Lonely Holiday

When Jesus started His public ministry, He was doing amazing miracles and teaching some profound truths, so many people started to follow Him. At times He had crowds over 10,000 listening, and He likely had as many as 120 regular followers if you include the men and women. Furthermore, from those regular followers He chose 12 men who were particularly close to Him and seemed to do everything with Him. Even among the 12, He had three, Peter, James, and John, that were even closer and who were with Him in the most intimate moments like the Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1-8). Jesus’s life was so full of people that at times He had to move on from places to not get swamped, and He also went away some nights to be alone and pray with God the Father.

Yet as He approached the time of His crucifixion, He began to be clear about the cost of following Hi
m and many people left. He even asked the 12 if they were going to leave, and Peter said “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). When Peter said those words, I am sure he meant them, just like he and the other disciples meant it when they claimed they would die for Jesus rather than abandon Him (Matthew 26:25). But in the Garden of Gethsemane they could not stay awake and pray for Him, and then they all ran away when He was arrested, even Peter! I am sure that Peter felt like an incredible failure and totally alone when he wept after having denied even knowing Jesus three times that same night.

The next day as Jesus suffered and died on the cross, He even felt abandoned by the Father, repeating the words of Psalm 22:1, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” He did not deserve the punishment for our sins, and He did not deserve to be abandoned. But Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be abandoned and forsaken because He knew it was necessary so that we would not stay alone. He endured the cross so our sin would not mean that we had to stay guilty, ashamed, and alone after our failures.

When He rose again, Jesus took Peter aside and restored him. Three times He asked Peter, “Do you love me?” to which Peter answered, “Yes Lord.” After each answer, Jesus commissioned Peter to care for others. He was showing Peter that he was once again loved and accepted not just as a follower, but as a valuable member of Jesus’s kingdom.

Likewise, the brokenness of the world and our own brokenness can leave us feeling abandoned and alone. Jesus knows what it feels like to be alone. He came to the world to seek those who are lost and alone. He came to restore those who are broken. He came to connect the disconnected. Because He took on and defeated death, the ultimate aloneness, we can have abundant rich fellowship with both God and man. We can be restored and like Peter be part of reaching out in love to others who are still hurting and alone. 

This Easter, no matter your circumstances or your sins, come to Jesus to find a friend and be restored. You do not have to be alone because Jesus made a way for us to find everlasting love and to learn how to give that love to others.

Bloody Holiday

 

In 1 Kings 8, Solomon is dedicating the new temple to the LORD and they have a two-week festival in Jerusalem during which they sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. Having just helped my family process three cows in 2 ½ days, I can attest to the enormous amount of work that must have been. In fact, I think that would be a lot of work even for some of the modern processing plants near us. 

Now why did they have to sacrifice so many animals just to dedicate the temple? Likely, it was because so many people came to the festival and they all wanted to sacrifice to the Lord and because they used much of the meat for the festival itself. But if you read the Old Testament description of tabernacle and temple worship you have to admit that God required lots of sacrifices and the whole process of worship really was bloody. The temple was really a slaughterhouse filled daily with animals being killed. 

Then when we get to the New Testament we see that Jesus is called the Lamb of God and He endured a bloody awful death on a cross. Furthermore, He even established the practice of communion in which His followers were supposed to look back on this bloody sacrifice by “eating His flesh” and “drinking His blood.” This unusual practice was so misunderstood that early in church history, other people thought Christians were cannibals. At this time of year, we especially remember Christ’s sacrifice on a day we call Good Friday even though the most evil act in history took place. The perfect sinless Lamb of God was killed on that day! 

Is all this blood and death necessary, and if so why? Do you know? We find the answer in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve sinned they were broken and the world was broken. Not only that, but we learn in Romans 3, that it is not just Adam and Eve’s fault, but that no one is righteous and that all (you and me) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Sin causes death, and a holy and good God that made the world just, must balance the scales of justice. If sin causes death then for sin to be forgiven and individuals restored, Hebrews 9:22 says there must be shedding of blood. 

Sin is serious, destructive, and even deadly, and as the righteous judge of the world, God must respond and deliver punishment. We are responsible for our sins and deserve to face the judgment of death. We deserve to shed our own blood for our sins! But God is also loving and does not desire for anyone to perish, so He provides a sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus, God the Son, came down to be the better sacrifice than any ox or sheep. He shed His blood so that we do not have to face eternal death. The offer of forgiven is available for anyone who is willing to admit there own guilt and ask Jesus to take on the punishment for us.

Therefore, those who truly understand what Jesus did celebrate this bloody holiday because we know it is our blood that should be shed. He who did not sin and did not deserve death, died on our behalf. On Good Friday, I often end up contemplating my sin and the brokenness in my own life as I remember Jesus’s broken body and shed blood, but my focus eventually comes back to His love and goodness which shine bright on the darkest of days.

My Favorite Holiday

I am looking forward to writing the next few pastor articles for the local paper, because I get to focus on Easter, my favorite holiday. It is my favorite because, it is filled with hope and joy. We start out with the bad news of Good Friday, but end with the best news of Easter morning: He is risen! He is risen indeed!! All the songs we sing on Easter Sunday are filled with joy and praise and hope because death has been defeated.

The first Easter is the center of history. I know that the Christian calendar starts at what was thought to be the year of Jesus’s birth, but in fact Easter, Christ’s rising from the dead, is the moment that makes our new birth into the family of God a reality. The work of redemption was accomplished on the cross, where Jesus died to pay the penalty for the sins of those who believe in Him, but it is only at the resurrection that His followers and the world can recognize the effectiveness of His work.

Easter is when we can answer the definitive question of history, “Who is Jesus?” In the modern world, we are uncertain about what we know and how we know it. Many people even struggle with knowing themselves let alone the many other questions about meaning and purpose for the whole world. One of the reasons we struggle is that we do not perceive a firm place on which to stand and from which we can make sound judgments. So many things from politics, to family, to personal identity, to even the very definition of truth seem up in the air. But Jesus claimed to the “THE way, THE truth, and THE life,” and if what He says about Himself is true, then He can and should be the starting point for the rest of our investigation of reality.

Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Yet not long after, when threatened, Peter denied even knowing Jesus. Why? Because while at one level he did believe in Jesus, he was not convinced enough to actually surrender His life. But the resurrection changed that for Peter because it verified Jesus’s claims to be the Messiah. 

By rising from the dead, Jesus proved He was the Messiah. He proved that the sacrifice for sins was acceptable and that our sins can be forgiven. He proved death was defeated, and that if we trust and follow Him, we can have eternal life with Him. Peter’s and all the disciples' lives were radically transformed when they saw the risen Jesus. So much so that even though they faced persecution and death soon after, they were more than willing to continue to proclaim the good news that Jesus was their Savior and Lord.

So the question remains for us, “Is Jesus who He says He is?” If He really raised from the dead on Easter morning, then yes. He is right now, the living and reigning Lord of the universe. He really is your Lord and your sins really are forgiven (or can be if you believe). You really can have assurance of eternal and abundant life with Him, because He is risen! He is risen indeed!!