Easter: Our resurrection hope

Happy Easter everyone. In looking back at the life of Jesus and his followers, I would say that today was the game changer. Any loss of hope and any discouragement that was plaguing them after seeing their teacher be crucified was turned on it's head after this momentous day. It is crazy to me when I read the gospels and I see how many times that Jesus literally told his followers how things were going to go down, but when it happened they all just fell apart.

One example where Jesus revealed the upcoming chain of events is Matthew 16:21 (NIV‬), "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." This wasn't a single prediction either, he did this multiple times, and when it happened just as he said it would, his followers scattered and were absolutely devastated. It says in John 20:19, that after Jesus died and was resurrected, "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!"" They were so afraid of being persecuted by the religious leaders that they locked themselves in a room together, when all of a sudden Jesus shows up.

Jesus didn't just appear to one or two people, an account which would be easy to refute. No, in ‭1 Corinthians 15:5-8 (NIV‬) it says "that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters 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."

I believe Christianity to be true primarily on an intellectual basis. Although I have had many personal encounters and experiences with God, those do not provide the foundation of my faith. When I look at the mountain of evidence I find it all in favor of this gospel being true. When you read the Bible and are actually open to what it has to say, you soon realize there is simply no way this is made up by people. I think that a lot of people who criticize the Bible or say it is impossible to believe have never actually read it themselves. I also find it very interesting at how many people say the Bible is too hard for them to believe, yet they often have alternate beliefs, often spiritual,  that in my opinion take even more faith to believe in.

I think that a large part of people who reject Christianity do so on an emotional basis rather than for logical reasons. There are many reasons for this, people see hypocrisy, spiritual abuse, the list goes on, but in the end they reject Jesus because they don't like what they see in people. This cannot be discounted and it deserves sensitivity from Christians to listen to people who have been hurt or burned by those in the church. Still, the problem is that when you reject Jesus for those reasons, you're not actually rejecting him based on who he is, you're rejecting him because of people failing to represent him properly. That's why it is so important to go to the source and do your own research. The Bible actually challenges us to "‭Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him," (Psalms 34:8 NIV‬). Don't look to people, look to Jesus. People get it wrong all the time unfortunately because we are subject to our failing bodies and sinful nature. Go to Jesus, the source.

If Jesus' resurrection was a made-up story, Christianity would never have gotten as far as it has. If Christianity weren't true, so many of Jesus' followers and members of the early church wouldn't have been willing to die for it, but they did. I believe that Christianity provides the best framework that allows me to make sense of the world when I look at it through my own eyes. I believe that Jesus is the living son of God, and that he is exactly who he said he was. I believe that he died and rose again, proving his authority as the son of God. I believe that the power of the gospel is as true today as it was back then and it is demonstrated in the lives of those who believe him and follow him closely. The truth of the Bible literally changes people's lives if we allow it to.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes," (‭Romans 1:16 NIV‬).

He is risen.

He is risen indeed!

Good Friday reflections 2024

Today is Good Friday, and I'm reflecting on what today represents. One thing I get concerned about is that we would treat the cross as a story that we've read, or heard about, so many times that we allow it to lose it's significance and let it fail to change our hearts on a daily basis. To understand the significance of the cross and what Jesus did for humanity, we have to first understand sin, and how we are all guilty of it, before we can wrap our heads around the magnitude of what God has done for us.

If we go way back to the beginning of creation, we can see that when God made the world and humanity, he said it was good and blessed it. Initially, Adam and Eve enjoyed a close relationship with God the creator, frequently walking together in Eden. God essentially gave complete freedom to Adam and Eve in the garden except for one thing, stay away from one tree. God set a standard for living right in relationship with him and they couldn't do it, they fell short and sin entered in and the world was forever changed. So what is sin? Well, that can be a huge theological discussion that I'm not really equipped to get into, but how I look at it is framed pretty well by what happened with Adam and Eve: God has given humanity his standard for righteous behavior or living, and to sin is to behave in a way that goes in opposition to that.

In our modern culture, sin is not a popular idea and I think in general a lot of people struggle with this concept. We find it offensive that anyone could be labeled as a sinner, including ourselves, and more and more we struggle even with the basic idea of right and wrong. Afterall, who are you to tell me that my behavior is sinful? Well, good news here, God does not discriminate and the bible is clear that from the beginning "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time," (Genesis 6:5 NIV). The book of Romans tells us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23 NIV) so we are all in the same boat when it comes to sin.

So, with all of the above considerations, how then can anyone be saved and reconciled with God? The problem of evil must be dealt with, because we have a holy and just God, we can't simply go to him as we are, something needs to atone for our sin so we can enter into his presence unblemished. Luckily for us, he had a plan from the start. The old testament is full of prophecies and language that all point to the coming messiah, who as Christians we believe was Jesus Christ.  Jesus the messiah was God's offering to humanity to provide that atonement for our sin, sending his own son so we could enter into a right relationship with him again, to in essence undo the damage that sin has done to it. God knew there was nothing that we could do on our own to restore that relationship, so out of his love for us, he intervened on our behalf. One of the most well known verses of the bible sums this up well, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life," (John 3:16 NIV).

In order that we not become numb to the depth of this sacrifice, the bible gives us much insight into the agony of what Jesus went through on our behalf. It is remarkable to me that our God chose to enter into his own creation, suffering the same pains that we do, because of his love for us. The prophet Isaiah said this, "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed," (Isaiah 53:4-5). In the gospel of Luke, we get a picture of Jesus' humanity as he wrestled with the horrific events that he was about to endure as he prayed on the night before his crucifixion, "He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground," (Luke 22:41-44 NIV). 

Today is Good Friday, and it is good indeed when we consider all that God has done for us. The gift of the cross is one we could never earn, yet Jesus willingly stepped into it knowing full well how it would end up for him. Despite the presence of evil and suffering in the world, although we may not be able to fully understand why God allows it, what we can know is that it's not because he doesn't love us. Even though we are not naturally inclined to obey God and "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way," (Isaiah 53:6 NIV) by his own choice Jesus "bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors," (Isaiah 53:12 NIV). The bible provides vivid detail of the torture he endured in the events leading up to, and obviously during the crucifixion itself, yet it says that "After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities," (Isaiah 53:11). Did you see that? After he has suffered, he will be satisfied. Wow. The implication that Jesus would endure the agony of the cross and find it worthwhile, that is absolutely mind blowing to me. Thank you Jesus for what you have done for me, and for all of humanity. Amen.

A call to wake up

This morning I was reading about the event in the gospels known as the transfiguration, which is when Jesus transformed into his heavenly appearance before the eyes of some of the disciples. What struck me today in this account from Luke, is how the disciples were overcome by sleepiness and it seems implied that they didn't fully recognize what Jesus was doing until they were fully awake. In this account sleepiness seems literal, but I thought about how often, especially in our modern American lives, are we metaphorically "asleep" to what God is doing in our lives and around us because we are so disconnected, or focused on the wrong things? If we live a life of passiveness, not engaging with God and what he is doing, not living the life he has called us to live, I believe that we too will fail to see him working in our lives and will fail to see him as he has revealed himself to us. This state of literal or figurative "sleepiness" is a choice we make based on how we live our lives.

CrossCounsel Podcast: "An Uncommon Message"

As some of you know from previous posts of mine, back in November of 2023 I was able to take part in an orientation held by CrossCounsel International Ministries, where I was one of several people who shared their story and experience with CrossCounsel. They recorded the event and have now taken the testimonies and released them on their weekly podcast and talked about each person's story and experience of healing. I never thought I'd get to a place where I was comfortable enough with the pain and lies that held me hostage for years to share part of my own story with others in a public setting, but that's what God does when we allow Him to free us from the bondage we often carry, He changes our hearts. I am so encouraged by the work God is doing through this ministry in people's lives. I hope the stories that were shared at this event can continue to be used to inspire and encourage others to seek the freedom God wants us to have if we are willing to do the work of uncovering and facing those hard things that many of us have in our past. There are three podcasts in this series with testimonies in each one, I encourage you to check all of them out. Here is the link for last week's, which my friend Jason shares in, and is also the one I shared in:

CrossCounsel Podcast Ep #125 - "An Uncommon Message"