{"id":225,"date":"2018-11-07T11:31:07","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T19:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/migrate.bettersermons.org\/?p=225"},"modified":"2020-06-01T11:40:30","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T18:40:30","slug":"jesus-has-already-been-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/jesus-has-already-been-there\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus Has Already Been There"},"content":{"rendered":"
Jesus Has Already Been There<\/span><\/div>\n

\".\"
\nThe following funeral message can be easily memorized and delivered without notes. The repetitious use of the title phrase,\u00a0Jesus Has Already Been There,<\/em>\u00a0can be a powerful trumpet of God\u2019s comforting light during the darkness of death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n
Outline Summary<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nIntroduction
\nFriday Afternoon in Nazareth – Luke 2:51
\nMorning in the Carpenter\u2019s Shop – Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3
\nClinic Day in Capernaum – Matthew 8:16, 12:5, Luke 6:16-19
\nThe Tardy Mortician – Mark 5:22-43, Luke 8:41-56
\nChrist\u2019s Empty Grave – Matthew 28:5-7, Mark 16:5-7
\nConclusion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
Introduction<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n1. Come with me for a moment in your imagination.
\n2. For in this meditation, we will find real hope and real comfort from a real God.
\n3. A God who loves us and promises a day of reunions when His Son returns to this earth.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
Body<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n1. Come with me to a little village (Friday Afternoon in Nazareth)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nWe enter a humble home\u2026 just a couple of rooms.
\nThe mother busies herself in the kitchen.
\nSabbath is approaching, and she wants all to be ready.
\nShe prepares simple food \u2013 rice and beans, fruit.
\nA delicious aroma fills the home.
\nThe Challa is rising on the counter, to be baked later.
\nShe knows she must also tidy the family sleeping quarters.
\nShe parts the curtain the separates the two rooms\u2026 to continue her labors.<\/p>\n

But\u2026.
\nShe is pleasantly surprised.
\nThe beds have been made with fresh linens.
\nThe floor has been swept.
\nThe trash has been taken out to the incinerator.
\nThere is nothing more she need do.
\nShe can start to rest earlier today.
\nMary\u2019s mouth curves into a smile.<\/p>\n

It is obvious that\u2026. JESUS HAD ALREADY BEEN THERE.
\nJesus was a helpful child.\u00a0 He had been doing His chores
\nHe wanted to make things easier for His dear mother.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n2. Come with me to that same home\u2026(Morning in the Carpenter\u2019s Shop)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nA hard working contractor, the father rises early.
\nHe wants to get an early start to his day, before the heat makes sweating easy.
\nThere are many small orders on his work bench.
\nPlus\u2026there is the room addition for the Rabbi.
\nThere was still more to be done, always more.
\nHe had promised to fix that broken chair by last week.
\nHe would positively get to it today.
\nHe stretches out his neck and flexes his bulging muscles.
\nThen, reaches for the door-handle to his shop.\u00a0 His day had begun.
\nHe looks inside\u2026<\/p>\n

And\u2026there on the workbench is\u2026the chair.
\nIt\u2019s missing leg is no longer missing!
\nHe can hardly tell which is the replacement!\u00a0 That one?\u00a0 No, that one!
\nHis son was getting good with wood\u2026but this good!?\u00a0 Impressive!
\nThe curves had been hand rubbed with a new coat of stain.
\nIt glistens in the morning sun.
\nWhy\u2026the bill is even made out.
\nIt is ready for delivery.
\nAnd Joseph\u2019s mouth curves into a smile.<\/p>\n

It is obvious that\u2026. JESUS HAD ALREADY BEEN THERE.
\nJesus the young adult craftsman, had worked late into the night.
\nHe wanted to make the day a little easier on his dear old dad.<\/p>\n

Joseph put on his tool belt, and picked up the next work order.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n3. Come with me to a near by town (Clinic Day in Capernaum)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nThe traveling doctors have arrived.
\nEven though it\u2019s a big town, they don\u2019t have their own doctor.
\nIt\u2019s either the 2nd or 4th Wednesday. Clinic Day
\nThey always have a full schedule of patients.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nLong lines of lepers
\nBig Bunches of the Blind
\nStanding room only for the strange.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nIt will be a busy day.
\nThe good doctors unpack their bags and open the doors.<\/p>\n

But\u2026there is no one there!!
\nThe street is empty.
\nThere\u2019s not even a mild case of the sniffles!
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve come a long way for clinic day.\u201d
\nThey ask a passing woman\u2026
\n\u201cIt is very strange\u2026where are all our normal patients?\u201d
\n\u201cOh!\u201d she replies \u201cThere was a healer here yesterday.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\u201cThere\u2019s not a sick person in town!\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it great!\u201d she smiles.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\u201cGreat\u201d the doctor\u2019s reply, half-heartedly, thinking of the billing they won\u2019t receive.
\nThen the doctor\u2019s started to smile too, thinking of pain free people,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\u00a0instead of their bottom line.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nIt was obvious that JESUS HAD ALREADY BEEN THERE.
\nHe had healed them all \u2013 everything from the common cold to cancer,
\nSniffles to Syphilis, Hangnails to Herpes.<\/p>\n

The doctors packed their bags and headed out of town.\u00a0They\u2019d be home for supper.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n4. Come with me to another visit to another lake-side village. (The Tardy Mortician)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\u00a0A funeral director has received a message.
\n\u201cThe synagogue leaders little girl has died.\u00a0Very sudden.\u00a0Will you come?\u201d
\nHe has some other work to do, and was delayed in coming right away.
\nBesides, family handled most of the arrangements anyway.
\nBut\u2026he finally did arrive.
\nAnd\u2026instead of finding a corpse, he found a kid.
\nA girl\u2026very much alive, sitting up and having a snack.
\n\u201cHey,\u201d the mortician said \u201cIt\u2019s not nice to make a crank call to the funeral director.\u201d
\n\u201cOh\u2026the little girl was dead alright.\u00a0But we will no longer require your services.\u201d<\/p>\n

You see\u2026 JESUS HAD ALREADY BEEN THERE.
\nHe had gone into her slumber room, and taken her cooling, stiffening hand.
\nAnd spoke to her quiet little ears \u201cLittle girl, I say to you\u2026arise.\u201d
\nThen, color rushed back into her cheeks.\u00a0 Her lips pinked up.
\nHer lungs filled with air\u2026and her eyes opened.
\nThat\u2019s what happens when you invite Jesus to the death chamber.<\/p>\n

A little girl talks with her mouth full \u201cImf meelin\u2019 bebber nuw.\u201d
\nA father and mother look on with great relief.
\nThe mortician shakes his head and heads back to the office.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n5. Today we come to an open casket and\/or an open grave.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nWe stand by a six foot trench, rimmed by plastic grass.
\nWe gather to say \u201cgood night\u201d to a spouse\/child\/relative\/friend.
\nThere are red, puffy eyes and blank stares.
\nDeath has visited a human home once again.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ve got some GOOD NEWS for us, who gaze into a new tomb.
\nJESUS HAD ALREADY BEEN THERE\u2026TOO!<\/p>\n

The grave is no stranger to Jesus.
\nHe has occupied a grave\u2026for parts of 3 days.
\nAnd because of that\u2026the grave has lost its sting.<\/p>\n

For a Christian, the grave is not an occupied pit of hopelessness and despair.
\nIt is a temporary resting place.
\nBecause JESUS HAS ALREADY BEEN THERE\u2026and is no longer there.
\nHE IS RISEN!<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have\u00a0 fallen asleep\u2026but each in his own turn; Christ, the firstfruits, then when He comes,\u00a0 those who belong to Him.\u201d\u00a01 Corinthians 15:20, 23<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nConclusion<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n1. Revelation 1:5\u00a0 Jesus is identified as \u201cThe Living One who holds the keys to death and the grave.”
\n2. We can be confident that death is not a horrible experience, but a peaceful one.
\n3. It is like a pleasant sleep (John 11:11).
\n4. The dead will live again\u2026
\n5. The grave we fill today\u2026will be empty too!…and the final resurrection.
\n6. Where Jesus is there is joy, peace, love and comfort.
\n7. Where Jesus has been there are smiles, changed people, wholeness and LIFE.
\n8. May the truth that Jesus has been here and been to death and back, give us comfort and hope today
\n9. Amen.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Submitted by Pastor\u00a0O. Kris Widmer. Better Sermons \u00a9 2005-2007. Click here for\u00a0<\/span>usage guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jesus Has Already Been There The following funeral message can be easily memorized and delivered without notes. The repetitious use of the title phrase,\u00a0Jesus Has Already Been There,\u00a0can be a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions\/226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}