Easter is Still Here
Easter is over and I think it impacted me more this year than it ever has. In our Sunday message I focused on thinking through what the disciples were doing, saying, thinking, and grieving over during the time between Jesus’ horrible crucifixion and his beautiful resurrection.
Did they remember Jesus’ words to them? Here are a few examples:
● Luke 9:21 – Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
● Luke 9:43 – While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, 44 “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” 45 But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it
● Luke 18:31 – Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; 33 they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
● John 16:20 - “ I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy.”
As they waited and pondered what they should do after Jesus’ resurrection, did any of these statements from Jesus come to their mind? Did any of them remind each other of Jesus’ promises to them - the very promises he spoke concerning the way he would die, and how he would be raised back to life? They had seen him turn water into wine; they had seen him calm a deadly storm on a lake; they had seen him set people free from being possessed by demons; they had seen countless people healed of horrible diseases and blindness; and they had seen people who were dead raised back to life. All these things happened when Jesus was with them. But now he is gone - did they still believe his words and promises were true.
Biblical evidence seems to indicate otherwise. Look at this from the book of Mark 6:14 after Jesus had risen from the dead and showed himself alive to his disciples:
Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead.
That is where I find myself contemplating how I act the same way today and why I can’t seem to get the Easter message out of my mind. When I find myself in challenges and life predicaments akin to what it must of been like for the disciples between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning, I often don’t think God will come through for me either. I forget his words and promises. I lose hope and wallow in grief and unbelief and hopelessness. That is what I want to see change in me and why I don’t want to run past Easter quickly!
Dear Lord, turn my stubborn unbelief into faith. Help me to point others to your faithfulness!
Pastor Don Erehart
