With a mighty triumph o'er his foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
And he lives for ever with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose! Indeed up from the grave He rose.... We celebrate the victory of Jesus our Lord over death and sin. indeed He came and He saw and He conquered. We Celebrate the Good News of Christ's resurrection in a good Friday world. Indeed the world we live in on this side of eternity is still a Good Friday world. Each one of us does live just a breath away from eternity. We have seen the mission of the Malaysian Air, the massive mudslide in the State of Washington. Shooting of a police officer in our own community, shooting in an army base. They asked some children to write sentences about what they believed about death. Gilda, aged 8, said, "When you die they put you in a box and bury you in the ground because you don't look too good." Stephanie, aged 9, said, "Doctors help you so you won't die until you pay their bill." Marsha, aged 9, said, "When you die, you don't have to do homework in heaven unless your teacher is there too." Raymond, aged 10, said, "A good doctor can help you so you won't die. A bad doctor sends you to heaven."
In our Wednesday Evening we have been studying
the Gospel according to St John. I love the Easter account recorded in John.
The story of Mary Magdalene meeting Jesus at the empty tomb is found only in
John’s gospel. I think Mary must have told John about it personally. Everything
about this little slice of life rings true to human nature as we know it. A
weeping woman lingers by an empty tomb, wondering what has happened to the body
of the one she loved. When Jesus suddenly appears, she doesn't recognize him.
Then she grips his feet so tightly that he has to tell her to let go. The
vignette ends with the mourner turned into a missionary, running to tell the
others what she has just seen and heard. Indeed the Risen Lord turns her
mourning in to dancing.
It is written that the Lord had set Mary free. He liberated her from the evil impulses that had kept her chained figuratively and perhaps literally. She is living proof that those whom the Son sets free are free indeed. If we piece together the various accounts of Easter Sunday, it seems that Jesus rose from the dead sometime in the pre-dawn hours. There was an earthquake, the seal was broken, the stone rolled away by the angels, and Christ came out of the tomb. The soldiers were knocked unconscious and when they awoke, they fled in fear. When the women found the tomb empty, they were confused and terrified. The angels told them that Christ had risen from the dead. They returned to tell the disciples who thought they were talking nonsense. John and Peter investigated, and when they saw the linen wrappings exactly where the body had been placed on Friday evening, they believed. They left to tell the others. At that point, Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb. She is confused, bewildered, in shock, frightened, and brokenhearted. It has not yet occurred to her that the empty tomb meant that Jesus had risen from the dead.
It has been often said that Mary Magdalene was “last at the cross and first at the tomb.” This is a high honor that can be said of none of the men who followed Jesus. She was the first to see him alive and the first to hear his voice. The irony of the story is that when she saw him, she didn't recognize him. But when the truth hit home, she became the first evangelist in Christian history. Christ bestowed this great honor on her because she loved him so deeply and so devotedly.
Craig Barnes the president of the Princeton Theological Seminary, In an article called “Easter in an Age of Terror” points out that Easter is both good news and also terrifying news. It is good news that Jesus came back from the dead. It is terrifying news because Easter confronts us with the awful reality of death. The biblical accounts of the crucifixion stress that many people watched it from a distance. They wanted to see what would happen but they didn't want to get too close. That’s how most of us handle death—by keeping it at arm’s length. We avoid going to funerals if possible and we never just drop by a funeral home to have a cup of coffee. We work out and lose weight and lower our cholesterol and we try to be careful so that death won't come too close to us. But sometimes death comes and knocks at our door. Other times death breaks the door down and comes barging into the living room whether we like it or not. That’s what happened on September 11.
Death is never easy to deal with. Most of the time we can avoid it or postpone it or keep it far away from us. But sometimes death stares us in the face and we don't know what to do or how to respond. And that’s why Mary was standing alone at the Garden Tomb early on First Easter Morning. “But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 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’” (John 20:11-13).
She weeps because the tomb is empty. She is weeping over an empty tomb! What should have been good news broke her heart! “At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. ‘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’” (John 20:14-15).
The Risen Lord standing before her. She does not recognize Him. How often we have been there. In our sorrow and in our massive grief, we do not recognize the Lord who is with us.. Jesus asked: “Who are you looking for?” Not “What are you looking for?” That’s a different question. Mary was looking for a what, a dead body. She was looking for something; Jesus pointed her to someone. The answer to our deepest needs is not something, but someone, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher). She knew his voice. And he knew her name. Suddenly the life and world of Mary changed for ever. She came to the grave broken , bruised with massive grief. Her world had fallen apart. Her dreams were shattered. Then Jesus the Risen Savior stands before her. "He speaks, and listening to his voice,new life the dead receive;
the mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
the humble poor believe."
Praise the Lord for the way the Risen Lord turns our mourning in to dancing. Once again we proclaim," Weeping may tarry for the night but the joy comes in the morning."
May the Risen Lord touch us once again that we might be propelled to go out tell others " I have seen the Lord". " And Because I have seen the Risen Lord.. All is well".
Worthy is the Lamb.
In Him,
Brown
http://youtu.be/6iOAM_777SY
It is written that the Lord had set Mary free. He liberated her from the evil impulses that had kept her chained figuratively and perhaps literally. She is living proof that those whom the Son sets free are free indeed. If we piece together the various accounts of Easter Sunday, it seems that Jesus rose from the dead sometime in the pre-dawn hours. There was an earthquake, the seal was broken, the stone rolled away by the angels, and Christ came out of the tomb. The soldiers were knocked unconscious and when they awoke, they fled in fear. When the women found the tomb empty, they were confused and terrified. The angels told them that Christ had risen from the dead. They returned to tell the disciples who thought they were talking nonsense. John and Peter investigated, and when they saw the linen wrappings exactly where the body had been placed on Friday evening, they believed. They left to tell the others. At that point, Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb. She is confused, bewildered, in shock, frightened, and brokenhearted. It has not yet occurred to her that the empty tomb meant that Jesus had risen from the dead.
It has been often said that Mary Magdalene was “last at the cross and first at the tomb.” This is a high honor that can be said of none of the men who followed Jesus. She was the first to see him alive and the first to hear his voice. The irony of the story is that when she saw him, she didn't recognize him. But when the truth hit home, she became the first evangelist in Christian history. Christ bestowed this great honor on her because she loved him so deeply and so devotedly.
Craig Barnes the president of the Princeton Theological Seminary, In an article called “Easter in an Age of Terror” points out that Easter is both good news and also terrifying news. It is good news that Jesus came back from the dead. It is terrifying news because Easter confronts us with the awful reality of death. The biblical accounts of the crucifixion stress that many people watched it from a distance. They wanted to see what would happen but they didn't want to get too close. That’s how most of us handle death—by keeping it at arm’s length. We avoid going to funerals if possible and we never just drop by a funeral home to have a cup of coffee. We work out and lose weight and lower our cholesterol and we try to be careful so that death won't come too close to us. But sometimes death comes and knocks at our door. Other times death breaks the door down and comes barging into the living room whether we like it or not. That’s what happened on September 11.
Death is never easy to deal with. Most of the time we can avoid it or postpone it or keep it far away from us. But sometimes death stares us in the face and we don't know what to do or how to respond. And that’s why Mary was standing alone at the Garden Tomb early on First Easter Morning. “But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 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’” (John 20:11-13).
She weeps because the tomb is empty. She is weeping over an empty tomb! What should have been good news broke her heart! “At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. ‘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’” (John 20:14-15).
The Risen Lord standing before her. She does not recognize Him. How often we have been there. In our sorrow and in our massive grief, we do not recognize the Lord who is with us.. Jesus asked: “Who are you looking for?” Not “What are you looking for?” That’s a different question. Mary was looking for a what, a dead body. She was looking for something; Jesus pointed her to someone. The answer to our deepest needs is not something, but someone, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher). She knew his voice. And he knew her name. Suddenly the life and world of Mary changed for ever. She came to the grave broken , bruised with massive grief. Her world had fallen apart. Her dreams were shattered. Then Jesus the Risen Savior stands before her. "He speaks, and listening to his voice,new life the dead receive;
the mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
the humble poor believe."
Praise the Lord for the way the Risen Lord turns our mourning in to dancing. Once again we proclaim," Weeping may tarry for the night but the joy comes in the morning."
May the Risen Lord touch us once again that we might be propelled to go out tell others " I have seen the Lord". " And Because I have seen the Risen Lord.. All is well".
Worthy is the Lamb.
In Him,
Brown
http://youtu.be/6iOAM_777SY
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