What Jesus said about His death-burial and resurrection,

Adapted from the series, “Jesus Said”by Michael Wiley

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/what-jesus-said-about-his-death-burial-and-resurrection-michael-wiley-sermon-on-easter-

resurrection-134170.asp

Mark 14:17 NET Then, when it was evening, he came to the house with the twelve. 18 While they were at the table

eating, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, one of you eating with me will betray me." 19

They were distressed, and one by one said to him, "Surely not I?" 20 He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who dips his

hand with me into the bowl.

21 For the Son of Man will go as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be

better for him if he had never been born." 22 While they were eating, he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it

to them, and said, "Take it. This is my body.“ 23 And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all

drank from it.

24 He said to them, "This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many. 25 I tell you the truth, I will no longer

drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." 26 After singing a hymn, they went out to

the Mount of Olives. 27 Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away, for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep

will be scattered.' (Zech 13:7)

28 But after I am raised, I will go ahead of you into Galilee." 29 Peter said to him, "Even if they all fall away, I will not!" 30

Jesus said to him, "I tell you the truth, today — this very night — before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." 31 But Peter insisted emphatically, "Even if I must die with you, I will never deny you." And all

of them said the same thing.

32 Then they went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his

disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33 He took Peter, James, and John with him, and

became very troubled and distressed. 34 He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and

stay alert."

35 Going a little farther, he threw himself to the ground and prayed that if it were

possible the hour would pass from him. 36 He said, "Abba, Father, all things are

possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.“

Are you listening?Men, how many times has your wife asked,

“Are you listening to me?”Fact is: Most of your activities are focused

around listening.

We know that listening is more than hearing. You could say, ‘Listening is hearing

with a purpose.’Good listening is built on three basic skills:

attitude, attention, and adjustment.Listening is the absorption of the meanings

of words and sentences by the brain. Listening leads to the understanding of

facts and ideas. But listening takes attention, or sticking to the task at hand in

spite of distractions.

It requires concentration, which is the focusing of your thoughts upon one

particular issue.I bring up listening today, because in spite

of its importance, most of us are poor listeners.

Here is a listening quiz for you: about 40 seconds/ four sentences ago, I told you that ‘Good listening’ is built on three basic skills:

What are they?attitude, attention, and adjustment

I bring up listening today, because in spite of its importance, we can see as we read the gospels the Disciples were extremely poor listeners. We can see that they didn’t

get a lot of things. But the biggest thing they missed was Jesus’ death, burial, and

resurrection. If you peruse the gospels you will find Jesus tells His disciples numerous times He would be murdered, buried and 3

days later raised from the dead.Yet, we can see, they didn’t get it.

They just didn’t get it.

Matthew 12:39 NET But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just

as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, (Jonah

1:17) so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

Matthew 16:20 NET Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the

Christ. 21 From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to

Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and

experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

Matthew 17:9 NET As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus

commanded them, "Do not tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is

raised from the dead.“Matthew 17:22 NET When they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, "The

Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised." And they

became greatly distressed.

Matthew 20:18 NET "Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the

experts in the law. They will condemn him to death, 19 and will turn him over to the

Gentiles to be mocked and flogged severely and crucified. Yet on the third day, he will be

raised."

We have a tendency to only really listen to those things that really matter to us!

I’m sure if we looked hard enough we could find that the Disciples had a problem with all three of the listening skills. What are they?

attitude, attention, and adjustment

Some go so far to say that we only actually ‘hear’ 25% of what someone says. We do this for various reasons. One of them, (I

believe) was the Disciple’s key issue, “Adjustment” or what I like to call “Filtered

Listening.”

The Filtering of the GospelWhen I am working with a database, I can filter the report results. For instance, I can tell the computer I just want it to give me a list of people in my database with the last

name that begins with B.We filter when we listen, when we only listen for the parts we want to hear, or to the parts

that fit our preconceived ideas.

So, if the speaker is saying something that doesn’t fit our filter, they are listing names that begin with G instead of B, we filter out

the message.The Disciples had a preconceived idea of what the long awaited Messiah would look

like and Do.

They were incorrectly taught by the Rabbis, and the Jewish Midrash confirms this, that Elijah would return to prepare the way for

the Messiah, then He would come and remove the Roman government from power

in Jerusalem and sit on David’s throne.

One time when the Disciples really needed to listen, and seems were listening, was in Matthew 17:10 NET The disciples asked him, "Why then do the experts in the law say that Elijah must come first?" 11 He

answered, "Elijah does indeed come first and will restore all things.

12 And I tell you that Elijah has already come. Yet they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. In the

same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands." 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John

the Baptist.

So, we ask then, did they put too much weight on their teachers? And, did they fail

to ask, ‘where does it say that?’Were they really listening? Or just filtering

what Jesus said through what they had been taught.

Listen: The true grace of Christ is found in His word. Satan doesn’t want you to know that. He works day and night to keep you from God’s word and the freedom that is

found when one opens it, and receives from its pages.

Don’t listen and you could dieBack in May 2008, A 23-year-old young man

was crushed and killed when a helicopter crashed in Cranbrook, British Columbia. All

on board the helicopter, two passengers and the pilot were also killed. The Helicopter was flying low over the houses, doing power-line

checks.

Witnesses say that the pedestrian could have stepped three feet to the left or right

and not been hit, but, because he was listening to his iPod he never heard it

coming.

Another time the Disciples really needed to listen was when Jesus illustrated His death burial and resurrection at the last supper he

had with His Disciples.

One of the ways we experience Christ is in communion. We sit, like his disciples sat,

awed and in wonder that Jesus Christ would invite us, actually tell us, to join in his

experience. 22 While they were eating, he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it

to them, and said, “Take it. This is my body.” 23 And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all

drank from it.

24 He said to them, "This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many. 25 I tell you the truth, I will no longer

drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.“

The disciples did not yet understand.

Although Jesus had told them he was going away, going to the Father, going so the

Spirit would come, going to prepare a place for us—although he had said all these

things they didn’t expect him to do it then. As they sat there that night they didn’t

expect that he would bleed and die on a cross the next day.

They experienced a closeness to Jesus, but not the overwhelming power that Jesus

would give them, that they experienced on Sunday morning. Their closeness to Jesus was translated into power in their lives at

the resurrection.

We eat the bread and drink the cup to experience that closeness to Jesus. We

hold on to our Lord as some of his disciples probably did that night, saying, ’don’t go far, stay with me. Then communion is over and we continue our service with a lesson from

God’s Word. But we have experienced Jesus on the night of the last supper, and also we’ve experienced his resurrection.

And it changes us, not for just a moment or just a day. We are changed to be like him,

powerful in discovering life, powerful in singing the praise that our God saves.

When you ate the bread and drank from the cup this morning you experienced the

power of our Lord Jesus Christ with all the company of the forgiven children of God.

Here’s one time in the life of the Disciples where they really needed to listen.

Mark 14:26 NET After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27 Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away,

for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' (Zech

13:7)

They couldn’t believe their ears, and just as we would have a higher thought of our own

strength and dedication, the Disciples refused to believe that they would run. It was a lesson every Christian needs to learn. It is not difficult to stand firm on

doctrine and moral standards here in the fellowship of believers, but out there, as the

Disciples learned on their last night with Him without his help, faithfulness to Him is

impossible.

In the fourth century Jerome said, “Jesus treaded the winepress of suffering alone.”

Oh, he did have to go it alone, but it seems that if the Disciples really got it, they would have been there—at least been watching in the distance—at least shown some support.

NO! Just as Jesus said, they “fell away” they scattered like kids on the playground

when class lets out. They ran and went into hiding.

If the Disciples really got it, it seems they would have been at the tomb that Sunday morning, with every person they could find

along the way.“Come with me—my savior rises today.

Your Savior, will walk from his own grave. Come with me…”

Women walk to the tomb to treat his body with spices. They expected him to be there.

HE WAS NOT THERE!

They ran to get the Disciples. Peter & John took off running, John got there first, looked,

but didn’t go in. The tomb was empty, except strips of linen cloth lying there.

When Peter arrived he went right in. I think you could probably have heard the bells

and whistles going off in Peter’s head. He is not here. He is not here. HE IS NOT HERE!Of course by evening’s end, they all, except Thomas, had seen and spoke with Jesus.

Jewish Leaders asked for a sign. 19 Jesus replied, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again." 20 Then the Jewish leaders said to him, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?" 21 But Jesus was speaking

about the temple of his body. 22 So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples

remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that

Jesus had spoken. John 2 NET

From the moment of the resurrection, THEY GOT IT!

They were listening after all.Once all the filters were removed.

They got it.How do we know they got it?For one they told the story.

Two, they went teaching the good-news to all that would listen

They got it.How do we know they got it?

Because they preached it unto death.

Most of our information about the deaths of the apostles is derived from early church

traditions. While tradition is unreliable as to small details, it very seldom contains

outright inventions.

The Apostle John was the only one of the Apostles that died of natural causes. John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of

persecution in Rome.

However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the

mines on the prison island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos. The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died as an old man,

the only apostle to die peacefully.

Peter was crucified in Rome, upside down, by Nero. According to church tradition

because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus

Christ had died.

Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his

body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony.

His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in

these words: "I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ

hanging on it." He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.

James the Greater, a son of Zebedee, was a strong leader of the church, James was

ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem.

The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside

James to accept beheading as a Christian.

Phillip was crucified, according to the plaque in the church of the Holy Apostles.

Through a miraculous healing and his preaching Philip converted the wife of the

proconsul of the city. This enraged the proconsul, and he had Philip, Bartholomew,

and Mariamne all tortured. Philip and Bartholomew were then crucified upside-

down, and Philip preached from his cross.

As a result of Philip's preaching the crowd released Bartholomew from his cross, but Philip insisted that they not release him,

and Philip died on the cross.Another legend is that he was martyred by

beheading in the city of Hierapolis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_the_Apostle

Bartholomew, also known as Nathanal, was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed to our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia when he was believed to have been flayed

to death by a whip. He may have also been crucified.

Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to

establish the church in the subcontinent.

James the Just, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over a hundred feet

down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in

Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. This was the same

pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.

Matthew preached in Ethiopia and was killed by the sword.

Jude, the brother of Jesus, was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in

Christ. Jude was crucified in Turkey.

Simon the Zealot was crucified in Briton, Europe.

Matthias was chosen by the Apostles to replace Judas Iscariot, after the death of Judas in the Field of Blood. Information

concerning the life and death of Matthias is vague and contradictory. One tradition maintains that Matthias was stoned at

Jerusalem by the Jews, and then beheaded.

(cf. Tillemont, "Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire eccl. des six premiers siècles", I, 406-7)

THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITYThey Got it! Their lives were focused!

Matthew 28:19 NET Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the

name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey

everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end

of the age.”

LOOK AT THE RESULTS:

Tertullian (AD 155-222) wrote: "The extremeties of Spain, the various parts

of Gaul, the regions of Britain which have never been penetrated by Roman arms,

have received the religion of Christ."

Origen of Alexandria, the Greek Father, said in 230 AD:

"The divine goodness of our Lord and Saviour is equally diffused among the

Britons, the Africans, and other nations of the World."

Arnobius, the Christian apologist, writing about 300 AD declared: "So swiftly runs the

word of God that though in several thousand years God was not known except among the Jews, now within the space of a

few years, His word is concealed neither from the Indians in the East nor from the

Britons in the West." St. Jerome, writing from Bethlehem in 378

AD declared: "From India to Britain, all nations resound with the death and

resurrection of Christ."

Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople, wrote in 402 AD about the British Isles in

the following manner:

"The British Isles, which are beyond the sea, and which lie in the ocean, have

received the virtue of the Word. Churches are there founded and altars erected.

Though you should go to the ocean, to the British Isles, there you will hear all men

everywhere discoursing matters out of the Scriptures, with a different voice indeed, but not another faith, with a different tongue but

the same judgment.“

http://www.bibleprobe.com/apostles.htm

There was a study of people who’ve had a near death experience or were actually

dead for a few minutes but survived. Almost all these people said that this experience would change their life; that they would appreciate life more and improve their

relationships. The study was to see if this changed attitude about life lasted and had

they really changed.

They found that they had changed and it did last. Many months and years later most

were living with an emphasis on an appreciation of life that they had not had

before. We can see the changed life that an experience brings in the lives of the

apostles after Jesus’ resurrection. We never would have expected them to change the

world before that. But after, they were dedicated to spreading the good news.

Are you listening? Are you listening?

Before his Death, Burial & Resurrection then Ascension into Heaven Jesus made a

promise.John 14:1 NET “Do not let your hearts be

distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 There are many dwelling places in my Father's house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make

ready a place for you.

3 And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too. 4 And you know the way where I am going." 5 Thomas said, "Lord, we don't

know where you are going. How can we know the way?" 6 Jesus replied, "I am the

way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

He will come again and take you to be with Him where God the Father’s house is in

Heaven.

DO WE GET IT?

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

Who will you introduce to Jesus, the way, and the truth, and the life?