Where is Jesus?

[0:00] Our second reading continues on in Matthew chapter 28 from verses 16 to 20 which can be found on page 1000 of the church bibles.

[0:10] ! Matthew chapter 28 beginning at verse 16. Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.

[0:56] Thank you, Tamara. So, we've been asking where is Jesus? And that's really important because he calls us to trust him with our lives, to obey him as an act of worship of him, and to rejoice in him that he is alive. But we don't see him. So where is he now?

[1:15] Well, Matthew ends by telling us Jesus is in two places. He's on the throne and he's with his people. He's on the throne of heaven and he's with his people. He's on the throne because he said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

[1:32] In other words, he's in charge now. He's the boss. That's why the women fell down and worshipped him. And then the disciples, when they saw him in Galilee, worshipped him as well. He's the boss. He's the boss. Elon Musk isn't the boss. Donald Trump isn't the boss. No world leader is really the boss. Jesus is the boss. And he has that authority everywhere we could go and everyone we could meet.

[1:56] You could go to Bray Head or Silverburn or Alton Towers or Disneyland. Jesus is in charge there. He's in charge everywhere. Some people try and push him out of our lives, out of their lives. And the message of Easter is, we can't do that forever because he lives. He is God's king.

[2:16] Some people even try and push him out of their country. And there was a man called Brother Andrew who used to smuggle Bibles. He spent his life smuggling Bibles across borders into countries that had closed themselves off to God's word.

[2:30] But as he did that, he could do it with real courage because he knew Jesus is in charge already in these countries. He has all authority.

[2:41] He's got all authority over the east end of Glasgow where we are aiming to plant a church and send a team this year to launch a new church there. He has all authority over Hill Head and Woodlands and wherever we live with the people we live with, everyone we could meet.

[2:57] And whatever happens in our lives, Jesus is in charge. Everyone around us will be answerable to him. And that is the best news. Do you remember how the women reacted?

[3:09] They rejoiced that Jesus lives full of joy because he is good. And so when we hear that he is in charge, it means that he can keep his promises, he can give us freedom, and we can have life knowing God forever.

[3:24] So that's our first answer to the question, where is Jesus now? He is on the throne because the tomb is empty. And secondly, where is Jesus now? He is with his people.

[3:36] His last words in Matthew's Gospel were, And surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age. And that means whatever you go through in life, Jesus says to you, if you trust him, I'm with you all the days.

[3:50] If you're having a hard time, say you're playing sport at school, and you're the last person to get picked when they're picking teams, and you feel alone, Jesus says, I'm with you always to the end of the age.

[4:05] If you're missing a friend whom you loved, or a family member whom you loved, Jesus says, I'm with you always. And he's especially with his people together.

[4:16] Now at this point, the English that's used to translate our Bibles has a bit of a weakness, you see. Because in English, the same word you can either mean you one person, or you lots of people.

[4:30] But in Scotland, we have a way around that, don't we? That if we mean lots of people, we go yous, don't we? Okay, so if Matthew's Gospel is being translated into Scottish English, Jesus said, and surely I'm with yous always to the very end of the age.

[4:49] He's with his people especially together. So when we want to know Jesus better, one of the ways we can find him is through other people who follow him.

[5:02] And if you're here this morning and you're still wondering, I don't know Jesus, where can I find Jesus? You'll find him with his people. So ask the person who you came with about Jesus, because they know him and he's with them.

[5:17] Or keep coming back here to get to know Jesus, because he's with us, he promises he's with us. If you're a young person and you're thinking, I want to meet Jesus and know Jesus, ask the youth leader or your kid's own leader about him, because he's with them.

[5:34] He's with his people. And Jesus is with us especially when we're getting on with his great mission that he gave us to go and make disciples, to go and make him known.

[5:46] That can be a scary thing, to use our words with someone we know in our sports team or our class or our workplace, to tell them about Jesus. But we can do that with great courage and great expectation and great security, because whenever we do that, we can remember Jesus is with me as I speak of him.

[6:08] So what do you think? We're going to have a minute or two now just to talk in groups. You can talk to your neighbor. You can talk in threes or fours or family groups. And you can just talk about Easter if you like.

[6:20] But what you could do is talk especially about the questions on the screen. The women were afraid but filled with joy. What is it about Easter that could fill you with joy?

[6:32] And when will it most help you to remember that Jesus is with you? So let's take a minute now just to turn to the person next to us and in threes and fours and families. Let's talk about this together.

[7:00] Great. Let's come back together there. Hopefully you can keep talking about that after the formal part of our service. But we remember the women were afraid but they were filled with joy.

[7:13] Afraid because it's breathtaking news today we're looking at that God broke into our world but full of joy because Jesus is on the throne and he's good and he's with us.

[7:24] He's by our side as we make him known. So let's pray together. P-R-A-Y. Lord Jesus, we thank you today that you have won the great victory, that it's mission accomplished.

[7:38] You are risen and on the throne. We thank you that you're with us as your people. We thank you for the gift of your death on the cross, that you've set us free from our sin.

[7:51] And we worship you this morning. And though there are things that make us afraid in the world, we thank you that Easter can give us a joy that nothing can take away.

[8:02] Amen. Amen.