Jesus Rose on the Third Day

Luke 23: 40 - 47 (NIV): 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. 44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

    This was the day Jesus rose from the dead. It was that Sunday afternoon. He suddenly appeared in the room with the disciples, bending the laws of physics. He had a new body, but a body. He could be seen and touched, had the scars from his crucifixion, and he ate fish in front of them. He was no ghost, he had a body. So will we. 

    He said the Old Testament stated that he would suffer and rise on the third day. Can we find in the Old Testament such a prophecy? I want to show you four places where this is foretold:

    First, when Abraham was tested by God to see if he would sacrifice Isaac. Genesis 22 says "on the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance." This incident is symbolic of God sacrificing his son. Second, Ezra 6:15 says the temple was completed "on the third day of the month of Adar" This isn't very direct, but Jesus made it so when he said, "tear down this temple and I will rebuild it in three days." Third, Hosea 6:2 says, "After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence." Fourth, Jonah was in the fish for three days. Jesus said in Matthew 12 that this was a sign and that he would be in the ground for three days.

    The truth is there, but we sometimes have to look for it. All of these passages suddenly made sense when Jesus came back from the dead and showed his disciples the truth.

Why Is Easter So Important?

Luke 23: 44 - 49 (NIV): 44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last. 47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. 

    Why is Easter such an important holiday to Christians? It is our highest holy day. Church attendance soars. People dress up and the ladies wear big hats. Some get up really early and go to sunrise services. Why? Why is Easter such a bid deal?

    Notice in the passage above that the curtain in the temple tore in two. This happened while Jesus was on the cross. It was God's way of showing us that we can now enter into God's presence. Jesus paid for our sins. Now its up to us to accept his gift of salvation. Now, we can trade our lives for his. There would be no Easter without the death of Jesus.

    The second reason Easter is so important is because it represents when Jesus conquered death. Death is the enemy of mankind and Jesus defeated it. Now we have nothing to fear. Yes, the separation of death is painful, but it is tempered with hope for those who are in Christ. When Jesus came back to life he showed that he has supernatural power. When we realize that God is supernatural, we understand the miracle of creation and we have hope that God will work in miraculous ways in our lives.

    The third reason Easter is so important is because Jesus proved who he was when he came back from the dead. He had made bold claims. He had claimed to be God in the flesh. As C. S. Lewis said, Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic -- or he was Lord of all and we must fall at his feet and worship him. When Jesus rose again he proved who he claimed to be. He proved that everything he had ever said was true. Easter is a big deal. A very big deal.

A New Mandate

John 13: 24 - 25 (NIV): 34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

    It was just hours before Jesus was betrayed and arrested. Hours before he would be whipped and beaten and nailed to a cross. Hours before he became sin for us, paid the price for it, dying in agony. Jesus had just washed his disciples' feet -- even Judas' feet. In a little while Judas would betray him and the disciples would run scared into the night. Peter would deny three times that he knew him.

Then Jesus pronounced a new command. You could call this the Eleventh Commandment. Jesus was elevating us loving each other to the status of being equal to the Ten Commandments. It's not that the command for us to love each other was new. God had already told the Israelites to love each other as they loved themselves (Leviticus 19:18). But Jesus was putting love at the top of what we should do as Christians to show the world who we are. And they were about to understand what loving each other really meant. Love involves sacrifice. Showing true love for someone costs you. Moments later, Jesus would say, "greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13).

Now we understand what it means to love each other. When Jesus washed his disciples feet, he showed that love is humble, that love is a servant, and that love forgives. He knew full well that they were all about to let him down.

The first word in the Catholic Holy Thursday liturgy is "Mandatum", which is Latin for mandate or command. This is where the term "Maundy" comes from. Many Christians recognize Maundy Thursday as the day Jesus washed his disciples' feet and issued a new command, that we love one another as he loved us. Because the disciples showed true, sacrificial love for one another, Christianity soon conquered Rome and is on its way to overtaking the whole world. But it will only do so if we continue to follow Jesus' command and love one another as he has loved us.

Easter 2014

Luke 24: 1 – 3 (NIV): 1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

    Here is our whole faith in three verses. The tomb was empty. The women had seen him dead and buried, and simply wanted to anoint his dead body with spices to keep the smell down. The best they had hoped for was that someone would help them roll the stone from the entrance. But it was already removed. They weren’t even happy that Jesus’ body was gone, they were saddened by this, thinking that someone had taken his body. The idea that Jesus would have risen from the dead was nowhere in their minds. When they saw Jesus alive they were astonished and amazed and overjoyed.

    Can we know this story is true? Is it just a myth or a legend? Is it just wishful thinking? Consider: Something happened in the lives of the witnesses. We have a reliable history of each of the disciples. Each of them was basically a coward. Each of them thought Jesus was going to be a political ruler who threw Rome out of Israel. Jesus didn’t – he died instead. But the disciples didn’t quit the revolution, they died for it! Would they have all died for something they knew to be a lie? Not only this, but Christianity conquered the most powerful empire in the world within 200 years and continues to change history as it changes individual lives to this very day.

    The only explanation is that the tomb was empty. But the story doesn’t end there. Soon, Jesus appeared to the disciples and many others. He appeared and spoke to the very people who had seen him die. He even spoke to 500 people at one setting. History records this, but you don’t need history to tell you that Jesus lives, you already know it if you have experienced him. Yes, the tomb was empty that first Easter morning and that changed everything. Jesus proved to be who he claimed to be – God in the flesh; the Messiah. He proved that he was the way to God and offers salvation to all who put their trust in him.

Palm Sunday

Luke 19: 41 - 44 (NIV): 41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you.

    Jesus wept over Jerusalem the day he entered triumphantly on a donkey. The people worshipped him and laid palm branches on the road before him so that the donkey on which he was riding would not have to step on the dirt. Jesus was entering Jerusalem as a king. Kings in times of peace would ride into town on a donkey in this culture. Jesus was fulfilling a prophecy from Zachariah 9:9 that said the king would enter on a donkey bringing peace.

    So, why did Jesus weep over Jerusalem? Because he knew the people of the city were going to reject him as their king. They were looking for a political Messiah and he was a spiritual one. They would chant "crucify him" within five days of his entry. And 37 years later, the Roman General Titus would enter Jerusalem and murder most of the people. He would completely destroy the temple. He would forever change the worship of the Jews.

    Palm Sunday is celebrated by churches around the world each year. But there is a dark warning we must not miss. Jesus came once into Jerusalem on a donkey. He came once bringing peace. He died once and only once. When we see him again he will be on a white horse and he will bring "the fury" of God's wrath to those who have rejected him. On his robe and on his thigh this will be written: "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." (Revelation 19:  11 - 16). Accept Jesus' peace while there is still time. When he returns he will not bring peace, but judgement.  

The New Covenant

Luke 22: 14 - 20 (NIV):  14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God." 17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." 19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

    This was Thursday night of Passover week. All Jews were required to go to Jerusalem to eat the Feast of Unleavened Bread and take part in the week-long Passover events. Passover was the celebration of the death angel passing over those who had the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. This was the tenth and final plague in Egypt. It was the one that convinced Pharaoh to set the Israelites free.

    So Passover was a celebration of freedom. Jesus and his disciples followed the law and had been in Jerusalem to honor the holiday. Then Thursday night arrived. Jesus and his disciples met in an upstairs room that had been prepared in advance for them. They reclined at the table and began the meal. None of the Gospels give us much detail about the meal, but we know they would have eaten roast lamb, bitter herbs, and bread without yeast, and they would have drunk wine. Scholars say the lamb was roasted over a fire using two sticks in the shape of a cross. Exodus 12 tells us how the meal was to be eaten.

    Then Jesus gave new meaning to the meal. He said the bread now represented his body, given for us, and the cup represented his blood, shed for us. His blood represented a new covenant -- a new contract. Jesus was about to pay for our sins, once for all time, and our part of the agreement is simple: we must put our trust in him for our salvation.