Monday 5/18/20-Pastor Wes
It is very common to look for Jesus and entirely miss him. Church history is filled with examples of our attempts to find him, our missing him, and his grace in revealing himself where we least expect him (Hint: He is often found among the “least of these” – Matthew 25:40,45). Are we missing Jesus during COVID-19 and the subsequent quarantine? I am fairly certain we are and will illustrate this briefly through the text of Jesus’ post-resurrection days.
Jesus appears after his resurrection:
Mary thinks he is a gardener (John 20:15)
Thomas would not believe unless he saw and touched his scars (John 20:25)
He is the fish finder who cooks and serves breakfast for his friends (John 21:6, 9, 12)
He is the prophet who reproves and predicts (John 21:15-25)
God also sends and angel to speak to Mary these words:
“He is going on ahead of you” (Matthew 28:7)
These two statements from the angel happen right before the conspiracy theory starts among the Jewish leadership about how to explain the disappearance of Jesus body from the tomb (Hint: You won’t find many conspiracies started in the scripture that came from Heaven.)
What are the lessons from these passages for us today? How do these common experiences after the resurrection of Jesus speak to us in this moment?
- 1. He did not overthrow Roman rule before his death, as Messiah, which was the conventional thinking of what Messiah would come to do.
- 2. He did not relieve the people of evil religious rulers in the Jewish counsel before his death, as Messiah, which was the common understanding of the Messiah’s role.
- 3. Things were not all lost, or over, when he died.
- 4. He was not coming in hot to turn over all of the political and social ills caused by corrupt leaders after his resurrection.
- 5. He was often missed or mistaken after the resurrection.
- 6. His teaching and meaning prior to resurrection had been unclear in the minds of his followers at the time and these things would not be clear for a while to come after his resurrection.
- 7. You and I probably have no idea what God is up to based on our understanding and would not even recognize him if he looked us in the face.
- 8. We are easily misled and distracted.
- 9. We are prone to believe whatever is most convenient to our minds.
- 10. God is not contained by any of our imagination.
- 11. God, through Jesus, demonstrates a plan that is consistent with himself even when it confuses us.
- 12. Jesus is going ahead of us, so there is NO Reason To FEAR. Let’s keep moving on!