Do not be afraid!

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’ (Matthew 28:1-10, NRSV)

Do not be afraid! Right!

I came to this place expecting to find the body of Jesus and instead there is an angel, telling me He has risen and is going ahead to meet the disciples in Galilee… And I’m not suppose to run away afraid!

Well the good news is it is all true! Everything Jesus told us, is true and the promises of God are coming to fruition.

And the interesting thing here is that women are the ones who witness Jesus’ rising! You see God is bringing the things that the world looks down upon and raising them to a new level!

Shepherds at His birth. Tax collectors, fisherman, and those the world would not trust as disciples. And here at His resurrection women are the first to see!

God uses the weak and the lowly to be the strong and the highly exalted to be the first! For when the world makes you last, in God’s kingdom you will be first.

Jesus died and rose for all! And thanks be to God that He loved me enough to die and rise so that I might be with Him!

The sweet sound of your name

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:1-18, NRSV)

Close your eyes… And remember the sound of your greatest relative calling your name.

Can you hear the sound of your mother calling your name?

Can you hear the voice of your father calling your name?

Your brother? Your sister? Grandmother? Grandfather?

Isn’t it sweet to hear your name come flowing off their lips…

Now you can see and feel how Mary felt that morning at the tomb.

Distraught and in anguish because her savior was gone. She did not eve recognize Him…

But then He says her name! And she knows who He is. He is not dead! He is alive!

And if you listen, you will hear Him call your name!

And how sweet is the sound of your name as it flows off the lips of your Savior!

hope in the darkness

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. (John 19:38-42, NRSV)

I know why this day is called Good Friday, but I have always pondered this… I mean to me this is more of a Black Friday then the day after Thanksgiving… But yet there is hope even this day.

Today we celebrate the death of Jesus, the one who died on the cross for all of us. And even on that dark day as the curtain was torn in two there was hope.

You see Nicodemus was there. We has there as a Pharisee, but he as also there as a disciple of Christ, and that is the hope!

You see Nicodemus went from a person questioning Jesus under the cover of darkness, to one who spoke openly defending Him to the High Council when they were seeking His death, to a man openly in front of all in the day light removing a criminal from a cross and placing Him in a grave because that is what He deserved. You see Nicodemus is just like all of us, on a journey towards Jesus, learning who He is and allowing Him to effect our lives.

The hope of this dark day is even in His death He has an effect on our lives!

So never lose Hope in the loving, living Word of God!

What a meal!

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26, NRSV)

What is the most powerful meal you remember?

Who was there?

What did you eat?

What was said?

What was the scent in the air?

It is amazing the things we connect to memories and how a single moment in time is fixed with specific memories, and a smell, or a taste, or a specific thing will trigger an emotion…

Here is this meal heaven and earth meet, the kingdom of this world and the heavenly kingdom unite.

Every time we partake of this meal we are partaking of it with Jesus the night He was handed over, and we are partaking of it with Jesus in the kingdom to come.

We believe we are partaking of this meal with those we are gathered with and those who have already gone before us and those who are yet to come.

This is the moment when Heaven and Earth meet! This is the moment we are all united as the body!

What a meal indeed!

cross eyed

April 16Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3, NRSV)

So look to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith!

We need to look at the cross and see the cross in everything. Instead of rose colored glasses we need to view the world through the lens or our savior on the cross!

You see we all need to be cross eyed! Constantly looking to our savior and seeing the world as He sees it.