Resurrection Sunday
by
Rev. Suzanne L. Taylor
Last week Jesus made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem on the back of a new, unbroken colt of an ass. He is the King, but instead of coming in on a white steed, He came in humbly on a lowly animal. Instead of coming in and causing an uprising that would overthrow Rome, He came in quietly, allowing the people to praise and worship Him.
Instead of coming in like a conquering hero, Jesus came in as an architect. He didn’t take over Rome. Instead, Jesus became the Chosen Stone, the Cornerstone, and upon Him is the church of God built. The kingdom of God which was built on the Law was left for the religious people, and a new kingdom was built on faith. We can fall on this Stone in faith, knowing it can save us, and be saved: Or it can fall on us in crushing condemnation. If it falls on us, we face eternal separation from God, which is hell.
For the few remaining days of His life following His unpretentious arrival into Jerusalem, Jesus taught almost non-stop. He dealt with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes (Matthew 22:15-46). He saw through the plot of the Pharisees to trap Him in a legal mistake about their taxes. Jesus called them hypocrites and told them that all that belonged to Caesar should be given to him, but what belonged God must be given to God.
Jesus was able to set the Sadducees straight about the afterlife, and whether there will be marriage there. He chastised them by telling them they were mistaken, and did not know Scripture, or the power of God. There will be no marriage in Heaven. And the dead will be raised because His Father, God, is the God of the living and not the dead.
Then a Scribe, or lawyer, from the Pharisees decided to test Jesus about the commandments. He asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment. And Jesus was able to give it to him instantly. We should be able to answer as He did. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second one is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).
By this, Jesus caused the Pharisees to marvel at His wisdom, and the Sadducees to be astonished. He shut them up, and then turned the tables on them. Quietly He asked the question that really ended the debates.
Please read with me in Matthew 22:41-46.
This comes back to the fact that they did not know their written text well enough to answer. If they had known what David was saying about the Lord, they would have realized that He is God, and was God, and will always be God, and therefore was able to be the Lord over David, and his descendant. This put a quick end to any attempt to trap Jesus with questions that would have made Him seem like a fraud. They never questioned Jesus again until His trial.
Jesus was then free to teach about the destruction of the Temple, which is Jesus, the coming tribulation, and His second coming. He was able to tell the parables of the fig tree, the virgins, and the talents. All these were told to prepare the people for the future and to make them ready and watchful for the day of Jesus’ return. It applies to us now.
Jesus set Himself up as the Judge over the nations. He will divide them into two nations; there will be the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on His left. The sheep will be, “...blessed of My Father...” and will inherit the kingdom along with Jesus. The goats will be cursed and sent to everlasting destruction.
Jesus predicted His death to occur after the Passover meal. As He sat in the home of Simon the Leper, He was anointed by Mary, in preparation for death, with costly spikenard. It was very fragrant, and used to cover the stench of decaying flesh in death. He was now ready to proceed with the rest of His life.
Jesus is the Lamb who was slain. He has become our Passover, our sacrificed Lamb, and the final need for the sacrifice of blood for the remission of sin.
Jesus prayed as He sat by a stone in the Garden of Gethsemane. His prayer was filled with such torment that He sweated droplets of blood. What a powerful prayer He uttered, and what awful pain He endured for our sakes! His human side did not want to become the Passover Lamb. But in His Spirit, He knew He must suffer all things for the benefit of creation. Thank God, for Jesus’ sake, it only had to be done once. I can’t imagine asking Jesus to suffer like that a second or third time.
Jesus was the only first born of a woman from the flock of humanity to be born without spot or blemish. He was the only One to come forth pure and holy from the womb, and then, after carrying the burden of sin unto death, the only One to be resurrected pure and holy from the tomb.
Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb slain for our salvation. And He is the only One ever born to be able to fulfill the requirements of sin-freeness. Without His death, there would be no forgiveness, no resurrection, no way to bridge the gap between God and man, and no way to achieve eternal life with God. He bore a heavy burden, and it took superhuman power to be able to stand up under it’s weight.
Jesus carried the cross, and upon that cross He died. But let’s set our focus to the other side of the cross. It is empty! He has risen! He is victorious! The Lamb who is our Passover was slain, but now reigns forevermore in eternal happiness with His sheep, His church, His bride! He has defeated death, and brought life. Jesus was released from the womb by the issue of blood and water. We are released from the tomb of hell by the flow of blood and water that came from His side.
Jesus fought the temptation to walk away from the cross as He anguished in the garden. But His love for us won out over His own desires. So what is it we are celebrating today? We’re certainly not celebrating some pagan goddess. We are celebrating Jesus’ victory over death as He walked from the tomb a resurrected Savior, with flesh and bone, but no more blood. That’s been shed abroad to cover the sin of man.
Let’s prepare for communion now.
Tonight we will eat and drink the elements which represent the body and blood of Jesus. I’d like you all to remember something about this entire Passover Lamb scene. When Jesus reclined at that table with John upon his breast, the decision had been made. He knew there would be no turning back. He would die in the next few hours. I wonder what He thought in His heart as He sat there looking at the twelve men He had live with, suffered with, nurtured and trained, knowing one of them was going to lead to His suffering and death. I know one thing for sure; even then Jesus still had His mind focused on us! When His betrayer made himself known by fleeing the room, Jesus went on to have a meal with the eleven remaining apostles. He knew they would all desert Him in His hour of need, but He loved them fully in spite of that. After He had formulated the Last Supper that we honor here tonight, Jesus sat at table with these men and sang a hymn. Jesus was heading to the garden where He would pray painfully so that drops of blood excreted from His body as He sought the courage to do with His man body what He had come to do, Yet He sang not a dirge, but the Hallel, or Psalms 113-118, praise hymns. These are still sung on Passover and many other celebration feasts of the Jews.
Father, we gather here now as one body, one bride, one spirit, the church of Jesus the Christ. We agree and believe that Jesus was born, lived a holy life, died a tormenting death, was buried, went to hell and took the keys of death and hades away from satan, and rose again! He walked and talked and taught for forty days on earth after His resurrection before returning to the Father. We ask You now to cleanse us allowing nothing to separate us from Your love. We pray to be holy before the eyes of our Jesus as we commemorate his death, burial, and resurrection with these elements. We honor God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, in Jesus’ name, amen and amen.
I Corinthians 11:23-26: For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also He took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew (proclaim) the Lord's death till he come.
