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Sabbath, March 26, 2005Sabbath, November 20, 2004 Pastor Tom Hughes
Newark Seventh-Day Adventist Church

“THE RESURRECTION ”


This is an Easter Resurrection weekend unlike any I have ever spent in my life. Because of the events that have been taking place this week down in Florida in particular, and I’m speaking apolitically, here. I do not care which side…I’m mad at both parties, trust me. I’m not talking about politics. Okay? I’m talking about religion. I’m talking about spiritually.

I feel that, as a Pastor, I need to at least make a few remarks about some of the things I’ve witnessed. And I want you to keep in mind (that) I’m speaking to you as a pastor, spiritually; not as a politician. I could care less about politics.

Jesus said, “Beware of lawyers.” You’re aware of that, right? When a man who is not elected by the people, sitting in a long, black robe can decide who lives or dies in this country; in this fashion, something is wrong at the deepest level of our society. There is something wrong with the way this whole thing has transpired and we all know that in our gut.

Now, some of us have a hard time articulating our feelings and we don’t necessarily know how to explain all the issues because there are two sides, and sometimes they all make valid points. But spiritually, I just want to speak to you for a minute. They’re going to have to address this.

There was a little old lady, who wrote a lot of books (E.G. White), who said there would come a time in America when we would lose every single liberty that God has given us, and this country would deny every principle of liberty it was built upon.

The Antichrist Agenda, a very good book written by Danny Shelton, who is one of the 3ABN family talks about the liberties in America that we’re going to lose and that this country is going to deny its own Constitution and the antichrist is going to begin to have more influence in our country.

It’s a very confusing time and I don’t want to speak about prophecy today, but I just want to say this: They keep saying, “This is what she (Terry Schaivo) would have wanted.” They’re trying to honor her wishes and all this.

Is there anybody here who really believes that that dear girl would want her parents to suffer and go through the things her parents are going through?

Is there anybody here who really believes that any daughter who loves her parents would want to forbid them from visiting their daughter,
and have to watch their daughter being treated that way, and then not be able to go in when she wants (them) to; to see her parents,
and to have some man who is now living with another woman who has two children out-of-wedlock by that other woman he’s living with making decisions for their child?

Something is wrong! And they’re going to have to address it. I’m writing letters, I’m talking to people, I’m calling The White House, and the Congress, and I’m doing what I can do. Because this should never ever happen again. This has been a circus and a spectacle. And in the Netherlands and in Holland that we think are so liberal, they have five very strict criteria for state-assisted euthanasia – which is exactly what this is. This is a disabled person.

News Flash: A feeding tube is not life support! Okay? First of all, I’ve got a big problem with that. If we’re going to define a feeding tube as life support, I’ve got a major problem. Because there are lot of people who can’t feed themselves. Can babies feed themselves? If that’s going to be our criteria, people, we’ve got a major problem in this country.

So, at any rate, of those five criteria, in the Netherlands, this case would flunk four out of the five. We have now become more liberal in that sense that Holland. So we’re going to have to deal with this politically and with our legislature, and our runaway judiciary that has way more power, I think, than the founding fathers ever meant for them to have.

So having said all that, it can be rather depressing. And I think this is an Easter weekend we’ll never forget because of some of these events. I’ve never seen an Easter weekend with a deathwatch forced upon a loving mother and father by an estranged husband, who has had two children out-of-wedlock with a woman he is now living with and that woman has more access to this girl than her own parents do.

Now in the midst of all this, what does God have to say? He is the Judge of all judges. I make you a promise today based on the Word of God: Our God will make all things right in the end.

These judges with their long, black robes who have no problem at all sparing the life of someone who has murdered five people, but not being willing to spare the life of this girl (because it has something to do with the politics of the unborn) – someday these judges will stand before a righteous God –
and our God will make all of this right.

You know, these murderers and rapists, and people that think they’re getting away with all this mayhem and evil that they’re doing (these sex offenders and people taking children from their beds, and all this), we look at this world and it says, “In the last days, perilous times shall come.” This is not going to be a sermon on the end times, trust me, but I have to talk for at least a few minutes about this.

God is in control. Your eyes do not tell you that God is in control, your ears do not tell you that God is in control, and you certainly do not feel like God is in control sometimes; when these horrible things happen to you, to your own family, the people in our church who are sick or disabled that the enemy attacks with his death and disease, when we hear and see all the things we’re hearing and seeing, we’re tempted to despair but our Savior said, “Let not your heart be troubled.”



There was an unjust death that took place 2000 years ago. When evil men triumph and an innocent person was put to death, the most ridiculous thing the world has ever seen is that of one hundred armed men standing guard over a tomb! They’re standing guard over a corpse! Only instead of a deathwatch, it’s a life-watch and, in the end, that will be the answer ultimately to our dear young friend’s dilemma. Because no matter what men do to her, God is in control.

These priests put these men at that tomb to watch for life. They know He’s dead but still they watch lest the silence speak! Lest the stilled heart throb! One hundred armed men standing guard over a tomb!

This morning I want you to go back with me and think about the greatest story ever told. As we keep this Seventh-Day Sabbath, one day a year I like to think about Sunday when Jesus rose from the dead. The scripture says that Jesus died about three o’clock on a Friday we now call Good (Friday). It was the spring of the year, three hours before the beginning of sunset. And have you ever sung that hymn, “On a hill far away…”? Well, not really!

In John 19:2, it says they crucified Jesus near the city. Christ was not crucified on a hill far away, He was crucified in Jerusalem on the same mountain, Moriah, that Abraham sacrificed his son, and it was near to the city. Now, perhaps, the composer meant in a land far away from America or wherever he wrote the hymn. But the crucifixion took place near the city. And the crucifixion took place near a road the Bible says in Matthew 27:39. And in John 19:41, it says in the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new sepulcher. So Jesus was buried so close to where He was crucified that in the Bible, it’s called the exact same place.

Now, around the cross, a large crowd had gathered. Why do you think most people watch cars go around in a circle…for hours? Is that very exciting? Now I admit if you get to know the drivers and learn about ‘em and kind of like a baseball team and you’re learning the statistics and whose doing what – it might be interesting. Guys who love math like baseball. They love all the statistics and they like to add everything up, earned run averages and all that stuff. Well, with Nascar, and a boxing match, occasionally blood gets spilled. Occasionally it goes from (round and round) to (gasp) “Did you see that!” And back in Jesus’ day, there was some of that same attitude. When there was a crucifixion a big crowd came out. And then after the crucifixion everybody left. They came out to see the blood spilt, and then they left.

And if you really, you know, today we’ve taken the cross and we’ve made it a little gold piece of jewelry. If you really want to memorialize the cross, what I’d like you to do is get a little gold electric chair and put that on a chain around your neck. And when people say, “Why do you have an electric chair around your neck?” Just say, “Well, it’s a symbol of Jesus.” Because the cross in Jesus’ day was a horrible instrument of torture. It wasn’t a pretty little piece of jewelry. Okay?

Now, after the cross was raised, the only people left there were Jesus’ mother Mary, Mary Magdelene; and Mary, Jesus’ aunt. Okay? His aunt, and his mother, and Mary Magdelene; and John, the apostle. And after the crowds left there wasn’t much to do so the soldiers started to play dice games. There they were at the foot of the cross playing Monopoly or whatever they played back then. And can you imagine while the King of kings and Lord of lords is dying a few feet above your head; there you are playing games with dice at the foot of the cross?

And then you have this centurion. Now the centurion was a very hardened soldier. He was the one in charge of putting the people to death. And tradition tells us that this centurion probably crucified hundreds of people because the roads into Jerusalem were literally lined with crosses. And we’re told that there were no trees in that area because all the forests were just stripped so that they could build crosses – that’s how many crosses they built. The Jews were a very stubborn and rebellious people and they were constantly being crucified.

Now why did this hardened centurion accept Jesus as his Savior that day? Well, I believe that when Jesus walked up to the cross He calmly sat down upon that cross laid down voluntarily and put His arms out to be nailed. Normally, there was a horrible struggle with the person who was going to be crucified.

A Roman soldier had to put his knee on the chest and hold that man down pinning his shoulders and chest to the cross while two men on each hand and two men on his feet would hold the man down while they drove the nails as they cursed and swore. And the two thieves both cursed and swore as they were nailed to the cross. The two thieves both cursed Jesus when they hung on the cross and they both told Jesus to get them off that cross if He was really the divine Son of God. Both thieves cursed Christ and both thieves told Him to get them off the cross and to deliver them if He was really the Son of God. And Jesus did not yell and scream; He did not curse at the guards, He laid down on the cross and He held His hand out and as the man drove… (not ten years later!) but as the man drove the nails in His wrist, He said, “Father, forgive him. He doesn’t know what he is doing.” And then He held the other arm out.

Now I don’t know. If somebody had just nailed my right arm to the cross, if I could just put my left arm out and let them do the same thing to my left arm that they’d just done to my right. And can you imagine (I have kind of sensitive feet) if I accidentally, getting out of bed; with my toenails scrap(ing) the top of my foot? I’m like, “Ow!” Can you imaging having a spike driven through your foot? And I can’t imagine having the strength of character to pray over and over…and if you read the Greek tense indicates that Jesus kept repeating it over and over again, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.” How can He love us like that – as we murder Him?

Now the centurion saw Jesus die. It was a common thing for a man to live on the cross for seven to ten days. Sadly, we’re all learning how long it takes when a person is denied food or water. They would die of dehydration or starvation, or gangrene would set in, in the wounds of their hands (and feet) and the infection would cause them to die a horrible death. Or perhaps, they would die from sheer madness, from the sun beating down at 110 degrees on their faces while the birds pecked out their eyes; while they lived. But not this Man. Only a couple (of) hours on the cross and He died. Suddenly, Jesus died without any warning. After just six hours on the cross, He was dead. That was unheard of! He died in full strength. He didn’t die from earthly causes. He didn’t die from loss of blood or from physical causes. The Bible says, “He cried out in a loud voice, ‘My God, my God, why has Thou forsaken me?’”

The centurion beheld Him as He cried that out. The centurion saw Jesus go from despair and sorrow to resignation when He said, “Father, into Thy hands, I commit my Spirit.” And then he heard Jesus’ triumphal cry as He cried out, “It is finished!” And He cried out not as a defeated or brutalized man, but He cried out in the voice of a conquering king! “It is finished!” As the centurion, battle-hardened soldier that he was, saw this kind and gentle prophet give His life and pray for the very people that nailed Him to the cross, it was the patience, and compassion, and sudden death of Jesus that convicted him. So much so that as he looked up to heaven (we don’t know his name from scripture), he looked up at Jesus and said, “Surely this man was God’s Son!”

Then you have another man, a black man. His two sons were Christ’s followers and he had been told about Jesus. And as he comes into Jerusalem, a black man – strong from working in the fields – as he comes in, he sees Jesus carrying the cross. He sees Him fall the third time as He tries to rise, and he says, “Why are doing this to the Prophet?”

“Oh, you know the prophet, do you? Well, why don’t you just pick his cross up then and carry it?”

“No! I don’t want to carry the cross.”

No man wanted to be confiscated and forced to carry a condemned man’s cross, that was one of the ultimate humiliations! But Simon was forced to pick that cross up by a Roman soldier. And as he walked along carrying that cross, Jesus probably spoke to him; perhaps, even leaned His hand upon his strong back as He tried to make it up the hill. And I’m sure Jesus said, “Thank you, Simon. I prayed for God to send somebody because I couldn’t get up, and you came! Thank you for picking my cross up and carrying it for me!” And that black man picked that cross up and carried it up that hill (!) And that day he gave his heart to Jesus. He didn’t want to carry that cross, but he was forever grateful that he did.

And so you have a Jewish boy, a thief, nailed to the cross, tradition has it. A boy who had gone to Sabbath School with his parents and learned about Jesus, and then listened to Him as He preached on the hillsides of Galilee and Judea. He was caught for his thievery and this Jew was nailed to the cross. As he looks at Jesus, he curses too and then he beholds His life,

he beholds His conduct,

he hears the voice,

he sees the thunder,

he watches the kingly bearing of this nailed Christ – and he sees through all the smokescreen the devil has put there and he realizes this truly is the Messiah, this truly is the Son of God.

And this Jew turns to Jesus and says, “Will You forgive me and remember me when You come into your kingdom?”

Jesus turned and looks deep into his eyes with a gaze that penetrates to his very soul, and Jesus says to him, “I say unto you today, you will be with me in paradise!”

Three men met at the cross that day: a Jew, a Roman soldier, and a black man. The Jew and the Gentile – all these were a foretaste of the great resurrection day that would show the value of Christ’s death that would eventually reach to all of mankind! And yet we read these stories so often with our heads weary with sleep as they fall upon the pillow. How much is there for us to glean each day if we’ll only take the time!

And then, something unexpected happened. Two of the wealthiest men in all of Jerusalem suddenly came forward and identified themselves as disciples of Jesus! How unexpected! How shocking! How did Nicodemus and Joseph of Aramathea suddenly find the courage to step forward and proclaim their devotion to this Savior/ Messiah in His death when they could not find the courage to do it while He lived? I believe I’ve found the answer; it was on the basis of fulfilled prophecy. Three years before, Jesus had sat at midnight with Nicodemus and told him, “When you see the Son of Man lifted up on the cross for all to see then you’ll know that what I’m telling you is true.”

Nicodemus shared that prophecy with his friend and fellow Pharisee, Joseph of Aramathea. And what discouraged the apostles actually made Joseph and Nicodemus believe! The very death that made the disciples run made Joseph of Aramathea and Nicodemus run toward Jesus and not away from Him.

Build your faith on fulfilled prophecy. When Jesus speaks in His Word it comes to pass! Only God can write history in advance. Only God can make the things happen that happened they way they did. Six hundred years before Christ the Bible predicted the year, the month, the day, and the very hour that Jesus would be crucified and die. Only God can write history in advance! I can’t tell you what will happen six days from now, let alone 600 years! I find it fascinating that Joseph and Nicodemus in the crucifixion found a fulfillment of prophecy and the faith they needed to do what they needed to do!

According to scripture, Nicodemus was so wealthy that Josephus, a modern historian of their day, said Nicodemus was so wealthy he could feed the entire city of Jerusalem for ten years!

Now what normally happened when someone died suddenly (on the cross) is: the Roman soldiers came and they broke their legs. The thief, people say, was such a good thief he even stole heaven. They say “He lived a wicked life and then at the last minute, stole heaven and slipped in.”

Let me tell you something about that thief. When they came and broke his legs, and threw a rope around his arm and drug him to the city garbage dump called Gehenna (which is a place where human bodies and trash are burned 24 hours a day) – when they rolled him down the hill, and he laid their for days till he died of gangrene; as the rats scurried about his head – it was only the words of Jesus that comforted him and helped him to be brave. But that young man died a horrible death! And he made it because Jesus said he would be in paradise. And what my Lord says comes to pass! He laid there with the rats scurrying about his head but he was a victorious thief! He didn’t steal heaven, Christ paid for it with His blood!

But what was going to happen to Jesus? Was His body going to be thrown over the hill? Was He going to have to lay in a garbage dump? What were the disciples going to do? It was an emergency! They were from Galilee. If they had a cemetery plot at all it would be in Galilee and not in Jerusalem! Burial plots were very expensive. It was in this time of emergency that Joseph of Aramathea stepped in and begged for the body of Jesus.

Now here’s something interesting. According to Roman law a relative could come and claim the body of the one crucified and give it a burial if he or she had a place to put the body. Tradition teaches that Joseph of Aramathea was an uncle to the virgin, Mary; so, consequently, he had a right to go in and claim Jesus’ body. Nicodemus stepped forward and provided a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes to give Jesus a king’s burial. And so these two points bring to mind the text that said, “He would make His death with the wicked but He would be buried with the rich.” He made His death between two thieves but now He’s going to be buried in a rich man’s tomb! He’s going to be embalmed with a king’s ransom!

Now the body was prepared for burial by putting these spices on the body and by taking foot-wide gauze and wrapping them around the arms, stop at the arm here, then wrapping all the way around the leg and stopping, and putting on another layer of spices, and then wrapping again up to the arm, then wrapping the torso, and then eventually putting the arm at the side and wrapping the entire body. And they had begun this process of putting the spices on and wrapping the body when the Sabbath came and they were unable to finish it. So they had to lay Jesus’ body in the tomb before they were able to finish.

Now the women saw how the body was laid on the shelf; carved out of the living rock. In my home, in my living room, there is a picture of the tomb of Christ on the wall. They took a stone that was over a foot thick, seven feet high, round like a cartwheel, and in front of the door of the tomb they would dig with a chisel a cup-like carving into the granite. And they would take that round stone and they would roll it down into that cup-like groove, and it would roll down in. It took four men to roll the stone in place, and it would take ten to twelve men to get it out. That’s why the women were worried about who was going to open the tomb when they came on Sunday morning because it would take ten to twelve men to roll that stone away.

Now, with all these facts in our mind, let’s pick up the story. Joseph walks in and asks for the body from Pilate. And the fact that Joseph just walked right into the governor’s palace tells you that “money talks.” Doesn’t it? Pilate couldn’t believe Jesus was dead; so, he called on the centurion, who confirmed to him that Jesus was dead. Joseph believed Jesus was dead because he carried his body and put it in the grave. Nicodemus believed that Jesus was dead because he embalmed the body. Now wouldn’t it be a sick person to embalm someone’s body; who wasn’t dead! The women saw Him laid in the tomb, and what about the four men who rolled that stone across that door? Wouldn’t be a terrible thing to entomb a living man and bury him alive? So the friends and the enemies of Jesus were one in alike convinced of the certainty of Christ’s death.

Now the Pharisees knew that Jesus would rise from the dead just as He said, so they went to Pilate on the Sabbath, according to Matthew 27:62, which shows how desperate they were…

Side Two

…big stone, and then they put the wax on the stone, and then they put a seal on the cord. These Pharisees knew that Jesus would rise from the dead just like He said.

Now the disciples could not accept the death of Christ. They were demoralized (discouraged, depressed, unnerved, broken, weakened, disheartened, sad). The disciples forgot that Jesus said He would rise on the third day. But did His enemies forget? Oh, no, they remembered in great detail. That’s why the Bible gives more detail to this than any other death and burial in the Bible in ancient history. It has been so carefully documented, scene by scene, act by act, even the emotions of the people are laid out for the reason that God wants us to be absolutely sure that here a man died! Otherwise, the resurrection is meaningless.

Now what about this resurrection, when did it happen? Well, just before dawn, there was a great earthquake. An angel came down, and that one angel did the work of twelve men pretty quick! He just rolled the stone away (!). (The) Stone rolled away, and Jesus came forth from the tomb. Now the Roman soldiers had their (one) hundred cords across that stone: those cords instantly snapped. Nothing could have kept Him in that tomb! A hundred soldiers were struck down by the blaze of Jesus’ glory as He comes forth from the tomb not as a slain lamb, but as a roaring lion, (!) the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Out He came in great glory and power.

The very soldiers who had put a robe over His head and punched Him in the face and said, “Tell us who hit you!” now see this powerful Jesus. And don’t you think they might have wondered, “Is he going to take his vengeance upon us?” But he didn’t. He walked quietly into the garden to await his friends.

Now, these soldiers turned white. The blood drained from their faces, and they prepared to meet their doom. When Jesus quietly walked away leaving them to their thoughts, J don’t you think they got up; don’t you think they ran into town? Don’t you think they went to tell Pilate immediately?

When the priests heard what the soldiers said they put money in their hands and lies in their mouths and said, “Say while you were sleeping the disciples came…” Now if you slept on Roman guard duty, what happened to you? You die. Now we’re expected to believe that one hundred Roman soldiers were all sleeping and that they know for a fact the disciples came and stole the body! If all of them were sleeping as they say, how did they know it was the disciples? They’re not the “sharpest tools in the shed,” these Pharisees! If they were really sleeping they wouldn’t know who came and took the body. Now don’t you think a hundred Roman soldiers sleeping would have heard all those cords snap and would have heard that big huge stone rolling out of the way?

Now let me ask you a question. Do you think these Roman soldiers when they got back, because they were conscripted; they were grafted from all over the (Roman) Empire - do you think when they got back to their home place; do you think they ever told what really happened? You know human nature far too well! When they got back to their home country, they would call in the neighbors around the kitchen table and they would say, “While I was in Jerusalem I helped to crucify a man. I drove the nails in myself – and he rose from the dead! I saw Him come forth in glory!”

This is what accounts for the expansion of the Gospel in just months! These soldiers were the witnesses of the death and burial of our Lord! They were the advance missionaries. The devil thinks he’s so smart but he always overextends himself. Look what he did: Instead of a few women and a couple disciples, he puts a hundred Roman soldiers at the tomb! People could trust them. He puts cords and puts a Roman seal on the tomb. And when these (one) hundred people see this risen Christ, the story of Jesus’ resurrection goes like wildfire throughout all the Roman Empire! Jesus was alive! He had been nailed to the cross and crucified, but He is alive!

Mary sees the body is gone. She starts crying. Jesus says, “Don’t touch me. I haven’t yet ascended to heaven.” He says, “Go into town,” and here’s something beautiful, “…tell my servant, Peter, I forgive him. Tell him to come back. Tell Peter I heard his cursing. I saw him deny me. Tell him I still love him. Give him back his self-respect. Give him back his ministry. Go tell that coward, Peter, that I forgive him and I will accept him once; again.”

Peter comes to Jesus. Jesus says, “Peter, do you still love me more than your other fellow disciples here? You know you bragged and said even if they forsake me, you never will. Do you still love me more then them, Peter?”

Peter said, “No. I love you Lord, with all my heart, but not more than them. I am now the least of my brethren, I’m not better than they are!”

Proud Peter was now humble Peter. Cowardly Peter now became Peter the conqueror! He went forth and preached with such conviction (!) that within a month of Christ’s ascension, 8000 people had accepted Christ at Peter’s preaching. Jesus sowed the Gospel and Peter was the sickle that reaped the harvest! Peter the coward became so brave that when they went to crucify him, he said, “Nail me to the cross upside down. I’m not worthy to be nailed like my Master.” and Peter was nailed to the cross upside down. You know why? Because he wouldn’t deny the resurrection of Jesus.

A hundred Roman soldiers - and in first Corinthians, it says 500 eyewitnesses were gathered together in one place, who all saw Jesus. Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are you who believe, but blessed are they who don’t see and believe.” “Go your way and tell His disciples and Peter that he goeth before you and there you shall see Him.”

You know, you never see Jesus stand so tall as He stands beside a broken man like Peter. And you never see Peter stand so tall as he accepts Christ and is humble now and willing to go out and do the ministry even though he’s fallen; even though he’s had a problem, he doesn’t let that keep him from doing what his Savior wants him to do.

“These things were written,” John says, “by us who are eyewitnesses that you might believe in Him whom we testify of.”

How about you, today? The only stone that can roll away and let Jesus live is the stone that is rolled over your heart this morning. Are you willing to roll that stone out of the way, and let that Savior come into your heart and change you the way He changed Peter?

Are you willing to accept this Christ who hung on a cross and died for you?

Are you willing to take up your cross like Simon and deny yourself and follow this resurrected Christ?

How many of you today would like to say, “Pastor, I believe that Jesus is alive!
I believe that He sits at the right hand of God!
I want Him to forgive me for my sins.
I want Him to come into my heart.
I want Him to change me.

If you believe Jesus rose from the dead, it ought to change your life forever! He lives!

Father in heaven, You’ve seen the raised hands. The hard hearts have rolled away the stone and they’ve invited You in. Come in, Lord Jesus. Change them, comfort them, encourage them; fill them with Your presence, Lord. Forgive them for their sins. Be their Savior and be their Lord. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Don’t worry about this broken-down body, don’t worry about a disabled person,
don’t worry about your ailments,
don’t worry about all the aches and pains in your body that’s falling apart,
don’t worry if the evil one even afflicts you and takes your life. That’s what the message of the resurrection is all about: We get a new body, and a new life, and our life will be numbered with the life of God! The message of the resurrection is: we have a new body and a new life just around the corner!



All Scriptural References: King/New James Version

Ellen G. White References: www.whiteestate.org


Transcription: Wendy J. Riebel

This sermon is also available on cassette tape.

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