Big Disappointment & Great Hope
BIG Disappointment and Great Hope
If you were in Jerusalem during the Passion Week, what could be going through your mind if you were one of the disciples and/or the other followers of Jesus? There are few words to describe the feeling and experience of this week such as confused, disappointed, bewildered and then great hope at the end.
There is evidence in the Biblical accounts to indicate that the disciples did not fully understand what was going on and that their expectations of the outcome of events of the life of Jesus were quite different than the way it turned out. Why did the Jewish authorities collaborate with the Romans to crucify Jesus? Did not Jesus say he was the savior and indeed we have not realized the salvation expected. Is there any hope for us after following this man called Jesus who has been crucified? Like the disciples, we often totally miss it. We forget that there is a resurrection. Death must precede resurrection in our lives of now and in the future. Jesus had to die for us that we may live.
Luke 24: 1-12
1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In 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? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8Then they remembered his words.
9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have:
1. We can be so dedicated to dead things without knowing it. In other words, the women wanted to beautiful the dead body of Jesus while unbeknown to them, Jesus had risen. How many a times God has left a place and we insist on remaining and looking for Him there? “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Is this a question for you and me today? Are there things in your life that are dead and you are still trying to patronize them? Is it a dead marriage and your partner has moved on and remarried and you are still wishing him or her back? It could be a dead career, a dead location in terms of a place where you live or it could be any thing else? Allow God to give your circumstances a new resurrected body and life.
2. When we do not discern the time of God, confusion and bewilderment sets in. The ladies and the disciples were equally confused. We must remember what the Lord had told us in our quiet time and in his word. Otherwise, we will be confused. “'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again”. Has God told you about a dying in your life and you are still wishing it was not true? The son of Man must die and Jesus came to die but He must rise again. I thank God that Jesus died on the cross. Good Friday is not a day to feel sorry for Jesus. It is the greatest gift day. Yes, there may be tears of joy but thank God Jesus died on the cross. Will you and I die the death (denial of ourselves) that God has destined for us so that others might gain? Christianity is a paradox all through. You give to receive. You die to live. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice and we must live like Him.
3. What are your expectations in life? For the disciples, they thought it was a political freedom from the Romans. The disciples said, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel (from Roman oppression).v. 21” Were you hoping that believing in Jesus was going take away all your financial and family problems? Is it possible that your hope had been dashed because something you expected did not happen the way you thought? You are not alone. The disciples did and we all have been there once or twice. My foundations were shaken during 15 years of waiting to have a child. I said, “This could not be happening to someone who believes in Christ and for that matter not me in particular”. Is it possible we have wrong assumptions of who Jesus is and what He is in our lives? It is what re-examining but “remember what He said while He was with you.”
4. Jesus said to two of the disciples, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (v.25-26). We are fools when we do not believe the word of God. What has God spoken to you in His word? Let us not be fools but believe. Do you believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection as full payment for your sins? If you don’t, Jesus said, you are foolish. Is it possible we have a vague knowledge of Jesus even after hanging out with Christ (being in Church and among Christians)? I challenge us to find the true Jesus who is God Himself. Don’t settle for a substitute and don’t make Jesus what you want Him to be.
5. “He is not there. He has risen”. He has risen indeed. We all celebrate Easter with pomp but inwardly we hate Good Friday. No Good Friday, no Easter. No pain, no gain. He has risen. You will also rise again in the here and now in your daily dying to self. Your three days may be three years or a month but you shall surely rise. Even if you do not rise from your problems here on earth, you shall surely rise without problems to be with Jesus for ever. Isn’t that the great hope we have? We have been reconciled to God forever. This is the GOOD NEWS – the gospel.
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives! All fear is gone, because I know, yes I know. He holds my future, and life is what living because He lives.” This is the song of Easter. Join me to sing it with Great Hope. Nothing can stop us from singing this song. 38 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8: 38-39). Jesus has paid for us in full and His Death and Resurrection proves it. Happy Easter and Let us celebrate His great love for us. Amen.
He has Risen Indeed
If you were in Jerusalem during the Passion Week, what could be going through your mind if you were one of the disciples and/or the other followers of Jesus? There are few words to describe the feeling and experience of this week such as confused, disappointed, bewildered and then great hope at the end.
There is evidence in the Biblical accounts to indicate that the disciples did not fully understand what was going on and that their expectations of the outcome of events of the life of Jesus were quite different than the way it turned out. Why did the Jewish authorities collaborate with the Romans to crucify Jesus? Did not Jesus say he was the savior and indeed we have not realized the salvation expected. Is there any hope for us after following this man called Jesus who has been crucified? Like the disciples, we often totally miss it. We forget that there is a resurrection. Death must precede resurrection in our lives of now and in the future. Jesus had to die for us that we may live.
Luke 24: 1-12
1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In 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? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8Then they remembered his words.
9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have:
1. We can be so dedicated to dead things without knowing it. In other words, the women wanted to beautiful the dead body of Jesus while unbeknown to them, Jesus had risen. How many a times God has left a place and we insist on remaining and looking for Him there? “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Is this a question for you and me today? Are there things in your life that are dead and you are still trying to patronize them? Is it a dead marriage and your partner has moved on and remarried and you are still wishing him or her back? It could be a dead career, a dead location in terms of a place where you live or it could be any thing else? Allow God to give your circumstances a new resurrected body and life.
2. When we do not discern the time of God, confusion and bewilderment sets in. The ladies and the disciples were equally confused. We must remember what the Lord had told us in our quiet time and in his word. Otherwise, we will be confused. “'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again”. Has God told you about a dying in your life and you are still wishing it was not true? The son of Man must die and Jesus came to die but He must rise again. I thank God that Jesus died on the cross. Good Friday is not a day to feel sorry for Jesus. It is the greatest gift day. Yes, there may be tears of joy but thank God Jesus died on the cross. Will you and I die the death (denial of ourselves) that God has destined for us so that others might gain? Christianity is a paradox all through. You give to receive. You die to live. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice and we must live like Him.
3. What are your expectations in life? For the disciples, they thought it was a political freedom from the Romans. The disciples said, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel (from Roman oppression).v. 21” Were you hoping that believing in Jesus was going take away all your financial and family problems? Is it possible that your hope had been dashed because something you expected did not happen the way you thought? You are not alone. The disciples did and we all have been there once or twice. My foundations were shaken during 15 years of waiting to have a child. I said, “This could not be happening to someone who believes in Christ and for that matter not me in particular”. Is it possible we have wrong assumptions of who Jesus is and what He is in our lives? It is what re-examining but “remember what He said while He was with you.”
4. Jesus said to two of the disciples, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (v.25-26). We are fools when we do not believe the word of God. What has God spoken to you in His word? Let us not be fools but believe. Do you believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection as full payment for your sins? If you don’t, Jesus said, you are foolish. Is it possible we have a vague knowledge of Jesus even after hanging out with Christ (being in Church and among Christians)? I challenge us to find the true Jesus who is God Himself. Don’t settle for a substitute and don’t make Jesus what you want Him to be.
5. “He is not there. He has risen”. He has risen indeed. We all celebrate Easter with pomp but inwardly we hate Good Friday. No Good Friday, no Easter. No pain, no gain. He has risen. You will also rise again in the here and now in your daily dying to self. Your three days may be three years or a month but you shall surely rise. Even if you do not rise from your problems here on earth, you shall surely rise without problems to be with Jesus for ever. Isn’t that the great hope we have? We have been reconciled to God forever. This is the GOOD NEWS – the gospel.
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives! All fear is gone, because I know, yes I know. He holds my future, and life is what living because He lives.” This is the song of Easter. Join me to sing it with Great Hope. Nothing can stop us from singing this song. 38 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8: 38-39). Jesus has paid for us in full and His Death and Resurrection proves it. Happy Easter and Let us celebrate His great love for us. Amen.
He has Risen Indeed
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