Something Greater

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was for three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! The queen of the South will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!” (Matthew 12:38-42)

This week at the Lord’s Table, our Gospel reading comes from Matthew 12, verses 38-42 where Jesus had once again faithfully prophesied his own resurrection from the dead.  Now as miraculous as that is, the Jewish people were no strangers to miracles, signs, and wonders.  In fact, Jesus reminds them about the sign of the prophet Jonah.  Many of us know the story.  A reluctant preacher is called by God to declare God’s offer of mercy to a people that Jonah himself couldn’t stand to think of human.

It would be like God asking an 1800 Black pastor to march into an all-White town of slave owners and preach about how much Jesus loves every racist soul.  It would be true, it would be right, but it would be difficult and it would be deadly.  Both Jonah and Jesus faced the same difficult and deadly choices.  And while Jonah had his temper tantrum and even Jesus experienced a moment of human weakness in the Garden of Gethsemane, both Jonah and Jesus obediently pronounced the divine judgement and proclaimed the saving grace of loving God.

Now in the case of Jonah, it took three days in the belly of a whale for him to make up his mind to stop disobeying the word of God.  What’s it going to take for us?  Does God have to use a washed-up preacher on the run from his calling to get us to repent?  Something greater has happened here.  Does God have to raise up a little snot-nosed kid to become the wisest man the world has ever known to get us to pay attention?  Something greater has happened here!

Solomon might have been a great teacher, and Jonah might have been a great preacher, but Jesus didn’t just swim in from the seashore, Jesus rose from the dead!  Something greater has happened here!  As you begin your small group discussion today, remember we have a choice whether to live in sin and shame or to live like we serve a risen Savior but for those of us who are in Christ, God has something greater!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

As He Said: The Meaning of Easter

“After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him” (Matthew 28:1-9 NRSV).

You know, one of the hardest commandments to keep in all of Scripture just might be, “Thou shalt not lie.”  It’s so easy to lie.  Now, traditionally a lie is limited to any attempt to intentionally distort the truth.  But as my wife likes to remind me, if you tell me you’re going to do something for me, and you failed to do it, you lied to me!  Now the simplest way around unintentionally lying to someone we love, is to never make a promise that you can’t keep.  But we don’t do that, do we?  No, you and I are constantly making promises that we simply can’t keep.

We promise we’ll always be there for our friends, we promise to make every sports game, we promise to make every dance recital, we promise to never get angry again, we promise to never hurt our loved ones again.  Yet, over and over, we let our friends down when they need us the most, over and over we miss a child’s special event because of work, we yell at our significant others, and we say things that often will haunt them for the rest of their lives.  If only somebody, anybody, could do what they said they would do!

Enter Jesus Christ, Son of Man, and Son of God!  All week long, the threat of execution on a Roman cross had been looming heavily over every meal, every conversation, even, every prayer.  All week long the death of Jesus Christ was eminent.  All week long, Jesus had been reminding the disciples and all those who had so faithfully followed his life and ministry, “I must be lifted up, I must go to the cross.”  But in the midst of the doom and gloom, in the shadow of death, facing unspeakable betrayal, a farce of a legal trail that was rigged to begin with, and a Friday evening execution that was certain to lead to a shameful end, Jesus made a promise.

You see, in John 2:19, Jesus said, “‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’”  And so it happened one day on Good Friday, Jesus sacrificed his life for you and for me on the cross of Calvary.  Two days come Holy Saturday, Jesus’ body was laid up in the tomb.  But my Lord, and my God, three days later on Easter Sunday, Jesus kept his promise.  Many of us are still waiting for Jesus to keep some of the promises he’s made us.  Maybe you’re still waiting for an emotional or physical healing, maybe you’re waiting for a husband or a wife, maybe you’re waiting for a career or a ministry, or more importantly maybe you’re waiting for Jesus to save your loved one.

For every promise Jesus has made you, God’s Word declares in Matthew 28:5, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said.”  As you begin your small group discussion today, remember that the meaning of Easter is that not even death can stop Jesus from keeping his promises.  Jesus said he would rise from the dead, and Jesus said he will come again, and Jesus will do…as he said!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.