The last several years have provided the world, and Christians in particular, with a great chance to remind ourselves about something. Whether it’s the Left Behind book series published between 1995 and 2007, or whether it’s the numerous predictions about when the world is going to end, there is a reminder there. And that reminder is that there is an end coming. There is a Judgment Day that awaits. There is a day coming when Jesus Christ will return to this earth. Now even though we are told in numerous New Testament books about his return, we still don’t know exactly what it will look like. Why, the book of Revelation gives us a great number of details about the return of Christ and what will ensue shortly thereafter, but still there is a great deal of mystery and disagreement as to what exactly all of this will look like. And really, it doesn’t matter if we know exactly what it’s going to look like. Sure we can have our opinions and our ideas about it. I have my own opinions about it that might differ from yours and that’s okay. The important thing isn’t that we understand and know what it is going to look like, but that we understand and know that it is going to happen.
And you see, that’s one way in which many Christians today are vastly inferior to Christians of the biblical era. Jesus’ return was something that was constantly on the hearts and minds of Christians living during the time that our New Testament was written. Why, did you know that there are only 4 books in the New Testament that don’t say at least something about Jesus’ return? It’s true. Galatians, Philemon, and 2 & 3 John are the only New Testament books that say nothing about Jesus’ return; and 3 of those books are only 1 chapter long. The Apostle Paul is so mindful of Jesus’ second coming that he believes that it is eminent. Paul believes that Jesus will return during his lifetime. 1 & 2 Thessalonians speak heavily to this fact. The bottom line when it comes to New Testament era Christians is that the second coming of Jesus was something that was very real to them. It was something that very much shaped their faith and shaped who they were as Christians.
I’m not quite sure that we modern-day Christians can say the same things about ourselves. In other words, I’m not convinced that we really think about the return of Jesus at all. Yes, I know that Scripture tells us that we won’t know exactly when it is going to happen and that we shouldn’t try and predict it. I know that we’re told that it will come like a thief in the night and that no man will predict it. Matthew 24:42 says, “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” And each of the other gospel accounts record something similar coming from the mouth of Christ. Almost every book in the New Testament records something about being awake and ready for the return of the Lord. The end of the book of Revelation, the next to last verse of our Bible, records Jesus as saying, “Surely I am coming soon” when speaking about his return.
And it’s these words that give us pause. More precisely it’s that last word: soon. Well it’s been nearly 2000 years and still no return. And this is where our hesitation comes in with regards to our thinking about Jesus’ second coming today. You see, there are many people, even many Christians, who very seriously doubt the second coming of Christ. Now sure, they may say that they believe that Christ will come again if you were to ask them about it. They will say that Scripture tells us that Christ will come again, but do they really mean it. Last Sunday, I briefly mentioned the concept that the way a person walks tells us a great deal about that person. Do you remember that? Whether a person walks with their head held high or looking down at the ground can often indicate their personality before we even speak to them. Is this jogging any memories? Well, if you will recall, the final words from last week’s sermon were, “your life is the greatest witness that you have to proclaim Christ and Christ crucified.” So you see, even though some may say that they believe that Christ will return, do they act like they believe that?
As I have told many of you before, I was a bit of a mischievous little boy while growing up in Meridian, MS. From before I can even remember, I was getting into trouble for something. And my mom tells me that every time I would get caught doing something I would just give her a big smile and go about my business as if nothing had happened. Well, apparently that trait is hereditary and has been passed on to our son Thomas. We love him dearly and wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world, but he is just like his daddy when it comes to getting into trouble. Whether it’s opening cabinets that he isn’t supposed to open, taking electrical outlet covers off to see what’s behind them, moving furniture across the room, raiding our closets for shoes to wear around the house, or any other common occurrence at our house, the kid just seems to always be into something that he knows that he isn’t supposed to be. Almost every time he does something like this he gets caught. Amy or I, and sometimes Ashby too, give him a quick, “Thomas!” He immediately straightens up, turns around, and grins at us. He gives us a great big smile. It’s one of the most infuriating things. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He knows that he’s doing something that if he gets caught doing he’s going to get into trouble, but he does it anyway.
And do you know what? He’s exactly like many people who live in this world today. He’s exactly like many Christians in this world today. He’s doing something that he thinks is fine, but he knows that if he gets caught doing it then it isn’t going to end well. Think about that for a second. How many of you know someone who lives like this? Someone who acts one way in public, but if their life that happens “behind closed doors” were exposed it would be disastrous. Imagine if everyone were treated as a modern-day celebrity; these people who are photographed every time they leave their house. Why, some of them don’t even have to leave their house. Former VP nominee Sarah Palin actually had someone buy the house next door to here in Alaska and spend the entire time taking pictures of her and her family in their own house and backyard. I know that I wouldn’t necessarily enjoy having to worry about if I left the house without my wedding ring, causing rumors to spread about my marriage. But it’s something that prominent people in our world today have to endure; the price of fame so-to-speak.
But you see, we all should be aware of this and understand that to a certain extent, Christ’s second coming will be somewhat similar to this. Not in the sense of invasion of privacy, but we very much will have to answer for what we are doing at the time of Christ’s return. As we said earlier, Jesus’ second coming will be quick; like a thief in the night. What will you be doing when he returns? Will the moment of his return be when you are in one of those “I’d rather no one know about this moments?” Will his return find you in a moment that you are proud of? You see, if all Christians truly believed the words of Scripture, that Jesus Christ will return without warning and judge all mankind, then they would act in a manner that isn’t contrary to the cross. They would act in a manner that would do nothing but bring glory to God. Things like unethical business practices, affairs, cheating, addictions, or even lying on your taxes would all be things that didn’t happen amongst Christians. The truth, however, is that they do. These types of things happen to Christians just as much as they do to non-Christians. Sin can wreak havoc on a Christian just as much as it can a non-Christian when that Christian isn’t clinging to Christ. When they aren’t spending time in his word, praying to him, giving thanks to him, growing and strengthening their faith, there is a door that is cracked for sin to enter in. If the Christian and the non-Christian are both ignoring their faith and ignoring God, then what’s the difference?
But Paul has some encouragement for us here in 4:1, “Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, STAND FIRM thus in the Lord, my beloved.” Those words “stand firm” mean everything to us. I know, last week I told you to walk a certain way and this week I’m telling you to stand a certain way, but that’s exactly what we must do. We must stand our ground as Christians. We must put our foot down, draw our line in the sand, close the gate, or any other metaphor that you can think of. We must not be moved in our faith by the things of this world. We must not give in to temptation no matter how appealing it might seem. The priorities of this world: money, fame, power, pleasure; must not be our ultimate goals. Sure some of these things may come about as a result of our actions, but they aren’t to be the goals. The original Greek text here uses a word for “stand” that carries with a certain military connotation. This is defensive warfare. This is holding the front lines on the battlefield. Paul is encouraging the Philippian Christians (and us as well) to prepare ourselves for the battle; to prepare ourselves for the impending danger. He’s telling us that we’re in for a fight; we’re in for a struggle. We have to plant our feet on the firm foundation of God’s word. We have to brace ourselves and prepare ourselves through prayer and through devotion to God the Father Almighty.
Friends, it is a truly great gift that we have in Jesus Christ. He came to this earth, taking the form of man, living a completely obedient and unblemished life, being put to death for something that he didn’t do, paying the price for you and for me, and rising from the dead after 3 days. Our Savior is real and our Savior is alive. He resides at this very moment in heaven with the Father, and He WILL come again. He will come and ring in a day of judgment. Until that day, we must continue to stand firm. We must continue to work at maintaining our Christian values in a world that doesn’t always make Christian living an easy or pleasant task. We must continue to work at strengthening our faith and helping others in their Christian walk. That is our task. That is our responsibility, until Christ comes again. But we shouldn’t stop with just our own faith. No, as Christians, as part of the Church, we are to be concerned with the faith of our brothers and sisters. We are to prepare ourselves, while also helping those in need. Whether it be an encouraging word, a helping hand, or a push in the right direction. Let’s all commit this day, to growing not only our own faith, but helping those around us in their walk with Jesus Christ, until such time as he comes to this earth again, and establishes the New Heaven and New Earth. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Philppians 3:10-19 "It's in Your Walk"
This Sunday has traditionally been a puzzling Sunday for many Christians. In particular, it’s been puzzling for many pastors, such as myself, for years. “Why is it puzzling,” you may ask. Well, it’s puzzling quite simply because of what precedes it. You see, today is known as Octave of Easter, or more commonly, Low Sunday. Now it has originally to do with the fact that the timeframe between last Sunday (Easter) and this Sunday is when Jesus made himself known to his disciples. In recent years the title of Low Sunday has come to describe church attendance on the Sunday following Easter. You see, Easter is the most highly attended worship day of the year. Why, I bet that you can name at least a handful of people who you know attended church somewhere last week and they won’t this week and probably won’t again until Christmas or even Easter next year. You see it’s puzzling to me, because if all Christians truly understand the magnitude of what we celebrated last Sunday, then we would not so quickly forget what Jesus accomplished for us and we would anticipate very anxiously the chance to return together with God’s people and worship him. We would do all that we could to humble ourselves before him once again. We most certainly would not reduce our faith to a once or twice a year event. We wouldn’t trivialize our faith by making it some type of holiday that is literally here one day and gone the next.
You see, we Christians have many things that distinguish us from the religions of the world. Perhaps the most significant of these is the very thing that we celebrated last Sunday. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, not only died for our sins, but he arose from the dead and still lives today. Now, I can’t take you to his physical body, but I can tell you where it is. He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. And it is because of this fact that our Savior lives that we can have a relationship with him. You see, we have a loving and relational God; a God that wants to have a relationship with him. And the Apostle Paul goes on here in our text today to describe 4 different aspects of our having a relationship with God.
The first aspect is “Knowing God”. Paul begins v.10 by saying, “that I may know God and the power of his resurrection.” Now at first, this may be a puzzling statement. I mean, after all, Paul is the one who is responsible for a large portion of the New Testament. So much of what we know about the effects of the resurrection are given to us by Paul himself. But Paul isn’t saying that he wants to know about Christ. No, Paul knows about Christ about as well as anyone ever has. Paul is saying that he wants to know Christ. He wants to experience Christ. He wants to feel the power of God moving through him and working in his heart. He even wants to know what it’s like to suffer for God’s sake. He wants to know God.
We’ve all had those moments; those glimpses in time where God has worked in mighty ways in your life. Maybe it was through a series of events that worked so subtly that you didn’t even know it was happening. Maybe it was during something so abrupt and profound that you knew exactly in that moment that it was God’s work. I know for me that any time I have gone through a period of suffering, after that period has passed, I look back on the circumstances that delivered me through it and have had no other explanation than that it was the work of the Lord. Paul is telling us that it is a great benefit for us to know God and to feel his presence in our lives. We (and Paul for that matter too) are to never stop striving for knowing God more closely and more intimately.
Another benefit of our relationship with God is that we follow him. But Paul doesn’t want us to get the wrong idea here. After telling us that Paul wants to know Christ so completely that he is exactly like him, Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect.” You see, Paul knows that he isn’t anywhere close to Christ. He also knows that there is a good chance that he never will be, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. You see, Christian discipleship shouldn’t be seen as something that everyone is expected to honor but no one is expected to attain. Although the reality of us, in this life, being completely like Christ seems distant, it isn’t as if we should stop trying. We know, just as Paul did at this time, that we are not perfect. We know that we are nowhere near where God would have us, but that doesn’t mean that we should give up. We are to continue to follow Christ and follow the example that he has set before us. There are no such things as impossible goals in the Christian faith. Improbable, sure, but impossible, never.
Another aspect of our relationship with God that Paul is dealing with here is something that we struggle with greatly and that is the issue of suffering for God. Sure, we all go through periods of suffering in our lives. Some of our suffering, however, isn’t for God. We suffer at losing a loved one. We suffer when we struggle to provide for our family. We suffer when things just seem to be harder for us than they are for others. I get that. I understand those things. I have suffered many times through seasons just like those. But suffering for God is so much more. Suffering for God is giving up things and taking the narrow way because it is the way that brings the most glory to God. Suffering for God is our making the difficult choices in life because we know that it is what God has commanded of us. Suffering for God is rejoicing over what God has done even as tears stream down our face. Suffering for God is forgetting the past and focusing on the future. We don’t sit and stew over the things that have happened in our lives. We don’t hold grudges and stay angry at those who have done us wrong. We strive forward. We understand that none of us can go back and change what has already happened. We endure sufferings. We endure hardships. We endure things in our life that seem difficult at the time. And we do all of these things while giving glory to God.
My father, who many of you have had the chance to meet, is famous for saying in any bad situation, “Well, could be a lot worse.” Thanks Dad. Thanks for that brilliant revelation. But he’s right. Many times things could be much worse than they really are. Instead of counting all of the blessings and the fact that God will deliver me through whatever hardship I may be going through, I tend to focus on the one aspect of my life that isn’t going so well. Are you like this? Are you the type of person who focuses so much on the negative things about your life that you gloss right over the positive even though the positive far outweighs the negative? Part of our suffering for the sake of Christ is our being able to still rejoice and give thanks to God even when things aren’t going how we would like for them to.
All of these three aspects of a relationship with Christ are great blessings. And then we find these words here in the final several verses of our text, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” What do we make of all of this as it pertains to our relationship with Christ? Well, these words have to do with our walking with Christ. Have you ever noticed that the way a person walks many times tells you a lot about that person? It’s true. People that walk constantly looking down are said to be more self-conscious and more introverted. Those who walk with their heads held high are usually very confident and happy with who they are. Those who walk all over the place and sometimes skip around are typically the type of people we call “flighty” or aloof.
Well, the same could be said about our walking in the faith. The way that we “walk”, the way that we live; tells those around us a lot about us and particularly about our faith. It’s pretty easy for people to tell whether or not someone has the love of Christ as a part of their life. It has always been my opinion that Christians just seem to handle things differently than non-Christians. I’m not saying that Christians handle things better than non-Christians, but there is a distinct difference there. And it is my belief that the reason for Christians having this trait is because we know that there is something bigger. We know that there is a purpose. We know that the will of our Lord will be done. Why, I can’t even imagine what it must feel like to be a non-Christian. When I experience trials, suffering, loss, or any other painful situation, one of the main things that sustains me through that time is the fact that I know that there is a great purpose at work. For those who don’t know Christ, that isn’t the case. There isn’t a higher purpose for them. Can you imagine how depressing it would be if this was it? Can you imagine how bad it would be if this life here on earth was all there was; if death was the end and after that it was all over?
But you see, the glorious news is that it isn’t, and we know that for certain. We know that because of what we celebrated last Sunday. We know that because of what we celebrate today. We celebrate Jesus’ paying the price for our sins in just a moment when we receive the Lord’s Supper. The Godman came to this earth and paid the price that was owed for our sins. He came and conquered death. Because of his paying our debt, we now have access to the Father. We now can have eternal life with Him in heaven. And all this is made possible because of what Christ has done on our behalf. So as we prepare our hearts to partake in Communion, let us remember what Christ has done on our behalf. As we go throughout our lives, I want all of us to work at acting and conducting ourselves in a way that tells those around us without a doubt that we cling to the name of Christ. Remember, your life is the greatest witness that you have to proclaim Christ and Christ crucified. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
You see, we Christians have many things that distinguish us from the religions of the world. Perhaps the most significant of these is the very thing that we celebrated last Sunday. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, not only died for our sins, but he arose from the dead and still lives today. Now, I can’t take you to his physical body, but I can tell you where it is. He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. And it is because of this fact that our Savior lives that we can have a relationship with him. You see, we have a loving and relational God; a God that wants to have a relationship with him. And the Apostle Paul goes on here in our text today to describe 4 different aspects of our having a relationship with God.
The first aspect is “Knowing God”. Paul begins v.10 by saying, “that I may know God and the power of his resurrection.” Now at first, this may be a puzzling statement. I mean, after all, Paul is the one who is responsible for a large portion of the New Testament. So much of what we know about the effects of the resurrection are given to us by Paul himself. But Paul isn’t saying that he wants to know about Christ. No, Paul knows about Christ about as well as anyone ever has. Paul is saying that he wants to know Christ. He wants to experience Christ. He wants to feel the power of God moving through him and working in his heart. He even wants to know what it’s like to suffer for God’s sake. He wants to know God.
We’ve all had those moments; those glimpses in time where God has worked in mighty ways in your life. Maybe it was through a series of events that worked so subtly that you didn’t even know it was happening. Maybe it was during something so abrupt and profound that you knew exactly in that moment that it was God’s work. I know for me that any time I have gone through a period of suffering, after that period has passed, I look back on the circumstances that delivered me through it and have had no other explanation than that it was the work of the Lord. Paul is telling us that it is a great benefit for us to know God and to feel his presence in our lives. We (and Paul for that matter too) are to never stop striving for knowing God more closely and more intimately.
Another benefit of our relationship with God is that we follow him. But Paul doesn’t want us to get the wrong idea here. After telling us that Paul wants to know Christ so completely that he is exactly like him, Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect.” You see, Paul knows that he isn’t anywhere close to Christ. He also knows that there is a good chance that he never will be, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. You see, Christian discipleship shouldn’t be seen as something that everyone is expected to honor but no one is expected to attain. Although the reality of us, in this life, being completely like Christ seems distant, it isn’t as if we should stop trying. We know, just as Paul did at this time, that we are not perfect. We know that we are nowhere near where God would have us, but that doesn’t mean that we should give up. We are to continue to follow Christ and follow the example that he has set before us. There are no such things as impossible goals in the Christian faith. Improbable, sure, but impossible, never.
Another aspect of our relationship with God that Paul is dealing with here is something that we struggle with greatly and that is the issue of suffering for God. Sure, we all go through periods of suffering in our lives. Some of our suffering, however, isn’t for God. We suffer at losing a loved one. We suffer when we struggle to provide for our family. We suffer when things just seem to be harder for us than they are for others. I get that. I understand those things. I have suffered many times through seasons just like those. But suffering for God is so much more. Suffering for God is giving up things and taking the narrow way because it is the way that brings the most glory to God. Suffering for God is our making the difficult choices in life because we know that it is what God has commanded of us. Suffering for God is rejoicing over what God has done even as tears stream down our face. Suffering for God is forgetting the past and focusing on the future. We don’t sit and stew over the things that have happened in our lives. We don’t hold grudges and stay angry at those who have done us wrong. We strive forward. We understand that none of us can go back and change what has already happened. We endure sufferings. We endure hardships. We endure things in our life that seem difficult at the time. And we do all of these things while giving glory to God.
My father, who many of you have had the chance to meet, is famous for saying in any bad situation, “Well, could be a lot worse.” Thanks Dad. Thanks for that brilliant revelation. But he’s right. Many times things could be much worse than they really are. Instead of counting all of the blessings and the fact that God will deliver me through whatever hardship I may be going through, I tend to focus on the one aspect of my life that isn’t going so well. Are you like this? Are you the type of person who focuses so much on the negative things about your life that you gloss right over the positive even though the positive far outweighs the negative? Part of our suffering for the sake of Christ is our being able to still rejoice and give thanks to God even when things aren’t going how we would like for them to.
All of these three aspects of a relationship with Christ are great blessings. And then we find these words here in the final several verses of our text, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” What do we make of all of this as it pertains to our relationship with Christ? Well, these words have to do with our walking with Christ. Have you ever noticed that the way a person walks many times tells you a lot about that person? It’s true. People that walk constantly looking down are said to be more self-conscious and more introverted. Those who walk with their heads held high are usually very confident and happy with who they are. Those who walk all over the place and sometimes skip around are typically the type of people we call “flighty” or aloof.
Well, the same could be said about our walking in the faith. The way that we “walk”, the way that we live; tells those around us a lot about us and particularly about our faith. It’s pretty easy for people to tell whether or not someone has the love of Christ as a part of their life. It has always been my opinion that Christians just seem to handle things differently than non-Christians. I’m not saying that Christians handle things better than non-Christians, but there is a distinct difference there. And it is my belief that the reason for Christians having this trait is because we know that there is something bigger. We know that there is a purpose. We know that the will of our Lord will be done. Why, I can’t even imagine what it must feel like to be a non-Christian. When I experience trials, suffering, loss, or any other painful situation, one of the main things that sustains me through that time is the fact that I know that there is a great purpose at work. For those who don’t know Christ, that isn’t the case. There isn’t a higher purpose for them. Can you imagine how depressing it would be if this was it? Can you imagine how bad it would be if this life here on earth was all there was; if death was the end and after that it was all over?
But you see, the glorious news is that it isn’t, and we know that for certain. We know that because of what we celebrated last Sunday. We know that because of what we celebrate today. We celebrate Jesus’ paying the price for our sins in just a moment when we receive the Lord’s Supper. The Godman came to this earth and paid the price that was owed for our sins. He came and conquered death. Because of his paying our debt, we now have access to the Father. We now can have eternal life with Him in heaven. And all this is made possible because of what Christ has done on our behalf. So as we prepare our hearts to partake in Communion, let us remember what Christ has done on our behalf. As we go throughout our lives, I want all of us to work at acting and conducting ourselves in a way that tells those around us without a doubt that we cling to the name of Christ. Remember, your life is the greatest witness that you have to proclaim Christ and Christ crucified. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
John 20:1-18 "I Can Only Imagine"
As we come to this text today, a text that most all of us are familiar with in at least some capacity, we have to be careful not to under value what has just taken place. We have to be careful not to think of the situation too lightly. The promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, has just been killed, murdered before the eyes of the people. Jesus gave the people hope that the Son of God had finally come to save them all. He had come to overthrow God’s enemies here on this earth and to restore God’s people to their rightful place. But all of this hope has now faded. All of this joy has now gone. The one who had power over the winds and the seas has breathed his last breath. I often wonder what it must have felt like to be in the audience that day. The film, The Passion of the Christ, that showed what the brutality of Jesus’ beatings might have looked like only served to peak my interest even more. Yes, I can imagine what it was like to see the beatings of whips made from leather, stone, and bone that were given to Jesus. I can imagine the pain that it must have caused as the barbs ripped from his flesh in a manner that I wouldn’t exactly call “with surgical precision.” I can even imagine the pain that it must have caused to carry a massive wooden cross up a hill after being beaten nearly to death. It’s even possible for me to imagine what it’s like for a spear to be driven into the side of a man. I know what a last breath looks like, so it’s possible for me to imagine Jesus’ final breath. But you see, you and I have a great benefit that the people of that day didn’t have. We know what comes next. We know that Jesus returns. We know that this isn’t the end of the story.
Can you imagine the mindset of those in the audience as they have just witnessed their promised Messiah, their One True hope, breathe his last breath. This was supposed to be God in human form. This was supposed to be the one with the power to conquer death. This was supposed to be the man who was going to save us all. And now he’s gone. He’s gone just as any man who has ever come before him. There had to be murmurs and thoughts, “Did we get this wrong? Was this really the promised Messiah that we heard about from Isaiah and Jeremiah? Was this the seed of the woman promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden? I don’t know what’s going on, tell me what’s going on! I just don’t understand.” It had to be a very numb feeling that gripped the followers of Christ who were there that day. Someone who they had placed so much trust, so much faith, so much of everything in was now dead. There’s no other way to put it, he was dead. No breath, no pulse, no nothing, he was dead.
Even those who were holding out hope for a miracle had to feel numb as they took Jesus’ lifeless body down from the cross, carried it to Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, laid Jesus’ body inside, and rolled a massive boulder over the entrance. I mean, this was it. It had to be over. In their thinking in that moment, none of them probably could have fathomed Jesus coming out of that tomb. I mean, it took numerous Roman guards, physically fit men, to move this boulder into place. It’s not like this man who has just endured perhaps the most violent beating that anyone had ever seen could have the strength to move such a massive object. On top of that, there were guards preventing anyone from coming and helping Jesus escape even if by some miracle he was still alive. Yeah, things must have seemed pretty bleak.
Then we have the waiting period. If you have ever experienced the loss of a loved one or someone who means a great deal to you then you know what I’m talking about here. For us, after the funeral service, after the family gatherings, after life is supposed to get back to “normal”, that’s when the death of another becomes difficult. That’s when we are left with nothing but our thoughts. Nothing but our own what-if’s and did-I’s. And this went on for Jesus’ followers for 3 days; 3 days! This span of 3 days must have felt like an eternity. For some of his disciples, following Jesus was all that they had known for the better part of 3 years. They had to be looking at each other thinking, “Well, what now?” That’s not even dealing with the fact that one of their own was the one who gave Jesus over to the authorities. Their brother was the one who some could hold responsible for this series of events even taking place. Now there’s a void. Now there’s a hole in their lives where this man Jesus once resided.
Things must have seemed about as bad as they possibly could on that Sunday morning, but something had happened that changed everything. You see, when Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb she made a discovery that changed the world. The stone was moved. Mary’s first thought was that someone had come in and stolen Jesus’ body. She runs to tell the Peter and another disciple, most likely John, what she has found. She tells them that Jesus’ body is gone and she doesn’t have a clue where it is. The two disciples take off in a footrace. They arrive at the tomb at various times. They see nothing so they go in for a closer look. Once inside, they find the linen cloths lying on the ground. They notice that the cloth that was laid on Jesus’ face is there as well, but there’s something odd about it. It had been folded. Surely, no person or persons who wanted to steal the body of this crucified man would take time to fold these discarded cloths. They stand there puzzled because as we’re told, “as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” Jesus told them earlier that he would be raised on the third day, but they didn’t understand.
And that’s just it. Even though Jesus had told them numerous times that this was to come about, he never did so in a direct manner in which the disciples understood. They primarily took all of these foretellings and foreshadowings of Jesus to mean something important, but what exactly they didn’t know. We know, because we have 2000 years of history and get to look at this 2000 years after the fact. Over the course of the next 8 days, Jesus would make himself known to all of his disciples. We have in our text today Jesus coming to Mary Magdalene while she was still crying outside of the tomb. Two angels pointed to something behind her and as she turns to see what is behind her she hears, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” After some confusion and a case of mistaken identity she hears this man say her name, “Mary.” She knew in an instant who this figure standing there was. She knew that this was the one who she had just witnessed a few days earlier breathe his last breath. She knew that her Savior lived.
Going back to the act of imagining what it must have been like at Jesus’ crucifixion, think about how Mary Magdalene must have felt. Imagine what must have been going through her head. Have you ever been riding down the road and see something that doesn’t look quite right. We do what’s called a double-take. It doesn’t register with us what we just saw so we have to look again to make sure that what we saw was in fact real. Even after confirming that it was indeed real, it takes a while for that sight to process fully in our minds. It’s highly doubtful that while she was on her way to inform the disciples of what she had seen, that Mary could shake this image from her mind. She probably asked herself over and over again whether or not what she had witnessed was real.
Indeed it was real. Indeed, it was Jesus Christ who had risen from the dead. As the Apostle’s Creed says, “he was crucified, dead, and buried. On the third day he arose again from the dead.” No doubt, this is something that Mary Magdalene didn’t forget for the rest of her life. And how could she. I mean, she witnessed what Christians consider to be the most significant event in human history. She was the first person to witness the resurrected Christ. Out of all of the people who Jesus could have appeared before after rising up from the dead, he appears to Mary Magdalene. No, there’s no way that Mary could forget the fact that her Savior was alive and well.
The question now becomes, “Do you?” Do you remember that your Savior lives? Do you forget that he is risen? Do you live a life that shows that your Redeemer arose and left the tomb, or is it as if Jesus is still there? You see, this story, this series of events is much larger than a story of someone dying. This is much more than a story of someone being raised from the dead. Jesus raised the widow’s son. He raised Lazarus. There aren’t days in the Christian calendar that are devoted to those events. As amazing as this conquering of death may be, it isn’t the central focus of the story of Jesus Christ. The focus is what was accomplished with this particular death and resurrection. You see, way back in the book of Genesis, God created a covenant with Adam. This covenant, the covenant of works, stated that perfect obedience to God’s will would achieve one’s salvation. The problem is that this agreement didn’t last too long. Or at least, the reality of fulfilling this agreement didn’t. It’s not until Jesus Christ that we have someone who is capable of living in complete obedience to God’s will. And that’s exactly what he did. You see, from the moment that Jesus Christ came into this world, he was perfectly obedient to God. He never sinned, he never fell short of God’s commands, he never slipped up. This perfect life lived by Christ Jesus paid the price. It paid the price that was owed for this covenant of works. It paid for the sins of every person from Adam to Noah to David to Paul to Martin Luther and John Calvin to you to me and to everyone who comes after us. It’s not as if this was an act just to prove that Jesus Christ could conquer death. No, he had already proved that. This wasn’t about proving anything. This was about a price; a price that was owed not because of anything that he had done, but because of what we have done, what we are doing, and what we will do. This is God paying Himself for a debt that we owe. God loves us, and He knows that we don’t have the ability to pay this debt. So, out of His gracious love, He gives us the gift of His Son. He gives us the second person of the Trinity.
As we try in our minds to picture what it must have looked like as Jesus breathed his last breath while nailed to the cross, it is in that moment that our price was paid. Friends, I can’t stress to you the importance of knowing and showing that your Savior arose and walked out of that tomb. Your faith is something to be taken very seriously. It should shape the entirety of your being. There is not aspect of your life that your faith does not affect. I encourage you to live each and every day with the full assurance that your Savior has left the tomb and now sits at the right hand of the Father until such time as he shall come again. As Christians, let’s commit to living a life that shows to all those around us that we know that the tomb, on this very day, is indeed empty, and our Savior has risen from the dead. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Can you imagine the mindset of those in the audience as they have just witnessed their promised Messiah, their One True hope, breathe his last breath. This was supposed to be God in human form. This was supposed to be the one with the power to conquer death. This was supposed to be the man who was going to save us all. And now he’s gone. He’s gone just as any man who has ever come before him. There had to be murmurs and thoughts, “Did we get this wrong? Was this really the promised Messiah that we heard about from Isaiah and Jeremiah? Was this the seed of the woman promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden? I don’t know what’s going on, tell me what’s going on! I just don’t understand.” It had to be a very numb feeling that gripped the followers of Christ who were there that day. Someone who they had placed so much trust, so much faith, so much of everything in was now dead. There’s no other way to put it, he was dead. No breath, no pulse, no nothing, he was dead.
Even those who were holding out hope for a miracle had to feel numb as they took Jesus’ lifeless body down from the cross, carried it to Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, laid Jesus’ body inside, and rolled a massive boulder over the entrance. I mean, this was it. It had to be over. In their thinking in that moment, none of them probably could have fathomed Jesus coming out of that tomb. I mean, it took numerous Roman guards, physically fit men, to move this boulder into place. It’s not like this man who has just endured perhaps the most violent beating that anyone had ever seen could have the strength to move such a massive object. On top of that, there were guards preventing anyone from coming and helping Jesus escape even if by some miracle he was still alive. Yeah, things must have seemed pretty bleak.
Then we have the waiting period. If you have ever experienced the loss of a loved one or someone who means a great deal to you then you know what I’m talking about here. For us, after the funeral service, after the family gatherings, after life is supposed to get back to “normal”, that’s when the death of another becomes difficult. That’s when we are left with nothing but our thoughts. Nothing but our own what-if’s and did-I’s. And this went on for Jesus’ followers for 3 days; 3 days! This span of 3 days must have felt like an eternity. For some of his disciples, following Jesus was all that they had known for the better part of 3 years. They had to be looking at each other thinking, “Well, what now?” That’s not even dealing with the fact that one of their own was the one who gave Jesus over to the authorities. Their brother was the one who some could hold responsible for this series of events even taking place. Now there’s a void. Now there’s a hole in their lives where this man Jesus once resided.
Things must have seemed about as bad as they possibly could on that Sunday morning, but something had happened that changed everything. You see, when Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb she made a discovery that changed the world. The stone was moved. Mary’s first thought was that someone had come in and stolen Jesus’ body. She runs to tell the Peter and another disciple, most likely John, what she has found. She tells them that Jesus’ body is gone and she doesn’t have a clue where it is. The two disciples take off in a footrace. They arrive at the tomb at various times. They see nothing so they go in for a closer look. Once inside, they find the linen cloths lying on the ground. They notice that the cloth that was laid on Jesus’ face is there as well, but there’s something odd about it. It had been folded. Surely, no person or persons who wanted to steal the body of this crucified man would take time to fold these discarded cloths. They stand there puzzled because as we’re told, “as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” Jesus told them earlier that he would be raised on the third day, but they didn’t understand.
And that’s just it. Even though Jesus had told them numerous times that this was to come about, he never did so in a direct manner in which the disciples understood. They primarily took all of these foretellings and foreshadowings of Jesus to mean something important, but what exactly they didn’t know. We know, because we have 2000 years of history and get to look at this 2000 years after the fact. Over the course of the next 8 days, Jesus would make himself known to all of his disciples. We have in our text today Jesus coming to Mary Magdalene while she was still crying outside of the tomb. Two angels pointed to something behind her and as she turns to see what is behind her she hears, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” After some confusion and a case of mistaken identity she hears this man say her name, “Mary.” She knew in an instant who this figure standing there was. She knew that this was the one who she had just witnessed a few days earlier breathe his last breath. She knew that her Savior lived.
Going back to the act of imagining what it must have been like at Jesus’ crucifixion, think about how Mary Magdalene must have felt. Imagine what must have been going through her head. Have you ever been riding down the road and see something that doesn’t look quite right. We do what’s called a double-take. It doesn’t register with us what we just saw so we have to look again to make sure that what we saw was in fact real. Even after confirming that it was indeed real, it takes a while for that sight to process fully in our minds. It’s highly doubtful that while she was on her way to inform the disciples of what she had seen, that Mary could shake this image from her mind. She probably asked herself over and over again whether or not what she had witnessed was real.
Indeed it was real. Indeed, it was Jesus Christ who had risen from the dead. As the Apostle’s Creed says, “he was crucified, dead, and buried. On the third day he arose again from the dead.” No doubt, this is something that Mary Magdalene didn’t forget for the rest of her life. And how could she. I mean, she witnessed what Christians consider to be the most significant event in human history. She was the first person to witness the resurrected Christ. Out of all of the people who Jesus could have appeared before after rising up from the dead, he appears to Mary Magdalene. No, there’s no way that Mary could forget the fact that her Savior was alive and well.
The question now becomes, “Do you?” Do you remember that your Savior lives? Do you forget that he is risen? Do you live a life that shows that your Redeemer arose and left the tomb, or is it as if Jesus is still there? You see, this story, this series of events is much larger than a story of someone dying. This is much more than a story of someone being raised from the dead. Jesus raised the widow’s son. He raised Lazarus. There aren’t days in the Christian calendar that are devoted to those events. As amazing as this conquering of death may be, it isn’t the central focus of the story of Jesus Christ. The focus is what was accomplished with this particular death and resurrection. You see, way back in the book of Genesis, God created a covenant with Adam. This covenant, the covenant of works, stated that perfect obedience to God’s will would achieve one’s salvation. The problem is that this agreement didn’t last too long. Or at least, the reality of fulfilling this agreement didn’t. It’s not until Jesus Christ that we have someone who is capable of living in complete obedience to God’s will. And that’s exactly what he did. You see, from the moment that Jesus Christ came into this world, he was perfectly obedient to God. He never sinned, he never fell short of God’s commands, he never slipped up. This perfect life lived by Christ Jesus paid the price. It paid the price that was owed for this covenant of works. It paid for the sins of every person from Adam to Noah to David to Paul to Martin Luther and John Calvin to you to me and to everyone who comes after us. It’s not as if this was an act just to prove that Jesus Christ could conquer death. No, he had already proved that. This wasn’t about proving anything. This was about a price; a price that was owed not because of anything that he had done, but because of what we have done, what we are doing, and what we will do. This is God paying Himself for a debt that we owe. God loves us, and He knows that we don’t have the ability to pay this debt. So, out of His gracious love, He gives us the gift of His Son. He gives us the second person of the Trinity.
As we try in our minds to picture what it must have looked like as Jesus breathed his last breath while nailed to the cross, it is in that moment that our price was paid. Friends, I can’t stress to you the importance of knowing and showing that your Savior arose and walked out of that tomb. Your faith is something to be taken very seriously. It should shape the entirety of your being. There is not aspect of your life that your faith does not affect. I encourage you to live each and every day with the full assurance that your Savior has left the tomb and now sits at the right hand of the Father until such time as he shall come again. As Christians, let’s commit to living a life that shows to all those around us that we know that the tomb, on this very day, is indeed empty, and our Savior has risen from the dead. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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