Jesus Christ, 33, Nazareth.
The following obituary appeared in a local newspaper over the weekend. It kind of caught me by surprise. There are some people you never think about dying, and so young!
Jesus Christ, 33, of Nazareth, died Friday on Mount Calvary, also known as Golgotha, the place of the skull. Betrayed by the apostle Judas, Jesus was crucified by the Romans, by order of the ruler Pontius Pilate. The causes of death were crucifixion, extreme exhaustion, severe torture, and loss of blood.
Jesus Christ, a descendant of Abraham, was a member of the house of David. He was the legal son of the late Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth, and Mary, his devoted mother. Jesus was born in a stable in the city of Bethlehem, Judea. He is survived by his mother Mary, his faithful apostles, numerous disciples, and many other followers.
Jesus was self-educated and spent most of his adult life working as a teacher. He occasionally worked as a medical doctor and it is reported that he healed many patients. Up until the time of his death, Jesus was teaching, sharing the good news, healing the sick, touching the lonely, feeding the hungry, and helping the poor.
Jesus was most noted for telling parables about his Father's kingdom and for performing miracles. The miracles included feeding over 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish, and healing a man who was born blind, among countless other miracles that many will attest to.
On the day before his death, he held one last supper celebrating the Passover feast, at which he foretold his death and promised to rise from the dead. His body was quickly buried in a stone grave which was donated by Joseph of Arimathea, a loyal friend of the family. By order of Pontius Pilate, a boulder was rolled in front of the tomb and Roman soldiers were put on guard.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that everyone try to live as Jesus did. As you can see, a number of flowers have already been placed throughout the sanctuary. Donations may be sent to anyone in need. Services are set for Sunday morning. [Source Unknown, adapted]
Well, that was Friday. You’ve probably noticed a number of churches already holding services of remembrance and celebration. Jesus was a good man. He’ll be missed by all.
A baffling discovery. Luke 24:1-4
This morning, however, I caught a breaking news report. Everyone is talking about it. Evidently, at sunrise this morning some women who were close to Jesus had taken some spices which they had carefully prepared, to Jesus’ tomb.According to our custom, they wanted to honor him by anointing his body. They didn’t go in the night because it was just too dark. And besides, there are all those superstitions about demons roaming about after nightfall.
When the women arrived at the tomb, they found the massive stone that had sealed the entrance of the tomb had been rolled away. But when they entered the tomb, they claimed to not have found the body of our Lord Jesus. Instead, the frightened women reported seeing two men in clothes that, "gleamed like lightning." Luke 24:4(NIV) I am not quite sure what they meant by that, but it gets better.
A profound visit. Luke 24:5-8
Supposedly the two men asked them, "Why do you look for the living among thedead?"Luke 24:5 (NIV) and then said, "He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'"Luke 24:5-7(NIV)
Is it any wonder why, in our culture we don’t permit the testimony of women like this? Some of Jesus’ closest disciples have already dismissed their eyewitness account as total nonsense. Everyone knows that Jesus claimed he would rise on the third day, but seriously, how often does that happen? Have you ever heard of a person being raised from the dead? Is that even possible? Really now!
And when is the last time you saw someone with clothes as bright as lightning? Seems like a bunch of foolishness if you ask me. Yes, yes, with God, all things are possible. But you are certainly not suggesting that Jesus was?!?! Or that angels had?!?! Okay, I just wanted to make sure. We can pretty much dismiss the testimony of these crazy women. Besides, they are grieving. They haven’t slept. Their thinking is clouded. Can they be trusted?
Oh, and did you hear about the soldiers who were guarding Jesus’ tomb? Boy, are they in a world of hurt! I kind of feel sorry for them, but things don’t add up there either. You saw how angry the crowds were as they screamed for Jesus to be crucified. You saw how much tension there was between our religious leaders and Pontius Pilate. Those soldiers went to great lengths to make sure Jesus was dead. They beat him, whipped him, starved him, denied him water, hung him on the cross, and stood watch over him as he died on the cross. They even thrust a spear in his side.
And then Pilate ordered them to watch over Jesus’ tomb, especially with all the rumors circulating that he would come back from the dead. Pilate ordered his finest soldiers to spare no measure to make the tomb as secure as possible. Anyhow, the professionally-trained Roman soldiers who stood watch over Jesus' tomb reported a violent earthquake this morning. And then, get this, like the women, they reported seeing an angel whose appearance was like lightning and whose clothes were as white as snow, rolling the stone aside and sitting on it. Do you realize how heavy that stone is? Do you realize how many men it took to roll it in front of the entrance of the tomb?
Supposedly, the Roman soldiers were so afraid of the angel that they fainted in fear. Have you ever seen a Roman soldier who was afraid of something? These guys aren’t afraid of nothing! All of the soldiers at the tomb will be executed later today for dereliction of duty. We may never know why they would risk their very lives spinning some tale about earthquakes and angels.
This morning there has been lots of speculation. There are unconfirmed reports that maybe thieves broke into the tomb and stole Jesus’ body. Others have speculated that perhaps some of Jesus’ followers took his body. This certainly seems reasonable, I guess. But what are the chances of thieves or some rag-tag band of Jesus’ followers overpowering the professionally-trained Roman soldiers stationed at the tomb? It kind of requires a stretch of the imagination. Besides, there is no evidence that a scuffle took place. Those hardened soldiers would have fought to the death! But did you see them? Not a scratch on them. They were just sitting there shaking as they talked about that angel and the stone being moved.
An ecstatic proclamation.Luke 24:9-12
I think someone ought to check into this a little more. Experts are examining the collapsed strips of linen that were left in the tomb for clues. Supposedly, when the women found the entrance of the tomb open, they ran back and told some of Jesus’ disciples, who have been in hiding since Friday. The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary, the mother of James. Only one of the disciples, a man named Peter, took the women seriously. The rest of the disciples did not believe them because the women’s words seemed like nonsense. Peter, who is rather uneducated and a lowly fishermen by trade, mind you, supposedly got up and ran to the tomb. He is the one who first found the strips of linen lying by themselves. But he left them there. Luke 24:9-12
Here is where things get strange. Jesus’ body was wrapped several times over from head to toe with strips of linen. The linens that Peter found,that the authorities are now examining, resemble those used to wrap Jesus after he was taken from the cross. They are stained with blood. They have the exact same proportions as Jesus' body. They were found in the precise location where Jesus' body was found. And the linens are completely intact, except that there is no body within them. It is like Jesus’ body disappeared or vaporized from right within the linens. How could thieves have taken Jesus' body from within those linens, while leaving the linens completely undisturbed? Wouldn’t it have just been easier to take everything? How could Peter, or anyone for that matter, so brilliantly create the impression that Jesus was miraculously raised right up out of those linens and out of the tomb? And how could they have brain-washed those soldiers into dying for their lie?
Don’t worry. It's not like we crucified the Son of God or anything. We're going to get all of this sorted out. It's all going to make perfect sense. God surely would not come in the flesh, endure the shame of a cross, and die. Let’s be reasonable here.
On the road. Luke 24:13-35
Someone also needs to do some serious Bible study. There were a couple of Jesus' disciples traveling to the village of Emmaus today, which is about seven miles from Jerusalem. What is it with Jesus’ disciples today? These two disciples were talking to each other when, so they claim, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them! Of course they, "didn’t recognize him right away." See, that’s what is strange to me. Why wouldn’t these disciples have recognized Jesus right away? What, did he have a new resurrection body or something? You can’t ask for better stand-up material!
The disciples claim Jesus asked them what they were so downcast for, and about the events that had transpired in Jerusalem over the weekend. So they told him, "Jesus was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” Luke 24:19-24(NIV)
Check this out. Jesus looked at these disciples and said, "'How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."Luke 24:25-27(NIV)
This is where I need a little help. These disciples are encouraging people to read Genesis, which talks about how God will bless all nations through a descendent of Abraham. They are telling people to read Psalm22 and Isaiah 52-53 which prophetically describes Jesus’ crucifixion with precision. In fact, they are quoting hundreds of verses in the Old Testament and all of them seem to suggest that Jesus is the Christ, the promised messiah, the son of the living God.
With the disciples. Luke 24:36-49
Jesus told them explicitly, "This is what I told you when I was with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and Psalms." Luke 24:44(NIV) Tell you this much, the Pharisees, Sadducees, teachers of the Law, chief priests, our elders-- they’re going to have their hands full refuting the case these disciples are presenting about Christ’s identity! The disciplesare convinced that not only did Jesus appear to them, but that they had a meal with Jesus in which he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and shared it with them! They also claim that the rest of Jesus’ disciples, including Peter, saw Jesus and that Jesus even showed them his nail-pierced hands and feet. Next thing we’ll know, there’ll be five hundred disciples claiming to have seen Jesus!
It would be pretty cool though, if Jesus has in fact been raised from the dead. I mean, what if the women were right, and the Roman soldiers are about to be put to death for the truth, and the forensic evidence of the tomb holds true, and the disciples have in fact seen Jesus, and our teachers confirm that the Old Testament does in factspeak about Christ's death, burial, and resurrection?
Now what? Luke 24:50-53
What if Jesus really is the Christ, the Son of the living God? What if Christ has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God? Will God forgive us our sins? Will he give us the hope of eternal life? Will he do the same for us?
I was thinking about a passage of scripture that was read at my synagogue. It was the passage where Ezekiel the prophet is talking about the valley of dry bones. If Christ was raised from the dead, then perhaps there is hope for all Israel. I think it is Ezekiel 37:1-7(NIV) where Ezekiel says "The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' I said, 'O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.' Thenhe said to me,'Prophesy to these bones and and say to them,Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'"
Ezekiel 37:8-14(NIV)continues, "So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. Then he said to me: 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.'"
1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV) says, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
In 1 Corinthians 15:3-7(NIV)Paul says, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."
1 Corinthians 15:19-22(NIV)says, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."
What does it mean for you this day, that Christ has in fact been raised from the dead?