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Good Friday morning dear “Walking with Jesus” friends,
When you hear the word “Peace”, what immediately comes to your mind in these days? A war zone gone quiet? A rioting mob dispersed? No more nightly Coronavirus statistics? Re-opened society? A field of spring wheat, a waterfall, a sunrise or sunset with someone you love dearly?
What would bring ‘peace’ to troubled hearts in our world right now… in the face of COVID-19 and Economies nearly shutdown? In the upper room, just before going to the cross, Jesus said to His friends: “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have PEACE. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) I have a question for every living person: are Jesus’ words true for you? Have you found PEACE in Jesus’ words, in the story of Jesus’ life, and especially in what Jesus accomplished on Passover/Easter weekend?
Have you ever given thought to how many angels were sent to earth, on specific missions of PEACE, from God Himself, during the story of Jesus Christ’s life here? From Gabriel who met first with Zechariah in the Temple (Luke 1:11) and announced that he normally stood in the presence of God but had been sent to Zechariah specifically at that moment, in that place, with a very special message, that would begin God’s peace story of Immanuel, Jesus coming to earth!
Do you remember Gabriel also came, 6 months later, to Mary, with an explanation that she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and bear a son who would be the Son of God (Luke 1:26-38). And of course Joseph had three angelic visits (Matt. 1:20; 2:13; 2:19) which gave him important instructions from God, about caring for Mary and Jesus. And then there was a whole choir of angels the night of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:9-14) who announced the arrival of Messiah, the Christ, to the shepherds outside Bethlehem! Remember their song? “Glory to God in the highest and on earth PEACE to men on whom His favor rests.” Then do you remember after Satan’s temptations of Jesus, during His 40 day time in the dessert following His baptism, God sent angels to attend to Him. (Matt. 4:11)
I would assume you’ve never met a heavenly angel in person? You’ll find them throughout the Bible. They are a species of beings God created before Genesis 1. They are not planet earth dwellers. Holy angels live in heaven with God and they are messengers of God, who come here to earth at God’s direction, and they remain here only as long as it takes to deliver the message or accomplish their God given assignment. Their visits here to earth, are woven throughout both the Old & New Testament. Three of them are named in the Bible… Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer. All three have been to earth, but so have many other angels, whose names have not been given to us.
Almost always the sudden appearance of angels is so shocking to people, the angel needs to tell the person who sees them to be calm, to not fear. Sometimes angels needed to wait for the person to settle down, to catch their breath enough to hear the message the angel had brought from God. The Easter story has several reports of angels. Today, let’s consider them and the PEACE their visits are intended to bring us.
Matthew tells us “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb, rolled away the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning…the guards were so afraid they became like dead men.” (Matt. 28:2-4) Have you thought about how you would have responded had you been eyewitness to this pre-dawn, angelic spectacle? The Jerusalem this angel came to had rarely been in a state of such agitation, such turmoil. The powerful tomb-opening action of this angel brought both peace to some and further turmoil to many others. An empty tomb, a resurrected Jesus, has been the source of PEACE for Billions of people since that day, but it has also caused consternation in the hearts of many others.
Matthew continues: “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for 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 they laid Him.” We don’t know if the women experienced the earthquake or saw the angel roll the stone back, but we do know when they arrived the angel had a very specific and powerful message for them, delivered to them in their language! Did they go into the tomb or just run? What we do know is “The women hurried away from the tomb afraid, yet filled with joy, and ran to tell His disciples.” (Matt. 28:5-8) Their heartbreak had been turned to enthusiastic joy! That’s peace on steroids!
By the way, have you considered… there is no record of the risen Jesus coming out of the tomb after the angel rolled away the stone? The tomb was opened, not to permit Jesus to come out, but to permit people to go in, and find that He was resurrected from the dead! Jesus didn’t require the tomb be opened for His escape. His resurrected body was now similar to angelic bodies, taking on form when necessary to be seen by human eyes. The resurrected Jesus appeared and disappeared at His desire. (Luke 24:31 & 36) I believe it is a foreshadowing of what our resurrected bodies will be like when God raises His people’s dead bodies. (1 Corinthians 15:12-58 & 1 Thess. 4:13-17)
Mark tells us three women went early that Easter morning to the tomb and when they arrived the stone was already moved, and they looked in. I presume this means the guards were gone and they saw no one else outside the tomb. Mark writes: “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 is not here. See the place where they laid Him. Go tell his disciples…” (Mark 16:5-7) Was this the same angel who had moved the stone according to Matthew’s account? Do you notice he did not wait for their questions? Do you see he urged them to have peace? The angel delivered his message with certainty, clarity and confidence. He invited them to see for themselves, and then he sent them to tell the disciples.
Luke tells us two men in gleaming white attire met the women who had come to the tomb early that Easter morning. These angels did not begin with an announcement, they began with a question, a very significant question! “In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still with you in Galilee? ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.’ (Luke 24:5-7)
Their reminder to the women of what Jesus had said in the past suggests either God had told them exactly what to say, or they were aware from having watched Jesus living His life while He was here on earth. Have you ever thought about how incredibly fascinating it must have been for the angelic hosts that their Creator, their Lord of Hosts, Jesus, God the Son, actually left His glory in heaven to come to earth, and be born in a stable, live a normal human life among human beings in first century Palestine, bringing the power and truth of God here?
Imagine the angels watching Jesus, anointed by the Holy Spirit, live His miraculous adult life here, teaching God’s truth, doing all the miracles, and going all the way to the cross, to accomplish the mission for which He was sent to earth by God the Father? How many times did the angels want to intervene in how humanity was responding to Jesus? Do you remember what Jesus said when Judas and the mob came to arrest Him in the garden of Gethsemane? He told Peter that He could have called on angelic re-inforcements and the Father would have provided 12 legions of angels! (Matt. 26:53) A legion was a Roman military battalion of about 5000 soldiers! But the angels were restrained. God’s redemption mission required Jesus’ taking upon Himself the justice wrath of God as He also took upon Himself the sin guilt of all humanity! Angels only came and were involved in the life story of Jesus, when directed by God the Father.
Finally, we have John’s Easter morning account which gives us Mary Magdalene’s unique experience. She had been to the tomb, found the stone rolled away, and ran to tell John and Peter. The three of them ran back to the tomb, John and Peter found it as she described it, and left in wonderment. But Mary remained at the tomb, with a broken heart. John writes: “Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head, the other at the foot. They asked her ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have put Him.” (John 20:11-15) Mary turned just then and saw Jesus, who she thought was the gardener, until He spoke her name!
So I have a question for us all. . .why so many heavenly angels, sent by God the Father, from His presence in heaven, to Israel here on earth, especially to explain the conception, birth and the resurrection of Jesus? Do you see the PEACE their visits and their messages are intended to bring us? Do you see my friends, that to reject the facts of either the birth or the resurrection of Jesus, requires that you also reject the God sent angelic messengers and their messages spoken to eye witnesses who recorded their visits for us?
Perhaps you recall there is one more great angelic appearance in the earthly life of Jesus. We’ll look at it in detail in a few days. It is in Acts 1. It occurred 40 days after resurrection Sunday and was the day Jesus ascended back into heaven in full view of His friends. As He disappeared into the clouds, Luke writes: “They (Jesus followers who had watched His ascension) were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee’, they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:10,11)
As with all the other angelic visits and messages, this was intended to bring PEACE to our world, even our world of 2020. We can live today with the HOPE that the resurrected, and today reigning in heaven Jesus, will soon return to our planet for the gathering up of all people who have trusted in Him and His resurrection, and we will join together with Him, in our resurrected bodies, for all eternity! (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) That truth enables us to live Jesus’ words today. . .“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.’ (John 14:27) I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
I have a song for you today my friends, that I hope will bring you PEACE as you contemplate it’s message, imagining what it will be like…if you have trusted Jesus, and will see Him one day, maybe soon!
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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