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2017-07-12T22:42:35-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

John 13:1-17 – The New Commandment

Last updated on: July 12, 2017 at 10:42 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

Jesus Washing Feet statue This meditation is really a Maundy Thursday meditation, but here it is on the Saturday before Holy Week.

Jesus says to you today: “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). This name, “Maundy Thursday,” comes from the Latin words mandatum novum, or “new commandment,” taken from John 13:34.

Now why is this a new commandment? The commandments to love God and love your neighbor as yourself come from the Old Testament. It is new because the commandments to love God and love neighbor are hidden away among 612 other commandments. Each of these was either about loving God or loving neighbor, and yet it was easy to miss. New, because it is through Jesus Christ Himself that we see the love incarnated that we are commanded to have. New, because Jesus is about to demonstrate with His life the love that He teaches with His mouth.

So Jesus gives us a new commandment – in fact, the commandment above all others: the commandment to love. On Maundy Thursday, even before the ultimate story of love found in Good Friday, we find in John 13 a complete teaching on love. For on Maundy Thursday, and every day of our lives, Jesus gives us the example of love, the commandment of love, and the strength to love.

Though the entire life of Jesus was an act of sacrificial love, on Maundy Thursday, Jesus gave His disciples – and that includes us – a striking example of love. For on the night in which He was betrayed, He did not demand that His disciples serve Him . . . . He didn’t pamper Himself . . . . He didn’t give His body rest and luxury to prepare for the exhausting and most trying day ahead.

On the night in which He was betrayed, which was also the night He was tried and sentenced, before He did anything else . . . He washed His disciples’ feet.

Now we may not appreciate the significance of this job in 21st century America, but in Jesus’ day, this was one of the lowest jobs around, reserved for common servants. You may not appreciate how humbling it is to wash another person’s feet, especially in a culture where sandals were worn every day and baths were only as frequent as new moons. But feet in the 1st century – who are we kidding? – feet in every century – are dirty, stinky, and smelly. As a parent of young children, I see that every day. (That’s right, blame the kids!)

I remember once in eighth grade when I was on a youth leadership retreat, and the leaders of the youth group decided to have a foot-washing ceremony one night. Earlier that day, I had gone off by myself to explore and play. I seem to remember something about a tire swing on a tree and a bunch of really wet mud all around it. But I digress.

We gathered in a circle to wash each other’s feet. Slowly, the bowl and towel passed around the circle, until it was Christina Cathcart’s turn to wash someone’s feet: mine. When I took off my shoes and socks, I embarrassingly discovered a ring of black all around my ankles and suddenly remembered the tire swing and pool of mud. I may have been embarrassed, but Christina Cathcart was mortified. How humbling to her, and yet more than anyone else that night she had an opportunity to understand love.

But what if the person washing your feet were Jesus Christ Himself, wiping your feet with His own clothing? This was only one among many acts of love He performed in a life that was a living, walking advertisement for love. As John writes of Jesus, “having loved his own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.”

When Peter learned the lesson of love, He asked to have not only His feet but also His whole body washed. And we, who are His disciples, are to have our whole bodies and souls washed by Him. This is what He does for us in baptism, coming to us in love, and offering to cleanse us. This is what He does in the Lord’s Supper. In the Prayer of Humble Access we pray: “Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood.”

Here, on Maundy Thursday, then, we see both Baptism and the Holy Communion, as Jesus offers Himself to us that we might live in love.

How humbling, that the Lord who washed His disciples’ dirty, stinking feet in the upper room, has washed your sinful soul – much, much dirtier and stinkier than feet can ever get. How humbling, that the King of Glory should come to His disciples this way, and dirty Himself with the stains of our darkest sins, day after day, broken commandment after broken commandment of dirty, slimy sin!

Notice that Jesus gives the example of love first, and then the commandment – as if to say to us: “anyone can tell you to love, but let me show you first so that you will truly understand.” Which is easier? To say, “Love one another” or to actually love and then say “Love as I have loved you”? Jesus follows up His humble example with a concrete commandment, John 13:34 – “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

It’s not enough for us to simply have our feet washed by our Lord: He washes us so that we might become like Him. He washed His disciples’ feet, so that they might learn love. And He washes your body and soul, so that you might learn to love and serve, as He did.

This love that was so real in the life of Jesus must be made just as real in the life of His disciples. Palm Sunday teaches that the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of humility, service, and love. And Jesus says, “If you want to be great in the Kingdom of heaven, then learn to be the servant of all.” “No disciple is greater than His master but strives to be like Him in all things.” And now: “Love one another, as I have loved you.”

It is your Christian duty – and a duty that should proceed spontaneously from a washed soul – to wash the feet of the saints. “Love one another, as I have loved you.”

Look for opportunities to serve; make yourself the most humble person you know; take the lowest job in the room. Anoint the Body of your Lord Jesus Christ – anoint His Body, the Church – by loving one another, as He first loved you. The new commandment to love one another begins by loving God but must continue by loving the saints. It must conclude by loving those not like you. Love those who are not like you and who may not reciprocate the favor. Love those who hate you. Remember that Jesus washed the feet and offered His love feast to the very one who betrayed Him.

If we keep opening our arms and doors of our churches, God’s communities of love, we will get some different, strange people come through those doors – and we must love them. We might get some teenagers and young people who don’t dress quite like us or talk just like us or who might say or do some startling things. And we must love them. We might meet neighbors who will eat our food, and play our games, and hear our music – and never even think about coming into God’s house – and we must love them too.

“As I have loved you, you also love one another.”

But how shall we ever find the strength within ourselves for such an impossible task – to love as our Lord loved us? Jesus was able to love perfectly, in spite of the pain He endured, in spite of being rejected, not just because He was God but also because His human nature actively choose to obey the Father and was sustained by the Holy Spirit. That is where He found His strength.

We can only obey this great commandment of Jesus – to love as He loved us – through the same strength that Jesus Christ found: the strength of God the Father through Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit.

There are many ways to find the strength of God, but all of them are only through Jesus Christ. But Jesus gave His disciples a special way to celebrate His love and be strengthened to love with His love and power: His supper. After Jesus had shown His disciples the example of love, and after He had given them the commandment of love. He gave them the power of love through the sacramental meal He ate with them. He gave Himself to them, just as He would on the Cross a short time later.

Here before us, on the Lord’s Table whenever we partake, is liquid and solid love – given for you. Here is the power to keep His commandment. And here before us every day, in all of the ways that Jesus offers Himself to us each day, we have Jesus Christ, love incarnate and the power to love.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

Resolution: I resolve to find one specific way to love today.

Prayer: Father, as You have loved us by sending Your Son; Jesus, as You have loved us by giving up Your life for us; so may You give us the gift of love through Your Spirit that we may obey Your commandment to love and be made like our Master in all things. Amen.

Points for Meditation:

As you meditate on the Gospel narratives of Christ’s betrayal, Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection, meditate on the love of God as He gives them through the life of Christ.
As you prepare to partake of the Lord’s Supper this week, take extra care to prepare yourself by meditating on the Lord in His Supper.

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2017-07-11T18:42:57-05:00

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John 12:44-50 – Power and Fear, Glory and Shame

Last updated on: July 11, 2017 at 6:42 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

** Crucifixion - Grunewald **I’ve got a radical idea! Let’s try an experiment in reading this passage. How would it enrich our understanding of God’s Word today and our understanding of our call to be the apostles (“sent ones”) and martyrs (“witnesses”) if we read Jesus’ loud cry of verses 44-50, substituting our names for His? With the obvious understanding that neither you nor I is God or can speak for God in exactly the same way as Jesus Christ, the Son, how might it change us to see ourselves as ones called by God to do His will?

Just as the Father sent the Son into the world to reveal Himself, the Son has sent us into the world to reveal Him.

Who’s up for this grand experiment? Here we go. Remember, you are to read this as if you are the one saying it about yourself.

“He who believes me, believes not in me, but in Him who sent me (Jesus Christ). And he who sees me sees Him who sent me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes me should not abide in darkness; for I did not come into the world to judge the world but to show the One who can save the world.

He who rejects me and does not receive my words, has that which judges him. God’s Word, which I have spoken, will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Son who sent me gave me a command what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Son has told me, so I speak.”

How did that feel? There are a few places where we have to be careful that we don’t slip into thinking that we are God, but isn’t it amazing how well what Jesus said fits what we should be able to say?

I feel a mixture of several sensations: power and fear, glory and shame. Power, because it is a powerful thing to be filled with the Spirit and anointed by Him to speak the Word of God. Power, because handling the Word of God is like holding a fire hose that is so powerful it is likely to be uncontrolled and used improperly.

Fear, because I have been given the authority and responsibility to speak in God’s name. Fear, because I have the Holy Spirit who inspired Scripture living inside me, and I am His Temple, and as I recognize this, I have a holy fear in God’s presence.

Glory, because I have been chosen to be a bearer of Christ to those around me. Glory because I am a child of light, called to be a bearer of light and a star that shines in the darkness of this world.

Shame, because I have not lived up to this light. Shame, because knowing now the power and glory of God, I realize my true calling in life and how little of my time and energy and thoughts are devoted to Him.

It is through what we, the Body of Christ, say and do, that people will see and hear Jesus Christ. We are so united to Jesus Christ, as He is united to the Father, that He is able to speak and act through us. What a miracle! What a privilege! What glory and power!

But what potential for fear and shame. Are the things we are saying and doing, individually and corporately, the things He has told us to do?

And so this experiment was, for me, very enlightening. I saw a glimpse of whom I was created and redeemed to be. I felt, for a moment, the unity with Christ and His will that I am to experience every moment.

What will I do now? What will you do now?

Prayer: O Christ: may I be united with You, speak Your words, and do Your will: by the mystery of thy holy Incarnation; by thy holy Nativity and Circumcision; by thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation; by thine Agony and Bloody Sweat; by thy Cross and Passion; by thy precious Death and Burial; by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the Coming of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Points for Mediation:

What did you experience as you read John 12:44-50 in this light?
How did Christ illuminate you through His Spirit as you read this passage and became aware of His call on your life?

Resolution: I resolve to listen closely to what Jesus is telling me in this passage. When I see what He wants me to see, I resolve to do it.

Crucifixion of Christ, Matthias Grunewald – in U.S. Public Domain

2017-07-09T22:11:37-05:00

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John 12:20-33 – The Hour of Glory

Last updated on: July 9, 2017 at 10:11 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

John 12:20-33

“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.”

“Here comes the good part,” I’m thinking to myself. My hopes and dreams are fanned into life by the breath of Jesus’ words, and once again I can’t wait for Him to be glorified.

I am greatly encouraged as well by His words to me, saying, “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me, and where I am, there My servant will be also.”

Wonderful! I get to be with Jesus! I get to follow Him in all things to His glory, for the hour has come that He should be glorified.

But these wonderful words of Jesus are surrounded by other words of His which I find to be not so much wonderful as “lufrednow” (“wonderful” backwards). And now I am revealed for what I am, one who chooses to see what I want to see in Jesus and to hear what I want to hear in His words. Between the 2 wonderful words I rejoiced in a moment ago are these lufrednow words of Jesus: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”

The “it produces much grain” part I’m O.K. with, but I’m not sure I want to face anything with the word “die” in it. I’m not sure I’ll like what it implies for me. So sometimes I ignore it.

But Jesus is persistent: He knows I may refuse His teaching the first time, so He comes to me in one of the many terrifying juxtapositions in His Word. Right after He has comforted me by telling me that “where I am, there My servant will be” (that’s got to be good), He has to turn to me, look me in the face so I won’t miss His meaning, and tell me: “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?”

Without missing a beat, He turns from telling me that if I serve Him and follow Him I will be where He is, to telling me that where He’s going is somewhere so terrifying that even the Son of Man’s soul is troubled over it.

It’s just as I suspected, and now I have no illusions about it: He’s calling me to follow Him to the Cross today. I should have known it when He said, “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” But now it’s all too plain. Yes, if I follow Him I will be where He is, but one of the places He’s going is to the Cross.

I stop and sigh for a moment. I’m not sure I want to go on. My daily burden is already pretty heavy sometimes, and I’m ready to get to the good stuff in a hurry.

But it’s too late: I’ve already promised Him that I love Him and trust Him and want nothing more than to be with Him wherever He is. But silly me: I assumed that because He’s already ascended into heaven that I could Go directly to Boardwalk, pass Go, and collect my heavenly treasure, without making any stops along the way.

But that’s not how He got to heaven, and that’s not how He’s taking me there, either.

Instead, He leads me to the Cross and points to it. He places Himself upon it, a willing sacrifice to the Father, and then looks at me with those eyes, and without a word says to me: “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me, and where I am, there My servant will be also.”

I debate a moment, wince, and then remember my vows.

And it hurts. The Cross in my life hurts, and only a fool would say that it doesn’t.

But then I notice something else, something I hadn’t quite factored in enough. That “something” is that there is a difference between the Cross He bore for me and the cross I bear for Him. When He bore my cross, there wasn’t anyone else there to comfort Him and ease His suffering. But when I bear my Cross, for it is rightfully mine, He is there with me. And that makes all the difference in the world.

And then I suddenly get it. Through the suffering, because of the suffering, I get it. He is the grain of wheat that had to fall to the ground and die so that it might produce much fruit. But one of the fruits that He produces is me. And now genetically I am His grain of wheat, and so I must follow Him, the One I said I wanted to be with, and now it’s my turn to die. I must die to myself, and the Old Man in me must die: he must be crucified.

But this isn’t all there is to being with Jesus: the moment I allow myself to die with Him on the Cross, He also raises me to new life with Him, as He promised. I am with Him on the Cross and with Him in His resurrection: I am with Him in death so that I might be with Him in life. Therefore, I will not be afraid of the terrible hour of suffering when it comes to me, for through it Jesus is leading me to life and to glory.

In this life there is, therefore, a strange mixture of life and death, of the Cross and the Resurrection. I am both on earth and in heaven, for I am with Him wherever He is.

And now I get it: whatever happens in this life, if I serve Him and follow Him, I will be with Him. When times are bad and I suffer in any way, I am with Him in His suffering. And when times are good and I am happy in any way, then I am with Him in His glory. He’s got me covered!

I get it now. The wonderful things are wonderful, and the lufrednow things are also wonderful because I am with Him in all things. So you see, He gave me just what I pleaded for after all: nothing more and nothing less than to be with Him wherever He is.

Prayer: Lord, since thou has taken from me all that I had of thee, yet of thy grace leave me the gift which every dog has by nature, that of being true to thee in my distress, when I am deprived of all consolation. This I desire more fervently than thy heavenly kingdom. Amen. (Mechthild of Magdeburg)

Point for Meditation:

What parts of your life right now are not so good? How might you seek to be with Jesus in them?
What parts of your life right now are good? How might you seek to be with Jesus in them?

Resolution: I resolve to seek Jesus above all else today. I further resolve to make it my prayer today to seek Him eagerly in all things.

Crucifixion of Christ, Matthias Grunewald – in U.S. Public Domain

2017-06-30T20:57:11-05:00

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John 10:1-30 – The Good Shepherd Part III

Last updated on: June 30, 2017 at 8:57 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

** Shepherd and Sheep **Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, both knows and leads His sheep. But this knowledge (which is love) and this leading (which is love by serving) means that the Good Shepherd also gives His life for the sheep (verse 11 and 15).

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, loves His sheep: He loves you more than father, mother, husband, wife love you. Ultimately, He loves you and leads you by being willing to die for you. He gave His life for you by becoming like you. The Incarnation is not merely a necessary stepping stone to the Crucifixion. God gave His life for you by becoming like you that you might become like Him.

The entire life of obedience of the Son, even the 30 years before His public ministry, were given for you that He might fulfill the Law for you and become obedient that you might become obedient. This life is not a life of obedience by compulsion, as if He were forced to obey, and it wasn’t a life of automatic obedience, as if since He was also God the human Christ didn’t have to choose to obey. No, this life of obedience was a life of love and submission, willingly undertaken for the joys set before Him. One of those joys was our redemption that we might join Him in His life.

But He also did give His life by becoming obedient, even to the point of death, even the death of the Cross. The Good Shepherd sacrificed His life that the bad sheep might become good sheep and live.

But this life of love, this knowledge of us and service for us cannot be one-sided. What should be the response of the sheep whom He has delivered from wandering and starvation and wild beasts, from sin and death and Satan?

If we want to be His good sheep, we must follow Him in all things. All things. This means the Resurrection and heaven, but it also means the Cross and humiliation. To follow the Good Shepherd, you must be willing to follow him even to the point of death, even if you don’t feel like it.

You want to know something? He didn’t “feel” like being crucified either. He asked for the cup to be taken from Him 3 times, and 3 times the Father said “No.” Do you think it felt good to be nailed to the Cross and have the blood and life drain from you? Do you think He had a good time when He took upon Himself the sins of the world? But in spite of His own desires and human feelings, He obeyed the voice of His Father. He could have said, “Because I don’t feel like it, I won’t do it. Let men die in their sins – but not me.”

The Cross which you see in your church and on your Bibles and in your lives is Christ’s shepherd’s staff, turned into an instrument of death . . . but then into an instrument of life. The Cross, wherever you see it, is a symbol of Jesus Christ your Good Shepherd.

But now you must be the good sheep. As He gave His life for you, you must give your life to Him. It’s unlikely that you will die a martyr’s death for Him: most are not called to this. Instead, you are called to something much more difficult: to learn to love and serve Him as He has first loved and served you; to obey the will of the Father as Christ and the angels and saints in heaven obey it; and to stop wandering and going your own way each day but instead follow wherever He leads you.

Jesus Christ is your Good Shepherd, who knows you better than you know yourself. There are many dangers in this world – and many of them lie within ourselves. But the Good Shepherd will lead you safely through all of them. Learn to hear His voice and learn to follow. But follow, wherever His steps lead, even if they lead through the valley of suffering, because He will lead you to greener pastures on the other side.

Yes, the steps of your Good Shepherd led to the Cross, but it is by following those same steps, that you shall also follow Him into heaven. And there you will find heavenly food and living water to refresh you. There you will find safety and peace forevermore.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, the good Shepherd of the sheep, who came to seek and to save that which was lost; I beg you to be present today in your power with the sheep for whom You gave Your life. Show forth Your compassion to the helpless, enlighten the ignorant, protect those in peril, and bring home the wanderers in safety to Your fold. Feed those who hunger and clothe those who are naked, with the food and clothing that You are; who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Point for Meditation and Resolution: In what ways in the Good Shepherd asking you to lay down your life for Him? It might be in the sins that He is directing you to repent from during Lent. There might be some thing in this life that you are too attached to that is distracting you from Him. There may be some form of seeking and worshiping Him that He is calling you to. Choose one of these and resolve to follow Him in laying down your life for Him today.

Shepherd and Sheep – U.S. Public Domain

2017-05-24T15:41:53-05:00

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Luke 23:50-24:12 – Honoring the Body of Jesus

Last updated on: May 24, 2017 at 3:41 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

** Joseph of Arimathea and Jesus Body **I love Joseph of Arimathea!

It would be easy in this passage, with the empty tomb just around the corner, to completely forget about Joseph of Arimathea and what he has to say to us this morning. I love the roads less traveled in Scripture because they contain so many scattered jewels that I have not stopped to appreciate before.

One of the most important things we first realize about Joseph of Arimathea (from St. Matthew’s account) is that Joseph was rich. I mention this because usually Jesus is giving the rich a pretty hard time: it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And yet what do we discover about this rich man Joseph? He was “waiting for the kingdom of God.”

On his own, a rich man has about as much chance of seeing God as a camel does of passing through the eye of a needle. But becoming spiritually poor for the sake of the riches of God, a rich man has exactly as much chance of entering the Kingdom of Heaven as a poor man.

The second strike against poor Joseph is that he was a council member of member of the Sanhedrin. Throughout the Gospels it is particularly the leaders of the Jews who hate, reject, and conspire against Jesus. In fact, it is the Sanhedrin that has just met and sentenced Jesus to death. But not Joseph of Arimathea.

Already, Joseph is so unlike other rich rulers in Israel, but there is more. Like Simeon and Anna back in Luke 2, Joseph was waiting for the Kingdom of God, and when he heard that Jesus had died, he went looking for it (him.)

Now Joseph could have been like any of the 12 disciples who were at this time nowhere to be found. He could have lurked about at a distance, not daring to openly profess his hope in Jesus of Nazareth. He could have secretly hired someone to find the body of Jesus so that his hands could remain clean.

But this is not what Joseph does. Making use of his God-given human authority, he marches right up to Pontius Pilate (of all people!) and asks for the body of Jesus. Now Pilate, who had already acceded to the demands of the Jews to gain favor for himself, something Joseph knew full well, might easily have not wanted to get involved. He may even have become angry. It probably took courage for Joseph to ask: in fact, Mark 15:43 says that Joseph had to “take” courage.

After Pilate had given Joseph permission for Jesus’ body, Joseph “took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock.” How amazing that this rich man who could have ignored Jesus’ dead body, or at least had the propriety to hire someone to do his dirty work, goes and takes care of the body of Jesus himself. We must imagine the details here. Most of the time, if you’re like me, you’re in such a rush to have Jesus be resurrected that you don’t meditate on the fact that He must truly have been dead. We rush to the Crucifixion, spend some time there, and then rush to the Resurrection. But Jesus is here in His death as well, and Joseph teaches us this.

With a fatherly love, Joseph takes down the Body of the Son from the Cross. At this point Jesus’ Body is still showing the evidence of the crown of thorns, his intense flogging, his hours of agony on the Cross, the holes in His Body where the nails held Him to the Cross, and the puncture wound in His side. His Body is bloody and bloodless at the same time. It is limp and white and humanly speaking ghastly and disgusting.

This is the body this rich man himself takes down from the Cross. Joseph must take down the Cross, take out the horrible nails still in the body, and unloose the ropes that would have held the body to the Cross. Next, Joseph wraps this disfigured Body in linen, surely his own, and himself carries the Body to an expensive tomb cut out of rock. This is Joseph’s own tomb that he lays Jesus in. How symbolic! Joseph takes the dead Jesus, puts Him in his own tomb, and out of Joseph’s tomb Jesus’ resurrects. This is a picture of salvation and entrance into the Kingdom of God for all of us: Jesus dies in our place and is resurrected so that we might live with Him.

How blessed it was for Joseph to have Jesus die in his tomb! How blessed for us to have Jesus die in our place!

But what Joseph did we must also do. Joseph used the human authority God had given him and took the courage the Holy Spirit offered to ask Pilate for His Body, and we must use all that God has given us each day and seek Jesus, with courage and without regard for what others might think. Joseph himself found Jesus and took hold of His Body and carried it, and we must take up Jesus, our Cross, daily, and carry Him each day. Joseph spent his own resources, the ones God had blessed him with, and provided a place for Jesus, participating in His death that he might participate in His Resurrection. This rich ruler was not above getting his own hands bloody and dirty: no wonder that there is a tradition that Joseph of Arimathea was one of the 70 disciples.

Our challenge this morning is to be like Joseph: to seek Jesus with courage, to use the gifts of God to seek Him and serve Him, in the hope that by seeking the Kingdom of God we might, with Joseph and the thief on the cross, also enter into Paradise.

One of the primary ways we honor the body of Jesus today is to honor the Body of Jesus on earth, His Church. His Body is precious to Him, and His Body requires care. His Body is in need, and He has given each of you His riches with which you may care for His Body. More than just having a few minutes’ meditation on the need to seek Jesus in our hearts, we must seek Him in His Body, the Church, and care for it as we would the bloodied body which Joseph of Arimathea cared for.

Some in the Church are poor and weak, some are bloodied and lifeless. We all need to be ministered to with the care shown by Joseph of Arimathea.

Our goal each day should be to be with Jesus in His life; with Jesus on the Cross; with Jesus in the tomb; with Jesus in His Resurrection; and with Jesus in heaven in the presence of the Father. We do this not only in our own hearts but also in our lives, in His Body the Church, and in the world.

Prayer: Lord, I give you thanks this morning for making me rich beyond all earthly measure. I ask that by Your grace You may encourage me to seek You with those gifts and to use them to glorify You. Help me to seek You not only in my heart but also in Your Church, that I, like Joseph, may tenderly care for the Body for which You died.

Point for Meditation: In what ways has God enriched you so that you might give back His gifts for His kingdom, to care for the Body of Christ?

Resolution: I resolve today to seek Jesus with the riches God has entrusted to me. With courage and without regard to the cost to myself, I resolve to lay hold of Jesus in at least one of the ways He is calling me to serve Him today.

Joseph of Arimathea and the Descent from the Cross – U.S. Public Domain

2017-05-23T22:00:07-05:00

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Luke 23:39-49 – Paradise in the Cross

Last updated on: May 23, 2017 at 10:00 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

** Crucifixion - real **The presence of God is so thick in these 11 verses that if we all had the endurance we should really meditate together on each single verse!

Thank God we will have other occasions in the course of meditating on the whole Bible to come back to this sacred place.

It will seem odd that I am choosing to meditate not on the death of our Lord, but there is something God is leading me to see in verses 39-43. The death of Jesus is very familiar to us, but what God is showing us in verses 39-43 is too good to be missed!

The story of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus is also well-known, but because of the impact of the death of Jesus, we too often rush through the Gospel, which is presented in its entirety, in verses 39-43. The truth is that the two thieves represent the two and only two responses to God that are possible: life or death, heaven or hell. These two choices were given to Adam and Eve, and we know which path they chose. They are presented in Psalm 1, where they are known as the way of the wise and the way of the foolish. They are the same two choices given to Jesus Himself, who chose the will of the Father every single moment of His life, and they are the same two choices given to every human alive today.

The first thief chose the way of Satan and of the first Adam, which is the way of self-rule and sin and death. Now it might seem as if the first thief is simply asking an innocent question, or even just crying out to Jesus for salvation. But if you look at his language a little more closely, you may recognize that he is talking serpent-talk, the way of Satan. If this thief were a believer, he would rightly say “Since you are the Christ, save yourself and us” or “Lord Jesus have mercy on me, a sinner!”

But he doesn’t. What he actually says is “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.” Where else have we heard such language? Look back at Luke 4:3, and you’ll see what I mean, for at the temptation of Christ in the wilderness Satan says: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Even more dramatic in its parallel with the first thief is when Satan says in Luke 4:10 “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.” Jesus’ response is: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”

The first thief, then, is a Satanic, questioning, tempting figure. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down off that cross and save yourself and me.” It is the temptation from three years earlier, only even more intense.

What the first thief can’t see is that, in fact, Jesus is the Christ, and He will save the world, if only they would turn in faith.

The first thief, unrepentant, re-enacting the Fall of Adam, following the way of the fool and Satan, is left to suffer the consequences of his own rebellion against God.

But the second thief represents the other path, the way of salvation, the way of life, and the way of the Second Adam. He recognizes first of all that he himself is a sinner worthy of condemnation. He recognizes the other thief’s unbelief and rebukes him.

And then he says what we and the other thief should say: “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

There is no questioning, no tempting, no self-assertion here. The second thief acknowledges his own sinfulness and the condemnation he rightly deserves. He calls Jesus Lord without any hesitation, and he begs Him to allow him into His kingdom.

Jesus’ response to the second thief is also His response to you and to me. If we have turned to Jesus in faith, we are the second thief. “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” Yes, you were, either as the first thief, the first Adam, or as the second thief who turns to the Second Adam. You were hanging on the cross, and you had been sentenced to eternal death for your crimes against God. But like the second thief, you have turned to the Crucified Lord of Glory, and you hear what the second thief heard.

“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

I had to pause a moment before I could continue writing, to allow my soul to absorb what Jesus has just spoken to me. “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

These words are meaningful beyond belief, not only because of the personal promise of eternal life that Jesus has just spoken to me and to you, but because I now see the entire Bible, the entire history of mankind in a single flash. You see, “Paradise” is a word that means “Garden.” What Jesus is telling the second thief and us is that if we turn to Him as our Lord, though we are hanging on our cross, we will be returned to His Garden with Him. The Garden of Eden, the Garden of the Lord in which Adam walked with close fellowship with God, the Garden for which God created us, the Garden from which we were forever banned. “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in the Garden.”

The thief who, like his father Adam, tried to steal the kingdom and the power and the glory of God, who stole from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil – that thief is allowed back into the Garden from which he first stole.

This is why Jesus promises to the church of Ephesus (and to us) in Revelation 2:7 that “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Oh yeah. Remember the other Tree in the Garden, in Paradise? The Tree of Life. God has invited us not only back into the Garden of Eden, Paradise, His presence, but has now offered us to eat from the Tree of Life itself.

And that Tree, intimately connected to the Tree of the Cross upon which Jesus hung, is Jesus Christ Himself. He is the Bread of Life, and He is the Tree of Life. And if we eat Him (and drink Him), He will give us eternal life. We will be with Him this day in Paradise, His Garden, where we will feed off of Him forevermore.

This is the meaning of the two thieves on the cross: it is the choice between Satan and Jesus, between Hell and Paradise.

May we all seek entrance into Paradise, the Garden and Presence of God, not only for eternity, but also for today. This day, Wednesday in the 12th Sunday after Trinity, September 6, 2006, may we be in Paradise with Jesus. This day, may we be in Paradise with Jesus, as feed off of Him, who is our Daily Bread and the Tree of Life.

Prayer: Lord, remember me now that You have come into Your kingdom, and power, and glory. I acknowledge that I justly deserve Your eternal condemnation, the just reward for my deeds, and yet I confess my sins to You and turn from them. You hung on the Cross for me and with me, and now I humbly ask that You will bring me into Your Garden of Paradise where I will eat from You forevermore.

Point for Meditation: In what ways is it possible to experience Paradise on earth? How can you seek and find the Tree of Life today?

Resolution: I resolve today to imagine myself justly on the cross for my sins and to imagine myself as the second thief, turning to my Lord for re-entry into Paradise.

Cruxifixion – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Generic 2.0 license

2017-05-07T14:54:16-05:00

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Luke 19:29-40 – Joy Comes in and Praise Comes Out

Last updated on: May 7, 2017 at 2:54 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

Triumphal Entry The appropriate response to being in the presence of Jesus is joy and praise. Both of these things are needed, and both are present whenever Jesus is present and is received with faith.

It seems odd to be reading about the Triumphal Entry of Jesus on Palm Sunday at the end of summer, in the middle of the long season of Trinity that doesn’t have the landmarks of other seasons like Christmas or Easter. But the Triumphal Entry is a scene that Christians ought to re-enact every day of the year, and so this is a passage for every day of the year and not just one day, just as Christmas and Easter are here every day of the year and not only one.

The truth is that Jesus rides into your life every morning. The question is not “Will He come today?” but “How will I respond when He does come?” Every day we are part of the multitude of disciples in verse 37, some of whom rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they have seen. Jesus had done no fresh miracle on Palm Sunday: what is notable is that the multitude of disciples choose to respond this day to the mighty works they had seen. And if you are a Christian, you too have seen the mighty works of God. You, too, by faith are a witness to the birth of Jesus Christ, the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. You, too, have seen how God has taken the sick and sinful people in your life and healed and saved them. Like me, you have seen the mighty works of God in your own life.

So what is your response today?

That multitude of disciples on Palm Sunday responded with the loud voice of joy and praise because both joy and praise are necessary. Joy comes in and praise goes out of Jesus’ disciples. Joy is subjective (though it has an objective cause: the presence of Jesus) and inward: it is the personal response to the presence of Jesus in your life, through His life, His Word, and His deeds. Joy is for our benefit, but it is a sign to God that we have responded in faith. It is just such joy that has characterized the saints of the past whenever they see Jesus. One of my favorite responses to the presence of Jesus is that of the wise men, who showed by their response both their faith and wisdom. In Matthew 2:10, we read that when the wise men saw the Star which stood over where the child Jesus was “they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.” Not simply “they rejoiced” or “they rejoiced greatly,” but “they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.”

That is to be the first part of our response.

The second part is praise. Praise is outward in nature, for it is not what comes into us but what comes out of us, out of our encounter with Jesus and out of our joy. Unlike joy, which is partially for our benefit, praise is entirely for God’s glory. There is no other motivation in praise than to give to God the glory that is His.

Sometimes the world wants to silence our praise. “Teacher, rebuke your disciples,” the Pharisees tell Jesus.

But Jesus’ response is “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones themselves would immediately cry out.”

You can’t contain the joy of God’s people or the praise of God’s creation. Silence His disciples if you can, but try shutting up the sun and the moon. “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard” (Psalm 19.)

So let us join our voices with the multitude of disciples in saying this morning: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

When you do, even if you are alone in rejoicing and praising this morning, you are never alone. You are always part of the great multitude of disciples, called the Church, who rejoice and praise God every day. These are the saints around the world who sing God’s praises, and they are joined by those who have passed into heaven before us. To their voices and ours are added the voices of the angels and archangels who never stop rejoicing and praising.

Joy comes in and praise goes out of Jesus’ disciples whenever they truly meet Him. Seek Jesus today, rejoice, and give praise to God!

Prayer: Lord, may I, your humble servant like Zacchaeus, seek and find You today. May I remember Your mighty works both when You were on earth and those You have done in my life. When I see You today, as many times as I see You, may I rejoice with exceedingly great joy and cry out with loud praises to You.

Points for Meditation:

How joyful and full of praise have I been lately and throughout my life?
Call to mind some of the things in your life that God has done for you or things about who God is that ought to cause joy and praise in your life.

Resolution: I resolve today to bring to mind the mighty things that God has done. I resolve to respond with joy and praise throughout the day today, even if these might be small in the beginning.

Triumphal Entry – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

2017-05-01T15:48:17-05:00

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Luke 18:1-14 – Why your loving Father says “No”

Last updated on: May 1, 2017 at 3:48 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

** Crucifixion - Grunewald **Have you ever had someone nag you into action? The person coaxes, wheedles, cajoles, begs, nags, pleads, and whines until you finally give in and do what he or she wants you to do.

This is one motivation for a person doing what another person asks him to do. But if the person being nagged eventually honors the request of the other because of the nagging, how much more will God, our loving Father, honor our requests. This is the attitude we must always remember when we pray to God.

The problem we face in prayer is that prayers, from our perspective, often don’t get answered. Think about the implications of this statement for a moment. “My prayer is not getting answered.” There are only a few possible ways to explain this state of affairs. It may be that God is deaf and just can’t hear your request. It may be that God hears but doesn’t care, and it may be that God both hears and cares but doesn’t have the ability to do anything about it. All three of these are logical possibilities, and all three are wrong from everything we know about our God who hears, loves, and is all-powerful.

Oh yes, there is one other possibility. I really hate to bring it up, but as Sherlock Holmes once said “When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” The other possibility is that God indeed hears and answers our prayers, but that He does so in a way that we aren’t willing or able to receive.

God is a loving Father who often says “No,” not because He is an ogre but precisely because He desires what is best for you. Even as an imperfect human father I know that there are times when I must say “No” to my children so that they are kept from danger and from hurting themselves or others; so that they don’t become proud or ungrateful; and so that they do become patient and thankful for what they receive.

Even when we acknowledge this, God’s apparent delay in answering our prayers can be mysteriously discouraging. But the whole point of Jesus’ parable in Luke 18:1-8 is that we should learn to pray and not lose heart. It appears that two of the chief things God desires for His children to learn through prayer are faith and patience.

We learn faith through prayer because we trust the Giver of all good things, and not just for His gifts. We know that like children we don’t always know what is best for us, and so when God gives us something different than what we asked for or doesn’t give us what we ask for, we trust Him that His reasons are good. It brings to life the daily prayer: “Thy will be done (and not mine) on earth as it is in heaven.” Apparently, Jesus thought that perseverance in prayer had a lot to do with faith as well because at the end of the passage, in v. 8, He says “Nevertheless when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Without tying this verse back to the point about prayer, it’s one of the sayings of Jesus that don’t seem to make sense.

We also learn patience through prayer. The goal of this parable was that we “might not lose heart” in prayer, because that is just what happens when we think that our prayers are not being answered. Verse 7 is a little obscure but seems to mean that God is patient or longsuffering (that’s the literal translation of the word in Greek) with us. That certainly puts things in a different light! If anyone had a right to be impatient, it’s God, not us. And yet He suffers long with us; He is patient with us in our prayers and life.

The real goal of prayer, then, is not just to get things from God but also to unite us with God – His love and His will. He is what we are really seeking in prayer, and He is the greatest thing we need. He just happens to come so often through His gifts.

If we ask for God to give Himself to us, as well as His gifts, we will never be disappointed in prayer, and we will not lose heart in our prayers.

So go ahead and ask God for the desires of your heart. But do not lose heart by putting your will above God’s. And above all else, seek God first in your prayers, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Prayer: Lord, give me courage to continue in prayer, even when I do not receive what I ask for. Teach me to pray according to Your will, and help me to seek You in prayer above all things. When I pray today, give me an increase of faith and patience that I may not lose heart.

Points for Meditation:

How weary have I been in my prayers? How persevering?
Remember to ask God to help you pray.

Resolution: I resolve to attack the Enemy today by praying when and how it is most difficult for me.

Crucifixion of Christ, Matthias Grunewald – in U.S. Public Domain

2017-04-21T16:51:20-05:00

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Luke 14:25-35 – The Price of Admission to the Feast

Last updated on: April 21, 2017 at 4:51 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

** Crucifixion - Grunewald **They lied to us. Every parent, pastor, teacher, relative, and friend who told us that all we had to do was show up for church one hour a week or say the Sinner’s Prayer once upon a time or go forward at the Crusade lied to us.

This is exactly what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.” It is, in the words of Bonhoeffer, “grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” And it is the antithesis, the precise opposite, of what Jesus truly says to all who desire to be His disciple.

The truth is that every church eventually makes just the kind of disciples it sets out to make. Churches that expect members to show up one hour a week will get disciples who show up for one hour a week. Churches that keep feeding milk will get baby disciples. And churches that preach and teach from passages like Luke 14:25-35 at least have the hope of producing true disciples of Jesus Christ.

It is a proud and dangerous thing to minimize the words of Jesus Christ or His call on our lives. “Great multitudes” went with Jesus in verse 25, but I’m pretty sure (though this passage doesn’t say so) that there weren’t nearly as many left by the time He’d finished. His words are hard, and yet they are the very words of life.

For Jesus says in verse 25 that anyone who does not hate his family members and even his own life cannot be His disciple. Everyone knows this is not literal (and yes, you can say that certain parts of the Bible aren’t literal and still believe everything the Bible says). We know we are not to hate, but to love. What we don’t always know is that what Jesus means is that everything in life, even family, even self, is to be sacrificed, given up for His sake. We are to love every human, especially our family, but we are to love God even more.

As if that weren’t enough, and because for most of us it’s not enough, Jesus makes Himself even more plain in verse 27: “He who does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple,” and again in verse 33: “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

Did you feel it? Did you feel the squirm of the Old Man, writhing and slithering and making up 1001 protests for why this can’t be right?

And yet it is exactly what Jesus says to you this morning: “If you do not forsake all, you cannot be My disciple.”

This is why He tells the brief parable of the person building a tower who must first count the cost. There is a tremendous cost to being a disciple of Jesus Christ, and the price is everything. There is not a single part of my life that God didn’t create and not a single part that He doesn’t own. There isn’t a single part that can be held back, for that is what the whole burnt offering of Romans 1 is: to sacrifice, give up, and deny every part of my Old Man, so that God may give me the New Man, Jesus Christ.

Now personally, I’ve calculated the cost/reward ratio with God and discovered that it’s pretty good. I give up my sinful self that causes everyone harm and makes us all miserable and would die soon anyway, and in return I get to live with God forever, restored to fullness of life and righteousness.

But back to the price. I am to bear this cross, this cross of self-sacrifice every day for the rest of my life. It hurts. I would be one of the liars of cheap grace if I told you it didn’t.

And it’s hard. Again, I would be a liar if I told you it weren’t.

It’s costly. It means paying the price of giving up what I desire to do, every day and at every moment.

And yet the One who bore His Cross – that is, your Cross – for you, will bear this cross of crucifying the Old Man as well. In fact, He already has, and He continues to every day. And He’s put others in your life to help you carry your burden, for all together we are the Body of Christ and carry His Cross with Him.

Count the cost, because the cost of even the smallest of your sins is separation from God. Count the cost, because the cost of even the smallest of your sins was the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Count the cost, therefore, not just in cosmic eternal terms, but also in daily, momentary terms. Whenever the chance arises to deny yourself that little sin or overindulgence or pride or laziness, take that opportunity to deny yourself and follow the Master.

Thank God that the cross He has asked you to bear is to be born by others as well. And thank God that He only makes you bear the cross He has asked you to bear one moment, one opportunity, and one splinter at a time. In so bearing your daily cross, it becomes a part of His Cross, for as we are joined with Christ in His resurrection and glory, so we are joined to Christ in His suffering and death.

P.S. I told you in yesterday’s meditation that you would hear today about the price of admission to God’s Feast and Kingdom – so you can’t say I didn’t warn you!

Prayer: Lord, help me today to bear the cross that You have lovingly fashioned and designed for me. In loving and rejoicing in You, may I deny myself; in living for You may the old man in me die; in losing myself may I gain You; and in following You may I forsake all others, including myself.

Points for Meditation:

What is the cost of discipleship that Christ is asking you to pay?
In what ways are you being tempted to settle for “cheap grace”?

Resolution: I resolve today to bear one splinter today that I refused to bear yesterday. It might be one of the things I’ve already resolved to bear earlier this week, and it might be something else the Lord is asking me to bear (which may be something to take on or something to give up). If the opportunity arises today, I will share my burden with another or help someone else bear his.

The Crucifixion by Matthias Grunewald – U.S. Public Domain

2017-04-16T16:10:45-05:00

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Easter Monday – Luke 24:1-12

Last updated on: April 16, 2017 at 4:10 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

*** Resurrection Mantegna ***2 + 2 = 4.

Neil Armstrong was the 1st man on the moon.

The ratio of your HDL cholesterol to your LDL cholesterol is known as your cardiac risk factor.

Facts, facts, facts. Our lives are filled with facts such as these.

In school we memorize thousands of facts, and every day we swim in a sea of facts in which we live and move and have our being. Facts about sports games and facts about what celebrities have done; facts that are crucial, and facts that are trivial.

We may sometimes rightly wonder about the relevance of these facts. When I was a teacher, my students were constantly asking – whether about algebra or history, and sometimes even the Bible – “Why is this important?” “Why should I care?” “So what?”

Some facts, such as how to find the second derivative in calculus are not very relevant to most of us. Others may be relatively important: what your name is; matches ignite when lit; and particularly important: the anniversary of your wedding.

But there is one fact among so many that is truly significant. There is one fact that has more relevance than most of the other facts all combined. There is one fact in your life that is truly a matter of life and death.

That fact is the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, resurrected from the dead 2000 years ago.

“He is not here, but is risen!” (Luke 24:6.)

Easter is, first of all, a fact. It is a recorded fact of history as certain as, if not more certain than, any event in ancient history. There are more manuscripts confirming the New Testament account of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ than for any other writing of the ancient world.

Many people, especially since the 19th century, have attempted to deny that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a historical fact. Some say that Jesus only swooned on the Cross; others say that the disciples conspired to make up the story of Jesus resurrecting, when they knew full well He hadn’t; still others say it was all a hallucination. But none of these theories holds water: there are simply too many facts the Gospels record to establish the Resurrection as a real, historical, fact.

The fact of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ separates Christians from everyone else in the world. Every other religion, every system of atheism denies this undeniable fact: that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. But it is belief in this fact that indeed makes us Christians and has life-changing implications for all.

“So what?” “Why do I need to know this?” Isn’t this the question we all ask of every fact that comes our way? And we Americans are a very pragmatic people. What good does this do me?

If I tell you that a match ignites when lit, I have told you a fact. But I haven’t told you the relevance or importance of that fact. “So what?’ Matches ignite. Next I must tell you the relevance or importance of that fact that matches ignite. We’ve all have told our children not to play with matches. Why? Because matches ignite, and when they ignite they get very hot and burn. This is an important fact.

So why is the Resurrection relevant? Why do we bother to celebrate Easter every year – indeed, why does the season of Easter last for several weeks?

First, The fact that Jesus rose from the dead means that His payment on the Cross for your sins was truly effective and that God the Father received it.

On Good Friday on the Cross, Jesus Christ took upon Himself the sins of the whole world. He paid the penalty for every sin that has ever been committed. But what good would it have done if He had remained in the grave – able to take on our sins, but unable to save Himself? The Cross and the Resurrection go hand in hand. They work together and are without power without each other.

Furthermore, the fact that Jesus rose from the dead means that He truly conquered sin and death. The greatest enemies of mankind are not war and injustice, as great as these are: our greatest enemies are sin and death. The sin that separates us from God. The sin that causes wars and injustice. The sin, whose wages are death.

It is another relevant fact that we will all die. Our bodies will one day wear out and cease to exist in their present forms. The wages or reward for sin is not merely the death of the body but the death of the soul. The just punishment for a life of sin and rebellion against our God and Creator is separation from God and eternal death in the flames of Hell.

But thanks be to God that on Easter Jesus rose from the dead and conquered sin and death for all those who believe in Him. This is the theological relevance of Easter.

But you may still be shrugging your shoulders and saying: “So what? This is all too abstract.” “What does all of this have to do with me?”

G.K. Chesterton, in his book Orthodoxy, once imagined someone asking an intelligent man “Why do you prefer civilization to savagery?” To which Chesterton’s man would have trouble responding. He would look wildly around at object after object and would only be able to answer vaguely: “Why . . . there is that bookcase . . . and pianos . . . and policemen . . . .”

In a similar way, if someone were to ask me why Easter is relevant, why it’s important to Christians that Christ rose from the dead, I might stumble over myself trying to list all the reasons. As Chesterton said, when one is really convinced of something, everything seems to prove it.

So what difference does Easter make to you?

First, Jesus conquered sin and death, not merely in general or in the abstract: He conquered your sins and death in you. Jesus doesn’t save people hypothetically: He saves them really, in the flesh, and for all eternity. The penalty for your sins has been paid. Christ conquered your sins by rising from the dead.

It’s true that you might not see all of them conquered all at once or even in this lifetime: but Jesus Christ has conquered your sins. Jesus Christ has conquered death . . . in your body. Death is not merely an abstraction, a lifeless thing that is personified for effect. Death is in reality the individual deaths of billions of humans, each of whom is destined to die in this life.

Jesus Christ has not conquered a mere figure of speech: He has conquered death in you as an individual person. By the fact of His Resurrection, He has purchased for you eternal life. Though your present body will one day die, if you have faith in Jesus Christ, if you lay hold of the power of His Resurrection by believing in Him and living for Him, then He holds out for you the promise of eternal life.

The second very personal way in which the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is relevant and meaningful to you, then, is that through it sin and death in your life have not only been conquered but you also have the gift of eternal life.

Just as it would not have been enough for Jesus to have died on the Cross, never to have risen again, it is not enough that God tells us that our sins are forgiven and that Death in general has been conquered. God must also make this real to each one of us in our lives. God makes this very real to us because He has promised that if Jesus Christ rose from the dead, then we who truly believe will also certainly rise again.

The Resurrection, and our celebration of it in Easter, is therefore not only about Jesus Christ 2000 years ago: it applies to everyone who truly believes in Him, and it applies starting today. Beginning today, this day of Resurrection, we all have life everlasting, for we have been promised a Resurrection. Your resurrection is not a deception, it’s not a hallucination, and it’s not a myth. It is a fact as certain as the fact of the Resurrection of our Lord.

This brings me to the third way the Resurrection is personally relevant to each of you: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ means that He not only gives you eternal life, as if this were an abstraction. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ means to you that He is your life.

How many times does Jesus Himself teach us this? “I am the bread of life . . . if any man eats of this bread he shall live for ever” (John 6:50-51.) “Because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:29.) “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25.)

“For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then you also shall appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:3)

Did you catch that? Your life is hidden with Christ . . . Christ is your life.” Your entire life, whether you realize it or not, is tied up in His life. All your dreams, all your hopes, all your aspirations ought to acknowledge the Lord who died for you . . . the Lord who is your very life.

The Resurrection means that you have a life full of meaning. It is one of the ultimate facts of your existence, to which everything else relates and must be submitted. Do you go about your daily tasks each day, as if nothing of relevance happened to Jesus after the Crucifixion? Do you seem to have a dull life in which you are on your own, filling up your days with routine activity and simply waiting for the dull sentence of death to be passed upon you?

These things should never be so for those who believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and therefore believe in their own resurrection from death.

I don’t know about you, but I want a life that is so full of meaning that it gushes out spontaneously to all those around me.

I want a life that counts for something, and I want to know that when all is said and done, when I leave this world, that it was all worthwhile.

I want desperately to be part of something larger than myself, something much more beautiful and glorious . . . more immense and more eternal.

I want to live forever and to have life more abundantly.

And I don’t think that I’m alone in wanting these things.

Our lives are filled with a vast multitude of facts. But the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most significant and relevant fact in your life.

Christ the Lord is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Prayer: “O God, Who for our redemption didst give Thine only begotten Son to the death of the Cross, and by His glorious resurrection hast delivered us from the power of the enemy: Grant us so to die daily unto sin, that we may evermore live with Him in the joy of His resurrection; through the same Thy Son Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.”

Point for Meditation: Look for ways to remember the Resurrection today: the waking of your body from sleep; the rising of the sun; the return of Spring; the life of flowers and animals; the presence of the saints in your life.

Resolution: I resolve to rejoice today, because Christ is risen from the dead and I am risen with Him.

Resurrection by Mantegna – U.S. Public Domain

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