Witness Stand Series - “The Church’s Witness”

 I’ve participated in both solo and team sports, and I have to say I enjoy team sports more. When I boxed it was me and my trainer. I’d workout either at home or the gym for a couple of hours, focused on my calisthenics and bag work. There would be times when I would need help, and even rarer times when I would spar, but the majority of my time boxing was just me. But I never took it anywhere, ending my illustrious career with only two fights; both I won, both by TKO, and both in the second round. Those wins were great and all the hours spent alone preparing paid off, but all the memories were mine. I could share some of them with my trainer, but most of my memories were just of me. 

But when I played baseball, or soccer, or basketball, or any other team sport, I was always surrounded by other players. Workouts were filled with frustration and fun. There was laughing and joking around. When not pitching, I would sit with another pitcher named Jonathan and heckle the other team. I was held back several times from getting into on and off the field fights. A group of us would play fireball in a field, or play poker in hotel rooms. When I won, we won; when I lost, we lost. My memories were not just mine but the group’s. 

I don’t remember my boxing opponents, but I do remember my teammates. 

And it’s the camaraderie of the group that brings us back to our mini-series on being a witness.

Last week we talked about how each of us is called to be a witness to the hope we have in Jesus. I shared my story about how Jesus brought me away of myself and into his kingdom. Knowing the answers to people’s questions does help, and I believe we should be able to practice apologetics, where we can give a logic defense of the Christian faith, but when it comes down to it, Christians are to be witnesses of Jesus’ work in their own lives. It’s that personal relationship story that we need to know and share with people.

Facts and figures are great, but what’s greater is how Jesus has saved you on a personal level. 

Now that we recognize that each of us are to be witnesses to the hope we have in Jesus, we need to now recognize the second witness we are to have. God never intended us to be lone wolf disciples. Jesus called twelve men to be his core. He sent them out, and then later on sent out seventy-two. Each time, he sent them out in pairs. The reason for this is because of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Paul echoes this idea of Jesus being with his disciples when he writes in 1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

The Church as a whole is a witness to Jesus. We are called his body (1 Corinthians 12), and his bride (Ephesians 5:22-33). And I’m not talking about the Alliance Church, or the Baptist Church, or the Assemblies of God Church, or the Methodist Church, or whatever denomination that holds to the core of the Christian faith. I’m talking about those who have put their trust into Jesus as their Savior. Who have been brought out of death and given life. Who fall on their knees in worship of the God who died for them. That is the Church I’m talking about. It is the disciples of Jesus that spans nations, languages, ethnicities, cultures, societies, economies, sexes, and ages. It is the work of Jesus throughout the centuries and will be fully realized on that day when Jesus makes all things new. That is the Church I’m talking about. And when even just two of Jesus’ disciples gather together, the Church has met.

And in Jesus’ Church, we might have individual roles, but each role is important. Each witness and personal ministry is important. Yet, we are more than our individual roles, witnesses, and ministries. We are to be a united body seeking our Savior, and putting into practice what he has called us to do. 

The epitome of the Church’s witness is found in Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-21, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

The witness of the Church is the love that we have for both God and each other. It is through this unity by love that the world will know that Jesus was sent from the Father. It is through the love Jesus’ disciples have for each other that the world will know that they need a Savior. On an individual scale, our witness is important for planting seeds, but on our larger scale, the unity in love we have for God and each other is important to show the world, that Jesus is the true Messiah.

Today, we’re going to look at the one of the first opportunities that the Church was able to use their witness. It’s found in the book of Acts chapters 3:1-4:35, I want us to recognize several aspects of the Church’s witness. Aspects that we as individuals need to seek, so that the Church’s witness may be shared with the world.

Starting in Acts 3:1 we read, “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, ‘Look at us!’ 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. 6 Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’ 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.”

Now, a couple of observations. First, Peter and John were on their way to prayer. Notice this wasn’t in the official “Church meeting”, but these two together were going to pray. Prayer is a cornerstone of the Church’s work, and so we must engage in both personal prayer and communal prayer. Bottom line, we need people to pray with. Second, when they met the crippled man, they didn’t meet his financial needs. It’s not the job of the Church to meet every need of every person, but to share Jesus. They didn’t have any monetary support, but what they had was Jesus. In this particular case a healing happened through Peter and John. 

This is the first aspect of the Church’s witness, it’s people need to be mindful of the Holy Spirit’s work and be willing to take time out of our schedule to give what they have, and that’s Jesus. As we live and work together, we must be willing to let God direct us as he sees fit. This happens both on an individual level and community level. God should be the one deciding our path, not us. 

From this healing of the Lame Beggar, a crowd gathers around. Peter and John begin to preach about Jesus and his resurrection. This leads to them being arrested, and brought before the ruling council, the same council that around two months prior sought the crucifixion of Jesus. Peter and John then share with the council that Jesus was the Messiah and that they rejected him. In response we read this in chapter 4, starting in verse 13, “13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 ‘What are we going to do with these men?’ they asked. ‘Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.’ 18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, ‘Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.’”

A few observations here. First, there will always be those that will say don’t speak about Jesus. Friends, family, neighbors, governments, and more. It is the job of the individual Christian and the Church to stand firm and talk about Jesus. 

I just listened to a Christian comedian that told a story about what was the catalyst to him trusting in Jesus as his Savior. He was a self-proclaimed atheist and he was golfing with a wealthy Christian business man turned comedian. As they were talking, the man asked him about Jesus, to which the comedian said, “I don’t want to hear about religious stuff because I’m an atheist.” The Christian guy then asked him if he had read the Bible, to which the comedian said, no. The Christian guy then said, “you’re not an atheist, you're an idiot. An atheist is someone who spends their entire life on a journey to discover truth, reading everything they can on religion and philosophy. But you haven’t even read the Bible.” As Christians we need to challenge the thoughts of people. We are to stand firm when God leads us, because we need to cut through the excuses or demands of others that want Jesus to be silenced. But too often we miss opportunities that the Holy Spirit is leading us to stand firm and press into the Gospel message. 

That doesn’t mean we need to be rude or condescending, and there will be those times when we need to let it go, but we need to be firm in our faith and push through the road blocks as the Holy Spirit leads. So this is another aspect of the Church’s witness, it won’t be silenced. 

The third aspect of the Church’s witness that we can glean from this moment in Acts comes a few verses later, starting in verse 24 of chapter 4. The council releases Peter and John, and the two disciples return to the rest of the Church and give a report of what just happened. It’s here that we pick it up in verse 24. “When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. 'Sovereign Lord,’ they said, ‘you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.” 27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ 31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

The third aspect that we can see is that the Church’s response to anything, should always be that of praise to God. When the Church heard about what happened in the witnesses of the Peter and John, the Church as a whole began praising God and seeking more boldness. And they received it. 

The worship of God, the singing and proclaiming of his greatness as a community event, is very important. When the Church hears of God’s work, whether that be a personal witness of a local believer, or what is happening across the world, the Church must lift up praises to God and proclaim, I want that for me. Give me the boldness to stand firm. Give me opportunities to let the Holy Spirit speak. Let me be used to bring healing to others. And we should be united in that desire to be used by God for his glory.

The final aspect comes from the end of chapter 4, starting in verse 32, “32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.”

The Church’s witness falls onto how we treat each other. One of the reasons we take an offering is because we’re able to help more people together. In 2021 the need of our community here at the Alliance Church, was about $2,400 in monetary support. So far this year, we’re right around $12,000.  That’s about a 400% increase because as the economy does worse, people in our Church community need more help. That’s not including, repairs that we help out with, or how one family needed a place to stay for a month and parked on the Church property, that we didn’t charge them for. But because of us gathering our resources together, we can help when no individual could do it on their own.

This final aspect is the bedrock of the Church’s witness, how we treat each other is of extreme importance. There needs to be grace given. Too often we think of the worse in others, when we should be giving them forgiveness. All of us sin, and falter, and mess up. We need to extend the same grace to those who mess up as Jesus gave to us. That’s why it’s important to have a clear understanding of what Jesus did in our own lives. Our personal witness will help us love others in the Church. Because when we better understand the depth that Jesus saved us out of, then we can give grace to those around us. The world will know that Jesus was sent from the Father by the unity in love Jesus’ disciples have for each other.

And this is the final aspect of the Church’s witness, our united love for each other, proves our love for God, and his salvation work. No apologetic answer, or slick presentation compare to sinners saved by grace showing grace and love to one another. A story that I once heard, was about a man who had a non-Christian friend that he had invited to his Church’s worship time. The Church was big, had a great worship band, and the pastor was a greater preacher. After the music was over, the pastor got up and didn’t start out with a sermon, but publicly confessed that he had a bad and public blow up with one of the board members that past week. He asked the board member for forgiveness, and in front of the rest of the gathered believers, there was reconciliation between two of God’s people. The story goes on that the man thought this was the worse thing ever; his friend saw that the dirty laundry of the Church and how the pastor wasn’t this perfect guy. He thought the experience would sour his friend to Jesus. But on the way home, the guy’s friend told him that he had never seen such love in his life, and that he wanted to know more about Jesus.

The grace we show, the love that is built between us by the Holy Spirit, and the unification that it brings to Jesus’ Church, is a powerful witness of his greatness. And it’s something that we need to seek after as individual parts of God’s Church.

So my challenge today, is before you leave this place, grab someone and pray for them. Ask them how they’re doing, if they’re struggling with anything, and lift them up before the Lord. Praise God for the work he has done in them and the work he is going to do. But don’t leave here without praying for at least one person.

The Church’s witness has been marred by anger, hatred, abuse, unforgiveness, ungraciousness, and unloving attitudes. The world looks at us and rightfully says, we’re hypocrites and jerks. Let’s start mending that witness, by loving each other. By doing what Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Let us love as our Savior loved us, laying his life down for us, that we may do the same for each other. Amen.

Witness Stand Series - “My Witness”

 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.

The commissions of Matthew 28 and Acts 1, place people at the forefront of God’s plan. It is our witness to God’s work that he desires for us to share. Too often when we speak about sharing the Gospel, we think of defending it. 

My Atheist neighbor doesn’t believe in God, so what can I say to get him to believe? Or, my Hindu neighbors believe in 300,000+ gods, how can I get them to understand that Jesus is the only God? Or, my child said to me, “if God is loving, why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?”

These situations are where apologetics comes in. Each year I teach an apologetic class on Wednesday nights to answer these types of questions and encounters. And every year, I preach an apologetic series in the Fall, to answer some of these questions. In fact, in a couple of weeks, we’ll be getting into that apologetic series. But as we come out of our summer series in Matthew, and the commission that Jesus gives to his disciples there, I feel led to a mini-bridge series to connect the two.

Too often, we think we have to have all these answers, all these prepared remarks, this polished evangelist system. Those can be good, and I do believe there’s a place for it, as 1 Peter 3:15, states, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…”

This is apologetics, to be prepared to give a reason for our hope. But notice that in both Acts 1 and 1 Peter, we’re told to be a witness and give an answer to the hope we have.

This morning, I want to share my witness of how I came to know Jesus as my Savior with you. Something I haven’t done in the context of a sermon. This is to show you what it means to be a witness to the world. This is why I have hope in Jesus.

My parents were unsaved until right around my birth. They came to know Jesus as their Savior through the work of the Assemblies of God denomination in Lodi, California back in the early 80s. There they became heavily involved in the church’s ministries. Sunday school teachers, bus drivers, that sort of thing. I was born during this time and was dedicated to the Lord. As a toddler I was a handful and drove my mom to tears at her ladies Bible studies. 

Due to my family’s financial situation, we moved away from the city out to the foothills of Amador County. There my parents attended a country church where they were hurt deeply by the politics that too often accompany sinners saved by grace.

My family began to church hop, trying to find a place that felt like home. But none truly fit and eventually when my older sister began playing softball tournaments year around, church took a back seat. What also made it hard to find a church, was the fact that my family moved four times between my kindergarten and sixth grade years. 

So, from when I was about ten to fourteen years old, I don’t think I attended any church services with my family. Maybe once or twice, but nothing I can remember. It was my seventh grade year that I was invited to a Methodist church youth group. I had a made a new friend when my family moved its final time to a little house in the middle of the town of Ione, California. He invited me there because his older sister attended. They needed help with their Halloween haunted house, so I helped out. It didn’t hurt that I had a crush on one of the girls to get me in the door. 

But even after I started to become a regular, something felt off. The youth leader didn’t seem to really know what they were talking about, and the older kids were jerks. So, both me and my friend stopped attending. It was with this friend that my teenage attitude began to be extremely rebellious. In junior high, I began to smoke, drink a little, and other things we don’t need to go into here.

I had always been a “D” average student, school really wasn’t interesting to me, and my attitude towards teachers and other students was horrific. Yelling, cussing, storming out of classrooms was my M.O. In one of my parent teacher conferences, the teacher told my mom that if I kept going like I was, I’d end up in juvie. The town of Ione happened to house one of the worse juvenile dentition facilities in the state, and was a constant reminder of a possible future. That teacher’s statement was almost prophetic.

I graduated from junior high, mostly because they wanted to get rid of me, and I went off to high school, just to continue my same path. It go so bad with my schooling, that I was tested for ADD, and learning disabilities. But the test came back negative; it wasn’t that I couldn’t learn, I didn’t want to. I had the capacity, but not the desire.

So, my parents were at a lost. Nothing worked. No incentive, no consequence, nothing seemed to take me off the path of destruction I was one. And so heading into the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school, I was getting worse not better.

That summer would end up being the beginning of the end of me. That friend I had made in seventh grade; the friend that had invited me to youth group, well we embarked on a summer that I know I haven’t forgotten. We were messing around as we usually did, but this time it was a little different. We’d go hang out at the two schools in our town. They were open campuses, with no fences or gates to get to the play structures. One day, early in the summer we stumbled upon an open door to one of the classrooms. We went in and hung out. No cameras, no security and the place was deserted. That night we came back and stole a computer.

It was the early days of home computers, so neither one of us had a one and this was a quick and easy way to get it. One and done I thought, but no, we’d go back to the school to pick up more computers. Breaking in where the doors were locked. Then we started hitting the other school and what started as a little fun soon ballooned. 

Some of our other friends got involved and by the time the police caught us, we had racked up about $80,000 worth of stole items and property damage. Once the court proceedings were out of the way, my parents took on the financial burden of putting my into a private Christian school ran by the Seventh Day Adventist denomination. My parents were hoping that getting me out of the environment I was in would fix my path. But again, it wasn’t the environment, it was the person. I was the problem, though my grades did improve drastically, my attitude didn’t. I bucked most of the teachers, especially the principle. At one point getting in some trouble and having to do yard work, I used round up to spray a happy face in the lawn outside of the principle’s office.

Yet as I was being a menace, I found that my world was squeezing in on me. Thoughts of suicide, especially after a pretty hard break up with a girl, became constant in my mind. The path I was on was seemingly coming to an end, until it didn’t.

The spring of my sophomore year, my softball tournament sister graduated from college back in North Dakota. My family flew out and rented a car. I had my Disc-man with me, but only one CD. By God’s hand something fell and I put my hand under the front passenger seat and came upon a CD by a Christian artist by the name of Kirk Franklin. Having no alternative, I listened to the CD and God broke me. 

I had heard about God from my Mom and Dad. I had heard about God from that Methodist youth leader. I had heard about God from the Adventist teachers. But now, I had heard from God. The music that God inspired that singer to put on that album was what I needed. The person who left that CD in the car, is the seed that awaited a soil. And on May the 16th of 2000, I gave up my life to Jesus as my Savior. 

On that day, my path changed from death to life; from destruction to restoration. And though I had to leave the Christian school for another, and though I still struggled with sin and the old me that continued to make a comeback, even to this day, my life was shattered on the rock of Jesus. 

From there I attended a college where I met my wife, and was called to occupational ministry. I was led to youth ministry, because I didn’t have anything when I was a youth to at least call me away from my destructive path, and now I am here.

When I look back I can see God’s call many times. He called me through my parents. He called me before I started my most destructive path at that youth group. Then in my sin he kept me from further destruction by the grace that was shown to me by a judge. And I saw his hand in the CD, through which I finally answered his call. 

This is my witness, that a boy who rebelled so much, who hated so much, who left so much pain and suffering behind him, was given grace. Though I was far from God, God was not far from me, and he did not give up on me. There was prayer over me that I never knew. There was grace given to me, that I could not understand. And there were seeds planted that took years to germinate. But I am here, forever in the presence of God my Savior, because he is good, though I am not. 

This is my witness to the overwhelming work of God in my life. A work that I want others to experience. That there is no rebellion that you cannot come back from. That there is no pain that cannot be remedied. That there is no path of destruction that can’t be restored. God work’s miracles and and seeks to restore all those that are willing to turn their eyes to him.

This is my story, this is my song, of praising my Savior, all the day long. 

And this is what we are called to. Not fancy evangelistic rhetoric, or perfectly designed apologetics, but to share our witness to the greatness of God’s grace and saving work in our own lives. I could go on witnessing, telling you of the love God has shown me, or miracles I have seen, or encounters both good and bad that I have experienced. I have many stories in my witness to God’s greatness. The reason for my hope is not that God is the best explanation from the universe, though he is, but that he showed himself to be the best, by transforming a person bound for destruction, into his adopted son. My hope is based on his work in my life and his solid written word. Others may come to God through argument, I came to God through brokenness.

So this is my challenge for you. Recognize and share you witness and the hope you have. Jesus’ call on your life is that you would share his work in you with the world. That you would share his grace and mercy from the grace and mercy that he shared with you.

Your prayers are mighty, don’t stop praying. The seed of your testimony is important don’t stop spreading it. A Bible at a motel, a track left in a bathroom stall, or a CD under a seat, these are the things God uses, don’t think that God can’t use you in the many capacities that he has called you. But know this, it is your witness to the mighty work of God in your life, not human eloquence of argument, that God is asking of you. You were commissioned to share your unique witness to God’s work, and when you do that, seeds are planted and people who were on the wide path to destruction, change paths. I know, because it happened to me and God wants it to happen to others.

If your on that destructive path, this is God’s calling to you, don’t miss it, like I missed it so many times. He loves you, he has a great and prosperous plan for you. A plan to bring his goodness to you, through the forgiveness of sin and rebellion, but you have to come to the end of yourself. Give up into the waiting arms of a Father that loves you and who will never fail you. Amen.

Matthew Series, Week 46 - “Meeting in Galilee”

 I’ve told the story before about the catalyst to the founding of the Alliance. A.B. Simpson was the pastor of a very prominent church in New York City. In his spare time he would go to the docks and evangelize to the Irish immigrants that were coming off the boats. When he brought these new believers to his church, the church rejected them, and so Simpson left his pastorate. 

What happened next is the heartbeat of the Alliance. A new congregation began where the emphasis on evangelism and missions took centered stage. The mantra, “Bring Back the King,” became the cry of a movement that we are a part of today. Missionaries would be trained and sent out with all there belongings in a casket, because they weren’t coming back. Offerings were received where people would toss in every piece of jewelry they had, even wedding bands, because the call of Christ was so heavily on their hearts. They were all in, because the call of Matthew 28 was everything.

This call is what brings us back to our sermon series in Matthew were we are coming to a close after forty-six weeks of moving through the book, looking at the overarching themes that it contains. And as we open to the 28th and final chapter of Matthew, let’s look back at the five over-arching themes that we have seen.

The first theme we saw was that of who Jesus was. We saw his linage and the Magi. We saw the challenge of the devil, and the words Jesus spoke from mountain sides. Yes, he was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy of a coming Messiah, but he was more. Through the actions of those around Jesus, in addition to his own actions and words, we saw that Jesus wasn’t just another Old Testament Messiah type, but God come down to his creation. God took on humanity in its entirety except for sin. This is why the Magi worshiped him and why the devil tried to usurp him. 

The second theme we saw came from Jesus’ words to put his teachings into practice. His disciples needed to be those that not only said they believed, but did so too. Jesus wasn’t looking for lip service from his followers, but transformed lives that had at their foundation his words.

A natural question followed about who then could be Jesus’ disciple. It’s here that Matthew’s third theme was shown. Anyone could be a disciple, all it took was to trust in the Lord Jesus. If you put your trust into Jesus, you showed it by acting upon his word. Your life changed from your own and now was seen through the person of Jesus himself.

That trust was the focus of the fourth theme. Trust and Faith are usually synonymous in the Scriptures and section four of Matthew focused on the type of faith Jesus’ disciples are to have. This faith is a growing trust in Jesus, that is actively seeking him. It’s not a religious faith that checks the boxes, but a relational faith that seeks God’s will in our individual and collective lives. Individual as a disciple of Jesus and collectively as the Church of God.

Finally, we came to the last section of Matthew. It was here that the authority of Jesus was challenged. Again and again Jesus showed his authority over all aspects of life. From creation to the spiritual realm. And that authority was not hampered by the cross. To the world, the cross was a defeater, but Jesus willing sought the Father’s will, which was the salvation of humanity, but that was only through the sacrifice of the cross. Even to the end, Jesus was in full control of the situation, even willingly giving into death, but only once God’s prophetic word was accomplished.

As we come back to the final chapter of Matthew, that the sacrifice is seen as acceptable by God on behalf of humanity. Let’s read the final verses of Matthew, found in chapter 28.

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This is it! This is the climax of Jesus’ story in the Gospels. The resurrection, the restoration of the disciples, and the commissioning of Jesus’ Church. 

Let’s take each of these three moments of the resurrection story and look at how they connect to what we have seen in Matthew’s Gospel.

We start with the resurrection itself. Last week we saw that it was the women who saw where Jesus was laid to rest. So it’s only logical that it is the women who go to the tomb first. This detail is immensely important. The presence of the women signals authenticity to the events. In the ancient world, a women’s testimony in civl matters was either not highly valued or dismissed all together. Yet it is the women and not the men disciples, who are the first human carriers of the good news of the resurrection.

It is the women who see the empty tomb first. By presenting the women as the recipients of the resurrection proclamation, Matthew is more interested in keeping historical accuracy than to fit in the social norms of putting men first.

But it’s in the empty tomb moment that we get connections to the beginning of the Gospel. Like at the beginning, it is an angel that proceeds Jesus. In chapter 1, an angel comes in a dream to Jospeh to announce the birth of Jesus. Here the angel again shows up to make the announcement of the resurrection to the women.

Also in the announcement of Jesus’ birth, the angle gives comfort to Joseph by telling him not to fear Jesus’ birth. Here the angel gives the women comfort by telling them not to fear what has happened, but that Jesus has risen. Both proclamations signal a type of birth, both proclamations lead into a worshipful encounter.

The angel then reminds the women about Jesus’ words to meet him in Galilee, signaling restoration. But then something happens. Jesus appears and the women instinctively worship him. 

This is the first of two moments of post resurrection worship of Jesus. But worship is very important throughout Matthew. Worship is mentioned nine times and I want you to see the moments of those mentions. First the Magi seek to worship the new born Jesus (2:2); in response King Herod feigns interest in worshiping the new born also (2:8). Then the Magi find Jesus and actually worship him (2:11), but Herod doesn’t. The next time worship is mentioned it is in the devils temptations of Jesus. Here the devil wants Jesus to worship him (4:9), but Jesus responds with God’s word that only God is worthy of worship (4:10). Jesus’ words point back to the worship of the Magi as being right and head to other moments of people worshiping Jesus as being correct. We then fast forward to Jesus calming the sea, and his disciples worshiping him (14:33). This is followed by Jesus quoting Isaiah rebuking the false worship that the religious leaders were participating in (15:9). The alternative being that true worship is to turn to Jesus. From there we get the worship of Jesus by the women at the resurrection (28:9) and eventually by all the disciples in Galilee (28:17). 

But it’s at the command to go get the other disciples to Galilee that Matthew takes a moment and gives us a historical situation with the Jewish leadership.

  The guards return and report that the tomb is empty. The fears of the Jewish leaders has been realized. They have to move fast to quell any reports that Jesus actually raised. They paid off the guards to say the disciples came and got the body. Even though they had made the tomb secured just like Pilate had allowed them to. Then they made a political move to protect any guard involved from the repercussions of dereliction of duty, a protection they would need, because their punishment would have been death.

And so they started their own rumor to counter the resurrection story. Jesus didn’t resurrect, his body was stolen. This has given rise to four possibilities as to what happened that morning. 

First the Jewish leadership was right and Jesus’ disciples stole the body. This would mean that the disciples over powered professional soldiers, took the body, hid it, and then died in horrible ways professing that Jesus had risen, all the while knowing they made the whole thing up. This seems pretty farfetched in itself, because just the idea that a person would die for a lie they knew was a lie is something that has been proved doesn’t happened. Sure people will die for a thing they believe is true, but who dies for an idea they know is false? No one.

The second story that has come out, is that Jesus never died. Stories that Jesus either passed out, or was replaced became popular. But just the excruciating torment that Jesus had to go through, coupled with the evidence from the other Gospels, of Jesus’ pierced side that produced blood followed by water, points to the definitive death of Jesus. Also, the historical writings outside of the biblical account speak to the death of Jesus as being a historical truth.

The third story is that the women got the tomb wrong. I mean women are notoriously bad at directions, so they must be wrong, right? Seems kind of sexist to me, plus if that were the case, the Jewish leadership could have easily pointed to the correct tomb and shown the body.

No the only story that fits all of the facts surrounding the empty tomb, is the resurrection of Jesus. This is why when journalists and detectives who’ve looked at the evidence come away with an assured conclusion that Jesus was actually raised on that first Easter Sunday.

It’s after this that we come to the conclusion of Matthew’s Gospel, something that has been in the background for several chapters, the meeting at Galilee.

On the mountain is where the disciples meet Jesus. They have met him in places like this many times. It’s where a lot of God’s people meet their Savior. The mountain represents the closeness of God to humanity and just like God met the man Abraham on Moriah, and Moses on Sinai, God is meeting his people once again on a mountain. 

It’s here that we get another moment of worship that is given rightly to Jesus. But even in the worship there is doubt from some of the disciples. Does it come from the core eleven, or are there others there that doubt? We don’t know, but they are there, they are worshiping even if parts of them doubt. They are not rebuked for it, but they are given a point to focus on.

Jesus proclaims that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” The way it’s stated in our Bibles might seem like Jesus didn’t have authority, and now does. But we have seen in the final section that Jesus did have it, so what does he mean? A better understanding is to read like this, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been put back in its place.” Jesus left the throne that he had sat on from eternity past, to come to earth to walk with his creation. God the Son wrapped himself in human flesh, by doing so he set aside certain aspects of his authority for a time. This is why Paul states in Philippians 2, “[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross (v.6-8)!”

By taking on human flesh, Jesus put a self restriction on certain aspects of his authority, one of which was his omnipresence. Yet, after he was killed by his creation and resurrected, his authority, in its full, was put back into place. And it's from that place that he commissions his disciples.

Out of Jesus’ full authority he sends out his disciples, “Therefore go,” is an emphatic call to action. It’s telling his people to arise and do what they have been saved to do. And this call to work echoes down to us today. 

And what is that work? To make disciples. Make others like us. Worshipers of the risen Savior Jesus. And how do we do that? Through baptism in the name of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey Jesus’ commands. We are not called to have people say a prayer, or make a one time commitment, but to lay down their lives and pick up the life of Jesus. To turn away from their sin and to his righteousness. To live not in our own will, but the will of the Father. Not to live life in our own power, but in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

And as we do this work, he will be with us until his return. There is no hope outside of Jesus. There is no power or authority greater than his. And so we turn to him, follow him, build our lives upon him, until the day we are called into his kingdom through the death of this dying body, or he returns in glorious trumpet sound. 

Matthew’s Gospel is a connection from God’s salvation work in his people Israel, to his salvation work through Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is a call to understand God’s prophetic words in the Old Testament, God the Son’s arrival, his crucifixion, resurrection, and our need for it all. We cannot help ourselves, only Jesus can. We cannot save ourselves, only Jesus can. We cannot fix anything in this world, only Jesus can. So we must embrace this Jesus, who from eternity created the universe, watched as it fell into death, came to rescue it through his own sacrifice, and lives now to embrace all those that would trust in him.

My challenge is two-fold. First, if you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Savior what’s holding you back? If its questions, I’d love to speak to you about them. There are so many answers that we can easily miss, I would be glad to walk through them all. But don’t miss the calling of Matthew to embrace Jesus, because if you do, the return of Jesus will not be pleasant.

The second part of the challenge goes to those who have embraced Jesus as their Savior. Are you working in the commission Jesus has given you? Are you making disciples of all nations. That means you are doing Gospel work. Are you praying for and speaking to your neighbors, family and friends about their need for a Savior? Are you supporting the work of Gospel ministries at home and across the world? It is our highest calling to accomplish the task given to us on that mountainside in Galilee. No political campaign, no social war, no discussion or debate is more important than someone hearing the Gospel. And we who have trusted in Jesus as our Savior are called to arise and go to accomplish the work before us; that all nations would have a testimony to Jesus’ death and resurrection. When our work is accomplished, as Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, then his return will follow.

A mantra of the Alliance has always been, “Bring Back the King!” We do this by being about the work he has given. So let us be his people, doing his work, until his return. Amen.

Matthew Series, Week 45 - “Trusting a Trusting Savior”

 You know what makes a good leader? They can lead you somewhere that you want to go but don’t know how to get there. You know what makes a great leader? They can lead you somewhere you don’t want to go, but know you have to. You know what makes an excellent leader? They can lead you somewhere you didn’t know you needed to go, and they help you overcome the challenges along the way. 

Our world has a lot of good leaders, but they’re usually the ones that speak to the choir. A lot of political and pastoral leadership lands in this category. You already believe in a set of principles on an issue, whether it’s small government or following Jesus. You know what you want, you just don’t know how to achieve it, a good leader helps you get there. 

Great leaders are a little harder to come by. These are usually military leaders that call their troops to war. They can be presidents guiding a nation during a time civil unrest, like Lincoln, or parents trying to help their child overcome depression.

But excellent leaders are almost impossible to find, because they have to know something that no one else knows. They have to have insight into the deeper recesses of a person’s life, things they didn’t know about themselves. Most leaders work on the obvious, but excellent leaders work on the unknown of the inner person. And they move us from where we think we should be, to where we ought to be. But these leaders just don’t say, I know you need to go, they walk with you along the way. 

Out of all the leaders I’ve read about in history who are consider noteworthy, they fall into either being good or great, but only Jesus, in my opinion, is excellent. Because he doesn’t call us to something we know we need, he reveals what is most needed, then sacrifices to bring it to us, and then lives with us along the journey. 

And it’s Jesus’ work that brings us back to our sermon series in the book of Matthew, where we’ll be picking it back up in chapter 27, verse 32. And as we open to Matthew 27:32, let’s look back on the previous weeks.

This last section has been focused around Jesus’ authority. And so we have seen that as disciples, we are to be satisfied in Jesus’ authority by seeking and doing his will. This means that we do not seek our own satisfaction apart from Jesus’ will, but instead, seek his will above our own, which leads into the satisfaction that our souls long for. 

We then saw that as disciples we must be on our guard for the trap that calls us to be self-reliant. That says, “I am strong without God.” It’s a trap that we can easily fall into, when we believe the lie that we can do things without the work of Jesus. We must always remember that without Jesus we are doomed to fail, but with him, we have already won.

Following that, we saw that to overcome this trap we must resolve ourselves daily to follow Jesus. Like Jesus resolved himself to go to the cross, we must look to God and say, your will be done, not mine. This has to be a daily commitment and more often, a decision by decision commitment. Like we breath and blink, we must seek the will of God above our own.

Finally last week, we walked through the final trial of Jesus. There we saw the humiliation that Jesus had to go through. It was in that humiliation that we talked about how if we were there, it would be us who stood in the place of the mockers. Being honest about our responsibility in leading Jesus to the cross, both humbles us and should cause us to praise him. Because it was our sin that held him to the cross, our rejoicing at his sacrifice should be daily, just as our submission to him should be.

This now leads us into the final verses of chapter 27, where we see the cross. Let’s read Matthew 27, starting in verse 32 together.

32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene (sa-ree-knee), named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is Jesus, the King of the Jews.

38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[c] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

In these 34 verses, a lot of Scripture is fulfilled, and there is so many minor details that are integral to the layering of what is happening, that we could spend a few weeks going through each. Yet as usual, we are looking at the overall picture that the Holy Spirit is painting through the pen of Matthew. So let’s walk through these four parts of the cross to see this portrait’s brush strokes.

After Jesus’ horrific beatings at the hands of the both the Jewish guards, and Roman soldiers, Jesus is led out to the place of his execution. We can see that the beatings have taken their toll on Jesus, because the soldiers conscript a man named Simon to help carry Jesus’ cross. The soldiers led Jesus to Golgotha and there nailed him to the cross and raised him to suffer for hours on end.

It is here that we must pause and recognizing something that is happening in this passage. Jesus cries out in verse 45, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” This  phrase comes from Psalm 22. By looking at this Psalm, we can see that it is a parallel to the crucifixion and will be referenced several times. Listen to this from Psalm 22:11, “Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13 Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me (v.11-14).”

These words of the Psalmist parallel the moments leading to the crucifixion. Jesus’ time in the Garden, the unjust trials that he had to go through, and as we’ll see the moments throughout his cruxifixction. This Psalm is very important to the crucifixion story because it carries a lot of the imagery to the act of crucifixion. In verse 16 of Psalm 22, listen to the imagery of the piercing nails, “Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.” In imagery the Psalmist is prophesying of Jesus on the cross.

So let’s turn to the Jesus on the cross, and see how this Psalm plays out.

It’s here on the cross that we get a series of moments that are very important. Matthew starts by letting us know that Jesus was presented with a wine and gall mixture. This had become a custom of the Jews to help with the pain for those being crucified and was based on Proverbs 31:6-7, “Let beer be for those who are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish! 7 Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. Yet, Jesus rejects this pain reliever, choosing to embrace the pain of the cross. Now Jesus isn’t rejecting this compassionate act because it would be wrong of him to, but rather that he would be fully aware of what was going on. Jesus needed his mental faculties as clear as possible so, as we’ll see, prophecy could be fulfilled. Again we see this in Psalm 22, verse 15, “My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.”

In the next moment we see the people casting lots for Jesus’ clothes. Basically they are gambling for the only earthly possessions Jesus had. This was customary for the executioners, and was seen as sort of a bonus to the job. Yet, this moment is again fulfilled in the words of Psalm 22:18, “They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”

In the next moment, we hear of mockers yelling at Jesus. They says things like, “‘You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God (Mt. 27:40)!’” And “‘He saved others…but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, “I am the Son of God (MT.27:42-43).’””

Now listen to the words of Psalm 22, “6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. 8 ‘He trusts in the Lord,’ they say, ‘let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him (v.6-8).’”

These people mock Jesus, yet they are falling right into the prophetic words that they say they believe, but show they do not.

Matthew then takes us to where the as sun reaches its highest point in the sky, where several moments follow each other. First, the shine of the sun over the land goes dark. It’s here that we should pause. Because we have a record of this event outside of the Bible where the sun was darkened in such a way and an earthquake occurred. In the writings of Phlegon (flee-gone) of Tralles, we get this quote, “In the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was a great eclipse of the Sun, greater than had ever been known before, for at the sixth hour the day was changed into night, and the stars were seen in the heavens. An earthquake occurred in Bythinia and overthrew a great part of the city of Nicæa (https://www.freechristianteaching.tv/the-ad-33-date-of-the-crucifixion-according-to-phlegon-a-secular-greek-historian).” Working out the years of Phlegon (flee-gone), we get the spring of AD 33. This corresponds with the Passover of that year. So not only is the prophetic word fulfilled, but its events are witnessed by others in the world.

This is followed by Jesus’ crying out, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” People in the crowd hear the Eli, and think that Jesus is calling out for Elijah. A man taken by God in a chariot instead of dying like everyone else. But here again, Jesus isn’t succumbing, he’s pointing his disciples back to Psalm 22, by quoting it’s opening. The opening of the Psalm reads, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? 2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.”

And we might think that Jesus is succumbing. He’s succumbing to the pain, he’s succumbing to this torture, but we must remember Jesus was resolved. He resolved himself in the garden to go to the cross, because it was the will of the Father. And if we keep reading in Psalm 22, we can see the resolve of the Psalmist as well. “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. 4 In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame (v. 3-5).”

When Jesus quotes the beginning of this Psalm, it’s to point his disciples to it. It wasn’t me Jeremiah, or Paul, or Matthew, or any other theologian that said, “Oh hey, Psalm 22 fits with this Jesus story.” No it’s the Holy Spirit reminding Matthew, that Jesus spoke this opening to point his disciples to see how this crucifixion was spoken about hundreds of years earlier, so that his disciples would trust in the fact that this horrific scene had purpose. Jesus’ authority, God’s work, was not being defeated, but instead was being fulfilled. 

And then we get what Matthew says in verse 50, “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.” This lets us know that Jesus held on as long as he willed so that all prophetic words would be fulfilled. Jesus didn’t just die, be purposefully let go, so that the full sacrifice and what was spoken through the prophets would be satisfied.

It’s then that we get creation’s response to it’s Creator’s sacrifice. Notice the sequence of events. The curtain is torn from top to bottom. Since the days of Moses, that curtain represented the separation between God and man. Only one person could pass by that curtain, but now it was torn in two, and the pathway away from the separation between God and man was established through Jesus. 

Next, the earthquake. The quake didn’t cause the curtain to rip, Jesus’s sacrifice caused that, but the earth shook in response to the Savior’s death. From this quake, old saints were raised in a miracle never seen before, even to this day. This seems to be a taste of the full resurrection that is to come, but even these saints waited to come out of their tombs until after the resurrection of Jesus came out of his tomb, so that he would be the first in all things.

Following Jesus death on the cross, it isn’t a Jewish person who speaks these words, “Surely he was the Son of God (v.54)!” No it was a Gentile soldier. It wasn’t one of the Pharisees or priests of the Jewish people, the ones that should have made this statement. No it was an adversary of the Jewish people. A man who represented the subjugation of God’s people. He was the one who recognized the greatness of Jesus. But Matthew also mentions that the women were there as well. The men disciples, those, like the religious leader, who should have stayed by Jesus’ side, they were no were, but the women were there and they were watching. 

The women were watching as Jospeh of Arimathea took Jesus’ body down from the cross. They watched as this Jospeh took Jesus to a new tomb and laid him there. And unknown to them they watched as yet another prophecy was fulfilled; this one from the Suffering Servant passage of Isaiah 53:9, “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.”

But you know who was also watching? The religious leaders. They knew where Jesus was buried, they knew that he had prophesied that he would raise from the dead, and so they sought to position guards outside of the tomb so that no one would be able to claim Jesus rose again.

And that’s where we leave it. We leave it as the world left it. Jesus was dead, mocked and defeated on the cross. As the rock rolled over the tomb, the disciples, both men and women, saw their Master taken and his teachings failing. As the guards were posted, the religious leaders left it as just another failed Messiah come and gone. Their power secured. To Pilate, it was left as just another Jewish squabble dealt with. 

But we know, as the disciples should have known, that this was all done for the purposes of God. We walked through several prophecies that this fulfilled. From the Servant Songs of Isaiah, to the Crucifixion Psalm 22, we have seen that the work of Jesus was purposeful and powerful. It tore the curtain that separated God from man. It shook the ground and raised saints from the dead. And as the stone rolled over the tomb, Jesus rested as he once did on the seventh day. In that creation week, Jesus spoke the universe into existence and started a relationship with his creation. In the week that led to his crucifixion, Jesus again worked, but this time to bring out reconciliation between God and man. That the rebellion of the first man Adam, was rectified in the man Jesus.

This is why Paul proclaims in Romans 5, “12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many (v.12-15)!”

Jesus did it! And we are the result of it. If we recognize our sin, that we have rebelled against God and his word, and accept Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, we now live in the death and life of Jesus. The Cross of Christ is the pathway to God. No more religious rituals, no more separation, Jesus is the pathway, his cross the sacrifice, and as we’ll see, the resurrection God’s stamp of approval that it was accepted. 

My challenge for you this week is to read though Psalm 22 and then to re-read the crucifixion story. From the Garden of Gethsemane to the tomb of Jospeh. Read the two together, so that you can praise God for his work through the Psalmist and his work through the cross.

Let us be a people who stand on the revealed Word of God, trusting that what God has spoken has and will come to pass. That in our darkest day, we may trust as our Savior trusted, in the will of the Father. Amen.