Tag Archives: resurrection appearance

May 18, 2023 · 12:00 am

Ascension Day

Clothed with Power from on High

There is much speculation in today’s Church concerning the date of Jesus’s return to the earth. Little has changed. This same concern was on the mind and hearts of the early disciples. From Acts we read:

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”   (Acts 1:6-8)

Jesus did not answer his disciples directly. Rather, he told them that there was a more important consideration for his Church. They were to be witnesses to his resurrection. From Luke we read:

“Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”   (Luke 24:46-49)

There would be two essential ingredients to witnessing for Christ: 1) they were to proclaim the repentance and forgiveness of sins, and 2) that they would be clothed with power from on high. Does not sound like a seeker church with a watered down Gospel/

The Church DOES not need to blend into the world and, thus, have little relevance. We need to be clothed with the Holy Spirit in order to fulfill our calling. The age of the apostolic faith is not over. We are now the apostles.

Are we equipped for ministry? If not, let us ask for power from on high. Jesus promises to baptize us in the Holy Spirit. He has called us to do his greater works. Now is not the time to shrink back or hide behind man-made doctrines or traditions.

The questions the angels asked the disciples on the day of ascension is still applicable to us:

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”   (Acts 1:11)

We do not have time to waste. Let us get on with the true task of the Church. Jesus may come at any moment. We should be living holy lives with our lamps full of oil all the time. Our concern must be for the lost. That is the heart of God. We were once lost and someone witnessed to us. Will we not witness to others? If we love Jesus then we will obey his command and commission..

His great commission is all the more important today as we approach the close of the Church age. Jesus speaks to us today:

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”   (Acts 1:8)

Waiting on the return of Jesus is not our mission. The world is waiting on us. Jesus Christ living in us is the witness that the world needs to see. They need to see Jesus.

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April 23, 2023 · 12:00 am

Third Sunday of Easter

Breaking of the Bread and Heart

Our goal should be to walk with God as did Enoch. We have the cross to prepare us that Enoch did not have. What if Jesus came alongside us to help us? He did this for the  two disciples on the road to Emmaus:

Now on that same day two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?”   (Luke 24:13-35)

The disciples say Jesus was a stranger who did not know what was going on. That is how the world sees Jesus. Worldly people are not prepared to listen to him. These disciples were confused, but they were hungry for the truth.

They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.”   (Luke 24:13-35)

These disciples were confused, but they were hungry for the truth. Jesus enlightened them:

“Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.   (Luke 24:13-35)

We are often slow of heart to believe. The scriptures can open our hearts. Let us always ask the Holy Spirit to assist us in our understanding of them. W#hen our faith and hope are set on God we are no longer confused by the culture of this world:

If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.   ()

The Apostle Peter is writing that we learn to trust God because he has raised his Son from the dead as God planned from the beginning. Our understanding of the depth and breadth of God’s love is tied to the cross and resurrection.

Jesus fully reveals himself to his traveling companions in the breaking of the bread, a clear reference to the Holy Communion. First came the teaching of the scriptures and then the Communion. Both are required for us to fully know Jesus:

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.   (Luke 24:13-35)

The disciples said: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” Their hearts were warmed by the truth of the Gospel. Jesus opens the eyes f their hearts.

We need more than a head knowledge of Jesus. We need heart knowledge as well Jesus wants to open the scriptures for us. They are primarily about him and have always been.

Are we on our road to Emmaus? There may be times when we feel confused or frustrated. We need to get beyond ourselves. Jesus said:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.   (Matthew 11:28-29)

The yoke we take on from Jesus is not one that we bear ourselves. Jesus comes alongside us and helps us carry his yoke. Then it is easy for us, provided we let him. He is risen, but his Spirit is still with us. Let us remember to give others our testimony or how he warmed our hearts and reassured us that all is well with our souls.

 so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.   ()

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April 16, 2023 · 12:00 am

Second Sunday of Easter

Witnesses to the Resurrection

The first witnesses to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ were women. The disciples of Jesus were skeptical of their testimony. Jesus shared his resurrection first with those whose hearts were open to what Je

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”   (John 20:19-31)

The disciples had locked themselves in out of fear. How many of us today are bound by fear? Faith overcomes fear. Notice that. Jesus did not condemn his disciples. God’s perfect love casts out fear.

Thomas was willing to follow Jesus to Jerusalem when others were fearful. He said: “Let us go to Jerusalem with Jesus so that we may die with him.

Thomas missed out on the resurrection of Jesus before his disciples. He was given an up close and personal view by Jesus:

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”   (John 20:19-31)

Thomas could see Jesus in a resurrected body. Jesus was not a spirit. He had flesh that was marked by his wounds from the cross. We can be hard on Thomas, but no one had ever been resurrected from the dead.

A Psalm of David prophesied that a Holy One would die but his body would not see corruption or decay:

I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.   (Psalm 16:8-10)

When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, he quoted this psalm:

“Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,

‘He was not abandoned to Hades,
nor did his flesh experience corruption.’

This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.”   (Acts 2:22-32)

Jesus did not decay. His body did not remain in the tomb. He is risen so that we, too, may be raised up. Do we feel his resurrect today? Do we experience his Holy Spirit working in us?

We did not have the opportunity to touch his wounds as did Thomas.  But Jesus has touched our wounds. He has redeemed us and made us his own. Peter wrote:

Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.   (1 Peter 1:3-9)

Though we were not there, we are witnesses of The Resurrection. Other people to hear about salvation.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”   (Romans 10:13-15)

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April 9, 2023 · 8:58 am

Resurrection Sunday: Early Easter Service

The Lord is Risen

Romans 6:3-11
Matthew 28:1-10
Psalm 114

Today we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know that he rosed bodily from the dead in many ways. The world changed: art, culture, education, government, literature, and music. Anyone who has seriously studied world history cannot escape this fact. Fortunately, we have eyewitness accounts of the resurrection:

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 worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Mary Magdalene was a woman who loved Jesus so much as to follow him to the cross when many of his disciples deserted him. The disciples of Jesus did not want to believe her at first. when she said that “Jesus has risen.” They needed to see Jesus alive for themselves. Jesus made good on his promise. A group of downtrodden disciples, against all odds, overcoming massive resistance and persecution, birthed a Church that has offered a life-changing experience for believers down to this day.

The Apostle Paul had a life-changing experience. He was once the Pharisee Saul who persecuted the Church. His whole life changed after he had an encounter with the risen Lord. Perhaps the greatest missionary of the Christian faith, he wrote the following:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Today we celebrate two resurrections. The resurrection of Jesus is also our resurrection, provided that we are united to him. And how are we united? We are united by the cross. It is there that Jesus gave up himself on our behalf.

Paul wrote:

Let the same mind be in you that was[a] in Christ Jesus,

who, though he existed in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    assuming human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human,
    he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death—
    even death on a cross.

Therefore God exalted him even more highly
    and gave him the name
    that is above every other name,
so that at the name given to Jesus
    every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.   (Philippians 2:5-11)

Are we willing to give all of ourselves to Jesus each day? If so, today is surely a resurrection day for us all. We are united with him and we share in his victory over sin, Hell, and death.

Halleluiah, we have risen with Christ Jesus!

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