WHAT A DIFFERENCE THREE DAYS AND NIGHTS MAKE

AUDIO LINK:
http://centralcochainescity.podomatic.com/entry/2013-04-04T12_21_02-07_00

WHAT A DIFFERENCE THREE DAYS AND NIGHTS MAKE

MATTHEW 27: 57-61

 

Intro:

                In 1965, Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley joined forces to create a musical which would depict life in British society in the 1960s.  The result of their efforts was an eventual Broadway production called “THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT, THE SMELL OF THE CROWD.”  At the time of its release, the viewing public wasn’t very enthusiastic about Bricusse and Newley’s work.  However, an American producer saw the show, and decided to bring it to Broadway, and there it found a certain level of success.

                One of the songs which propel the show to prominent was entitled “FEELING GOOD.”  A soulful rendition of the track was performed by Nina Simone, and has been reproduced by several artists over the years.  The major thrust of the song is that a new day has come, and with it hope has returned.  As the chorus enfadicly states: “It’s a new day, a new dawn, for me, and I’m feeling good.”

                We should acknowledge a central fact about this song.  In order for the new day filled with hope to come, there must out of necessity have been a day which stood in stark contrast.  It would have been a day that was the exact opposite.  It would have been a day in which birds didn’t fly, the sun never rose, the breeze was still, and the dawn never came.  In order for this old world to become a new world, things had to change, and they had to change in a big way.

                Today, in houses of worship the world over, people are gathering to speak in hushed and reverent tones of the resurrection of Christ.  There are many in the Church of our Lord who will stand today and deliver sermons in which they illustrate the reasons why we in the church do not celebrate this as being the literal day in which Christ was raised from the dead.  Today, I have zero intention of offering one of those sermons.  Instead, if you came here today to hear of the resurrected savior, then you came to the right place.  This morning, we will speak of an empty tomb, and a risen savior.

                However, before we can address the “new dawn, the new day”, we must look at the day which came before.  I want to show you the difference that three days and three nights made in the history of mankind, and his relationship with God.

                As we go through this lesson, I want to help you see the day that was, and the day that came, then contrast that with the day that is, and the great day that is to come.

 

I.                    THE DAY THAT WAS, AND THE DAY THAT CAME

 

A.      The day that was.

1.        

Matthew 26: 50 the series of very bad events began with the soldiers coming to arrest the Lamb of God, but hope still exists.

2.       Matthew 26: 57 Jesus was brought before a group of men who would preside over a kangaroo trial, but hope still exists.

3.        Matthew 26: 60 two false witnesses are found, lies are told, but hope still exists.

4.        Matthew 26: 66-68 he is condemned, beaten and scorned, but hope still exists. 

5.        Matthew 26: 74 even Peter, one of the inner circle, denies him, but hope still exists.   

6.        Matthew 27: 22 even the people, some of whom were beneficiaries of Christ’s ministry called for him to be crucified, but hope still exists.

7.        Matthew 27: 35 they pierced his flesh with nails, and hung him on the cross, but hope still exists.

8.        Matthew 27: 50 life left his body, but hope still exists.

9.        Matthew 27: 60 darkness fell upon the tomb, but hope still exists.

B.      The refrain remains because the resurrection was yet to come.

1.        Matthew 28: 6 hope is realized as the angel invites the women to view the place where the Lord had been, but where he no longer rested.

2.        In a single stroke, everything has changed, and hope once again walks the earth.

 

II.                  THE DAY THAT IS, AND THE DAY THAT IS TO COME

 

A.      If you stop and think about it, the world in which we live strongly resembles those final few days of the pre-resurrected Christ.

1.       Man continues to put him on trial, and bring false accusations against him.

2.        2Timothy 4: 10 man continues to deny him, and return to the world.

3.        John 3: 19 man continues to call for the darkness of this world, rather than the light of God.

4.        Romans 3: 10 we continue to crucify him with our sins.

5.        Hebrews 7: 25 he continues to serve as the ultimate sacrifice and go between for us.

B.      The refrain remains because of the empty tomb, and the promise to return.

1.       1Peter 1: 3 hope remains for us today because Jesus wasn’t just resurrected for his first century disciples, but for all who follow him.

2.        John 14: 1-3 the promise he makes wasn’t just to his friends, but for those who look for his coming, and celebrate in the reality of the empty tomb!