the cock; you would be very surprised to hear a cock crow in downtown Los Angeles. But there is a large city where you might her the cock crow even to this day and this is Jerusalem.

And some 2000 years ago a man heard a cock crow in Jerusalem. This man was Peter, and the crowing cock brought memories to Peter. As the cock crowed thrice, Peter remembered that Jesus had predicted that he would deny his Lord. And Peter probably thought of other things, sentimentally he thought of the time when he was fishing and Christ has said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Peter thought of the healing of his mother-in-law and Peter thought of Christ casting out demons and healing the sick. And Peter thought of the time Christ had enabled him to walk on the sea.

But on Good Friday eve and on Black Saturday as Peter thought, Peter knew that Jesus Christ the Messiah who called Himself the Son of Man and Son of God was dead, and all was over for Peter and the other followers of Jesus. The only thing to do was to hide for a while and then go back fishing. Death had taken its toll, and death was the end. Jesus Christ had died like a common criminal, and soldiers now stood guarding the tomb of the dead Christ.

Death is a problem that has always bothered men, because men have always wondered if there is an afterlife. Job put the problem in these words: “If a man die, shall he live again?” The part of this statement that is rather strange is “If a man die.” Because there is no doubt in this matter. We shall all have to die physically.

We have heard much about the world being in a dangerous state. We fear atomic warfare will come and destroy us all. But isn’t it strange that we should be so worried about death from atomic war when the fact is that from the beginning of time each individual man has lived under the cloud of death? People die around us each day and some day we too will have to die.

But we try to cover death up. We embalm bodies. We make the departed look as alive as possible. We dress them up with their best clothes. We have many flowers to make all look beautiful.

And man, who thinks at all will at some quiet moments be faced with the fact of death, and it is a depressing fact for many. For none have come back across the canyon of death. Lazarus, it is true, came back but we have no recorded statements of what Lazarus discovered.

One thing about each of us, we have some of the “I’m from Missouri, prove it to me.” The unknown has always frightened men. We can feel somewhat apprehensive of what Shakespeare called: “The undiscovered country from whose born no traveler returns.” With Shelly we can ask, “Whoever yet returned to teach the laws of death’s untrodden realm?” In ancient Rome there was a monument dedicated “To the Sternal Sleep” and it read this way: “I was not, and I became; I was and am no more. So much is true, all else is false, Traveler, drink, play, come." This poem, I think very effectively reveals the pessimism and despair with which many men have viewed death.

Dead, the master, Jesus Christ of Nazareth was dead. As Peter probably sat and thought and heard the cock crow many times between Good Friday and Easter, he probably remembered something about rising on the third day, but it seems he really didn’t expect it. The words of Thomas seemed to apply to all the disciples: “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and the place my finder in the mark of the nails, and the place my hand in his side I will not believe.”

For Peter and Mary, James, John, Thomas and the rest, the time between Good Friday and Easter seemed to be blackness and gloom. Many thoughts much have run through their minds. “Why had Christ allowed himself to be led off to the slaughter as a butcher would lead a lamb to the block? Why had Christ allowed himself to be mocked and spit upon? Had not Christ talked about being a King and a Son of God? Why didn’t he use the power of God and destroy all those mocking Romans and priests? In, three wasted years! And what had Peter, Mary, Bartholomew, Andrew, and the rest to show for the past three years – nothing. Why Peter, in these years’ time of good fishing could have bought a nice home and obtained a respected community position. But now, what were they all? A group of homeless, preachers, the laughingstock of Jerusalem? No, their great leader having died a shameful death on the cross. Yes, the crowing of the cock brought memories to Peter, memories of long hours of conversation, memories of water being turned to wine, but that was all over, and it was time to adjust to reality. They must all hide for a time and then back to fishing on Lake Galilee. They were from Missouri, and none had risen from the dead yet under his own power. If Christ couldn’t save himself from the cross, how could he rise from the dead?

But then something happened. It was Easter Sunday morning, and those excitable women were running around yapping silly words about the grave of Christ being empty. Well, that’s women for you – always hysterical. They even were saying strange things about having seen angels. Out text reads: “And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.” These men told the women that Christ had risen, and the results were: “and returning form the tomb they told all this to the eleven the text reads: “But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.”

One thing seems certain, as I have stated before. The disciples did not expect the resurrection of Christ. If you read the Gospel accounts, one thing you will notice is the simplicity of the accounts and the amazement of the disciples and the other when they found the tomb empty. Read the accounts and see if they sound like they were cleverly made up. The very simplicity of the accounts seems to give you the feeling of truth. If anyone wanted to manufacture a lie, they certainly would have done it in a much more clever manner than is done in the Gospels. No, this came like a shock to all of the disciples. They were bewildered and perplexed. They thought it was a lie.

But to satisfy the women, Peter and another disciple ran to the tomb, and in utter amazement all they found was the grave clothes. The body had moved even though soldiers had guarded the tomb, and the huge stone, too heavy for one man, had been moved.

Something had happened on Easter morning. Something indescribable. Somehow the mighty power of God had moved the tomb outside Jerusalem. A body smelling of death moved, and tortured feet touched the ground. The grave clothes did not move, but the stone moved by some unseen forces. And the soldiers – what happened to them? Perhaps they fled in wild terror. Who knows? But the power of God had acted, and Jesus Christ of Nazareth rose from the dead. “Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph over His foes.”

You can disbelieve the Resurrection if you wish. But the disciples didn’t disbelieve it after Jesus appeared to them nor did the 500 some other people Jesus appeared to, nor have millions of Christians throughout the ages. If you remember the Gospel accounts, Jesus appeared to Mary and several other women; Jesus appeared to two men on the road to Emmaus; Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples, and he also appeared to some 500 people as 1 Cor. 15: 6 says.

You can be from Missouri and doubt the Resurrection, and you will be in the same boat the disciples were in until Jesus appeared unto them. And then strange things happened which cannot be accounted for by any means except the Resurrection. For you don’t invent stories to get crucified upside down like Peter, or you don’t invent stories to get your head chopped off like Paul, or to get stoned like Stephen. The empty tomb and the Resurrection were concrete realities for the early church which gave the Christians another worldly power. Easter day unleashed a power into the lives of the early Christians such as this world has never seen. Men gave their bodies to be burned or thrown to the dogs; men suffered persecution, hunger, torture. Men Traveled across continents inflamed with the message “Christ has risen!”

Tertullian, a great scholar of the early church wrote: “So on you, good governors; the mob will think how are thee better if you sacrifice Christians to them; crucify, torture, condemn, destroy us; your injustices is a proof of our innocence. The more you mow us down, the greater our numbers become; our blood is the seed from which Christian’s spring.”

After the Resurrection, Peter no more felt bitterness as he heard the crowing of the cock, for he knew the three years had not been wasted. Instead, Peter felt joy and power and victory for the great question of the ages had been decisively and without a doubt answered for Peter. This question is “If a man die, shall he live again?” And to this question Peter could shout, "Hallelujah, I know that my Savior lives, for He has appeared unto me.”

You have heard it many times. The Resurrection is the greatest lie ever told or the greatest fact in all of History and for Peter and some 500 other Christians it was the greatest fact in all of history.

Your philosophy of death can be this poem I previously read: “I was not, and I became; I was and am no more.” So much is true, all else if false. Traveler, drink, play, come.

Perhaps this is your yearly or quarterly or monthly sojourn to church. If so, you may be in miserable straits. The Bible has stern words to say to those who do not how their knees and accept Jesus Christ as personal Savior, and I would say if you only attended once a year, it might be time to change. Being a Christian isn’t a token half hearted nod to Christ. It is surrender of your entire life to Christ. Not that Christ does not wish you to come once a year. There is a song which goes “You ain’t going to get to Heaven in a Rockin’ Chair”. And if you attend church seldom you may be in a spiritual “Rockin’ Chair”

Not that attending church gets you to heaven. You get to heaven only in one way, and that is by believing in and accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. But the result of this belief is that you very probably will attend church and various church meetings, you will give your time, money and energy for the work of Christ. The Bible says: “By their fruits you shall know them” and “Faith without works is dead.” If you do not have fruits this morning, you will be far better off if truth is found in these words: “I was and am no more.” But Christ does not wait to leave you in this condition. Christ follows him. Life – now and eternal – get by accepting him.

The supreme proof of the Resurrection for the disciples was the appearance of Jesus unto them; and a great proof of the Resurrection to us is the evidence of the great change in the lives of the disciples. For they changed from sniveling cowards to men inflamed with the love of God even going so far as to being crucified upside down. But the greatest proof of the Resurrection for you will be when Jesus Christ comes into your heart as you accept Him as your Savior. You who are Christian’s can testify to the truth of this for you do not doubt. Once you accept Christ as Savior “You know that your redeemer liveth.”

Sentiment is wonderful. As I said in the beginning if you are Irish your skin tingles at the words of “Donny Boy.” If you are Scotch, the shrill of the bagpipes does strange things to you, and as Americans we all feel proud at the singing of the “Star Spangled Banner.” And Peter, all through his life must have had mist in his eyes at the crowing of the cock, for it reminded him of a stone that moved and an empty tomb, and a risen Savior who appeared unto him.

A song that brings sentiment to me is “Were you there when they Crucified My Lord,” and the lines I like best are: “Were you there when He rose up from the tomb? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. “Were you there when he rose up from the tomb?”

The supreme and overwhelming event in all of history, the empty tomb and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ brings a trembling and a tingling up and down the spine to all who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and experience the peace which passes all understanding. The Resurrected Christ stands this morning saying to all men who have not met him, and accepted Him as personal Savior: “Come, unto me.”

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

(Peter hears cock crow. Feels sorrow. Jesus is dead. Remarkably - women say Jesus is risen. Peter goes to grave. So convinced. We can believe its true or a lie. Peter + 500 were convicnced it was true and it changed their lives. - note written seperately attached to this sermon.)