Showing posts with label Easter Sermons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter Sermons. Show all posts

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Mark 16 - The Resurrection applied between Unbelief and Grace


The sequence of our Easter meditations at Eastside has followed the chronology  of Scripture:
(i) Palm Sunday -  Jesus received  with Hosanna’s  
(ii) Thursday - the night that He was betrayed, Jesus celebrated the Passover and instituted what we now know as the Lord’s Supper. 
(iii) Friday - the cross  
(iv) Saturday -  the silent  day when Jesus rested  on the Sabbath  day from  His finished  work  on the cross  
(iv) Sunday,   the first day of the week (16:2) -  the day of the Resurrection. 
Everything happened, just as Jesus had said earlier in Mark 8:31; Mark 9:31 and Mark 10:33-34.  
He had said that He would be killed and after three days He would rise again.

On this Resurrection Sunday  I want us to consider Mark 16 which  is not often used because of the controversial ending. I need to briefly  comment  on that note in your  Bibles  which says concerning  the ending to Mark’s gospel, “Some of the oldest oldest and most reliable New Testament manuscripts   do not include Mark 16:9-20.  
The oldest manuscripts referred to here are the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus. The King James Bible of 1611 contains vv. 9-20 without the footnote because the translators of this version used the Textus Receptus, the text handed down through the church age.  Since 1611, however, older manuscripts have been discovered, notably in 1844 when the archaeologist Constantin von Tischendorf discovered ancient manuscripts at the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mt. Sinai. These documents did not include vv. 9-20.The conclusion has therefore been that these verses were added later.  This may disturb some and you wonder whether there has not more tampering in the Bible. We can put your fears to rest. When these more ancient documents were discovered by von Tischendorf in 1844, and later the discovery of the Dead sea scrolls [1]from 1946 onwards, it was found that there were some discrepancies with the Textus Receptus, but not of a major nature. No major or even minor doctrine was affected by the differences. 

But what can we say about what is taught in vv. 9-20?  Apart from verses 17 and 18 there is nothing unusual or controversial here. It is entirely in harmony with the other gospels. So, we are free to focus on the great theme of this chapter, namely the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this chapter we see two repeated thoughts concerning the resurrection:  
The first is, “They did not believe”
The second is, “He appeared“. 

These two phrases dominate the content of Mark Chapter 16. Let’s consider them in greater detail  

1.     The ever present problem of unbelief

Think about this.  Nobody lived physically closer to Jesus than these people here mentioned in our text.  They were privileged to see with their own eyes His real miracles and the evidence of His sinless life. They were privileged to hear His convicting preaching. They heard him say on numerous occasions that He would be killed, buried and raised again.   The sobering reality is that against all this no-one   of Christ’s close associates really believed Him when He said that He would rise from the dead!  Whilst we take note of the recurring “unbelief“ of all concerned, we must not read ‘unbelief’ here as something of a final fact.  These people all had loved Jesus deeply in life.  They were missing him sorely now. They mourned and wept (16:10).  Mary Magdalene owed him her very life, for Jesus had cast out 7 demons from her (16:9). The two walking in the country (16:12) were according to Luke  (24: 13-35) talking about these things on the road to Emmaus. It is clear that they were depressed at this thought   that Jesus had been crucified and buried in a grave. They had no expectation of His resurrection.   The language of the text reveals this.  Now again, this has nothing to do with cynical unbelief. In their minds they were simply not able to bring themselves to believe that Jesus would come back from the dead, even though He had proven that He had the power over death in the raising of Lazarus in John 11. 

Now let’s take a look at a cross section  of these people.

The women: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, after the Sabbath was past, and  early on Sunday morning  they went to  the tomb  to anoint the dead body of Jesus. That in itself is a sign of unbelief. If Jesus said that He would rise on the third day, then there was actually no need to buy and apply these funeral spices. All they needed to do was to wait for the resurrection! But they clearly did not expect the resurrection. So, when they came to the tomb the next day (the first day of the week) they saw that the tomb stone had been rolled away, but still they made no connection. John records that Mary Magdalene had run back to tell Peter about this. She reported (note the language of unbelief) … “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” (Jn. 20:2,13). No thought of the resurrection. Even when Jesus appeared to her a little later,   she thought that He was the gardener (Jn. 20:15) supposing that he might have carried the body of Jesus away. Only when Jesus addressed her by her name, “Mary[2], did she recognise Him.   This is the power of unbelief! There are none as blind as those who will not see!  A closed mind chooses to see what it wants to see.  This is what we are up against when we share the Gospel!  However, as I have reminded you, this is not cynical unbelief- and yet we shall see that it is still sinful unbelief.

The disciples:  the angel at the tomb confirms the fact of the resurrection to the women: “Do not be alarmed, you seek   Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here … but go and tell  his disciples  and Peter  that he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he has told you” (vv. 6,7). When they told the grief stricken disciples, they too would not believe her. Even though they have heard the Lord Jesus speaking to them plainly about His resurrection they did not hear Him!  Observe the power of the closed mind, the stuck mind, the power of unbelief! We all engage in selective hearing. We all choose to hear what we want to hear! The doctrine of election is a classic case. How many of us have not initially refused to hear this clear biblical truth and were angry with those that preached it? Jesus repeatedly challenges us to consider carefully how we hear, e.g. Mk 4:9,23,24; 8:18

The 2 men on the Emmaus road : In vv. 12 &13 we find an incident  which described in greater detail in Luke’s gospel (Lk. 24:13-32). Two men are walking on the road to Emmaus. Lost in grief and depressed about the things that had happened to Jesus in Jerusalem, ‘their eyes were kept from recognising him’ (Lk.24:16) as He joined them. Later He opened their eyes to recognize Him (Lk.24:31).  For the first time we are helped to see the remedy for unbelief,… they were helped to see !

The 11 disciples: In v.14 we find   the 11 disciples  in Galilee when Jesus suddenly  joins them. We read, “...and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.”  This is an important insight. Jesus categorizes this unbelief as a sinful hardness of heart!

Now, you may say, “I believe in the resurrection of Jesus with all my heart“.  We, modern New Testament believers, having been exposed to the Easter story for so many years find it easier to believe in the resurrection than the women and the disciples, because we have become so used to hear this familiar story!  So let’s see whether we cannot try another avenue to test our own tendency to unbelief. If you believe in the resurrection of Christ and do not question this because the resurrection is now an established, historical fact, then do you also believe in the second coming of the Lord Jesus?  To get close up and personal: are you living in the constant anticipation of His appearing, whether by your death or by His personal appearing in the clouds? And does it make a difference to the way in which you live now and make decisions now? Do you get the point?

2.      He  Appeared!

This is the act of Grace: He appeared to deal with their unbelief! 
He appeared - this phrase is repeated 3 times in vv.9-20:  
(i) 16:9 “He appeared first to Mary Magdalene” 
(ii) 16:12he appeared in another form to two of them” 
(iii) 16:14Afterward He  appeared to the Eleven themselves...”. 

He  came to   deliver  His beloved people  from  unbelief  by His post  resurrection appearances. And these were not the only.   In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8  the apostle Paul speaks of many more resurrection appearances,  “…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.”  
Paul wrote these words about 20 years after the resurrection. Many of those who met the risen Jesus Christ were still alive at that time. From Paul’s perspective the evidence for the resurrection is utterly overwhelming!  And the resurrection appearances were not that of a ghost. This was   a physical Christ!  He spoke to Mary. He spoke to the men on the Emmaus road. They also had a meal together on that occasion.  The apostles ate fish that Christ had caught and prepared at the seaside. Ghosts don’t do breakfast for their friends!

He appeared says Mark three times. He appeared, says Paul 4 times in the letter to the Corinthians just quoted.  Peter says the same thing in Acts 10:39-41 in the home of a Roman soldier: “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name”

This is what we also affirm today on this Resurrection Sunday. He appeared! And He will appear again  at the second coming.   We have to get over the fact that supernatural is not irrational! Yes, we do not understand how a man can die and live again, but are we saying and assuming that we can know everything? Surely our own experience tells us that we don’t know everything!  
There is the planet Mars, and we have a rover there, but the truth is that we know very little about Mars. But we know that Mars is  there, and we trust that we will see more of it  in years to come. The Resurrection of Jesus is a fact. The evidence is there, and Jesus took care to present the evidence in His post resurrection appearances. He knows how weak and unbelieving we are, and so He took care to strengthen our faith by His post  resurrection appearances.  Don’t be slow to believe all that is written  in the Scriptures.    And thank Him that He works even this day  to overcome our unbelief  with Grace. Thank God for the  gift  of the  illuminating work of the  Holy Spirit given  to us at Pentecost.  

Where does the knowledge of the Resurrection leave us? 

The ending of Mark (16:15-20) like Matthew 28:18-20 leaves us with the Great Commission: The resurrection leaves us with an evangelistic duty.
For almost six weeks before the Ascension,   the Lord Jesus Christ was with the disciples and then He gave them a great commission.  He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned”.  (vv. 15,16)
Go and tell!  Do not be unbelieving, tell people about His  life, death  and resurrection.
Verse  20 tells  us,   and they went out  and preached everywhere.” They went out and it was not long before their world knew that there was a resurrected  Saviour  whom God had sent  to save those who would believe in Him, from their sins.  Soon there were believers everywhere – in Rome, in Corinth, Ephesus …in every major city in Asia minor in the Roman and  Greek world,  and spreading into  North Africa and Europe and  into the Far East. Many of them experienced persecution and sufferings; numbers lost their lives doing this work. They endured it all. Would they have done this if they weren’t convinced that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead and had commanded them to go? What else can explain the fact of the growth of the church in the world today?  Do not be unbelieving… Grace has been given  to you not only to believe but to be  active in the sharing of your faith?  Does your neighbour  know  about Jesus? 
Cure the unbelief of the world by the proclamation of the grace of God !

Friday, March 25, 2016

Isaiah 52: 13-15 GOOD FRIDAY "He was wounded for our transgression"

Today we remember “Good Friday”.  It is a good  day, not  because Jesus died a horrible death  at the hands  of horrible, sinful people. It is a good day because on this day  God, in Christ provided an answer  to a terrible dilemma  which we  could not  fix.  This is the day when  we remember that the perfect, sinless Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Lord   Jesus,  gave His  life in exchange for  all those who trusted in His Name and in His work  for them. This is the day   on which  the Lord Jesus Christ provided an effective cure  for  the  problem of sin. This is the day  when   redemption  became a reality. 

This is the day  when our sin died with Christ on the cross (Col.2:14,15). This is the day when  Christ  paid for the penalty  for  our sins. Oh,  how our God knows how to turn tragedy into triumph!

On Palm Sunday  we worked through   most of the 52nd chapter of Isaiah. The ESV entitles  verses  1- 12,   “The Lord’s coming salvation”,  and I showed you  on that Sunday  how aptly  this text fitted  into the context of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.[1]  In the 4 gospels  we see  that Christ came  riding  into Jerusalem  in a most unassuming manner, as a servant [2] on a donkey, and yet the crowd shouted  “Hosanna”  (save  we pray! Cf. Psalm 118:25 ). Now combine that  with the fact  that  Jesus’  name  means,   “Yahweh saves[3], and  then we understand that Jesus’   journey into Jerusalem was   for the purpose of  saving His people  from their sins.  But  more than that, He  did not just ride  into Jerusalem to preach good news – the gospel.  Jesus Himself was the gospel! He Himself  was the good news in person, riding   into Jerusalem   to do for His people what they  could never  have done for themselves. They were so weighed down by their own  sins and  so weighed down by their  nation’s  sins.   As a result they had  experienced  themselves  forsaken by God (Isa. 49:14).   People were acutely aware of their need for a Saviour. The truth of Isaiah’s prophetic preaching (e.g. Isa.  45:22-24 ; 48:1,2)   was ever before them, even while they were experiencing the physical threats of the  assault of the Assyrians.  It is into this  spiritual  darkness  that the prophet  Isaiah speaks  his twin messages of  doom and  encouragement.  This  is nothing new as you may recall from  passages  such as Deuteronomy  28, in which God spells out  blessings for obedience  and curses for disobedience.

Thus,  Jesus came riding into a city  so burdened with  a sinful history  and  burdened with present idolatry. He came riding into  the city  of David which had  been favoured  with so  many  blessings in the past – the temple, God’s  manifest presence, the priesthood, all which was  designed  to  be  a blessing from  God  to serve  the people, helping them to remain focussed on God in this earthly journey  …  and yet, all that blessing was now terribly abused  and  empty  of  the true presence of God.  So Jesus, the gospel in person,   entered  the city  to save a people  who could not save themselves, and  Isaiah  with  joy  sees the servant of God  by faith and  by the Holy Spirit he declares: “How beautiful upon the mountains  are the feet of  him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness , who publishes  salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns.” etc. (52:7-10). 
And please note,   He comes not only to Zion, symbolic of  the heart of Israel’s  existence, but Isaiah also   declares, “The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall  see the salvation of our God.”  Thus Jesus, the Saviour came to die not only for the chosen Jews, but  He came  to die  for all the chosen people among  all the nations. As I said  on Palm Sunday, so I say again : This is BIG!

And so  this  amazing  pre-amble, the  triumphal entry  in the ‘gospel of Isaiah’  (53:1-12)   gives way to   Isaiah  52:13-53:12, that legendary and mind boggling text  which describes  the death  and resurrection of Christ,  more than 700 years before it actually happened.  Just in passing we  also want to remember that it was this text that puzzled the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts  8:26-40, until  God miraculously sent an expositor  called  Philip   to  his side, explaining that this  scripture  containing information concerning the  mysterious suffering servant,  was nothing less  than  the good news about Jesus  (Acts 8:35). When  the eunuch saw that  he  believed in Jesus there and then and   he was  baptised,  and he went  on his way to his country rejoicing!

Our  chosen text begins with these words : Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. (Isa. 52:13-15)

Let us now consider  the  closing  3 verses of Isaiah 52. Josh Hooker will pick up on  Isaiah  53 tomorrow  morning ,  the silent day of Easter, the day that Jesus  was in the grave .

TAKE  ANOTHER  CAREFUL  LOOK AT THE SERVANT ! (V. 13)

"Behold my Servant.”   Stop, and look at Him! … says Isaiah.  This one who came riding into Jerusalem, unassuming, on a donkey,  this servant  ….look at Him!  Do not be fooled by His unassuming appearance! Do not be fooled by His humility! What He is about to do  is stupendous!  Behold ! (Look!), says John the Baptist , the Lamb of God  who  takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29,36) “Behold, my servant shall act wisely…”. This is the  servant  of God, and as such  He will act wisely. Another way to read this, according to the footnote  is,  “my servant  shall prosper”. Notwithstanding the fact that He looks so very  unpromising, He will succeed in this  divine mission. This text sets the  direction for the rest of the chapter.  Because  the servant  acts with wisdom,  the prosperity  or  the success  of his mission is guaranteed. Now this is very important  to understand, since at face value  you may not see  Christ’s  identity with the poor,  and the powerless  and the sinful  and  weak, and  you may not see His unassuming  entry  into Jerusalem,  and then His cruel trial and death in terms of a success story. And so we ask the question as we contemplate Good Friday: What good can come out of a suffering servant? The prophet, speaking for God maintains:“Behold my Servant  shall act   wisely”. He will prosper…  We are  of course privileged to know the story from the other side of the cross. We  now know  and appreciate the wisdom of Jesus as   He  rode into Jerusalem,  as He was  tortured by cruel men, as He was crucified  and as He rose again. We  now know that this was the wisdom of God.  He did prosper. He did succeed, and we are amazed at the wisdom of God, so contrary to the wisdom and logic of this world.  The apostle Paul comments on this in 1 Corinthians  2:6,7.
But  the  success of His mission is seen in particular in this  phrase:  “He will be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted”.  Isaiah  goes on to describe  Christ’s  exaltation, and once again we are reminded of this  in Philippians 2:  “Being in very nature God … (He) made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant … He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow .. every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” The suffering servant  is the exalted Christ , who after His  death and resurrection ascended  to the Father in heaven, from where He shall come again , but this time as  conquering King  of kings and Lord of lords, to judge  the living and the dead and   thus to set up His eternal kingdom, just as He had proclaimed at His first coming.

BEHOLD  THE SUFFERING  SERVANT! (vv. 14, 15a)

Behold  my servant! … But now  from  a completely different angle. “As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind”.  The first  portrait was  of the servant   high and lifted up, and  exalted! But now   we find a  striking contrast  as we are introduced to a very different picture. Isaiah expresses  “astonishment”  that this exalted servant should  be so disfigured … a man whose appearance is marred beyond human semblance.  
We imagine  that we  hear someone asking : “Excuse me, but is this the same  person we are looking at?” He looks  scarcely human. He is entirely disfigured.   Why this disfigurement?  Verse 15a provides us with the profound answer. “… so shall  he  sprinkle  many nations.”
The sprinkling  referred to here  was something  associated  with the work  of the  priests of the OT.   The  sacrificial system which they administered  was  associated with the sprinkling of blood[4], and this act signified  an act  of  cleansing and purifying the sinner who by faith had brought the blood sacrifice to the priests for  the  atonement of His.  Isaiah, with this picture of  the disfigured servant, is saying  here  what  he will  frequently  repeat in this text, namely that  by the suffering of this servant there will be healing and wholeness and cleansing.  The most  famous  text  in this regard is  Isaiah  53:5,6: “With His stripes we are healed … the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” The effect  of  the servants work will  be  BIG…by His blood He will sprinkle the nations, not just those that believed in Him  in Jerusalem, and not just those who believed  in Him in Israel, BUT all who would believe  in Him  among the nations!  He will sprinkle them with His blood of  atonement (Hebr. kippur à covering)

BEHOLD, OUR RESPONSE TO THESE CONTRASTING PICTURES OF JESUS (v. 15b-c)

…kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand”.The image  of  the Jesus, the suffering servant, whom we are called to look at  is strangely mixed: triumphant, reigning, in control,  and full of authority.Yet  we find Him also disfigured, distorted and  seemingly defeated.  Mankind simply does not know how to deal with such an image. We struggle  to  accept such   redemptive, vicarious suffering. It  is beyond our grasp.How do we reconcile this apparent paradox? Isaiah leads us  to a conclusion.  “Kings shall shut their mouths because of  Him.”  They do not know what to say.  The picture is too powerful – it transcends language. “… for that  which  has not been  told them they see; and that which they have not heard, they  understand.” This unassuming  servant, who is  riding on the  foal of a donkey, who is  recognised by some as the Messiah in His triumphal  entry, but who is then   arrested, beaten and  killed upon a cross is in fact  the King of kings and the Lord of lords

And so the thought of the Servant’s supreme exaltation causes the lesser kings of the earth to shut their mouths. The truth about  this servant  has dawned. Sadly  for many people and kings, the truth about this  great Servant King who  has been revealed to the world  has dawned , but  not really sunk in.  But on the day of His appearing , “every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD to the glory of God the Father. “  On that day it will have no saving effect .

The final question is therefore,   do you trust this  exalted , disfigured King now  for  His work on the cross ?







[1]  All four gospels record the triumphal entry : Matthew 21: 1- 11 ; Mark 11:1-11 ; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-19
[2] Note the four servant   passages  in this regard :  42:1-9; 49:1-7 ; 50:4-11 ; 52:13-53:12
[3] Matthew 1:21
[4] Ex 29:16,20 ; Lev. 1:5,11  etc. 

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Isaiah 52:1-12 - "The Lord’s Coming Salvation" (PALM SUNDAY)

As we begin to focus on the  last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, we begin with His significant  triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This  event is described in all four gospels [1] and is  specifically prophesied   by the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 9:9)  and in so many other indirect ways  in the  Old Testament, such as this passage which we have just read in  Isaiah, which precedes  the  famous Isaiah 53 passage  which we shall  consider   on  Easter  Friday  and also on a special occasion  on   Saturday.

Today we remember the occasion   when Jesus, as  the  chosen  servant   of God[2] came, riding on a humble donkey   to fulfil  the work that the Father  had given  Him to do in laying down His life for His people[3]. As He entered  the city,  He was most   surprisingly  received  in the manner of  a conquering King, although “he had no  form or majesty  that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him…”  (53:2), and yet the crowd  received Him  with  these words, "Hosanna[4] to the Son of David”. This   was tantamount to saying (and so  it was understood  by the Pharisees e.g. in Lk 19:39) that He was the long expected Messiah of Israel.    

In Luke’s account of the triumphal entry, Jesus  following His entrance  is deeply disturbed at what He sees. In fact He weeps over Jerusalem  (see Lk  19:41- 44 ; and see  also  Lk  13:34 – 35).  This act is followed  by the famous  temple cleansing (Lk. 19:45-48; Matt 21:12-17)
It is particularly   Lk  13:34 – 35 that gives us an insight  into  the spiritual state of Jerusalem. It was  this city  that  had killed the prophets. It was this city that would kill the Son of God, and amazingly, Jesus  knew that  this was going to happen! What was the purpose for which Jesus rode into Jerusalem to lay down His life?   It was  to hand Himself over to wicked men  to do what they had wanted to do all along, BUT  in this  atrocious act  He  would make atonement for  sin! By His  death He would  secure  eternal life for  all his own people,  for all those “who did receive Him, who believed  in His Name” (John 1:12). It was  ultimately  to secure for them a  future, not in this earthly Jerusalem, but  in the new, the heavenly Jerusalem, the home of every true believer  which Jesus went to prepare in John 14:1-4  and of which  we read in   Revelation 21.

Now we know from the history of Jerusalem  that she had been  besieged and captured many times. In the days of  Israel’s  occupation of Jerusalem[5], this city was  sacked  eventually by the Babylonians in around  586 BC. She  was  burned and destroyed and her  people taken into exile in  Babylon, just as  Isaiah and Jeremiah and others had said. But before that, approximately 135  years  earlier,  in the days of Isaiah,  this city  was also threatened by the Assyrians  who did in fact capture the northern territory of Israel and with it 10 tribes, who were sent into  exile in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:5ff).   All prophets, particularly the  major  prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, and later the Lord Jesus, God’s final Revelation (Hebr. 1:1-3) saw  that the continued rebellion  of this city  that had experienced  so much  of God’s favour, in terms of hosting  the temple of God, and therefore  the visible presence of God in Israel, that this city  would  face the wrath of God.  This leading  city  of the Jews   had lost the vision   of God in her midst.

Now Isaiah’s  prophecy  can be divided into two parts. The first part,  Chapters  1-35  focus on God’s judgement on Israel, the northern kingdom,   by  Assyria; then there is a ‘bridge’  in Chapters 36-39 before the prophecy closes with the second major part  in chapters 40 – 66,  where we find  a vision of the  return of the remnant from Babylon.
The point is this. Isaiah’s vision is big!  Not only does he  include future events from his own perspective in about 722 BC;  Isaiah sees  the restoration of Israel  after the Babylonian captivity, much later in 520 BC, when he was long dead. But more  than that, Isaiah’s  prophecy anticipates  the  ministry and mission of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ (whom we shall meet as the suffering servant in  Isaiah 53) more than 700 years later! And from our perspective Isaiah  foresees  even more than that. He foresees  the rule  and restoration  of all things under Christ  in  days to come, which, from our perspective,  is STILL  in the future!

Now from the present perspective  of Isaiah, and  from Christ’s  perspective, when He rode into Jerusalem, and also  from our own perspective, this earthly Jerusalem  was and is  anything but a holy city.   But  Isaiah  sees  beyond that  and he  like His Messiah, the Lord Jesus look  to the far future  when things will look very different. And it all began  on that day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. On this day  He came to  Jerusalem  to  secure the future  of  the inhabitants  of a far greater Jerusalem. He came to  do this   in His death  and resurrection  which is described  in Isaiah 53. In preparation for that I want you then to take a look with me at this text[6] which precedes the phenomenal  events of Isaiah 53, just as the triumphal entry     preceded the phenomenal events of the week that lay ahead:

1.Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Obviously,  the prophet is not speaking here of  a political  entity  called  Jerusalem. He is speaking  of  that future city where  there  shall be no sin – the heavenly Jerusalem of  Revelation 21. That  is the city that Jesus ultimately  came to establish when He came riding into  this sinful Jerusalem, that killed the prophets, and therefore the prophet continues …

2. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. What did the Lord Jesus  achieve  in his death and resurrection?  He  purchased  freedom  for a people in the dust, a people enslaved by sin. He freed them  for citizenship in the new Jerusalem,  by the shedding of His blood.

3.  For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” What does this   mean?  In context  this  would refer to the Babylonian captivity. Babylon acquired   Judah and paid nothing for  her when they took her captive in 586 BC. However,  roughly 70 years later under Cyrus  the Persian and then Artaxerxes [7]  she was freed  without the payment of money,  when men like Ezra and Nehemiah led the people back to Jerusalem  from captivity, being in fact supported by the Babylonians to rebuild Jerusalem[8]. But in a greater sense it would mean  that the sin which our  first father Adam committed, and of which we had borne the fruit, would now  be borne  by Christ in His death, BUT no  one has  to pay for their redemption. It was free for those who would take it.    This  was the purpose for which  Jesus  came to ride into the city! 

4 For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Israel’s first stint away from their   earthly Jerusalem in Canaan  was  experienced when they had lived  for 430 years in  Egypt, after which they returned under Moses and Joshua  to Canaan, their promised land.  Then  David  established the   physical Jerusalem  for Israel, but under  the often foolish rule of his  grandsons, substantial chunks of the kingdom were gradually lost – first under the  Assyrians, who   claimed the northern kingdom of Israel.  
In Christ’s day the  Jews were oppressed  by the  Romans, and the Jews hoped for  their Messiah  to return to  deliver them from the  Roman yoke. But was this ultimately the yoke  that  they needed to be  delivered from? Was not the yoke of sin their ultimate problem?  And who alone could effectively deal  with sin, if not the Son of God? And so Jesus rode into Jerusalem …
  
5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. Many a time when Israel was  attacked by her enemies (no doubt, due to their own foolishness, which resulted in the hand of God being lifted from them),  their enemies  were  blaspheming the  name of God  when they  taunted  Israel: “Where now is your God?”  (e.g. Ps 42:10;  115:2; Joel 2:17). In truth, this was also  the  general attitude of the Jews   to Jesus. When he hung on the cross they mocked Him, saying: “He saved others, let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One.”(Lk. 23:35). The truth was that in continually  mocking Christ they were continually mocking the work of God. And so Christ rode into Jerusalem on  this day  to make a distinction between the righteous and the unrighteous!  

6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.” In the  historical context  the  release from Babylonian captivity and the rebuilding of Jerusalem would be  a true testimony  to the power of God.  Nehemiah confirms this in Neh.6:15,16  when he says, “… all the nations around us …perceived that this work  had been  accomplished with the help of our God !” But in a greater sense  the greatest work  would be the   establishment  of the  eternal city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, which would be populated by  those who had been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.  Jesus came riding  into  Jerusalem  to  declare that He would do this ON THE CROSS!   This  is  therefore what gives rise to the next verse!  Here is the gospel  of the good news   for all the people… for all the nations !

7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” Paul quotes this passage in Rom 10:15.  The point is that whatever historical situation brought  the good news  in Isaiah’s day, he was looking much further, when our  Messiah  made the gospel  terms  effective  by His death and resurrection .For this reason Jesus came riding into Jerusalem.

8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy;  for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.  In the  historical setting this  was accomplished  when God restore the Jews to liberty under the leadership of men  like  Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Yet again,  and in a greater sense, these things were fulfilled in Christ’s coming into Jerusalem  for this purpose – that He might lay down His life for a great number of people  and to establish  for them a city whose foundations cannot be shaken.

9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.  Historical deliverance happened  under Cyrus, (2 Chron. 36:22,23). The  Lord  displayed his power among the Medes and Persians, but afterwards he made it visible to all the nations. But again, see the ultimate fulfilment  in this  text. The Abrahamic covenant  is being fulfilled, as not only Jews but  gentiles  were participating in the salvation of God in Christ. All this began  to be fulfilled  in Christ riding into Jerusalem  to lay down His life for  Jews and gentiles. 

11 Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. 12 For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. In context  this was a call to  all  the Jews to leave Babylon, and to leave the things of Babylon behind. Those  that were  carrying the vessels of the Lord ( i.e. the vessels  for the temple), the priests, these were to be  especially consecrated. 
The redeemed would not need to  leave in haste as they had done when they left Egypt in the Exodus. They were completely free. God would go before to lead them and behind to protect them as they journeyed to their Promised Land (cf. Exodus 13:21-22; Exodus 14:19-20). In our context, it is important that we need to leave the city of destruction and make sure that we are on the  road to the heavenly  Jerusalem. (Pilgrims Progress)  

Here then,  in this  part of  Isaiah’s prophecy  the dual implications of the prophet's promises are very clear.  The Babylonian captivity  formed the background  to what  Isaiah  said, but  Isaiah  had the larger issue of slavery to sin in mind.  Return to the land was in view, but even more so, the opportunity to return to the Lord through spiritual redemption was his greater focus. God would deal with the result in Israel's case, captivity, but He would also and more importantly deal with the great cause of  every man's   problem, namely sin !

All this Jesus  came to do when he rode on that donkey  into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  
Hallelujah, what a Word! 
Hallelujah, what a Saviour! 
AMEN .




[1] Matthew 21: 1- 11 ; Mark 11:1-11 ; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-19
[2] Note the four servant   passages  in this regard :  42:1-9; 49:1-7 ; 50:4-11 ; 52:13-53:12
[3] i.e. as the Lamb of God for His sheep
[4]  Lit. “save now”
[5] This city was captured by David from the Jebusites  in  2 Samuel 5:6-10 , after which it was called “the city of David”
[6] The proper  parameters for this text is  Isaiah 51:1-52:12. The chapter division at 52:1 is unfortunate . Similarly  the chapter division should not begin with 53:1, as it does, but should start at 52:13.
Outline of Ch.  51:1- 52:12 : 1. A threefold  call  to listen :  i.e.  51 : 1; 4; 7   2. A threefold  exhortation to awake  : 51:9;17 & 52:1  
[7] Ezra 1:1; 4:7
[8]  Ezra 1:2ff ;Neh. 2:8

Sunday, March 31, 2013

LUKE 24 : “ The Resurrection, the Power of Unbelief and the Need for Revelation”



Dear  brothers and sisters in Christ!
We  are   gathered  in fellowship ( “in mystic sweet communion[1] ) with the great church - past, present and future. We are  gathered  on the first day of the week in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit   to remember  the gospel  -  the things of first importance:  Christ died for our sins  in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day  in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared…”  (1 Cor.  15: 3-5).
The  Eastern  Orthodox church  has a lovely  greeting on  Resurrection Sunday  morning .  The pastor  says in the Greek language:   Χριστός ἀνέστη!" - "Christ is Risen!"   and the congregation  responds:  "Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!"  - "Truly He is Risen!"  

This strikes me as so much more biblical than saying  Happy Easter“.   Most   sources  seem to think  that   the word “Easter” it comes from   the  Anglo-Saxon name  Eostre”,  (and  Norse  “Ostara”) , the  goddess of the sunrise and the spring, who  was worshipped at the time of the (northern hemisphere)  spring  equinox. The direction of the sunrise, the  East, is named  after  her. The  worship  of her was associated  with  the springtime themes of rebirth, new life, new hope, and light - some of the very themes associated with the story of the resurrection. Bunnies  and eggs  were  symbols of fertility  and  so we  find  here  a classic case of  syncretism, i.e. where the Christian faith has been mixed with pagan beliefs .  Enough said about that!  Our passion  is the passion and resurrection  of Christ. Today  we remember especially the  resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Our text in Luke 24 describes  Luke (the physician’s)  orderly account (Lk. 1:3)  of the resurrection, from  the early dawn  of that  first  day of the week [2]( 24:1)  until the Ascension (24:50-53), 40 days later, with Pentecost (50 days later) implied  in v.49.

There  can be  no doubt that the  significant  theme of this 24th chapter  is the Resurrection of Christ, and the accompanying  proofs  that  He had truly risen. The reason   why the Christian church made the transition between  Yom Shabat (Sabbath Day or 7th day)  to  Yom Rishon  (First Day)   as the  7th day of  rest and  worship  is  simple. This is the day  on which  Yeshua   rose. This was also the day  on which, 50 days later, the Holy Spirit  (Ruach hakodesh)  would be outpoured. It would be the  birthday of the  church (the ekklesia  (Gr.) or k'nessiyah (Hebr.) )

Jesus had often been speaking,  directly and indirectly about  His death  and resurrection  in the course of His ministry (Lk.   9:21-22; 44;  11:29-30; 13:33-35 ;17:25; 18:32-33; 20:9-18, 22:14-23, 37).  But now the time  had come when His words  would be tested. Surely, the supreme test of Christ’s claim to who He is must have been  this : would He  conquer death?  Nobody  had ever   come back from the dead ! Death was  the final curtain. It was the final sting. Death always had the last word, and death always seemed  to have the victory! Why should  this  be different  for  the  miracle-worker  from Nazareth? 

Let’s see, but before we see,  I  want to draw  your attention  to  a remarkable  fact. In the course of His ministry  there were  three people  (that we know of) whom Jesus had raised from the dead:  The widow's son at Nain (Lk 7: 11-17);  Jairus' daughter (Matt. 9:18 18-26)  and Lazarus  (Jn 11: 1-44). These three  people ( and especially the story of Lazarus)  prove that Jesus  had  the power   to  overrule  man’s greatest enemy- death. But would  He Himself  be able to overcome His own death? Who was going to raise Him ?

The Resurrection  ( 24:1-12)
Jesus died on Friday (on the eve  of the Sabbath). On the Sabbath day ( this is significant!)  He rested in the grave. His work was indeed  finished! But  on  Yom Rishon, the first day of the week, He rose from the grave ! We read  that  the   those who  wanted to  embalm  Jesus’ body with spices and ointments  ( see  their names  in v.10)  did not find Jesus in the  tomb that Joseph of Arimathea had so graciously  provided . Very strange - the stone was rolled away! There was no one in the tomb.What happened?
The answer  is provided by  2 men in  dazzling apparel – in shining garments.  Who are these men? It seems clear  that these were  angels of  God. As always, they have a similar effect  on  mankind: “… they( the women)  were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground.” (v.5a). The angels   say to them, “Why do you seek the living (Christ) among  the dead?

The Power of Unbelief
The angels  are   actually rebuking these  faithful  women for  coming to embalm the body.  Christ had told them  so many times, that He was going to be raised from the dead!  So, here unbelief was coming to embalm  Christ’s dead body!
We shall see   that this unbelief  is frequently   addressed in the 24th chapter,  and  it constitutes another  subject   which we shall address in a short while.

And so the angels say to them : “He is not here, but has risen!  Remember  how He told you  while He was still in Galilee (cf. 18:33), that the Son of man  must be delivered into the hands of sinful men  and be crucified and on the third day  rise.” (vv.6,7).
And they remembered  His words…!  (v.8) Ah, it is not that they had not heard Him saying this! This is simply the testimony of the  power of  unbelief. They would not believe  that Jesus  was going to do what He said!  I remind you once again, that if it depended on our faith to be saved, none of us would be saved! 
The mercy and grace of Christ alone saves us! 
Now  hear this (and it reinforces  the point made that  we  ‘hear , but don’t hear!’[3] )  “… and returning  from the tomb they told all these things to the  eleven and to all the rest…but these words seemed to them an idle tale and they did not believe  them! (vv. 9-11) The  power of unbelief  is amplified by the fact that  the  11 disciples (now minus Judas, who was not only possessed by unbelief , but  by Satan himself)  did not believe  the women!  Peter, who fancied himself as the Lord’s  blue eyed boy, and who swore undying  allegiance  to Christ was the chief of unbelievers. We shall meet them again in v.  36.

In the meantime …  on the road to Emmaus ( 24:13-35)
The narrative is disrupted by  an important insert. [4] This happened on the same day as Jesus had risen (v.13). 2 men are walking   from Jerusalem  to  a village named Emmaus- about 12 kilometers. There is ample time to talk, and they talk  about all these things  that have  happened. As  they  are  walking, we read  that  Jesus  joined them  and walked  with them! This is hard to fathom. Jesus  joins their company  and they don’t  recognize Him. Had they never seen him before? This is unlikely .  The  explanation is given in v.16: “But their eyes  were  kept from recognizing  Him.”  Keep that verse in mind until  later,   when we get to  v.31 .
This  account is  not without  a touch of humour.  As Jesus joins them, He says: “So,   what are  you talking about?  With sadness one of them, named   Cleopas  says: “You mean, you haven’t heard? You are coming  from Jerusalem, and you don’t know about the things that have happened there? Jesus plays  dumb: “What things?” And they tell Him about Himself!  … “Jesus of Nazareth… and what the chief priests  did to Him- they crucified Him. He’s dead !  To be honest, we had hoped that He would be the Great Redeemer of Israel. But He’s dead. This is already the third day! But to be honest we have heard a very puzzling  report from some  of our women. Angels told them that  He  had risen from the dead !”   And Jesus  takes them to task: “O foolish ones, and  slow of heart to believe  all that the prophets had spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things  and enter into His  glory?”

Let us  pause here again  for a moment  and  continue to meditate   on this  recurring  matter of unbelief. None  of these New  Testament  personalities actually  believes  Christ’s words . Worse still, none of them  recognize Christ- until He chooses to reveal Himself! And so it is my  dear brothers and sisters !  Without help  we are simply not able  to  see Christ  clearly. We are simply not able to comprehend His truth  fully – even as those who  say that they believe in Him!  We need grace  to understand.  We need revelation.
And thus  Jesus  began  to patiently explain, beginning  "with Moses and all the prophets,  as He interpreted  to them in all  the Scriptures the things concerning himself." (v.27)  We don’t  know precisely  what  He might have  said concerning Himself , but  He  might  have shown them that He   was the fulfillment of every  OT sacrifice; that  He was  the true Deliverer and King, of whom all the judges and deliverers in Jewish history were  but shadows. He was  the true temple  to whom the people were to be gathered;  He  was the coming Prophet greater than Moses.  He  was the  seed of the woman who  would crush the serpent’s  head (Gen 3:16). He was  the One in whom all nations were to be blessed. He was the  true scape-goat that bore away the sins of the people ; He was the  true Lamb  who alone could take our sin. He was  our true High Priest of whom every  priest was a figure. 
Here is the  solution to  our great problem :  If we do not have   revelation, if we do not receive help   from  the  Holy Spirit, we shall never know Him  for who He is!  One of the greatest  works that we can do as a church is to pray  that the Spirit of revelation  may rest upon us and upon  our ministry! Apart from Him we can do nothing! Does that sound familiar  (Jn 15:1-7)

Luke 24:28-35
The  road came to an end, and so  did  the conversation.  Since the day  was now far spent (v.29) these two dear men  prevailed with Christ  (whom they still had not recognized)  to stay with them  overnight . It was only at the supper table  that their eyes were opened as to who had walked with them.  When He  took the bread , blessed it  and gave it to them (v.30)  their eyes were opened.  The passive mood indicates that this was done to them.   
But then  comes  verse 32: “And He vanished from their sight“. This is resurrection body dynamics. He vanishes … He appears (v.36). We won’t be able to understand this yet. Science   cannot explain this dynamic .  
But note the conversation that follows now : “Did not our hearts burn within us  while he talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures? “ This is a very interesting  comment. Christ used  the Scriptures to  explain Himself. Can  we  do any better  than that on this resurrection morning? When  I  open the Scriptures to you, and  show you what is there , and the Holy Spirit is  present,  the Scriptures  make our hearts to burn within us. The truth resonates  within us. Our hearts testify ... this is true … this is true … this is TRUE!  And this is proof of the fact  that our Lord Jesus lives.  Jesus is alive and the Scripture (His Word) is alive. The result of having it  opened up and explained   produces revelation , and where there is such revelation there  is  joy!  
They   returned to Jerusalem within the hour , where they found the 11 disciples  and testified to them:  The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon (Peter) “ , and  our  2 disciples of the Emmaus road  were able to verify this  as they related their own experience  and “ how He was known to them in the ( revelation of) breaking of bread (v.35).This  is followed  by  another  sudden appearance of Jesus (v.36) … and more  fear.. and more being troubled and more doubts… but  v.41 gives  us  a redeeming insight : “ And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling….”  It was dawning on them again. Jesus is alive! , and in v. 45 we read how Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.  

Now  let us learn from  this: Unless the Lord regularly meets us, and helps us to see Him  and opens the Scriptures to us  so that our hearts burn, we will not see, and we will easily lapse into unbelief. Remember that the entire life of a Christian  is lived  by grace and by  revelation from God.  If this were not so,  we would  continue in the  deadness of our unbelief. Thank God then for the resurrection of Christ  by which the Living Lord  comes and  ministers to us! Amen.


[1] The Church’s One Foundation – Samuel J. Stone (1866 )
[2] The first day of the week  ( Sunday) is called  “Yom Rishon”   i.e. “day , the first” 
[3] Isaiah 6:9 – “ Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive…”  quoted  by Jesus in Matt  13:14,15
[4] Only found in Luke’s gospel

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