Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick opens this Easter message at Journey Church by reading Isaiah 61 and Jesus' words in John 8 about truth and freedom, noting that freedom implies a captivity—and that people can be bound by sin or oppression without recognizing it. He then reads Jesus' announcement in the Nazareth synagogue from Luke 4 as the fulfillment of Isaiah's promise, and observes that Jesus' hometown rejected him rather than receiving him, calling the congregation not to miss the deliverance Jesus offers.
Pastor Keith then turns to the resurrection and to Mary Magdalene, arguing that God consistently goes first to the unlikely—shepherds at the nativity, then Mary Magdalene at the tomb, described in the Gospels as a woman from whom seven demons had gone out. He questions the later tradition that labeled her a prostitute, tracing it to a church figure centuries afterward, and redirects attention to her deliverance and her costly following of Jesus, including her presence at the cross. He also addresses demons and spiritual authority at length, insisting that Jesus' power still frees people from torment and bondage.
The closing section follows Mary to the tomb, where angels appear and she mistakes the risen Jesus for a gardener until he speaks her name. Pastor Keith draws a comparison to the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat, presents Mary as the leading witness of the resurrection, and closes with an invitation, a prayer of response, and an encouragement to abide in Scripture and church life.
Take this with you
Freedom implies a captivity we may not see
Pastor Keith opens with self-examination rather than comparison: acknowledge the need to be set free, then ask what holds you. He ties Jesus' teaching in John 8 to abiding in his word rather than to a slogan, and stresses that sin can enslave a person without them noticing. He also reads Isaiah 61 as the promise Jesus came to fulfill.
Jesus read Isaiah and claimed fulfillment
In Luke 4, Jesus reads Isaiah 61 in the Nazareth synagogue and identifies himself as the fulfillment of its promise of restoration and release. Pastor Keith highlights the crowd's rejection and urges listeners to recognize what Jesus offers.
God goes first to the unlikely
Pastor Keith compares the shepherds receiving the birth announcement in Luke 2 with Mary Magdalene receiving the resurrection appearance in Mark 16. He interprets these as examples of God's grace reaching people their culture overlooked.
A delivered woman who followed and gave
Pastor Keith reads Luke 8, where Jesus casts seven demons out of Mary Magdalene and women who had been healed accompany and financially support the ministry. He points out that John 19 places her at the cross when others had fled. Her deliverance and costly following, not a later label, are the emphasis.
A father's belief and unbelief
In Mark 9, a father asks Jesus to help his tormented son and cries out that he believes while asking for help with his unbelief. Pastor Keith holds up that honest prayer as a model and points to Jesus' rebuke of the spirit and the boy's release. The application is that Jesus is able to deliver.
She heard her name and became a witness
In John 20, Mary recognizes the risen Jesus when he speaks her name. Pastor Keith presents her as a worshiper and leading resurrection witness. He connects the closing invitation with Colossians 2:15 and Jesus' victory over spiritual opposition.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
while you're taking a seat if you brought your sword today I'm referring to your Bible would you just take out your Bible right now if you brought it would you wave it in the air right now and would you just shout word word at Journey Church we believe the Bible is no ordinary book we believe this is the Living Word of God that God still speaks and when you get into this book you're giving God an opportunity to speak to you today I want to welcome you that if you do not have a Bible we would love to give you one as a free gift before you leave today there's some tables in the back of this Auditorium and there's a stack of Bibles on there that's a free gift to you if you want more information that we've got an next steps table out in the lobby you can just meet with someone real nice there and just let them know you want a Bible and they'll give one to you or at the end of this service there's going to be a prayer
team right at the front of this platform and you can simply just let them know that you would like a Bible when you come and ask for some prayer we would love to give you the greatest gift of all God's word in Isaiah chap 61 verses 1 2 and 3 the prophet Isaiah writes the spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor he has sent me to bind up the Brokenhearted to Proclaim Liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of Vengeance of our God to
comfort all who mourn to Grant to those who mourn in Zion to give to them a beautiful headdress instead of Ashes the oil of gladness instead of mourning the Garment of Praise instead of a faint heart that they may be called Oaks of righteousness the planting of the Lord that he may be glorified this is the word of the Lord if you agree would you just shout amen that means it's true that's what the word amen means so be it I believe it when we shout amen it's an affirmation of the truth Jesus has fulfilled this
writing of Isaiah he has come to set the captives free Jesus has come to set you free to be free implies that you are captive to something all people love the idea of freedom but not Everyone likes the idea of where Freedom comes from or what you're being freed from it was Jesus in John chapter 8 we're told that Jesus said to the Jews in John 8:31 he said to the Jews who had believed in him if you abide in my word you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free if we stop there for a moment this is one of the greatest
misquotes in all of history people love to say that the truth sets you free but what they don't do is give the author any credit that Jesus said the truth will set you free well the truth is found in abiding in his word that when you abide in his word you become a disciple a disciple is a student you become a student of Jesus and when you're a student of Jesus you know the truth and when you know the truth that's the truth that sets you free but then we're told if you continue reading in verse 33 they answered Jesus we are offspring of Abraham they're simply saying we're Israelites we're the Hebrew people we are Jews and have never been enslaved to anyone which isn't true the Israelites were slaves in Egypt
for hundreds of years but they asked this question to Jesus how is it that you say you will become free they're implying what are you saying we need to be free from Jesus answered them in verse 34 truly truly I say to you everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin Jesus is not talking about a physical captivity he's talking about the place of our hearts you can be a a a slave to sin and you may not even know it you may say what do I need to be freed from it was Rosa Luxembourg that said those who do not move do not notice their own
chains those who do not move do not notice their chains there there are many that are Shackled they're held back to strongholds and they don't even know it they don't know what they need to be liberated from you might be here today living in dark you might be here today oppressed by something and and and you're not even sure what that looks like and Jesus stepped into the story of humanity so that you would be set free that you would no longer have to live in darkness you'd no longer be bound by the things you've done or the things that were done to you but you can actually know the truth of the maker that made you you could walk in his ways and you can know the truth and it can set you free and those who are free are free in deed and so today we start with a self-examination there's no judgment of
any other soul but our own and to say do I acknowledge that I need to be set free and if I acknowledge I need to be set free what do I need to be set free from do I acknowledge that I've been in captivity do do I acknowledge that I need a savior of of what I've been going through in my own story because we like the idea of freedom but do we know where freedom is found in the Book of Luke is the author writes about the account of Jesus life he says in Luke 4: 16 that Jesus comes to his hometown and Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as was his custom he went to the synagogue the synagogue would be the
equivalent of what we call church today it's the place of worship for the Jewish people they would study the scriptures they would sing songs and they would pray and he would go go to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and he unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written the scripture I shared with you earlier out of Isaiah chapter 61 Jesus read the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to Proclaim good news to the poor he has sent me to Proclaim Liberty to the captives and the recovery of sight to the blind to set at Liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of
the Lord's favor and he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus and he began to say to them today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing how awesome would it be to be in the synagogue on this day your parents drag you to synagogue and you think it's going to be an ordinary day and then this man Jesus gets up and reads from the scroll Isaiah written some 700 years earlier and he comes to this place and he speaks of the coming Messiah or what today we call the Christ that there would be one unlike any other
that would actually save he would set captives free he would bind up the Brokenhearted he would heal those who are sick he would be the one to liberate those who are oppressed and as he shares these words he says from this day forward you can know that these words have been fulfilled I am the one whom Isaiah has written about you would think that the people would get on their knees and start praising Jesus but instead they took Jesus out of the synagogue up the Hill to throw them off a cliff they could not see their need for a savior they did not understand what they were oppressed from they could not see that Jesus is the one whom Isaiah was writing about but as Jesus said in
his own words no one takes his life although he is truly man 100% man he is also truly God 100% God he says I give my life so he would not let his life be taken from him that day so he slips away and on this day when Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah the chosen one of God there was a missed opportunity they could have met their maker they could have met God Almighty In the Flesh and they missed it I want to encourage you today do not miss this opportunity Jesus is alive Jesus is
still the way and the truth and the life he is still setting captives free he still saves us from our sins he is the great deliverer and you can be delivered today in Jesus name today is not an ordinary day as the Apostle Paul would write behold now is the favorable time behold now is the day of salvation God does not want you to wait another day nor does he want you to wait a better day you do not need to go get your life right first and fix something before you can meet with God today is the day of salvation you can have an experience with the Risen Savior right now and be forever changed don't you let the devil deceive you and think that somehow this is for someone else you need this
message right now don't you go anywhere else in your mind receive what God wants to give you today he's got good news for you he's got some hope for you this isn't just for a few people this is not a holy huddle We Believe at Journey Church There's Hope for everyone today I want to point to you a particular person that met Jesus on that first Resurrection Day the resurrection is the greatest event in all of history the world is forever changed because Jesus did what no other man had ever done before he rose from the grave he was not resuscitated he was not brought back to life he is glorified his body that was beaten so bad it was whipped so that he was
unrecognizable his face that was slapped his beard that was ripped out on that third day when he rose from the grave by the power of God Almighty the Holy Spirit he is glorified he decided to leave the holes in his hands and the holes in his and the hole in his side so that we would know that he is Jesus the one that Rose from the grave this Changes Everything Jesus did what needed to be done he the Fulfillment of the law and the prophets he is the only one that defeated death and in doing so he defeated the devil and one could Wonder whom would the savior of the world that's risen from the grave who would he first present himself too probably pilate the one that sentenced him to be crucified maybe it would be the high
priest or the the Council of the Sanhedrin these religious leaders of the day who would Jesus reveal him himself too I want you to know it's the most unlikely of all people do you know that God's ways are not our ways what God sees is not the way that man sees when we judge one another when we come to a conclusion sometimes we got to recognize that God's ways are higher than our ways so sometimes it can be quite confusing until you experience the very grace of God that allows you to be a part of his story The per first person Jesus reveals himself to is the most unlikely of all people before I get to this Resurrection story I want to first start with the Christmas story in Luke Chapter 2 we're told of
the birth of Jesus and in the second chapter starting with the sixth verse we read about Mary and Joseph on their journey to Bethlehem and while they were there it says in Luke 2:6 the time came for her Mary to give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn son wrapped him in swaddling cloths laid in a Manger because there was no place for them in the end and in the same region we're told there were shepherds out in the field keeping their watch over their flock by night and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord Shone around them and they were filled with great fear and the angel said to them fear not for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be
for all would you shout sh all for all the people for unto you was born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the lord and this will be a sign for you you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace among those whom he is well pleased so I want to you to see in the Christmas story of all the people that would receive the announcement of the savior of the world for all people God
starts with the most unlikely of all people Shepherds you see in a cultural context this may not mean much to you today in the 21st century in the western world but in the ancient Middle East 2,000 years ago Shepherds were the lowest in society they were so low that they were considered unclean they could not go places that other Jewish people could go even if you were a Jewish Shepherd they were considered marginalized they were On The Fringe of society they were Outcast by all standards Shepherds were not even included to be a witness in the court of law because they were considered untrustworthy and of all the people for God Almighty Majestic glorious infinite
all powerful who would he introduce that he's come to this world he starts by coming to the Shepherds the most unlikely of all people they can't even be Witnesses in the court of love how can we trust that they experience this angel or even an army of angels how can we trust that they got to experience the glory of God that's reserved for someone who's clean who's educated who seems to have it all together but God shows us that his ways are not our ways he's improbable he does the impossible and so we see at the announcement of his birth he he comes to the Shepherds and now we turn to the resurrection story on that first day
Jesus rose from the grave Mark 16:9 tells us when he Jesus rose was early on the first day of the week he appeared first someone shout first first he appeared first to Mary Magdalene from whom he had cast out seven demons she went and told those who had been with him and they mourned and they wept but when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her they would not believe it we have here in only a few words the one whom Jesus decides to reveal himself to First it wasn't a
man it wasn't one of his followers these Jewish men that gave up everything to become a disciple student of Jesus it wasn't the prestigious person like a king nor was it a high priest it was none other than a woman now you got to understand this understand the cultural context of what's being said here because even in the Middle East to this day many women are not counted as equal they are oppressed they have to cover themselves they don't have the same opportunity go back 2,000 years ago at the time of this culture even in the Jewish culture at this time women were not counted as equal in fact not only were they not counted as equal they were counted lower
than men they were not afforded the opportunity for education they did not have the same opportunities for career that's why it's significant that when a woman's lost her husband and she became a widow she would have to fend for herself she would have to fight for herself and here we have not only a woman we're told what her name is she's Mary Magdalene this is Mary from magdala magdala was just a small fishing Village not a great big city does anything good come from magdala this would be Mary Magdalene just as Jesus is associated as Jesus the Nazarene does anything good come out of
Nazareth this this is to associate that she is the one that you think she is because there are many other Marys out there but there's only one Mary Magdalene and we're told that of all the people on the planet that Jesus would reveal himself to it's her this is the one that history has decided to label as a harlot a prostitute where did we get that idea that she was a prostitute well the the rumor the association was first started in 591 ad by Pope Gregory the first he shared in a message that Mary Magdalene is the woman whom wept at Jesus feet and dried it off with her hair and she was judged by Simon the Pharisee and Simon the Pharisee said in his mind that if Jesus knew who she was that he would
never let such a a woman touch him but Jesus knew exactly who that woman was but there's no association that that's Mary Magdalene because Mary Magdalene is mentioned in all four of the accounts of Jesus life Matthew Mark Luke and John and none of them seem to mind to put her name in there so I think if that was Mary Magdalene the authors probably would have put Mary Magdalene but instead we have an accus ation we have a judgment an association that has actually been passed down through church history PE people have said Mary Magdalene is the prostitute I don't know if you've ever been judged before I don't know if you've ever been labeled before but I believe that every single one of us here today can relate to Mary Magdalene maybe you've been accused of something that's
not true maybe your identity has been described as something someone falsely said Mary Magdalene is someone that we ought to not only relate to we should want to emulate her experience and meet with the Risen Jesus let's learn more about Mary Magdalene in the eth chapter of the Book of Luke where're introduced to her we're told that Jesus was doing Ministry in chapter 8 verse one of Luke soon afterwards Jesus went through cities and Villages proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God what is the good news of the kingdom of God I'll share three things that we see frequently with this message number one when pre Jesus would preach the good news he would preach repent repent means change your thinking it's it's a great word Jesus is saying the way you're
thinking may not be right repent for the kingdom is at hand meaning you can have God's ways instead of your ways you can have God's ways instead of the world's ways repent so Jesus would preach the gospel that's the good news change your thinking and align it with Gods the second thing you to do is heal you he'd bring sight to the blind the mute would speak the deaf would heal would hear those who were lame would walk those whose skin was unclean he would he would heal them so he'd preach the good news he would heal and the third thing he did often is deliver from demons he would deliver those who had been oppressed those who had been tormented and now we're told that as he's going from town to town city to City proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God the 12 were with them the
these are the Jewish men that gave up their lives to be Disciples of Jesus and also some women who are these women they were women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities now I want you to consider for a moment if if women aren't equal with men if you were described as one with an evil spirit or you had an infirmity you were really an outcast you would really be remembered but these women were set free they were transformed by Jesus who were they Luke tells us there was Mary called Magdalene from whom seven demons had gone out she's mentioned first of the women there was also Joanna the wife of chuza herod's household manager which is significant you can imagine the political scandals of the day Herod
saying that he's looking for Jesus and Joanna coming back telling the disciples don't go here and don't go there we got some inside information right here with Joanna there was also Susanna and many others Who provided for them the disciples in Jesus out of their own means these ladies were financially giving to Jesus they were the early entrepreneurs I love that this is included in the scriptures because they were giving out of their own means these were investors in the Kingdom work they were sewing seed financially with a holy expectation that God was going to give them a reward it wasn't because the world would give them anything and who would Jesus reveal himself to Mary
Magdalene the woman with seven demons she didn't have the seven demons any longer they were cast out but she would forever be identified as the woman who had seven demons now that sounds a little bit weird what sounds weird let me just explain to two things that that sound weird to to a normal person number one it's weird that this woman who had been set free and delivered from Seven demons she gave up her whole life to follow Jesus she followed him everywhere he went she went she financially invested she gave up her time she gave up her Treasures she gave up her talents she went all out for Jesus I recently heard a story from a journey family member here who told me that when she got saved as a teenager
this was during the Jesus Revolution her and other teenagers they would go from house to house just knocking on doors asking do you know Jesus and sometimes people would be open and they'd be interested but then her mother said to her listen don't be so Heavenly minded that you're of no earthly good translated quit being a Jesus freak you're getting a little weird maybe just focus on being a little more normal don't be so Heavenly minded you're of no earthly good may I just declare that is nowhere in the Bible because what the Bible tells us is this Earth is not our home so you should be so Heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good because I want to warn you all of us are going to die and you ain't taking nothing with you when you die it
doesn't matter if you're a billionaire or if you're broke you're taking nothing with you so your soul matters for eternity so you might as well be of so much Heavenly good that you're of no Earthly good you might as well let the world know that you've given your life to Jesus you follow him you're surrendered because you've been set free from something the problem is today the world looks at us and they can't tell the difference between those who are saved and who are not saved it's hard to know have you been delivered and what have you been delivered from this is a woman that's labeled for all history she had seven demons but they've been cast out so if it seems weird that she was following Jesus let's get a little weird the second thing that might be weird in the cult cultural context that we live in is we don't talk much about demons today and we ought
to because demons are tormenting people demons are destroying lives demons are destroying marriages churches cities countries and America is no exemption we are living in a time where we don't want to talk about demons in the church but Hollywood is Hollywood perverts the message of a demon thinking somehow that if someone is possessed by demon not even a priest can exercise that demon out that somehow a demon has more Authority than any religion or any person and I just want to say it's a perversion of what we see in the scriptures no one has to be afraid of any demon because once you've believed in Jesus you have believed in the one that has all authority over heaven and on Earth he has every authority over
every devil we ought not let Hollywood teach us about demons we should let God because what the Bible says are demons are just dark Spirits they were one- time angels and they were cast out of Heaven because they rebelled against God a third of Heaven left because they chose not to obey the Lord and give him glory but instead they followed Lucifer who also happened to be a fallen spirit so every dark spirit is simply a devil that means a deceiver they're just demons I know it might sound strange but the more you mature in your faith you begin to understand that although it seems weird to the world it it's normal when you've given your life to Jesus you have authority over every devil so when you're delivered God has changed your
life you've gone from Darkness to light you want to receive the power and the authority of everything God's given you we shouldn't let the entertainment industry tell us what's spiritual and what's not too many times we allow the world to tell us what the spirit world is all about let me just tell you you shouldn't dabble in Ouija boards or tarot cards or crystals or any other false Spirit or God that's trying to take you away from the one true Living God that's Jesus Christ there's no condemnation in that all I'm saying is the Devil is a deceiver Jesus is the way and the truth and the life and if you want to grow in your faith you've got to get to know Jesus don't call upon any old Spirits or dead Spirits or false Spirits turn to the true God Jesus Christ who will give you the Holy Spirit
there was a a late poet that said the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing in the world he didn't exist that if we don't talk about the devil if we disregard the devil then we'll just allow the devil and all these demons to do the work for us and then we don't understand why we're so miserable why people are committing so much suicide why the world is so broken why our marriag is falling apart why do we have such a collap why do we get in a divided nation why is there so much polarization why does racism still exist why do all these evils happen today because the devil is real and we have authority over this we don't need to let the devil run this nation we don't need the devil to run our families you don't need to let the devil run your life we've got to give Jesus control of absolutely everything
and you might not see it today because demons and the devil does not work the way Hollywood says it works they cannot read your mind they cannot control your body you cannot be possessed to the point that you can't Surrender Your Life to Jesus Christ you could be delivered of every single demonic stronghold even those that have been generationally passed down in your life you might not even know why your life is miserable but it's because there's been demonic attachments that have been there they have legal authority to operate in your life until you tell them they don't until you cancel them by the blood of Jesus which breaks every curse of every sin we actually have dominion over every devil in Jesus name Jesus repeated this time and time again and if this seems
strange to talk about on Easter I I want to just encourage you and challenge you get in your Bible when you read the life of Jesus in Matthew Mark Luke and John Jesus did this often he wasn't afraid of it it's not weird and we don't have to think it's weird either it could be our new normal to see people set free it could be our new normal for addiction to be broken in jesus' name it could be our new normal to see those who have been mentally ill restored in their minds it could be our new normal to see marriages restored it could be our new normal for bitterness and fits of rage and anger for people to be delivered and have peace and joy and love we can see a new normal that's found in Jesus Christ the Bible teaches us that by believing in
Jesus you're truly set free and you are free indeed you no longer have to be under this torment anymore we see that demons don't announce who they are they just come to seek to destroyed and when you all of a sudden understand that you have the legal authority to be delivered you're going to live and operate in it one of my favorite stories is found in the Book of Mark chapter 9 there's a father whose son has been tormented he's gone through physical torment over and over I can imagine he's a teenager and when explaining this to Jesus in Mark 9:22 it says and it cast him into the fire and into the water to destroy him that's what demons do they want to destroy physically emotionally and spiritually why does anyone commit self harm it's demonic that you're not Val Val that you're not worth it that somehow you've got to forget your pain
by harming yourself you can be delivered of that today suicide is demonic it's it's the ultimate view of harming the devil wants to take you out today if you have any thoughts of suicide I want to encourage you today it's because you're a threat to the devil he does not want you to keep living but you can have the freedom from this today you can be delivered from this today you can know that this thought isn't on your own it's because you haven't received the promise that God loves you and can deliver you so this demon was trying to destroy this boy but the father asked Jesus but if you can do anything have compassion on us and help us that should be your prayer today Lord I'm praying my kids will be delivered I'm praying they won't be tormented anymore and Jesus said to
this father if you can all things are possible for one who believes all someone shout all all that means for you too there's not a single one of us that Jesus can't deliver there's not a single son that Jesus can't deliver I'm here to tell you today that what Jesus Promised in the days of old is still true his promise cannot fail and and it says here that that Jesus said all things are possible for one who believes immediately the father of the child cried out and said I believe help my unbelief that that's a prayer any one of us can pray I believe you Jesus help my unbelief I want to grow in my faith I want to experience more of you and Jesus answered this father's cry he answered his prayer Jesus rebuked the unclean
Spirit saying you mute and deaf spirit I command you come out of him and never enter into him again and the spirit left him immediately Jesus can deliver I'm here to testify Jesus can there's nothing that Jesus can't do there's nothing so this woman goes from being described as having seven demons to being delivered she's no longer the one with seven demons they've been cast out the number seven in the scriptures is significant in the Hebrew culture number seven is wholeness or completion we could say that she's been completely delivered that God doesn't want you to hold on to some things there's so many of us and the same is true for me when I first came to Faith In Jesus that we get saved and we're forgiven of our sins but we keep coming back to those old habits
those old thoughts those old beliefs maybe old trauma we keep coming back to those things but God doesn't want you to to hold on to those things that are holding you back he wants you to be fully delivered you know Mary Magdalene is forever labeled as one that had seven demons she was not only labeled but we can get into her story understand she was tormented over and over she undoubtedly lived a life of Oppression and darkness she was hurting full of Shame she was more than likely overlooked in society she was insignificant by all standards and if you've ever felt like this her story is here to let you know that in God's eyes you're not insignificant he sees you he loves you God has a plan for you he wants to liberate you from that oppression he wants to set you free from your sins whatever was done to you that trauma that molestation that abuse that
hurt he wants to heal it today he wants to set you free on the trajectory of what it means to fully allow Jesus into your life and I'm not talking about some areas I'm talking about every area because when Mary Magdalene gave her life to Jesus she went wherever Jesus would go she was there at the foot of the cross it says in John 19:25 standing by the cross of Jesus were three Marys the mother of Jesus Mary the wife of clus and Mary magdalin where were the men we know that John was there but where were the other disciples Peter was the one that said in Matthew 26:35 even if I must die with you I will not deny you and all the other disciples said same we'll be there with you Jesus I
want to warn you sometimes the people that are the loudest and the proudest are the ones that will leave you first sometimes it's the silent Mary magdalin that are the financial investors I see this true at Journey Church there are some people that come here Sunday after Sunday they love Jesus they financially invest and they nobody knows who they are I just want to say thank you Jesus sees you he loves you he knows you and here we have Mary Magdalene she's there at the cross she's first at the tomb John 20: 11 and 12 Mary stood weeping outside the tomb she did not know that Jesus was risen as she wept she stooped looked in the Tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting at the body of Jesus where it had been laying one at the head and one at the feet Mary takes a step of faith and goes into the tomb she doesn't know what she's going to see and she goes in there she sees
two angels this is an imagery of the Ark of the Covenant this is so significant that you see this because the Ark of the Covenant is a centerpiece in the Hebrew history the Ark of the Covenant represents the presence of God that before the Israelites would go to the war the levitical priests would take the Arc of the Covenant and they would carry it before the soldiers it would represent the presence of God inside the Ark of the Covenant is the word of God John tells us in chapter 1 verse one that Jesus is the word on top of the Ark of the Covenant are these cheram these angels with their wings spanning towards one another and in the middle of those angels Wings is called The Mercy Seat the high priest would sprinkle blood after the atonement sacrifice and sprinkle it on the mercy seat for atonement for man's sins believing that
God is merciful that that an animal paid the price and here you have on this first Resurrection Day the perfect picture of these angels at the tomb where Jesus body bloody laid the Merciful Savior did what needed to be done religion can't save you good works can't save you but the Savior Jesus is no longer in the Tomb we no longer have to travel to the temple we no longer need the Ark of the Covenant to meet with the merciful god that by believing in Jesus we are told that he has made a way to the holy of holies and now your life can be the dwelling place of God that by believing in Jesus you are no longer the same you're not religious you're born again you're Blood Bought you're child of God
in Jesus Christ now we look at Mary as we wrap this up she's there weeping and she sees the angels and they said to Heroman why are you weeping she explains they've taken away my Lord and I do not know where they've laid him having said this she turned around she saw a man she thought it was a gardener she she asked sir if you've carried him away tell me where you've laid him I will take him away what a warrior woman she is Jesus said to her Mary that's all Jesus needed to say he didn't say Mary Magdalene he didn't say woman that had seven demons he just simply called her by name may I say Jesus wants to call
you by name today she turned and said to him in Aram make Roni which means teacher Rabbi teacher Jesus said to her do not cling to me me for I have not yet ascended to the father but go to my brothers and say to them I am ascending to my father and your father and to my God and your God see the world would have held this woman back because she couldn't be a witness and now she's the leading witness she was overlooked by so many and Jesus is simply saying don't cling to me which implies that this woman is a worshipper she's going to cling to the feet of Jesus she's going to hold fast to the promise of who she is we need to be a little more like this woman Mar Mary Magdalene Jesus says I've yet Ascend to to heaven so when I Ascend to Heaven we're all going to be able to worship like Mary Magdalene we're all going to be able to cling to the promise
of who Jesus is we get to learn from Mary Magdalene where the world would have caused her shame Jesus Took her shame Jesus was crucified on the cross there's no greater torture device than the cross he was naked bloody he took our shame on the cross so that you no longer have to bear it but you can receive the glory of God so where you've been shamed where you've been let down where people have labeled you when people H H have put a perspective of what you ought to be as a person Jesus looks at you and says I died on the cross so you would not stay the same he has set you free he wants to deliver you I want you to know today that your past does not define your destiny demons do not Define your destiny it's time to be delivered by Jesus Christ it's time to be set free
it's time to operate in the ways that God wants you to live in this is not just for you this is for your kids your kids kids this is for our city you no longer need to live in darkness the last verse I share with you Colossians 2:15 he disarmed the rulers and the authorities and put them to open Shame by triumphing over them in him he did it the one in shame right now is the Devil he's losing you are more than a conquer in Jesus Christ I want to ask you today have you believed in him have you received him just because you came to church on Easter does not mean you're saved it does not mean you're a Christian or born again the Bible says youve got to believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross you've got to receive that forgiveness and once you do
you got to be like Mary Magdalene confess it with your mouth not everybody will embrace it but you can believe it today and if you want to do that you can not only be forgiven of your sins you can have the hope of Heaven today the hope of Salvation doesn't mean your whole life will get easy but you now have God on your side you now have authority over every devil and every demon I want to teach you one of the greatest prayers I've learned is just this Jesus come on Jesus when I feeling an oppression in my life sometimes I don't know what else to say but Jesus Bible says the Holy Spirit now is is interceding on your behalf because you've called on the name of Jesus every demon will flee at the name of
Jesus today if you want Jesus I'm going to ask that every eye closed right now I'm going to ask you the most serious question do you know for certainty that you're saved if you want to believe in the Lord Jesus today this is between you and God I'm going to ask you to make a a bold stand right now I'm just going to ask you raise your hand nice and high say yes I want Jesus I want to believe in Jesus this this is what I'm going to do praise God I'm so proud of you praise God keep your hands up you can even look up at me I want you to know that you're not alone anymore praise God praise God praise God he's for you praise God praise God praise God all over praise God praise God yes praise God praise God just keep your hands up I see all over you could even look at me praise God you're never too young to do great things for God never both of you God has a calling on
your life devil may have tried to stop it but God's so much greater than anything both of you ever been through all of you praise God praise God praise God hands all over the room you're never too old you're never too young you've never sin so greatly that Jesus won't forgive you he died once and for all for every sin today you are forgiven I want to ask you now you can put your hands down I want to pray with you if people all over the room I'm sure many online who' have given their lives of Jesus right now that means from this day forward you're born again you you got to choose to keep following Jesus it doesn't stop here it's just started here the devil's going to want to try to deceive you the moment you leave this place but now you've got to choose to get into the Bible keep coming to church and follow
the ways of Jesus abide in his word and you're his disciple and you will be free all of those who have ever believed in Jesus can we pray with those doing it for the first time I'm going to just pray a short prayer prayer is conversation with god let's let's talk to the Lord together Lord Jesus I believe in you I Repent today I confess my sins I receive salvation I receive the Holy Spirit I rebuke the devil and any other demons that have come against me I am delivered I am set free I have the hope of Heaven in Jesus name amen and amen can we give God some praise today
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What Freedom Is For
Pastor Keith applies John 8's connection between remaining in Jesus' teaching and receiving freedom. He encourages honest examination of dependence on sin rather than comparison with others, and connects this with the promise of restoration in Isaiah 61.
John 8:31-34 · Isaiah 61:1-3
- Where do you find it easiest to acknowledge a need for freedom, and where do you tend to compare yourself with others instead?
- How does Pastor Keith connect freedom with remaining in Jesus' teaching in John 8?
The Unlikely First Witnesses
Pastor Keith pairs the nativity announcement to shepherds with the resurrection appearance to Mary Magdalene, arguing that God routinely begins with people their culture discounted. The point is not nostalgia but expectation: grace reaches those others overlook.
Luke 2:6-14 · Mark 16:9
- What does it mean for your expectations of God that the first resurrection witness was someone with Mary's history?
- Where might you be tempted to assume God works mainly through impressive or prominent people?
Mary's Deliverance, Support, and Faithfulness
From Luke 8, Pastor Keith describes Jesus casting seven demons out of Mary Magdalene and women who had been healed accompanying and financially supporting his ministry. He then points to John 19, where Mary stands at the cross, and contrasts her quiet faithfulness with louder promises. The emphasis is on her deliverance and costly following of Jesus.
Luke 8:1-3 · John 19:25
- What changes when you read Mary Magdalene as a delivered disciple and supporter of Jesus' ministry?
- Pastor Keith notes that Mary was present at the cross when others had fled. What does that faithfulness suggest to you?
- How does the account of the women supporting the ministry out of their own means shape how you think about generosity?
Belief and Unbelief in Mark 9
Pastor Keith turns to Mark 9, where a father asks Jesus to help his tormented son and confesses belief mixed with unbelief. He holds up that honest prayer as a model and points to Jesus' rebuke of the spirit and the boy's release.
Mark 9:22-25
- How does the father's cry of belief mixed with unbelief give words to your own prayers?
- What does Pastor Keith emphasize about Jesus' response to the father's request?
Called by Name at the Tomb
The closing movement follows Mary to the empty tomb, where angels appear and she mistakes the risen Jesus for a gardener until he speaks her name. Pastor Keith ties the scene to the mercy seat imagery and ends with an invitation to believe and to keep abiding.
John 20:11-17 · Colossians 2:15
- What stands out to you about Mary hearing Jesus say only her name?
- How does Pastor Keith connect the tomb scene to the ark of the covenant and the mercy of God?
- Pastor Keith says a person's past does not define their destiny. How does Mary's story illustrate that in this passage?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
Why does this Easter message spend so much time on freedom and captivity?+
Applying John 8, Pastor Keith connects freedom with remaining in Jesus' teaching. He explains that people may be held by sin without recognizing it, and encourages honest self-examination. He then connects Isaiah 61 and Jesus' reading in Luke 4 with the restoration and release Jesus offers.
Why does Pastor Keith say God goes first to unlikely people?+
The message pairs two scenes: shepherds receiving the announcement of Jesus' birth in Luke 2, and Mary Magdalene receiving the first resurrection appearance in Mark 16:9. Pastor Keith describes shepherds as marginalized and distrusted in their culture, and draws a contrast with the powerful and religious leaders one might expect. The point is that grace regularly reaches people others overlook, and that this reveals something about God's character.
What does the message say about Mary Magdalene's deliverance and following?+
In Luke 8, Pastor Keith notes that Jesus cast seven demons out of Mary Magdalene, and that women who had been healed accompanied the ministry and supported it financially. He points out that John 19 places her at the cross when others had fled. The message emphasizes her deliverance and costly following of Jesus, and Pastor Keith holds her up as an example of quiet faithfulness.
How does Pastor Keith handle the father's prayer in Mark 9?+
Pastor Keith reads the account of a father whose son was tormented, who asks Jesus to help and cries out that he believes while asking for help with his unbelief. Pastor Keith holds up that honest prayer as one any person can pray, and points to Jesus' rebuke of the unclean spirit and the boy's release as evidence that Jesus is able to deliver. The application is that Jesus can deliver, and that the father's mixed belief is met with Jesus' response.
What does Mary's tomb encounter show about how Jesus treats people?+
In John 20:11-17, Mary weeps at the tomb, sees angels, and then mistakes the risen Jesus for a gardener until he speaks her name. Pastor Keith notes that Jesus does not address her by her past but simply as Mary. She responds with the title teacher and is sent to tell the disciples. The message treats her as a worshipper and the leading resurrection witness, and connects the scene to the mercy seat imagery of the ark.
