The Living Dead
Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026
Pastor Mark D. Boykin
Easter is no doubt the greatest day on the Christian calendar, but it’s not just one day. Easter is an entire week. Sunday is the crown jewel of the week, but Easter is about the entire week.
Often we miss the events of Thursday: the Last Supper, the trial, the Garden of Gethsemane, the arrest, Caiaphas House, Peter's denial. On Friday we have the day of the crucifixion, the mob scene, the kangaroo court, and the false witnesses that have been paid to bring charges against Jesus. Friday is about Calvary, Golgotha, and the burial in Joseph's tomb.
So much rides on Friday. Friday is the day when dreams die, when it seems like all you hope for has been swept away. Everyone here has experienced the Fridays of life. But you can't have a Sunday without having a Friday. Easter is about constasts. If there's a death, there's a resurrection. Where there's a cross, there's a crown.
Father, I pray that you would bless the reading of your word today. I pray that in every heart there is rejoicing deep within our inner person, to know that our hope is in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, and that same power that raised Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies. And today we say, he is risen! He is risen indeed. And we give you all the thanks and all the glory in Jesus name. And everyone said, Amen.
Easter is really a dichotomy. Friday is the day of death. Sunday is the day of resurrection. But let's not forget about Saturday. Saturday is an important day in the life of faith. Saturday is the infamous day after. When the shock is over, you're left to pick up the pieces. And Saturday is the real test of faith. You see, not much happens on Saturday.
Saturday represents that period of time right after your dreams have died, when the visions are lost. Your faith has been shaken and hope is vanished. This is the real test of your faith. When the check doesn't arrive, when your ship doesn't come in, when the test comes back positive. When it seems God is silent. When heaven is quiet, the angels are mute.
The Bible tells us there is a time for everything. There's a time to be born and a time to die. A time to weep and a time to rejoice. Saturday is the day of change. Saturday is really the test of Sunday. If you're wiped out by Saturday's feeling, you'll probably miss Sunday's victory.
Jesus told his disciples about the crucifixion and resurrection at least three times. Every time He did, they were so busy trying to jockey for positions that they never understood exactly what He was talking about, and neither did they ask Him to explain it.
Some of us, we get so busy in just living life that we forget the promises of God and what He has promised us. Saturday is really the test of Sunday. If you're wiped out by Saturday, you probably will miss Sunday's victory. Faith that has never been tested by Saturday is a weak kind of faith. It's a faith that will never last.
Don’t get stuck on Saturday. Saturday is a day of repose. Nothing happened on Saturday. All of the disciples were scattered. Only the women were still together because they were filled with faith and hope. And though Saturday was a day of death, in their hearts it was still a day of hope. Because if there is a death, there's going to be a resurrection. If there is a cross, there's going to be a crown. No matter how bad it may have been on Friday, or no matter how silent Saturday is, His death lasted three days. The resurrection has lasted for 2,000 years.
There are valleys that we must go through in this life. There are times when the dark clouds get even darker, when it seems as if the storm is not going to relent and you cry out like the disciples did.
There are so many people who are on the wrong side of the weekend. You're still reeling from Friday. And now that it's Saturday, you're saying all hope is gone. the good news is Sunday is coming.
Luke 24:1–8 KJV
In this passage, Mary and the company of ladies that she kept vigil with on that first Easter morning, before the sun or the day even broke, made their way to the tomb or the sepulcher where Christ's body had been laid. The angel asked him, why seek ye the living among the dead?
Too many people are living in the Saturday experience.
I. The Dead of Past Interests.
Jesus could’ve given up at any moment that Jesus was pinned to the cross, but He didn’t.
There is a reason for Jesus entering the grave. He left our sin there. He left our shame there. He left our sickness there. Those are a few things that He did not resurrect. And we shouldn't either. But we do. Old ways are taken there but not left there. Some things have to be left in the grave.
Take Lazarus for example. Jesus told him to get rid of the death clothes. As was custom of the time, Lazarus couldn’t move because he was encumbered by the wrappings and all the things that they did to prepare his body. You can't take death clothes out of a sepulcher. The grave is a clean break. He nailed your sin to the cross and buried it forever. Let it go.
Whatever you have done is going to fall aside. You are a new person in Christ Jesus. When you are baptized in water, the old man has died. He's left in the grave and the new man comes to life. It's a new day and it's a new opportunity.
Beloved, if you are a Christian, what fellowship do you have with the devil and why are you still running with his crowd after the crucifixion? Peter tried to go back to Galilee and start fishing again, but it didn't work. You can't go and live the old life with any satisfaction, because Jesus delivered you from the old way. He’s delivered you from the old haunts, the old relationships, the old friends, and the old habits. And so that is the dead of past interests.
II. The Dead of Past Failures.
Thursday isn't talked about very much because it was the day of failure.
The disciples took off like a herd of turtles, and Peter denied the Lord. If there was ever a guy who blew it, it was Peter. He blew it. He was so arrogant when Jesus spoke of his death, yet he was the first one to deny Jesus. Judas betrayed him, but Peter denied him, saying “I don't know this man,” three times outside of the house of Caiaphas. At one point, he began to curse the people, repeating “I don't know this man!” And he looked and he saw Jesus, and Jesus looked deep into his soul. And Peter began to weep.
But there is a danger in wallowing in past failure. We must face our failure. Deal with it. Correct it, and then move on. It's never too late to begin to do what is right.
Failure was one minute ago. One hour ago, one day ago, one week ago, one month ago, one year ago. Ten years ago. Don't live in the past. We live in the future for what Christ has done and doing for us. Failure can never be redeemed by reliving it.
Jesus can forgive your past and give you a new future., but you have to quit living in Friday shadow or you'll miss Sunday's message. You'll never enjoy resurrection power while living in Friday’s Failure.
It’s also important to note that Jesus never even confronted Peter about his failure. In fact, the only recognition of it that Jesus alluded to was Peter, do you love me? Jesus forgives. Jesus will not bring up your past.
He's going to wake you up. He's going to ask you, “Do you still love me? Do you still? Do you still care? Do you want a relationship? Let me be your advocate. Let me go before you. When you stand before my Father, let me represent you. Let me explain to Him that yes. At one time you failed, but because of the blood that I spilled at Calvary, your sin has been eradicated. Your sins have been forgiven.”
III. The Life of Future Passion.
This is my favorite part of the Easter story — Luke 24:1. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, Mary and all of her friends and believers came under the sepulcher bringing the spices which they had prepared.
What drove Mary to the tomb that morning? Sometimes you have to walk with brazen determination when emotion isn't there and faith is weak. Sanity had taken its toll on the disciples and they went back to fishing. Sunday meant nothing to them. But for Mary, it was different. She had nothing to go back to. She had an expectation.
The Easter story is one of hope. It's a story of assurance. It's a story of expectation.
Mary was positive in many ways. When she saw Jesus for the first time, she thought he was a gardener, not a mortician. Isn't that interesting? If that had been me and my Savior had died, and I went into the garden and I saw a man, I would think that he's a mortician, not she. She supposed him to be a gardener.
Moreover, she and the ladies with her had brought perfume and aloes, and they expected to move the stone. That stone is so huge, it would take no less than half a dozen to a dozen men to move that stone.
When Mary and Company went there that morning, they were going with hope. They were going with expectation. They were going with belief.
Mary went into a sepulcher and when she came out, she was the first to announce, “He is risen!” She got to tell the disciples first that she saw Jesus.
You cannot die and hope to have a resurrection if you never had a Savior, if you never invited Jesus in your life.
We who believe in Christ know that no matter what happens on Friday, Sunday is coming, and we're going to stand before Him. And there will be the accusations that Satan will bring up. We have a savior. We have a God who has died for our sins and eradicated every sin we’ve ever committed or will commit.
Have you completely given your life to Jesus? The Bible says, if you believe and confess the Lord Jesus, thou shalt be saved.I f you want that assurance, pray this prayer today:
Dear Jesus,
I confess I am a sinner and I am in need of a Savior. I need a Redeemer.
Jesus, I ask You to come into my heart to forgive me of my sins. Redeem me by Your blood. I believe You died on the cross and on the third day You rose again. By your blood I am made whole because Jesus is Lord of my life, for You are the Son of God. And I give you all the praise and all the glory in Jesus name,
Amen.
Watch the full sermon in it’s entirety here: