THY WORD IS TRUTH John 17:17

From the desk of the believing biochemist and pastor:

Ted R Whitaker, PhD, CLP


Easter Morning Sermon


Delivered at the joint Easter Morning Sunrise Service April 12, 2009


Hopedale United Methodist Church 7:00 AM


Annapolis Presbyterian Church 9:30 AM


Hopedale Presbyterian Church 11:00 AM

“They Have Taken His Body Away”

He is risen! Response: He is Risen Indeed. Alleluia!

I would like to welcome everyone to the service of the celebration of the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus from the dead here at (Annapolis / Hopedale United Presbyterian Church).


And what joy has filled our hearts and minds as we celebrate the Resurrection and what it means to every believer.


And the glorious ending of Holy Week and the passion and death of Jesus and the darkness and despair that Jesus disciples must have felt at the Jesus death on the cross and his burial in the tomb.


The rich man's tomb hewn out of solid rock just as the prophets of the Old Testament had foretold.


The congregations here at Annapolis and Hopedale church has through out the season of Lent been hearing of all the Old Testament prophecies that predicted Jesus betrayal and beatings and piercing of his hand and his feet.


Last Thursday both churches celebrated the Passover meal that Jesus celebrated with his disciples just before he was betrayed by one of His disciples Judas Iscariot with a kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane.


The Old Testament prophets foretold that Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver.


The word of the Lord from the prophet Zechariah chapter 11 verse 12 reads, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it."


So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"-the handsome price at which they paid me!


So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter." Nothing is left to chance in the Word of God.


Everything that happen to Jesus was recorded by the prophets of the Old Testament even to the details of the exact amount of money that Jesus was to be betrayed by a friend.


And where the Jesus friends on the first dark, Good Friday, when he was nailed to the cross by the Roman soldiers.


And where the 12 men that he had chosen to be fishers of men.Only John, the disciple that Jesus loved stood at the foot of the cross and received the request of the Lord to take care of his mother, Mary.


We should all remember that when Jesus told the 12 that one of them would betray him.


Peter brashly replies, "even if all fall away on account of You, I never will!


And Jesus rebuked Peter by saying, "I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.


And after Jesus was arrested, Peter was identified as one of his followers and Peter denied even knowing Jesus three times and the rooster crowed and Peter wept bitterly.


And then after Jesus had died and the Solder had put a lance, in his side to see that he was truly dead and his body was taken' down from the cross because it was the Sabbath.


The Jews were forbidden to touch a dead body on the Sabbath so Jesus was wrapped in grave cloths and placed in that rich man's tomb and the massive stone was rolled into the opening of the tomb.


And the Sabbath came and passed and can you imagine what must have been going though Peter and the rest of the disciples minds.


Judas was now dead having killed himself.


They must have been heart broken and in despair and terribly confused.



For they had been with this man for three years and in their own words has witnessed "His Majesty".



They had seen with their own eyes the power that this man, Jesus, had displayed right in front of their eyes.


He showed his supernatural power in healing every disease that they knew about leprosy, blindness, deafness, demon possession, lameness and every other infirmity.


(But much, much more).


They had seen him calm the storm and walk on the water and Peter had walked on water with Him but then doubted and the Lord had to catch him.


Peter, James and John had seen his face shine like the sun on the mount of transfiguration.

How can such a man with the power that Jesus had ever die?

But then came the morning!



We have hear the four accounts from the Apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John of Mary Magdalene in the sermons in this season of Lent.


And to day we heard in the New Testament readings of the other Mary (the mother of James and Salome) and the two disciples John and Peter going to the tomb and finding it empty of the body of Jesus.



The head cloth was folded up by itself away from the strips of linen that had wrapped Jesus body.Who folded the head cloth of Jesus?


But then Mary starts to cry.And a man she thought was the gardener of the tomb asks Mary Magdalene why is she crying.


And she tells him, "they have taken my Lord body away and I don't know where they have put Him.And they Jesus says to her, "Mary".


And she recognizes him and says, "Rabboni teacher.


He asks her not to touch him but tells her to go and tell the disciples.


And when she arrives and says, "I have seen the Lord."But disciples don't believe her!"



The question is "Do we believer her?"Jesus has to prove his resurrection to each of His disciples by letting them touch him and for doubting Thomas he has to let him put his finger into his wounds to make Thomas believer.

Are we all like Thomas?

Do we need to see the resurrection with our own eyes and touch him to believe?


But the clincher of the evidence of the resurrection is when "Jesus says to disciples when they are gathered beside the Sea of Galilee one morning, "See I am not a ghost".


Galilee is thirty mikes north of the tomb in which Jesus was buried!


A ghost does not have bones like I do and He lets them touch him, again.And then he gives the best of evidence that his is physically alive.


He turn to them and says, "Do you have anything to eat".


And they give him a piece of fish and he ate it."

The tomb is empty!

The cross is empty!

And these supernatural events stand for all time that Satan was been defeated and the grave has no power over us any more.


We are free from their power and that is why we have a blessed hope and a joy unspeakable when we consider what Mary and the disciples saw on that first Easter morning.


And the evidence of the truth of the resurrection will go on for many, many days with the appearances of the Lord to as many as 500 witnesses at one time the Apostle Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians Chapter 15 verse 6.


But I will leave you with the best witness in the Book of Revelation where the risen and glorified Lord Jesus is dictation to his beloved disciple John and these are his words.


Jesus testifies that there is no longer a sacrifice for sin and that his sacrifice is permanent and for all time with these words.

He has made an eternal sacrifice.

“I have the keys of death and Hades.

Do not be afraid,


I am the first and the last and the living One.


I was dead,

And now I am alive forever more”.

Amen.