Resurrection Sunday

Happy Resurrection Day! It’s Easter Sunday and Jesus is alive! Death could not hold Him. The grave could not keep Him. It’s a day to shout the news from the mountaintops: Satan lost and Jesus won! Everything changed when the King arose.
If you’ve been around the church very long, you know this story well. It is the foundation of the Christian faith. But the Spirit has been teaching me to sit in the Scriptures and soak up what I tend to rush over in my familiarity.
There is one part of the Easter story that came alive to me several years ago when I first started writing out Scripture. It’s in John’s account of the resurrection in chapter 20. Mary Magdalene had gone to the tomb to grieve. She saw that the stone was rolled away and looked inside to discover that His body was gone. Two angels guarded the place where He had lain. I imagine her stumbling backward in confusion and fresh waves of grief. Through her tear-filled eyes, she sees a man, probably the gardener, she assumes. He approaches and asks, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for” (v. 15). She pleads for the body of her Lord. Then He calls her by name: “Mary.” And she knows. It is Jesus. He is alive! Heart pounding. Mind racing. Hands shaking. She answers: “Rabboni!” And all her grief turns to Joy.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event in human history. Easter celebrates the day the Son of God rose from the dead and assured eternal life for all who would believe on Him. But in that quiet morning, Easter was very personal for one woman. Before the disciples and the rest of Israel would hear that Jesus had risen, Mary saw Him with her own eyes.
As you gather in places of worship today and listen to the old, old Easter story, hear it with fresh ears. Imagine yourself all alone in the garden early on that Sunday morning. Listen closely as the Lord calls out your name. Easter is for all the world, and it is just for you. May the Joy of the resurrection fill your heart today Beloved. He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Let me Wash His Feet

“Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” John 13:1 NKJV
This passage in John 13 is where Jesus washes His disciples’ feet before the meal, a job usually done by a servant or other “lesser” person. It was not a pleasant chore, but a necessary one and a traditional sign of welcome. Yet there was no servant to wash the men’s feet, and clearly all of the disciples thought themselves above such a menial and distasteful task. No doubt they all looked at the others and thought, “You should be the one to wash our feet.” They never imagined who would.
Their Lord rose from his place, removed his outer garments and took the towel and basin to the pitcher of water and poured. Imagine the shocked silence that filled the room at the sight of their beloved Teacher, kneeling before them. When the task was done, Jesus told them to take His example and live by this expression of humility and service.
I have pondered this scene in my mind and something strikes me about it. John (who was the only gospel writer to record this scene) never says that anyone washed the feet of Jesus that day. Perhaps one of them did, but surely John would not leave out such an important detail.
There will come a day – sooner or perhaps later – when I will see Him face to glorious face. When I bow before Him in grateful adoration, I want to wash my Jesus’ feet. I want to hold those beautiful feet in my hands. I want to splash water from the River of Life (Rev. 22:1) on His feet.
The gospels record two occasions when women washed and anointed Jesus’ feet. But the feet they caressed did not bear the scars from the cross. Those precious marks would come after their acts of love. They washed the feet of Jesus their Teacher; I want to wash the feet of Jesus my Savior. I want to touch the imprints left by the nails and kiss the scars that bought my redemption. He bears the marks of His love for me on His body, on His hands, His feet, His side and His brow. I want to show Him “the full extent of my love” (Jn 13:1 NIV), that I will love Him forever – “to the end” (NKJV).
I want to wash my Savior’s feet. The feet that kicked against the swaddling clothes in the manger. The feet that carried the Teacher to the shores of Galilee. The feet that walked the dusty road of the Via Dolorosa. The feet that bore the weight of His body and the weight of my sin on the cross. Those beautiful, glorious nail-scarred feet bear the marks of my redemption.

Church Doctrine: Jesus Messiah

When we meet someone special, we want to know all that we can about them. When I met my husband, the first thing I learned about him was that he is an Alabama Crimson Tide fan through and through. Thus, I became a Bama fan too. I discovered his favorite foods and learned from his mother how to cook them. I made it my mission to know him. I guess it worked – we will be celebrating our 39th anniversary this year. Last week I told you that if you want to know God, you should get to know Jesus. If you want to know Jesus, you should learn a little about the Jewish faith. This is His background and it is important to understand who He is. It also gives us insight into details that we, as non-Jews, miss.
The Jewish people lived under outside rule since the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in the late 6th century BC, followed by the Medes and Persians, Greeks, and Romans at the time of Jesus. Because the Lord had promised a Redeemer—the Messiah, Israel looked for a military liberator to break the hold of other nations and restore their independence. They missed Jesus entirely because they didn’t have God’s perspective. They failed to see that they were under the control of the devil and that death was their true enemy.
In the church, this week has, for centuries, been called “Holy Week” and “Passion Week.” Today is Palm Sunday and marks the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. Jesus openly presented Himself as Israel’s Messiah and King. He chose a time when all Israel would be gathered in Jerusalem, a place where huge crowds could see Him, and a way of proclamation that was unmistakable.
The people lined the road, praising God, waving palm branches, and throwing their cloaks in front of the colt. They shouted “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matt 21:9) because they recognized what Jesus was proclaiming. They began to spread their clothes in the colt’s path to provide a “royal carpet” and they cut branches from palm trees, adding them to their garments on the ground and waving them before the Lord.
He fulfilled every prophecy about the Messiah. He also fulfilled the first prophecy made about Himself as the one who would crush satan’s head (Gen 3:15). This is Jesus, Beloved. Son of God. Son of Man. King of Israel. Is He the King of your heart?

He is Risen, Indeed

I’ve pondered and studied and all my words fall short. On this glorious Resurrection Sunday, hear the Word of the Lord.

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.  As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed,

“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. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee.  There you will see him, just as He told you.”

Mark 16:1-7

The tomb is still empty. Jesus is still alive.  And because He lives, you and I can have eternal life in heaven with Him. Beloved, There is no better day to repent and receive the Lord Jesus Christ than Easter Sunday.

Holy Silence

It was the Sabbath for the Jewish people and just another day for the Romans in Jerusalem. But a handful of men and women grieved in shock while the rest of the world carried on business as usual. Something tells me creation was also awash with sorrow. I imagine the birds were hushed on that long, sad day. The wind was probably still and the waves were too sad to dance. I wonder if heaven was silent as well. Jesus was dead. He lay buried in a borrowed tomb. Life would never be the same.

From our perspective, this is not a day for grieving. Because we know what comes next, we fill this day after Good Friday with egg hunts, travel, shopping, cooking, and preparing our Easter Sunday finery. But more and more the Holy Spirit is teaching me to sit in the moment with the Bible characters.  To put myself in their sandals and their experience and not rush on to the end of a familiar story.  He is teaching me to take a holy pause on this day between death and life.

What must this day have been like for Jesus’ followers?  Were they numb with grief?  Or was it the kind of sorrow that aches deep in the heart? This day – the day after darkness filled the noon-day sky and the curtain was torn in two – must have left them empty inside – confused, in anguish, and filled with disbelief.  How could this be?  Their Jesus was dead.

Looking back from this side of the Cross, we want to take their faces in our hands and tell them, “Just hold on! Don’t grieve. Everything is going to change tomorrow!”  As Paul Harvey says, we know “the rest of the story.” We know death cannot keep its grip on Jesus. We know they will soon find the tomb empty.  We know this is only the day between death and life.  But they didn’t.  In their world, death was final.  It was all over.

They didn’t know they were only waiting. . .

What’s so Good about Good Friday?

Good Friday. The day that the sky turned dark in the middle of the afternoon (Matt 27:45). The day the Father turned away from His Son (v. 46). The day Jesus gave up his spirit (v. 50). The day the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth shook violently (v. 51). The day the tombs broke open and dead people walked the streets of Jerusalem (v. 52). The day an innocent man died for crimes He did not commit. Why then, do we call it “Good?”

Because this is the day that bought freedom for condemned men and women. This is the day that love bled and died so that you and I might live eternally. It is a good day. It is a holy day. But we need to know the back story to understand why.

The Jewish religion was centered around sacrifice and atonement. Blood was necessary to atone for sin and make the people clean – “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb 9:22),  because “The life of a creature [human or animal] is in the blood (Lev 17:11). In God’s holy covenant, only “blood makes atonement for one’s life” (Lev. 17:14). Blood is synonymous with life – any physician will tell you that when the body runs out of blood the life is drained with it. Life is the price of our sins.

God in His mercy allowed animals’ blood to stand in for men’s blood, but its effect was short-lived and only partially cleansing. It had to be repeated year after year after year. But He had planned a better way; a way that would atone for sin “once for all” (Heb. 9:12), but it required perfect blood that was only available through a divine and holy being. But there’s a problem.  God can’t die. So His one and only Son became a man – a man with divine blood – that He might atone for humanity’s sin. He hung on a cross and dripped that perfect blood from His broken human body. No other sacrifice would be needed. Jesus had done it all.

That is why we call this dark day “Good Friday.” Beloved if you repent of your sins and receive Jesus’ cleansing, you will understand how good this day is. It is the day that good overcame evil (Rom 12:21).

Praise!

The crowds lined the road with their cloaks and spread palm branches making a “royal carpet” for the King. They lifted their voices in praise, remembering all the wonders and miracles they had seen. They recognized that Jesus was fulfilling a long-awaited prophecy: Zion’s King would come, “righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on the colt of a donkey” (Zec 9:9). Now here He was and they could not contain their Joy.

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!

(Matthew 21:9; Mark 11:9-10; Luke 19:38; John 12:13).

But not everyone was so Joyful. The Pharisees, who followed Jesus everywhere looking for an opportunity to discredit Him, were among the crowd and they demanded, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples” (Lk 19:39). Shut them up. Make them stop. They are offensive. Matthew said the Pharisees “were indignant” (Mt 21:15). Sounds like our present culture, doesn’t it?

Jesus replied, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Lk 19:40). All of creation knew and acknowledged that Jesus was the King, the Messiah, the Son of God – and they rejoiced. If man – who was made in God’s very image – would not praise the Creator, nature would. Because He was and is worthy of praise.

We live in a world that doesn’t believe in Jesus. And they don’t want you to either. And if you must believe in such fantasies, they demand that you keep it to yourself. They don’t want to hear His name. They don’t want to hear His Word. They don’t want to acknowledge sin. They don’t want to be confronted with righteousness. And they sure don’t want to hear His people praise Him.

So, what are we to do? Praise Him anyway. Praise Him louder. Praise Him longer. Praise Him when the sun rises and when it sets. Praise Him when the days are sweet. Praise Him when the storms hit. Praise Him in the church. Praise Him in your home. Praise Him in the public square. Praise Him in prison.

Because He must be praised. Don’t let the world stifle your Joy in the Lord. Don’t make the rocks cry out on your behalf. Beloved, pick up a palm branch and join the song:

“Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!”

Do You Believe?

No other event on the stage of world history is as important as the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Skeptics have long sought to discredit Christianity’s claims with attacks on the foundational veracity of the gospel.  So is it really true? Let’s take a look at the facts that are recorded in the secular history of the time.

The Jewish and Roman historical records note that a man named Jesus from Nazareth was crucified at Golgotha and buried in a garden tomb.  The grave was sealed and Roman guards were posted to prevent the theft of the body.  History records that the condemned man’s tomb was found empty three days later, despite the extreme measures the Romans took to secure the grave.  Jewish records note the claims of Jesus’ followers that their Lord had been resurrected.  Historical writers of the time frequently mention eyewitnesses to the risen Jesus, just as Paul spoke of Peter, the Apostles, more than five hundred brothers, James (Jesus’ own doubting brother), and finally Paul himself (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).  In these verses, Paul reminds the believers of the gospel message “that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and he was raised on the third day according to the Scripture” (v. 3-4).  These verses are almost certainly a creed that was well established in the ancient church and based on the testimonies of the very ones who firmly and emphatically believed they saw the literal resurrected Lord.  These are men who had been transformed from terrified, despondent fellows cowering behind locked doors (John 20:19) to bold witnesses willing to die for their faith, confident in what they saw (Acts 4:1-20).

The gospel message – the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus – is strongly supported by men and women who had an encounter that transformed their lives and the landscape of world history.  The evidence is clearly shown in their testimonies and the traditions that are built on the foundation of their testimonies.  The eyewitness accounts of Peter, James, John and Paul, and hundreds of others, combined with the early creedal statements of the church provide good support for the claims of the resurrection of Jesus. 

Still, facts alone cannot convince anyone of the reality of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Generations of believers who have also experienced this life-changing Jesus provide the greatest proof that the claims of Christianity are true. People like me. I was a sinner, lost and bound for hell, but I heard the good news that God loves me and send His Son to die for my sins and rose to life three days later. I believed in Jesus. His Spirit lives in me and I have been changed. Forever.

Beloved, this same Jesus died for you too. He can change your life and your eternal destiny. Will you believe today?

Heaven Wept

“It was preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how His body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” Luke 23:54-56

It was the darkest day of their lives – the day after Jesus had been crucified on the cross. They’d heard the hammers pound the nails into His hands and feet. They listened to Him cry out to His Father in anguish and surrender. They saw His body slump as He give up His Spirit. They watched the soldiers pierce His side and witnessed blood and water drain from His battered body. They held their breath as Joseph and Nicodemus took His lifeless body down from the cross. They followed in a sad processional to the garden where their Lord was entombed.

In our modern understanding of these days, we hold solemn vigils on Good Friday, remembering the death of Jesus, and we come together for joyful celebrations on Easter Sunday to celebrate His resurrection. But Saturday is the day for egg hunts, travel, shopping, and preparing our Easter Sunday finery.

More and more the Holy Spirit is teaching me to sit in the moment with the Bible characters. To put myself in their sandals and their experience and not rush on to the end of a familiar story. He is teaching me to take a holy pause.

What must this day have been like for these devoted women? Were they numb with grief? Or was it the kind of sorrow that aches deep in the bones? This day – the day after darkness filled the noon-day sky and the curtain was torn in two – must have left them empty inside – confused, in anguish, and filled with disbelief. How could this be? Their Jesus was dead.

Looking back from this side of the Cross, we want to take their faces in our hands and tell them, “Just hold on! Don’t grieve. Everything is going to change tomorrow!” As Paul Harvey says, we know “the rest of the story.” We know death cannot keep its grip on Jesus. We know they will soon find the tomb empty. We know this is only the day between death and life. But they didn’t. In their world, death was final. It was all over.

They didn’t know they were only waiting. . .

Foot-washing

He rose from his place, removed his outer garments and took the towel and basin to the pitcher of water, and poured. Imagine the shocked silence that filled the room at the sight of Jesus, their beloved Teacher, kneeling before the first man, removing his dusty sandals and touching the filthy feet before Him. Surely all that could be heard was the splashing of water as He moved around the room. Peter wanted to spare His Lord such humiliation and drew back his feet, but Jesus refused to pass him by. When the task was done, Jesus told them to take His example and live by this expression of humility and service.

Something strikes me about it this scene. John (who was the only gospel writer to record this scene) never says that anyone washed the feet of Jesus that day. Perhaps one of them did, but surely John would not leave out such an important detail.

There will come a day – sooner or perhaps later – when I will see Him face to glorious face. When I bow before Him in grateful adoration, I want to wash my Jesus’ feet. I want to hold those beautiful feet in my hands. I want to splash water from the River of Life (Rev. 22:1) on His feet. Yes, Mary washed Jesus’ feet. But the feet she washed did not bear the scars from the cross. Those precious marks would come after His act of holy love. I want to touch the imprints left by the nails and kiss the scars that bought my redemption. I want to show Him “the full extent of my love” (Jn 13:1 NIV). I want to wash my Savior’s feet. The feet that kicked against the swaddling clothes in the manger. The feet that carried the Teacher to the shores of Galilee. The feet that walked the dusty road of the Via Dolorosa. The feet that bore the weight of His body and the weight of my sin on the cross. I want to wash those beautiful, glorious nail-scarred feet that speak of this sinner who has been set free.