Easter Sunday sermon and communion service at Rivers Apostolic Centre, Logan City, Australia
A visiting speaker, Royree Jensen, delivers an Easter Sunday message at Rivers Apostolic Centre, with additional contributions from the church's host pastor.
Summary
This is an Easter Sunday service at Rivers Apostolic Centre in Logan City, Australia, featuring a prophetic vision for Australia, a communion service, church announcements, and a sermon by Apostle Royree Jensen. Jensen opens with a vision he received in Sydney about Australia as a land with a hidden, stagnant spiritual oasis that Jesus enters and restores to life — a picture he connects to the resurrection. The host pastor then leads the congregation through tithes, offerings, and firstfruits giving, drawing on Malachi 3 to frame financial obedience as connected to God's blessing and protection over the land. Jensen's sermon traces a series of Old Testament types and shadows — the cherubim, the Ark of the Covenant, the Passover lamb, the high priest's garment, and the veil of the temple — arguing that every detail of the crucifixion and resurrection was foreshadowed across 4,000 years of Scripture, and that the same Spirit that raised Christ is at work in believers today.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Prophetic Vision for Australia
Royree Jensen: When I was in Sydney a couple of years ago, I had this vision. I was in a conference and I saw the land of Australia, and the ground was hard, the dirt was dry, and there'd been people trying to plough, trying to work the land for many, many years. People had found water but it seemed to dry up quickly, and it was like the more they tried to plough the land, the harder it got.
And then I saw in this picture, this dream I had, the scene shift. It was like I was taken underground. And underground was this oasis underneath the ground — beyond the ground was this oasis under the land of Australia. And this oasis, once pure, once full of life, was murky, was muddy, and it had become stagnant. And if you know anything about rivers or water, when water stops moving, it gets swampy, it gets dirty. You can't see through it. And this water beneath the ground of Australia had gotten stagnant and muddy and murky, swampy.
And in this vision, I see Jesus. And if the water is right here, Jesus is standing just beyond the edge of the water. And he goes into the water and he puts his hands in the water, and as he puts his hands in the water, it's like life returns. The muddy, murky water starts to turn clean. He puts his hand deeper into the water and deeper into the water until his arm is submerged, and then he takes a step and puts his foot into the water, until his whole body is submerged. And this once-swampy water underneath the ground turns back into oasis.
You know that scripture — it's not by might, it's not by power, it's by his Spirit. Something underneath the ground was happening. And all of a sudden, this oasis comes out from under the ground and goes to the lengths, the height, the depths, the breadths of Australia, and the dry ground becomes soft. I believe that Australia is in a time where once-hard ground is turning soft, it's turning light. This oasis, this eternal, internal, under-the-ground thing has happened, and God is doing something afresh over this nation. I was praying this morning, and I believe God is doing something great for Australia.
Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday
This is Easter Sunday. We have Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday. What makes Good Friday, Good Friday? It is the resurrection of Jesus. The cross, the crucifixion, is only good because of the resurrection. For the people of that day, Good Friday was not Good Friday. They saw their Saviour King up on a cross, laid dead. And it was like all of their hopes were lost. All of the things they were dreaming, they thought of for the future of Israel were lost. But God wasn't finished yet. He was doing something internal, beneath the ground.
Reading from Matthew 27
We're going to read a passage of Scripture. If you have your Bibles or your phones, turn with me to Matthew chapter 27, verse 27.
"They spat on him and took the reed and began to beat him on the head. After they had mocked him, they took the scarlet robe off him and put his own garments back on him and led him away to crucify him. As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of the Skull..."
Verse 38:
"And those passing by were hurling abuse at him, wagging their heads and saying, 'You are going to destroy this temple and rebuild it in three days. Save yourself if you are the Son of God. Come down from this cross.' In the same way, the chief priests also, along with scribes and elders, were mocking him and saying, 'He saved others. He cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel. Let him come down from the cross and we will believe him.'"
Verse 43:
"'He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he delights in him, for he said, I am the Son of God.' The robbers who had been crucified with him were also insulting him with the same words. Now from the sixth hour, darkness fell upon the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' — that is, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' And some of those who were standing by, when they heard it, began saying, 'This man is calling for Elijah.' Immediately one of them ran and, taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed and gave him a drink. But the rest of them said, 'Let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.' And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, 'Truly this was the Son of God.'"
Prayer for Australia
I believe that God, like he did 2,000 years ago, is still creating earthquakes today. He is still creating life where there is barren ground. He is still waking up the saints who fell asleep. That is you and I. That is many across this land.
So what I'd love us to do is take 30 seconds and pray for this land of Australia, because I believe that God is doing something. I'm going to get you guys to stand up and join with somebody next to you. And we're just going to spend 30 seconds — we're not going to do this quietly, we're going to do this loudly together — and we're just going to pray for this great land.
Holy Spirit, we pray for resurrection life over Australia. God, we thank you for the great south land of the Holy Spirit. What you've done in the past — that wasn't the end. There is a resurrection after every crucifixion. So we speak to the saints that have fallen asleep and, Lord, we ask them to be raised up. We say, wakey wakey, Australia. The time hasn't finished for this nation. Jesus, you're doing something great again. Arise and shine, saints. Australia is about to enter into its best days ahead. So we thank you, Holy Spirit, for this land, this beautiful, beautiful land. In Jesus' name.
Communion
What we're going to do now is take communion together. I invite you to come up to the communion station — there's one here on the right, one in the middle, and one on the left. And we're going to pray together. Find somebody to join with — we don't want anyone to do communion alone.
We're going to take his body, this bread broken for us on the cross. And if you haven't already, I invite you now, in remembrance of his death and resurrection, as his body was broken, to receive it now. And we're going to take his blood — his blood spilled for us. The Scripture says he was pierced at his side and blood and water came out. We take his blood in remembrance.
Jesus, we thank you that you truly did raise from the dead and you are still raising others from the dead this day. So God, we thank you for your blood. We thank you for your body that was broken — broken for us. Not just for the person on our left or our right, but for us. And we remember Jesus. We remember. God, thank you for the power of your blood. In Jesus' name. Amen.
He is worthy, isn't he? He is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah.
Welcome and Church Announcements
Host Pastor: So good to be in the house of the Lord this morning. Thank you for the beautiful offerings of praise from the worship team this morning. Let's give them a hand. They've done an awesome offering to the Lord. Beautiful time of worship, and what a great day it is today — the greatest day in history that we're remembering, the risen and resurrected King of all kings and Lord of all lords, who is on the move in Australia today.
We've had an awesome time this weekend. When I say awesome, I really actually mean that word. We've seen the power and the glory of God in so many different ways, and not the least of which was yesterday morning as a large team from Rivers went out into the Gold Mine — which is the area that we outreach into, a small area of Logan City, which once was known as the Devil's Triangle, but no more. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah.
A very exciting day as we took food, sausage sizzle and hot cross buns, Easter eggs, balloons and bubbles out onto the street to bring the love of Jesus. And what a powerful time we had. People's hearts were rendered to the Lord. People's stomachs were filled. People were loved on and encouraged. Born-again believers living on the streets who hadn't eaten for a number of days were encouraged by the answer to their prayers that the Lord had provided. One of the ladies had cried in the night, not being able to give her grandchildren and her children some Easter eggs. And when she came, we were able to give her some, and she couldn't believe how the Lord had answered her prayer. She was praying for food to eat and Easter eggs to be able to give to her family, and she was able to do just that, and she was excited about it. So the small things. And then the big things — like people being reintroduced back to their Saviour, youngsters who actually came to this house many years ago and who had drifted away and had an encounter with the living God, the resurrected King. Isn't that wonderful? A man was healed on the streets yesterday. Jesus is on the move in Australia. Hallelujah.
This morning we get to come and bring an offering ourselves to the Lord, and amazingly, it is First Fruit Sunday today. In 1 Corinthians 15:23, it speaks to us about the fact that Jesus was the firstfruits, and in order he becomes the firstfruits, he makes the whole holy, so that we could be made holy, and we follow in his place because of what he did on the cross for us. And I loved what Stephen said — we say Good Friday because we celebrate the full work of the cross and the resurrected Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As Jesus said, it is better for me to go that he may come. And now we live in the fullness of the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of the Father.
I wanted to bring an encouragement around the prophetic movement, because we know we've just been under a little bit of pressure around that recently. But in October of last year, Darrell Crawford Marshall prophesied and sang over us that we are a blessing storehouse to bring the name of God and to bring God to the nations. And I want to just encourage you that we have had supernatural amounts of funds and finances come in to the missions arm of the church. So first, let's give the Lord thanks for that, because that's just unbelievably good. And secondly, we are a river. I loved what Stephen shared this morning — this is not the Dead Sea, this is the Red Sea. We will keep that supply going. And you'll see in the back section near the kitchen, there has been a blessing storehouse built — thank you, Graham Lee — into the back here. It's filled with stuff. And yesterday it was emptied. And it'll be filled again, and it'll be emptied again. And we'll have the flow of the Spirit of God, the love of the Father, and the practical arms and hands and feet of Jesus in the streets, not just here but in the nations.
Let's continue to pray — super excited about what's happening for James and Levi and Ezekiel as they bring the word today to a thousand young people in Port Moresby. How good is God? We were excited on Friday as the leader of Papua New Guinea came to endorse the conference and to verify what James and the boys were going to be bringing to them. How good is that? That's really awesome. But even better is that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords was there with them the whole time. Hallelujah. So let's keep praying for them. They're doing an amazing work. Today is their last day of actually teaching and preaching, but they've been out to the orphanage. They've taken clothes from here as well, and have been a great blessing already. We're super excited to hear all of the testimonies.
We also want to welcome back Sarah. She has just come back from Bulgaria, Croatia, and Ireland with Daughters of the King. It's lovely to have you back, Sarah. And others are getting prepared for missions. Welcome to Stephen, who's here with us from New Zealand — he's part of the Anzac Union that's happening at Rivers. And we're excited for the Kahu team that are coming through in July. Let's keep praying.
Malachi 3 and the Tithe
I was thinking about the Gold Mine yesterday as we were there, and the Lord took me to Malachi chapter 3. Now, we know this well. We have tithes, offerings, missions, and firstfruits today. And actually, while I read this, I'm going to ask if Dave Jensen and Andrew Zimmerman could just come and hold up the firstfruits basket. This is an offering before the Lord that we do on the first Sunday of each month. Dave and Andrew are priests in the house. The firstfruit does go to the priest for their spiritual children and their children's children — it's part of the blessing in the house. But it's a powerful, holy place in the Lord to bring approximately 2.4 to 2.6% of income to the Lord as the firstfruits. And as we do that, it makes the whole lump of everything that the Lord has given us holy. It's a blessing sacrifice.
But I was thinking about how when we don't honour the Lord in life, things become difficult. As we went into the Gold Mine yesterday, we were thoroughly blessed to see the Lord move in such a powerful way. But what was very apparent was where people have forgotten God and have moved away from God and where they have worshipped other things, there is very little protection of the Lord in those spaces. And while we go in there and we pray and we bring the Spirit of God with us, we are certainly seeing the fruit of where God is dishonoured.
So in Malachi chapter 3, from verse 6:
"For I am the Lord, I do not change. That is why you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, How shall we return? Will a man rob or defraud God? Yet you rob and defraud me. But you say, In what way do we rob or defraud you? You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes, the whole tenth of your income, into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I, the Lord, will rebuke the devourer on your behalf, that your fruits of your ground shall not be destroyed, neither shall your vine drop its fruit before the time in the field, says the Lord of hosts. And all the nations shall call you happy and blessed, for you shall be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts."
I was just considering that yesterday as we went in, and we went in with abundance. The Lord has opened the floodgates of heaven over this space. There is abundance — from the smallest church in Logan City able to bless so many nations in so many spaces. And I truly believe it's because of the obedience of the people in this house to bring their full tithe, offering, and firstfruits into the house. And we are seeing the fruit of that. We're seeing people get jobs, people getting houses, people having things paid for — tens of thousands of dollars that they don't have in their bank account. We see the blessings of the Lord. We also see the favour of the Lord on people's health and upon their life.
But I want us to remember that God takes this seriously this morning. He takes seriously what we do with our funds and our finances. So let's stand together this morning. Today we're going to come and bring our tithes, our offerings, and our firstfruits before the Lord. Let's consider him as the firstfruits, the inheritance that we have from that. And then let's consider that when we bring our funds and finances, we have a promise from the Lord that he will rebuke the devourer on our behalf, but also there is a promise for our generations. So let's come gladly and with excitement to bring our offering before the Lord this morning.
If you're visiting with us, the tithe bucket is for people for whom this is their storehouse. If you're visiting, please take your tithe to your storehouse, and we bless that in Jesus' name.
If you have brought firstfruits, you're welcome to stand up at the front here for a blessing, and I'm going to ask Andrew Zimmerman to pray over you and your households and your businesses.
Lord, we just want to thank you for the opportunity to sow. We thank you that you send the rain and you bless the land and you're turning the hearts of sons and daughters back to the Father. And we thank you, Lord, you're removing the curse off the land. We thank you. The blood of Jesus is enough today. We thank you that you are our firstfruit, Jesus. We enter into the firstfruit blessing of the firstborn Son. And we declare we are blessed to be a blessing, and we receive your heavy blessing.
I thought of Psalm 139 — it says his heavy hand of favour is upon me. Let's just take a minute to receive the heavy hand — not of anger, not of judgment, but the heavy hand of favour and blessing. We are blessed to be a blessing. In Jesus' name. Amen. Bless you heaps.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for your grace and mercy. Thank you that you rebuke the devourer on our behalf, and thank you for your mercy on our community as well.
Notices
Just a couple of notices for this week. As I said, 6 o'clock this evening, Stephen Scott is going to be sharing with us, and the young adults are going to be leading us in a time of worship. That's going to be wonderful. Please join us after the service today for a cuppa — we're going to be having some hot cross buns and possibly some chocolate. Have a cuppa, hang around, and then back a bit later this afternoon.
Just a heads up that there will be no Rivers Ladies Connect this week. It's school holidays and there's been a lot on this week, so we decided it was time for us to head out into the community. So if you want to invite a lady to join you this week and have a cuppa with her at a local café, head into Logan City and let's go and bless the city and bless the businesses there. We have a place near the station where we are providing coffees for the community each week. Go in and bless the place this week, and then Ladies Connect will resume next month.
Just a heads up that the Gents Camp date has moved, so please have a chat with Bob and with Michael — they will be able to give you some good information about that. Also, ladies, reserve a space in May, the third weekend of May. We're going to have a ladies' day, and we're looking forward to welcoming you and your friends to come in and hang out and join us with that. Young adults will still be on this week, but youth is on a break, and children's church is also on a break as people enjoy their school holidays.
But we've come today to worship the Word. Jesus — the Word became flesh — and the living Word of God is flowing in this place. Let's stand together and welcome Apostle Royree, who's coming to share the Word with us this morning. We honour you, Royree, and we honour the Word that you're carrying this morning.
The Resurrection: Old Testament Foundations
Royree Jensen: Well, today we celebrate the resurrection. We celebrate it every Sunday, but in particular today we celebrate the resurrection — love that word — the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The greatest victory, the pinnacle of triumph. Breath coming into a corpse lying on a cold slab. Dead. Three days. Good morning, church. Happy Easter.
Hovering the whole time is Ruach Elohim — the breath of God. And while Jesus in spirit descends into hell and takes the keys from Satan, his body lies on a cold slab. No heartbeat, no pulse, flatlining. Jesus is later going to introduce himself in the book of Revelation to the Apostle John, and he's going to say these words: "I am he who lives and was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of hell and death." So stick that, Satan. That last bit was not in the Scriptures.
The same Holy Spirit that hovered over the creation of Adam and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life — because it is the nature of Spirit to hover — he's hovering again today, waiting for the word to come forth, because he travels on the word. And he was hovering this day, waiting for his opportunity from the Father to breathe again into the last Adam the breath of life. Are you with me today?
This last week or more, I've been looking at Old Testament references. And I have been totally wiped out with the stunning revelation from the Old Testament about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Totally overwhelmed. And I said, Lord, I can't preach this — this is kind of too Old Testament, you know — but it wouldn't let go of me. So today I have a kaleidoscope, if you will, of some seemingly random scriptures, and we're going to burrow underground and come up into the resurrection. Is that okay?
These scriptures bring to life things that were prophesied for 4,000 years. That's amazing. And so my desire for you is that at the end of this you come forward to worship the Lord. I'm sorry about your needs today — you could go and see Aaron and Wendy later and they will pray for you. But this is not about you today. This is about Jesus.
The Cherubim: From Eden to the Empty Tomb
So I've chosen these random scriptures and I'm just going to dump them in your lap. I'm going to start at the very beginning — it's a very good place to start, I hear.
When Adam and Eve sinned, they covered themselves with fig leaves. And God goes, yeah, nah. Fig leaves are not going to cut it at all. So God clothed them with skins. So right up front, blood has to be shed — the blood of an animal — to provide the skins to cover over man's sin, so that man would not be standing ashamed and stark naked before a holy God. Think about that.
But there are further consequences for Adam and Eve, and they are to be expelled from the Garden of Eden. Get out. And God puts at the entry point to the garden two cherubim, at least two, with a flaming sword, to keep Adam and Eve from going back into the garden. Because they'd eaten of the rotten fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and had they returned to the garden and eaten from the tree of life, they would have lived on forever in death. Imagine being a thousand years old and not able to die. Thank God he had a plan.
And this is the first time we hear about cherubim. Cherubim are not little love hearts, little tiny angels like fairies with a bow and arrow — you know, you see an engagement card and there's a little cherubim. Give me a break. These were guarding the garden. Their role was not to be love hearts on an engagement card. They were to represent the justice and the mercy of God. They were protectors of the glory, and of the power, and of the presence of the holiness of God. This was what they were to do. So let's follow them, because it seems like they rock up for the resurrection. Just saying.
Moses is told to build an ark — not quite as long as Noah's, but he was told to build an ark of the covenant where God would dwell and meet with his people. And at either end, there were to be cherubim over the mercy seat of God, and their wingtips touched in the middle. And this was holy ground. There was one at that end and one at this end. And it was the job of the high priest to go into the Holy of Holies once a year — once a year — and he was to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. And the sins of the people were washed away, wiped away, covered over for one year. That's pretty cool.
Let's go to the resurrection. The morning of the resurrection. Mary is at the tomb weeping. The men were there and they had a quick look in — sorry, guys — they just had a quick look in and took off. But Mary lingered longer at the tomb. And she's weeping. And she puts her head in again. And she sees two angels — one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laying — and the blood from the cross is sprinkled on the mercy seat. This is resurrection.
No wonder she becomes the first missionary with the message of a resurrected Christ. It wasn't Paul. It was Mary who comes as the first missionary and gives the message of the resurrected Christ. One at the head and one at the foot. She's looking at the fulfilment of the Ark of the Covenant that they'd been enacting for thousands of years. And she sees that sprinkled blood, and she sees the two angels standing. She sees the place where God's judgment and mercy met. God's judgment on sin was the cross. The mercy was also there.
Justice and mercy kissed each other, and you got caught in the smack of that kiss. There was a big build-up to Calvary and the resurrection. It wasn't kind of like, oh, well, that's the New Testament — it's just after the middle page, that blank page. No. There was a price to be paid in judgment for sin, and the mercy of God mixed with it. And the Scripture says mercy triumphed over justice. Mercy won. Hallelujah.
Every detail is perfect. Where Jesus lay was a symbolic revelation of the Ark of the Covenant of God, with the angels and the blood on the mercy seat. And he says, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you."
The Passover Lamb and the Hyssop Branch
So let's get back into the blood at the Passover. They were told to kill a lamb and put blood on the doorposts of their house. And they were to do it with a hyssop branch. They were to take the blood and apply it with a hyssop branch, because hyssop was the antibiotic, the antiseptic, if you will, of the day. It would cleanse what was most contaminated.
When Jesus is on the cross, just after he says, "It is finished," they fill a sponge with sour wine and offer it to him — the Scripture says — on the hyssop branch. Can you see that everything is being fulfilled? Jesus on the cross, when he tasted thereof, he would not drink, for it was about his blood. It was about his blood. It's in Christ alone, people. There's no other thing. There's nothing else good enough. You've got no other hope. Nothing. I don't care how good you are. I don't even care how bad you are. There's nothing. This was pointed to for 4,000 years, and in actual fact the cross itself — from God, from the hyssop — was 1,500 years previously, and it remained intact until Jesus says, "It is finished."
Another thing about the Passover: when they killed, cooked, and ate the lamb, they were not to break any bones. God gave them strict instructions — when you kill the lamb, when you eat the lamb, you are not to break the lamb's bones. They had to make sure that the sacrifice remained completely whole. In John 19, we read that the Roman soldiers broke the legs of the two criminals either side of Jesus. But Jesus was already dead, and they did not break his limbs. Not broken, not fractured, because his redemption of us is whole — one lamb, one body, unity in Christ alone. The Psalms had prophesied this when they said, "He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken."
Everything that's happening on the cross has been foreshadowed in the writings of the Old Testament. I'm just giving you a few this morning because the clock keeps ticking. I just picked out a few random ones that might help us to understand — the Word is so full. It's so full. And you need to understand the Word in the Old Testament and the New. Do you know that the early church didn't call it the Old and the New Testament? There was no such thing. It was one story. We've separated it out and made it all about the New Testament. And it is, but it's all about the New and the Old.
The High Priest's Garment
Let's go back to the Old Testament for another glimpse. Leviticus 21 tells us, in giving instructions to Moses, God said: tell the high priest he must never tear his garment, because if he rips his garment, he's disqualified and he's no longer able to be high priest, and his line is wiped out. Why should the high priest never tear his garment? Because he has been anointed — he is the anointed one. And if the anointed one tore his clothes, he'd be disqualified.
Fast forward to Jesus before the high priest Caiaphas on the night in which he was betrayed. And when Jesus declares the truth about himself in front of Caiaphas, the high priest, what does the high priest do? He tore his garment. Thus disqualifying himself from the high priesthood, because now there was another one who stood in his stead. Because now the old priesthood is done and dusted. And Jesus Christ, the anointed one, the Christos, now has the high priesthood role, because he was the one anointed of God. Our great high priest forever.
In Christ alone. It was all Christ. Just all.
Now let's flick back to Jesus on the cross. The Roman soldiers are at the foot of the cross, parting his garments, sharing them out, casting lots. They even tore his outer robes. But the Scripture says very clearly — I think it's John 19:23 and 24 — when they got to the tunic, the tunic was the priestly garment. And when they got to the priestly garment, they said, "Let us not tear it." Because the priestly garment that Jesus wore was the garment closest to the body. The outer garments were whatever. And we heard this morning at communion that they put a purple robe on him and then put his other garments back on him as he carried the cross to Calvary. But now he's on the cross. He's naked for us on the cross. Thank you, Jesus.
And at the foot of the cross, the Roman soldiers said, we can't touch that. It's like there was some kind of supernatural restraint. The heathen Roman soldiers didn't care, but this garment represented the new priesthood, and it would not be terminated. He's our high priest. It's in Christ alone.
The Veil of the Temple
Just in case you're not convinced. Let's go to Matthew, which we read from today.
"Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom, and the earth quaked and the rocks were split."
The Father rips his garment. The separation between sinful man and a holy God is rent in two from the top to the bottom. This was four to six inches thick — about your hand span. It was about 60 feet high, which is about 18 metres. It was a great big curtain that they took forever to build. But it was God's garment. And he rips that to open the way, because he's beholding his Son whose body was ripped to open the way. So the Father rips his garment, because now there's a new high priest and there's a new way to access the Father. The barrier between the shame of man and the holy God is rent.
"The veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. And the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the graves, after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many."
If that doesn't float your boat, if that doesn't quicken your heart, you should check your pulse. That's stunning.
The Old Testament Saints Rise
Let's look back in the history of the Old Testament at that as well, because the Old Testament saints looked prophetically forward to the death, burial, and resurrection, just as we look historically back on it. And all these Old Testament saints — my God — rocking on into downtown Jerusalem.
Remember Abraham bought a field, purchased a field to bury all his family. He bought a field in which was a cave — the cave of Machpelah. And you know, the Bible has a whole chapter on this field: how big it was, the trees that were in it, the cave that was there, the hassling over the finance to pay for it. They said, we'll give it to you, Abraham, you can have it, it's a freebie. Abraham says, nothing doing. This is going to be a permanent thing, because I've got a plan. And in the end, he pays a high price for the field of Machpelah, which is going to be the cemetery for himself — Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah.
So were the patriarchs among those who went into the holy city on resurrection morning? I can imagine them all getting up out of the grave, shaking it off, walking down to Jerusalem hand in hand, singing, we're together again — after 1,500 years, we're together again. I don't know, but it seems to me that since the Old Testament mob were there, and it was so important for Abraham to buy this cave at this place, in this area, so they could look east towards the crucifixion, the burial, the resurrection.
And it goes on to say the guards shook. The earth shook. Why wouldn't you shake? The rolling away of the stone was almost a nothing burger in the light of all that happened. An amazing event. And it's just Sunday morning. It's just the morning. All this stuff was fulfilled.
The Road to Emmaus
We haven't got to Sunday afternoon yet, which is one of the most amazing scriptures in the whole wide world. Luke chapter 24, where there are these two disciples — but it was actually a man and his wife. It was Cleopas and Aunt Mary — the aunt and uncle of Jesus — who were walking on the Emmaus Road. And they're having a family argument because Mary, unlike her husband, had been at the tomb that morning, and she says to him, I'm telling you, I saw it was empty. And he's going, oh, whatever.
And so Jesus comes and walks with them. Jesus himself came and walked with them. And he began to explain the Scriptures concerning himself to them. And all the way, they did not recognise him, because the Scripture says they were kept from recognising him — until he gets to a house that would have been very familiar to him, Aunt Mary's house. And he made it as if he was going to go further. And they said, come and have some dinner with us. And he goes in. And as they're seated, there's bread and wine on the table. And he breaks the bread. He took the bread, he blessed the bread, he broke the bread, and he gave it. That's the order it always goes in with your life and my life. He takes, he blesses, he breaks, he gives — because he can't give out what's not broken. And most of us want to stay whole the whole time.
They ran back to Jerusalem, because they had recognised him as he handed them the bread. They saw the marks of the nails in his hands. And he disappears from them. And they go, whoa — did not our hearts burn within us as we walked the road? And so they pick themselves up and they go back a Sabbath day's journey back to Jerusalem to tell all the other disciples — the girls already knew. Love the men. We love the men. But they go back.
Sunday Evening: Jesus Appears in the Upper Room
So that was the afternoon's events that we know of. But now there are Sunday evening events, and he's pretty busy there as well.
John 20, verse 19. He walks into the room. John's gospel says, though the doors were shut. And I used to think, well, he walked in through the walls because he had a superior body — now that he has a resurrection body, it's a superior materiality to your and my physical body. So he walked through the walls. That was an assumption.
But now, here's Aunt Mary and Cleopas, and they're telling the story about what happened on the road. And it says that though the doors were shut, Jesus himself came amongst them. Was it that as they spoke the truth, and were themselves so full of the resurrection power — having walked with him all afternoon, with whom they had communed at the table — they go back and they are full of the resurrected Christ, and as they speak of him, he manifests out of them? The same as he manifests out of you when you speak of him. I hope it hasn't ruined your gate-crashing-through-the-doors picture, but I'm just saying.
He appears, as it were, by the power of the Spirit in a physical body, because he says, "Handle me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bone — not flesh and blood, because his blood was all shed — flesh and bone, as you see me have. A spirit does not have that, so handle me and see." And he eats some fish. And I don't know about you, but I think if a spirit ate fish, it would end up just going straight through on the floor. He was a bodily, physical resurrection in another kind of body. And as he is, so shall we be. We haven't got time to go there today.
The Spirit That Raised Christ Is at Work in You
Knowing the Old Testament and the New Testament is not going to get you out of bed in the morning. My effort today is to try and make you hungry for both. But here's the thing.
Romans 8:11 says this same Spirit — that hovering Spirit that hovered at creation, that hovered breathing life into the body on the slab, which was in fact a mercy seat — this same Spirit is at work in you. According to the book of Romans, this same Spirit is at work in you: the one that raised Christ from the dead, the hovering Spirit, the empowering Spirit, the awesome Spirit, the infilling Spirit, the wild goose, as the Celts called him. The wild goose Spirit. Is that working in you?
There's no other access point but through Jesus. There's no other access point to the Father but through the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the resurrection was God putting his exclamation mark on it and saying, I am satisfied. He is worthy. He has done the complete, absolute salvation job.
The whole of the Old Testament points to him, and the New Testament is full of him. Because Jesus had to die before the Holy Spirit could come. No blood, no oil. We all want the oil without the suffering of the blood. No Calvary, no Pentecost. The resurrection is the final proof that a holy, just, and merciful God accepted the sacrifice. And now the Ark of the Covenant — the slab upon which the body lay, that was sprinkled with the blood, the body, the blood outpoured — never just spilt, that's accidental. This was intentional outpouring of the blood.
And each Sunday morning we come and we take the bread and the wine. This is what it's all about. And I have just given you a droplet today. Just a droplet. Just hardly worth mentioning compared with all that's in there. Join with us. Hallelujah.
Closing Prayer
Come worship. Feel free to come down the front. We're just going to worship the Lord for a little bit.
Give us a deep appreciation of the cost of our sin. Would you give us a deep appreciation of the cost to wash it away? No longer covered over, but now gone. Couldn't find it. Gone. Thank you, Lord.
I pray for each one of us here today that you would open the eyes of our understanding. Open us to a depth in the Spirit — not so that we can become religious and need a periscope to see the rest of the world, but Lord, that we might walk in holiness and that you might step out of us and manifest yourself into the streets, like what happened on Saturday morning. We give you praise.
So Father, would you bless the people? Would you bless them this Easter? Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy — to the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty and power and might and dominion forever and ever. Amen.