Easter Season - Sermon 3
THE FIRST EASTER MORNING!
by
Jim Lee
Jim Lee is a retired Pastor with the Worldwide Church of God in South St. Louis, Missouri. He is currently an Elder in the Desoto Worldwide Church of God. Click the Affiliated Church Directory link below for information about this church.
[Scriptures used for this sermon: Matthew 20:18-19; 28:1-10; John 14:12-14]
PIONEERS AND HEROES
Pioneers are among our most cherished heroes. Whether it be Daniel Boone exploring an uncharted continent, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. challenging the realities of the Constitution, or Neil Armstrong setting foot on our nearest neighbor in space. We admire them and those like them because of their courage in confronting the unknown.
Facing the unknown or unfamiliar is always a little frightening as well as exciting. The human race acts as a whole when an unknown entity is faced by one of our members. Once one person has met the challenge, the bars are let down and the feat is replicated over and over again. Ultimately, it becomes just another part of what it means to be human. Another frontier conquered. Or, to use, Astronaut Armstrong's words, One small step for man; one giant step for mankind.
No one thinks of taking an airplane trip to England as something terrifying. It is done by thousands of us every day! But there was a time when just getting off the ground in any sort of flying machine was the domain of the most daring of us. Same even with the automobile! After all, God never intended us to go up in the air! and God never intended us to go fifteen miles an hour!
NUMBER ONE PIONEER
The most challenging Pioneer who ever lived was a humble carpenter from Nazareth - a backwater town in a poverty-stricken nation. He did impossible feats that left all observers amazed and not a little frightened.
With a word He would make a deaf man hear; a blind woman see; a lame man walk. With a touch of His hands He would heal the sick and raise the dead! He took shortcuts when confronted with a lake, by walking on its waves. With a word He would cause a tree to wither or produce a coin from the mouth of a fish. And to add insult to injury, He would feed a crowd of thousands with just a few fishes and loaves of bread!
No there was never a Pioneer like this one! But wait just a minute! Jesus was no pioneer. He was unique. He went places on one else could go and do things no one else could hope to do!
Well, He was unique, of course. But notice what He promised His followers: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. [John 14:12-14]
FOLLOWING HIS TRAIL
Peter walked on water; he and John healed the lame man in the Temple. He and Paul raised the dead! Seventy disciples went out and duplicated the powers of our Lord with healings and exorcisms. When Jesus had performed His first miracles people were frightened beyond their wits. One community even begged Him to leave their town!
Since the time of Jesus, millions of Christians have suffered martyrdom, remaining faithful to the end, even as He had done on the cross.
So all that Jesus promised we would be able to do, has come true. Of course, we cannot do it of ourselves, as He was able to do. But we can call upon the Father in Jesus name and miracles will and do happen!
SEPARATING THE MEN FROM THE BOYS
But there was one miracle that Jesus performed that we cannot duplicate, nor will we ever be able to do: raise Himself from the grave to everlasting life! This was the greatest miracle of all time. Nothing can even come close to it. It is beyond the scope of the word miracle. There is no word for it. It is a one-time event.
Of course, Jesus had told the disciples on a number of occasions that He would rise from the dead. Such as, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. [Matthew 20:18-19]
But when it happened, it was so unique that it was frightening to all who found out. Jesus most repeated phrase after His resurrection was Fear not. Just seeing an empty casket can give you the jitters! Just imagine looking into a dark cave and seeing the sheets that once held a body, lying there intact. Just no body! [Peter Marshall once said that the miracle of the clothing that made John believe instantly was their position. The burial sheets were positioned as if the body they encased simply disappeared and they collapsed into the void left. I like that idea.]
One of the Beatitudes tells us, Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God. [Matthew 5:8] It is instructive that the very first disciples that were privileged to see the risen Lord were the very ones who did not forsake Him at the very end. Their consciences were clear in this matter. They had been faithful despite the obvious dangers. It was Mary Magdalene and the other women who stood under the cross as He breathed His last. In addition to Mary Magdalene, there was Jesus mother and her sister, Mary the mother of James, Mary the wife of Cleophas, Salome and Joanna. It is unclear if some of these women are the same person described differently. But that was the group gathered at the foot of the cross. The first to see Jesus were from among this group. The doubting disciples - those upon whom the Church would ultimately be built -- had to be told by these women that Jesus was alive!
THE VIRGIN MARY
But, there is an obvious question that comes to mind with regard to the mother of Jesus. To have mentioned Mary Magdalene by name as seeing Jesus, and to throw His mother into the group of other women was unthinkable. It is obvious that she was not there at the tomb on Sunday morning. Did Jesus appear to His mother? One would have thought that she would have been the first to see Him. Who was more distraught at His death than she? Who had followed Him longer than she? Who could have possibly loved Him more and suffered with Him longer than she? To not have seen her would appear to be a major, unanswerable oversight on her Son's part.
We have no hard, fast information on this. We only know that when the women came to the tomb, Jesus was not only not in the tomb, He was nowhere to be found. Where was He? He met them only as they were going to speak to the disciples. Many early church fathers believed that Jesus went first to see His mother before anyone else. Just like most of His early life with His parents is hidden from our view, perhaps this moment is also hidden from us as well. Who knows. Throughout her life, Mary was left to ponder many things about her Son. Now we find ourselves in the same situation toward her. Perhaps it is best to leave their personal relationship to them in private.
THE MEANING UNFOLDS
What is more important to us, personally, is what the Resurrection of Jesus meant to all human beings. As we proceed from here to Pentecost, we will slowly come to understand its importance to the early Church.
What is obvious, however, for all of us concerning the Lord's resurrection, is that this was the event that brought heaven to earth and guaranteed that Jesus would do for us what He had promised: give us eternal life!
For example, here, we don't see a angel unawares. Here we see an angel is all of his splendor! "And, behold, there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men." [Matthew 28:2-3] Yes, the powers of heaven had come to earth indeed! Here was the first experience of what has continued to happen within the church since that time: angels being used by God to remove insurmountable obstacles from believers paths as they sought to find and walk with Jesus!
Even more importantly: our relationship with Jesus changed forever. "And [the women]departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and HELD HIM BY THE FEET, AND WORSHIPPED HIM." [:8-9].
The mixture of fear and joy they felt when confronted with the empty tomb was now, in the presence of the risen Lord, turned into total abandon and joy! They were beside themselves in hope and excitement! Truly if this One is for us who can be against us? Their Redeemer was alive!! They recognized that this was not just a man in whom God resided; this man was God Himself! They fell at His feet and worshipped in great joy! What a moment that must have been! I don't believe we will ever experience this quite the same until we see Him ourselves in the flesh! The old hymn says it so well: What a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, we'll sing and shout for victory! Even so, come Lord Jesus! AMEN.
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