resurrection – Livin4Jesus

Late Sunday Evening…

“Late Sunday evening when the disciples were together behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said, and then he showed them his hands and his side. So when the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. Jesus repeated, ‘Peace be with you…'” John 20:19-20

Christ had been crucified like a common criminal. He died and with Him died the courage of His followers. His body buried in a cave. Similarly, 10 of the remaining 11 disciples caved themselves behind locked doors. They buried themselves, hiding in fear of what Jewish leaders would do to them next. Terror was palpable.

For three years Jesus walked with them, led them, taught them, inspired them. His Presence had been their courage, their protection, their peace. Now all of that was gone, vaporized with Christ’s last breath at Calvary. Despite Mary’s proclamation earlier that day, “I have seen the Lord!”, there was no celebration among these men. Only shaking in their sandals. For all Jesus taught them and revealed to them… parables, sermons, signs, wonders, miracles, fulfillment of Old Testament Scriptures…it came down to this. A backroom gathering of fearful, forgetful followers.

John 20:19 says, “Jesus came and stood among them…” I wonder, in their desperation for solutions, did they notice Him at first? Or were they too busy fretting over their circumstances? Were they reliving in heated conversation Christ’s arrest leading to his death? Did they argue over who was to blame? “John, you should have stayed awake with Him in the garden.” “Peter, you ought not have lost your temper with the soldier.”

How long did Jesus stand in their midst before He cleared His throat and spoke? “Peace be with you.” Was it a shout? A whisper? Perhaps a simple observation that peace found its way into the room the moment His Presence entered.

Peace. The first thing Jesus spoke to His disciples was the very thing they needed most. Fear that gripped them melted away as they beheld Christ’s hands and side. The frightened group witnessed the Presence of Jesus and the Bible says, “…they were filled with JOY.”

How many instances in my life have I behaved like the disciples in hiding? Locked up with my emotions and fears. Fretting over my personal
circumstances. Playing my situation over and over in my head. Feeling apprehensive and uncertain about my future. Wondering, “Where is God now?”

As if He knew the message bore repeating to distracted hearts like Peter’s, and
John’s…and mine…Jesus said a second time, “Peace be with you.”

Today as waves of my circumstances crash against shorelines of my existence I hear His voice. “Peace.” My deepest need is met in the presence of my resurrected Lord as He stands between me and the unknown. It is this Peace of His Presence which leads me to JOY.

The Sound of Love’s Sacrifice

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Some folks shot me strange looks as I was coming out of Home Depot a few days ago.

I was carrying a 5’ wooden cross. I also got some nods of partial understanding…it was, after all, Good Friday. Members of my family in Christ didn’t need to know the reason for the cross I was carrying. They simply did the math and reckoned it had something to do with Easter celebration. I lugged the cross through the parking lot feeling the splinters of the oak beam dig into my shoulder. For a moment I paused to consider the weight of the Cross Christ bore on the Via Dolorosa.

It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I love special occasions. My domestic flair peaks with the approach of a holiday. Determined not to permit decorating and cooking for 20+ people to overshadow the meaning of our Lord’s death and resurrection, I had gone to Home Depot with a mission in mind. The cross would be placed out side my front door with 9” spikes partially nailed at opposite ends of the crossbeam. A sign posted above the cross draped with a crimson sash read “It wasn’t the nails that held Him there. It was His love for You.” Guests would be invited to hit one of the spikes with a hammer as a visual and auditory reminder, “Christ took the nails for me”.

Predictably the guests began to arrive and each person was surprised to be greeted with a hug and a hammer. Still all understood the powerful imagery and were sobered at the invitation to hit the spike. The sound of the hammer driving the nail was powerful and sent chills down my spine each time I heard it. It was the sound of Love’s sacrifice.

What must it have been like that day at Calvary? Christ did not simply hear the spikes, He felt them. Every blow. In His wrists. Through His ankles. These were not little nails but large spikes ruthlessly driven deep into His flesh. Did He grimace? Did He cry aloud? Did He weep? Whatever His response to this torture, we know 2000 years later the nails were not what held Jesus to the Cross. As a mob at His feet mocked Him to save Himself, Jesus could have called legions of angels to His rescue. But love made a choice that day, a choice to hang there. Love chose to endure the agony. Love chose to die for the sin of mankind. Love chose to pay a price man could never afford, to give a gift man would never deserve.

He endured the suffering that should have been ours. Isaiah 53:4

Praise be to God that Calvary was not the end. As I celebrated Easter Sunday with friends and family today, we gave thanks for the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross and we rejoiced in His Resurrection. Because He lives we have hope for this journey. Beyond that, Christ’s victory over the final enemy…death…offers us the promise of eternal life with Him in heaven.

“God raised Him up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” Acts 2:24

Jesus Christ is RISEN!

Standing at the Tomb: A Lesson in Grieving & Joy

I’ve spent the past several days camped out with Jesus and Lazarus, Martha and Mary…{John 11: 1-44}

Much as Mary & Martha were, I am grieving a loss. Mine is not a death of a physical person but process of dying to self and the burial of my idols. I know Jesus is here with me in the grieving process just as He was with them. One of the decisions I’m having to make is will I grieve as Martha did or will I choose to be more like Mary?

Jesus loved Lazarus deeply, yet when He received the news of his friend’s death He waited rather than go to the grave promptly. It is a mystery to anyone who seeks immediate comfort in times of trouble. How could Jesus not care enough to drop everything and go? If we take a closer look we see that it was because of His abiding love, not in spite of it, that Jesus tarried. His love beckons us to embrace the losses in our lives…whatever they may be…and to fully engage in the grieving process, a process of cleansing that brings freedom. “He that soweth in tears shall reap in joy” {Psm 126:5} To try to escape the tears is to miss the joy. “In His favor is Life: weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning”. {Psm 30:5}

As if viewing a video in my mind, I watched Jesus approach the town of Bethany where the scene takes place. Martha hears that He is near and she goes running out to meet Him. And the first thing she does is get in His face…”Where were you, Jesus?” I can almost hear the anger in her demanding tone… “If you had been here he wouldn’t have died and now it’s been 4 days! Don’t you care?” Even so, Jesus didn’t return her anger. Instead He spoke words of authority… “I am the Resurrection and the Life…he who believes though he dies, yet shall he live.” and then he asked her a question, “Do you believe?” Martha says she believes and yet later in the story at the tomb when Jesus instructs that the stone be moved, we witness Martha’s doubting again. Um Lord, it’s been 4 days, the stench is going to be horrific…is this really a good idea? Again Jesus meets her questioning with authority & repeats himself… “Do you remember what I said about having faith…?” The implication for Martha…and you & I…is do you believe or don’t you?

Now rewind the film to the place where Mary approaches Jesus and you’ll get a totally different picture. Mary didn’t even go to Jesus until her sister told her “he’s asking for you.” She waited in the house in silence until she was called. As soon as she caught sight of Jesus she fell at his feet. And though she asked the identical question, hers was a broken whisper… “Where were you?” Can you envision Christ reaching down to Mary, lifting her up, wiping her tears? He doesn’t question Mary’s faith. He doesn’t need to remind Mary of who He is…she knows already. Quietly He enters into her pain. “Where is Lazarus?” he asks, and as they walk along the way He holds her up. They approach the tomb and Jesus begins to cry with Mary. There is a deep spiritual intimacy between Jesus and Mary. She trusts Him even in her pain and He deals gently with her. Rather than re-teach the lessons from the past, He simply and quietly weeps with her, sharing her grief, engaging the sorrow. He knew that a resurrection was about to happen yet still he paused to meet the need of the moment. Rather than rush Mary’s grief, He embraced it with her. Jesus afforded a time to be quiet and mourn. Then he got LOUD and deliberate as He denounced the enemy—Death. He commanded the dead to come forth and a resurrection took place.

In my own story there is a resurrection to come. Jesus says so & I believe it. It’s been written into my script long before I existed. But for now I am standing in front of the tomb. It is a place of grieving and letting go. There are things I buried at the back of the tomb that stink and it will not be pleasant to roll back the stone exposing the corpse of desires, thoughts & behaviors. But Christ assures me that those things are not my life…HE IS MY LIFE. I no longer need the burial clothes. What’s fascinating to me is that Jesus doesn’t go to Lazarus and begin to pull away the burial clothes. Instead He commands the sisters to help Lazarus remove them. Jesus was there to bring LIFE but it was up to Lazarus to relinquish the clothing of death. Even so, Christ did not expect him to do it on his own. Jesus instructed the family to come to the aid of Lazarus. They supported him in the cleansing process. They helped him as he shed the smelly garments. And they ultimately rejoiced with him that he was more alive than he had ever been.

Jesus wants no less for me. He has come to give me Life. He stands with me at the tomb of my idols…those things I once looked to for security, pleasure, life. He is willing to bear the stench with me in order to clean out those things once & for all. And he gives me the family of faith to support me in the journey away from the grave and toward Life.

Jesus said “ I am the resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Do You Believe?” John 11:25-26