Thursday, May 22, 2014

Eastertide Astonishment

Curiosity tends to get us running. On New Years day seven years ago I was taking a little break on the couch watching college football. It was cold, the wind was howling, and I didn’t want go anywhere. But then the phone rang. “THE STEEPLE BLEW DOWN” said the voice on the phone. “Unbelievable!” I thought to myself. Then I said, “I’ll be there in a minute.” I went to see for myself and unfortunately the phone report was accurate. The steeple was dead! 

Whether it is a blown over steeple on New Years, or a risen Lord on Easter, these reports needed to be verified and once verified then the implications set in. The steeple garnered a local article in the newspaper. And our men did a fantastic job of taking care of everything, including the rebuilding of the steeple. And we are very thankful to them for their work. Likewise, the report of Jesus’ empty tomb was verified by Peter and its implications spread out much farther than a local news paper story.

Peter’s response to Mary, Joanna, and Mary’s report in Luke 24:12 gives us a peek into what kind of man he was. “Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.” Peter didn’t disregard the women’s report like the other apostles did (v. 11). No, he got up and ran to Jesus’ tomb to see with his own eyes and they were right. Jesus is risen from the dead! And from His resurrection flows endless blessings!

Peter was not the only one to verify the report about the empty tomb. Cleopas and his friend reportedly met the resurrected Jesus (vv. 31-35). Eventually, all eleven Apostles saw him too when the risen Jesus appeared to them explaining His rising from death and causing them to believe it (Luke 24:36-48). Then He was with them forty more days (Acts 1:3) after appearing to hundreds of others (1 Cor 15:6). 

The implications of Jesus’ resurrection seem to be endless. Perhaps the first natural implication was what Jesus called the apostles to do. Namely, to be witnesses of Him and His resurrection; eye witnesses if you will. This was vital to the Apostolic ministry. For a fact to be verified in a Jewish court of law it required two or more witnesses. When Jesus sent his witnesses out He made sure that there would be no reason for doubt so he sent twelve eye witnesses to proclaim “these things” (Luke 24:48). It should be noted that Jesus even sent the ones who were not interested in the initial report from the ladies; curiosity didn’t strike them like it did Peter. 

Is it merely a coincidence that Peter, who denied Jesus the night before his death, was perhaps the first of Jesus’ inner circle to sincerely consider the resurrection with an open mind? The Bible tells us that he was “marveling at what had happened” after he looked inside of Jesus’ tomb. He walked home astonished that his Lord was not in the tomb. This same apostle who denied him was later restored by Jesus (John 21:15-19), and later God used the apostle who ran to Jesus’ tomb and looked inside to write epistles to the church, you know them as 1 Peter and 2 Peter. In 1 Peter he wrote: 

          Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy       
          has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
          from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not 
          fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through a 
          faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1:3-5). 

Dear Christian, in the wake of Easter Sunday continue marveling at our risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Maybe you can relate to someone like Peter who was often outspoken and even slipped into fearing people over following Christ, but no matter who you are Jesus’ resurrection and its endless blessings and implications should always astonish you.