Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends on this Monday after Easter.
What would you imagine you’d be doing today, the day after resurrection day, if you were Mary the mother of Jesus, or Mary Magdalene, or John the beloved disciple? The three of them had stood on Golgotha hill, at the foot of His cross, and watched Jesus die. They had watched His body taken down from the cross, wrapped and carried to a garden tomb nearby. They’d spent Saturday grieving.
But they’d each seen the risen Jesus yesterday, Sunday. They’d spoken with Him. As unbelievable as it was, they knew Jesus was alive. They couldn’t explain it, it made no sense, they had no idea where He was that Monday or if they’d ever see Him again, but they knew He was alive!
So, I ask you again, if you were one of them, or if you were any of the several people who had seen Jesus alive yesterday, Easter Sunday, how would you spend today, Monday, the day after Easter?
The Bible is silent regarding this first week after resurrection day. In fact, we have no further information until one week later when Jesus appears again to the group of His closest friends, and that time Thomas was with them. John gives us the record of that encounter in John 20:24-29.
But in the meantime, this we assume: those who had been determined to see Jesus killed, and the tomb secured, were in a panic on this Monday after resurrection Sunday! You and I both know how fast rumors can run, and how they can be exaggerated. Several people on this Monday were claiming to have seen and talked with the resurrected, healed, Jesus, yesterday… Sunday, in different places, at different times through the day and evening.
This news would have quickly spread across Jerusalem. The 11 remaining disciples, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and probably Lazarus and his sisters would all be in a state of high anxiety and high security on this Monday. They would be hunted by those who had schemed to have Jesus killed.
But there was another rumor running through the streets of Jerusalem that Monday following the weekend crucifixion and burial of Jesus. This rumor was a very different story, told by people determined to deny this crazy idea of a resurrection. Matthew tells us that on resurrection Sunday while the women ran from the empty tomb to tell the disciples about their encounter both with angels and with the risen Jesus, some of the guards who had been guarding that tomb, also ran into Jerusalem.
Matthew writes: “While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into Jerusalem and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened [at the tomb].When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them: ‘You are to say, “His disciples came during the night and stole Him away while we were sleeping.’ If this report gets to governor Pilate, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day…” (Matthew 28:11-15)
Of course, a child can see the fallacy in such a ridiculous story... that grave robbers came, moved that huge stone, dragged the dead body out of the tomb, and carried it away, all the while four guards slept knowing that if any such thing happened, they could be killed for having failed at their assignment of guarding a dead man’s tomb! But still, desperate people will do desperate things to assure their desperate plan is accomplished, right? We see evidence of that all around us all the time, even to the highest levels of government and society. So that Monday after Passover weekend, Jerusalem was filled with two contrasting stories about Jesus!
As people heard these rumors they were left with an important choice as to which one they would believe! But I think we should acknowledge there was another option and maybe this option became the majority response that Monday in Jerusalem. What option, what response, you ask? Simply this: I don’t care!
Look around your city today, the Monday after Easter? Look at the schools, the businesses, everyday life in your city. Seek to find out what is happening in the capital of your region or your country among the politicians. Go by the local barber shop, or the local tavern, or hang out for a while at whatever places people in your city tend to congregate to discuss the latest rumors or conversation topics.
Listen carefully… what are people saying about Easter… the reports of the resurrection of Jesus, or the reports of His body being stolen. Listen… do you notice something? For the majority of people, Easter is a non-topic. It’s over, time to move on to other things. Is that true in your city? Is Easter already forgotten by the vast majority of people where you live?
I think it was the same in Jerusalem that Monday morning after Passover… most people were going on about their lives as though nothing unusual happened that weekend in Jerusalem. The euphoria of the Palm Sunday crowds was long forgotten. Look, the Olivet hillside is largely empty, except for the trash the people had left behind as they all went back to their homes after Passover. The city square where the people had called out “Crucify him!” and Barabbas was released, is empty, no one even knows where Barabbas is, and Pilate has gone back to care for more important government matters.
Much of Jerusalem is in clean up mode after Passover. People are flocking OUT of Jerusalem, heading back home. Oh yes, there are rumors about what happened in Jerusalem this Passover, but for most people walking those overcrowded dusty roads going out in all directions from Jerusalem, it’s Monday, time to get back to life as normal. As far as we know, the rumor of the stolen body never made it to Pilate’s office, he never sent an investigation team, the guards were never called to account.
But it was very different for the 11 remaining disciples, Mary the mother of Jesus and many of the close friends of Jesus.
They knew what they had experienced. Jesus had horrifically been beaten, sent to the hill Golgotha and crucified. His horrifically beaten body was buried, but Sunday, yesterday, this same Jesus, with His wounds healed, had been seen in several different places, by several different people and no one would ever be able to convince them otherwise.
But they would need to be very careful WHO they shared that preposterous news with. They had no proof of course. No pictures, no artifacts, only their certainty that they’d seen the risen Jesus, spoken with Him and some had even eaten a meal with Him!
So let’s pause right here this Monday. What is your response this Monday? Do you believe the story of grave robbers or do you believe the story of those who say they saw Jesus alive, or does it not matter much to you on this Monday?
And what about 100 years from now? Will it matter to you then? You see, my friends, if you believe the grace robbers story, or you discount the resurrection as unimportant, 100 years from now you will find yourself in a place with Satan and his demons and all who have disbelieved or rejected God, and that place will be far, far away from God!
And that place will be your place of residence for all eternity future. IF, on the other hand, you believe the resurrection of Jesus to be true, and you have trusted Jesus Christ to save you from your sin, then 100 years from now you will be with JESUS in heaven and as you look around you’ll see angels and people from all time in history who also have believed in Jesus! And that place will be your eternal home forever and ever!
So on this Monday after Easter it really is quite important what you think about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, isn’t it? Will you build your life today on the truth of the resurrection of Jesus or the story of His stolen body or the apathy of ‘it really doesn’t matter’? But it does matter, doesn’t it friends? And here’s a song to help us celebrate it! And tomorrow, let’s take a look at what was going on in Jerusalem on Tuesday after Easter.
Today’s Scripture is Matthew 28:11-15.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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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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