“Good morning everyone, as you can see, today is Resurrection Sunday. As part of today’s celebration I have something amazing to show you.”
2. Take out from the bag the table tennis bat and ball. Begin to hit the ball up and down on the bat.
“Look at this. This is amazing. I can do this because I keep my eyes on the ball. It is important to keep your eyes on the ball otherwise you can miss it and then the ball will bounce away.” (Just for fun miss the ball and allow it to bounce away.)
3. Next, take out the football. Demonstrate throwing the ball up and then catching it.
“Look at this. This is amazing. I can do this because I keep my eyes on the ball. It is important to keep your eyes on the ball otherwise you can miss it and then the ball will bounce away.” (Again, just for fun miss the ball and allow it to bounce away.)
4. You may ask: “Pastor, what has keeping your eyes on the ball got to do with Easter or Resurrection Sunday? Well, more than you think. Let’s hear what the disciples had to say on Palm Sunday.”
5. Read the Bible text, Luke 19: 37, 38.
“The disciples saw the miracles because they kept their eyes on Jesus. If they hadn’t kept their eyes on Jesus they would have missed the miracles and we would not know about them today.”
As found in the Gospels, here are a few of miracles that the disciples would have missed from Jesus’s performed from birth, to Crucifixion, and Resurrection. There are many miraculous works of Christ recorded in the Bible, as He continues to help mankind in heavenly ways today!
1. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus changed water into wine (John 2:1-11).
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so, they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
2. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus cure the nobleman’s son (John 4:46-47).
Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
3. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus make a great haul of fishes (Luke 5:1-11).
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
4. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus cast out an unclean spirit (Mark 1:23-28).
Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
5. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus cure Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever (Mark 1:30-31).
Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand, and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
6. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus healed a leper (Mark 1:40-45).
A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead, he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
7. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus healed the centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:5-13).
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
8. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus raise the widow’s son from the dead (Luke 7:11-18).
Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them,
9. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus stilled the storm (Matthew 8:23-27).
Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
10. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus cured two demoniacs (Matthew 8:28-34).
When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town, and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
11. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus cured the paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8).
Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.
12. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus raised the ruler’s daughter from the dead (Matthew 9:18-26).
While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment. When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region.
13. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus cured a woman of an issue of blood (Luke 8:43-48).
And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
14. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus opened the eyes of two blind men (Matthew 9:27-31).
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.
15. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus loosened the tongue of a man who could not speak (Matthew 9:32-33).
While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
16. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus heal an invalid man at the pool called Bethesda (John 5:1-9).
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,
17. Because the disciples kept their eyes on Jesus they saw Jesus restore a withered hand (Matthew 12:10-13).
And a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.
That’s just a few and there are far more we could share.
“The disciples are keeping their eyes on Jesus because they expect to see wonderful miracles.” We too will miss the miracles of God if we don’t keep our eyes on Him. Let’s hop back into the Resurrection lesson….
8. “A few days later, something terrible events happened to Jesus.
It was totally unexpected for the disciples. Soldiers came and took Jesus away, because of Judas who betrayed Jesus. The disciples were very sad.
Now, one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. That was recorded in (Luke 22:50-51).
Some of them ran away, some went home, some cried, the disciples hid, and others did not know what to do. In all, they were very sad.”
After they took Jesus, they tried to shame him. Let’s read about part of that in the book of Matthew. I can’t stomach most of it, but let’s read the word.
Matthew 27:27-31New International Version
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
“27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.”
9. “Sometimes, we too can have days that where everything goes wrong, everything seems dark and we become sad. But those days are not even relevant to compare to the things that Jesus went through.
10. “When we are sad, that is the time to remember Resurrection Sunday. That is the time to remember to keep your eyes on Jesus.”
Today, is Easter and we celebrate Jesus’s resurrection! And you can find this recorded (Luke 24:5-8).
Also recorded in Luke 24 is the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words.
I’m afraid that we are missing the miracles of God.
“Why preacher?”
Because testimonies are suppressed!
Resurrection Sunday is a miracle of God!
Resurrection itself is a miracle of God.
When one heart is forgiven it is a miracle of God!
“When you keep your eyes on Jesus, then you will see the miracles that Jesus has for you.
When you keep your eyes on Jesus, then you will see that -our Jesus will give you comfort and joy back into your life.”
Now, moving into communion, do you remember what communion is all about? Remember, in Exodus God heard the cries of his people and rescued them from the Egyptian rule.
God told the Israelites to sacrifice the lamb and put it over the door facing and the angel of death that took the first children would pass over them. (preserving, or keeping God’s children from wrath.)
This happening or story is known as Passover.
This Passover no longer Hass to be done, because Jesus is our sacrificial lamb.
Jesus had a dinner with his disciples and told them about the crucifixion and the resurrection that we are celebrating today.
In a moment we are going to read from the manual, then I will pray over the bread, and pray over the juice. The bread represents the broken body of Jesus and the blood represents the blood Jesus shared for us. Might I mention that there is still power in the name of Jesus. There is still forgiveness, and there is still salvation.
This is a good time to go to the YouTube of this message. Just look up Jessica Linhart and today’s title: Jesus, the miracle worker.
