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Jun 28, 2024 06:00am

Action is Required

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When truth is revealed, action is required.

The jury hears the evidence in a case, and the closing arguments have been given.

A hunter has waited all season and a turkey steps out into the opening, but he realizes it’s only a Jake.

A man learns his boss is using insider trading secrets for his success.

A woman receives news from the doctor that she has cancer.

The truth has been revealed and action is required.

They all have a choice

All the evidence points to guilty, will the jury convict?

A Jake is not legal to kill, but the hunter knows this is the last day… will he shoot it and hide it?

Will the man turn in his boss and risk losing his job?

The doctor offers treatment options, but will she choose to move forward with those?

When truth is revealed, action is required. Sometimes the the answer seems easy. All of the evidence is clear, the right decision should be no problem to make. Other times, it could affect other people – your loved ones, your co-workers, your reputation.

But the choice has to be made.

John 20:1-18 NIV
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Truth has been revealed.

Jesus was dead and is now alive.

Mary witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus, his death, burial, the stone rolled into place, and the guards at the door. Then she saw the empty tomb, the stone rolled away, the burial cloths in the tomb, and finally, she saw Him. The living Jesus. She cried, “Rabboni!” – her Master.

Jesus is alive!

The truth was revealed to her. And action was required. She could keep this to herself, or she could go and tell. The others might think she’s crazy, or that she made it up, or that she had something to do with His missing body, but she had to take that risk. Because she knew the truth and she had to share it.

She told the disciples everything she had witnessed.

Now the truth had been revealed to them. They now had to make a choice – what would they believe?

And today, after studying for months in John, the truth has been revealed to you.

You’ve heard the account of Jesus’ birth, His life, His miracles, His persecution, His crucifixion, His death, His burial and now, His resurrection.

The truth has been revealed and action is required.

What will you believe?

And will you share the truth so that others will have the opportunity to believe? No matter what they might think or say, will you step out in faith and share, believing that God can use even you to share His story of truth?

Action is required.