Resurrection Sunday- A Lot More Happened Than You Might be Thinking

This past week our Pastor delivered a powerful message on the Resurrection of Jesus from the tomb and what caught my attention and demanded I share it was how once again, the simple prose of the Bible is so heavily filled with deeper lying messages and insight.  We can read a verse many times and get different thoughts from time to time which is unlike any other book. Most you read, and that is it.

It also demands us to read it and know it because the stories contained therein are all so intertwined.

This message was a perfect example.  Following our celebration of Easter, we heard the story, again, of the resurrection, but as Pastor built the story, it is clear something extraordinary happened that Sunday morning, the 3rd day. Something so profound yet it is so simply described in this passage.

We will start with Mary's encounter at the tomb in the 20th Chapter of John, v 12:

When Mary arrived Sunday morning to care for Jesus' and body, she found the tomb open with the stone rolled back. Peering in (John 20: 12), she saw an angel at what would have been the head and another at the foot of where Jesus was laid.  This is symbolic of the Ark of the Covenant; an angel on either end with God in the middle.   

Wow- I had read this many times and never caught that.

As she turned to leave she saw another figure who, like the angels, asked her why she was crying.  Despite having traveled with Jesus for nearly 3 1/2 years, she did not recognize him, and thought him to be a gardener. (John 20: 14-15)

I remember thinking to myself many years ago when I first saw that word, "a gardener?"  That seemed odd but I never gave it much more thought. Until this message. So the fundamental question of course is why would she think the man was a gardener?

Plainly put, gardeners are usually dirty from working in dirt with their hands, often staining their clothing as well.  Though it was not clear yet, Mary was seeing Jesus for the first time, outside the tomb, arisen. But why did she not recognize him?

In the forgiveness of the sins of the people, the priest would sacrifice a lamb, who bore all the sins of the people and it's blood was shed for those sins. Jesus left his seat in Heaven to manifest himself as our lamb and take on all sin, both committed and future sins, to redeem us.

            Jesus had just left the tomb and was filthy, covered in sin; OUR sin. 

Still not recognizing him, Jesus called her by name "Mary" and she instantly cried out "Rabboni" or Teacher. She now saw her beloved teacher standing there before her so naturally she started to approach to touch him.

Jesus warned her to not touch him (he was unclean and per Jewish law, she would then be unclean) and said he had not yet ascended to the father. Rather, He directs her to find His brothers and tell them I am ascending to my Father and your Father. (John 20:17)

Mary found the disciples and gave them His message and proclaimed "I have seen the Lord!" (John 20: 18)  

I find this verse extremely interesting because just a few moments earlier in v 16 she calls Jesus Rabboni.  Mary, it appears, was quick on the uptake and realized the truth Jesus had been telling His followers was now coming true.

The story goes on:

"That evening, the disciples were behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there with them saying "Peace be unto you." 

Showing them his wounds they were understandably joyful to see him again.

We get more detail from Luke 24:39:

"Look at my hands. Look at my feet. Touch me and be sure I am not a ghost because ghosts do not have a body as I do." 

Stepping back and analyzing these perspectives it is now very apparent a lot was going on that Sunday morning between His meeting with Mary around dawn that morning and that evening in the room with the disciples.  In fact, He even tells us when we more closely examine John 20:17 again:

"Don't cling (touch) to me for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them 'I am ascending' to my father and your father, to my God and your God."

Did you get it?  I have not yet ascended...(but) I AM ascending.  In other words, go round up my followers and when you see me again, this evening, I will be coming from the Father!

So we now see there was a lot more going on that Sunday morning, much more than most ever thought I daresay! Jesus, ascended to the Holiest Tabernacle to commune with the Father, carrying all our sins with Him, and offered His own blood to the Father to atone for our sins and remove our guilt so as to restore our relationship with God, once and for all.  Thus, as we have so many times before heard, He defeated death and the grave, forever and ever amen!

When we follow the story through the eyes of the disciples and weave in the reference from Hebrews we get a glimpse into the magnificent word God has given us, and providing one more bit of proof the Bible was not "written" by man but simply penned once God gave that penman HIS words.

Will you accept this free gift?

To hear this amazing story behind the story, please listen to this powerful sermon from Robert Morris:  http://gatewaypeople.com/ministries/life/events/gateway-easter-services/session/2018/03/30/dominion

Why is God blamed for so much?

Sadly we have witnessed a pronounced rise in hatred and violence not only around the world but right here in the United States of America. We have witnessed a pronounced spike in wanton waste of life by shooting innocent people for incomprehensible reasons along with a rise in racial tension and strife not seen since MLK's march to Selma.

From the Columbine shootings in 1999 to the UCC shooting in my hometown of Roseburg, OR, to the Las Vegas shooting earlier this year, and most recently the church massacre in Sutherland, TX,
outside of San Antonio, certainly raised the same question we always seem to ask in the wake of a tragedy like a shooting or a child having cancer: IF there is a God, why did he allow this to happen?

It certainly seems a fair question given how much we believers tell everyone we worship a LOVING God who wants the best for us. So how can we reconcile that belief with the pain with a senseless shooting or a loss of a loved one, any time of year, but especially around the holidays?

Simply put, in my opinion, THIS is not the world God created. What God created for us in Eden was perfection, harmony and life in a balance with nature. He gave us but one rule, to not eat of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. Sadly, we know we failed to follow that one rule and were thus banned from the garden and condemned to farm soil with rocks and thorns and women to suffer terrible birth pains.

First, I am personally tired of my God first being attacked then removed more and more from our society and then being blamed for the mess WE create in his absence. Sounds a lot like most people today when trying to coach or correct them, I have found most people are not comfortable handling blame in the workplace so it is not a surprise this trend transcends to the spiritual realm.

On that note, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit priest once wrote we are "Spritiual beings on a human journey". In other words, when God created us in their image, we were made into a human form for our time on Earth but will receive a new body in the coming Kingdom. As a spirit, we were not meant to die so for us this is a new and painful lesson each must learn to process on their own in their own way.

In that light, we realize a significant part of life is death. That is what makes life so valuable- it is fleeting and we never know the hour at which we will be called back to God.

Another consideration to keep in mind when someone leaves the Earth, assuming they are a believer, is they are then entered into God's presence. Many witnesses who have purportedly died and then come back to life tell a similar story in which they have felt such warmth and comfort they have not wanted to return. Colors so vibrant, sounds so pure, feelings and sensations which cannot be adequately explained in words await us once we leave this existence. That is a welcome promise of things to come and what we will be awaiting us.

Next, I submit this pain we feel, when considered in terms of infinity is akin to a scraped knee when I was a child riding a bike. My parents loved me, and protected me, but to experience life and LIVE, I was going to be hurt a few times. In the big picture, this temporary pain will subside and ultimately be completely removed, not in this life but in the next. WE just need to have the faith the LORD will see us through. 

 It has been my experience since I became a believer I am not afraid of death per se', but it has also created a sense of urgency for me since I believe in an after life of either Heaven or Hell, I feel a lot is at stake and too many people are comfortable where they are or listening to Satan that they are "a good person". The path of Righteousness is a narrow path, but the road to destruction is wide.

Lastly, I like to think when a loved one is taken suddenly or when a child succumbs to an illness, God is simply wanting that angel back with Him. Knowing we will again be united with that loved one gives us hope, something to be thankful for and to look forward to. For that and my salvation, I am thankful all I had to do is accept the gift Jesus gave me.  How about you?