Sunday 4 April 2021 “Resurrection”

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Good EASTER morning to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends.

This day is unlike any other! In every time-zone of the world, Christians will be rising early, many before daybreak, to celebrate the RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ, nearly 2000 years ago.

I have a question… what difference has the resurrection of Jesus made in your life, your family, the communities where you’ve lived in this world? And what if this resurrection claim is a hoax? What would change in your life if the resurrection wasn’t true?

As you know friends, each of the four Gospel writers give us a unique perspective on the events of this day…

Matthew, writing to Jews around the world, hopes to convince them Jesus is their long awaited Messiah. He tells us about the resurrection power demonstration. He writes: “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the LORD came down from heaven and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning…the guards were so afraid they trembled and became like dead men! The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, He has risen just as He said, Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples…” (Matt. 28:1-7) Don’t you love that invitation? The angel is saying, ‘if you won’t take my word for it, come and see for yourself, then go and tell the disciples’!

Matthew also tells us the men who had been assigned by Pilate to guard the tomb to be sure no one tampered with it, finally recovered from their shock and “…went into Jerusalem and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.” (Matt. 28:11) As you continue reading, Matthew makes it clear a lie and a cover-up were developed by the religious leaders. There was simply no way they were going to allow the resurrection story to circulate without making every attempt to thwart it. In their determination to reject Jesus, they missed out on the greatest event in history!

Dr. Luke tells us “…that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus about 7 miles from Jerusalem. As they walked along, they were talking about all that had happened. Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing Him…” (Luke 24:13-17)

Have you ever found yourself in that situation? You are so caught up in your own stuff that you miss something really spectacular happening around you? Why these guys didn’t recognize Jesus, we really don’t know, but later, when they reached their destination and invited their unrecognized fellow traveler to join them for dinner, suddenly, as He prayed over the food, their eyes were opened! This was no stranger, no ordinary traveler on the road, this was HIM, the resurrected Jesus!

John and Luke both tell us something very unusual, very special happened that Easter Sunday evening. John writes: “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you…” (John 20 & Luke 26)

All day the rumors had run wild. Mary Magdalene and others of the dear women who loved Jesus and had been with the disciples for many months told of their shocking experiences at the tomb… the rolled away stone, the earthquake, the empty tomb, the grave clothes. My goodness, Mary Magdalene even insisted she had seen the resurrected Jesus, had touched Him and they had even spoken to each other!! (John 20:10-18).

Peter and John both said they’d been to the tomb and seen it empty and even touched the grave clothes. And now these two who claimed they had encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus! Look around the room. Do you see confused looks, questions pouring out one over the other, unbelievable responses?

These people knew each other well, they trusted each other, but what was being described was beyond anything any of them could imagine, especially John and the women who had watched Jesus die. Watched Him taken down from the cross and buried in Joseph’s tomb.

So my friends… is it true? Do you really believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a true historical fact? What proof do you have? Have you seen Him, touched Him, had a conversation with Him? Have you ever met anyone who has seen Him or touched Him or had a conversation with Jesus? Of course there is no record by anyone that His dead body was ever seen again after that resurrection morning! No Roman soldier, no Jewish leader, no person has ever produced any evidence that Jesus was still dead that Easter Sunday morning!

One of those religious leaders in Jerusalem that Easter weekend was not among the excited, he was beyond angry, he was livid! He had heard Jesus speak in Jerusalem several times. As a Pharisee he had been in those meetings in the weeks leading up to that Passover. Whenever given the chance he had spoken up, with hatred in his eyes and venom in his words. This Jesus must be stopped, he said. He is a liar, a deceiver, a traitor, a threat to everything that is right about being Jewish, and the Temple, and the sacred festivals. When it came time for the final decision that Thursday night, this Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, had voted YES, YES absolutely YES, Crucify HIM!!

That Easter weekend, this Saul of Tarsus was confident the right thing had been done. Jesus had been silenced…forever. Saul was delighted when the report came back from Golgotha that Jesus was dead, taken off the cross and buried before Passover Sabbath began. But oh how Saul was now angry about Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea! How could they be so deceived to actually believe this Jesus and step forward asking Pilate for permission to bury His body? Saul knew these two fellow Pharisees. They were well educated, zealous, really good Pharisees. What could possibly have so confused them, distorted their thinking, so that they actually believed what Jesus had been saying? Saul was now thinking maybe Nicodemus and Joseph should be killed too.

About a year later, this zealous Pharisee Saul joined another trial in Jerusalem, and again called for death. This time the execution of Stephen, one of the leaders of what had become a fast growing Jesus movement in Jerusalem. Sentenced to death Stephen was led out of the city to die. Saul led the crowd, then he stood watch as the overseer of Stephen’s bloody execution by stoning! (Acts 7) Saul had become incensed. Rather than dissipating, this claim of Jesus’ resurrection, and a Holy Spirit anointing of Jesus followers, was turning Jerusalem upside down! Saul was convinced something even more radical must be done to stop this charade.

A few days later, with papers giving Saul almost unlimited authority, Saul was on his way, with a group of other religious fanatics, heading for Damascus, ready to arrest anyone they could find who believed in this preposterous resurrection story! This Jesus movement must be stopped, at any cost! Suddenly a bright light, like a flash of lightning, struck and a voice from heaven spoke: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”

Stunned, shocked, terrified, Saul had fallen to the ground blinded by the light. “Who are you Lord?’ Saul cried out. ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’ (Acts 9:3-6) Blinded and frightened Saul lay paralyzed for a few moments. What had just happened? He called for his companions, they rushed to help him up. He asked them what they had seen and heard. Luke writes: “The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless, they heard the sound but did not see anyone…they led Saul into Damascus and for three days Saul was blind and did not eat or drink anything.” (Acts 9:7-9)

My “Walking with Jesus” friends, as you may know that encounter changed Saul’s life forever. He had met the Resurrected Jesus. His doubts, his anger, his hatred, his refusal to give any credibility to reports of people experiencing changed lives as they believed Jesus… it all changed in those three days. Saul, the angry Pharisee who was determined to kill anyone who believed this preposterous resurrection story, this Saul himself believed and became a passionate follower of resurrected Jesus! This Saul became the Apostle Paul, author of much of the New Testament!

Years later this Apostle Paul wrote to his Christ following friends in the city of Corinth: “What I received (from Jesus) I passed on to you as of primary importance, that Jesus Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised from the dead on the third day, and that He appeared to Peter and then to the other disciples…Then He appeared to James…and last of all He appeared to ME!

How can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If Christ has not been raised our preaching is useless and so is your faith… If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep (died) believing in Christ are lost! If only for this life we have hope in Christ we are to be pitied more than all mankind.

But, Jesus Christ has indeed been raised from the dead…!” (1 Corinthians 15:3-23)

Paul’s encounter with the risen Jesus Christ changed his life, his understanding of God, his understanding of Scripture, and gave Saul a new purpose in life. From that day on, for the rest of Paul’s life, his single greatest passion, the only thing of great value to him, was the Gospel, the good news, the truth about Jesus and His resurrection.

So in closing this Easter, I ask you my friends, how has the resurrection of Jesus 2000 years ago impacted you and your eternal future?

I have found a powerful song of the truth of JESUS to help you consider this, the most significant event in all of history…the resurrection of Jesus. And when you’ve finished worshipping with this song, I urge you to write a statement, maybe a paragraph, maybe a poem, maybe even a song. Write it to JESUS and express what you feel deep inside as you contemplate what this Resurrection Easter Sunday is all about in your life. God bless you my dear friends, as you worship with this song.

Today’s Scripture is Matthew 28.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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