4-4-2016

Good Morning All!!

            1 Corinthians 15: 20-21; “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.”

    I enjoy some of the old mystery stories.  Stories like Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot or Nero Wolfe are interesting.  One of the crucial things to remember about reading or watching really good mysteries is that there are no meaningless clues.  Everything that gets mentioned matters.  This is also true of the different stories in the Bible.

  There are a couple of events in the resurrection story that many wonder about.  In Matthew’s account, the women grab Jesus’ feet. (Matt. 28:9)  Then in Luke 24 Jesus asks for a piece of fish and eats it. (Luke 24:41-43).  These seem like details that don’t matter or are just extraneous.  So what if the women grabbed Jesus’ feet or if he ate fish; what does this matter?  Just like our mystery stories, these facts play a part in the story.

    Again, remember that the books of the Bible, especially the New Testament, were letters written to different new churches and different readers.  There were the original readers, often new to the faith and now we are the second set of readers that the Holy Spirit wants to read these letters.  These new readers still held some of the more common superstitions and beliefs.  These play a part in the stories of grabbing the feet and of eating fish.

    At the time of Jesus, it was believed that ghosts did not have feet.  It was widely believed that ghosts floated along the ground so they did not feet.  When it came to ghosts, they did not eat, they couldn’t eat.  So both of these seemingly meaningless details were simply subtle ways to restate what Easter is all about.  Jesus lives!!  It is not a mirage or a ghost.  It is not the vivid imagination of a few women.  The Gospel writers are giving extra evidence and extra clues to bolster and re-affirm the truth that Jesus rose from the grave.  In this act, Jesus showed his victory over the grave and how now sin, death and the devil are defeated and under His total rule.

    Death no longer needs to hold the terror that it once did.  It is no longer the end.  Death, for the Christian, is only a nap.  Death is only a rest, just like Jesus rested for three days we will rest for a little while.  It is but a time to wait for the return of Jesus.  While our soul goes to heaven, our body waits for the return and the reunion of body and soul in that perfect existence.  We wait for that time when all creation is restored to its perfect state.  We wait with total confidence that our resurrection is assured because Jesus lives we will live also.

Father of all mercy, In Jesus you give us life.  You give us the gift of salvation and with it we have the gift of hope in your eternal promise.  Lead us by your Spirit to walk as you would have us walk.  Lead us so that we are the witnesses for Jesus.  Strengthen our faith; enliven our spirits that we may boldly and tirelessly serve You.  In the precious name of Jesus our risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret