On the Third Day

Friends,

What is interesting about the gospels, and in this case -- the Gospel of John, particularly -- is that there would be no chapter 20 if Jesus’ story was a normal biography…the story would end with the death of the individual.  If the story ends in chapter 19, then it is truly the end of the story…for Jesus and for all of humanity.  But, the account of this miracle (John 20:1-18) is proof that Jesus is unlike any other human being ever to live.  The Resurrection is an essential part of the Gospel message (1 Corinthians 15:1-8) and a key doctrine in the Christian faith.  From the very beginning, the enemies of the Lord try to deny the historic fact of the Resurrection.  The Jewish leaders claim that the Lord’s body has been stolen from the tomb.  But, this is absurd…because if the body was stolen, then how on earth would they have done it? The tomb is guarded by Roman soldiers and the tomb sealed with an official Roman seal.  Also, the disciples have not believed that He is to be raised from the dead; it is His enemies who remember His words. (Matthew 27:62-66)  The opponents certainly would not have taken the body.  The last thing they want is anyone believing that Jesus actually has risen from the dead.  As the women approach the tomb, they are worried about who would roll back such a heavy stone (Mark 16:1-3).  And this brings us to Mary Magdalene, the first of the women to arrive at the tomb on the first day of the week. As we consider her experience that Lord’s Day morning, we can see her comprehension of the truth of the Resurrection.

Mary Magdalene and several other women agree to go to the tomb of Jesus following His death on the cross and His burial.  These women, desiring to show their love for Christ, want to complete the burial preparations.  Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had been forced by the circumstances to prepare the body quickly, but now the ladies are going to finish the task.  What they are not aware of is that an earthquake has taken place and the stone guarding Jesus’ tomb has been rolled back by an angel.  It is apparent that Mary Magdalene goes on ahead of the other women and gets to the tomb first.  When she sees that the stone has been rolled away, she believes that someone has broken into the tomb and stolen the body of her Lord.  Given all that we know, and have already discussed concerning the circumstances surrounding what has happened to Jesus, it is not difficult to believe that Mary thinks this way.  Mary runs to break the news to Peter and John at an unknown location. The other women arrive at the tomb, then leave and carry the angels’ message to the other disciples.

Meanwhile, Peter and John start off for the tomb.  It is John who follows initially, but being fleeter of foot, he gets there first. When he arrives, he cautiously remains outside but looks in.  What does he see? Grave clothes lying on the stone shelf.  Peter also arrives and…true to form…impulsively heads on into the tomb.  There, he also sees the grave clothes.  John then enters the tomb, looks at the evidence and is awestruck!  It is as if the light goes on all of the sudden, because the text says, “He sees and believes” (v.8). Resurrection faith begins to take hold.  It is amazing that Jesus’ followers did not expect Him to come out of the tomb alive…after all, He had told them on numerous occasions that He would be raised from the dead (John 2:19, etc.).  Peter and John experience faith that is based on the evidence.  They see grave clothes…they know that Jesus’ body is not there.  After the resurrection, Jesus does not reveal Himself to everyone, but only to select witnesses who share the Good News with others (Acts 10:39-43).  Peter and John see and believe – soon the Holy Spirit will confirm their faith.

Peter and John have returned home by the time Mary Magdalene decides to come back to the tomb. She has stayed in the garden, such is her love and devotion to her Lord.  Mary has not reached the same conclusion as have Peter and John, for she believes that Jesus is still dead. Her weeping is the loud lament associated with how her people, the Jews, express sorrow.  When she comes to the tomb and looks inside, she sees two men dressed in white. Their positions at either end of the shelf where Jesus had been lying, makes us think of the cherubim on the mercy seat. (Exodus 25:17-19)  It is as though God is saying, “There is now a new mercy seat – my Son has paid the price for sin, and a new way is opened up to the presence of God.”  Mary does not seem to be disturbed at seeing these two men, and there is no evidence that she knows that they are angels. But, her conversation with them does nothing to calm her, or dry up her tears. 

Mary is determined to find Jesus, and at once, she turns around and sees Jesus, although she does not know that it is Him.  It is interesting that she does not recognize Him…perhaps it is too early to see well, or her tears are blinding her somewhat, or perhaps Jesus is concealing His true identity from her for the moment, as He did with the Emmaus disciples.  Jesus asks her why she is weeping…and who is it that she is seeking. Jesus recognizes her broken heart and tenderly reveals Himself to her, simply calling out her name – Mary.  When He does this, she immediately recognizes Him. All she can say is “Rabboni!” (Which means “my Teacher”). She not only speaks to Him, but grabs onto His feet, and holds onto Him…sort of like we did when we were little kids and we didn’t want a parent to leave the house.  Jesus tells her not to hold on to Him…which is curious.  One reason is that she will see Him again, as He will be on the earth another forty days before ascending to the Father. Mary does not need to panic…as if this is her last opportunity to be with Jesus.  A second reason is that she has a job to do – go tell people that Jesus is indeed alive.  She does, indeed, get up from there and share the Good News, “I have seen the Lord!”

Every year, thousands of people climb a mountain in the Italian Alps, passing the "stations of the cross" to stand at an outdoor crucifix. One tourist noticed a little trail that led beyond the cross. He fought through the rough thicket and, to his surprise, came upon another shrine, a shrine that symbolized the empty tomb. It was neglected. The brush had grown up around it. Almost everyone had gone as far as the cross, but there they stopped.  Far too many have gotten to the cross and have known the despair and the heart break. Far too few have moved beyond the cross to find the real message of Easter. That is the message of the empty tomb. (Lavonn Brown, "The Other Half of the Rainbow," submitted by Michael Adams, First Baptist Church, Union City, TN.)

This has long been one of my struggles with how people view the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  Some have put so much emphasis on the cross that they nearly miss the most important event, and this is the Resurrection.  We must not only recognize the power of the cross, but we have to live in the power of the resurrection of Jesus!  The kicker with all of this, going back to the beginning of the message today -- as good as the evidence is to convince the mind, it cannot change the life.  What do I mean?  Those of us who live centuries later cannot examine that evidence, for it is no longer there for us to inspect.  But, we do have the record of the evidence in God’s Word as it has stood the tests of time.  It is faith in the message found in the Word that Jesus wants to cultivate in us through His Holy Spirit.  And that message…the undeniable message of the Resurrection…is that – Jesus is alive!  He is alive in order that you and I may be able to be alive forever…and this is Good News!

Blessings, Don

The Path of Greatest Resistance Yields the Greatest Reward

Friends,

A man named Fred inherited a huge land grant, but the will provided that he could choose land in either Chile or Brazil. He chose Brazil. This turned out to be an unhappy decision, because if he had chosen Chile, he would have received his inheritance in land on which they had recently discovered uranium, gold and silver. When he arrived in Brazil he had to choose between receiving his inheritance in a coffee plantation or land with Brazil nut trees. He chose the nut trees, and immediately the bottom fell out of the nut market, but coffee futures went up two dollars a pound. The government took control of the nut farm for back taxes, and Fred was left destitute. Fred pawned his Rolex watch for the money he needed to fly either to New York or Boston. He chose Boston. When the plane for New York taxied up, he noticed it was a brand new jet with red carpets. After several hours delay, the plane for Boston arrived. It was a twin engine plane that seemed to be held together with bailing wire…and on top of this, it was filled with annoying people and crying babies. Over the mountains one of the engines quit working, and Fred, frightened by his earlier bad choices and fearing for his life, asked for two parachutes. He jumped. As he fell through the air, he tried to make up his mind which ripcord to pull. He pulled the cord on the left, but nothing happened. He pulled the cord on his right, but it broke. In desperation the poor fellow cried out, "St. Francis, save me!" A great hand from heaven reached down, seized him by the wrist, and left him dangling in mid-air. Then a gentle but inquisitive voice asked, "St. Francis, Xavier or St. Francis of Assisi?" (From Dick Meyer, An Anchor in a Sea of Change)

This is funny, but we get the point. Life is risky, because it’s full of choices where we don’t always know the outcome. Faith provides us with choices. We can choose the easy route and receive its reward, or the challenging route that yields the most to us. When we choose to follow Christ, there is risk involved, but in most cases the results are going to be significantly better than poor Fred’s. At least we know that the Lord can and will ultimately work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28)

Matthew 16:1ff, is a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. He begins speaking openly about the cross and the church in an effort to grow the faith of his disciples…and for Jesus this is risky. The Pharisees and Sadducees may have been opposing Jewish religious groups, in many respects, but they now join together to try to silence Jesus. They challenge Jesus by asking for a sign…some miracle that would confirm who He is. This is the fourth time they have done this, (see also Matthew 12:38ff, John 2:12, 6:30). Jesus tells them that “Jews are always looking for a sign.” Yet, signs are only to confirm the faith of believers. They are not going to help those who engage in willful unbelief. These guys had no faith…this was their choice. True to form, Jesus responds to their testing by…talking about the weather. Why? (By the way, I love the way that Jesus communicates – He always makes His point). He seeks to reveal the Jewish leaders’ own dishonesty and stubborn blindness. They have plenty of evidence concerning Jesus in order to be able to accept him, but no humility in order to be able to do so. Their demands reveal their sad heart conditions – evil and spiritually adulterous, worshipping their own religiosity…which is a false god. Had they been worshipping the true God, they would have recognized His Son when He came. Still, there is a sign…the sign of Jonah that had been given (also seen in Matthew 12:38-41); it is a sign of the crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, which was actually a sign to Israel that Jesus was their Messiah!

Many other disciples are following Jesus at this time -- thousands of folks. Jesus uses the feeding of the 4000 and the feeding of the 5000 to teach some spiritual lessons. Among these lessons is -- the people need to beware of the Pharisees and Scribes’ false teaching, which Jesus describes as “leaven”. Jesus has already used the word “leaven” as a symbol for evil (Matthew 13). But, His close disciples…the twelve…misunderstand, thinking that he is using the word, physically, as in Wonder bread. They believe that Jesus is cautioning them not to buy unclean bread. Jesus calls them, literally, “little faith ones,” or as it translates in English, “you of little faith.” This “little faith” keeps them from understanding His teaching and depending upon His power to meet needs. Jesus truly wants them to see the subtle, evil effects of the Pharisees and Scribes.

He and His disciples go on to Caesarea Philippi, a place where there are many different religions. Once He gets there, Jesus asks, “Who do others say that I am?” Now, if anyone else asks this question, he would come across as arrogant or crazy! The irony is that, concerning Jesus, a right confession is the beginning of salvation’s road. One thing is clear – no one can ever make a true decision about Jesus Christ by taking a poll of the people…though some might try. Peter steps out in and speaks from the heart -- “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” His response is truly a response to the revelation the Father has given him. It is not some emotional response, but the studied, sincere statement of a man who has been taught by God. Jesus accepts this confession and builds upon it to teach His listeners a new truth…Jesus will build His church, and He Himself will be the foundation. It can be a bit confusing, but the Rock, Petra, here, is not Peter, although this is his name, but it is Peter’s bold confession that is the true foundation for faith. Peter and his fellow disciples soon be given the keys, that is, have they will have authority and charge to build upon this foundation…and nothing will overcome it ‘til Jesus comes again. This is Good News! We see Peter and the other disciples being stretched and grow, because Jesus wants them not to settle for a faith in Him that is not really going to make a difference. They are going to meet some resistance, but this, in turn, should help their faith to grow.

Ian was telling me about how they do some of their weight training over the summer (which I remember from my own football days). But, I was just a lowly option quarterback. I did not do the things that these linemen do, and this involves moving large tires, pushing against sleds and other things that provide a significant amount of resistance. Why is this? It is in order that they will build muscles and gain strength. It is the same with the Christian walk. We need to some resistance in order to gains some great spiritual strength. Some people are content to exercise just enough faith to idle by, but not enough to make any real difference. The reward for little faith may be little place in heaven -- I don’t know. But, I do know that there are some who are willing to exercise great faith, like that experienced by the Gentile centurion and Syro-Phoenician woman. Such people are not afraid to grow and develop their faith as the Lord desires. The challenge and goal to all of us in the Christian walk is to continue on the better path…on the way to exercising great faith in your life. This requires putting aside the weights and distractions that so easily entangle us, as the Hebrews writer shares, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in paths of grace and service. Jesus tells his disciples in John 10:10 that they have the ability “to live life abundantly.” Remember, the decisions that you and I make from day to day determine and reveal where we are in our faith.” I close with this thought from Oswald Chambers in Run Today's Race – “Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God is love. There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace.”

Blessings, Don