THE DAWNING OF THE AGE OF EASTER
#372 THE DAWNING OF THE AGE OF EASTER
Scripture John 20:11-18, NIV Orig. Date 3-26-1967
Rewr. Dates 3-1978, 3-19-1989
Passage: 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.
Purpose: To share an Easter message exemplifying the hope that is in our Christ.
Keywords: Christ, Saviour Easter Hope Resurrection Special Day, Easter
Introduction
There have been times over the years when I was the first to leave the scene of someone’s darkest hour. Other times I have lingered at the grave-site following a committal service. Occasionally, I have even returned with the family to the family home.
I have watched bereaved and broken-hearted people shuffling away from some flower-bedecked grave. The flowers, for all their beauty, did not change in one iota, all that that grave represented. I have seen men and women leaning heavily on the stronger arms of some other loved one because the grief had sapped all strength.
“Oh, ‘tis the pang severest
That human hearts can know,
To lay what we hold dearest
Thus, in the dust below.”--unknown
A painting pictures Mary Magdalene in such an hour as this. It is called The Return from Calvary. Mary Magdalene and another woman, Mary (Zebedee’s wife), Salome, Joanna, we are not told which. Grief is etched on Mary Magdalene’s face. Despondency is her destination.. Against the horizon, in the background of the picture can be seen the three crosses of Calvary. When first mentioned (Luke 8:2f) she is identified as one “out of whom went seven devils.” Jesus had occupied such a special place in her life. Now what?
As another has written that it was she:
“Who while apostles shrank, could dangers brave
Last at His cross, and earliest at His grave.”—Eaton Standard Barrett, 1786-1820
Those who went out on that first Easter morning did not know what Easter was. Too many still are not so certain of the meaning, of the “dawning of the age of Easter.”
I. The Dawning of Easter Confirms the Lordship of Christ. V16 “Jesus saith unto her, ‘Mary.’ She turned herself and saith unto him, ‘Rabboni.’” Other passages confuse us in the failure of disciples to recognize Jesus. Was it the semi-darkness of first light? Did tears distort her first look? Were their recollections altered by what they had seen of Him on the cross?
Make no mistake, this is the One who had lived among them as the Son of God. V17 “I ascend to my Father, . . . and to my God.” What Mary doesn’t need, and Jesus doesn’t impart is some well-intentioned philosophy. We have mentioned her “seven devils.” They could be medically derived. She could have been a social outcast. Likely, the problem was sin. I heard Dennie Duron tell about the conversion of a former team-mate during surgery for a self-inflicted gun-shot wound.
Whatever else it means, here is a woman of checkered past into whose life Jesus came.
Now Jesus is dead. What is left? No words will still the torrent in her breast. Times Picayune (3-23-1978): Killed cancer-stricken wife, then himself. Note: “I had rather spend eternity in hell, than see her spend another day in her hell.”
She waits for some hope that is equal to her grief. Uncle Tom had been sold and was on his way to Simon Lagree’s death farm. Reading scripture to a slave who could not read. Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all.” Slave: “Them’s good words, but who sez ‘em?”
Only God’s Son and Consort would dare to brig such outcasts into the Father’s presence. V17 (again) “I ascend unto . . . your Father, . . . and your God.” The One He called Father, He identified as her Father, also. Thus is the ascension of Christ surety for the believer.
II. The Dawning of Easter Declares Jesus Alive. V12 “Two angels in white sitting . . . where the body of Jesus had lain.” You see, we are not merely left an empty tomb. As important as burial places are. The tomb of Abraham has been a revered place among Hebrews for 4,000 years. Mohammed’s shrine has been marked in Medina since June 8, 632 A.D. Lenin’s tomb bears the inscription “He was the saviour.” But the empty tomb of Jesus brought no comfort to Mary Magdalene.
By His appearance to the disciples, Jesus showed Himself alive. What an impact those appearances had on the disciples. Cleopas: “Was not our heart burning within us, while he spake?” (Luke 24;32). “The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord” John 20:20. “Peter cast himself into the sea” John 21:7.
John 21:24 “This is the disciple which beareth witness of these things: and we know that his witness is true.”
Picture, then, what his sudden appearance would mean to Mary Magdalene. V15 “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” Tears of sincere remorse and conviction do not go unnoticed. Revival for most churches, believers, awaits such contrition. Every pastor’s burden is, “Is it something I lack?” It was to comfort such grief that Christ came. V15 “Tell me where thou has laid him and I will take him away.” The empty tomb has not assuaged. An unknown Jesus has not comforted.
In speaking her name, she at once sees. V16 “Mary!” “Rabboni! which is to say ‘Master.’” The flush of recognition pierces her broken spirit. So poignant the sound of her own name that the cobwebs are driven from her brain.
It is the intent of Christ, through his Holy Spirit to verify Lordship, Life today. V17 “Go to the brethren. Tell them I ascend to my Father, and your Father.” See v23.
III. The Dawning of Easter Evokes His Purpose—Provides the Resurrection. V17 “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father.” Up to now, they had been able to love Him as one whose physical presence was known. Mary reaches out to touch Him as she has done before. In the dark defile the shepherd does not lead, but accompanies the sheep. The staff is the extension of his hand.
It is for reason other than rebuke that Jesus denies her touch. Remember, the first Easter service was not to Peter and John. They had been there but are now returned to their homes (v10). It is to Mary Magdalene that He has made His presence known. Mark 16:9 “He appeared first to Mary Magdalene.” Faith in one’s living Lord must be paramount. Touch is not necessary.
The Holy Spirit’s ministry throughout the ages has been to manifest a living Lord. To this end, Jesus lived His life with the cross ever before Him. His ministry was among the people with whom He lived. The Holy Spirit would broaden that outreach to touch all ages. John 16:7 “. . . it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
Conclusion
A story is told of a wealthy merchant whose friend and acquaintance of many years had come to a destitute condition. The merchant was moved with pity at the plight of his friend and determined to do what he could to help. He chose a trusted servant and sent him to the man’s home with gifts, and with a sealed envelope.
The man was out, himself seeking some relief from his dire circumstance. His wife received the offerings of friendship. The gifts were applied to household needs of which there were many. The envelope she placed among her husband’s private papers. At the merchant’s death she inquired. Found: a blank check, the account now closed. Have we acted on God’s benevolence?
CRUCIFIED TO DEATH
#485 CRUCIFIED TO DEATH
Scripture John 19:13-22 Orig. Date 4/14/1968
Rewr. Dates 3/14/1991
Passage: 13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. 15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
Purpose: In a series on Christ’s nature for Easter, point to His death as an essential criterion.
Keywords: Christ/Death Easter Crucifixion
Timeline/Series: Nature of Christ
Introduction
Dr. James Stewart, noted New Testament scholar, writes of the resurrection of Jesus, “Not one line of the New Testament was written . . . not one sentence, whether of Gospels, Epistles, Acts, or Apocalypse, was penned apart from the conviction that He of whom these things were being written had conquered death and was alive forevermore.”
For the present, however, we must deal with, not His resurrection, but His death. Easter cannot reach us at all if we do not pass through the burdensome stage of crucifixion and death.
Death, of course, touches all of us. We want to make light of it as often as we can. I read about a West Texas rancher who went to his local undertaker to make arrangement for his burial when the time came. “I want to be buried in my trusty old pick-up truck,” he said. Well, the funeral director saw the difficulties and tried to talk him out of such a notion. “It’s like this,” said the rancher, “I ain’t never seen a hole that truck couldn’t get me out of.”
Then I read about the Louisville, KY, woman whose husband was a retired electrician. The local priest made arrangements for him to repair an electrical shortage in one of the confessionals. He would have to crawl across the rafters in the highest and least protected part of the church. She decided to be on hand if anything went wrong. She was sitting in a pew below the work space. Congregants entered the back part of the building for a special mass. Unaware of the presence of the other people, and concerned because she was hearing no sound, she called out, “Sam, Sam, . . . are you up there? Did you make it okay?” [The people in the mass] hear a voice answer back, “I am doing fine, Christine. Stop worrying!”
I. First, Consider the Covenant and the Cross. V19 “And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.
Pilate, an enemy of the covenant, calls Jesus King. I remind you, it was not done in faith. This was a man of evasive action. Don’t do anything if you can help it. The Jews: “Take Him yourselves.” Herod’s jurisdiction: sent Him back.
Pilate: “I find no fault.” But then he would beat Him, a faultless man. Then he brought up Barabbas. Did Pilate really think the Jews would fall for that? Vengeance, not justice. Finally, Pilate tries to blame others for his own irresponsibility. “I am innocent of the blood of this just man.”
Such people are all around us. Pretending that they are beyond the claims of the gospel. Blaming others for their own sins.
Interestingly, the people of the covenant disclaim His sovereignty. John 19:13 “he maketh himself . . . king.” Mark 15:15f “purple, . . . crown of thorns, . . . Hail king.”
But it was his message to which they objected. Matthew 3:7 He called the Pharisees and Sadducees “generation of vipers.” He accused religious leaders of being hypocrites. Matthew 23:13. Matthew 10:38 “He that taketh not up his cross and followeth me is not worthy of me.”
Faith was a volatile commodity. They who believed, believed the more strongly because of the covenant. The Messiah had come to them. They disbelieved, crucified. Their hands were stained with the sin that wrought His death. How about your hands, and mine? Only the hypocrites see themselves as guiltless.
II. [SUBTITLE LOST]
V16, “Then delivered he him unto them to be crucified.” Most significant were the occupants of the other two crosses. “They crucified him, and two others with him.” On those two crosses were the prototypes of all who would pass by. One would find in Jesus a source of strength. He would die with Jesus, But it would be remorseful, repentant, forgiven. To the other Jesus was an anomaly. He was no more dead than the other. But it was an angry, accusing, hopeless death. It was also a Christless death.
L. Wade spoke of a lady at nursing home who asked about ______ Prison—“Why would a man die without the Lord?” Does it concern us that there are others all around us who know the Lord?
Speaking of crowds, there was a Roman Legion there that day as well. They wanted to think that they were in charge. Doing the procurator’s (Caesar’s) bidding. Punishment meted out by the book.
But this is God’s doing, and “is wondrous to behold.” Psalm 72:18 “Blessed be the Lord God, . . . who only doeth wondrous things.”
Jerry Clower tells about Uncle Versie Ledbetter and his mule named Della. She fell in a cistern (reservoir for rain water). Tried to get Della out. Finally, rather than see her starve, he’d bury her there. But every time he threw in a load of dirt, she shook it off, stomped on it, [CLIMBED on it], and waited for the next load.
Whether you understand the crucifixion or not, it’s the means of God’s choosing, to deal with our sin. You can’t help Jesus bear that cross. But it’s foolhardy to think that it is no more than man’s work.
III. Lastly, We Examine Christ and the Cross. V17 “And He bearing His cross went fort into a place . . . called . . . Golgotha.”
You will note that it was a cross of commitment to the will of God. RSV and NEB both translate “his own cross.” It was expected that His followers would show evidence of their commitment. “If you were accused of being a Christian, is there enough evidence to convince you?” Where between 6 and 8 tonight? Last Wednesday at 6:30, four deacons for mission emphasis. When was the last time you did something/anything for Jesus’ sake?
It was a cross meaning pain and suffering. It was so in the ultimate sense with Jesus. The disciples were affected by the crucifixion as by nothing else. Remember Stewart: “Not one line of the New Testament . . . not one sentence , . . . was penned apart from the conviction . . . that He had conquered death and was alive forevermore.” How does the crucifixion touch and change your life? The lives of those around you?
But leave here this morning remembering that it was a cross of glory.
“In the old rugged cross stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.
To the old rugged cross I will ever be true,
Its shame and reproach gladly bear.
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.”
Conclusion
Listen to Donald Miller(1) in The People of God. “The sentimentalized Jesus of our time is not one before whom men of our time would fall on their faces, and certainly, He would frighten away no devils! He is one whom nobody would crucify, and for whom, few, if any, would be willing to die. He could not have brought the church into being, nor could He have sustained it through all the tortuous course of the long centuries.” Which Jesus do you follow?
(1) Miller, D. (1958). The People of God. Religious Book Club.
THE IMMEDIACY OF “NOW”: How Important is “Now”?
#466b THE IMMEDIACY OF “NOW”: How Important is “Now”?
Scripture John 9:4 Orig. 2/25/1968; 5/4/1974
Rewr. 2/10/1989
Passage: As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
Purpose: To speak to my people about commitment that does not measure up to God’s expectations.
Keywords: Commitment Discernment Resolution Covenant
Timeline/Series: Before Easter
Introduction
Unresolved commitment is no new thing. Our problems are not in knowing what to do, but rather in the stick-to-it-iveness to do what we know what we ought to do. Unfortunately, irresolution and commitment do fit in the same sentence. They don’t buck away at each other like the opposing poles of two refrigerator magnets. They won’t stick to one another, but they will sit there side-by-side.
You remember the children’s tale of the “little boy who cried ‘wolf.’” He was supposed to be a shepherd, but he found a game that he could play to be more exciting.
Occasionally, the father had other work to do and the lad would be sent out into the hills to tend the sheep. When he became bored, and wanted to see some other human shape, he cried “Wolf”! When there was some sound that he did not recognize and he wanted companionship, he cried “Wolf”! If he became afraid of some shadow in the dusk, he cried “Wolf”!
The bond of the shepherds in the hills was strong. If anyone needed help, all who heard the cry of alarm went to his aid. But arriving to the sound of the little shepherd’s plaintive cry, they never found any sign of the wolf. The shepherds were leaving their own sheep in danger to answer the supposed need of the little shepherd boy who was more interested in games than he was in being a shepherd.
So one day, the wolf really came.. The lad saw him as big as life. He knew his sheep were in danger. So he called, and called, and called, but no one came. Our text this morning is a short one, but it addresses our commitment. Are we Christians in deed, or just in word? Are we interested in making our faith easy on ourselves, or do we really want to follow the teachings of Jesus?
I. Jesus Begins the Lesson Reminding Us that We All have Assigned Tasks. “It behooves us to work the works of the one who sent me.” Make sure we read what the verse says. The King James catches the spirit of Jesus’ own commitment. “I must work.” The NIV catches the plural: “As long as it is day, we must do the work.” The New King James adds a footnote: “We.” Another [the Living Bible] says “All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned.”
This helps us in not expecting too little of ourselves, and too much of others. We really are overly protective of us. And genuinely judgmental of others. Proverbs 26:20 “Where no wood is, . . . the fire goeth out. Where there is no tale bearer, the strife ceases.” Need I remind you that the last two of the “Ten Commandments” were so directed? “Thou shalt not bear false witness” [and] “Thou shalt not covet.”-
Be honest with yourselves, and others. What it boils down to, is that IF we spend our effort energizing our own commitment we will let others energize their own. Nehemiah 8:10,”for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
The joyous task of each of us ought to be in seeking God’s will. We do so in serious Bible study. We do so in engaging prayer. To avoid these is to avoid the search. Unresolved commitment is where we wind up, or, perhaps, “wind down.”
It was Becky Thatcher, I believe, telling Tom Sawyer of her plans to be a missionary. Tom’s interest was the river, and all the exciting places one could go. So, he asked where. To China, Africa, other places then discussed. “I might even go to New Orleans.” Might our, your, New Orleans be a small part of Union Parish where people need Jesus?
A small word should be said about the required translation “must,” or “behooved.” “Dei” in the Greek dictionary means “moral obligation.” Found in Luke 24:26 “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things?” John 4:4 “And he must needs go through Samaria.” Revelation 1:1 “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.”
“Ought we not to work the works of the One who sent Jesus?”
II. The Lesson Continues with a Call for Response. “You must quickly carry out the tasks assigned.” Isn’t that what Jesus meant? Working the work of God while it is day? Get on with the business at hand while we have the wherewithal to do it?
It is response born of faith. It is getting ourselves ready for the opportunities with which God will confront us. If you think the time of opportunity has passed, then you’re dead already. You’re just occupying a living body.
Some remember the “Old” days when every Baptist church in the state had a posted copy of the “Church Covenant.” To strive for advancement in knowledge, holiness, comfort.” I don’t know a church anywhere that has not striven for “comfort.” We had a “flap” in our seminary church because $1M had been spent on a worship center. More than spent on buildings by Lottie Moon gifts that year.
Do we strive as well for knowledge? Parents faithful to school. On third snow day: “WE are going to be there demanding they open.”
But how faithful to Sunday School? I was at College Place. Darryl W. was on his way to St. Francis Medical Center to visit a man who, the next Sunday, would miss the first Sunday in 58 years. First Baptist Church-Bernice must return to that quest for knowledge of God.
We’ve not yet said a word about striving for holiness. Do you have any scars from that kind of battle? All that most of us can say about “holiness” is that we’ve heard of such people. Missionaries. Ancients. It just isn’t “today,” we conclude.
Does not the work of Jesus compel us to response today?
III. Finally, There is a Lesson on Candidness. “The night is coming when no one can work,” It is here that now takes on the burden of immediacy. In spiritual honesty we are to be ourselves. You remember the show Candid Camera? Their byline was “People caught in the act of being themselves.” The very last threshold for pretense ought to be in the dimension of spirit. God has promised His Holy Spirit to all who are in Christ. The key, then, is to be “in Christ.”
It is through the Holy Spirit that we have a word for the world based on the WORD. Our Wednesday night study in I Corinthians 14:9 “Except ye utter by the tongue, words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken?” We rightly presume that [Paul] addressed charismatics. Intellectual snobbery as well. And a reluctance to communicate because we just don’t care. I Corinthians 14:12 “Since you want distinction, seek the kind that builds up the church.”
We are too much like ancient Israel. Deuteronomy 6:10, “When you reach the promised land, you will find cities which you did not build, houses full which you did not fill, cisterns hewn which you did not hew, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant; when you eat and are full, take heed lest you forget the Lord.”
Assurance for the believer is “doing the work of the one who sent us” in Jesus’ name. It means “now.” Job’s “now mine eye seeth thee,” Job 42:5. David’s “Now, Lord, what wait I for?” Psalm 39:7. Isaiah’s “Now, O Lord, thou art our Father, . . . we are . . . the work of thy hand,” Isaiah 64:8. Malachi’s “prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven,” Malachi 3:10.
Conclusion
Metaphor: Years ago a scientific journal was placed in my hands. It was “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist.” The cover carried a picture of a clock. The caption read, “The Doomsday Clock.” It was twelve minutes to midnight. Some of [the] twelve have passed.
JESUS IS ALIVE
#741 JESUS IS ALIVE
Scripture Matthew 28:6; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:5f; John 20:1f
Date 4/13/1979
Passage:
Matthew 28:6: He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
Mark 16:6: “Don't be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”
Luke 24:5f: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
John 20:1: The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Timeline/Series: Easter
Introduction
If you, as a schoolboy, remember reading Cervantes’ story “Don Quixote,” you will recall that part of the fun of the book was in his strong imagination. He went out pretending to be a courageous knight. He fought windmills, satisfied that they were giants. He drove herds of sheep askew, believing them to be enemies of the kingdom.
Good sense and timing dictate that I should be to you, what I am. You do not need another pretender. I will speak about that which I best know, and my conscience leads me to believe that it is what you most need.
The gospel narrative wastes no words in dealing with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and no more worthy subject could be claimed for this occasion. Since we get caught up more in the crucifixion scene, I will claim the scene of resurrection for these moments.
While all of the gospels write about a single theme, they are not simple copies of each other. They emphasize different things out of the life of Jesus. They single out separate events that may speak more to what they want to say. Certain parts of the story are so important that each of these writers declares its integrity. This is the case of the resurrection.
- Matthew 28:6: He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay
- Mark 16:6: “Don't be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”
- Luke 24:5f: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
- John 20:1: The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Then there were those to whom Jesus appeared: Mary Magdalene, John 20:16; the other women, Matthew 28:9; Emmaus disciples, Luke 24:13f; Disciples Mark, Luke, John, and Thomas, John 20:26f; seven at seaside, John 21:1.
I. This is So Important Because We Make So Much Over the Death of Jesus: Jesus Christ, Superstar; The Late Great Planet Earth, Hal Lindsey; Jesus of Nazareth.
Good Friday has more appeal. It may be for some of the same reason that Thomas felt it necessary to touch the living Jesus before he would believe. Without us Jesus couldn’t make it!!!?
We’ve done our bit for poor Jesus. More here than at the sunrise service.
The Turin Shroud as told in The Silent Witness. More a case for His death than for His life. Satisfies a human propensity for physical evidence.
II. Of Much Greater Importance is the Reality that Christ is Alive.
There will always be those who want to intellectualize faith to satisfy human ideals. 1978 Act of God, Charles Templeton—a novel of the discovery of Jesus’ body and the effort of the church to hide this from the public; a few years ago, The Passover Plot; liberal theologians—Bultmann stated “A historical fact which involves a resurrection from the dead is utterly impossible.”
III. The Early Believers did not Say that Jesus was Spiritually Alive, but that He was Resurrected from the Dead.
These are not all the same. Many Jews already believed in life after death. Jesus died, albeit horribly, for the sins of people such as we; but what is important is that death did not have power over Him, but rather He over death.
There are three very significant reasons why this bodily resurrection is so important.
- It establishes unquestionably, the verdict of Holy God, upon the life (obedience) of Jesus. Acts 3:26 “Unto you first God, having raised up His son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” Romans 1:4 “And declare to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” The disciples then and now, by the way, had to have absolute evidence that Jesus was not just another flash in the pan.
- It gave absolute credence to the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross. Romans 8:11 “But if the spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit.” II Peter 2:24 “Who in His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.” I Corinthians 15:17 “If Christ has not been raised your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.”
- There is a third reason. It means that death is a state of being enhanced through our faith in Jesus. Greek immortality was a state much better than cessation of being, but how much??? The resurrection proclaims that a Christ is alive, so, in Him, are we. There is total transformation of the whole person in a new and better life.
Conclusion
From an unknown source*:
“I saw the conquerors riding by, With cruel lips and faces wan.
Musing of kingdoms sacked and burned, There rode the Mongol, Genghis Khan;
And Alexander like a God, Who sought to weld the world in one;
And Caesar with his laurel wreath; And like a thing from Hell, the Hun;
And leading like a star the van, Heedless of outstretched arm and groan.
Inscrutable Napoleon went, Dreaming of empire and alone.
Then all they perished from the earth As fleeting shadows from a glass,
And conquering down the centuries Came Christ the swordless on an ass.”
Jesus came to die to live; to die for your sins and mine that we might live in Him.
John Michener captures somewhat of the essence of faith in The Source. Zadok the righteous (Abraham) hears El-Shaddai—“As long as you live old man, you will be free to ignore my commands. But in time I will grow impatient and will speak to others as I have spoken to Epher.”
The call of God had been to serve Him in the city. “My home is the desert,” Zadok said in self-justification, “and I was afraid to leave.”
“I waited,” El-Shaddai said, “because I knew that if you did not love your home in the desert you would not love me either. I am glad that you are now ready.”
*Harry Kemp
CROWDS ABOUT THE CROSS
#096 CROWDS ABOUT THE CROSS
Scripture Luke 23:26-43 NIV Orig. 5-6-62
Rewr. (8-76) 3-5-89
Passage: 26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’[a] 31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” 32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[b] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews. 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[c]” 43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Purpose: Approaching Easter, to speak to my people of variant attitudes about Jesus’ death, and the determination that He died in our place.
Keywords: Christ as Saviour Faith Special Day, Easter Crucifixion Man/Sin
Timeline/Series: Prior to Easter
Introduction
It is not necessary for us to travel very far to encounter crowds. They are everywhere we go, and their reasons for being where they are, are as numerous as the people themselves.
We find these crowds at our malls, our cotillions of commerce. They are there to shop, some even to spend money. But many others are there for the purpose of seeing and being seen.
Again, we may find the crowds at ball games, at religious conventions, at historic sites, at school convocations, at pageants and festivals, or speeding down the already unsafe highways.
They gather in the mountains, at the beach, at parades commemorating such themes as Mardi Gras, freedom, homecoming, etc. You see them riding horses, wearing clown costumes, playing band instruments. Some would not be anywhere else in all the world. Others would rather be anywhere than where they are.
The paper told of a gathering crowd. A distraught woman was threatening to take her own life. The curious came out of the woodwork. With hoots and jeers some of them urged her on. Some there surely cared, but they were intimidated by those who did not. The police arrived, but even they had difficulty from the vented anger of the crowd becoming a mob that wanted to see some blood-letting. In their attempt to break through to the poor woman she had become so disturbed by these savage tactics that she drove the knife several times into her own body. Crowds, how easy to deplore what they become once we are free of their dastardly influence. How would you have acted at the cross?
I. On the Faces of That Crowd I See Contempt. V35 “And the rulers also with them derided Him saying, He saved others; Let Him save Himself, if He be the Christ, the chosen of God.” The Greek word for ‘passion’ is ‘pathos.’ We have a number of words that are derivatives: Sympathy—to feel for; Empathy—to feel with; Apathy—a lack of feeling; Antipathy—spite, feeling against.
This last is what we find among Jesus’ enemies here at the cross. What, exactly, were they feeling? They were not bored with Jesus. They weren’t looking for a more dynamic Messiah. They hated, with passion, all that Jesus stood for.
Matthew and Mark incriminate chief priests and scribes with “rulers” here mentioned. Theirs is a contempt for the unproven. His teaching was in conflict with theirs. The scribe was patting himself on the back: “The people need the law, I can give it to them.” The rulers were concluding that the people were not smart enough to interpret their religion. They could.
Does it surprise us to learn that there are still those disposed to contempt for Jesus? Some modernist religious leaders say that Jesus really didn’t have to die. They discount Paul’s “Unto us which are saved, it is the power of God,” I Corinthians 1:18. They ignore John’s terse “Whosoever denieth the son, the same hath not the Father,” I John 2:23.
There are others who simply hate that for which Jesus stands. I shared recently the testimony of a rock musician who played Jesus in Jesus Christ, Superstar. Jeff Fenholt said the “Cast were atheists who were trying to mock Jesus.” The recent uproar over The Last Temptation of Christ is also evidence.
I challenge you to send for the AFA Journal. Read some of the dialogue being perpetrated on a naïve public. I read Don Wildmon’s editorial (4-88) proudly accepting contempt and scorn of the ACLU and Playboy for having led the fight against smut.
II. On Faces in That Crowd I Also See Consent. V35 “And the people stood beholding.” V36 “And the soldiers also mocked Him.”
Those looking on so candidly were agreeing to this carnage. Those “beholding” are observing with interest, and their interest is not faith in Christ. The word “mocked” spoken of the soldiers means ‘sport,’ ‘jest,’ ‘childlike.’ It seems as if there were ambulance chasers then also. (“Let’s go see how long it takes the crucified to die.”)
The passion expressed here is apathy. The contemptuous deserve none of our pity. These even less. The soldiers go so far as to gamble over the garment of Jesus as a trivia item to talk about later.
I have seen the cards come out at one-sided ballgames. The 1989 Nevada crusade team had to be challenged not to play slots; we may look back to Las Vegas in June.
Yes, we can turn up a reason for consent. Valid questions were being raised by people all over Judea. Some of those questions were raised by people after hearing Jesus. Others just didn’t like those kinds of questions. So, this way they can get Jesus out of the way, and can even say, “Tsk! Tsk! What a shame.”
Our church roles have many “consenters” on them. If you didn’t listen carefully, you may have thought I said “sinners.”
III. Yet Other Faces Stand Out in That Crowd, and On Them I See Confusion. V 40 “Dost not thou fear God seeing thou art in the same condemnation?” There may have been, and credit must be given to, those “beholding” who were concerned about what all this meant. Some had heard prophecies of Messiah. A few might have understood that He was to suffer, die.
They had heard Jesus’ reference to himself as “Son of Man.” Outside of Revelation, the title occurs more than 80 times, all but one in the gospels, and all but one of these used by Jesus Himself. The exception (John 12:34) is interesting; it is the crowd in confusion asking, “We have heard from the law that Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is the Son of Man?” The passage, Acts 7:56, is the other exception: Stephen, nearing the end of his life, cried out “Look, I see . . . the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
IV. But There Were Believers in the Crowd for on Some Faces I See Compassion Concern, Concession. V26 “Upon . . . Simon, a Cyrenian, . . . they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.” V27 “And there followed Him a great company of people, . . . which also bewailed and lamented Him.”
They’re the ones who perceived in Jesus the answer to long-standing questions. “Where is God?” “Why was I born?” “What happens when I die?”
Believers were there who saw the world potentially as a better place, not yet ready for His departure, not believing that the tide had turned. Peter (Matthew 16:22) “began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: This shall not be unto thee.”
Perhaps there were those who had measured the required commitment needed by those who remain. Down the ages the crucifixion must be repeated over and over again. What face do you reveal to the Christ who dies there? The face of contempt? That of Consent? One of Confusion? Or the face He wishes to see, of compassion, concern, concession?
Conclusion
We are part of the crowd. We can’t change that. But we do control the kind of face He sees. In the angry crowd every trusting face He sees causes the nails to be less painful, the crown of thorns less burdensome, the hour of death less agonizing. Look up! Look up to Jesus!
SEEKING BETTER THINGS
#045 SEEKING BETTER THINGS
Scripture Colossians 3:1-4 NIV Orig. 4-14-63
Rewr. 1-6-74/4-8-79
Passage: Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Purpose: To speak to my people on the occasion of Easter celebration to call to their minds the need to lift our horizons in the Lord Jesus, and commitment to Him.
Keywords: New Birth Easter Resurrection Christian Living
Introduction
A BAG OF TOOLS
Isn’t it strange that princes and kings,
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And common people like you and me
Are builders for eternity?
Each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass, a book of rules:
And each must make—before life is gone—
A stumbling block or a steppingstone.
--R.L. Sharpe--
We do not have to look very far to discover people who have committed themselves absolutely to their life priorities. Jane Goodall is an English primatologist and anthropologist, considered the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees. Mary Leakey, paleontologist and contributor to National Geographic, was committed to the task of discovering man’s beginnings. Ralph Nader was a consumer who made news about the dangers of the Corvair and Pinto; a young college student had died. Nuclear scientists are convinced that one of man’s energy sources is in their field, and they are committed to efficient and safe nuclear power plants; it is too late to turn back because there are already 500 of these plants in the world, either in operation, or in some stage of planning or construction.
We Christians must come to terms with the need for commitment to our Lord, and to His church, in order that we might be known as people whose energy resources and reserves are given over unconditionally to our Lord to bring glory to His name.
Seeking better things is as immanent in the spiritual world as in the material world.
I. The Natural Beginning Place for Any Improvement is to Accept the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:1 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.“
Apparently, most of us are looking for some good out of life. For Adam, it was a rather arrogant goal, to be like God, all wise and eternal. For Job, it was for an answer to a philosophical question, albeit a very important one (Job 14:14) “If a man die, shall he live again?”
Thomas, who walked part of life’s trail with Jesus, was one who could not settle for faith, He had to have fact. “I will believe that He is alive, only under the circumstances of touching the nail holes, and feeling the torn flesh on His side.”
But regrettably, the goal for most of us is not changed from that day long ago in Babel (Genesis 11:4), “Let us build us a city and a tower. . . , whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name.”
We are compelled here as Christians to remember that life has a higher, nobler goal. It begins with the certitude that Christ is alive. Luke 24:3 “And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.” Acts 4:33 “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all.”
It takes on its deepest meaning when we discover through faith that we are alive with Christ. A.A. Ketchum wrote the hymn on p. 429 in our hymnal, Why Do I Sing About Jesus?
Deep in my heart there’s a gladness; Jesus has saved me from sin!
Praise to His name, what a Saviour! Cleansing without and within!
Why do I sing about Jesus? Why is He precious to me?
He is my Lord and my Saviour; Dying, He set me free!
Paul is not here appealing for a sham other worldliness where we only contemplate eternity. He is clearly acknowledging that for the Christian, his new standard of value will be God’s standard of value: Giving more than getting; serving more than ruling; forgiving more than avenging.
Vance Havner, the contemporary Baptist evangelist, gives practical advice to all of us: “I would say to today’s young minister, ‘Be not afraid to give much time to solitary walks and meditation. You can well afford to dispense with many other activities some may think indispensable. You will be returning to a way of life almost forgotten now, and you may be eyed askance by all runners in the Great Rat Race. But your chance may come one day to speak your piece on some strategic occasion, when weary humanity has reached saturation and boredom listening to everything else. On that day, your quiet walks and lonely vigils will pay off. If that chance never comes, they will have paid off anyway.’”
II. Then, Let this Seeking Continue in the Positive Thrust of Christ-Like Living. V3:2-3 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.” The Gnostics believed in hidden wisdom. The meaning here is obvious. The believer does not automatically lose worldly desire. One never loses the potential to sin.
Something else did happen, and still does. Their lives are wrapped up in Christ. The Greeks commonly spoke of a dead relative as being hidden in the earth. The believer dies a spiritual death in baptism, and is hidden in Christ. Baptism literally engulfed the early believers in the Lord. It should be so with us.
There is another reason why the believer should be so wrapped up in the Lord. Satan rarely, if ever, gives up on bringing disruptive influences to bear in our lives.
Paganini, the great violinist, was in the middle of an important concert when one of the strings on his violin snapped. He continued to play as if nothing had happened. Then, a second broke! He played yet on without hesitation. Then, unbelievably, a third gave way with a sharp crack! For a brief moment, he paused. The audience assumed he would quit. But he calmly raised his famous Stradivarius with one hand and announced, “One string . . . and Paganini!”
With a tremendous, furious skill and matchless discipline, he finished the selection on a single string. The audience arose and gave him a thunderous ovation.
There are times in our lives when things go wrong. Strings one after the other seem to snap. It becomes increasingly easier to quit. But when we are wrapped up in Jesus, going on is the thing to do. Nothing pleases the prince of darkness more than for the children of the Father to forget who we are and WHOSE we are. Nothing robs him of power and pleasure in our lives like trusting the Lord the more in difficult times than in good times.
You see, the Christian life has a final goal of Christlikeness. The Christian’s life is never more than when it is in the process of becoming.
There is the new consumer advocacy. There is genetic engineering. For the believer, there is that priority that establishes the Lordship of Christ, and my only solution to the sin problem in my life is through Him.
CLOSING
The three Hebrew children, young men actually, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were threatened with death if they did not accede to the demands of the Babylonians. They were to worship like Babylonians and act like Babylonians. “If it be so that our God is able to deliver us, well; but if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve thy gods or worship them” (Daniel 3).
When Paul arrived at Miletus, he sent for the elders of the church at Ephesus (Acts 20:17). He reminded them of the two essentials of the kingdom: repentance toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus. He, Paul, was not going to be around to help them, but this was the essential message that they were to bear to the people of their city.
Repentance and faith. They still are the elemental functions of belief: Repentance—clearly, we are sinners, and only repentance toward God will ever change that; and Faith—faith that Christ died on a cross as the enabler of repentance and forgiveness, and the better, fuller life that is in Him.