Bobby Chandler - The Three Days
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Summary
In this Easter message from the «What If» series, the preacher shifts to asking «What happened?» during the three days between Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, referencing Matthew 12:40 where Jesus compares His time in the heart of the earth to Jonah’s three days in the fish. He details the visible events of betrayal, trials, scourging, and crucifixion while exploring the unseen spiritual battle, including Jesus' descent to proclaim victory over death. The key insight is that God makes us wait through difficult seasons to prepare our faith, fulfill promises in His perfect timing, and draw us closer to Him, culminating in the triumphant resurrection that brings hope and freedom.
Out of the Grave: The Three Days
We’ve been in a series titled «What If, ” and we have been asking the question: Would living a godly life really change your life for the better? Okay, and the short answer to that is yes. All right? I’ve been proving that every week. But today, I want to change it up. So instead of asking, „What if?“ I want to ask the question, „What happened?“ What happened in the three days?
Now, most of us know the story or the general idea of the story. We know that Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. We know that he was taken through trials, and we know that he was placed upon the cross for our sins. We know that he rose from the grave, right? We’ve seen so many movies over and over again. But I really want to ask you today: What happened in those three days?
Jesus' Prophetic Words
Because Jesus says something very interesting and very powerful in the book of Matthew. Let me show you; it’s actually a head scratcher if you think about it. Matthew chapter 12, verse 40, New Living Translation: Jesus said, „For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.“
So the title of today’s message is this: „Out of the Grave: The Three Days.“ I’m going to ask the question: What actually happened in those three days that you may have never heard about before?
Because let me ask you this: How many of you can’t stand to wait on things? Raise your hand. Come on, you don’t like to wait. This morning, I already tested your patience. You’ve been waiting on your family. You were dressed, ready to go, had your coffee, and you were yelling at everybody. Today’s the day we celebrate the Lord. We all had—I’m ready to get here! Nobody likes to be patient or likes to wait, but it’s different when something exciting is coming, like having a baby, right?
If you just had a baby, then you know what it feels like when you’re on the verge of popping, and you’re praying to God, „Please let this baby come really soon!“ I’m telling you, two more days feels like a lifetime, right? Two more days, three more days feels like forever. I can’t handle this. But that’s something exciting.
Waiting Through Tragedy
So let me flip that. Let me ask you this question: How do you feel when you have to wait for something tragic or through something difficult? Maybe it’s a funeral that you didn’t see coming, and you can’t believe that it actually happened. It’s hard. Maybe it’s a life-threatening disease. Maybe it’s a surgery that you have to go through, and you’re praying to God, „Please, please, please heal me. Let this be the last time that I have to have surgery.“
Maybe it’s a job loss; maybe you know that your days are numbered, and this is going to be your last day, and everybody keeps asking you, „What’s your plan?“ To be honest with yourself, you don’t have a plan. When we have to wait on something that’s tragic or bad, or we just don’t understand, it makes us sick to our stomach, right?
So it made me ask the question because I started to think about the three days and what all the followers of Christ had to go through, what the disciples had to endure, and it made me ask this important question: Why does God make us wait? Have you ever thought about that? Why does God make us wait?
Because I want you to put yourself in their shoes. For three days, Peter felt guilt and shame. Why? Because he denied Jesus three different times. Three times he denied him. So for three days, he had to live with his guilt and shame, and he felt like a failure.
For three days, Mary had to deal with the loss of her own son. She was heartbroken. How could this have happened? This way it was so brutal for her to see everything that the Romans did to him; it was hard.
For three days, I think a lot of us can relate to Thomas—Doubting Thomas. He probably walked around thinking, „What did Jesus say? Is everything that he said going to come true?“ Because now, Thomas believed that Jesus was dead. Think about the three days and what they had to go through. Why was God making them wait? What was important about that?
An Unseen Battle
From the outside looking in—and you may relate to this as well in your own life with the situation you’re going through—but from the outside looking in, it looked like the enemy had won. It looked like they had defeated Jesus. It looked like the disciples were now on the run. I’m telling you, they were behind a locked door. They didn’t even know that he rose from the grave yet.
In fact, it’s kind of funny because the men were hiding behind the locked door, while the women went to the tomb to see Jesus. So it’s important for us to ask: Why does God make us wait? But let me ask you this question too; let me make you think today: What if God was making them wait because he was fighting a battle that they could not see? What if God was making them wait because he was fighting a battle they could not see? And see, this is where it gets interesting.
So let me answer two questions for you today: What happened that was seen in the three days, and what happened that was not seen?
The Visible Timeline of Events
First of all, let’s talk about what was seen. Here is the timeline of events. An interesting note for you also is that a Jewish day does not begin at midnight; a Jewish day actually begins at sundown. Okay? So think about that as you process in your mind the three days and all the events that happened.
We know that Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane sometime around midnight, and they believe that he was crucified sometime around 9:00 a.m. in the morning, which means—so think about this—he had no sleep! He didn’t sleep at all! Now, many of us would agree when we get a little bit of sleep or no sleep at all, we’re pretty cranky, right? Maybe that’s you this morning as well.
But Jesus, facing everything that he was about to go through—and he knew everything that he was about to face; he knew the opposition that was coming; he knew what the enemy wanted to do to him—he also had no sleep, and he spent that time in prayer until he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. I thought that was crazy.
Now, here’s something important for you to understand, too: not only did he not have sleep, but he was arrested in the garden, and he had six trials through the night. That is the fastest legal process I’ve ever heard of—six different trials that he had to go through in the night.
The Trials of Jesus
Now, we had three Jewish trials, and then he had three Roman trials, and at first, they took him to Annas, who is a high priest. He is the father-in-law of a man named Caiaphas. Caiaphas is also a high priest. They take him to Annas, and he says, „You’re guilty of blasphemy.“ Then they take him to the other high priest, Caiaphas. He says, „You’re guilty of blasphemy.“ And then they take him to the Sanhedrin, okay? Which is like a court, and they all rule him as guilty because they asked him, „Who do you say you are?“ They even said, „I command you! Who do you say you are?“ Jesus said, „I am he, the Son of God.“ They said, „Blasphemy!“ And the Bible tells us that they ripped their clothes. They were mad; they were upset. „How could this man claim that he is the Son of God?“
Let me show you the text. John chapter 18, verse 13, New Living Translation: First, they took him to Annas since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas. In Matthew chapter 26, verse 57—I have a lot of scriptures for you today—then the people who had arrested Jesus led him to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the religious law and elders had gathered.
Then they take him to the Sanhedrin, which is a council of 23 Jewish judges, and they all found him guilty of blasphemy. Remember, no sleep, already going through this process. And now what do they want to do? They want to take him to Pilate, and the reason why they want to take him to Pilate is that they know that Rome will put him to death.
In fact, here’s something interesting: if you know anything about scourging, which is where they whipped his back and tore off his flesh, the Jews would only do that 40 times. They wouldn’t go any further than 40 because that was an act of mercy and grace. They thought it was too much to go over 40 to torment somebody in that type of way. The Romans did not care. They were ruthless. In fact, they were prideful that they were the best at tormenting anybody and breaking their body, okay? So that’s the reason why they wanted to take him to Pilate.
But Pilate looks at him and says, „I’m not a Jew, first of all, and I don’t understand why you’re bringing this innocent man to me.“ So then he tries to hand him off to Herod. So this is now the second Roman trial that he has to go through, and this is found in Luke chapter 23, verse 7. Pilate sent him to Herod Antipas because Galilee was under Herod’s jurisdiction. But once Herod saw him, Herod also didn’t find him guilty and sends him back to Pilate. Six different trials, no sleep.
Why the Jews Rejected Him
And it’s crazy to me. I started to think: the Jews found him guilty; God’s people found him guilty because they did not want to believe that the word of God had come true and was before their eyes because they wanted Jesus to come back as a conqueror. They wanted Jesus to come back right now and defeat Rome. They did not like that they were under the Roman power, the Roman authority. And so because Jesus did not come back as a warrior at that time, they did not believe it, even though he performed many miracles.
I believe that sometimes God is trying to show you a new way and change your perspective because a lot of us come to church, and especially if you haven’t been in a long time. You probably have a view of God, and you see God one way, but I believe today he wants to wreck you and show you that he loves you and he’s in your life and he’s doing things sometimes that may be hard, but it’s to change your heart; it’s to bless you.
They crucified the Christ—the one who came to sacrifice himself to free us all, to bless us all—but they didn’t see it because they were blind. So Pilate didn’t want any part of it. And if you know the story very well, then he says, „All right, who do you want: take Jesus or Barabbas?“ Barabbas is actually a thief, a robber, and they yelled, „Barabbas! Free Barabbas!“ And Jesus, an innocent man, went to the cross.
Picture him, and Pilate says, „I want no part of this, ” and he tried to wash his hands clean of it because he didn’t understand what was happening and why the Jews wanted to take his life. But also, what they didn’t know is that it was prophetic; it had to happen this way. Sometimes the hard way has to happen for the miracle to take place.
The Betrayal and Jesus' Authority
But here’s the part of the story you may not know; this is really cool. I want to take a look at what happened when Judas betrayed Jesus, okay? Now, you know that Judas came up with some men. You know that he gave him a kiss on his cheek and he betrayed him, and then they arrested Jesus. That’s usually what you see in the movies.
But now let me show you the text in John chapter 18, verse 3. The King James Version states, „Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came with lanterns and torches and weapons.“ Imagine the crowd! Now, the reason I wanted to read under the King James Version is because it states that Judas had with him a band of men. In the Roman world, get this, a band of men meant 600 men! 600!
Judas comes creeping up with 600 men. They have torches; they have weapons. And you know what it tells me? They’re afraid of Jesus. I wonder if the enemy—I wonder if Satan was trying to plan something like, „What if he tries to get this and do that?“ Because Satan doesn’t understand; he knows he’s defeated, but he tries to bring all these schemes and twist things.
And I wonder if they thought, „All right, we got all these men.“ Here’s what’s so cool about the story, too: Jesus already knows. Think about that in your life. You’re having a hard day, something happened you didn’t see coming; God already knew, and he already said he was there for you.
So Jesus already knew. Now, if it were me, I started thinking about it: If I knew a band of 600 men were coming to take me, I’m about to go through this persecution—it’s about to be awful—I probably would sit down as long as I could and say, „Please, Lord! I see them, but I’m not ready! Come on! Just a little bit longer. Can I have a sandwich or something, please? Just my last request, you know?“ That’s me. That’s me.
But what I love, according to John, is that Jesus knew they were coming, and before they approached him, he approached them. Think about it—Jesus kind of puffed out his chest: „Who are you looking for?“ He wasn’t afraid. You got 600 men? That’s cute! I can call down 6,000 right now, you know what I mean?
And Jesus goes to them, and he asks them, „Who are you looking for?“ Let’s look at the text: John chapter 18, verses 4 through 6, New Living Translation: „Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. 'Who are you looking for? '“ He asked. „Jesus of Nazarene, ” they replied. And Jesus said, „I am he.“ Let’s not play games. I’m the one you’re looking for.
What’s even more powerful is that you may not understand? He did not really say, „I am he.“ He actually said in the Greek, „I am.“ Because in 1611, when the King James Version came out, they added the word „he.“ That’s why you’re going to see it a lot in parentheses out of your translations, because it was grammatically correct. But what Jesus really said in the Greek was „I am.“
And it’s powerful—the great „I am, ” as God told Moses at the burning bush: „I am.“ And the presence of God had to be thrilling; it was powerful because here’s something you probably never heard before: all 600 men fell to the ground the moment he said, „I am.“ John chapter 18, verse 6: „Jesus said, 'I am he, ' and they all drew back and fell to the ground.“ The power and the authority of Christ, even as he’s being betrayed!
And if you know the story, it gets even better. Hot-headed Peter tries to help him out and slices the slave’s ear off. Okay, we know that Jesus heals the ear. Here’s what’s important as well: Jesus also saved Peter, because Peter would have been arrested and killed for that! But get this: he wiped out the evidence when Jesus healed the ear! He wiped out the evidence! What are they going to do—go back? „He cut my ear off; this one was on the ground, ” and he put it back? Jesus was already prepared to erase everything to die for our sins, to set us free of the guilt and shame that we like to walk in sometimes.
The Suffering of Christ
But it made me think, okay, still, it’s hard to wait. It’s hard to wait! And have you ever witnessed the miracle of God that gave you hope, just to experience pain right after that made you doubt? I see a lot of people that really struggle with this. They want to trust God through the process, and something good will happen, and they’ll be like, „Yes, God is real when he’s here and he hears my voice!“ But then, the next week, they’re like, „What happened? How did I mess up? I’m done with this!“ Like, you gave it a week? God already showed you a miracle, but now you’re leaving because it’s getting difficult or because it’s getting hard?
See, what was seen over the next few days devastated every follower of Christ. So now let me give you the background about how he suffered and what he went through for us. He is also the only person believed in history to have been scourged by the Romans and crucified on the cross. He is the only person on record that has ever been scourged by the Romans.
Like I told you, they were ruthless, okay? They didn’t stop just at 40 lashes; they kept going. They wanted to kill! They wanted the reputation of how big and bad they were. And so, Jesus knew that he was heading towards this.
All right, before going to the cross, he was—if you look at the text—he was blindfolded! Jesus was spat on; a crown of thorns was shoved on his head. They punched him and slapped him in the face, and they mocked him. „You’re the king of the Jews, right?“ I wonder if it became real to the disciples at that moment when Jesus said, „You know, if somebody slaps you, give them the other cheek.“ Jesus lived it out in that moment! In fact, it was prophetic!
But they plucked the beard off of his face. This was written! He was beaten by Jewish soldiers; he was also beaten by Pilate and Herod’s soldiers as well. And then he was scourged, because I believe Pilate didn’t want to crucify him, so he said, „Okay, here’s the next best thing. Let’s go ahead and lead him to this. Let’s really punish him. Hopefully, when we present him to the Jews, then they’ll let him go free, ” because he still believed that he was an innocent man. So he made sure that they handled it very roughly.
If you know nothing about how they scourged in the time of the Romans, what they would do is strip him down, and they tied his hands, and his wrists were shackled so that he could not move. He couldn’t move! And what they did from there is that his flesh was torn off. And at the end, there were these pieces—there was metal, there was wire, there was glass, and there were fragments of bone that would rip and tear through his skin, just completely ripping it off!
In fact, it’s recorded that in a Roman scourge, there was a man, and his whole spinal cord was showing after the scourging! After he went through that process, and what I’m telling you is that Jesus went through this process: no sleep, six different trials, he’s being hated on by everybody; now he’s being scourged. He’s going through this; his body has taken this tremendous beating. And the Bible tells us that he was unrecognizable!
See, the prophecy was fulfilled—Isaiah chapter 52, verse 14: „But many were amazed when they saw him because his face was so disfigured, he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance one would scarcely say or know that he was even a man.“ That’s how bad it was! But he’s the only person on record to go through a scourging and then be crucified.
So he went through that process, then he carries his own cross, and now he’s on the cross. The way that they nailed him to the cross, the way that the Romans would do this is that yes, he could exhale, but he couldn’t inhale. Or he could inhale, but he couldn’t exhale, excuse me! And so what they would have to do is they’d have to lift himself up a little bit to breathe, and that’s why the Romans would come, and they would break their legs, because if they broke their legs, they weren’t able to pull up.
But if you know that it’s also spoken—it’s prophetic—that they would not break a bone out of his body! So instead of breaking his legs, he was already dead. They wanted to prove it, so they put a spear in his side, and the Bible tells us that blood and water shot out! And you know what that means? That Jesus died from a broken heart! His heart exploded! That’s what it means, that blood and water shot out. All of this was prophetic, and he did this for you. He went through all this for you!
Understand the authority that Christ has! He said, „I am!“ 600 men fell to the ground! Jesus told Pilate, „I could call upon my heavenly army, and they would come free me.“ But he chose to suffer so that you can be free! So you don’t have to be a victim to this world or the sin around us!
The Tomb and the Guards
This all happened on the first day that he was buried. And then the second day, it was all sealed shut! They even believed that they put mortar around the stone so that they couldn’t move it. In fact, it’s believed that 12 to 16 soldiers actually guarded the tomb! Why? Because the enemy was still afraid of his authority! Even in death, they were still afraid of his power!
And so gossip started to go around, and they started to talk. They thought, „Okay, we’re gonna guard this place so the disciples don’t come get Jesus out of the tomb.“ That’s why they sealed it shut; that’s why they had so many soldiers! And I’m telling you the truth, the disciples were hiding behind locked doors.
Let me show you, on the third day, the disciples hid in disbelief behind the locked door. John chapter 20, verse 19, New Living Translation: „That Sunday evening, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.“ They were afraid! They were afraid of what was going to happen!
If I can be real with you, let me ask you this question: Are you afraid right now? Are you afraid to fully live for Christ? Are you afraid to really give your life over to Jesus? Are you afraid that you may have to give up some things that you don’t want to give up? Are you afraid that something may feel wrong with your heart because you’re living for the world, and it’s hard, and you know you want to get back on track, but you just don’t want to give up some things? Are you afraid of what people may say about you? For some of you, maybe it’s your family. You may not have grown up in a Christian home. You may know what it’s like to talk about Jesus, and people make fun of you—to be that guy or that girl at work, right?
Are you afraid? Because it was in that moment that I told you Jesus showed up! The locked door could not hold him back, and he was seen by the disciples, and it’s powerful! But still the question: Why does God make us wait? Why does God allow us to experience a letdown right after a miracle sometimes?
Why God Makes Us Wait: To Prepare Us
So I want to give you three different answers, or three answers before you leave today, that will help you understand why God makes us wait, why he allows us to wait, and why he wants us to have faith no matter what things look like before us.
Point number one is this: To prepare us! God will make you wait to prepare you. See, the biggest step in trusting God is believing that God is doing something even when you can’t see it. This is why the Holy Spirit is so important! This is why it’s so important for you to spend time with the Father and to know his voice.
Because I’m telling you, there were times in my life that I felt like everything was crashing down, but I kept hearing his voice, and God’s saying, „Walk!“ But that’s scary! „Walk!“ Okay, „Walk.“ Okay, „How did I get here?“ Because there it looked like I was about to die; there it looked like I had no money for food; that’s where everybody mocked me. „How did I get here?“ Because God wants you to trust him through the process. That even though you can’t see it, it does not mean that it’s not happening!
See, Jesus—God was preparing the disciples for the opposition that they would later face in the future! He was preparing them right now to trust God through the process, because they were going to have to go through a lot of trials in the future. They were going to have to go through persecution, but the difference is before they hid behind locked doors! Now that they know, and they believe, and they trust, and the Holy Spirit gave them power and authority through the Son of God, they stood up boldly! „I don’t care what you do to me. I don’t care what you say about me. I don’t even care if you like me! God loves you! I’m going to honor my Father no matter what!“
See, when we wait on God, God prepares our hearts to trust him! So we need that! We need that faith; we need to trust God through the process, and we have to learn this. When we wait on God, we learn how to trust God.
The Unseen: Descent into the Heart of the Earth
Now, what happened that was not seen? What was God doing? What battle was he fighting that nobody knew about at the time? Remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 12, verse 40. He said, „For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.“
Ephesians goes into this as well—Ephesians 4, verse 9, Amplified Version: „Now this expression, he ascended, what does it mean except that he also had previously descended from the heights of heaven to the lower parts of the earth.“ And here’s where it becomes a head scratcher, because in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 19, Peter says this: „He went and preached to the spirits in prison.“
And if you start to read the story, this is where it can confuse you. What does that mean? And I think it’s fascinating because the early church believed this: When Jesus died upon the cross, first, let me ask you this question: Where did the prophets of God go before Jesus died on the cross for them? Where did they go?
There’s an interesting text out of Luke chapter 16, where Jesus tells the story about a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man had everything. The poor man did not. And when they died, he says the angels took them into the earth! But there were two compartments: there was a lower compartment, and there was an upper compartment.
And it sounds kind of funny, but he calls it Abraham’s bosom, right? That’s the name of it. Another name for it, though, is paradise! Some of y’all just giggled on that one! Anyway, paradise! So think about it, like paradise. There’s an upper compartment of paradise, and then there’s the lower part of Hades, or Sheol, of torment and hell.
And in the story, Jesus communicates to his disciples, and he says that the poor man who loves God was in the upper compartment of paradise with the prophets. But he was able to see on the other side; there was a gulf in between them. He was able to see on the other side the man in torment, in Sheol, in Hades, or hell, okay? And he saw this.
And so the early church believed that the power and the authority of Christ that he actually went into the gates of hell and he preached to the prophets; he preached to the people of God! Look at this! Luke chapter 16, verses 22 and 23, Amplified Version: „This is where Jesus told the story. He said, 'Now it happened that the poor man died, and his spirit was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom, paradise. And the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, the realm of the dead, being in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away.'“ So he was able to see, and Lazarus in his bosom in paradise on the other side!
And it made me think: What did Jesus tell the thief beside him on the cross when the thief said, „Forgive me! You are a righteous man!“ Jesus said, „On this day, you will see me in paradise!“ And it made me think, after they died, this man who was a robber, a thief, a guilty man, in the upper compartment, the holy people of God, as Jesus was there to set them free. No longer were they captive, but every sin has been forgiven!
You may not think God is working, but he’s fighting for you even when you don’t see it! And it gets crazier!
God’s Promises Fulfilled in His Timing
Point number two: God’s promises are always fulfilled at the proper time! We’re human; we don’t understand what’s going to happen, so we want to rush everything. „God, have it happen now! I want this blessing now, or I want this change now!“ But sometimes, God is saying, „You’re not ready! You’re not ready if it were to happen now!“
So everything that God speaks will take place, but in the proper time! And so when God shows you a miracle at times, he will let you down or he’ll allow you to go through letdowns. He won’t let you down because you have to experience some pain to experience God’s healing power of salvation—meaning that you have to go through trials; you have to go through seasons of pain to realize how much you need God—to realize how much you need him, his forgiveness, his grace, and his mercy. But you have to experience his pain!
Some of the pain that I have been through in my own life I would never take away, but at the time, I hated it. But you know it too, don’t you? You’ve been through some things that nobody even knows about, but it made you stronger, and it made you believe in the impossible!
Here’s where it’s really cool. You ready for this one? Matthew chapter 27, verses 51-53. A lot of people don’t know about this. „At the moment, the curtain in the sanctuary—the temple—was torn! Something crazy happened! The earth shook; the rocks split apart, and the tombs opened! And this is usually what we see out of the movies, but it continues and it says this: 'The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead! And they left the cemetery after Jesus’s resurrection, and they went into the holy city of Jerusalem and appeared to many people! '“
Can you imagine? „Is that Grandpa? Grandpa, is that you? You’ve been dead for like 10 years!“ A miracle! Crazy, right? And Jesus was seen for 40 days! In fact, the Bible records he was probably seen by around 500 different people in those 40 days!
And so this is what Jesus said, though! Even though they did not understand—because if I were to read the King James Version, it actually says that the saints who slept, the saints who were dead, arose and came out of the grave. And Jesus told his disciples: His word will come true! Mark 9:31: „For the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of the enemy; he will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead!“
Satan cannot stop it! And it doesn’t matter how it looks or how bad it gets—Jesus was going to rise from the dead, and the disciples behind a locked door witnessed that! In fact, the people of Jerusalem saw many that were raised up alive in Christ! Because, get this: there was a rumbling in the gates of hell, and Jesus had the keys to set us free! There is no authority in hell that has power over my God! And when you believe that and you trust that, you no longer walk in fear because you know how good he is!
To Bring Us Close
My last point is this: Why does God make us wait? Point number three: To bring us close! You know, I started to look at the timeline, and Jesus appeared to his disciples. And this is not going to be on the screen, but in John chapter 20, verse 26, it even says: „Eight days later, his disciples were again inside the house, and Thomas was with them.“ So Thomas was able to see Jesus.
And then, in John chapter 21, it says, „After this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee.“ And so I started to think about how long Peter had to wait, how long Peter had to deal with his guilt and his frustration for denying Jesus and what he went through and how much he loved him but felt like he was alone.
And I started to think about Peter in the boat as they were fishing, and he’s casting his net and catching nothing. In my eyes, I would think, you know how the world is when we make mistakes—like, one thing after another—and then we start saying things over our life, like, „I’m never going to see anything good anymore! God’s forgotten about me! This is just my life now, and I’m just an empty man that was supposed to catch fish!“
Jesus said this over me, but this is who I am now. And the Bible tells us that there was a man that appeared on the beach. He says, „Hey, have you caught anything?“ He says, „No.“ And Jesus says, „Cast your nets on the right side!“ And as he did, the Bible tells us that the nets became so full that they weren’t able to hold it up!
And at that moment, it hit Peter! „I know those words! I know that voice! See, that voice has spoken to me before when I was alone and felt like I had nothing left. In fact, I know his word because he’s spoken that over me before! And God has spoken over you! His words are here to stay! The enemy will never take that away! And he’s declared over your life that there’s victory because of Jesus, because of what he did on the cross!“
And it’s at times when you go through pain or seasons of trials and you have to wait. And as you wait on God, as soon as you recognize his voice—oh my God! I can hear you again! Oh my God, I praise you, holy Lord! For you have not abandoned me! You have not left me! You’ve always been here!
And Peter jumped out of the boat! And I want to pray for you at this moment, and then after that today, we’re going to do something special: we’re going to take communion together before you leave! And if you don’t have one, I’ll tell you what—if you don’t have it, go ahead and raise your hand right now if you’d like one. Okay? You guys can see that, leaders. We’ll bring it out to you.
But before we get into the communion, I want to ask you this question: Have you been living in fear? Have you been running away from God? Have you been numb? Have you felt like it’s too late? Have you felt like you’ve been waiting for so long that nothing is going to change—that God has spoken and declared something over you, but it just looks like he’s doing nothing?
And so sometimes you feel just like the disciples behind a locked door and afraid. But I’m telling you and I’m declaring it: God has a miracle for you! There is victory! You just don’t see it yet, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not there! There’s a reason that you’re here today; there’s a reason that you’re in this room!
Well, Pastor, it’s Easter. No, I get that. But if you feel that pull in your heart right now, that’s God declaring over your life, „You are His!“ Stop running! Stop hiding! And it’s time to move and believe and see the reason of why he created you! See the reason of why he set you free! Don’t you want it? It’s Peter jumped out of the boat! He’s bringing you close!