He is Risen!

On Holy Saturday, I like to imagine myself as one of the 12 disciples. I sit and I think about my fear… Will I be arrested? Will they come to kill me too? Will I be hiding out for the rest of my life? And especially, where do I go from here?

I imagine the disciples were scared out of their wits. The man they followed, lived with, and loved was brutally punished and sadistically crucified. He was killed and now he lay in a tomb rotting… corroding… decaying… lifeless… Their 3 year journey is over.

Is there any hope at all?

I believe that I would be stunned. We have it easy with hindsight… We know that Jesus resurrected… They even knew that Jesus promised that his resurrection would happen… but I doubt that was at the forefront of their mind. Peter didn’t listen to Jesus the entire time. Peter was a man of little faith… He was walking on water with Jesus, and then he doubted, even though he had already walked several feet! Jesus told him that he would be killed and rise again, but Peter doubted that too, causing Jesus to rebuke him… And finally, early in the morning, before Jesus was killed, Peter denied even knowing Jesus. If this was Peter’s state of mind, what were the other disciples thinking?

What would you do in this situation? Would you remember Jesus’ words, or would you be scared for yourself? Can you imagine how stressful it would be to lose the person you love the most… leaving you stranded, alone, fearful, and confused? I would certainly be scared… What a dark day that would be for me…

Observe this with me.

Almost 2,000 years ago, an innocent man who was well known for his good works and teachings was sentenced to be crucified for being a trouble maker… What good could possibly come out of that?
Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be flogged? Skin ripping, stinging, sweat and blood running down your back and sides, bruised, and beaten to a bloody pulp… Your oppressors laughing at you, mocking you, spitting on you, pushing thorns into your head, parading you through the streets so others can do the same? What do you think it would be like to have 9″ nails driven through your hands and feet as you publicly hang naked on a cross for all to see? Your enemies watching with a victorious grin on their faces… your family crying… your friends hiding… your God leaving you stranded… As you are hanging, you struggle to catch your breath. Pushing up with your feet to fill your lungs with air leads to more pain, so you fall back down causing splinters to run through your back. You’re bleeding. You’re confused. You’re embarrassed. You’re suffocating… You’re scared…  The sky darkens, and with one loud shout, you crash. You die as a crowd gawks, some mourning, most scoffing.

The crucifixion hurts to even imagine. If this happened to an innocent man, what good could possibly come out of it?

Christians believe that it wasn’t just a man who died that day. We believe that it was God. We successfully killed God incarnate. Was it an easy feat?

Yes.

This very act shows us what we are capable of. We have the power to kill God. We are terrible enough to murder God’s innocent son. The good news is that Jesus’ works and teachings come around full circle. Though we punished Jesus, Jesus still loved us. Though we crucified him, Jesus forgave us. Though we were merciless to him, he showed us grace. When Jesus taught, when Jesus performed miracles, he wasn’t doing it so that it could be written into a book and ignored. He didn’t do it so that we can say, “Oh, what a good guy Jesus was!” No. He did it to show us how to live life in a way that pleases God. He went to the death so we can see how far his teachings and good works stretch. It was out of the love of God and the sin of human hearts that Jesus was put to death. The very message of the cross is love. It is the love of God that covers our sin.

We have the potential to be so evil that we even crucified God… God chose to forgive us. God put his son through drastic measures to show us how much God values us. God’s love restores us. It brings us to God and causes all things to work together. This is the Gospel. Jesus Christ died so your sins could be forgiven. This is what Good Friday is all about.

As Jesus came to Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he gave two disciples a task. He said, “Go into the village over there. When you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If someone asks, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say, ‘Its master needs it.’” Those who had been sent found it exactly as he had said.

As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

They replied, “Its master needs it.”They brought it to Jesus, threw their clothes on the colt, and lifted Jesus onto it. As Jesus rode along, they spread their clothes on the road.

As Jesus approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole throng of his disciples began rejoicing. They praised God with a loud voice because of all the mighty things they had seen. They said, “Blessings on the king who comes in the name of the Lord.Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens.”

Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, scold your disciples! Tell them to stop!”

He answered, “I tell you, if they were silent, the stones would shout.”

Luke 19:29-40 (CEB)

I’ve always enjoyed Palm Sunday, even before I knew it’s significance. This paints an odd picture of this penniless man from Nazareth that started a movement that completely changed the face of the planet. Jesus rode into the Holy City on the colt of a donkey and was greeted not as a pauper, not as a stranger, not as a trouble maker, but as a king. What is the significance? It’s hard for us to see today after the great successes of the Christian movement. With how ornate our churches have become, we have the tendency to forget the humble beginnings of our faith.

Jesus was no stranger to controversy. He was a trouble-maker that ended up getting himself killed. Now as harsh as that sounds, it’s the truth. Jesus is loved by billions today, but he used to be despised by those he crossed. He corrected many. He interpreted the scriptures in a new way causing some of the more traditionally-minded people to have a hard time accepting it. He lifted up the lowly and down-trodden and spoke against those with power. Yet at the same time, he loved. He taught. He healed. He put others before himself. As despised as he was, there were still many who recognized the man he was.

While entering the Holy City of Jerusalem, he was greeted by the people who’ve heard of his good works. They waived and laid down palm branches at the feet of the donkey he was riding and they shouted “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heavens!” Their shouts were yelled out in reverence and in sincerity, but even they did not realize Jesus’ worth, for Jesus said, “I tell you, if they were silent, the stones would shout.” All creation knew of the glory of Jesus, even while humanity was blind to it.

But Jesus was right. This trouble-making miracle worker from Nazareth was worth more than our limited minds could understand. The stones could cry out to Jesus because they recognize their creator. Yet even the creator of all that is known and unknown became limited so we could better understand God. It took Almighty God becoming human for us to understand the love of our creator… God became flesh and bone and was given the name ‘Jesus’. And Jesus lived a servants life, showing us that God is for us. We may worship God, but we have to remember that it is God that takes care of us. And as a servant, Jesus was praised as king on the road coming down from the Mount of Olives, though, these people praising him were unaware that in only a few days time, he would be dying the death of a criminal by their own hands.

What a humble life Jesus lived. He taught us what true power looked like. It looks like feeding the hungry at a soup kitchen. It looks like visiting the convicted felon in prison. It looks like giving your coat to the beggar on the sidewalk. It looks like visiting a stranger in the nursing home. It looks like taking care of the beaten man on the side of the road. It looks like loving your enemies. It looks like turning the other cheek when someone wrongs you. All in all, it looks like treating others as if they are better than yourself… because as Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you do it to me.” True power is seeing everyone as they were created to be- an image and likeness of God. If we can’t do this, then even the stones will become greater than us. After all, we are all nothing more than dirt anyway.

“God helps those who help themselves.”

Well, you won’t find that in the Bible. Not everyone is able to help his/herself. I prefer “God helps those who need help.”

Maybe that’s not quite accurate either.

One thing I know for sure is that God helps. Perhaps not in ways we would expect God to help, but God does help. It took me awhile to learn this, but God doesn’t always send manna and quail from Heaven. God doesn’t always lead as a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. God won’t always have a fish swallow us whole to put us in the right direction… But God always does one thing.

God calls.

God calls us to work; God works through us. Why?

Because we are able and empowered.

It doesn’t take a miracle to feed the hungry. It doesn’t take some mysterious wonder to love the unlovable. We ask why God let’s all this happen, but the truth is, we let it happen. Why?

Because we ignore God’s call.

God calls us to reach out to the least and the lost, even in radical ways, if needed. The Holy Spirit leads us to be ministers. We are ministers to all the people… We are ministers to one another. We are ministers to those who don’t think like us. We are ministers to those out of our own country. We are ministers to our enemies. We give to the poor, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit those in prison, and tend to the sick. Why?

Three reasons.

1. It’s being a decent human being.
2. It’s what God calls us to do.
3. Whatever we do to the least of these, we do it to God.

This shows God’s nature. God suffers when people suffer… because we are perfectly able.

Click Here

The link above is to Compassion International’s website. If you are interested, sponsor a child. It’s $38.00 a month and that helps the child’s family and helps to put the child through school. It’s such a small sacrifice to help a person in need.

I’ve been sponsoring a child from Guatemala: Martin. Martin has been a blessing in my life. He writes to me every so often, letting me know what is going on in his life. It helps to make me realize that the small things really do matter.

For Christians, compassion is a necessity. If you haven’t yet, please consider this ministry.

God bless!

… I need a little prompting. Ask me anything!

Gosh this is so creepy!