Christ the Lord Is Risen Today!

Matthew 27:62-28:16, Mark 16:1-13; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  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!'"  Luke 24:1-6a

There was good news on Palm Sunday.  Jesus received some of the praise and honor due Him when He entered Jerusalem triumphantly a week before His crucifixion.  Then there was the unbelievably horrible news when He, the Creator, was put to death in a humiliating and excruciating manner.  It was seemingly the darkest day in history.  Creation itself mourned this ignoble act with a three hour darkness over the land.  It was as though creation could not bear to look upon Jesus' suffering.

In great irony, the day of Jesus' crucifixion is called Good Friday.  But it really isn't an ironic title at all.  That was the day that Jesus became victorious over sin and death in our behalf.  He paid the penalty for all the sins of mankind so that whoever looks to Him can have victory over both the penalty and the power of sin.  

After the cross, death could not hold Jesus in the grave, and neither can it hold us.  The empty tomb and Jesus' appearances after His resurrection attested to the fact that all Jesus had claimed was, indeed, true.  Because Jesus lives today, we too shall live eternally with Him and share in His glory.  This is the greatest good news we could ever possibly hear.  No wonder we celebrate the resurrection on Easter!

Hallelujah!  I praise You, Lord Jesus.  Amen.

The King Is Coming!

Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-19

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."  Isaiah 53:5

Sometimes people will ask,  "Do you want the good news or the bad news first?"  During the Easter season we have good news, then terrible news, then incredibly great news.

The good news was what we call Palm Sunday, the Sunday before the resurrection.  As  Jesus and His disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to two small towns, Bethphage and Bethany. Jesus told two of his disciples to go to the village ahead of them. As they entered the town they would find a colt no one had ever ridden. They were to untie it and bring it to Jesus. If anyone asked them what they were doing they were to say, “The Lord needs it and will send it back shortly.” The two disciples found the colt just as Jesus had said. While they were untying it, the colt’s owners asked them why they were doing that. They answered as Jesus had instructed, “The Lord needs it” and they were allowed to take it. They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks on it, and put Jesus on it.  This colt, that had never been ridden, was apparently calm and docile under Jesus’ hands.

Then Jesus rode the colt into the city. Matthew 21:8 says,  "A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from trees and spread them on the road."  Spreading garments and waving and spreading palm branches, were all part of the traditional Jewish reception for royalty.

Matthew 21:9 tells us,  "The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest.'"

Some of the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke His disciples for praising Him and He answered, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40) Jesus is indicating that nature itself would praise its Creator if people did not.

The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem was an object lesson on who He is.  He fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy saying, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9) This is a preview of the worship and adulation due Jesus that will one day culminate when every knee shall bow to Him and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord.

The terrible news came one week later.  Jesus was tried, condemned, abused, humiliated, and put to death on a Roman cross.  Where were the worshipers of the week before?  Were some of them fickle enough to join the mob that shouted,  "Crucify Him!"?

Even nature mourned the death of its Creator with an unnatural darkness that lasted for three hours.  It was the darkest day the world had ever known.  None of the people at the cross would have possibly been able to imagine that this day would eventually be called Good Friday.  But just wait!  The incredibly great news is coming, and it's coming because Good Friday took place!!!

Father, thank You for the day we call Good Friday when Jesus paid the sin debt for all of us.  You and He knew the glory that was to come. During the hard times in our lives, may we trust that You will bring good from them as well.  Amen.

Will You Give Me a Drink?

John 4:1-42

“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst...’” John 4:13-14a

Have you ever felt God nudging you into a divine appointment? Jesus obviously felt that nudge from His Father. He was traveling from Judea to Galilee, and He chose to go through Samaria, which was between Judea and Galilee. But most Jews traveling that way went along the east of the Jordan River through Perea, a long way around, to avoid Samaria.

There had been bad blood between the Jews and the Samaritans for several hundred years. In 722 BC the Assyrians captured Samaria and moved other people into that area. The Samaritans intermarried with these other people and lost their racial purity which was so important to the Jews. In 400 BC the Samaritans built a temple on Mt. Gerazim and worshiped there rather than at the temple in Jerusalem. When Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews who had been in Babylonian captivity to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, the Samaritans offered to help, but the Jews refused their assistance, so they tried to hinder the rebuilding. In 128 BC the Jews burned down the Samaritan temple. It’s easy to see why there was hostility between the two groups. It really wasn’t safe for a Jew to travel through Samaria. But Jesus chose to do that. He felt that He needed to go through Samaria. The Holy Spirit was nudging.

There was a town in Samaria named Sychar, and there was a well there. Jesus was tired, and He sat down by the well. It was about noon and Jesus was alone because His disciples had gone to buy food. A Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus asked her for a drink. She was very surprised that a Jew would speak to her since she was a Samaritan. Jesus told the woman that He had come to give her living water. She replied that the well was deep, and He had nothing to draw with; she wondered how He could get any water. Jesus told her that whoever drank the water from the well would get thirsty again, but whoever drank from His water would never thirst. The woman asked Jesus to give her some of this water so she wouldn’t have to keep coming back to the well.

Jesus told the Samaritan woman to go call her husband and come back. She said she didn’t have a husband. Jesus told her she was right. She had had five husbands, and this man wasn’t her husband. Then she began to squirm and tried to change the subject.

When the disciples returned, they were surprised to see Jesus talking with this woman. Not only was she a Samaritan, but Jewish men did not speak with women in public. But Jesus’ companions kept quiet.

The woman went back to town and told people about Jesus, wondering if he could be the Messiah. Many of the people came to see Jesus, and many of them believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony. They urged Jesus to stay in Sychar, and He stayed two more days! Many more Samaritans believed in Him during that time.

What can we learn about witnessing from this story? Jesus initiated the conversation. He found common ground with the woman--water. He ignored the prejudices in His society. He did what was loving rather than what was considered “correct”. When the woman was skeptical about Jesus’ living water, He responded in love. We need not become angry if others display hostility or sarcasm. Jesus gained the woman’s attention, and then He led her to spiritual truth.

Father, may I follow Jesus’ example of caring about others. Whoever they are. May I take the initiative to share Christ in love with the leading of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Have You Heard the Good News?

Luke 4:16-44

“I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” Luke 2:10b

When Jesus was born, an angel appeared to some shepherds who were keeping their sheep in a nearby field. The angel said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)

We all like to hear good news. There is a sale at our favorite store. Our name has been drawn, and we have won a prize. He asked her if she would marry him, and she said yes. After a check-up with the doctor, he pronounces we are in excellent health. Good news! Glad tidings that make our hearts leap within us for pleasure.

The gospel--the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection--is the greatest good news we could ever hear. Why is that so? One Sabbath Jesus was in His home town of Nazareth. He attended the synagogue and was asked to read the Scripture for the day. He was handed the scroll of Isaiah, and he read these words, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted and to announce that captives shall be released and the blind shall see, that the downtrodden shall be freed from their oppressors, and that God is ready to give blessings to all who come to him.” Luke 4:18-19

When Jesus was on earth, He healed people with many infirmities. Some who were blind could see, and some who were lame could walk. Some who were brokenhearted because of the sickness or death of a loved one were elated when the sick were healed or the dead were raised. These are some of the physical ways Jesus fulfilled that Scripture.

However, Jesus fulfilled that Scripture in spiritual ways that impacted all of mankind, not just a few people. Without Jesus, we are poor, wretched sinners, unable to save ourselves. We are captives to sin, blind to the truth of God’s grace, brokenhearted because of our separation from God by a chasm that we are unable to span. The good news is that, when we accept Jesus as Savior, we are freed from the penalty and the power of sin over us. Our spiritual eyes and understanding are open to God’s truth. Our hearts are filled with the Holy Spirit--with God’s love and joy and peace. Now, that’s the best news anyone could possibly hear!

Father, thank You for sending Jesus so we could know for ourselves the best news of salvation. Amen.