Grave, Garden, and Glory

So I'd like to welcome my mother-in-law and father-in-law from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Big round one. I think they came farther than anybody today. They drove just to be at church today.

Actually, my mother-in-law, no, they didn't, don't clap. My mother-in-law asked me yesterday, she said, are you going to tell an Easter joke? And I said, you know, in honor of you and my mother-in-law, I would love to. I'm going to tell them mother-in-law joke.

And I know I told this last Easter, but I'm going to tell it again because it's just that funny. So there was a husband and wife, and they traveled to the Holy Land. They took their mother-in-law with them. And this was a trip she'd wanted to make her entire life.

So they go to the Holy Land. They're in Israel. They're doing all the tours. They go to Jericho, and they go to Jerusalem, and Bethlehem.

They're doing all the tours, and she dies. And so the husband, he goes to the-what's it called where you bury people? No, no, the place-he goes to the funeral home. He goes to the funeral home and says, what do I do?

My mother-in-law died. He says, well, we got two options. He said, you can pay $150 and we'll bury her here in the Holy Land. Or you can spend $5,000 and I'll prepare her body and we'll ship her back to the U.S.

And so he thinks for a minute and says, you know, I think I'm going to pay the $5,000 and ship her back to the United States. And the mortician looks at him like, well, why would you want to do that? It's only $150 you can bury her here. This is the land that, you know, the Jesus walked.

This is the Holy Land. The guy said, you know, he said 2,000 years ago, there was a guy that died, was buried, and three days later rose from the grave, and I just can't take that chance. In honor of my mother-in-law, I would never do that. Oh, great day today.

What a wonderful day. Celebrate Jesus' really death-barrow and resurrection all in one. And so today I think we want to read from, we're not going to read from John 20. And I think my title, my message is the longest title I've ever had in the history of preaching.

So I initially called it the grave, the garden in glory, and then I thought, well, that needs to be out of the grave and in the garden and up into glory. And I really, I think we're going to look at the interaction between Mary and Jesus on resurrection day. And I really would like to pray that the Holy Spirit brings revelation to Jesus today. That he unveils and unfolds truths about Jesus that maybe you didn't know, maybe you forgot about, maybe you've never heard, but today's about him, every day's about him, but today's a special day.

And there's three different things I want to look at today as we look at this story. The first is what Mary sees in the grave. The next is her experience with Jesus in the garden. And then the next is when he tells her, I have not yet ascended to my father.

So we're going to look at those three things out of the grave into the garden and up into glory. And I believe Jesus is going to really reveal himself in a mighty way today. So if you have your Bibles, we're going to read through the first ten verses just to kind of get some traction for the Easter story. And then we'll look at the different couple of verses separately.

We'll look at the two of the two of the three Bibles. We're going to look at John 20 verses 1 through 10 to start with. It says, now, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark, and she saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. And she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him.

Peter therefore went out and the other disciples were going to the tomb so they both ran together and the other disciple outran Peter. I think it's kind of a funny thing for John to write. He's the one writing this and he says, hey, I smoked him in the race. I outran him.

It says they ran together. The other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. Hooping down and looking in saw the linen cloth lying there, yet he did not go in. And Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb and he saw the linen cloths lying there.

The handkerchief that had been around his head not lying with the linen cloths but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again into their own home. And so familiar story.

Mary Magdalene, I was talking to Whitney yesterday and she was just saying how when you compare the stories you get a little different flavor on each one. This one says that Mary was there, other versions and other gospels, highlight other women that were there with her and other disciples. But I like this one because after Peter and John leave, Mary has this individual one-on-one interaction with Jesus. And this is Mary Magdalene.

This is not Mary Jesus' mother. This is a woman out of one time early in his ministry. She was demon-possessed and the Bible tells us he cast seven demons out of her. And so she became a follower of his after he delivered her from the demons.

And so the first thing we're going to look at today, when we talk about out of the grave, it's going to be inside the grave, it says she saw two angels. We're going to read this in a minute. She saw two angels and one angel when she peeps in. Remember the other two are gone and she stoops and she looks in and she sees two angels, one at the head and one at the foot of the place where Jesus' body had laid.

And so we pick up in verse 11 and it says this, it says, but Mary stood outside the tomb weeping and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, one at the head, the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. And then she said to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him.

What article in the Old Testament might we think of? We've got to think about what's Jesus in his word want to reveal to us through this. What article in the Old Testament might we know that had two angels sitting at either end of it? The Ark of the Covenant.

And so as she looks in here, as she looks in and she sees two angels, one at the head, one at the feet, at the place where Jesus' body had lain. I believe that it speaks of the Ark of the Covenant. And you know they took Jesus' body and said it was the preparation day, which means it was just before the Sabbath was about to begin on Friday evening at 6 p.m. and he died at 3 p.m.

So sometimes there was a couple hours they rushed, they hurried together, they wrapped the body, put it on the ointment, so Joseph and Maryam and got the body. And so they did it in a hurry. And I got to believe that there was probably still some blood stains between those two angels that were sitting in the tomb. And think about the Ark of the Covenant.

It's the place where the High Priest went in the Holy of Holy just one time a year. And he would sacrifice a bull for his sin and then he would sacrifice a goat for the sins of the people. And he would sprinkle blood on that mercy seat. And for another year that they would be covered, their sin would be covered, and God would bless them and take care of them.

And so she looks in and sees that. Go back to last picture. So this was the hand. I was going to give you a hand.

I don't know if it showed up or not. Did we see that yet or not? So all that. So if you look in the ark of the, you can look in Exodus chapter 25 where God gives Moses' instruction about building the ark and the temple in general.

And then when you look in Exodus chapter 37, God tells Moses, he says, I want you, because I'm going to anoint bezel-l and I want bezel-l to be this craftsman. And I'm going to put my spirit upon him. He's going to build all these wonderful things. And so really when God tells Moses to tell bezel-l to build this ark, he literally thousands of years earlier is prophesying the resurrection of Jesus through this.

That one day would take place. One day Mary would look in and she'd see the symbolism of the two angels sitting there. And so Hebrews tells us this about the ark. It says in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 4 and 5.

Next slide. It says, and it says earlier in Hebrews 9 it says, into the holy place. It's talking about the holy of holies. Remember the ark was, the temple is divided into three categories.

You have the outer court. You have the holy place and then inside of that is the holy of holies. And then the holy of holies is where the ark was. And that was the place I said that the high priest could only go once a year to make a tone for people.

It says the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold. In which were the golden pot that had the manna Aaron's rod that budded the tablets of the covenant above it where the cherubim glory overshadowing the mercy seat. So a couple of things I want to talk to you. Remember I said I want you to see Jesus in this today.

It says that within the holy of holies there was the ark of the covenant overlaid with gold. So it wasn't solid gold. It was overlaid with gold. The ark itself was made of acacia wood.

Now acacia wood in Israel is known as incorruptible wood because it would last a long time. And so here God instructs Moses to make this ark, make it of incorruptible wood, and then overlay the incorruptible wood with gold. And so the ark itself is a representation of Jesus. We know about Jesus.

He was 100% God, but he was also 100% man. And that the wood, the incorruptible wood represents his humanity. The gold, the pure gold on the outside represents his divinity. If you think of John chapter 1 it says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.

So Jesus was God in verse 14. It says this, it said in the word became flesh and dwelt or tabernacle among us. And we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. And so that we see that this ark initially just the box itself represents Jesus fully God.

So when He comes to earth, He willingly lays aside Philippians tells us He lays aside willingly His ability to do things and comes as a man. Because if Jesus didn't come as a man He never could have died. It says that He was made a little lower than the angels. See if He had been higher than the angels He wouldn't have died.

He had to be made like us. He had to be made human. In order for Him to die He had to be a human being. It says He was made a little lower than the angels.

And that He came and He was fully God so that He could do anything. But He laid that aside and He comes as a man. And the great thing about Jesus coming as a man not just that He died but He experienced everything we do. Hebrews says this, it says that He can sympathize with our weaknesses.

It says that He was tempted in all points, yet He did it without sin. That Jesus went through everything. You think, I've got the toughest most difficult situation in my life. Like He's been through it.

He knows what you're going through. He can identify with you because He lived just like you. And so it says that it's made of wood. It was overlaid with gold made of wood.

It says inside of the ark are three things. Initially it was just the twelve commandments. Initially it was just the tablets of stone. But over time there were things added to that.

So inside of the ark are the tablets of stone. Inside of the ark is a golden pot. God told Moses to tell Aaron, hey go gather some of this up so you remember what I provided for you and put it in there. And also the other thing in there is Aaron's rod that budded.

So when you think about this, and over top of that, inside the ark are those three things. And over top of that is the mercy seat. The mercy seat is made out of pure gold. It's one solid piece of gold that sits over top of that.

And then on either side of that of the two cherubim looking at the mercy seat and then the presence of God actually dwells, then dwelt right in the midst of that. And so when you think about the things that are inside the ark, it says the Ten Commandments. It represents man's rejection of God's law. Don't tell you old covenant new covenant, right?

You guys can be old covenant. You're old. You're old. Alright, so under the old covenant.

So here's the mercy seat, right? And the mercy seat's covering one. The Ten Commandments, man's rejection of God's law. Number two, the golden pod of manna, which represents man's rejection of God's complete provision.

And number three, Aaron's rod that budded. It's man's rejection of God's appointed leadership. So if you remember when Aaron was the high priest, people were like, well, why do you get to do it? We should be up there too.

And so God tells me, I want you to get each of the twelve tribes of Israel, a stick. And we're going to put the stick in front of the presence of the Lord, and whichever stick is buds. That's the one that's my point leader in the bell. And so what happens is the mercy seat covers man's sin.

But under the new covenant, Jesus got rid of sin. Right? There is no sin. He eradicated sin.

So under the new covenant, the Ten Commandments represent this, that Jesus said, I didn't come to destroy the law. I came to fulfill it. That he is the Word of God made flesh. That he actually is the fulfillment of God's law.

When you look at the golden pod, the golden pod that contained manna, it's what the Israelites ate in the wilderness for forty years. Jesus says this. He says, your father's ate manna in the desert, and they died. I am the true bread that comes down from heaven.

And if you eat of me, you'll never die. So the golden pod in the new covenant represents Jesus is the provision of everything that you'll ever need in life. He is the true bread come down from heaven. And then as far as the errands ride that budded, it represents resurrection life.

That rod was cut on both ends. It had no life in it. And out of something dead sprung life. Jesus is called the first born from the dead.

He actually was born out of death. And so that rod that budded in the new covenant represents Jesus' resurrection life, and also that he's now become our high priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek. So over all that is this mercy seat. So this mercy seat is a solid piece of gold.

And the way they made it, they didn't have a, they didn't like pour liquid gold into a form. They took and they beat it. And they beat it. And it was one solid piece of gold.

That mercy seat represents Jesus who on the cross was beaten from head to toe in his entirety for me and you. Paul says this in Romans chapter 3, you'll recognize this verse, Romans 3, 23, everybody knows it but quotes it out of context. For all have sinned. Remember this one?

And come short of the glory of God. Here's the good thing. The fact that you were a sinner qualifies you for his grace. Right?

You've all sinned, therefore you're all eligible. That's the good news says for all of sin, come short of the glory of God. Being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus. Look at this, whom God displayed publicly.

The word mercy seats only used twice in the Greek in the New Testament. One in Hebrews chapter 9 when it talks about the mercy seat. And the word here in Romans chapter 3 verse 25, it's called propitiation. Propitiation is just a big 50 cent word that means Jesus was the complete satisfaction.

He literally appeased God's anger on sin. And here's what it says, it says, it says, who God displayed publicly. God put Jesus on public display to be completely beaten head to toe for you and for me. So God publicly displayed him as a mercy seat in his blood through faith.

And so the first thing we see is that when Mary looks in the tomb, she sees the two angels sitting on either end of the slab of stone. But I believe probably still had some remnants of dried blood there. Just as a reminder that Jesus fulfilled everything with that pictured in the old covenant. He fulfilled it in the middle.

And she goes on and says, the next slide says this, but she didn't stay there. She looks in the tomb. This is the next revelation of Jesus. She goes out in the garden.

And when she doesn't see him in there, says she thinks or she supposes him to be what? Partner. Now imagine that. Now think about what we know about Jesus when Isaiah says that he was so disfigured that he was unrecognizable.

He was beaten and marred more than any man in history. He was disfigured. He actually looked subhuman. And so that's her last recollection of Jesus.

She sees him on the cross. She sees his body being taken down. She sees him as a disfigured man with his back and shreds, with his bones visible in his back, with his body marred head to toe. She spent three years with him in ministry.

And now sees him in the garden and doesn't recognize him. Verse 13 says this. Verse 14. It says, when she had seen this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know it was Jesus.

Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Who are you seeking? And she's supposing him to be the status of the gardener. Said to him, sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you've laid him and I will take him away.

What's the Lord trying to tell us here? Now when we read the next couple verses, Jesus didn't step in and say, look at me. Do I look like a gardener? Like he didn't correct her.

Nothing in scripture is there by accident. And so what does the Lord want to tell us about her mistaking Jesus as a gardener? I believe what Jesus was saying to her in that moment. What he's saying to us today is there was a man once who was placed in a garden who lost everything, Adam.

And I'm here to restore in another garden what was lost in that one. See if you remember, it says that God planted a garden and placed that garden in Eden. And then he formed man and he puts man in the garden. And he tells Adam, he says, I want you to tend it and keep it.

I'm putting two trees in the garden, the tree of life, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. You can eat all the trees of the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You will die. And you know the story.

The serpent sees Eve, she takes it, she gives to Adam, he eats, and they instantly die spiritually. He lives another 930 years after that. But here's what Jesus is saying is he's coming as a gardener. He's saying the thing that was lost in that garden, I'm restoring in this one.

Adam gave into his will in that garden. I have victory over my will in this one. Just a couple nights before Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane, he's praying, it says, drops of sweat came like blood from his head. And he says, father, anyway, let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not my will, but yours. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Adam gave into his will in one garden, but I have victory over mine and another. Adam ate the fruit of a living tree and death came.

I tasted death for every man in life came. It says that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels so that he could taste death for everybody. Adam ate fruit that hung on a tree and it brought the curse. Jesus hung on a tree and became a curse for you.

The relation says that curse is everyone that hangs on a tree. Adam, when he knew God found him out, what did he do? He hid. He literally made himself some clothes and it said he hid among the trees in the garden.

Jesus was completely stripped, exposed, bare, naked, and was hung between three trees in a garden. Are you seeing this? Adam blamed his bride for his sin. Jesus took his bride's sin.

He took the blame for my sin and yours. Beyond that, it wasn't just that he took the sin of the bride, the church. He took the sin of the whole world. As he's there, it says that he became sin.

He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God and Christ Jesus. So he says what the first Adam lost, I'm coming as the second Adam. That's the last Adam. He's the second man, but he's the last Adam.

See that means there's no more. Since he's the last one, nobody can fumble the ball. It's done. It says this in Romans chapter 3, I'm sorry, 5, it says, just as through one man sin entered the world and death by sin, and therefore death passed upon all men for all of sin.

So because Adam sinned and died, when you were born, you inherited that. Well, that's not fair. Well, that's what you got. It says nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who would not sin according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam.

Who is a type of him? Who is the come? So here's Adam, who is the type of the one Jesus who's going to come one day. But what it says, and it's going to look at the next, it says that what Adam did was not like what Jesus did.

They're similar. He's not really a type as much as he's the anti-type. He's the type in reverse. And it says in the next slide, in Romans 5 verse 18 and 19, it says, therefore, as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

So because what Adam did, it brought judgment and condemnation to every one of us. But because of what Jesus did, it brought justification. That means you've been declared righteous to everybody that receives him. It says, four by one man's disobedience, verse nine, many were made what?

You realize you're not a sinner because you sin. You were made a sinner because Adam sinned. The same way you're not made righteous because you do good things. You're like, well, it wasn't fair that I received Adam's sin penalty.

Well, it's not fair that you receive Jesus's righteousness either. But see, you didn't do anything to become a sinner. You were born that way. And since Jesus won act makes it available that just by faith in him, you can receive the very thing that he did and you can be made righteous because of what he did.

It says, so it's written in 1 Corinthians 15, it says this, it says, it says, the first man Adam became a living soul. So here's Adam in the garden. He's made living, right? He's given life.

But what's Jesus? Jesus has made a life-giving spirit. So Adam actually received life, but Jesus can give it. There's a big difference.

Jesus becomes the one that can impart to you the very life that he has. It's amazing. So finally, so she looks in the tomb, she sees the ark, and Jesus says that's a picture of me. And then she gives Adam in the garden and she's supposing him to be the gardener, and he says, he doesn't correct her because he wants you to realize that the thing that Adam lost, he came to restore.

See, here's what we don't realize. There's a lot of times we call it the garden of Eden, right? And that's scriptural. There is a verse in Genesis that calls it the garden of Eden.

But in Genesis 2.8 it says this, it's a God planted a garden in Eden. You know what Eden means? Pleasure. God planted a garden in pleasure.

Do you realize in Eden everything was provided for Adam? He didn't have to work for it like he did after he got kicked out. See, all he had to do was tend and keep what God had already provided. Everything he needed.

Everything he ever wanted. I always wondered what did Adam pray for? Like if you think about your prayer life, what's your prayer life consist of? Oh God, I need this.

And God, I need that. What did Adam pray for? It probably, all he could say was thank you. Because he had everything.

And see, Jesus came to restore all that Adam lost. See, it says this, and here's a Messianic Psalm in Psalm 16. Jesus says this, well actually David wrote it, but speaking of Jesus, he says, my flesh will rest in hope. Okay, he's talking about when he dies.

My flesh will rest in hope because you will not leave my soul in Sheol, meaning the graver the pit. He says, nor will you allow your holy one to see destruction. You will show me the path of life in your presence is fullness of joy. And at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

The garden was in pleasure. Jesus restored the very thing that Adam lost. And at the Father's right hand are pleasures forevermore. Jesus said this, he says, it's the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Like you already have it. He said the kingdom doesn't come, but oh here it is. Look here, look there. He said the kingdom is within.

He's restored everything that Adam lost. He's given it all and he's put it in you. Like you have so much when you believe in Jesus. Like for some reason we act more like Adam out of the garden than Adam in the garden.

See, Adam got kicked out and he said from now on, you'll have to get bread by the sweat of your brow that thorns will come up. Well my God wore a crown of thorns and he actually defeated all that. See, Adam actually rested in the finished works. Like it was all done.

Adam was the crown jewel of God's creation. God didn't create Adam on the first day, the second day, the third. He created him the very end of the sixth day because it was done. And then he places Adam in his creation, which is complete.

And that's what Jesus came to restore. Everything the Father ever wanted for you is found in Jesus. Paul says this, he says, the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily. That doesn't mean his physical body.

Although it was true, he's talking about us, the body of the fullness is there. Everything you want is there. Like I guarantee you Adam was like, oh God, please give me a piece of fruit. Oh God, please give me a piece of fruit.

Before he sinned, all he had to do. Just take it. Take it. Oh God, send some apples.

Come on, Jesus. Wasn't none of that. Like he wasn't begging. He wasn't pleading.

He was just walking up and appropriating by faith what God had already provided. And when Jesus has provided everything for us, that's all we do. Like you don't have to beg God to do something as if you're trying to convince him to do what he's already done. Like how hard is it to convince God to do what he did 2000 years ago?

And beyond that, he did it and he turned and he passed because he said Jesus was the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. And God's mind, it's always been. Alright, got to move on. Sorry.

Alright, so she comes out. She sees Jesus. She doesn't recognize him. And then he says what?

Mary. She looks at him. She doesn't recognize him. She literally hears his voice because he says, why are you weeping?

Who are you seeking? But she didn't recognize him. She didn't recognize his voice. But when he said her name, my sheep hear my voice and I call them by name.

Do you realize Jesus knows everything about you? He knows how many hairs I have on my head. And it's a lot right now. He knows, it says in Psalms, the thoughts that he thinks toward you are more than the sand of the sea of the entire world.

I've never thought about her a lot. He's not over 30 years. But he thinks about Julie. He thinks about Seth.

He thinks about Winnie. The number of sand on the sea is his individual thoughts about you. He cares about you that much. He says Mary.

And she turns him and says, Robona, which is to say, teacher, Jesus says, do not cling to me. I'm not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brother and say to them, I'm ascended to my Father, your Father, and my God, and your God. Real quick. Some people will say, we're going to talk about this.

Some people say that she couldn't touch him because he had not yet ascended. So when the high priest went into the holy of holies, he went through a ritual, he puts on the different gowns. If somebody touches him, he's got to start over. It was a really bad job if you had OCD and you were the high priest.

Because you had to go through these rituals, but then you touched the wrong thing and oh, she's going to start over again. And so once they got it right, they could go in. So some people say, well, she couldn't touch him. This word touch is not the regular word touch.

This is the word cling to, adhere to. And I believe what he's saying, he's saying this. He said, hey, don't hold on too tight. Don't cling to me because I still have work to do.

And by the way, you've got work to do. I want you to go tell your brother something. Think of it like this. Who was the first person to touch Jesus when the day he was born?

It was a virgin called Mary. Who was the first person to touch him the day that he was born from the dead? One virgin named Mary was a woman who was previously demon possessed named Mary. Talk about a new season.

See, why would Mary be falling? Why would she make him unclean when he's the very person that when normally when a leper touched you, you became unclean? But Jesus didn't become unclean. The leper became unclean.

And so I guarantee you in his resurrected body, she's not going to defile him. But so there's a different purpose. It's a new season. It's a season in the old covenant, the purest, most virginous woman.

The virgin Mary was the first to touch him. But now it's a new day. It's a new day. A woman who had a history.

A woman that had devils cast out of her is the first person that touches him on the day that he's resurrected born from the dead. It's a new day. And he says, don't cling to me. I've not yet ascended to my father but go to my brother and say to them, I'm ascending to my father and your father and my God and your God.

When was the last time Jesus? Why is this important? Why does he want her to say, hey, I know you love me but let go. I want you to go tell your brothers I'm ascending to my father and their father, my God and their God.

Why is that important? Because three days later, earlier was the last time Jesus talked about his father. So he told them something about his father three days earlier. And now he says, I want you to go tell them I'm ascending to my father, not just my father but your father.

See, he called them my brother and my brothers. He called them disciples. He called them servants. He called them friends.

But now he calls them my brothers because they now have the same father. He says, I'm going to my father and their father. The night that Jesus took bread with his disciples, John 14, he says this. He says, let not your heart be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me. You guys will recognize this text. This is the worst funeral text in the world because it has nothing to do with funerals but you could use it if you want. It says, in my father's house or what?

Many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. Oh, next slide. We're doing here.

No, back up one. Can I delete a slide? All right. Well, anyway, John 14, one through four.

It says this. Get your Bibles out. We'll go old school. I shouldn't let you slide that much.

You should have to bring your Bibles to church. It says, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house or many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you. Behold, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there, you may be also. And where I go, you know, and the way you know.

Next slide. We're going to go back to this. Next slide. Peter's like, well, we don't know where you're going.

How would we know the way? And Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. All right.

Go back to slide. It says, in my father's house or what? Now, this is the worst translation for you, like the King James. This is not, because what happens?

When we read this, we think of that old hymn that says, I've got a mansion just over the hill. The old saints know that one. The other one's going to googling. I've got a mansion just over the hilltop.

That is not the word for mansion. It's the word for dwelling place. It's the word for a boat in my father's house. So what do we think when we read this?

We think that Jesus has said, well, I'm going to go to heaven and I'm going to go up there and I'm going to get my, you know, I was a carpenter back in the day. Right? My dad was a carpenter and I'm a carpenter and now I'm up in heaven and I got my car hearts on and I got my tool belt around my belt and I got my soul and my hammer. And there's Jesus.

What's he doing? Oh, and the father says, hey, Jesus, another one just got saved. Oh, okay. Oh, he's a really good one.

Make it big. Oh, okay. Oh, well, she was pretty nasty. Better back out with small, you know.

And so we think there's this, Jesus is building this mansion in heaven. That's not what he's saying. Because look at this. It says, in my father's house or it doesn't say my father's house will be in my father's house.

They're already there in my father's house or many dwelling places. They were already there when he said it. He said, I go to prepare the word place means can mean room, but the word place top us in Greek can mean opportunity or occasion. In my father's house, currently, there are many dwelling places.

I go to prepare an opportunity for you. Wow, does that change that scripture? And if I go, I will come back that where I am, where was Jesus when he said where I am? Well, he was in Jerusalem, right?

He was in the upper room, right? He was at the dinner table, right? He was doing communion, right? Jesus was physically on earth, but he was in the father.

When Jesus is talking to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, he says this. He says, no one has ascended, but he who has descended the Son of Man who is in heaven. Now think about this. He's telling Nicodemus that he says no one's ascended, but he who descended the Son of Man who is in heaven.

Jesus was not in heaven when he said that, but he lived from heaven. He lived from a position. Later in John, he says this. He says, don't you know that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.

So what's Jesus saying? He said, hey, in my father's house, there's lots of rooms. There's lots of rooms. They're already there.

I'm going away to make an opportunity for you to have one of them. That where I am, where was he? He was in the Father so that where he was, we could be the same place. It's not about some mansion in heaven.

Like I'm sure there'll be us. Like they'll be amazing. But that's not what he's saying here. See, he says, a little while I'll go away and a little while I'll come back.

He says, when I go, the world will rejoice. This isn't talking about his ascension. The world wasn't rejoicing when he ascended 50 days later. They were rejoicing when he died on the cross.

He said, the world will rejoice, but you will be sorrowful. He said, but in a little while, I'll be back and your sorrow will be turned to joy. He's not talking about going away and coming back thousands of years. He's talking about going away and coming back three days later.

He said, I've got to go to the Father to make payment for the rooms that are already there so that if you decide you want to check in, it's already paid for. Let me be on his bike. See, I've been to a lot of hotel rooms in my life. I travel a lot.

I've never checked into a room that wasn't paid for by somebody. Either I paid for it or somebody paid for it for me. But no one's ever let me check into a room that wasn't paid for. See, Jesus says, all the rooms are there, billions upon billions upon billions.

But no payment has ever been made in order for anybody to be where I already am. I'm there. In the Spirit, I'm there. I'm one with the Father.

I'm an enemy. He's a me. But you're not. But I'm going to go to the Father, settle the debt, and then if you want to check in, it's up to you.

Look at this. Now, for everybody that believes John 14 is about the second coming of Jesus, here's what he says in John 14 29. I told you this before it happened. So when it happened, you will believe.

Nobody's going to need help believing into the second coming of Jesus. It says that every tongue will confess every knee will bow that Jesus Christ is Lord. Like you need help believing now. Like you don't need help then.

Like it's going to be way too late. It's too late. Like don't risk it. Don't wait.

Like he's telling you now. So when it happens, you'll believe. And he says, Mary, I want you to go tell the disciples, I'm ascending to the Father, to my Father and their Father. And then I'm coming back.

And he did later that day. Here's what he did. Here's what he did. We're going to finish with this.

I get excited. I love what Jesus did. Like it's amazing and exciting. Look at this.

So he goes into heaven. Now we need revelation from the New Testament to see what he did. So everything in the old was a picture of the new. Everything that takes place in the physical represents the spiritual.

So he says, but Christ came as a high priest. Say this, of good things. Of good things to come. So it's a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, not of this creation.

So in heaven, there is a representation in heaven of the tabernacle that was on earth. And so the things that Moses and Aaron and all the high priest did for 1500 years, those things were types and shadows every year, 1500 times, on the day of atonement, what Jesus would do in one fail swoop. On one day. It says, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place, having obtained what?

Eternal redemption. So here's the difference. In the old covenant, the mercy seat was the covering or the lid. The blood was applied to the mercy seat.

The sin that represented man's sin was under here. And so when God looked at it, he would see the blood on the mercy seat and the word atone in Hebrew, kafar means to cover. And so the blood on the mercy seat would cover man's sin. In Israel for one year, they would be in God's good grace.

But then when that year expired, they had to do it again and do it again and do it again and do it again. And so after 1500 years later, Jesus finally comes. And it says, when he came, he took his own blood, not animal blood, but he takes his blood into the holy of holies in heaven. And it says, not with the blood, and with it, he obtained what?

Eternal. It wasn't temporary one year at a time, one year at a time, one year at a time. It says, Peter says this, he says, don't you know that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things like silver and gold, but you were redeemed. That means you were purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

And so when he goes into heaven, see, when you want to know, if you ever get down in the mouth and like, man, I'm worthless, shut up. He says you're not. You're worse what somebody's willing to pay. Your value is what somebody's willing to pay.

Like, I don't care what people have told you over the years, what your parents said, what your friends said, what your boss said, you are worth the blood of Jesus. Like, it's infinite. And with it, he obtained eternal redemption. Verse 24 says this.

It says, Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Not that he should offer himself often as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with the blood of another. He then would have to suffer often since the foundation of the world, but now once at the end of the age, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. What did John say?

Remember John the Baptist? It says he sees Jesus, his cousin, and he doesn't realize who it is, but by revelation of the Holy Spirit, he prophesies, behold the Lamb of God that covers the sin of the world. Oh, come on, you got to know your Bible. It doesn't say that.

It doesn't say the Lamb of God that covers the sin of the world. It's the Lamb of God that picks it away. Like, your sin is gone. So when you hold on to sin, you're holding on to something that Jesus is not holding on to.

Like, God says this, it says that under the new covenant, he remembers our sin no more. It's not that he had amnesia. He's literally like intelligent enough. He can choose to not remember.

Because there was a day. There was a day. When God remembered every sin. Don't think God ever got soft on sin.

He remembered every sin you ever committed. He remembered every sin you still have yet to commit. And he took every sin in the punishment, in the guilt, in the shame. And he put it all on his son, Jesus.

And you heard Whitney say earlier, it's the only time that God ever turned his back on his son. And Jesus says, my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? Say thank you God for forsaking Jesus.

Because he forsook Jesus, he'll never forsake you. He says, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. Like he'll never, when you make a decision to follow him, he'll never turn his back. Ever.