Easter: Part of the process

 

A  man who was completely innocent,

 

offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of  others,

 

including his enemies,

 

and became the ransom of the world.

 

It was a  perfect act.

 

Mahatma  Gandhi

Text: John 20:15-7

¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who is it that you are looking for?” Thinking that he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you are the one who carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Getting from here to there

The work on the cross was part of a process. It was completed over the course of about 43 days.

Days after the crucifixion... Read more

Easter sermon notes: Sunday (April 24, 2011)

We have a tradition at our church for Easter with three speakers, each speaking on one day of the Passion of the Christ. These notes are from the Sunday presentation by our pastor.

Text: John 20:15-7

The work on the cross was a process. It was completed @ 43 days later.

The women went to the Tomb to mummify Jesus’ remains. They were intercepted and interrupted during the process…by Jesus! Jesus is hanging around the Tomb, and He reveals Himself to Mary.

There is a difference between resurrection and ascension. Both are essential in securing our salvation.

The definition of resurrection is being raised to a previous state of being, to a former life. This is not a singular event. There are other examples of resurrection in the Bible. Jesus resurrects a little girl, and Lazarus. Elijah resurrects a little boy.

The body has the ability has the ability to spring back top its former state.

Verse 17, Jesus says, “Touch me not,” meaning don’t cling to me.

We should not cling to former things.

Jesus is not impressed with being raised from the dead; He is rather dismissive.

Jesus didn’t just come back, but He came back better.

Illustration: MC Hammer, “You can’t touch this” (smh)

We should hold on to stuff because of what it used to be. Hold on to what is!

Even though He was great in His ministry, He was greater in His mastery.

In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that "you must be born again."

Born again into a new condition.

"I'm not satisfied with what I used to be...I'm pressing on..."

God has cleared Jesus for a higher, exalted place.

Ascension is required....


[FYI: "smh" means shaking my head]

The Jesus Creed

The Jesus Creed from DanStevers.com on Vimeo.

The yearly calendar is racing ahead. Fortunately, for those of us in the northern part of the states, the doldrums and darkness of winter are about to end. Amen. For the church calendar, this means that we begin the season of Lent (for those who observe it), and move on toward Good Friday and Easter.

What is Lent? I'm glad you asked. The Easter season actually begins 40 days before Easter Sunday, on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.

Today is Ash Wednesday. The 40 days of Lent are meant to correspond to and symbolize the time that Jesus spent being tempted by Satan in the desert before his public ministry started. This occurred immediately after His baptism by his cousin, John the Baptist.

During Lent, we are intended to examine our hearts, be more observant of our behavior and increase our diligence about putting away our sinful behaviors. Many people give something up for Lent, like chocolate or cursing, or something along those lines.

This period is a reminder that following Christ means that we should be "dying to ourselves every day."

Let us take this opportunity to look deeply into our hearts and scrutinize our lives. Are we where we want to be in our spiritual lives? Do we like who we have become?

Christ left us with ONLY two commands, love God and love others.

What would it look like, how would our days feel, if for the next 40 days, we really made an effort to go the extra mile to show some love to and for each other?