Jesus has risen!!! Hallelujah! Now we have a choice

Easter Sunday! He has risen! The Tomb is empty!! Hallelujah! Now comes a choice. What you will do with this man, Jesus? As Pilate asked at his trial, it is a question we must all ask ourselves. Jesus offers the gift of salvation. Eternal life. I’m not here to split hairs over doctrine or technicality. I’m not going to make a list of rules you have follow. Man has muddled the message of Jesus for far too long. Pure simple. Jesus came. He died for our sins and rose on the third day. He conquered sin and death. And we have a choice.

The first choice: you reject him. You can chose to walk down the wide gate or the wide road. You can build the foundation for your salvation on sand. Only the wide gate, the wide road and building on sand can only lead to destruction (Matthew 7:13, Matthew 6:26). You may reject him out of fear. The world has been harsh to Jesus, his message and Christians especially in today’s world. Jesus says that in this world you will have trouble, pain, problems, some you didn’t even create and some that you did. But Jesus offers a solution. Jesus isn’t in some distant galaxy. He is right there with you, waiting. “He is the Son of Man who came to serve and to give his life as ransom for you” (Lucado, 1992). You may reject him out shame because the things you have done and the person you have become. If pride is what goes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18), then shame is what keeps you down. Jesus can help you get back up again.

You may reject him because you think you are unworthy of Jesus’ gift. You are no one special to be called by God to follow Christ. I say that you are. God has not made you unworthy of His love or His offer of salvation. You have. Jesus gave up the crown of heaven for a crown of thorns for you. (Lucado, 2000). God has done everything to make himself known. It’s you who says “I’m not good enough” or “only if I do this or that, I’ll be ready.” God is one to take the common and make it spectacular. Think of David, a simple shepherd boy become one of the greatest kings of Israel. Think of Mary, a simple girl who was asked to do something extraordinary. While you may not be called to be as a great as David or be asked to do something as extraordinary as Mary but you are worthy of God’s call.

The second choice: you accept him. You can chose to follow Jesus. You can chose to walk down the narrow road, walk through the narrow gate. You can build the foundation of your salvation on solid rock. For the narrow gate, the narrow road and a foundation of rock will lead to eternal life (Matthew 7:14, Matthew 6:24). You recognize that you need Jesus and his gift of salvation. That you cannot receive eternal life in heaven without him. His perfect gift of salvation, of eternal life. As James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Life does not get any easier as a follower of Christ; however, we have someone who can help us through the hard life. When it seems that the world has turned against you, all of heaven turns towards you. When life gets too tough, think of heaven. Think of home. Think of Jesus.

When Jesus died on the cross, so did our sins. When he rose on the third day, so did our hope. The grave become temporary. For those who accept Jesus and his gift of salvation, death no longer has any power. God said “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). There is no depths that Jesus can’t reach you. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He will never change His mind. Once you have accept His gift of salvation, your name will forever be written in the book of life (Luke 10:20, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 20:11-15). With Christ, we are never alone in our struggles.

The Sinner’s Prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness.

I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead.

I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life.

I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name.

Amen.

And the Angels were Silent Max Lucado (1992)

He Chose the Nails Maz Lucado (2000)

Good Friday: the ultimate sacrifice for all of us

Today is Good Friday. The day that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Just five days before, Jesus entered Jerusalem with praise and fanfare. The crowds laid palm branches on the road in front of him as he rode into the city on a donkey. He would spend his last days teaching, giving his disciples last minute instructions and preparations for his coming death. He came to take the sins of the world. Many people Christ’s victory over sin and death came with his death and resurrection. I see that it happened before in a place called the Garden of Gethsemane.

Thursday night, midnight, Jesus knows the end is coming. He comes to the garden to pray as he struggles with the next hours will bring. He prays for deliverance. He begs his Father for a way out. He begs for another way to accomplish his mission. But he knew there wasn’t any way. He prayed, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their [the disciples] message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21 NIV). You and I are a part of this prayer. His final prayer is for us. He saw us in a life that is not fair with pain and struggles that we did not ask for. He did not want to leave us. It was in the garden that the battle was won. It was once Jesus received the gentle but firm “No” from his Father. He decided to fight no more. “For it was in the garden that he made his decision. He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you" (Lucado, 1992).

Once he left the garden, Jesus would be faced with the ultimate betrayal. A kiss from a friend. Betrayal. When your world turns against you. Jesus is led away and first given over to Caiaphas, a high priest, who accused Jesus of blasphemy (Matthew 26:57-67, Mark 14:53-65, Luke 22:54, 63-65, John 18:24). A crime punishable by death (Leviticus 24:16). Then he is brought before the Council of Religious Leaders who sentenced him to death (Matthew 24:1-2, Mark 15:1, Luke 22:66-71). Finally he appears before Pilate, the Roman governor, who can find no fault with Jesus (Matthew 27:11-26, Mark 15:1-5, Luke 23:1-6, and John 18:28-38) but turns him over to be crucified to appease the crowd. He would be flogged, mocked, given a scarlet robe and a crown of thorns as the Roman soldiers spit on him, struck him with a staff and made to carry the cross to Golgotha “The Place of the Skulls.” Once on the cross, insults would be hurled at Jesus. He hung there until he died with a final cry “It is finished (John 19:30). Jesus who understands betrayal from those who are supposed to be trusted. He understands shame and pain. He understand all the human emotions and situations that we face every day because he faced them too. He suffered at the hands of the Romans and died on the cross for us so that our sins could be wiped away. He is the ultimate sacrificial lamb, innocent and chosen to die for others.

You ask yourself why? Why would Christ do that? Why would he die if he were innocent? The answer: for us. As quoted from Max Lucado above. He’d rather go to hell for us than go to heaven without us. “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). He came to save us from our sins (John 3:17). The perfect song to illustrate this point is by the Christian group, Avalon. “We are the Reason” is usually played at Christmas but it speaks to the reason why Christ was born, lived and lived: for us. This song always brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. If I try to sing it, my tears choke me and I am overcome with the power of what Jesus has done for me, for all of us. The chorus says “We are the reason that he gave his life/We are the reason that he suffered and died/To a world that was lost/He gave all He could give/to show us the reason to live.”

As a Christian, I think of Jesus and what he has done for me often. And I am still amazed at the love that Christ has for me. This Friday, as we all prepare for Easter Sunday, gathering with family and friends, even some who are working, think of the importance of today. Think of one Friday, some 2,000 years ago as one man died on a cross. Think about one man agonizing in a garden and prayed for you. Think of the pain and humiliation that he suffered for you. Think of how a method of execution become a symbol of hope.

The last week of Jesus is told in

Matthew 21-27

Mark 11-15

Luke 19-23

John 12 -19

And the Angels were silent (1992) Max Lucado