Tag Archives: resurrection

Every Saga has a Beginning

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Today is Easter Sunday.  Lent bagan 40 days ago, Palm Sunday was last week, 2 days ago was Good Friday.  Holy Week is about the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth.  Not too long ago – it’s been about 4 months – we celebrated the beginning of his life on earth.  Do you remember that story?

Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem, to be counted in the Roman census and taxed.  Baby Jesus was laid in a manger, shepherds came and worshiped, and the wise men traveled from afar.  They followed the star and brought gifts fit for a king.  Jesus was presented with gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Gold makes sense; no one would mind getting that present.  Frankincense is an incense, a sweet perfume.  It’s actually a resin, made from the bark of a tree.  Myrrh is very similar, but bitter.  It’s most common use in the first century was anointing the dead.  Gold is an awesome gift, perfume maybe, but… you wouldn’t give a newborn embalming fluid.

Once you know how the story ends, the beginning makes more sense.  In literature, it’s called foreshadowing.  Jesus was born to die.  He came to be a sacrifice.  The unusual gift brought by one very wise man reminds us what is really important about Christmas.  The gifts that were given to Jesus pale in comparison to the gift of Jesus.  Throughout his ministry Jesus understood his mission, even when his followers could not.  The disciples were told plainly that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by men, even that he must die.  Jesus told them, more than once, that he would rise again.  Eventually they were afraid to ask.

The real story of course begins before the incarnation and does not end with the crucifixion.  Today is Easter, the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.  That still isn’t the end of the story.  Jesus wasn’t just resurrected; he is the resurrection.  The story of God’s coming kingdom isn’t over yet.

It’s Friday; Sunday’s Coming

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Vocals are S.M. Lockridge, images from The Passion of the Christ

Where is God?

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Where is God? Lots of people have a take on where God might be. Atheists believe that there is no god of any kind, anywhere. Agnostics believe there may be a god or some type of higher power, but we either don’t know what that is or perhaps we cannot know. Deists believe the universe was set into motion like the gears of a clock, but that we are tiny and insignificant to such an omnipotent God. Then there’s New Agers, Scientologists, Oprah and so forth. Some spend their entire lives looking for God, but he isn’t hard to find. The truth is it should be hard to miss God. Continue reading →

The New Thing in Sermons

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In the Old Testament, the prophet was a person who did the speaking for God.  Not necessarily predicting future events, the prophet acted as the spoken voice of God on earth.  During Jesus’s earthly ministry, he was found daily in the temple or synagogue reading and teaching.  While his sermon on the mount may have turned the Pharisees’ world upside down, he was regarded as a rabbi in most Jewish circles.  In Acts chapter 2, on the Day of Pentecost, Peter preaches something entirely new. Continue reading →

The Importance of the Resurrection

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Jesus, resurrectionThere was a time I wondered why so much emphasis was placed on the resurrection.  Jesus died on the cross as the all-sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the world.  Even if there had been no resurrection, his sacrificial death would have brought salvation; what could be more important than that?

The blood of Jesus was a more excellent sacrifice than that of bulls, sheep and birds.  His death on the cross brought an end to the temple sacrifice system.  The entire Gospel pivots around the cross.  It is the universal symbol of Christianity.  But the implications of resurrection are equally powerful, a fact that I can now appreciate as well.  Continue reading →

Final Thoughts on Holy Week

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jesus_crossThis year for Holy Week I pointed out that Jesus died.  We all know that he was crucified, and was raised to life again, but the real miracle here is that God died.

We asked the question Jesus, sheep or shepherd? That post will be my sermon for Easter Sunday.  I’m preaching twice in the morning.

Another thought was on Jesus’ prayer from the cross.  He didn’t pray just for his followers or his family, but he prayed the prayer of intercession for the people who were crucifying  him.  “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  This is the Christ that we are supposed to be like.

There are some older posts I thought about re-posting, but instead I will just link them here.  He Cannot Save Himself is a poem about the crucifixion.  It is based on the sermon I preached for Easter last year.  Feel free to copy and paste it, print it in your church bulletin, or read it outloud.

Other good topics for Holy Week are Jesus’ Examples: Washing Feet and Passover Becomes the Lord’s Supper.

Thoughts on Holy Week: Jesus Died

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jesus_crossI know, perhaps you’re thinking “Well duh.” But give it just a little more thought than that. This is God’s only son we’re talking about here. As a matter of fact, Jesus is God.

On Easter we will celebrate the resurrection. Jesus wasn’t just resurrected, he IS the resurrection. So we’re not simply celebrating the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. He was not the first to rise again. That miracle had happened more than once already. But when Jesus hung on the cross, it was the first time that God had ever died. Two of the gospels recorded Jesus’ birth; all four record the crucifixion. In Matthew’s Gospel, he records the sky going dark until the 9th hour (3 p.m.).  Only Matthew goes on to say that the veil was torn in the temple from top to bottom, and the graves of the saints opened up.  The Old Testament saints went through the street of Jerusalem prophesying (Matt. 27:45, 51-53).  The darkness, the earthquake, the veil, the saints, all highlight an extraordinary event taking place that day.  I’m thinking of a few other scriptures beyond the gospels: Continue reading →

Christianity, Truth or Fiction

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jesus_crossThere is an old saying that is Christianity were a lie, they would have made up a better lie.

Think about it. The basic tenants of the Christian faith are that a carpenter from a small town in Israel was crucified by the Roman Empire, buried, rose again from the dead, and that faith in these events is what gets one into heaven. These are just the basics. We could make a long list. To be a faithful Christian, one must believe: Continue reading →

Ash Wednesday, Lent, (and p.s. Mardi Gras)

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ash-wednesday

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday occurs 46 days before Easter, 40 days if you don’t count Sundays.  This year it fell on February 25th.  This marks the beginning of Lent, a time of preparation for Holy Week.  At an Ash Wednesday service, part of the ceremony is placing ashes on the forehead as an outward symbol that you will be observing Lent.  During the 40 day period something is given up, anything typically important to the individual, and more time spent in prayer, worship and meditation.  Lent is about preparing ourselves spiritually to observe Holy Week, the days between Palm Sunday and Easter. Continue reading →

Hindsight is 20/20

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hindsight-rear-view-future-past-road-mirrorHindsight is 20/20 means that anything you look back on is easier to understand that it was at the time.  We make decisions in the now, then sometimes realize later we acted too quickly, neglected certain facts, or else were simply uninformed.  Hindsight being 20/20, we would have done things differently if we could just have seen the big picture. Continue reading →