He Is Risen!

 Easter Sunrise 2011                     Matthew 27:45 – 28:10                                                           4/24/11

Passover was approaching. The crowds were beginning to gather in Jerusalem and every available space was filled to capacity. The buzz that filled the streets was about the prophet, Jesus of Nazareth. He’d been arrested and tried and was about to be crucified. Only a few days earlier they had hailed Him as Messiah, but after hearing His messages they had doubts. How could they restore the kingdom of David if they loved their enemies? He was too idealistic.

Many in those crowds must have now thought, “He probably wasn’t the One. How could He be the Deliverer and not even be able to take on the little mob that arrested Him? He wouldn’t even let his disciples fight for him. Barabbas isn’t afraid to stand up to Rome. We made the right choice!” As Jesus was crucified, there was a sense of satisfaction among most of the Sanhedrin, the rulers of Israel. They had saved the nation from a potential uprising that could have developed from people who believed Jesus was Messiah. In doing so, they kept their power and positions intact. There would be no more miracles to incite the crowds. Jesus’ body hanging accursed on a tree would be proof enough that He was not the One. Things would get back to normal. But then the sky started to darken. By noon a shroud of darkness enveloped everything.  At the time of the evening sacrifice, 3PM, people started to panic. Jesus yelled from the cross, “It is finished!” and breathed His last breath. The earth began to shake. The curtain in the temple that set apart the most holy place tore in half from top to bottom. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped and it was light again. The temple priest quickly tried to recover. They continued with the afternoon sacrifice while others tried to cover the tear in the great curtain. Others scattered to assess the damage to the Temple. Slowly, things returned to a semblance of normality.

Did it cross their minds or the minds of the people that they had committed a terrible mistake? Did they think for a moment that they had killed their Messiah to maintain the status quo? But then, Jesus was dead. You couldn’t go back now, so don’t think about the unthinkable. Just throw yourself back into the daily routines and forget about it.  A couple of the men from the Sanhedrin dared to associate themselves with Jesus. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were even going to take Jesus’ body down and bury Him in one of their own tombs.  They could forget about keeping their place on the council. I suppose that most of those religious leaders went to sleep that night trying hard not to think about what had happened that day, but probably ended up dreaming about it, the earthquake, the torn curtain, and Jesus’ prayer from the cross to forgive them.  The next morning they went to the temple before dawn to begin their service. It was the Sabbath. Something wasn’t right. The inner doors were already open. The scarlet cord hanging from the door was still red. It usually turned white after the Passover sacrifice, a miraculous sign from God. It had been worn on the head of the scapegoat and taken off before the goat was driven into the wilderness. Then the cord was hung on the Temple door. The people of Israel took great comfort in knowing the cord turned white. Their history had shown them that it was a miraculous sign that the sins of the people were covered. But there it was just as red as the day it was hung.

Then, after properly washing and dressing, the priests entered the Holy Place. Everyone’s face showed the horror they witnessed. The western most lamp of the Menorah had gone out. It was the one lamp that was to be kept burning at all times. It was the lamp from which the other lamps were lit. But more importantly, it was the lamp closest to the Holy of Holies and represented their communion with God. Special preparation was made to see that it never went out. Perhaps it was the earthquake or the aftershocks, or maybe a trick by Jesus’ disciples. Again, the unthinkable began to nag at their minds and hearts. What had they done? But the day was uneventful. The western most lamp was relit. The gate hinges were checked. Nothing could be done, however, about the scarlet cord. It would turn white or it would not.  It was another night of tossing and turning until they finally woke and went to do their morning rituals. To their surprise the gates were open again! The scarlet cord was still red as it could be. Sure enough, the western lamp was out again. What could it mean? The hinges and latch for the gate were checked again. Special efforts were again to make sure the lamp would not go out. The wick was replaced. The channel for the oil was cleaned. Everything that could be done was done. Now they would have another restless night, wondering what the morning would bring. The next morning they awoke to another earthquake just about dawn. They ran to the temple and there again the same signs they had seen before. The door was open wide, the cord was still red, and the western lamp was out again. Suddenly, soldiers came running in and demanding to speak to the High Priest, Caiaphas. He immediately called the chief priests and elders together. One of the many elders who later became followers of Jesus later told the whole story of what took place.

Matthew 28:11-15 (NIV) ^11b …some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³ telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' ¹⁴ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." ¹⁵ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. Everyone was very nervous about what might happen next. Every morning the same signs appeared, no matter what was done to fix the situation. After awhile they just got in the routine of expecting the door to the temple to be open and the western lamp to be out. Except for the rumors among the followers of Jesus about Him being alive, things went pretty much back to normal. That was the case until the next great Jewish feast, Pentecost. Then all heaven broke loose, but that is another story. (Acts 2:1-4) ¹ When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

For forty years the door in the temple opened each night, and the cord of each Passover remained red. The western lamp went out each and every night. Over time the priests began to see another sign. Every year in the Fall the priest drew lots for the lambs on the Day of Atonement, and every time they drew the black lot for the scapegoat instead of the white one for the sacrifice. The white one was never drawn for 40 years. The odds of that happening are about one in five billion - five hundred million. This is significant to the Jewish people because in the days when Simon the Righteous was the High Priest around the 3^rd Century BC, for 40 straight years he drew the white lot. They knew during that time that God’s favor was upon them. These 40 years of drawing the black lot was an ominous warning of God’s displeasure. Yet His merciful grace extended for forty years. The miracles called out to the people and the priests to recognize their sin and repent. Some did, but most ignored the signs. One of the great Jewish leaders predicted that the open doors of the temple was an indication that the Temple was about to be destroyed. He was right.

At the end of those 40 years the people of Israel chose false Messiahs, revolutionaries, just as Jesus had predicted. (Matthew 24:24)  ²⁴ For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible.  Rome came in and leveled the Temple, putting an end to the whole sacrificial system. What Jesus had cried over as He came down Hosanna Road had come to pass. What I have shared with you has come from the Scriptures and the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmud. Jesus rose from the dead! It was not possible that death could hold Him. (Acts 2:24) says  ²⁴ But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. He is alive and His gates are open to all who will enter in. He is the light of life that illuminates the soul in darkness. He is the light that never goes out. He is your communion with God. Though your sins are as scarlet, in Christ they can become as white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18) says ¹⁸ "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

God chose the white lot. The sacrificial Lamb of God was Jesus. No other sacrifice will suffice. The danger is that we, like the priests of old, go about things business as usual. God is as patient with us as He was with the Jews of the first century, but His patience has limits. He will not restrain us from our own destructive ways forever. He gives us all enough proof for the honest and willing hearts to believe. Will you be one of the few that sees the clear signs recorded even by those who do not believe, and become one of God’s chosen that hears what He has revealed, or will you shut your ears and go back to routines? “If anyone has ears to hear,” Jesus said, “let him hear.” He is risen!

Pastor Bob Hickox   570-412-9202

Choosing Your Lamb

Palm Sunday      (Luke 19:35-44) NIV                                    4/17/11

Jesus had been ministering on the other side of the Jordan River to large crowds. Philip the Tetrarch was one of the few rulers that was not hunting Jesus, so it was a safe place for Him to bide His time until Passover. When Martha and Mary called for Him, He made a trip to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead. Seeing this miracle, the Jewish leaders were all the more resolute   to kill Him. Their jealousy had blinded them to the truth.  From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus seemed to be aware of a specific time in which He was to lay down His life, and this was it. He would have crossed over the Jordan River near Jericho. This is when He healed the blind man, Bartimeaus, who called out to Him, “Have mercy on me, Son of David.” Then He traveled up the Jericho road for the last time. It was the region of the wilderness where Satan first tempted Him when His ministry began just three years earlier. Jesus had already warned the disciples that He was on His way to die. (Mark 10:32-34) says ³² They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him.  ³³ "We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, ³⁴ who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise."

There were four days until Passover. The Jews had many special traditions about this day. Rabbinical tradition says that the doors of the Temple were left open, awaiting the coming Messiah. False messiahs would present themselves on this day, so the Roman army was on high alert, ready for an uprising. In Exodus 12, the Lord instructed the people to choose a sacrificial lamb on this tenth day of the month.

Let us read the Lord’s instruction at the first Passover about selecting the lamb. (Exodus 12:1-7) ¹ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ² "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. ⁴ If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.  The road into Jerusalem would have already been crowded with pilgrims coming into the city to purchase their lamb in keeping with this passage. The very day the crowds were coming to select their lamb; God presented the Lamb He had provided for the sins of the world. At first glance, you would think the people had made the right choice. They were shouting “Hosanna!” and throwing their cloaks before the donkey Jesus was riding and waving palm branches. Had Israel finally found the Lamb of God?

As Jesus reached the crest of this ridge, looking over Jerusalem, He began to wail. In Greek there are two common words for weeping. In John 11, when Jesus came to raise Lazarus, we see both words used. The word used for Jesus weeping in verse 35 means for tears to flow down your cheeks. The word used for the mourners is more of an audible wailing for the loss of a loved one. The latter is the word used in Luke, mourning of the death of someone close to you. It was how the folks in John 11 were crying. It would include loud sobs. The crowds are cheering Jesus entry into Jerusalem, hailing Him as king, and Jesus starts sobbing loudly. What is wrong with this picture? The people are shouting praise for all the miracles they have seen, but what does Jesus see? The Lord wept aloud because they were choosing the wrong lamb. “If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace…”, He said. I wish we could hear it from His own lips. Hearing the way Jesus said it would break our hearts. The Lamb that God offers to the world is a Lamb that will save the soul, not the physical conditions of man. He’ll get to that in time, but that is not His main purpose. He is here to save us from our sin, our rebellion that separates us from God. He has come to free us from the weight of guilt by paying our sin debt for us, opening a way for us to walk with God. He was presenting Himself as a way to have our purpose and dignity restored. But the lamb that the people were choosing was a king of earthly empires, a deliverer from taxation, not a deliverer from sin. Jesus knew this celebrated entry would be followed by a mournful exit on His way to a Roman cross. They were choosing someone to set them free from Rome. Hosanna means ‘save us now’. The palm branches being waved were like a national flag of the Jews.  “Jesus, You lead us to victory over these Romans, and we can live in freedom from their oppression.” Physical freedom is a wonderful thing, but it is nothing compared to the salvation of the soul. But without Jesus you are never truly free.

Jesus looked ahead in time 40 years and saw the destruction that General Titus and his army would bring to Jerusalem. It was the result of their current choice of a lamb. Jesus can see even farther ahead than 40 years. He can look to Judgment Day, when the sheep are separated from the goats. As He does, He sobs for those who will not come to Him for peace, peace with God, and peace of conscience. He lamented, “How often I would have gathered you like a mother hen gathers her chicks, but you would not.” Do you hear the heart of the Son of God? He longs to draw us close to Himself - for our good.  In case you are wondering, could it possibly be, that God became a man, consider His response to these times when man tried to make Him a king. Any normal man would seize the moment of fame and popularity, of acceptance, and ride it for all it was worth. Jesus escaped into the mountain the first time, and wailed in grief the second. Sound like any man you know?  He cries! Hear His heart. His tears show His good intentions for you. Could you doubt the sincerity of a man who is convulsed from head to foot with tears for you? That is the kind of man you can place your trust in. He doesn’t want to use you for His support; He wants your heart! That you did not come long ago grieves His heart. You have already missed years of sweet companionship with Him. Let His tears banish your fears. If you have not come to Jesus for peace with God, He weeps for you like this. Won’t you run to Him this morning and tell Him you will accept His peace.  He not only shed tears for you, but He shed His blood as payment for the penalty of your sin. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and He will remove them as far as the east is from the west. He will even come and live in you! Fellow Christian, we need to let this compassion of Jesus for the lost break our hearts, so that He can cry for the lost through us. Once we are brokenhearted over our own sin, we will begin to be brokenhearted over the destructiveness of sin in others’ lives. There is nothing that will break through the veil of delusion as powerfully as genuine love and compassion.

Some have chosen the lamb of addictions, some have chosen affairs, and some have placed their trust in a lamb of wealth. There are many lambs that can be chosen today. We all pick one kind or another, but the only lamb that is acceptable with God and can make you whole is the unblemished Lamb of God. If you live with any of these other lambs for a season, and if you are willing to be honest, you will see they are all blemished. Trusting in them will not give you peace. They will let you down sooner or later in devastating way. It is lamb selection Sunday. Our compassionate Savior presents Himself to us this morning. He presents Himself to redeem us from our sins. He presents Himself as the Lamb of God to set us free from desires that have ruled our lives. He offers Himself to give us eternal purpose, and like the mother hen, He offers protection and care if you will be gathered to Him. He comes as a liberator.  He sees you have been oppressed and enslaved by sin. He wants you to live in the greatness of all your Creator has planned for you.  A few days later, the crowd that cried “Save us!” would be crying, “Give us Barabbas.” Barabbas was a zealot who murdered some Roman soldiers. The salvation he offered was physical. The hope he offered was in this life, not the next. He did no miracles, but he could kill Romans. Hearing the request for Barabbas Pilate asked, “What shall I do with Jesus?” That crowd that once sang Jesus’ praise cried out, “Crucify Him!” Acceptance of the Lamb of God must be more than a personal hope for things in this life to get better. It has to be a forsaking of this world, and a clinging to the Lamb as your only hope. We can want the Lamb to be our king to accomplish our purposes, instead of His own wonderful plan for our lives.

If you have waited too long, and you know you are ready to choose Jesus, do it this morning. Turn His mourning for you into great joy. I would be happy to pray with you and encourage you in your decision. If you are wondering if Jesus is the right Lamb, I have a challenge for you. Just like the Jews picked their lamb and watched to see if there were any blemishes, why don’t you open your heart and mind to Jesus this morning and spend the time until Easter looking at the book of John in the New Testament, checking out the Lamb? See if He is blemished. See if He is whole. I guarantee that if you spend the week with Him, you will grow attached to Him, just as the Jews did with their lamb. Next Sunday we celebrate the day He did more than cry for you.

Pastor Bob Hickox       570-412-9202

He is our King

 John 19:16b-30                                 Apr 3, 2011

The text of today’s sermon comes from John 19. ^16b So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Pilate was forced into doing the will of the Jewish leadership so he announced “Put the cross on the man.”  We see the passage in Mark that attested to what was happening in Mark 15, says ”Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.”  Then the beam would then be laid across His beaten shoulders, with arms tied to opposite ends. ¹⁷ Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. As Jesus carried the cross, there would be those who saw it as justice for a false prophet that God had cursed.  Others looked on with sympathy, having seen a miracle or heard a teaching that He delivered and wept as He passed by.  One Gospel writer tells us that on the way, Jesus, having lost so much blood and being physically exhausted fell. Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry the cross the rest of the way because Jesus was physically unable to carry it any further and needed help. The place of the skull was probably named because the limestone quarry looked like a skull and was near one of the

gates of the city on a heavily traveled street. Jesus would have been thrown down on the cross beam, his wrists were then nailed to it. He was then raised and lifted up onto the cross beam fitting into a notch on top forming a T. The feet were then nailed, often through the heel or ankle.  For the victim to fill their lungs with air, one had to push either against the nails in the feet or wrists or both, causing intense pain. Some would last for days in the hot Judean sun before succumbing, usually to asphyxiation after the muscles gave out. As Jesus hanged there gasping for breath, the religious leaders mocked Jesus. ⁴² "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.” (Matthew 27:42) He certainly could have, but God had a much greater plan.

¹⁸ Here they crucified him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle. The ones crucified on each side of Jesus are described in Scripture as thieves, but crucifixion was much too severe for the common thief. They may have tried to rob a tax collector or paymaster working for Rome.   ¹⁹ Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. Criminals would sometimes have the name of their crime hung around their neck or carried in front of them. In this case, it was nailed to the top of the T making it into the cross shape with which we are familiar. ²¹ The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews." ²² Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."  He wrote it to mock the Jews, but in reality, Jesus actually was the king they rejected, choosing Caesar instead. God used Pilate’s mockery to declare the truth to the Jewish leaders.  ²³ When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. ²⁴ "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.  They divided up His sandals, belt, head covering and outer garment, a part for each soldier of the squad. The other garment that was woven as one piece was more valuable whole, so they cast lots for it fulfilling the details of the prophecy to both divide and cast lots for His clothes. (Psalm 22:18)

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  The four soldiers’ coldheartedly divided up His clothes as Jesus looked on in agony and while these four women stood in confused grief. What had the angel told Mary? ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." (Luke 1:32-33). It certainly doesn’t look that way now. The disciples had just confessed that they believed He came from God.  They declared His kingdom was at hand, and here He is battered beyond recognition hanging from a Roman cross. Consider how hopeless it all must have seemed to them. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," ²⁷ and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.  Jesus, struggling for breath to speak, took care of his last obligation on earth. As the oldest son, He cared for His mother. ²⁸ Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." “I thirst!” speaks to us of the humanity of Jesus. The cross was not easier because He was the Son of God. He was every bit human, but without sin. We are tempted to think it wasn’t as hard for Him as it would be for us. It was worse. He knew the darkness of sin to a greater extent than we will ever understand, and He took it, along with the physical abuse. We can never understand the assault of hell on Him in those hours of darkness. That is another reason why only He could do this for us, to face the punishment we deserve in our place. Only He could do it because He had no sins of His own to be judged for, and only He could endure the justice our sins deserve and come out victorious.

²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. Thus fulfilling another prophecy, Psalm 69:21, “They gave me vinegar for my thirst.”  Hyssop was used to sprinkle the blood on the doorposts in the Exodus.   One couldn’t make a long stalk that could hold much, but a soldier would only need about a foot extension which matches with what we know historically about the height of the common cross of crucifixion. These are amazing details with amazing connections with the ancient Scriptures and historical facts. What we are reading is a true account. We must never allow ourselves to be hardened to the agony Jesus endured for us.  Now we look back at Jesus asking His disciples and us to take up our cross and follow Him. He isn’t asking us to do anything He wasn’t willing to do Himself. He did this for you. Will you take up your cross and follow Him? ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.  All that the Father had sent Him to do was finished.  Our sin debt was paid in full and that is what Jesus came to do. Then He gave up His spirit. He didn’t just die because of the loss of blood or cardiac arrest. He released His spirit. He said that no one could take His life from Him as only He had the power to lay down His life and to take it up again. Here He used that power to surrender it into the hands of His Father. It was a shout of accomplishment, of victory! So amazing was His conduct in death that one of the four soldiers, a centurion, declared, “Truly this was the Son of God.” (Mark 15:39)

He was dead. Now some of his followers would ask for the body, and one of them would put Jesus in their own grave. It seemed like the end of the promises. It looked like evil had triumphed. How could you have any hope if you were there that dark day?  How can you have hope each and every day of your life no matter how dark things seem? We know this story goes on to produce a wonder that is unimaginable. No matter how disheartening your current situation is, if you are in Christ, then you can know it will not only work for good, but that a glorious future awaits us.  I’m not saying that things will be easy for you along the way, but you can know that your Sovereign Lord has allowed it for your eternal good. He will help you endure and walk with you through it. The face of God was turned from Jesus during those hours of darkness, so that it would never be turned from you during your hours of darkness. Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him. There is a joy set before us as well. Let us persevere in carrying our cross each day for the joy set before us as we follow our great example, our Lord Jesus. Keep your eyes on Jesus and not on the world.  Choosing Jesus is choosing to serve a king, a king who only asks us to do what He has modeled for us, for our good. He’s a king who has graciously provided forgiveness and calls us to abundant life. He’s a king who loves you enough to endure the cross for you.

Pastor Bob Hickox

570-412-9202

He is Alive

John 20:1-18                                               April 10, 2011

Today we will be looking at John 20.  Previously in John, we saw the hopelessness that Jesus’ loved ones must have felt at the crucifixion. And we can understand why the thought of resurrection seemed so out of the question.  At their own expense, they buried Him in an honorable way. It was Friday when Jesus was placed in the tomb and the Sabbath began that evening. The first day of the week began on what we call Saturday evening. By Sunday morning, Jesus had technically been in the grave three days.   

¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. We can tell a lot about this tomb, and we think the opening would have been about three feet high and two foot wide. It probably had a round wheel like stone that sealed the entrance. Inside would be benches along the walls on three sides or a semicircular arch with a bench built into the wall on which the body was laid to decompose.  The other Gospel writers tell us Mary Magdalene came with other women.  The ladies had come on the third day as was customary for Jewish people to mourn the dead and add spices to what had already been placed with the body. The spices were to cover the smell of decomposition. They certainly weren’t there because they expected Jesus’ resurrection. The women probably didn’t know that the stone had been sealed by Rome or about the guards that had been there as that took place after the beginning of the Sabbath. When they arrived, the stone sealing the entrance was already moved out of the way. An angel had moved it, not to let Jesus out, but to let the world in to see the tomb was empty. The grave being left open would have caused them to fear grave robbery or desecration by the enemies of Jesus. Grave robbers were such a problem in that time period that the emperor Claudius would declare it to be a capital offense. The value of the spices, linen, and treasures buried with the dead was a great temptation for people to steal them.  ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"  Apparently Mary went on ahead of the other women with her arriving while it is still dark, but the others are described as arriving at Sunrise. Mary ran to tell the disciples before the other women saw an appearance of angels. After re-telling the story of the empty tomb she went back. The other women also went to the house where the disciples were hiding and told them of the angel announcing the resurrection of Jesus. Though they all heard, only Peter and John acted on it. ³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.  Whether they ran to confirm the fact that the tomb was empty or if they had hope that Jesus had risen we don’t know. Either way, they knew something was going on and they wanted to get to the bottom of it. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Since John is writing this gospel, he is the only one that would have known that detail. John, the youngest, outran Peter, the oldest. It’s not surprising, nor does it seem out of place that John wouldn’t go in, while bold Peter goes straight in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there,⁷ as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. John used a more intense word for the way Peter looked at the grave clothes. The head cloth seemed to be right where it had been on the body of Jesus. The strips of linen that held the spices are mentioned, but the body shroud may have been taken by Jesus for clothing. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.  Peter’s presence in the tomb helped John to have the courage to go on in. What he saw there convinced him that Jesus had risen from the dead. Lazarus had needed assistance to get out of the grave wrappings as told in John 11; Jesus went right through His. The seemingly impossible prediction of rising in three days had come to pass. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) The word for Scripture here is singular. It would be that evening, with the help of Jesus, that they would be able to start to connect the dots with Jesus’ life and many prophetic expressions in the Old Testament. If they would have already made those connections, it would have been easier for them to believe the words of Jesus that after three days He would rise from death. Our connection of the Word with our daily life is what gives us faith to believe what Jesus is doing each day. ¹¹ but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. Mary finally saw the angels that the other women had seen. Apparently Mary has not yet heard what they told the other women. (Matthew 28:5-7) ⁵ The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.  ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

¹³ They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." We must sometimes really confuse angels. Her Lord is risen from the dead, made it possible for her to have eternal life, made her justified before God and she’s crying! Where was her faith? The angels must feel that way about us at times too. We have all that Mary had and more. We have the Word in our hands, two thousand years of church history, the presence of the Holy Spirit and we go about whining. I can just hear those angels, where is your faith? You are a chosen son or daughter of God. The righteousness of Christ has been credited to you. You have everlasting life!” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. Through her tears and with her last recollection of Jesus as a lifeless mangled corpse, she assumed it was the only other man that would be there that early, the groundskeeper. ¹⁵ "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." Jesus asks the same question the angels asked, but also added the “who”. There He stood! Sometimes we are crying our eyes out, asking for Jesus to show up and help us through our difficulty, and all the while He is right there speaking with us. Our tears blind us from the answer right in front of us. Jesus has a way of breaking through when we are truly seeking Him. ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). How did He break through? He called her name. She knew how He said it. She knew the sound of His voice calling to her. Perhaps He had a special way of saying it to distinguish her from all the other Marys. (Proverbs 8:17) says ¹⁷ I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. ; (John 10:4) ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. It is the same for each of us. Jesus has a way that breaks through our preoccupation with daily routines.  For the Apostle Paul and many of us, it is a recollection of our conversion. The Spirit of God has a phrase and a memory to break through to me, and He has a way to break through to each and every one of you. If you don’t know what it is already, ask Him to show you. We’ll each have our own special name, like the way Jesus called to Mary Magdalene. I imagine it will have something to do with the way He tenderly speaks to us even now. ¹⁷ Jesus said "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"  I think that Mary had just gone through the most heart wrenching physical separation of her life. She finally found someone who loved and valued her. She finally found a reason to believe she was truly made in the image of God, and then that person that had brought so much healing to her soul was brutally murdered.  Suddenly there He was, alive again, and she didn’t want to ever let Him go. Jesus knew her heart and did not want to cause her more pain. She could not cling to His physical presence. He must ascend to the Father. The cycle of what He had come to do was almost complete. He would not allow her to be attached to His physical presence because it was time for her to know His spiritual presence. The wording of that command gives us some insights as to the change that resurrection had brought. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say He is ascending to our Father and God. There is a difference in our relationship with God and His. He is the only begotten Son.  Our relationship with God is based on Jesus’ relationship with God.  But also notice that for the first time Jesus calls the disciples “brothers”. In spite of the great difference of Creator and creation, we have been adopted as sons of God and accepted as brothers of Jesus.

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her. Mary will be the first in a string of people to be witnesses of the resurrection. Peter will see the Lord. (1Corinthians 15:5) ⁵ and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. Cleopas and his friend will too. (Luke 24:18) ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?" Then Jesus will appear to the whole group. Everyone needs to look at the empty tomb and realize what it means. Jesus has conquered death. God accepted His sacrifice for our sins, and we can rise to new life with Him. The Resurrection means Jesus has reconciled us with God. (Romans 4:25) says ²⁵ He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. We must have a personal encounter with Jesus that brings us to a personal relationship that is intimate. He is our rabboni, Master & teacher. And finally, if the relationship means that much to us, we will surely tell those that we meet of how He has changed our life. We will tell them how the grave is empty and that He lives within our heart. He’s alive, and that makes all the difference in this world and the next!   

Pastor Bob Hickox

570-412-9202

Baccalaureate service - Political Correctness

Here we go again with some political correctness gone amuck.  Last week Cedar Cliff High School has sent a notice to parents and students that they will no longer host a baccalaureate service before graduation.  Gauging today’s intolerance for anything remotely religious it seems fitting that a standard tradition goes the way of the 10 Commandments and prayer in school further degrading our society and leading young people into the abyss.

The notice says that the West Shore School District received a complaint (imagine that) last summer that the program could cross constitutional boundaries separating church and state, since Cedar Cliff staff helped plan and hosted the religious ceremony in the high school auditorium.  One individual complaint is enough to once again scuttle a tradition that has been in place for years.  What seems to be different on this case from others is that the school district is actually planning and putting on the baccalaureate program.

When I graduated high school back in the 1970’s (from the liberal bastion of Lewisburg) we still had a baccalaureate program that was somewhat planned by the school but then held in Rooke Chapel at Bucknell University.  When my sons graduated from Milton HS, they each had the service held at a local church put on by the local pastors. Both services were voluntary but well attended.  The graduates that I talked to really thought the service was special.

Most schools in Pennsylvania stopped hosting the service several years ago and now Cedar Cliff is joining the group.  Pacificjustice.org from California says that schools can still hold the service in the host school.  Schools must turn over the interworkings of the baccalaureate program to a school religious club, a group of churches, or a single church.  There service can be still held at the school providing the group physically rent the auditorium from the school which is legal.  However, there are advantages to holding the service in an offsite location just to remove all appearance that the school has anything to do with it.

Nick Pantalone, student council president, said "I was shocked because it's been this way for such a long time," he said. "That's how society is nowadays. I guess I could see it coming, but I'm not happy with the results."

Unfortunately Nick is right.  There is always one party, one complaint, one disgruntled person that has to ruin a great school event just because there are religious overtones to it.  We are without a doubt marching to Gomorrah, make that running towards Gomorrah.  But you must ask yourself this one question – why doesn’t anyone fight to keep religious traditions going?  Administrators are so eager to throw Christianity under the bus in the name of being PC.