{"id":12077,"date":"2022-04-17T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-17T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/?post_type=ctc_sermon&#038;p=12077"},"modified":"2022-04-19T09:43:08","modified_gmt":"2022-04-19T13:43:08","slug":"the-sacrifice-and-the-empty-tomb","status":"publish","type":"ctc_sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/sermons\/the-sacrifice-and-the-empty-tomb\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sacrifice and The Empty Tomb"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-gdm-google-drive-embedder-viewer\"><iframe width='100%' height='100' frameborder='0' scrolling='yes' src='https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1G6YdmSblfYMmlXuhXC7b6cWP0oo-7-OA\/preview?usp=drivesdk' allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n<h4><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Read<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Hebrews 9:11\u201328<\/p>\n<h4><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Consider<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Resurrection is the most important miraculous act of God in human history as it turns death into life. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, what we are doing and what we are believing in is in vain.\u00a0 As Apostle Paul said \u201cAnd if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.\u201d (1Cor. 15:14).\u00a0 However, in our Christian faith, we often talk about the Cradle (The birth of Jesus), the Cross (The substitutionary atonement of Jesus), and the Crown (the triumphant return of Jesus, Second Coming).\u00a0\u00a0 What about the Resurrection and the Empty Tomb?\u00a0 How does it relate to our faith journey?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">In Hebrews Chapter 9, the author spent the first half (vv. 1-10) briefly describing the regulation of the Old Testament worship and the setting of the tabernacle where was the place of the worship sacrifice happened.\u00a0 I would like to highlight which we will revisit later.\u00a0 In v5 (ESV), it says \u201cAbove it (The Ark of Covenant) were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.\u201d\u00a0 The mercy seat was the place where the blood was sprinkled and the also where God met the humanity (Lev. 16:15, Ex. 25:22) Then the second half of Chapter 9, the author once again pointed out that Jesus is the High priest (chapter 8) but this time, the focus is on the better tabernacle.\u00a0 Christ did not enter the man-made sanctuary once a year like the other high priests but entered into heaven once. He suffered and sacrificed Himself once to put away our sin. (Hebrews 9:24-26)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Up to now, you might understand the role of Jesus as the High Priest and He sacrificed once and for all.\u00a0 But still, how does it relate to the resurrection of Jesus?\u00a0 Let us read a portion of the resurrection narrative from the Gospel of John 20.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><em>Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus&#8217; body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, &#8220;Woman, why are you crying?&#8221; (John 20:10-13)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">The disciples heard that Jesus\u2019 dead body was taken out from the tomb by someone.\u00a0 The bloody linen which wrapped Jesus\u2019 body remained there but Jesus\u2019 body was gone, and the tomb was empty.\u00a0 The disciples believed Jesus\u2019 body was indeed stolen. \u00a0Mary Magdalene stood outside of the tomb crying.\u00a0 The scripture said Mary saw two angels white, seated where <em><u>Jesus&#8217; body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 Imagine this picture for a moment and compare Hebrews 9:5 with a more detailed description from Exodus 25:20 (ESV) \u201cThe cherubim shall spread out their wings above, <em><u>overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings<\/u><\/em>, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.\u201d\u00a0 The resurrection narrative tells us that Jesus Himself is the <strong><u>Mercy Seat<\/u><\/strong>. The blood was sprinkled there but He did not meet with people inside the tomb.\u00a0 He had resurrected and went out to meet people.\u00a0 Those who met the resurrected Jesus were transformed, Mary Magdalene, the disciples, the apostle Paul, and many others including all who are walking the faith journey with Christ. The Mercy Seat is gone, no more blood is needed.\u00a0 The Mercy Seat is resurrected alive and dwelling with us. He wants to meet with us at any time and any place.\u00a0\u00a0 In the Gospel of John 1:14<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><em>The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">\u201cDwell\u201d in original Greek is \u201cTo Tabernacle\u201d or \u201cTo Tent\u201d.\u00a0 Word became flesh and to tabernacle with us. And through the Resurrection narrative, the Mercy Seat became alive and to tabernacle with us.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">With all things God has done for us in Jesus, we should all yearn for meeting Jesus and be joyful to be transformed<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><em>Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God&#8217;s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God&#8211;this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God&#8217;s will is&#8211;his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"color: #999999;\">Rev. Julian Wong<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Pray<\/h4>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your mercy towards us. Thank you for your love and your desire and determination to dwell among us through your incarnation and resurrection.\u00a0 You have indeed risen and are alive. I pray that your Holy Spirit will continue to transform me into your image to reflect your glory.\u00a0 Let my life be a living sacrifice to serve and worship the resurrected King Jesus.<\/p>\n<h4><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Diving<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Deeper<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Go deeper by reading Exodus 25:10-20, Hebrews 9:1-10 on the settings of the Ark of Covenant, then go to John 20:1-18 resurrection narrative.<br \/>Meditate on the work of Jesus on the Cross and how significant is the empty tomb.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Imagine yourself is the Mary Magdalene and seeing two angels with the bloody linen cloth.<br \/>What will be your instant response?<br \/>When Jesus said \u201cMary\u201d, she suddenly recognized Him.\u00a0 You know Jesus remembers all our names and he wants us to have a personal encounter with Him.\u00a0 What stop us to have a personal counter with Jesus?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">How can we live closer <strong>WITH GOD<\/strong> in our lives?<br \/>How are we being <strong>TRANSFORMED<\/strong> to be more like Christ?<br \/>How is the Holy Spirit empowering us to imitate Christ in what we <strong>DO<\/strong> this week?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hebrews 9:11\u201328<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":11920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","ctc_sermon_topic":[],"ctc_sermon_book":[36],"ctc_sermon_series":[523],"ctc_sermon_speaker":[520],"ctc_sermon_tag":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/12077"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ctc_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12077"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/12077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12092,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/12077\/revisions\/12092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_topic?post=12077"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_book?post=12077"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_series?post=12077"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_speaker?post=12077"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_tag?post=12077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}