Dead is Dead

Read Mathew 27:57-66

Christianity starts with the claim that something unexplainable happened. No doubt about that! Before you get lost in the 21st century assumption that any sane mind can’t go there, you need to understand that even when Jesus resurrection happened, on face value it could not be understood.

For both the Greco/Roman culture and the Jewish culture of the time, dead is dead. The pagan world knew the body is done, used up. Perhaps there may be some shady spiritual existence but nothing that could really be called life in the physical sense. Some Jews agreed and some thought there would be a physical resurrection of God’s chosen people when the world came to an end and God brought about a new beginning.
Jews and Romans agreed that Jesus’ tomb must be sealed. It was common Jewish practice to roll a stone closing the doorway of a tomb to keep scavengers away from the body as it decomposed. Later the remaining bones would be collected ceremonially and deposited in a sarcophagus. Jesus tomb was also sealed and guarded, presumably to assure that no person broke into the tomb.

The nonsense is that the stone could not keep Jesus’ dead body inside the tomb from coming out resurrected. Huh? One man physically alive after proven dead. It goes against all we have learned about death all of our life. This nonsense requires that we redefine what makes sense.
Prayer: Ask God to open your eyes to see his truth and look at the world in his nonsensical way.

Say What?

Read Luke 24:1-12

When you bump into nonsense that can’t be ignored, you first have to check the input. Perhaps there is a misunderstanding of the event, so we have to check the eyewitnesses. This means you have to accept the eyewitness accounts of the Gospels. They may be ancient, but they were carefully documented at the time and preserved by the people who have had their life turned upside down by this account of the event. Are you ready to entertain their testimony?

First, there is no doubt about Jesus’ death. Both Jews and Romans of the time record the fact. But what happened next? The Gospels carefully list the details and witnesses to Jesus’ burial. A ghostly or dream visitation would have been “acceptable” by all the worldviews of the time, but the eyewitnesses all describe an experience of a physically alive person they knew to be dead.

The first testimony involves finding the tomb open and the body missing. Of course our mind, and theirs, too, assumes someone has broken in and taken the body away. No other explanation makes sense. That’s when an angel speaks up and tells us to think outside the box, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” He’s pushing the mind into territory that would be unbelievable.

This isn’t just a physical resuscitation, but a resurrection to another kind of living (John 20:11-18). Physical normality is witnessed, eating and touching (Luke 24:36-42, John 20:24-29). Yet there is something beyond understanding in his comings and goings. This is a new kind of living, but before we can try to understand it, the fact of seeing Jesus’ resurrection as truth causes us to rewind the tape and listen again to the other unbelievable things he said and did. Can I believe them? Yes, because he rose from death!

Prayer: Consider a world of new possibilities opened by the resurrected Jesus. Describe to God how this shifts your perspective of life.

Who Is He?

People today may claim to be God… or superman. Depending on how much a nuisance or danger they are we may ignore them, medicate them, or lock them up. But if after their death and burial, they knocked on your door for a chat, you’d be having a different conversation. No one has ever done this… except Jesus.

The Jewish authorities understood Jesus’ claim to be so closely connected to God as to be one with him. They’d heard him claim complete authority to act beyond the constraint of the Law that bound the Jews because he is the Lord of the Sabbath. They’d seen him confront their authority over the functions of the Temple in Jerusalem, God’s House, acting like he owned the place. People’s response to Jesus challenge of the status quo was popular, but the authorities couldn’t accept such a challenge to their own power.

The Romans see the crowds forming and worry about a religious/political uprising against their occupation. A man claiming to be God is nothing new. The guy they work for back in Rome has that title. A show of force will silence any other comers. But then, none of the dead Caesars who made that claim had come back from death.

So, who is this Jesus, this rabbi, this lamb led to the slaughter? The story of his death fits the definition of a poor pawn caught in events. The truth of his resurrection causes us to redefine God as someone who has lived among us and has given his life so that we can have a new definition of life. Not nonsense, but a new understanding of sense. Why did the disciples redefine their lives and put their life on the line? Because Jesus rose from death. WOW!

Prayer: Read Romans 8:31-39 and take all your questions about God alive with you to Jesus.

What Did He Say?

So, if that’s who he is, God among us, we better listen again to what he said. “Jesus went to Galilee preaching the Message of God: “Time’s up! God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.” Mark 1:14&15 MSG Those words, the kingdom of God … here, ring throughout Jesus’ teaching. The word “here” opens up two issues – time and place.

The first century Jews had been longing for God’s Kingdom here for centuries. The return from the Babylonian exile did not result in a kingdom, much to their disappointment. They’re sure about where it should be (Israel) constantly asking God “when?”

When Jesus describes God’s Kingdom, see Matthew 13, 20, 22, 25, he doesn’t talk about the political boundaries of “here” that Judaism was longing for, but rather talks about the immediacy of both time and place for every individual. God’s Kingdom is not someplace else we go some day. Jesus the King declares every space he occupies as his Kingdom, and that’s everywhere – now. The Kingdom is a seed sown in a field mixed with weeds, it is mustard seed small but loaded with potential, it is treasure hidden in a field, a priceless pearl, it is an inclusive net, and the King is generous and wants everyone to be in the party.

Jesus essentially is saying – your idea of Kingdom is too small for God. Let’s kick it up a notch. If it were true, it would be good news. That’s why the crowds formed. But who could believe it? Anyone who is confronted with a risen Jesus!

Prayer: Use our Risen Lord’s Prayer – Our Father, -and ask him to show you His kingdom around you here and now.

What Do I Do?

My head is reeling! The nonsense of a resurrected Jesus, makes me realize that the reality I’ve always accepted is a broken nightmare out of sync with his Kingdom. Hopelessness is dispelled by hope. Can I believe this? Faith in the New Testament covers the vast territory of trust and trustworthiness. I can trust God because he is trustworthy. Jesus’ resurrection proves that his words are trustworthy. I can trust him to show me the new sense of life in his Kingdom.

Faith also covers the spectrum that stretches from love to loyalty. “God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.” John 3:16 GW Do you see the expanse of love and loyalty God has shown you? The truth of his love and loyalty is what the Holy Spirit uses to transform you. Faith works on your heart till you resemble the love and loyalty of the resurrected Jesus.

Faith says, through the power of the Holy Spirit who has instigated faith in the nonsense of God, that nonsense has become sense. Jesus is King? Yes! His Kingdom here and now? Yes! My life redefined by trust and trustworthiness into love and loyalty? Yes, I can do that! Nonsense can transform me with a living, active faith. Living in the Kingdom means being Jesus’ agent, resisting the nightmare around us with his love and loyalty for everyone in the world. We can share the new reality defined by God’s love for us. Ready to look, live, and love more like Jesus… and help others to do the same?

Prayer: Read Romans 1:1-7 and listen to Paul whisper God’s truth into your ear. Then sit in silence and let the Holy Spirit whisper his Kingdom plan into your ear. Ask for a full measure of love and loyalty.