“A Heart Warming Experience”

Scripture: Luke 24:13-35

By 1738, at the age of 35, John Wesley had gone through many ups and downs in faith. His mission to Georgia in the American colonies had introduced him to the Moravians, who, in turn, inspired him in faith. And yet, the mission itself had been a personal failure. But after returning to England in a very clandestine way, he attended a Moravian meeting on Aldersgate Street in London the evening of May 24th, where he heard a reading of Martin Luther’s Preface to the Book of Romans. As he heard the words that described the change that faith in Christ can bring about in our lives, he felt his heart being “strangely warmed”. The change that this “warming” brought to him produced a renewed sense of faith, that salvation, no longer based in all of the good that he could do, was now his by faith in Jesus Christ alone.

The fire of the Holy Spirit has touched countless lives throughout the centuries, and whether it is a warming, a burning, a peace, a joy, or some other personal sensation that unmistakably tells us that the Spirit is at work within us, lives have been changed and renewed for the better. Today, we consider the spiritual change that occurred in the lives of two men who were fleeing Jerusalem on Resurrection Sunday.

Read Luke 24:13-24

Cleopas and his traveling companion had been members of Christ’s entourage for some time, and had gained a sense that this Jesus was truly the Jewish Messiah. But on Friday, their hopes of redemption had been dashed, and with broken hearts, many had decided that leaving Jerusalem for parts unknown was their best choice. For these two, the village of Emmaus would be a good start, but after that, who knows? Where in all of Israel would they be safe from both the Roman authorities and the Jewish courts?

Memories of the past were their driving force – the teaching that they had heard, the miracles they had seen, the lives that had been changed. But now, the ministry was falling apart, and other than escaping the wrath of the authorities, their thoughts of Jesus were so jumbled and confusing, they could hardly stand it.

And then, a stranger joins them on the road. It is, of course, the Lord, but as he did with others, he lets these two express their fears and struggle without actually knowing who it is they are sharing them with. Jesus knows that confessing our burdens is one of the ways we begin to heal from the cares and ways of earth. Oppression only holds control of our lives as along as we submit to its demands and hide the pain that it causes. We need to name it for what it is - evil - and that is exactly what these two men do.

They say that Jesus was a prophet – one who brings the word and will of God to life within them.
They say that he gave power to the word, and was powerful in all that he did. But that the rulers of earth rejected his truth, and put an end to his life. And that this morning, all hope, as fragile and broken as it had become, was totally destroyed.

Read Luke 24:25-29

Their thoughts and fears were all based in the loss they were feeling, but Jesus is about to remind them that there is more to this life than our worldly response to human ways. The scriptures hold out a hope that the world can never have, and present the power that each one of us is in such desperate need of. But in the pain and loss of the past 3 days, Cleopas and his friend have lost touch with their Lord God Jehovah, and his word for their lives has become clouded.

So Jesus begins to remind them of all they had forgotten. He reminds them that the prophets had proclaimed these days hundreds of years before; he reminds them that God has had a plan at work for them since before creation; he reminds them that even though they may feel alone and abandoned, God never leaves his people, and never turns his back on them.

And they talk as they walk along the road – nearly forgetting that their chosen destination is the village of Emmaus. Before they knew it, the seven miles from Jerusalem had slowly vanished with every step they had taken and every word they had heard. The conversation had taken on an unexplained familiarity, but the truth behind this stranger still eluded them. The interesting thing about Jesus is that his timing is strangely perfect, especially when it doesn’t match up with our expectations. Jesus had a plan for these two men - one that would resonate in their hearts in the years to come.

And that’s how he works within us. God doesn’t want us to lose out on his word, so he gives it in especially poignant ways – ways that are important to us, ways that we will never forget. Sometimes it is the place where we receive his word; sometimes it is the situation that we find ourselves in; sometimes it is in the simplicity and straightforward word that we are given. Regardless of the means, the Lord’s divine message becomes one that will resound within us for the rest of our life.

Read Luke 24:30-35

It was the end of the day and they had walked a long way. They were tired, they were hungry, and a relaxing evening was in order. We aren’t told much about the house, but it could very easily be the home of one of the men – they had invited Jesus to spend the night with them. And if that is the case, the home owner would have been the natural host at the meal, and Jesus would have been the guest. But when they sat down at the table, Jesus assumes the host position as he takes the bread and gives it to the others.

And when he does, he gives thanks for the meal, he breaks the bread, and he gives the food to the others. Jesus has become the host, and the words he speaks, I believe, remind Cleopas and his unnamed friend of the last Passover meal in the Upper Room. And that is all it takes to open their eyes. Jesus knows his people so well that when the time is right, he can reveal his word to the fearful, the doubter, the hurting – to anyone who wants and needs to feel his truth in their lives.

And then he’s gone. The Lord had accomplished his task for Cleopas and the other – they had been given a word that would stay with them for the rest of their lives, and would nourish them in both life and ministry. They remember the heart-felt burning when Jesus had opened the word of God for them earlier in the day, and they knew!

On that night when John Wesley’s heart was “strangely warmed”, he wrote these words in his journal - “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." For the two in Emmaus, their trust in Christ had also become a reality. No longer was fear and uncertainty in charge of their lives, they would no longer be willing to head away from the mission that now was theirs. And the mission? It was to begin spreading the word that Jesus was alive and at work in the lives of his people.

By now, it was night time, and they had just walked seven miles to get to Emmaus, but that wasn’t about to hold them back. They left immediately to share the truth that they had just received, and their first stop would be with the disciples who had also seen the Risen Lord earlier that day – even while the two were walking and talking and eating with Jesus. The Lord was no longer confined to be in one place at one time any longer – he was free to constantly encourage and enable all who loved him.

Have you felt the presence and power of the Lord in your life? Has he given you the faith to believe that he is living and reigning within you? Do you know that you been freed to live for him and him alone? Have you been warmed in the glow of his resurrection? And are you burning to serve him in his way and call?

Know, without a doubt, that by faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, your sins – even yours, even mine - will also be washed away, that your salvation has been secured for all time, and that the Life of Jesus Christ is now living within you.
And if you haven’t felt that “burning”, then the time has come for you to confess that the life that Christ has given for you, is the life that will save you from your death. Give him your life, and let his passion burn within you for the rest of eternity.

“Can’t Be True!”

Scripture: John 14:1-7; John 20:24-29; John 21:1-6

Who hasn’t, at some point in their life, doubted that the Lord was really on their side? When life has taken a turn for the worse, we assume that it must be because God has either washed his hands of us and our wayward ways, or he decided that we need some “alone time”, to try to work life out in our own, inadequate way.

The world has a way of doing that to us – making us doubt that the Lord of all creation still loves us, even after we have turned our backs on him! The truth of the matter is though, that God’s love is not only eternal and infinite, but it is an integral part of our life, that it lives and grows and thrives within our heart, regardless of whether we are worthy of it or not. The problem, unfortunately, is that we aren’t always ready to experience it.

Life has a way of blinding us to the glory that the Lord is raining down all around us. That is what Mary Magdalene, and Peter, and John, and the Disciples as a whole were struggling with over those days since Jesus’ arrest, trial, condemnation, and execution. This wasn’t supposed to happen! Jesus Messiah was supposed to usher in an entirely new day – one that would free them from oppression, and renew them in faith. And even though the Lord had told them over and over again, that a time of struggle would not pass from them, they never actually accepted the reality of this day - Jesus been ushered out of their lives, so what do they do now?

Many believers had fled from Jerusalem, fearing for their lives and fearing for the ministry that had now been destroyed. And we are led to ask – where was their faith?

Read John 14:1-7

Jesus was preparing the faithful for the day when he would no longer be with them. This passage takes place in John’s recounting of the teaching that they received following the Last Supper. Feet had been washed, the Passover liturgy that had existed for over 1,000 years had been drastically changed, Judas has left the room, and now the final time of teaching had begun.

God needed to reassure these men, and probably a number of women, that even though he would soon be leaving them – a truth that they still struggled with – their faith would see them through. And I have read that the words that Jesus used – “I’m leaving to prepare a place for you; but I’ll be back, when all is ready, to bring you to our new home, to live with you, together, forever” – is based in the traditional Jewish proposal of marriage. Jesus was telling them that the relationship that they had with him would never be broken, regardless of what the world would have them believe. “So don’t worry about my absence – it’s going to be OK, it’s going to be glorious! Just trust that I know what I’m talking about, and that I will always love you.”

William Barkley, in his commentary on John’s Gospel, writes “There comes a time when we have to believe where we cannot prove and to accept where we cannot understand.” That’s what faith is, that’s what trusting in the word of God is – believing in that which goes far beyond proof and understanding, but which resides in the truth and eternal life of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only proof and the only understanding that we will ever need, but we have to trust in that, and never be swayed by the contrived evidence that the world presents to us. So the question before us is this – will we trust in what Jesus has told us, or not?

And he says that they now know where he is going, and how to get there, but Thomas is already not so sure of where that place may be, and how that way can be traveled! And the disciple is told that the Way is by faith and trust in him. All too many, from that day until this day and even beyond, believe that “seeing is believing”, and that faith is a marginal thing without the “seeing”. But Jesus was preparing Thomas, and the others, and us, to go beyond the “seeing”, and to simply believe that Jesus is, indeed, the only Truth that will ever exist.

Read John 20:24-29

Thomas had been with Jesus throughout the years of ministry, and this week had been especially difficult for him. Not that it hadn’t been just as trying for the others, but Thomas had always been a “what you see is what you get” kind of guy. But for several days, presumably, he had been absent from the group. Whether it was out of fear for his life, or in the need for privacy during his time of mourning, he wasn’t seen at all, but to his credit, he returned to join his friends. There are any number of possible reasons for his return, but I believe that he was still in search of an understanding of the Way that Jesus had told him about.

He was still skeptical about the reports that Jesus was alive, and even though he expressed his concerns and has been saddled with the title Doubting Thomas, he said no more than the others had been thinking. But now, they had seen with their own eyes, that Jesus had cheated the tomb, and the burden of doubt had been lifted from their hearts. Thomas had yet to see, and his heart was still heavy. And he simply told his friends that he wanted the same, or a little more proof, than they had received. He wanted to be sure, he wanted to erase all the doubt and misunderstanding that had plagued him for far too long.

And Jesus, never one to leave anyone in doubt who has the capacity to believe, offers his friend Thomas exactly what he had asked for. “You want proof that I’m real? Then touch me! You want to identify me through the wounds in my hands and side? Then put your fingers in as far as you need to! Do whatever you have to do, but when you do, believe.”

And Thomas believes. What is it that we need in order to believe? To see a vision, to dream a dream, to hear a word, to feel a presence? Thomas thought that he needed physical contact with the resurrected Lord, but scripture never tells us that he actually reached out to take Jesus up on his offer – when Jesus told him that he could receive anything that he needed to believe, those words and the look of compassion in the Master’s eyes were enough. Thomas, and Peter, and John, and Mary, and all of the others, had received the proof that they needed to not only believe, but to begin taking those steps in ministry that would be founded in a faith that transcended all of their doubts and fears.

As Jesus pronounces those final words in this passage, he is telling them that there will only be a few who receive physical assurance of the power of salvation that is now theirs, but that faith for the unseeing will be just as powerful an experience as theirs has been. Blessings will be poured out on all who seek him and receive him.

Read John 21:1-6

So why is this passage important in our consideration of Thomas and his faith? I believe that the Lord was showing them that they still needed him in their lives. They couldn’t see the fish they were seeking – possibly because of the angle of their sight, perhaps because of the refractive nature of the lake water – we don’t know. But the lesson that Jesus was teaching, just as he did with his parables, was based in a reality that these men all knew so well. And the lesson? That we all need Jesus if we want to be successful in ministry and mission and life.

In Acts 16:8-10, we read that the apostle Paul had intentions to continue to minister to the people of Asia, but God had other plans. He sent a vision to Paul that he was needed in Macedonia, and without hesitating, the missionary did as he was commanded. In his personal wisdom, he had made plans for where he was to go next, but just as with the fishermen, his mission would not have been very successful if he hadn’t accepted the vision and guidance that came to him by the Holy Spirit.

Do we look to the Lord for guidance on a daily basis? To learn of where he would have us go and who we are to go to? I have personally been led to several places that I had no intention whatsoever of going to on my own – usually because of my own narrow vision and limited expectations. If ministry and mission are to accomplish all that the Lord desires, we need to be where he is prepared to work through us, and not where we want him to be.

Over and over in the book of Acts, we read of God’s guidance and God’s blessing on those who follow in his will. Ananias who was called to witness to Paul immediately after his conversion (Acts 9:1-19), Peter who would receive the vision of the sheet filled with both clean and unclean animals (Acts 10:9-23), Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16:25-34), and many other times of Spiritual guidance for the faithful.

Ananias was frightened of Saul the persecutor, but he went to him, and blessed him, and baptized him for the new ministry that Paul was to lead. Peter detested the Gentiles, because the law said that they were unclean sinners, but he would discover that God didn’t see them as unworthy, but rather as the very ones he was waiting to bless. Paul and Silas were in prison, and yet, they would be used in powerful ways, right where they were.

Where might the Lord be calling each one of us, and possibly as an entire body of believers, to go in his name? We will never know until he tells us in no uncertain terms. So to quote the prophet Habakkuk, 2:1, “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts, I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.”

Wait expectantly, be open to God’s direction, regardless of what it may be, and do exactly what he wants us to do – nothing more and nothing less.

Patience and trust is what Thomas needed in his life, and the Lord granted it. And we will receive everything that we need, too, if we wait for him to give and reveal his will. Receive, and doubt no more.

“Peace at Last!”

Scripture: Matthew 16:21-26; 15:10-12; 17:14-20; John 20:19-23
As we continue in our reflections on the impact that people experienced when Jesus revealed himself to them in those days between his resurrection and his ascension, today, we consider the disciples as a group, and why they struggled so in dealing with Jesus’ death and resurrection. We have to remember, that for the most part, these 12 men weren’t highly educated, they weren’t theological scholars, they weren’t even part of “polite Jewish society”. They were smelly fishermen, they were tax collectors, some were rebels who were dedicated to overthrowing their Roman oppressors, some were older men, and some were younger men - in general, they were far from being the elite of Israel.

But they were familiar with who Israel’s Messiah would be, and what he was expected to do for the nation, and Jesus didn’t seem to match the expectations! But to their credit, they had been trying to learn the new ways of Jesus – it just wasn’t all that easy! They were still connected to the law and to history, while Jesus was all about faith and the future. They trusted in the ways of earth, while Jesus doesn’t only trust in the ways of God, he IS the way of God.

They had so much to learn!

Read Matthew 16:21-26

For Jesus, the only way that he could walk was in the way of the Cross. And that included a great deal of additional suffering, some of which would be at the hand of the Sanhedrin – the religious court of Israel. The three groups that made up that body – the elders, chief priests, and the teachers of law – seldom agreed on anything, but when it came to getting rid of Jesus, they were solidly united.

The Lord was trying to prepare his followers for what would be, one day, the fulfillment of God’s plan. But this didn’t fit the model, it wasn’t what the disciples wanted, it wasn’t what made any sense if Jesus was, indeed, the Messiah. So Peter - bold, impetuous Peter - took it upon himself to chastise the Lord for even thinking the unthinkable. Death? They wouldn’t dare! But what Peter didn’t understand yet is that this divine sacrifice was the only hope that he and countless others had for salvation!

But he had to make that incredulous statement that Jesus’ teaching must never come to fruition. And Jesus, in reply, says “Get behind me, Satan”. Now a lot of folks think he was referring to Peter as Satan, but the truth is that he simply saw Satan at work through these words. During Jesus’ wilderness days, Satan had tried to convince him that none of this was necessary, that he could put all the pain behind him if he would just deny the Godly Plan, and put his trust in the easy way.

Evil will use any avenue, any person, any trick of deception to come between our comprehension and God’s intention. And it has come to realize that the most effective approach is to use, not the most ardent of opponents of Christ, but those who are on the inside, those who are working to become one of his faithful followers. Doubt and logic are his favorite tools, and ever since the encounter between humanity and evil in the Garden of Eden, this approach has proven to be highly effective. But on this day, Jesus was still far stronger than Satan ever could be, and he wouldn’t fall for the easy way out – he would remain faithful to the Plan that was quickly coming to the great conclusion.
“You are a stumbling block – you are only working in the ways of earth, and not in the way of God!”

But that isn’t where Jesus stopped – he turns to the future life of his disciples, for they, too, would “suffer many things” - at the hands of the Jews, as well as at the hands of earth. And the more that the Lord revealed to them, the stranger the teaching appeared to be.

Read Matthew 15:10-12

In making this statement, Jesus was denying the validity of about half of the Book of Leviticus! In one sentence, he wiped out every law regarding the law’s dietary requirements. Now understand that he didn’t say that we can eat anything we want to – there are some things that are not healthy or beneficial for our digestion. Should we eat tainted meat? Should we drink contaminated water? Should we eat anything that may be poisonous, or that we are allergic to? Of course not! The Lord didn’t say that we should eat anything and everything – he is simply saying that the things we eat have nothing to do with our righteous standing before Almighty God! And Jesus then goes on to teach what it is that does make our lives “unclean”, or unworthy of the Lord’s blessing – he says that evil consists of things like murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, slander, and so on. Unclean lives are based in our mind’s decisions, not in our heart’s conviction.

But the concern at work here is not as much in the new teaching, as it is in the disciple’s reaction to the teaching. Their fear is that the Pharisees, those teachers and interpreters of the Law, are not happy! Not an unusual reaction, certainly, but definitely one that is misplaced. The disciples are more worried about what the people of the world may think, than they are about accepting the true word of God in Christ Jesus.

This is the very issue that we are dealing with today; and we know it as universalism – the acceptance of whatever someone else believes as a real truth, regardless of what the Bible tells us. There are many, even some who are in the Church, who believe that individual truth resides in the heart and mind of each and every person, and that one person’s truth is just as valid as anyone else’s. But we all know that the only real truth comes to us from God, not from humanity. What did Jesus tell us? “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

The Pharisees would naturally oppose anything that Jesus taught, simply because his truth contradicted their teaching. True faith is never proven by the outward acts we perform. It is founded in the reasons that we do those things – it’s about the love of God that is working to the benefit of others, through us. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

The disciples had a lot more to learn about Jesus.

Read Matthew 17:14-20

The third issue that the disciples were tripping over wasn’t just that their understanding was misplaced – it was that their faith was too small, it was too limited, too restrictive. Remember the time when Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth, and began to teach in the synagogue? He could do very little for the people because they just would not believe in him. (Mark 6:1-5)
That was the problem with the disciples that day – they weren’t quite sure that they could heal the boy. It wasn’t the faith of the boy’s father that was the problem – he had faith that the healing power of Jesus could care for his son’s needs. The problem was with the disciples’ faith.

After all the time they had spent with Jesus, they still weren’t sure about who he actually was! Time and time again, we read of Jesus’ healing, and nearly every time, he attributes it to the person’s faith. And faith is never restricted to Jews only – Gentiles who believed in Jesus may very well have been the greater recipients of Christ’s blessings.

And here we have the recipients of Christ’s direct and constant teaching, his call into ministry, his empowerment to do all that he commands of them, and they still fall short.

And on that Easter morning, we find them cowering in a locked room, fearing for their lives, hesitating to believe what the women were telling them, that the body of Jesus is nowhere to be found! Even when Mary comes to them, revealing the fact that she had seen the Living Lord Jesus, that he had spoken to her, that he had given her hope again – even at that, they still couldn’t believe, they couldn’t remember that Jesus had told them that all of this would happen, and that there would be even more for them to see.

Fear had taken control of their lives, and it darkened whatever faith they might have had.

Read John 20:19-23

Jesus knew that they were terrified, and he was there to relieve that fear, and to replace it with a faith that would stand up to the most vile, the most hateful words and situations that they could ever imagine. And he does it in several ways.
First, he proclaims Peace upon them. This would be a peace that was more than just the elimination of trouble – it would be a promise that God’s goodness was now theirs.
Second, he shows them proof of who he is. They would no longer have to depend on the words of other people – they had seen the physical evidence with their own eyes, that this Jesus who had been dead, had cheated death on the cross, and was truly alive, standing in their midst.
Third, he tells them that they were being sent to the people of earth, just as he had been sent to them. The implication is that his mission was now becoming their mission, and as he had never been alone, neither would they be alone from this moment on.
Fourth, they received the breath of God, bringing new life and new faith to their mortal souls, just as life was breathed into created man (Genesis 2:7) and just as breath brought the dry bones of Ezekiel 37:1-10 back into the fullness of life.
And last, they were commanded to receive the Holy Spirit, that it would enable and empower them in the ministry that was about to continue through them.

And by faith, that same ministry, that same power, is available to all who are willing to receive the Life giving power of Jesus Christ. Are each of us prepared to also receive and use that power, or are we still uncertain that it is even possible for us to do these things of Jesus? After all, he has told us that we will - if we believe. (John 14:11-14)

“Where Did He Go?”

Scripture: John 20:1-9

Have you ever had one of those days when you desperately needed the Lord’s guidance, but you felt as though you were hanging out there, completely on your own? No matter what you did – prayer, meditation, talking with others – nothing seemed to bring you closer to God’s answer. There may even have been some screaming and crying out to the Lord for his help – but still nothing would come!
Where was God? Was he off on vacation, was he too busy to help, was he just not listening – what was going on? That was where the disciples and other followers were on Friday when the Christ was executed, and now, on this Easter morning of discovery, when the ultimate calamity of theft had been revealed, things were going from bad to worse. The pain of losing their Master and Teacher 2 days ago was bad enough, but now, to believe that his body had been looted and moved to some unknown and unholy place, was almost too much to endure. It was one tragedy piled on top of the one before, and these followers were so lost, they didn’t know what to do next.

Actually, when I asked if you had ever had one of these days, I knew the answer – of course we know what this is all about! We all have had those moments when God seemed to be missing from our lives, and we didn’t know what to do about it! But the truth is that the Lord is always with us – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and the only reason that we feel alone, is that there is something of earth that is getting in the way. The love of Almighty God never fails, but our human hearts and minds do – all of the time!

Last week, we saw Mary Magdalene’s reaction – first, to her great heart break, and then to her blessed discovery - and today, we consider John and Peter’s run to the tomb and their own brand of discovery.

Read John 20:1-2

Mary and the other women had come to the tomb to complete the burial ritual. Sabbath had begun on Friday at sunset, and continued until Saturday at sunset, and there just hadn’t been time to get everything done. Sabbath during Passover was the most sacred of days, and there would never be anyone who would violate the holiness of that time. So the final arrangements had to be postponed until Sunday morning.

But the tomb was open, the body was gone, and the despair that had filled her began to well up and overflow from her broken heart. She ran to tell the others of the distressing news, and can you even imagine how they would feel? She shared her discovery with Peter and John – the recognized leaders of the band of disciples. These were two of the disciples that Jesus took with him up the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36), Peter was the one at Caesarea Philippi who proclaimed that Jesus was “the Messiah, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:13-20), and even though he promised that he would die for his Lord if necessary (Matthew 26:31-35), a few hours later, after Jesus had been arrested, he would deny ever knowing him – not once, but three times (Matthew 26:69-75). And yet, Peter would become the recognized leader of the faith after Christ’s ascension.
And John? He alone, among all of the disciples, would stand at the foot of Jesus’ cross with the women, and he, alone, among all of the disciples, would live to die a natural death in old age.

They both would soon be leading the faithful into a new day of ministry, but what kind of leaders would they be in this moment of trial and uncertainty, in this time of the unknown?

Read John 20:3-5

The news was unbelievable! Gone? How could his body be gone? They had to go and see for themselves. It would seem that the old saying “Seeing is believing” would be their mantra today, but would it? Would they finally believe?

Faith is a strange thing. It has nothing to do with sight, it has nothing to do with logic, it has nothing to do with proof, and it especially has nothing to do with common sense. Faith, even as a certainty, is based in the heart, not in the mind, and the heart is where it must grow and thrive. But for Jesus’ followers that day, faith was still on its way toward their heart – it had yet to arrive. For the past three years, the disciples had been learning about God and his ways, and for the most part, it was a difficult process, to say the least. Jesus taught from the heart of God, not from the Law of Moses. The way of legalistic faith had lived in the minds of Israel for centuries, and it had only grown through understanding in human terms.

In Deuteronomy 32:28-29, we read that the people were “a nation without sense”, that “there [was] no discernment in them.” Humanity has a tendency to believe what they want to believe, to believe what makes human sense, to believe what confirms their own personal point of view. Change is difficult at best, but it is absolutely necessary if the truth is to take hold in our lives! To accept the “improbable” is not a human trait, and yet, we must and can believe, by faith.

John had arrived at the tomb before Peter, but fear held him outside, and the truth of Jesus Christ, while he had heard it and seen it and believed it before, the impact of experiencing that truth was still too much for him to face. And why not? The world had ruled their very existence for at least the last several days – or at least it appeared to be doing so - so why not believe that the world was still in charge? Fear still had its death grip on them, uncertainty was their daily and constant companion, and the hatred that earth felt for believers in Jesus Christ had filled them to the point that there was so very little room left for “faith”.

Read John 20:6-9

Then Peter - impulsive Peter, spontaneous Peter - arrived and, without hesitation, entered the burial place of his Messiah. He saw the emptiness of the crypt, he saw the folded cloths, and while he recognized the physical, it would be some time before he could come to the realization that his Lord and Savior had defeated death and was living for and within him.

And John - after working up the courage to enter this place of death, he would see the same things that Peter saw, but in some unexplained way, would come to the realization of the truth of that day. He would believe! Neither of the men would understand what they saw, but John, remembering all that his Lord had been teaching him, would believe that it was true.

For these two men, for Mary, for all of the fearful followers of Jesus Christ, the next few weeks would be crucial to the mission that lay ahead for them. Without heart-felt faith - a faith that would transcend those things that we see with our own eyes, and faith that lived beyond proof from our own intelligence, and faith that lived beyond making sense in our own understanding – without a faith that believes and trusts in the most impractical and irrational ways of God, the call to mission and ministry that comes from the Most High God will never accomplish those things that our Lord has planned for us.

What does it take for us to fully believe and trust in all that Christ would have us accept? To paraphrase an old saying, “Faith believes, and absolute faith believes absolutely.” It take more than a simple and shallow faith to be a disciple of Jesus Christ – it takes an absolute trust in Godly ways, and in Godly wisdom, before we are able to take every step that Jesus would lead us in.

Do we believe absolutely? Do we trust Jesus absolutely? Are we prepared to follow wherever He may lead? With our whole heart, do we want to go where Jesus goes, regardless of where that may be?

If you do, be ready to go to places, and to do incredible things, unlike anything you would ever choose on your own! And when we trust, and when we believe, and when we follow in his way, the journey with Jesus will be marvelous.