24 hours that changed the world : 40 hours that changed our lives. March 27, 2016

24 hours that changed the world : 40 hours that changed our lives.

March 27, 2016

The events of that last day were just too terrible to describe. No matter how many times I see crucifixion, I’ll never get used to it. No one could. It was even worse to see the master beaten, abused, tortured, and crucified. I stood way back because none of the rest of the Sanhedrin knew that I, Joseph of Arimathea, was a follower of the Jesus.

Nicodemus introduced me to Jesus. At first, I mistook him for just another lunatic until Nicodemus introduced me to the new life that Jesus offered. Nick came to me in the middle of the night talking nonsense about “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.” He explained that Jesus told him that he needed be born anew by believing in him.

At first, I couldn’t even comprehend what he was saying.

·        Born anew?...

·        Not from our mother’s womb?...

·        But from above?...

·        Born of the Spirit?...

·        Really? …W

·        hat did it all mean?

Nicodemus and I made a trip back to Jesus the next night so I could meet him. I discovered that there was just something about him that I immediately felt God’s love from him and believed him. When I heard Jesus talking about a loving God, and he told me that God loved us so much that he gave his only son, I felt something stir inside of me… it turned out the stirring was the beginning of faith in him. I started to believe in him. I wanted to know that kind of God.

Up to that time, I thought God was mostly interested in law. My life was about trying to follow the law. So many laws! It was a full time job just knowing them, let alone keeping all 613 commandments. But I knew it was necessary in order to keep God’s favor.

I took every opportunity to hear Jesus. I tried to be inconspicuously on the edge of the crowd, or around the corner where I could hear without being seen. Every time I heard him, my heart was filled with love. His message that God loves me, and the only law I needed to keep was the law of love for God and neighbor, changed the way I felt about God. I was a different person on the inside. But I couldn’t tell my fellow Pharisees. The Sanhedrin considered Jesus to be dangerous, and a false prophet. I kept my new belief secret.

When Jesus appeared before the Sanhedrin, he didn’t look anything like he had. He was just a shadow of the teacher I had known. I wish I would have spoken up in his defense but I was afraid to. I was just too afraid.

So, I watched the terrible consequences of my silence.

·        I felt like every lash belonged to me because I didn’t speak up.

·         I felt like every drop of blood was mine because I didn’t speak up.

·         I felt every clang of the hammer as though the nail were going into my skin.

·         I gasped with every painful breath until he didn’t gasp again.

It was over. It seemed like a long time before I took another breath. It really was all over.

At least everyone thought it was over…. I did too.

But I could not leave him hanging there. Usually the bodies hung on the cross until the crows and vultures picked all the meat from the bones, but I could not stand the thought of that. I wanted to do something.

I went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. To my surprise, Pilate granted me permission. I guess he still had some conscience. He said, “It is the least I can do for an innocent man.”

I couldn’t do the work by myself, so I found Nicodemus to help me. We took Jesus down from the cross. Nicodemus brought cloths and spices. The women wrapped him lovingly. It was a risk, but it was one last opportunity to show our love and generously serve our Lord. That was all that could be done, however, before the sunset and the Sabbath was upon us. So we put him in a tomb I had prepared for myself and rolled the stone in front of it.

It was over. In our minds there was no tomorrow. But tomorrow came and Saturday was no better than Friday. We could not wake up from a nightmare.  

·        Jesus was still dead. 

·        Evil won the victory.

·        Death was unconquerable.

·        And life was intolerable.

·        We were afraid

·        We were ashamed

·        We were hopeless

And we were cowering in the corner of a little room waiting for our end to come.

*       Someone said, “What was that he said about Jonah and being in the belly of the whale for three days?” the others would dismiss it.

*       Someone said, “Didn’t he say something about destroying the temple and raising it up in three days? You don’t suppose he was talking about his body do you?” To which someone would say “No that’s not what he meant.”

*       Someone else said, “I am sure he said that the son of man would suffer and die and be raised up in three days.” But to a bunch of hopeless, broken hearts, that just seemed absurd. Our hearts died with Jesus. Our lives were just dark cold tombs filled with lifeless bones of our shattered hopes.

The next morning I was awakened to the sound of women shouting. “He is risen. He is risen.” The women found the stone rolled back from the tomb door. Jesus’ body was gone. The women actually saw him and talked to him in the garden and they came back crying, “He is risen. He is risen.” With those words, our lives would never be the same. Suddenly the blackness of the last 40 hours began to lift.

Peter went running ahead, but I was a little older and it took me a few minutes longer. When I arrived, Peter was just standing… staring. Looking back and forth between the open door and the empty grave cloths. The unfathomable had happened. . Jesus had risen. Just as he said.

·        The impossible became a reality. . Jesus has risen.

·        The unbelievable was suddenly undeniable. Jesus has risen.

·        Darkness became light because Jesus has risen.

·        Fear was transformed into faith because Jesus has risen.

·        Doubt was transformed into promise because Jesus has risen.

·        Evil was overcome by love because Jesus has risen.

·        Death lost the war for our eternal souls because Jesus has risen.

·        Sin was defeated because Jesus has risen.

With those words, the blackness of the last 40 hours broke into shining splendor and none of us would ever be the same again.

You wonder how I can believe?

There are many things in this world that we don’t understand.

·        It is hard to understand the creation of the universe.

·        It is really hard to grasp the amazing inner workings of the human brain.

·        It is hard to describe the glory of the sunrise.

These things are mind boggling to me. But I ask myself,

·        If God can create the universe, is the resurrection too much for him?

·        If God can conceive of the human brain, is bring life from death too hard for him?

·        If God can bring us the sunrise each morning… is it so hard to believe that God could raise Christ from the dead? I say no!          When you think of it that way the resurrection of Christ doesn’t seem so crazy does it?

·        And if the resurrection is not so crazy, then it is only a small step to believing that Jesus was who he said he was, and did what he promised to do, and his death on the cross was what he said it was.

·        And if Jesus is who he said he was, and did what he promised to do, then it is not so crazy to say that, because of all of that, our lives will never be the same. It is not so crazy to say that those long dark 40 hours…and the bright flash of resurrection changed our lives forever.

For those of us who huddled in that dark corner for those long 40 hours, Christ’s resurrection was a guarantee of Christ’s victory over everything that tried to destroy him. Likewise, for us, Christ’s resurrection is a guarantee that Christ has won victory over everything that tries to destroy us; sin evil injustice, tragedy, pain, fear, shame, hopelessness, and even death.

If Christ’s resurrection is a guarantee that Jesus won the victory for us, it is also a guarantee that the resurrection of Jesus Christ won a victory for you over all that sucks the life out of you;

·        sin

·        evil

·        injustice,

·        tragedy,

·        pain,

·        fear,

·        shame,

·        hopelessness,

·        and even death.

Whatever you face, Christ’s resurrection is the hope. Whatever you face, Christ’s resurrection is the promise. The worst thing you face, whatever it is, Christ’s resurrection is God’s message that the worst thing is never the last thing. 

The death of Jesus was the worst thing I have ever experienced, but it is not the last word by any means

·        The illness you face, t

·        he financial crisis or even bankruptcy you face,

·        the divorce that looms over,

·        your upcoming court date,

·         the pain of memories that haunt you,

·        the fear that you will be abandoned,

·        the fear of losing your independence,

·        the addiction that grips you,

·        the depression that holds you,

·        whatever it is the is the worst thing you face, or the worst you can imagine … is not the last word.

God has the last word. The last word is YOU. As in, “Christ is risen for YOU.”

AMEN