Tag Archives: resurrection

Dead And Disillusioned

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DEAD AND DISILLUSIONED

 “On His arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home.

“‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’

“Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'” John 11:18-26 NIV.

Two worlds! Two perspectives! Two sisters; Martha and Mary — disappointed, disillusioned, devastated! Were they more distraught about Jesus’ failure to come when they needed Him than they were about the death of their brother? Like Job, the Lord whom they passionately loved and believed in was not there for them in their darkest hour.

When He did finally arrive it was too late. Did He miss the seriousness of Lazarus’ illness? Was this the one time in His life when He was out of touch with reality? His head in the clouds, had He misjudged the whole situation and fallen short of their trust?

Martha was quick to respond to His arrival. She had to let Him know how she felt about His behaviour. Her rebuke fell from her lips before she had time to think. She blurted out her disappointment, perhaps in the hopes that she might at least get an apology from Him. Does God ever have to apologise? Perhaps an explanation? Something beyond His control had delayed Him and He was ever so sorry that He could not come in time…

Another world! Another perspective! Jesus; the Son of God — fully aware of what was going on in the natural as well as the unseen world. His delay had been purposeful, fully under the Father’s control. There was something bigger in this situation than another healing to notch up on His proverbial belt. This was a setup from God to give those nearest to Jesus — as well as His opponents — the biggest shakeup of their lives.

Of course He knew exactly what was happening! This was no error in timing or in judgement. Everything was perfectly on course, including Lazarus’ death and what was to follow. He had to wait until the spirit of the dead man, whom the Jews believed remained in the vicinity for four days before leaving, had finally departed for the other realm.

His response was not an apology or an explanation, as Martha possibly expected. Instead Jesus spoke some of the profoundest and most riveting — and comforting — words He had ever uttered. At first Martha misunderstood His reassurance, ‘Your brother will rise again.’

We do not know what Jesus had taught this little family during the times He spent in their home. No doubt, from Martha’s response, He had fleshed out with them the hope of resurrection which was not much more than a vague idea in the Old Testament writings. Martha had the comfort of knowing that there was a life to come, but that did little to ease ache of her loss. She needed something more substantial to fill the terrible void left by her brother’s death.

Jesus’ beautiful plan was much more imminent than that. He was there — Jehovah Shamma; Immanuel — God in the flesh, and wherever He was, He reversed everything the curse had brought to mankind. He was the Lamb of God, slain from before the foundation of the world. In Him was life and the power to restore life, both physical and spiritual. What He needed was a response of trust from the two sisters who were the link between Jesus and their brother.

He was not out of options. Did Martha believe that? Did she realise that everything He did was purposeful? No, He had not misjudged anything. He was about to reveal, through the death of their brother, everything that He was — the Son of God who had overcome the enemy’s most vicious weapon — death! Lazarus would live again — for now; the day was coming that they would all live again — forever; Lazarus, their brother would be the incontrovertible sign that not even the Jews could deny.

“I AM the resurrection and the life.”

Dead Accurate!

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DEAD ACCURATE!

“Agrippa spoke directly to Paul: ‘Go ahead — tell us about yourself.’

“Paul took the stand and told his story: ‘I can’t think of anyone, King Agrippa, before whom I’d rather be answering all these Jewish accusations than you, knowing how well you are acquainted with Jewish ways and all our family quarrels.

“‘From the time of my youth, my life has been lived among my own people in Jerusalem. Practically every Jew in town who watched me grow up — and if they were willing to stick their necks out they would tell you in person — knows that I Iived as a strict Pharisee, the most demanding branch of our religion. It’s because I believed it and took it seriously, committed myself heart and soul to what God promised my ancestors — the identical hope, mind you, that that the twelve tribes have lived for night and day all these centuries — it’s because I held on to this tested and tried hope that I’m being called on the carpet by the Jews. They should be the one’s standing trial here, not me! For the life of me I can’t see why it’s a criminal offense to believe that God raises the dead.'” Acts 26:1-10 (The Message).

Paul was smart! Here was a golden opportunity to tell his story to the king himself and he grabbed it with both hands. Many years before it had been prophesied that he would testify before kings. Did he recall those words at this moment when he stood in the dock before Agrippa? Did he recognised that this was not so much about defending himself against Jewish religious bigotry as it was about bearing witness to Jesus before an auspicious audience?

How attentively Agrippa, and Festus, must have listened to Paul’s story, hoping for a loophole or a slip of the tongue that they could latch onto for a legitimate case against him as the reason for sending him to Rome.

This moment had eternal significance for all who were present in the Great Hall that day. Before Paul stood before them, many of them were ignorant of the truth about Jesus, but once his story had been told, everyone, including the governor and the king, was faced with a choice. This is the real issue regarding the “good news”. Truth always demands a response. Every time Paul opened his mouth to inform his hearers about Jesus, they stood in the dock because even if they ignored the truth, it was a decision and made them guilty and culpable.

Jesus put it this way: “‘As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.'” John 12:47-48 (NIV).

Every lie about Jesus spoken by men in defines of their rejection of Him will collapse like a house of cards. God has spoken! He has appointed Jesus to be the sovereign and supreme ruler over all His creation. Through His obedience, Jesus earned the right to be exalted to the highest place and given a name that is above every name, “Lord”; — the name Satan so desperately covets and deceives people into believing that it belongs to him!

All the exalted claims that humans may make in the name of religion will be exposed at the judgment seat of Christ, and only the truth will remain, for truth alone can never be destroyed because it the very essence of the living God. All the lofty claims in the name of a god, whatever that god or gods be called, will vanish like vapour in the brilliant light and searing heat of Jesus, the King of kings.

Little did these men with such lofty opinions of themselves, know that that was the moment of their trial. In Paul’s testimony he was echoing the words of Moses: “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19 (NIV).

Without Excuse

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WITHOUT EXCUSE

“‘The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for Him, as if He couldn’t take care of Himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make Him. Starting from scratch, He made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find Him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; He’s near. We live and move in Him, can’t get away from Him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we’re the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we can hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?”‘ Acts 17:24-29 (The Message).

Spot on again, Paul!

Paul was speaking to people who thought they were “intellectuals”, intelligent people who majored on thinking logically. Unfortunately, their logic did not take them any higher than human wisdom. They were unable, through their own reason, to figure out the existence of an unseen God who is Creator of everything. Yet Paul said, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that this is possible.

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20 (NIV).

How is it possible, for instance, that intelligent, logical-thinking, modern scientists, using all the sophisticated equipment they have to examine created things in minutest detail, can come up with the “conviction” that it all just “happened”? Could it be that the issue is not one of the mind but of the will? Is it basic dishonesty that refuses to “see” the work of the Creator, even though it can be clearly seen by the untrained eye?

Even David, a young shepherd, with neither microscope nor telescope, could say:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; The skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; Night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language Where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, Their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV).

These Athenians at least began with the possibility that a God existed of whom they were vaguely aware, although they knew nothing about Him. They acknowledged Him with a shrine that was placed among all the other shrines, putting Him on a par with their man-made gods. It was up to Paul to set the record straight, which he did in a masterful way without attacking their error or putting them down for their foolishness.

Paul’s modus operandi was to fill in the gaps in their understanding. He exploited their honest mistake by taking them from where they were to where they could be if they moved from logic to faith, from reason to revelation. The God they ignorantly acknowledged was unseen but real, not confined to a shrine but as near to them as their breath. They did not create Him; He created them. That meant that they were subject to Him, not Him at their beck and call. Even their own poets had somehow hit on the truth: ‘We are His offspring.’

Unfortunately, right there is the parting of the ways. Those who refuse to give up their right to be right, deny the truth that God is Creator and that, therefore, the creature is accountable to Him. But that doesn’t change the truth. That makes the stubborn creature doubly accountable — for lying about God and for refusing to submit to Him.

So where do we stand? It all depends on how honest we are. We can side with the scientists who refuse to say, ‘God is Creator,’ or we can side with David who looked up at the night sky and marvelled at the intricate design of the God he had come to know and worship as his Shepherd.

Handpicked Witnesses

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HANDPICKED WITNESSES

“You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the devil. He was able to do all this because God was with Him.

“And we saw it, saw it all, everything He did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem where they killed Him, hung Him from a cross. But in three days God had Him up, alive and out where He could be seen. Not everyone saw Him — He was not put on public display. Witnesses had been carefully handpicked by God beforehand — us! We were the ones, there to eat and drink with Him after He came back from the dead. He commissioned us to announce this in public, to bear solemn witness that He is in fact the One whom God designated as Judge of the living and dead. But we’re not alone in this. Our witness that He is the means to the forgiveness of sins is backed up by the witness of the prophets.” Acts 10:37-43 (The Message).

If you had stood in Peter’s shoes, what would you have said to that company of Gentiles eagerly waiting to hear your message? Would you have explained that they were all sinners and needed to be “saved”? Would you have given them a gory description of hell? Would you have urged them to repent of their sins and receive Jesus as their personal Saviour?

Peter had so much to tell them and an audience hanging on every word. What was the most pressing thing they were longing to hear? Peter grabbed the opportunity to present Jesus to them, not a Jesus who would deal with their problems and give them peace (which are not the reason but the result of bowing the knee to Him as Lord), but the Jesus who represented a loving God to the world and whom God authenticated by His resurrection to be both Saviour and Judge.

He, Peter, and his fellow disciples were eyewitnesses of the most amazing event in history; God came in the flesh to live among His people as an ordinary man, die the death of a criminal and rise from the dead. They saw Him, they spoke with Him and He ate with the after He had risen from the dead. What did all that mean?

It meant that everything He said and did was the truth. It all hung on His declaration that He would die and rise again. He had to be who He said He was to pull that off! And pull it off He did! Not only did He predict that He would do it but the prophets who wrote hundreds of years before He appeared on earth also predicted the same thing.

Surely this Jesus, who did something like that, was to be embraced as the Son of God and His promise believed that forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with the Father was the outcome of His death and resurrection. That was the message of the apostles to the world and that was the explosive power of the good news.

To these Gentiles who had known only the worship of gods who demanded but never gave, this came as a light from heaven. The proof of its truth lay in the evidence of eyewitnesses who were willing to face imprisonment and death rather than deny what they had seen and heard. Through Jesus they could receive forgiveness of sins and a place in God’s kingdom for which they had to do nothing.

What joy it must have given Peter to have the freedom to deliver a message like this to people he never thought would be eligible to receive it! God had forcefully made it clear that Jesus was for everyone, even for Gentiles and Roman soldiers! He had forgotten that the prophets had spoken of this day.

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me.” Isaiah 65:1 (NIV).

“And now the Lord says…’It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and to bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.'” Isaiah 49:6 (NIV).

Resurrection Proof

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RESURRECTION PROOF

“When this became known all over Joppa many put their trust in the Master. Peter stayed on a long time in Joppa as a guest of Simon the Tanner.” Acts 9:42-43 (The Message).

What was it that caused the message of Jesus to touch people’s lives in wave upon wave every time a miracle happened? Was it the miracles that attracted them or was it the proof that Jesus was alive that convinced them?

Miracles do not produce or sustain faith. We only have to read the story of God’s people in their deliverance from Egypt and their sojourn in the wilderness to recognise this. At no other time in their history did the Israelites experience more or greater miracles than when God rescued them from Pharaoh “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” and cared for them for forty years in the desert.

Plagues that destroyed a nation and its economy and finally wiped out its military might; natural phenomena like a wind so powerful that it cut a path through the sea; manna that appeared every six days out of seven; a flock of birds so vast that it covered their camp; water that flowed out of a rock enough to satisfy the needs of more than two million people; a pillar of cloud that gave the people shade from the desert sun by day and fire that warmed them at night — these and much more, were the order of the day. Could God have done any more for them than He did?

Yet they grumbled, rebelled, disobeyed and even set up a forbidden image in spite of all the miracles that attested to God’s invisible presence with them and power among them. A deeper investigation into the Old Testament actually reveals that the greatest miracles happened during the times of Israel’s greatest unbelief e.g., during the times of Elijah and Elisha.

No, miracles do not produce saving faith. What was it that convinced people everywhere that what the disciples were proclaiming was the truth? There were no billboards inviting people to “come and get your miracle” as we so often see today. Their message was simple. “Jesus is alive and He is Lord.”

It was the resurrection of Jesus that powered their faith. Miracles were the evidence of the presence of God’s kingdom on earth. People put their faith in the risen Jesus, not to get their miracle but because He is alive and He is who He said He is. They did not come to Him to get their needs met or to have a comfortable life or even a free ticket to heaven. They entrusted their lives to Him because He is Lord.

Not even the threat of persecution could stop the phenomenal growth of the church. Persecution weeded out the passengers and strengthened the faith and character of those who truly followed Jesus. And God continued to verify the truth of His Son’s resurrection by confirming His word with signs following.

Peter remained in Joppa. A new branch of the church was growing there. As a guest of Simon the Tanner, he stayed on to preach and teach about Jesus so that the faith of these new believers would be anchored in the truth of who Jesus is.

What if Jesus did nothing for us? He owes us nothing and is under no obligation to do anything for us. Would we still follow Him and put our trust in Him, or is our faith so mercenary that we only believe in Him for what we can get out of it? What He does for us flows from His infinite generosity and we are beneficiaries of pure grace.

It is His passion to put His glory on display that prompts His goodness to us. Let us never slip into the false notion that there is anything in us or anything we can do for Him that merits His favour.