# Stop Staring At That Stone

An episode of [Elevation with Steven Furtick](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/216015753), 5 Apr 2026, 41 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/cbb40a38-726f-4243-a86e-b0ed01477640/60d18676-7e80-4cf6-89a6-b423012bb9b8/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ff9164b2-aa64-410d-9ee1-b0ed0147765c

Have you ever noticed how two people can be looking at the same thing and have completely different perspectives on it? One might see a problem while the other sees a reason to praise. There might be something in your life that looks like a problem right now, but God is inviting you to pivot so you can see the truth. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: http://ele.vc/tIepfr Scripture References: John 20, verses 1-2, 11-18 Matthew 21, verse 42 John 19, verse 41 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
[0:06] Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
[0:09] Speaker 2: Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these
[0:11] Speaker 2: new sermons every week. Hope you're blessed today.
[0:20] Speaker 3: We've been in a series as a church called c
[0:23] Speaker 3: King Jesus.
[0:25] Speaker 1: Our final installment of.
[0:27] Speaker 3: That series is happening right now, and I'm so.
[0:29] Speaker 1: Glad that you're here for it.
[0:31] Speaker 3: I want you to turn in your Bible to John
[0:33] Speaker 3: chapter twenty. This is my favorite chapter of the personal
[0:37] Speaker 3: experiences of people concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ in
[0:42] Speaker 3: the Bible. And I'm going to read you from verses
[0:45] Speaker 3: one and two. Then I'll drop down for timesake and
[0:48] Speaker 3: readverse eleven through eighteen. And the Lord has a word
[0:53] Speaker 3: for you today.
[0:55] Speaker 1: I pray that you will receive.
[0:56] Speaker 3: It in faith, the Bible says in John chapter twenty,
[1:01] Speaker 3: verse one. Now, on the first day of the week,
[1:04] Speaker 3: Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was
[1:07] Speaker 3: still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken
[1:11] Speaker 3: away from the tomb. So she ran and went to
[1:16] Speaker 3: Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved.
[1:21] Speaker 1: That's the guy who's writing this by the way, wow.
[1:25] Speaker 3: And said to them, they have taken the Lord out
[1:29] Speaker 3: of the tomb, and we do not know where they
[1:31] Speaker 3: have laid him.
[1:32] Speaker 1: So Peter and John go and check it out.
[1:35] Speaker 3: They run back home verse eleven. But Mary stood weeping
[1:40] Speaker 3: outside the tomb. And as she wept, she stooped to
[1:44] Speaker 3: look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in
[1:47] Speaker 3: white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one
[1:50] Speaker 3: at the head and one at the feet.
[1:52] Speaker 1: They said to her, woman, why are you weeping?
[1:54] Speaker 3: She said to them, they have taken away my lord,
[1:56] Speaker 3: and I do not know where they have laid him.
[1:59] Speaker 3: Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing,
[2:03] Speaker 3: but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus
[2:07] Speaker 3: said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are
[2:10] Speaker 3: you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said
[2:14] Speaker 3: to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell
[2:17] Speaker 3: me where you laid him, and I'll take him away.
[2:20] Speaker 3: I'll take care of this. I see you men can't
[2:22] Speaker 3: do anything right. You can't guard it to whom. Just
[2:25] Speaker 3: let me deal with it. Just show me where the
[2:27] Speaker 3: mess is. I'll clean it up. But Jesus said to her. Mary,
[2:32] Speaker 3: she turned and said to him in Aramaic rabon eye,
[2:36] Speaker 3: which means teacher. Jesus said to her, do not cling
[2:40] Speaker 3: to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
[2:45] Speaker 1: But go to my brothers. Wouldn't that be something.
[2:51] Speaker 3: You're one of the ones who just denied Jesus while
[2:53] Speaker 3: he was on the cross, and he calls you his brother.
[2:56] Speaker 3: What a wonderful savior, What a merciful God, What a
[3:00] Speaker 3: patient and compassion and creator and redeemer, What a faithful friend.
[3:05] Speaker 3: Don't cling to me, but go tell my brothers. I
[3:09] Speaker 3: am ascending to my father and your father, to my
[3:13] Speaker 3: God and your God. And Mary Magdalene went and announced
[3:17] Speaker 3: to the disciples, listen to this.
[3:19] Speaker 1: I have seen the Lord. I feel like.
[3:23] Speaker 3: She said it with a little bit of a and
[3:26] Speaker 3: you didn't kind of attitude behind somebody say, I come on,
[3:31] Speaker 3: shouted like you're proud about it. I have seen the Lord.
[3:37] Speaker 3: She told them that I have seen the Lord, and
[3:40] Speaker 3: that he had said these things to her.
[3:42] Speaker 1: Go back to verse one for just a moment. I'll
[3:44] Speaker 1: give you my title now.
[3:46] Speaker 3: On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came
[3:48] Speaker 3: to the tomb early while it was still dark, and
[3:51] Speaker 3: saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
[3:56] Speaker 3: The word of the Lord today, He told me to
[3:57] Speaker 3: tell you stop staring at that stone.
[4:03] Speaker 1: Stop. Tell your neighbor real quick.
[4:05] Speaker 3: Stop it, tell them stop staring at that stone. You've
[4:12] Speaker 3: been focused on some of the wrong things. You've been
[4:14] Speaker 3: looking in some of the wrong places. You've been fixated
[4:17] Speaker 3: on some of the failures. But the Lord said today,
[4:20] Speaker 3: stop looking, stop staring, stop standing.
[4:28] Speaker 1: At that stone. Father, thank you for your word. Appreach
[4:31] Speaker 1: it better than I can use my voice box.
[4:33] Speaker 3: I'm your vessel in Jesus name. Hey man, you may
[4:38] Speaker 3: be seated. Stop staring at that stone. One of the
[4:46] Speaker 3: things that is the most remarkable in this text is
[4:49] Speaker 3: that Mary Magdalene, who has a very painful past, is
[4:56] Speaker 3: the very first person that Jesus there is Christ reveals
[5:00] Speaker 3: his power to Even more specifically, we know from another
[5:06] Speaker 3: scripture in Mark chapter sixteen, that Mary had been possessed
[5:11] Speaker 3: of seven demons and Jesus had driven them out, so
[5:16] Speaker 3: we understand something about her pain when he was taken
[5:21] Speaker 3: away because he had done.
[5:22] Speaker 1: So much for her.
[5:25] Speaker 3: And what really got my attention about the text as
[5:27] Speaker 3: I read it to share with you today. Is the
[5:30] Speaker 3: contrast between the angel's response to the stone being rolled
[5:37] Speaker 3: and Mary's response to the stone being ruled.
[5:40] Speaker 1: Now, this is not Mary the mother of Jesus. This
[5:42] Speaker 1: is Mary from Magdala.
[5:44] Speaker 3: She's not Mary Magdalene, like that's her last name, that's
[5:46] Speaker 3: where she's from, like Jesus the Nazarene, Mary the Magdalene.
[5:50] Speaker 3: So this woman who had been possessed by seven devils
[5:56] Speaker 3: has an encounter with two angels.
[5:58] Speaker 1: Isn't God hilarious?
[6:01] Speaker 3: I mean, what does she know about angels. She's lived
[6:05] Speaker 3: a very, very difficult life, and she's been through a
[6:07] Speaker 3: lot of things. And the Lord chooses to reveal his
[6:10] Speaker 3: glory sometimes to the people who have suffered the most,
[6:15] Speaker 3: to the people that others are most skeptical of. And
[6:17] Speaker 3: when she went and told the disciples about jesus stone
[6:21] Speaker 3: being rolled away, they didn't believe her at all. That's
[6:24] Speaker 3: why they ran to check it out for themselves. And
[6:27] Speaker 3: they went back home, and she stood at the stone weeping.
[6:31] Speaker 3: And as she stands at the stone weeping, the angels
[6:34] Speaker 3: from inside, two angels who, by the way, the men.
[6:37] Speaker 1: Did not see.
[6:38] Speaker 3: I don't know what that means that the woman saw
[6:40] Speaker 3: them and the men didn't. I don't know if that
[6:42] Speaker 3: means that women have the ability to look for things
[6:45] Speaker 3: a little more deeply than men. You know, John saw
[6:48] Speaker 3: a linen claw the face claw. Don't clap at that.
[6:50] Speaker 3: I'm just putting it in there as a bonus. When
[6:53] Speaker 3: when I read it this time, I thought about how
[6:57] Speaker 3: different people can be going through the same experience or
[7:01] Speaker 3: looking at the same picture and have a completely different
[7:04] Speaker 3: perspective on it. Isn't that true when we say the
[7:08] Speaker 3: stone is rolled away? Even when I read that verse
[7:11] Speaker 3: to you the stone is rolled away, I heard a.
[7:14] Speaker 1: Few people start to shout.
[7:16] Speaker 3: Because for us that has become the icon and the
[7:19] Speaker 3: image of victory. The ultimate victory for the Christian is
[7:22] Speaker 3: the fact that the stone is rolled.
[7:24] Speaker 1: Away, and to us that represents power.
[7:29] Speaker 3: That they can put him on the cross, but they
[7:30] Speaker 3: can't hold him, That they can betray him and mock him,
[7:35] Speaker 3: but they cannot take his true crown. That they can
[7:38] Speaker 3: reject him, but they cannot diminish his royalty. For us,
[7:41] Speaker 3: the stone is rolled as a statement of power. For us,
[7:44] Speaker 3: the stone is rolled as a statement of possibility. It
[7:48] Speaker 3: makes us feel like anything can happen.
[7:50] Speaker 1: In our life.
[7:51] Speaker 3: It makes us feel like maybe we're not stuck where
[7:53] Speaker 3: we are forever. The stone is rolled. When I say
[7:56] Speaker 3: the stone is rolled, you want to shout because to
[7:59] Speaker 3: us that's that's a statement of praise. The stone is rolled,
[8:03] Speaker 3: and we all, two thousand years after the fact, start
[8:06] Speaker 3: to praise God because when we say the stone is rolled,
[8:09] Speaker 3: it's a statement of praise.
[8:10] Speaker 1: But when Mary said it, for her it was a problem.
[8:15] Speaker 3: It was a problem because the last time she saw
[8:18] Speaker 3: Jesus he was laying in a grave.
[8:22] Speaker 1: She goes back to the place where she last saw
[8:25] Speaker 1: him and he is not there. The stone is rolled.
[8:29] Speaker 3: So when she says to Peter, the stone is rolled,
[8:33] Speaker 3: it is no coincidence that she says it to Peter. Peter,
[8:36] Speaker 3: we learn in the garden, has a sword and she
[8:39] Speaker 3: wants him to do something about this situation. Who took him?
[8:43] Speaker 3: Go find him? Peter, the stone is rolled. Isn't it
[8:46] Speaker 3: amazing how we say it as a praise and she
[8:51] Speaker 3: saw it as a problem.
[8:54] Speaker 1: And is that God's message to us that some of
[8:57] Speaker 1: the things.
[8:57] Speaker 3: That you see as a problem today will be a
[9:01] Speaker 3: praise tomorrow. Don't get too discouraged about the job. Change
[9:07] Speaker 3: some of the things that are a problem today might
[9:10] Speaker 3: be a praise tomorrow. Don't be too upset about the breakup.
[9:14] Speaker 3: Some of the things that are a problem today will
[9:16] Speaker 3: be a praise tomorrow. You might be thinking God a
[9:20] Speaker 3: few days from now about what he took away, because
[9:22] Speaker 3: you might realize that the first thing that God does
[9:25] Speaker 3: before he brings forth this takes away. So I need
[9:28] Speaker 3: you to go ahead and do what we do by faith,
[9:31] Speaker 3: we praise God today for the problem before we see
[9:35] Speaker 3: the power breakthrough.
[9:37] Speaker 1: I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me slow this message down. Well,
[9:41] Speaker 1: go ahead and.
[9:42] Speaker 3: Tell somebody praise him anyway.
[9:44] Speaker 1: Praise him anyway. See.
[9:46] Speaker 3: I think what's amazing about Mary is that she went
[9:49] Speaker 3: to the tomb even though there was nothing she could
[9:51] Speaker 3: do about the situation. I think it's amazing about Mary
[9:55] Speaker 3: that she went with her spices, with the other women
[9:58] Speaker 3: just to anoint the body of the one who had
[10:00] Speaker 3: died and disappointed her. You judge her because she wept
[10:04] Speaker 3: and did not believe in the resurrection. I celebrate her
[10:08] Speaker 3: because she walked in the dark to the tomb while weeping.
[10:13] Speaker 1: And I think that's a faith worth emulating.
[10:15] Speaker 3: When you can walk toward the tomb while weeping, when
[10:19] Speaker 3: you can walk toward the tomb while weeping. And when
[10:22] Speaker 3: she gets to the tomb, she is met by a
[10:25] Speaker 3: sight that to her is a problem, but to us
[10:28] Speaker 3: is a praise. The stone is rolled away. Tell three
[10:32] Speaker 3: people the stone is rolled away. And whether that's a
[10:37] Speaker 3: problem or a praise, that depends on which way you
[10:39] Speaker 3: look at it. Because some of the ways we understand
[10:42] Speaker 3: things on this side of the resurrection, they had to
[10:45] Speaker 3: believe by faith on that side of the resurrection, and
[10:48] Speaker 3: some of the things that we know now as fact,
[10:51] Speaker 3: we had to understand that they took by faith. Two
[10:56] Speaker 3: people looking at the same picture from a completely different perspective.
[11:02] Speaker 3: In fact, don't want to show you a picture, a
[11:04] Speaker 3: family picture, family Easter picture that we never posted.
[11:09] Speaker 1: Can I show you this?
[11:10] Speaker 3: There's my favorite family furdict family Easter picture, but we
[11:14] Speaker 3: never posted it, so I want to share it with you. Now,
[11:17] Speaker 3: that's Graham, that's Abby, and that's Holly.
[11:22] Speaker 1: Is it big enough that you can see it? Answer me?
[11:27] Speaker 1: Is it big enough that you can see it? Why
[11:29] Speaker 1: y'all so quiet on Easter?
[11:31] Speaker 3: Y'all luck like y'all are scared that they might come
[11:33] Speaker 3: crucify you on Easter if you shall, nobody's coming in
[11:36] Speaker 3: here to get you. Can you see the picture?
[11:39] Speaker 1: Hey, I can make it bigger if you can.
[11:41] Speaker 3: A little bit bigger, a little bit bigger, a little
[11:45] Speaker 3: bit bigger. That's what God is saying about your dream too.
[11:48] Speaker 3: A little bit bigger, a little bit bigger, a little
[11:50] Speaker 3: bit bigger. That's what God is saying about your view
[11:53] Speaker 3: of Him.
[11:53] Speaker 1: A little bit bigger, a little bit bigger.
[11:55] Speaker 3: That's what God is saying about your praise too. A
[11:57] Speaker 3: little bit bigger, a little bit bigger. You need a
[12:00] Speaker 3: little bit bigger. Can you make it a little bit bigger? Well,
[12:02] Speaker 3: let me break it down for you. In this picture,
[12:05] Speaker 3: Abby is crying, Graham is confused, Holly is happy.
[12:14] Speaker 1: What's happening in this picture.
[12:18] Speaker 3: That Graham is confused, Abby is crying, and Holly is happy.
[12:25] Speaker 3: Let me show you the picture that happened thirty minutes
[12:26] Speaker 3: before that. Abby is crying. Of course, she's crying about
[12:31] Speaker 3: a bunny, that's right.
[12:35] Speaker 1: This picture was taken at the Elevation Church staff event
[12:37] Speaker 1: called the Hop.
[12:39] Speaker 3: And at the Hop, somebody thought it'd be a wonderful
[12:41] Speaker 3: idea if they had a drawing and some kid, some
[12:44] Speaker 3: blessed staff kid got to take home a live bunny.
[12:46] Speaker 1: As a pet.
[12:48] Speaker 3: As a blessing to all of our staff, we wanted
[12:50] Speaker 3: to send one of their kids home with a bunny.
[12:54] Speaker 1: That's called pastoral care discernment.
[12:58] Speaker 3: Anyway, beholding the bunny, that she had the opportunity to win,
[13:02] Speaker 3: as her name was entered in the drawing, so she
[13:06] Speaker 3: thought showed him the earlier picture. She didn't win. And
[13:12] Speaker 3: so this is Abby not winning. This is Abby weeping.
[13:17] Speaker 1: This this is Graham.
[13:19] Speaker 3: See Graham's verse in this passage is John twenty, verse thirteen.
[13:25] Speaker 1: Put that back on the screen real quick.
[13:26] Speaker 3: Graham is saying, in this picture, woman, why are.
[13:32] Speaker 1: You weeping?
[13:35] Speaker 3: Put the picture back up? So Graham is why Abby
[13:41] Speaker 3: is weeping? And Holly, what is Holly smiling about? We've
[13:47] Speaker 3: wondered this for eleven years, but I saw the mystery
[13:51] Speaker 3: last night. I said, why were you smiling while your
[13:54] Speaker 3: daughter was crying? And she said, because I knew she
[13:59] Speaker 3: wasn't going to win, because I did not put her
[14:01] Speaker 3: name in the hat for the bunny, because I knew
[14:06] Speaker 3: that I would be the one changing the paper for
[14:10] Speaker 3: the bunny.
[14:11] Speaker 1: And Abby is finding out with the rest of you.
[14:14] Speaker 3: Why her mom is happy while she is weeping. So
[14:19] Speaker 3: we got one person praising, we got one person in pain,
[14:24] Speaker 3: and we got one person perplexed.
[14:26] Speaker 1: Put the picture back up.
[14:27] Speaker 3: One more time. Which one are you? One is happy?
[14:31] Speaker 3: Holly's happy.
[14:32] Speaker 1: She rigged this whole thing. She's the most.
[14:35] Speaker 3: Devious pastor's wife in all of history. Y'all think she's sweet,
[14:39] Speaker 3: and she is, but she's also strategic. She said, I
[14:42] Speaker 3: rigged this bunny thing. You weren't gonna ever get a bunny.
[14:45] Speaker 3: And Abby is broken hearted about the bunny that she
[14:47] Speaker 3: was never gonna get, and Grandma is saying, what Jesus said, woman.
[14:52] Speaker 1: Why are you weeping? And I don't know where Elijah is.
[14:55] Speaker 3: He's probably feeding the bunny some peanut m and M's
[14:57] Speaker 3: trying to get him to choke on a peanut allergy,
[15:00] Speaker 3: or maybe feeding them a peep, trying to see if
[15:01] Speaker 3: they're cannibal. But Elijah isn't pictured. But Holly's happy. Abby's weeping,
[15:10] Speaker 3: and Grandness wondering why.
[15:16] Speaker 1: Because of a bunny.
[15:19] Speaker 3: Now she's four years old, so why she's crying over
[15:22] Speaker 3: a bunny? Crying over something that she didn't really lose.
[15:25] Speaker 3: She never had it to begin with. So now bridge
[15:29] Speaker 3: with me. Mary said, they have taken my lord away.
[15:37] Speaker 3: He's the only one who really saw me for what
[15:40] Speaker 3: I could be. He's the only one that saw past
[15:45] Speaker 3: the demons that were running my life by default and
[15:51] Speaker 3: drove them out. He is the only one who had
[15:55] Speaker 3: the power to see the Mary beneath the misery. He
[16:00] Speaker 3: is the only one who ever spoke to my issue
[16:04] Speaker 3: and showed me my identity.
[16:06] Speaker 1: And he's gone.
[16:08] Speaker 3: And I don't know what to do about the fact
[16:10] Speaker 3: that he's gone. But I am going to this tomb
[16:13] Speaker 3: if it's the last thing I do. I'm gonna see
[16:16] Speaker 3: to it that he has a proper burial. They didn't
[16:18] Speaker 3: get to bury him, right. He died so late in
[16:22] Speaker 3: the day they had to lay him to rest in
[16:24] Speaker 3: a tomb that was nearby. They didn't even get to
[16:27] Speaker 3: annoying his body, right, I'm at least going to finish
[16:30] Speaker 3: the job. I can't bring him back. I can't understand.
[16:33] Speaker 3: I can't stop crying. I can't explain it. I can't
[16:36] Speaker 3: make sense of it. I can't redeem it in this moment.
[16:39] Speaker 3: But I'm gonna do what I'm able to do. And
[16:43] Speaker 3: she gets to the stone and it's rolled.
[16:46] Speaker 1: Are you serious? And the angels are rejoicing.
[16:52] Speaker 3: Because to them the stone roll means risen, but to
[16:58] Speaker 3: her the stone rolled it means robbed. And I came
[17:03] Speaker 3: to say they were looking at the same stone.
[17:07] Speaker 1: They were looking at.
[17:08] Speaker 3: The exact same stone, and the angel said risen, and
[17:15] Speaker 3: Mary said robbed. Do you know there are people in
[17:19] Speaker 3: here today who are looking at their life and feeling.
[17:22] Speaker 4: Like they're robbed, that God has left them, that my
[17:26] Speaker 4: joy is gone, my peace is gone, my life is over,
[17:30] Speaker 4: it is all done for me, It's gone.
[17:33] Speaker 3: And I'm here at church and I'm dressed up in church,
[17:36] Speaker 3: but I feel like I'm robbed down on the inside.
[17:38] Speaker 3: And there's somebody else sitting in this same church with
[17:41] Speaker 3: the worst situation. And because he has risen, they have
[17:44] Speaker 3: a perspective to know. Watch this that sometimes it is
[17:48] Speaker 3: not what you are looking at, It is what you
[17:52] Speaker 3: believe about what you are looking at that determines how
[17:57] Speaker 3: you feel when you see it.
[18:00] Speaker 1: Look at it different.
[18:01] Speaker 3: If you look at the stone being rolled as the
[18:04] Speaker 3: evidence that someone came and stole.
[18:06] Speaker 1: The body, you will weep.
[18:08] Speaker 3: If you look at the stone being rolled away as
[18:10] Speaker 3: the evidence that his presence could not be contained in
[18:13] Speaker 3: a borrowed grave.
[18:14] Speaker 1: It will cause you to rejoice.
[18:17] Speaker 3: So I came to say, today, change your angle, change
[18:22] Speaker 3: the angle that you are looking at your life.
[18:25] Speaker 1: The resurrection is more than just a cute cliche.
[18:28] Speaker 3: When we say the stone is rolled, we are not
[18:31] Speaker 3: simply saying that God can do a miracle. We are
[18:33] Speaker 3: not simply saying that God can do great things. We
[18:36] Speaker 3: are not simply saying that God can do the impossible.
[18:38] Speaker 3: We are saying that, but we are also saying that
[18:42] Speaker 3: there is no situation in your life, no heartbreak in
[18:45] Speaker 3: your life, no disease in your life, no devil in
[18:48] Speaker 3: your life, no possession, no power, no scheme, no curse.
[18:53] Speaker 3: There is nothing too big for our God. And I
[18:57] Speaker 3: want the whole church to praise him right now. I
[19:01] Speaker 3: mean every single person in this church to praise them
[19:05] Speaker 3: right now.
[19:14] Speaker 1: The angel said Risen.
[19:17] Speaker 3: Mary said, Rob, I want you to look at the
[19:20] Speaker 3: problem that's in your life right now. Is it really
[19:23] Speaker 3: a problem or is it a platform? Is it really
[19:27] Speaker 3: a problem or is it an opportunity for God.
[19:30] Speaker 1: To show you what He alone can do? All right,
[19:34] Speaker 1: So now let me teach you a little bit.
[19:37] Speaker 3: So Mary is at the tomb, and she is staring
[19:41] Speaker 3: at the stone. And the thing we wonder about Mary
[19:46] Speaker 3: at this point is, how could somebody drive seven devils
[19:49] Speaker 3: out of you and you not recognize them when you
[19:51] Speaker 3: saw them. How could somebody do something so profound for
[19:56] Speaker 3: you and you be blind to be holding them. At first,
[20:02] Speaker 3: I thought that it was because of Mary's tears that
[20:06] Speaker 3: she could not see Jesus, which may have contributed to.
[20:11] Speaker 1: The fact that she couldn't see him.
[20:14] Speaker 3: You know, sometimes our pain has a way of blocking
[20:16] Speaker 3: our perspective. Sometimes you can't see the truth through your tears. See,
[20:24] Speaker 3: if the end of gets you so discouraged that you
[20:25] Speaker 3: believe this is all it's ever going to be, you'll
[20:27] Speaker 3: never see what God is doing because you can't see.
[20:31] Speaker 1: The truth through your tears.
[20:34] Speaker 3: And I thought that when the scripture said that that
[20:36] Speaker 3: she did not recognize Jesus, she did not know it
[20:40] Speaker 3: was him, that maybe she was blinded by her own tears.
[20:43] Speaker 3: And I thought, how many of us are how many
[20:46] Speaker 3: of us cannot see him through our sorrow, even though
[20:49] Speaker 3: he is designated by Isaiah as the Man of sorrows.
[20:54] Speaker 3: I thought about how sometimes in our life we trust
[20:57] Speaker 3: our tears more than we trust what God tells us,
[21:01] Speaker 3: and we will allow the enemy to get us in
[21:03] Speaker 3: a position, whether through depression or isolation, or our sin
[21:08] Speaker 3: or our addiction, that we cannot see.
[21:11] Speaker 1: The truth of who God is through our tears. That
[21:14] Speaker 1: was a contributing factor for sure.
[21:17] Speaker 3: But I also noticed in verse one it said that
[21:19] Speaker 3: Mary went to the tomb early in the morning while
[21:23] Speaker 3: it was still dark, and that helped me to realize
[21:27] Speaker 3: a second reason that she couldn't see him exactly is that.
[21:31] Speaker 1: She was in transition.
[21:33] Speaker 3: It's difficult to see God through tears, and it's difficult
[21:37] Speaker 3: to see God in transition. It's easy to see God
[21:41] Speaker 3: when everything in your life looks like you expected it
[21:44] Speaker 3: to look. It was easy for her to receive Jesus
[21:48] Speaker 3: as a teacher as long as she could see the
[21:50] Speaker 3: one that was teaching.
[21:50] Speaker 1: But now he's risen.
[21:53] Speaker 3: And while him being risen will later be a reason
[21:56] Speaker 3: for her to praise him, right now it's a problem
[21:58] Speaker 3: because she can't see him through her tears, and she
[22:02] Speaker 3: can't see him in the transition. The way that Jewish
[22:06] Speaker 3: people marked time.
[22:07] Speaker 1: Was very different than the way we mark time.
[22:09] Speaker 3: See we typically take a clock until the calendar when
[22:12] Speaker 3: to begin a new day.
[22:14] Speaker 1: The Jewish people mark the day not.
[22:16] Speaker 3: By a clock, but from sun down to sun down. Now,
[22:23] Speaker 3: you got to think about Jesus's death. He died on Friday.
[22:27] Speaker 3: He stayed dead until Sunday, but he was only there
[22:31] Speaker 3: thirty six hours. How do we say it's three days
[22:34] Speaker 3: when it was only thirty six hours, because there were
[22:36] Speaker 3: a few hours between when Jesus was crucified and when
[22:40] Speaker 3: the sun went down that counted as a full day.
[22:43] Speaker 3: There was silent Saturday when the women prepared the spices
[22:46] Speaker 3: and made their plans. We're going to the tomb, even
[22:50] Speaker 3: though we're sad. We're going to the tomb, even though
[22:52] Speaker 3: we don't know what comes next.
[22:54] Speaker 1: We're going to the tomb.
[22:56] Speaker 3: And then, of course there was Sunday when Jesus got up.
[23:00] Speaker 1: But notice what he did. He got up while it
[23:03] Speaker 1: was still dark.
[23:06] Speaker 3: And what that speaks to me is God is moving
[23:09] Speaker 3: before I know that he is.
[23:12] Speaker 1: God does stuff in the dark.
[23:14] Speaker 3: God does stuff in places that are unseen by you.
[23:18] Speaker 3: God does things in places that are unrecognized by you.
[23:21] Speaker 3: God does things in transition. How many are going through
[23:24] Speaker 3: a transition right.
[23:25] Speaker 1: Now in your life? And you feel like it's hard
[23:27] Speaker 1: for you to recognize God.
[23:29] Speaker 3: Come on, not at me, wave a pinky, throw a shoe,
[23:33] Speaker 3: do something. Going through a transition right now. It's not
[23:37] Speaker 3: exactly night, it's not exactly day. It's the third day,
[23:42] Speaker 3: but it's still early.
[23:44] Speaker 1: I'm in progress in this place in my life.
[23:46] Speaker 3: And I've got tears and I've got transition, and I've
[23:50] Speaker 3: got tears and I've got transition. And the Bible says
[23:53] Speaker 3: that while she was looking into the tomb, not for Jesus,
[23:57] Speaker 3: but for a corpse. See, Mary was not looking for
[24:00] Speaker 3: what Jesus was. She was looking for what Jesus had been. Yeah,
[24:06] Speaker 3: she was looking for what he had been. She watched
[24:09] Speaker 3: him die on the cross, she watched him buried in
[24:12] Speaker 3: the grave. And some of the reason that we don't
[24:15] Speaker 3: see Jesus is because of our tears, and some of
[24:17] Speaker 3: the reason that we don't see Jesus is because of
[24:19] Speaker 3: our transition. And some of the reason that we don't
[24:22] Speaker 3: see Jesus as because we are trapped. We are trapped
[24:25] Speaker 3: in the last way we saw him. We are trapped.
[24:29] Speaker 3: We don't think he's moving because he's not moving like
[24:31] Speaker 3: he used to. We don't think he's present because we
[24:34] Speaker 3: don't feel him like we used to. We don't think
[24:37] Speaker 3: he's guiding us because we're not going where we.
[24:39] Speaker 1: Thought we would go.
[24:41] Speaker 3: And so Mary, while stooping to look into the tomb,
[24:45] Speaker 3: sees two angels where the body of Jesus had been,
[24:48] Speaker 3: one at the feet, one at the head, and nothing
[24:51] Speaker 3: in between. I love it because it's a reversal of
[24:54] Speaker 3: the cross. Jesus died between two thieves. When he was raised,
[25:00] Speaker 3: his body had been between two angels. He's changing places.
[25:04] Speaker 3: He's not gone, but he's changed places. God has not
[25:09] Speaker 3: left your life. God has not left your family. God
[25:12] Speaker 3: has not left your situation. God has not left you alone.
[25:16] Speaker 3: God has not left you helpless. God has not left
[25:19] Speaker 3: you without a comforter.
[25:21] Speaker 1: He just changing places.
[25:25] Speaker 5: High five.
[25:26] Speaker 3: Somebody says changing places.
[25:29] Speaker 1: He's changing places. He's changing places.
[25:32] Speaker 3: You're staring at a stone wondering where did he go?
[25:36] Speaker 3: But you should be staring at a stone asking where's
[25:40] Speaker 3: he at? Because the Bible says, I love the word
[25:47] Speaker 3: of God. I love the word of God. I read
[25:50] Speaker 3: the word of God. It speaks to me. The word
[25:52] Speaker 3: of God gets down in my spirit, and it reminds
[25:55] Speaker 3: me that sometimes I am looking in the wrong place for.
[25:59] Speaker 1: The right place person. I got the right.
[26:03] Speaker 3: Person, but the wrong place, because you're looking for Jesus
[26:09] Speaker 3: behind a stone. And so the man says, why are
[26:14] Speaker 3: you weeping? And she says, I don't know where they
[26:17] Speaker 3: have laid him. I want to take that apart for
[26:19] Speaker 3: a moment verse thirteen. I don't know where they have
[26:25] Speaker 3: laid him helped me to say it like I saw it.
[26:27] Speaker 1: Lord.
[26:28] Speaker 3: There's two things that are keeping Mary from seeing Jesus
[26:32] Speaker 3: that might be keeping you. I don't know if you
[26:34] Speaker 3: felt lately like God isn't with me. I don't know
[26:36] Speaker 3: if you've been feeling abandoned by God, or if you've
[26:37] Speaker 3: been doing pretty good. But there will be a season
[26:39] Speaker 3: in your life where you will need Jesus and you
[26:42] Speaker 3: will not see him, and you will pray God forgive me,
[26:45] Speaker 3: and the enemy will be telling you he can't forgive.
[26:47] Speaker 1: You for that.
[26:48] Speaker 3: There will be a season in your life where you'll
[26:49] Speaker 3: be saying God help me, and the enemy will be
[26:52] Speaker 3: telling you you are beyond help. And when you get
[26:54] Speaker 3: to that season where you cannot see him, remember these
[26:56] Speaker 3: two things about Mary. It wasn't just the tears. It
[26:59] Speaker 3: was just the transition. It wasn't just that she was trapped,
[27:03] Speaker 3: it was this they laid him verse thirteen on the screen,
[27:10] Speaker 3: Please where they.
[27:15] Speaker 1: Laid him.
[27:17] Speaker 3: Two assumptions that she's making here that are about to
[27:20] Speaker 3: be proven incorrect.
[27:22] Speaker 1: One is they moved him.
[27:28] Speaker 3: Jesus said, nobody has the power to take my life
[27:34] Speaker 3: from me.
[27:36] Speaker 1: I lay it down.
[27:38] Speaker 3: So there is no they in the world that is
[27:40] Speaker 3: stronger than God. There is no they in the world.
[27:44] Speaker 3: I speak this word to somebody who's dealing with rejection.
[27:48] Speaker 3: I speak this word to somebody who's dealing with shame.
[27:51] Speaker 3: I speak this word, I break the power of they
[27:54] Speaker 3: off of your life. Because it is not they that
[28:00] Speaker 3: moved him. Well, that's the first assumption that she said they,
[28:06] Speaker 3: But the second one is a little less evident. She said,
[28:08] Speaker 3: I want to see where they laid him. I can't
[28:12] Speaker 3: get off of that point. They and Jesus is the
[28:15] Speaker 3: one who got up, and she's given them the credit
[28:18] Speaker 3: for moving him. And he's the one who Stop giving
[28:22] Speaker 3: the enemy credit for stuff God is doing. Is this
[28:26] Speaker 3: a good Eastern message? Stop giving the enemy credit. Jesus
[28:32] Speaker 3: got up, Nobody moved him. He moved himself. Nobody held him.
[28:37] Speaker 3: He stayed there as long as he wanted to. So
[28:41] Speaker 3: she said, where have they laid him? And look at
[28:45] Speaker 3: the next verse, verse fourteen. Having said this, she did
[28:50] Speaker 3: something so simple. She turned around and saw Jesus standing.
[28:56] Speaker 1: But she didn't know it was Jesus. Why did it?
[29:00] Speaker 3: Did she know it was Jesus her tears or transition?
[29:03] Speaker 3: Why didn't she know it was Jesus? Was he wearing
[29:05] Speaker 3: a disguise?
[29:06] Speaker 1: Why didn't she know?
[29:06] Speaker 3: Even did Jesus change all of a sudden? Did he
[29:09] Speaker 3: like have an s on his chest for savior now
[29:11] Speaker 3: that he's up from the grave, and he used to
[29:13] Speaker 3: look like a carpenter? Why didn't she know it was Jesus?
[29:17] Speaker 3: Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing.
[29:23] Speaker 1: Go back to verse thirteen. She said, show me where
[29:26] Speaker 1: they laid him.
[29:31] Speaker 3: But when she saw him, he wasn't lying. He was
[29:37] Speaker 3: verse fourteen standing. So I came to announce on Easter Sunday.
[29:42] Speaker 3: He wasn't lying when he said I'm going to the cross.
[29:47] Speaker 1: He wasn't lying when he said they're going to mock
[29:50] Speaker 1: me and put a crown of thorns on my head.
[29:53] Speaker 3: He wasn't lying when he told them I'm going to
[29:56] Speaker 3: be in the ground three days.
[29:58] Speaker 1: He wasn't lying when he told.
[30:00] Speaker 3: Them, after three days, I will rebuild this temple and
[30:05] Speaker 3: rise from the dead. He wasn't lyon when he said,
[30:08] Speaker 3: I'm gonna take the keys of death and hell and
[30:12] Speaker 3: the grave.
[30:13] Speaker 1: He wasn't lyon.
[30:14] Speaker 3: So if your neighbors say he wasn't lyon when he
[30:18] Speaker 3: said I have all power and authority, he wasn't lyon
[30:22] Speaker 3: when he said I'm the King of kings and the
[30:24] Speaker 3: Lord of lords. He wasn't lying when he set I'll
[30:27] Speaker 3: provide all your needs.
[30:29] Speaker 1: He wasn't lion when he.
[30:31] Speaker 5: Said I am God, I am the Way, the Truth,
[30:35] Speaker 5: and the lions.
[30:36] Speaker 1: He wasn't lion.
[30:39] Speaker 5: He was standing, and he's still standing, And.
[30:44] Speaker 3: So am I.
[30:46] Speaker 5: So I celebrate Eastern Does I celebrate the king who
[30:53] Speaker 5: didn't stay in the graves and age? So let us
[30:56] Speaker 5: teeth and in age, so let us his but step
[31:01] Speaker 5: away from that stone. He didn't stay dead. He got up.
[31:08] Speaker 5: He got up. He's standing. He's standing. Stands up on
[31:16] Speaker 5: your feet, and celebrate.
[31:20] Speaker 3: The king.
[31:22] Speaker 5: Who stands at the.
[31:24] Speaker 1: Center off the brow.
[31:28] Speaker 3: I say, King.
[31:29] Speaker 5: Jesus standing at the center off the throw, looking like
[31:35] Speaker 5: a lamb that has been slave.
[31:41] Speaker 1: Part five.
[31:42] Speaker 3: Everybody who can reach your say.
[31:43] Speaker 1: I'm standing with him. I'm standing with him. I'm standing
[31:48] Speaker 1: with him.
[31:49] Speaker 5: He cast seven devils out of me. I'm standing with him.
[31:53] Speaker 5: I've been staring at a stone.
[31:56] Speaker 1: But I'm turning to the Savior.
[31:59] Speaker 5: God's said, stop staring at that stone. It's turn around time.
[32:05] Speaker 5: It's turn around time. It's turn around time. Do a
[32:10] Speaker 5: quick three sixty right there in your and do what
[32:15] Speaker 5: Mary did. He turn around, turn around. I serve a
[32:22] Speaker 5: God who can turn.
[32:24] Speaker 3: A grave, and too, hey, turn.
[32:30] Speaker 5: Out Top five.
[32:45] Speaker 3: Your neighbors say, stop staring at that stone.
[32:50] Speaker 1: That stone can't save you.
[32:52] Speaker 3: That stone can't stop God. That divorce can't stop God,
[32:57] Speaker 3: that depression can't stop God, that mental illness can't stop God.
[33:02] Speaker 3: That chronic fatigue can't stop God. That same can't stop God.
[33:16] Speaker 3: So I'm doing what Mary did. I'm turning away from
[33:21] Speaker 3: the stone, and I'm turning to the Savior because I've
[33:26] Speaker 3: been staring at.
[33:28] Speaker 1: The wrong stone. Matthew twenty one.
[33:32] Speaker 3: Says this, Jesus said to them.
[33:36] Speaker 1: Jesus said to.
[33:37] Speaker 3: Them, have you not read in the scriptures? The stone
[33:43] Speaker 3: that the builders rejected has become.
[33:50] Speaker 1: The corner stone. This was the Lord's doing, Jesus said.
[33:57] Speaker 1: They didn't move my body.
[33:58] Speaker 6: I did.
[34:00] Speaker 1: Didn't roll that stone I did. They didn't do it.
[34:04] Speaker 1: I did. God did that. This what's the Lord's doing.
[34:12] Speaker 1: And it is marvelous in our eyes.
[34:16] Speaker 3: You got a stone and a savior, A stone and
[34:20] Speaker 3: a savior, A stone and a savior.
[34:23] Speaker 7: And I see you doing what Mary did today. And
[34:26] Speaker 7: stop staring at that stone. When she turned to face Jesus.
[34:37] Speaker 3: The stone was behind her. I came to tell you,
[34:41] Speaker 3: put it behind you, what you did, what they said,
[34:46] Speaker 3: what you didn't did, what it was, what.
[34:48] Speaker 1: It could have been. Put it behind you.
[34:54] Speaker 3: And like Mary today, there's somebody who said, bye bye stone.
[35:02] Speaker 1: Hello Jesus, what blew my mind? And I gotta show
[35:07] Speaker 1: you this. I gotta show you this. I studied all week.
[35:10] Speaker 1: You think I'm not gonna show you this.
[35:12] Speaker 3: I don't even like to read, and I studied all week.
[35:15] Speaker 1: You think I'm not gonna show you this. She did
[35:18] Speaker 1: not know that it was Jesus.
[35:20] Speaker 3: But verse fifteen, woo, Jesus said to her same thing.
[35:25] Speaker 3: The Angel said, woman, why are you weeping? The same
[35:29] Speaker 3: thing that Graham's face said in the picture woman, why
[35:34] Speaker 3: are you weeping? The same thing that God is asking
[35:38] Speaker 3: you today? Why are you weeping?
[35:40] Speaker 1: When he won? But seeing.
[35:48] Speaker 3: God can still be winning while you're weeping.
[35:52] Speaker 1: The two are not mutually exclusive.
[35:55] Speaker 6: And through her tears she looks at someone she doesn't
[35:59] Speaker 6: even recognize. She thought he was a gardener, and she
[36:03] Speaker 6: was kind of right.
[36:13] Speaker 3: John chapter nineteen, verse forty one says this, Now, in
[36:17] Speaker 3: the place where he was crucified, there was a garden,
[36:21] Speaker 3: and in the garden a new tomb in which no
[36:24] Speaker 3: one had yet been laid.
[36:27] Speaker 1: But he wasn't lying there anymore, was he?
[36:30] Speaker 3: And the focus is always either the grave or the garden,
[36:36] Speaker 3: the stone or the savior, the impossible situation that you're facing,
[36:42] Speaker 3: or the one who does the impossible.
[36:45] Speaker 1: Does a rolled stone mean you got robbed? Or does
[36:48] Speaker 1: it mean that he has risen? So she still can't
[36:53] Speaker 1: see him.
[36:54] Speaker 3: It takes time sometimes sometimes even people who God has
[36:57] Speaker 3: really touched me, I just don't see you right now.
[37:00] Speaker 1: And that's all right, because watch this.
[37:02] Speaker 3: Jesus said, whom are you seeking?
[37:04] Speaker 1: And we know the we we know the irony of
[37:08] Speaker 1: this that she.
[37:09] Speaker 3: Is seeking Jesus, but Jesus is seeking her. She doesn't
[37:14] Speaker 3: know where to look, but he knows where to find her.
[37:17] Speaker 3: God knows where to find you. God knows what you've
[37:20] Speaker 3: been into. God knows what you've been up to. God
[37:22] Speaker 3: knows what you've.
[37:23] Speaker 1: Been on about.
[37:24] Speaker 3: God knows where you've been off track. God knows where
[37:26] Speaker 3: you've wasted time. God knows where you said it wrong,
[37:29] Speaker 3: did it wrong, got it wrong?
[37:30] Speaker 1: And keep going back. But watch this, she says, sir,
[37:33] Speaker 1: you know, is this some gardener messing with me? I'm
[37:36] Speaker 1: trying to grieve even this gardeners bothering me?
[37:38] Speaker 3: Was it you?
[37:39] Speaker 1: Did you move him? If you've carried him away, just
[37:41] Speaker 1: tell me where you've laid him. I'll take him away.
[37:43] Speaker 1: Of course she can't really do that, but she's just
[37:46] Speaker 1: trying anything.
[37:47] Speaker 7: And then Jesus said Mary, And then she turned and said,
[37:55] Speaker 7: rap on eye.
[37:58] Speaker 1: When she turned from the tomb, she saw the teacher, but.
[38:05] Speaker 3: I thought she already turned in verse fourteen the first time,
[38:09] Speaker 3: go back.
[38:10] Speaker 1: She turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she didn't
[38:15] Speaker 1: know that it was Jesus. And she turned back to
[38:20] Speaker 1: the tomb, and Jesus was close enough for her to touch.
[38:26] Speaker 3: And I want to tell you today he's close enough
[38:30] Speaker 3: for you to touch. But you got to turn around
[38:36] Speaker 3: and stop staring at that stone.
[38:40] Speaker 1: Your tears.
[38:42] Speaker 3: Are not telling you good Trump. And when she said Rabona,
[38:49] Speaker 3: she clinged to his feet for a minute, and he said,
[38:51] Speaker 3: you can't cling to me.
[38:51] Speaker 1: I got a job for you to do. I need
[38:53] Speaker 1: you to go tell those boys.
[38:55] Speaker 3: And by the way, because Jesus is trolling, He's like,
[38:57] Speaker 3: call them my brothers to really let them know how
[39:01] Speaker 3: graceful I am, even though I could call him something
[39:03] Speaker 3: else right about now, make sure that you let them
[39:06] Speaker 3: know I called them my bros.
[39:08] Speaker 1: And she takes off running.
[39:10] Speaker 7: But in order for her to carry out her assignment,
[39:15] Speaker 7: she had to stop staring at the stone.
[39:19] Speaker 1: She had to watch this. She had to pivot from
[39:22] Speaker 1: her past. She had to turn around.
[39:26] Speaker 3: And put the past behind her. All seven devils are
[39:30] Speaker 3: gone now, and there are two angels in this tomb,
[39:33] Speaker 3: and there is a savior who loves you. So let's
[39:37] Speaker 3: take a minute on this resurrection Sunday and let the
[39:41] Speaker 3: enemy know I'm coming out of this tomb.
[39:45] Speaker 5: I'm stepping away from this stone.
[39:48] Speaker 1: Not Tomorrow is not in this tomb.
[39:52] Speaker 5: My tomorrow can't bit in this toomb. Come on, throw
[39:57] Speaker 5: up your hand like this and wave real quick and
[40:02] Speaker 5: say bye bye. Stone.
[40:05] Speaker 1: Come on, say bye bye, Say.
[40:09] Speaker 5: Say goodbye, fear goodbye, braave goodbye bye. Can we take
[40:18] Speaker 5: four minutes and say together as a church, goodbye yesterday.
[40:28] Speaker 3: Hey.
[40:28] Speaker 2: I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did,
[40:31] Speaker 2: make sure to share it and subscribe so we can
[40:33] Speaker 2: get you all of these new messages as soon as
[40:36] Speaker 2: they're available. I also want to take a moment and
[40:39] Speaker 2: thank all of you who are a part of Elevation.
[40:41] Speaker 2: Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or
[40:45] Speaker 2: just share these messages, it's because of.
[40:47] Speaker 1: You that we're able to reach people all around the world.
[40:50] Speaker 2: And if you want more information on how to be
[40:53] Speaker 2: a part of Elevation, click the link.
[40:55] Speaker 1: In the description. Thanks again for listening.
[40:57] Speaker 2: Make sure to leave a review, share the message, and subscribe.
[41:01] Speaker 1: God bless you.
[41:10] Speaker 5: M HM.

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