King Jesus, Week 3 - “The Coming King”

  A little less than year ago we got a new puppy, as most of you know. For the first 7 months or so, when we would leave the house the puppy was put into her kennel where she sleeps. Every time we get home and open the door to our bedroom where her kennel is, her tail starts wagging, banging against the kennel walls. And when we open the gate she usually shoots out and tries to tackle our other dog. 

Well when she was about six or seven months old, we were going to be gone for a couple hours and wanted to see how she would do. We have always left our dogs out in the past and wanted to see how it would go. When we came back, most everything was fine. No torn up curtains or pillows. No accidents in the house. But then we saw it, our love seat couch had a nice tear out of it’s top corner. Our puppy, who was taller then our other dog had opened the couch corner and eaten the stuffing out of it. She knew what she had done was wrong by the tone of our voices, and though she has ripped up other things, she hasn’t really tried to do anything with the couches. Suffice it to say, she had spent the majority of her time in the kennel while we’re gone, and we’re just now letting her be out in the back of the house where only the kids stuff could be torn apart. 

But it’s this idea of both being excited about something, and not doing what we’re not supposed to be, that brings us to our final week in our King Jesus series, where we are going to be looking at a several passages. The first, will be in the book of Acts chapter 1, so if you have your Bibles, open with me to Acts 1 starting in verse 6. And as we open to Acts 1:6, let’s review our last two weeks in this series. 

In the first week of our series, we looked at Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. In Matthew’s account of this triumphal entry, we’re given a detail that connects Jesus not just to a prophecy about a king riding into the city on a donkey, but to the Eternal King coming down from his throne to die for his creation. We saw how the two animals pointed to Jesus’ divine essence because God is consistently described as being enthroned between two creatures. At the same time, the use of donkeys points to Jesus humbleness as a willing sacrifice for the payment of sin. It’s in the Triumphal Entry account that we realize that the God of the universe is on his way to break sins bondage over humanity.

This led us into Easter and the empty tomb. It is at the raising of Jesus that sin’s bondage is broken. The cure for what ails humanity is cured through the resurrection of Jesus. It is a monumental moment of history that, though challenged, has never been disproven. And in fact is one of the most evidentially rich moments in history. The resurrection proves that the cross and the sacrifice of Jesus on it, paid the payment for sin. And now, anyone who places their trust in Jesus can have eternal life. Therefore we should turn to Jesus, not because he’ll fix everything, though many things will be changed for our good, but because it is true. We have sin, we cannot fix it ourselves, Jesus fixed it for us, and now he is risen again to prove everything else was true. 

So then we have seen Jesus as the Ancient King, the Risen King, and now we turn our attention to Jesus as the Coming King. Let’s read from the book of Acts chapter 1 verse 6.

“6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ 7 He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

“10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’”

Now there are three things happening in this passage. The disciples want to know when Jesus will start his kingdom on earth; Jesus gives his disciples a mission; and the promise of Jesus’ return is given.

Let’s work through each of these. First, the angels that stand as the disciples watch as Jesus returns to heaven, give this promise, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

The promise of Jesus’ return is throughout the Scriptures. In about 50 places throughout the New Testament the return of Jesus is brought up. Jesus spoke heavily in the book of Matthew of what would precede his coming. Jesus spoke to the religious leaders about how he would return in the clouds, which would be a fulfillment of Daniel 7. The Apostles wrote of what would proceed his coming, and how it would come out of the blue for the majority of people.

But the promise of Jesus’ return is constantly woven throughout the Scriptures, and the final words of the Bible sound the call to be looking for Jesus’ return.

In Revelation 22, starting in verse 12, we get this, “12 ‘Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

“14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

“16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.’

“17 The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

“18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

"20 He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

And so the Scriptures end on the anticipation of the return of Jesus. Yet, as I stated last week, the Church has celebrated 1,989 Easter Sundays, and Jesus hasn’t returned. Yet, the Scriptures are not mute on this and in fact anticipated it. Let’s turn to Peter’s second letter and his third chapter.

In 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 1 we read this, “Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

“3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, ‘Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

“8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

“10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

If Jesus is supposed to return, then everyone wants to know when that will be. The disciples asked several times. Throughout the centuries, people have made countless predictions on when that day will be. And because Jesus’ hasn’t returned yet, the claim that it was all a lie is echoed again and again. Yet we get an assurance from the Scriptures that God works in his own timing. The disciples asked that since the resurrection occurred, would now be the time that the kingdom would come, but Jesus pointed them to their task of being witnesses. In Matthew 24:14 we’re told that there is one pivotal moment in time when we would known that the end was close. That is that the witnessing to all the earth would have been accomplished.

Yet both the believer and non-believer see roughly 2,000 years pass with no return of Jesus, and the conclusion by the non-believer is therefore he won’t return. But we can be encouraged that Jesus will return, why? Because he was true at every other step. He predicted his crucifixion, and it happened. He said he would rise again, and it happened. So when he says that he will return, it will happened.

Not on our timing, though we might want it, but on his timing. Just as it was his timing for the flood, or for the exodus of Israel, or for the birth of Jesus. God’s timing is when he decides and not when we do. And so, both scoffers and believers must look to the Scriptures to understand the circumstances that will surround Jesus’ coming. 

And in due time through our Matthew series we will be looking at these circumstances in-depth, but until then, we as believers need to know what we must be doing as we wait for the coming of Jesus. 

And if we read the rest of chapter 3 in Peter’s second letter, we get what we as believers should be doing. Starting in verse 11 we read, “11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

“17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

So for the believer what we need to be doing until Jesus returns is to seek to live holy lives. Lives that reflect the Savior we proclaim. Lives that seek to be led by the Holy Spirit, that are based on the Scriptures.

We need to be at work doing the things that God has called us to do. We need to be in worship of our God. That means we need to meet together, we need to have fellowship, we need to study his Word. We need to sing praises and rejoice in him. 

We also need to be in service of each other. We need to be loving both believers and nonbelievers. For the believer we need to be encouraging and meeting their needs. For the nonbeliever we need to be standing on the truth of Scripture, pointing them to Jesus and meeting their needs as God directs.

And as we walk through this life we need to be patient and diligent in God’s work for us. Then if Jesus were to return today, we would be ready, and if he returns in ten years we would be ready. And if he doesn’t return for another 1,989 Easters, we would have set an example for those believers to follow.

We cannot be like the dog who is happy to see it’s master, yet eating the couch. In other words, doing the things that our master has said are wrong.

There are circumstances that surround the return of Jesus that the Scriptures say will happen, we need to be looking for them, and pointing people to the eventual return of our King But at the same time we need to be doing what we’re called to, that we would be God’s servants everyday as we wait for the revealing of our Coming King Jesus. 

So my challenge for you today is this, read through the passages we read through today asking God, “Where am I lacking in my walk with you, that on the day of your return would not please you? Is it in my speech, my attitude, my love, what is it Lord? Take it away Lord, that I may be pleasing to you on the day of your return.”

Let us be a people who anticipate the return if Jesus by being diligent workers for him. Amen.

King Jesus Week 2 - The Risen King

  HE IS RISEN! This morning I shared that there have been about 1,989 Easter Sundays since Jesus rose from the dead. Easter is official celebrated in about 95 out of 195 countries around the world. The event of the Jesus’ resurrection was the changing point of human history. Even the most skeptical of scholars agree that something happened on that Sunday morning. 

Everything the world is experiencing today, is a result of the that one Sunday. And what’s amazing is, if the resurrection of Jesus can be disproven, then the results of it would fundamentally change. 

J. Warner Wallace is the author of Cold Case Christianity. He was an atheist detective known nationwide for his ability to solve cold cases. Cases that had been unsolved for years. He challenged himself to apply his skills to the resurrection and this is what he said, “I have to admit that I never took the time to examine the evidence for the Christian Worldview without the bias and presupposition of naturalism. I never gave the case for Christianity a fair shake. When I finally examined the evidence fairly using the tools I learned as a detective, I found it difficult to deny, especially if I hoped to retain my respect for the way evidence is utilized to determine truth. I found the evidence for Christianity as convincing as any cold-case I’d ever investigated (https://www.thepoachedegg.net/2013/11/10-apologetics-quotes-from-cold-case-homicide-detective-and-former-atheist-j-warner-wallace.html).”

Wallace said this after becoming a Christian, “Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, is of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important (https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/5813898.J_Warner_Wallace).”

This day is the most important day in human history, because it says that Jesus wasn’t just a man who taught the world to be more loving, no, he was who he said he was. God come down to pay for the rebellion of humanity. Jesus taught that humanity was lost in sin, lost in their own self-absorption, their own self-worship. That no human could break the cycle of this sin, because we were chained to it. 

Even philosophers like Plato, living roughly 300 years before Jesus walked the earth and completely removed from Judaism, understood this to be true. Plato envisioned humanity’s situation in the form of a cave. Where humanity was shackled so that all they could see was one wall of the cave. On that wall they saw the shadow of a puppet master. The shadows gave a vague understanding of what a tree or bird looked like. They also heard the sounds of birds and wind. But they didn’t know it was just shadows of the true things of the world. They thought the shadows were the real real. Plato ends his allegory with the idea that these chained beings needed someone from outside the cave to unshackle and bring them to the surface where they could experience true life.

This is what the prophecies of the Bible pointed towards hundreds of years before Plato made his observation. That we are shackled by sin and need God to rescue us. This is what Jesus fulfills when he comes to earth to pay for the sins of humanity and break the bondage of sin in our lives.

Easter is the day that we celebrate for this breaking point. No longer does humanity have to be chained to our sinful desires. Jesus has set anyone who wants it, free.

Jesus isn’t just any other person, but God who came down to accomplish opening a path for humanity to get back to where they were always meant to be, in a close relationship with their Creator. 

This is what we talked about last week. Jesus is the Ancient King who created the universe in which we live. He is powerful and yet humble. In his power he could simply punish us for our crimes of sin. The question of why is there evil in the world comes down to a simply answer, because of us. Every time we sin we add to the evil that is in the world. A lie can lead to marriage ending in divorce. Gossip can lead to a mass shooting. Even the smallest of sins adds to the evil of the world. And so God could simply punish each of us according to our crimes. That’s the bad news. 

But the Gospel means good news. And so last week we talked about how Jesus entered into Jerusalem on a donkey. This was a sign of his humility. The Eternal King entering into his city for the sole purpose of being killed on a cross so that individuals would not have to pay the punishment price for sin, but rather that price was paid in the body of Jesus. The Ancient King allowed his creation to kill him, so that the chains of sin would be broken and we would be able to come out of the cave to experience true life.

Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, is the stamp of God that says, the price of sin is paid for and anyone who accepts God’s free gift of this payment, can now experience life as it was meant to be.

People think of Easter in a lot of different ways. They think of Jesus’ resurrection in a lot of different ways. The most common, outside of what the Bible says, is that Jesus’ resurrection, his raising from the dead was just a spiritual event. That Jesus wasn’t raised in a physical form, but rather spiritually.

Yet Jesus himself and the actual account of Jesus’ resurrection doesn’t allow for this belief. While Jesus’ disciples were scared, and wondering if the rumors were true that Jesus’ tomb was empty, the Bible records what happened.

The physician Luke, investigated the event for himself and wrote this in chapter 24 of his Gospel starting in verse 36, “36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ 37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’ 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.”

The physicality of Jesus’ resurrection is essential to understanding what awaits everyone who puts their trust into Jesus as their Savior. It’s not simply a spiritual awakening, where your mind becomes clearer; where you become more enlightened and release the ills of the world. No the physical resurrection means that in this life, Jesus changes you. The way we speak, act, think, feel, all are impacted and changed. We move away from self-absorption, self-worship. We love deeper, thinking as others as greater than ourselves. Relationships are healed, circumstances, though seem overwhelming, are encountered with a peace that passes our finite understanding. 

Jesus’ physical resurrection brings eternity into view, and drastically changes how we interact with the world around us. For the original followers of Jesus, they lived with an abandon mindset. That means that they didn’t care what happened to them physically in this life, because there would be a new physical body and reality ahead. Fear falls where God’s love is found. And the physical resurrection of Jesus says to this world, you can’t hold God at bay; his plans will come through no matter what we do. So we can either embrace the resurrection, which means we accept Jesus’ payment for our sins, and we make a decision to turn away from the path of sin. In doing so, God says that he will empower us with the Holy Spirit to fight against sin as it tries to re-chain us. And through that empowering of the Holy Spirit, we get to experience Jesus’ eternal life now.

Or we can reject it. But that rejection says that I want to stay in the life that I’m in. And the life for the average American is pretty good. We have food, jobs, money. We’re in the top 1% of the world’s wealthiest people on earth. So I know how trusting in Jesus for the payment of sin might not seem that important. But this is what Wallace wrote in connection with that thought, “I’m not a Christian because it ‘works’ for me. I had a life prior to Christianity that seemed to be working just fine, and my life as a Christian hasn’t always been easy. I’m a Christian because it is true. I’m a Christian because I want to live in a way that reflects the truth. I’m a Christian because my high regard for the truth leaves me no alternative (https://www.thepoachedegg.net/2013/11/10-apologetics-quotes-from-cold-case-homicide-detective-and-former-atheist-j-warner-wallace.html).” 

The decision to follow Jesus isn’t to fix my life, or to bring some sort of blessing into it, the decision is based on, do I recognize that I sin, which I think we all can agree to we do. We lie, cheat, steal, so yeah we sin. And since that’s true, my destiny is not a good one, there will come a day when I will have to answer for that sin in front of God. 

Yet God has given a way for that sin to already be paid, that was through Jesus’ death on the cross. Your sin, my sin, everyone’s sin was paid for on the cross, and anyone who accepts that has their sin debt wiped away. The resurrection states that all of this is true. 

Jesus is the Ancient King who came to earth to die for humanity’s sin, and is now the Risen King who invites all people to accept his payment.

I want to invite everyone in here today to put their trust in Jesus as their Savior. Not as a fix for your life, but because it’s true and because God loved you enough to die for you to bring you into a new life, where sin and death no longer have control over you.

To gain this free gift of sin payment, you would just need to speak to God, we call this prayer. Talk to him about how you accept that you have sinned and you can’t fix it. Talk to him about accepting Jesus’ payment on your behalf when he died on the cross. And talk to God about how you’re thankful for this action that he has, and to help you follow him. 

Because that’s something a lot of people miss, we can’t just say we accept Jesus’ gift and then return to a life embracing sin. God uses the image of a dog returning to its vomit when speaking of people who return to their lives of sin. No, we are to follow Jesus and what he says. So now it’s, “I want to lie, but God I know that I don’t have to, give me the strength by your Holy Spirit to break the lying in my life.”

Following Jesus means to be strengthen by his other followers by being a part of his Church which is meeting together with other people who accepted Jesus. It’s reading his Word and applying more of what he says. And it’s daily speaking to him in prayer, and putting his Word into action.

I want to spend a minute in silence where every eye will be closed and every head would be bowed, and if you want accept Jesus’ offer of salvation, accept his free gift paying the price for you sin. I want you to take this moment of silence as an opportunity to speak to him, accepting your sin, accepting his gift, and thanking him for breaking sin’s control over you. And then ask him to give you the strength he said he would to experience this eternal life starting now and lasting forever. SO would you bow your head and close your eyes?

(Silence)

While every eye is closed and every head bowed if you accepted Jesus’ gift today, I want you to raise your hand because after the service I want to give you a gift to help you along your way. For those of you who did, I want you to open your eyes, so I can talk directly to you. I want to invite you back next week when we talk about the return of Jesus. Today your life has altered course. You are a new creation. Your life is now connected to Jesus’. Since Jesus was physically raised with an eternal body, so will you. It’s a new day, and many knew horizons are before you. I want to welcome you into God’s extended family called the Church, we’re here to support you as you take your first steps in your new life. Welcome.

To those of you if you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Savior today, I want to invite you back next week as well, because we will be looking at the state of the world and how the day of Jesus’ return is getting closer. Know that we pray for you, that we care for you, and that we want to help you even if you never accept Jesus as your Savior. Because we know God loves you and we do too.

If everyone else would open their eyes. I give a challenge every week as I end. I want to challenge those of you who have accepted Jesus for the first time to not leave without receiving the gift of a Gospel of John. I want to challenge you to read it. It has questions in it that you might have, and it will help you understand Jesus even better as you move forward in his life.

To you who are still skeptical, I want to challenge you to read J. Warner Wallace’s book, Cold Case Christianity. If you can’t find it, or can’t afford it, I will personally buy it for you. Wrestle with what he wrestled with, so that you may take seriously the evidence for the physical resurrection of Jesus.

And to you who are already believers in Jesus, I want to challenge you to read through the resurrection accounts in the Gospels and rejoice because since Jesus was true to his word that he would resurrect, then he will be true to his word that he will return.

Let us rejoice this morning in the resurrection of Jesus our Savior, and move forward in a world that is in darkness as lights of the great God we serve. Because He is Risen! Amen.

Easter 2022 - Speak In Disbelief

  HE IS RISEN! There have been roughly 1,989 Easter Sundays beginning on that first Resurrection Sunday. Easter is celebrated by over 2 billion people around the world. The resurrection is officially celebrated in at least 95 out of 195 countries across the planet. We’re gathering today, both here at the sunrise, and possibly later at different gatherings, to celebrate the Rise Savior, Christ Jesus. 

And like today, at that first resurrection people denied that it happened. On Facebook I have been getting a blitz ad for the last several weeks from Bart Erhman a notable agnostic New Testament Scholar, inviting me to attend his teaching on “Did the Resurrection Happen?” You can search books, publications, YouTube videos, all questioning, was Jesus really raised from the dead?

And you can find counter arguments on why the resurrection happened. I’ve done a series on it, and I know my fellow pastors in this town have spoken on the evidence for the resurrection. And you would think that given that God’s Word explicitly states that to disprove the resurrection would disprove Christianity, that in the roughly 1,989 Easter Sundays, someone would have disproven it by now. Yet, the same arguments against the resurrection that were given in the aftermath of Jesus’ raising, are still given today. 

Jesus didn’t die, he swooned. Jesus didn’t die, he was replaced. Jesus didn’t resurrect, the disciples stole the body. Jesus didn’t resurrect, the disciples found the wrong tomb. Arguments that, time and time again, have been disproven, and yet persist. 

Liberal scholars like E.P. Sanders, who do not believe in the resurrection, have to admit they don’t know what happen. Sanders writes, “That Jesus’ followers (and later Paul) had resurrection experiences is, in my judgment, a fact. What the reality was that gave rise to the experiences I do not know…Paul’s tradition that 500 people saw Jesus at the same time has led some people to suggest that Jesus’ followers suffered mass hysteria. But mass hysteria does not explain the other traditions…Finally we know that after his death his followers experienced what they described as the ‘resurrection’: the appearance of a living but transformed person who had actually died. They believed this, they lived it, and they died for it (https://jamesbishopblog.com/2015/06/29/jesus-really-did-appear-to-the-disciples-and-skeptics-after-his-death-40-quotes-by-scholars/).”

But this isn’t a defense of the resurrection. Like I said, those can be found anywhere. No, there’s no difference today than on the first day the resurrection of Jesus occurred. The Bible records in Mark’s 16th chapter, “9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.”

In the Gospels, we’re told that multiple women went to the tomb and found it empty. We’re told that they encountered two angels, one of which tells them to go and tell the disciples that Jesus had risen and would meet them. 

Yet, Mark and Luke tell us that the disciples did not believe the women at first. In Mark we’re told that the disciples simply didn’t believe. But Luke informs us, that, “But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense (v. 11).”

Could it be that the disciples just thought the women were in hysterics? Could it be that they didn’t want to hope, where they believed there was none? I don’t know, but what we do know is that when the women told them that Jesus had been raised from the dead, the disciples’ reaction was disbelief. 

Did their disbelief negate the reality of the resurrection? No! Just because someone doesn’t believe something, doesn’t make it untrue. And this is what we’re talking about today. About 1,989 Easter Sundays have come and gone. There was disbelief on the first Sunday, there will be disbelief on the last Easter that is celebrated before the return of Jesus. Countering disbelief is not the primary work of a disciple of Jesus. The primary work of Jesus’ disciples, of those who call themselves Christians, is to witness to the reality of the resurrection. Mary was told by the angel in Mark 16, “6 ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”’”

Before Jesus ascended to heaven after the resurrection he tells his disciples that, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).”

We need to be like Mary, witnessing to the truth of the Resurrected Jesus, no matter how the world responds. Whether the world responds in belief or disbelief, we are to stand firm knowing the power of Christ in our own lives and pointing others to the salvation he holds for them. 

Because there will come a time when all will be witness to the Lord Jesus in his full glory. And on that day, those who profess to his resurrection will be joyful because they are heading into eternity with their God. Yet those who stand in rejection of the resurrection will be in sorrow, because they will miss knowing the Lord Jesus. 

I want to challenge all of us on this roughly 1,989th Resurrection Sunday to take our call to be witnesses of Jesus seriously. We live in a dying world, yet we Christians worship a living God. We live in a world where hope is a limited commodity, yet we Christians rejoice in a coming King. There are many out there that our waiting to here the life changing words of the Gospel of Jesus. That though we have sinned and rebelled against God’s perfect created order, he loves us enough to come to us. To live and die for us. To pay the penalty for sin and wipe it away. That all who trust that Jesus is Savior will begin an eternal relationship with God that starts the moment we accept what he has done for us, and lasts eternally. 

Let us who have already trusted in Jesus as our Savior be witnesses that the resurrection of Jesus is the proof that what God has said is true and we are in need of him. 

Today, let us be joyful and in celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, which solidifies the work of the cross and the payment of sin, and points to his returning and re-creation of this world. And as we wait for that glorious day, when we will see Jesus coming on the clouds, let’s be about the work he has given us, to be his witnesses in all the world. Amen.

King Jesus, Week 1 - “The Ancient King”

  One of my favorite pieces of writing from C.S. Lewis is from the book, “The Silver Chair.” If you now anything about the Narnia series of books, they have an allegorical aspect to them that brings out a lot of biblical ideas and themes. One of these is that Aslan, the Great Lion of Narnia, is a representation of Jesus. If you didn’t figure that out from the first two books, it’s in the third that it subtle pushes you to wake up to the fact. But it’s in the fourth book that I think one of Aslan’s greatest conversations happen. 

As is the case in all the majority of the books, children from our world are brought into Narnia. Eustace from the third book is brought, and one of his classmates as well, a girl named Jill. This is the first time Jill has seen Narnia, so she is very nervous, and then the only person she knows, Eustace, literally is flown off a mountain. So she stands alone on a mountain top and now she is thirsty. It’s at this point that she meets a lion by the stream.

“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.

“I am dying of thirst,” said Jill.

“Then drink,” said the Lion.

“May I — could I — would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

“Will you promise not to — do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.

“I make no promise,” said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

“Do you eat girls?” she said.

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.

“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.

“Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”

“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.

This conversation shows the power and unnerving feeling his sends into someone. We as the reader might know that his is Aslan, whom we’ve read about before, but Jill doesn’t. This is merely a giant talking lion that might or might not eat her. Yet when Jill finally goes to drink, the lion doesn’t eat her, but rather gives her a quest to fulfill. This is one of my favorite parts of the Narnia series, because it captures an understanding of who Jesus is. He is a King that is greater than any. He is fearsome and makes no room for others to change him, like Jill wanting the Lion to walk away so she could drink.

Lewis captures an aspect of Jesus that we tend to miss. That Jesus is King, and we cannot hope to push him aside for our own purposes. And so for the next three weeks we are going to explore Jesus as King.

Today is Palm Sunday. We refer to it as Palm Sunday because in Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem, this side of the cross, the people laid palm leaves down in front of him. But this entry into Jerusalem carries with it ancient weight. Weight that reverberates through the cross, and the resurrection. In the next three weeks we’re going to explore this weight that reverberates, by looking at the past, the present, and the future within the biblical story of Jesus’ triumphal entry, his resurrection, and his coming again. 

We start this exploration through Matthew chapter 21, starting in verse 1. Let’s read together. 

“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, 'Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.’

“4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 ‘Say to Daughter Zion, “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”’

“6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 

“9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’ 11 The crowds answered, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’”

This story, like most of Jesus’ last week on this side of the cross, is told throughout all four Gospels. Each of the Gospels relays basically the same events in the same order. Jesus is headed towards Jerusalem. He tells his disciples to go get him a young donkey, on which no one has ridden. Their cloaks make his saddle, and people place before Jesus cloaks and palm leaves as he enters Jerusalem. This is done to the excited outbursts of the people, welcoming Jesus, who they believe will over through the Roman government and establish Israel as it was in the days of King David. This story is consistent through all of the Gospels writers. But there are a few details that each emphasize, and others either leave out or pick up on. 

One of these details comes in the Matthew passage we just read. In the other three Gospel accounts of this moment, we’re told that Jesus road on a colt, which is simply a young donkey. The purpose of this is to have Jesus fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah that the Messiah, the king of Jerusalem that was to come, would ride into Jerusalem on a young donkey. There’s a lot of imagery here of humbleness that is attached to such an entrance. Yet, Matthew picks up on something the others don’t. Jesus doesn’t just ride in on a donkey’s colt, that colt is accompanied by an older donkey, it’s mother. The main explanation that is given for this, is the fact that colts, especially those who had never been ridden, were not used to having someone on them, and so what people would do is have an experienced donkey, usually the mother of the colt, lead the younger donkey with the rider. This was to calm the colt, and to keep it from throwing the rider. 

But there’s more going on. First, it’s Jesus who calls for both the donkey and colt, and second, Matthew references it. For Matthew this is important, because he is writing to a Jewish audience. An audience that picks up on subtle details like this. Mark, Luke, and John don’t pick up on this detail because it isn’t important for the overall fulfillment of prophecy. Plus, the audience they were writing to wouldn’t notice that there was an extra donkey, but Matthew and his audience would. 

And it’s this little detail that connects Jesus, not just to a king coming into a city, but an Eternal King, coming to fulfill his own words.

In the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint, which Matthew draws his translations from, Habakuk 3:2 states, “O Lord, I have heard thy report, and was afraid: I considered thy works, and was amazed: thou shalt be known between the two living creatures, thou shalt be acknowledged when the years draw nigh; thou shalt be manifested when the time is come; when my soul is troubled, thou wilt in wrath remember mercy (https://www.biblestudytools.com/lxx/ambacum/3.html).”

Did you notice that God is known or experienced with the imagery of two creatures?

In addition to this, God in the Old Testament is seen many times as having his throne upon two creatures. 2 Samuel 6:2 reads, “2 He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark.”

Psalm 18:10 reads, “He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.”

Isaiah 37:16, has Hezekiah pray, “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”

But noticing the two donkey’s, Matthew is recognizing Jesus as the king, not just fulfilling the blatant prophecy of riding into Jerusalem on a young donkey, but how Jesus’ words of having two animals be what brings him into the city, reveals just who Jesus is. Jesus’ isn’t just a guy who is intentionally fulfilling prophecy where he can, no he is claiming divinity in every action he takes. 

For us reading through the story, we just see a couple of animals. But Matthew, who is steeped in the allusions of the Scriptures, understands Jesus’ words of divinity. How Jesus isn’t just being practical, but intentional about connecting back to how God is described throughout Jewish history. 

This isn’t just another Messiah coming to overthrow earthly governments. No, this is God come down. This is the Creator of the Universe descending upon his creation. This is the enthroned, all-powerful Ancient of Days, Yahweh riding into the city in which he anointed kings and brought up and down nations. And he is riding, not on the backs of fantastical beings like cherubim, but on a lowly donkey. A symbol throughout Ancient Near East that spoke of humility. 

Jesus is coming in with fanfare that is deserving of his kingly position, but with the sole purpose of dying for humanity.  

Scholar Bernard Batto writes, “Matthew is painting a picture of Jesus sitting on a throne carried by two humble animals which displays his humility and divinity.”

This makes perfect sense in Matthew, because every step of the way through Matthew’s Gospel, the writer draws our attention to this dual work of Jesus. From the opening chapter to the final one, Matthew shows us detail after detail of Jesus’ godhood and his humility. Jesus is the God who comes down, and he is the God who walks the path that leads to the cross. 

The triumphal entry isn’t triumphal because Jesus comes to the city of Jerusalem to overthrow the Roman government and establish Israel’s monarchy. If that was why it was triumphal, then it was a failure. No, it was triumphal, because the God who brought the nation of Israel into being, was on his way to deal with the most important need of humanity, which is sin. 

The Bible tells us that through the one man Adam, all humanity entered into the bondage of sin. Sin is the rebellion of a person against the created order of God. It is taking life, we are not justified in taking it, that’s murder. Its worshiping self or made up gods, instead of the God who made us, that’s idolatry. It’s disrespecting our parents and those in authority. It’s desiring what is not ours, that’s coveting. And the list goes on and on. It’s looking at God and saying, “You’re not God, I am."

And we’re in bondage to this sin, and it will carry us to a place where we will live in eternity of our own godhood, a place where no love, no joy, no compassion lives. This is called the Lake of Fire. Yet God cares for his creation, so much so, that he comes to us. Entering into Jerusalem on a donkey, showing his divinity and humility together. He makes his way to the cross to be crucified, and in doing so paying for our sin and breaking the bondage of it. All we need to do is accept Jesus’ work on our behalf. The one man Adam brought sin into the world, and it is the God-man Jesus who breaks the power of sin in our lives.

Jesus calls us to repent of sin. That means we recognize that we do sin, that we cannot fix it ourselves, and we need him. Then we accept his free gift of salvation, the wiping away sin and its power in our lives. Our lives are now his life, and we follow him by doing as he commands. Not because it saves, us, but because that’s what we were created to do. To walk in his life and so gaining our own.

Jesus is the King, not just because he rode in to Jerusalem to fulfill a prophecy, but because he is the King and Creator of the universe. There is no one more powerful and no one more humble. He is the one, as C.S. Lewis puts it, “[that has] swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms…”

So let us bow before and rejoice in front of Jesus, the King from ancient past, who comes to break the bondage of humanity.

My challenge this week is to read the four Triumphal Entry accounts. Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, John 12:12-19. Read through them, asking God, to show you his divine power in his humility as he goes to the cross. That we may better follow him in that humility as we experiencing his divine work in our lives. 

Let us be a people who are called to experience Jesus’ divine goodness and humbleness and who are to follow as our King leads. Amen.

Wrecked, Week 5 - “Experiencing A Greater Rest”

  In 1866 the National Labor Union asked the US Congress to pass a law requiring the creation of an eight-hour workday. Three years later, President Grant issued a proclamation that government workers would only work eight hours a day. Congress did not pass a law until 1916, when it established an eight-hour work day for interstate railroad workers. And in 1940 Congress amended a previous law to limit the workweek to 40 hours.

Why were these laws passed? Well in 1890 the US government found that the average full-time workweek for an employee with a manufacturing job was around 100 hours. To put that in perspective, there are 168 hours in the week. The first company to institute the modern-day five day, forty hour work week, was Ford Motor company in 1926 (https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-the-40-hour-workweek-2015-10).

This move away from such a strenuous work week for the average person, was because of the reality that a person needs down time. The body needs time to recuperate from the stress of the world, so that it can maintain competency. I had an older pastor once tell me that you should work only as much as your most involved volunteer. They have a 40 hour work week, and if they give you 20 hours, then your work should not exceed 60 hours. Yet sometimes, we have to work longer than what we “should.” If you live on a farm or a ranch, you know cattle and plants don’t take clock out. If you’ve ever owned your own business you know that the work doesn’t stop at the office. Yet, we need rest, or we’ll burnout. There’s a reason we hav sayings like, “burning the candle at both ends.” We recognize the need for rest, but don’t always take it.

So it’s this idea of being rejuvenated that brings us back to our Wrecked series, where we’re going to be looking at a moment in the life of a woman by the named Mary, that occurs in Luke 10, starting in verse 38. And as we open up to Luke 10:38, let’s look back at what we’ve covered so far in this series.

In our first week we looked at the life of Paul and how God wrecked his self-righteous perception of himself. God brought Paul to a place where he realized his wretchedness, so that Paul could understand the deep love and work God had done for him. We looked at how we too must realize our wretchedness when we are separated from Jesus’ work on the cross. And when we do realize it, we can better understand the deep all consuming love God has for people. 

The second week brought us to Nathanael’s story of a person who, though was one of the twelve apostles, not much is known about. But what we saw is that Jesus knew Nathanael. Jesus saw Nathanael and because of that Nathanael believed Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. Jesus wrecked Nathanael’s arrogant attitude and brought him to a place of submission. We walked away understanding that we need to have our desire to be seen by the world wrecked, being satisfied with only being seen by God.

Then in our third week we talked about Esther and how, though she didn’t her a voice from God, or have a prophet tell her, she walked rightly in God’s commands. And because she did, the Jewish people were saved. We walked away from that week with an understanding that we need to do what God has already commanded us, not needing to be told what God has already spoken.

That brings us to last week where we looked at the calling of Samuel. A young boy who hadn’t heard the voice of God. That voice would go onto to wreck Samuel’s life, to where God would use him to span two eras of Israelite history, and through him bring about the Davidic monarchy. We then talked about three common ways in which God speaks: through mature believers, through an audible voice, and through his Word. Walking away from last week, we learned that we must learn to listen to God, taking the time to hear through the ways he established to experience his voice.

This brings us to our final week in our Wrecked series, where we turn to Mary’s story in Luke 10, verse 38.

“38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’

41 “‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

Mary and Martha are two sisters that get pitted against each other, with Mary being the one who is right in the story. While Martha is mulling about serving her guests, Mary sits at Jesus’ feet listening to what he has to say. Yet, in the culture, Martha is in the right. There are two cultural problems with what Mary is doing. First, Mary should be helping Martha tend to the guests, and yet is not. Martha’s appeal to Jesus is to correct Mary’s lack of work. This is the cultural problem that Martha is so upset by. The second is that women were not supposed to sit at a Rabbi’s feet to be taught. So it’s surprising that Jesus takes Mary’s side in this circumstance. 

Now not much is known about Mary, and it is church tradition that says that she is the person same as Mary of Magdala, a demon possessed woman who most likely was a prostitute and might have been the woman who was caught in adultery. But the way in which both women are presented in the Gospels, I don’t think they are one in the same. No, instead what we know of this Mary is that she is the sister to Martha, as we see in this passage, and is sister to Lazarus, who Jesus raised back to life. She was most likely the woman who put perfume on Jesus’ feet during the last week of his ministry pre-cross. And who was one of the first to see Jesus risen and was not believed by Peter and John. In the end, tradition says that she occupied John the Apostle to Ephesus where she eventually died.

Mary’s story encapsulates one of the most important themes of the Scriptures. A theme that has its roots in the creation story, and continues through the Old Testament and into Jesus’ teaching. This is the theme of rest. 

We’re told in Exodus 20:8 in the fourth commandment to, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

The word Sabbath has a connection with an Assyrian word (sabattum) that means “a day of rest for the heart.” It occurs roughly 111 times in the Old Testament and we can gather that it means to abstain from labor. And it’s a theme that God connects to his purposeful creation. “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

And this theme of resting from labor is taken up by Jesus, to point to a greater rest that God intends. In Jesus’ teaching this rest in found in him. In Matthew 11:28-29, Jesus states, “28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

It’s John 15, that Jesus connects this rest to abiding in him, when he states, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (verses 4-5).”

These two ideas of resting in Jesus and remaining in him speaks of true Sabbath. Not just a day of rest, but a lifestyle of resting in God. This is where Mary and Martha’s story comes in. Mary was resting in the Lord. Jesus was there and Mary was in her rightful place simply being in the presence of God. But we’re told that, “…Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” She was not at rest.

We read in the Scriptures how we can be in Jesus’ rest. We saw it in Jesus’ words in John that abiding is resting. We also get places like 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18, “16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” This is rest and remaining in Jesus. To have our thoughts on God throughout our day, knowing who we are in Jesus, knowing his deep love for us, walking in his commands, listening for his voice, makes our lives a life of rest. Sure we need physical down time, but we need a lifestyle of rest.

This is what Jesus is saying to Martha when he states, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

We can easily allow the things of this world to worry and upset us, but what we need only a few things and the greatest is resting in our Savior. 

The Hebrew writer looked at the promise land of God and the rest he spoke about as being greater than the physical land. In the book of Hebrews we read, “8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience (4:8-11).”

This greater rest is done through the Gospel. It’s the eternal life that Christ has gifted to all those who trust in him as their Savior. This rest begins at the moment of acceptance of Jesus as Savior and moves into eternity. We are called to begin to experience this rest now. To lay our burdens at the feet of Jesus and follow him.

We must have our idea of rest wrecked. We tend to think it’s the weekend, or the vacation, but those are only the physical moments of rest. Those are what you take, then feel tired from, and then dread the going back to work. But God’s rest is living in his presence, relying on his strength, and walking in his will. It’s being exhausted, yet rejoicing in it. It’s feeling faint and speaking to God about it. It’s feeling like your at the end of your rope and yet thanking God for the opportunity.

Mary chose resting in the presence of God, Martha is chose working in her own  strength. So Jesus recognizes the value in what Mary has chosen and rejects Martha’s stance.

And so we must also seek the rest and presence of our Lord. We must seek to live a lifestyle of pushing into God’s rest. We do this by implementing what we have covered in this series. To recognize our need for our Savior, to be content with him seeing us, to walk in his commands, and to listen for his voice. Let us not simply think that the Sabbath God calls us to is a day off, but rather a lifestyle of being in the presence of our God.

This week I want to challenge you to go through each of the previous challenges, taking one every day and redoing it. Then on the fifth day reread and meditate on Mary’s story, seeking God to show you how to better rest in him. Then on the sixth day practice what God as directed you to, so that you may rest greater in his Sabbath.

Let us all seek to rest in the God who calls us to loose our burdens to him. That we may know him and his will for us ever greater in our lives. Amen.