*Theme week – Celebrating Jesus: John 20
Old Testament: Zechariah 13 & 14
Poetry: Psalm 148
It feels funny to be talking about Jesus’ death and resurrection during Christmas week. Sunday we were expecting a baby to be born, Monday the angels were singing to the shepherds announcing his birth. Here it is Friday and he has already been crucified and his cold, dead body lies in a tomb. It is kind of jarring to go from celebrating a baby born to be king to suddenly mourning his death.
Life is often experienced as a kind of emotional roller coaster. Something great happens, and you are laughing and joyful. Then, suddenly you are hit with bad news and the laughter turns to tears. The events we have been reading about took place over 30+ years from the time Gabriel first appeared to Mary with the announcement that she had been chosen by God to bear his son, the Messiah until she stood at the foot of his cross and watched him die. As you may recall, there was death surrounding Jesus right from the beginning, as King Herod was trying to kill him when he was a baby, when the little innocent baby boys of Bethlehem were slaughtered. Jesus warned in John 10:10 that “the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy”. Right from the beginning evil was out to destroy Jesus. It took 30 years, but finally Jesus was dead. The rejoicing has turned to weeping.
The good news of the Gospels is that death doesn’t have the final word. Evil doesn’t win. God wins! At the Last Supper just before Jesus was arrested he laid out for his disciples what was about to happen:
16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”
At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. (John 16:16-20).
This brings us to today’s reading in John 20. As we saw yesterday, Jesus was unjustly killed for political reasons. The principalities and powers tried to buttress their own power and control and they saw Jesus as a threat, so they had him unjustly killed. However, it takes more than the death of his son to thwart God’s plan. As it turned out, the powers who orchestrated Jesus’ death played right into God’s plan that goes back to the very beginning. That’s right, since the time of Adam and Eve and the Fall, God’s plan to defeat evil included the sacrificial death of the one who would be the son of God and Messianic King. Revelation 13:8 speaks of the “lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.” Before Jesus ruled as King, he first had to die as sacrifice, as savior, as redeemer. He died to bear our sins as Isaiah 53 prophesied would one day happen.
God raised Jesus from the dead. Death did not have the final word, God has the final word and it is life. Along with life, Jesus offers the gift of forgiveness. When you believe that Jesus died and was raised to life and give your loyalty to him as your king, you will share in that blessing Jesus promised. Your sins will be forgiven and you will have your fellowship with God restored. The result of this restored fellowship is peace, the peace that only Jesus can give.
Jesus points out to the disciples that they came to believe in him by seeing him in person after the resurrection. Thomas even had the benefit of physically touching Jesus’ scars to help him accept the truth of the resurrection. Jesus points to those who will believe in him without the benefit of having seen him after his resurrection. Those who have faith in the message of the gospel passed down for 2000 years in the Bible from the first eyewitnesses to the risen Jesus. The good news is, that is you, if you believe that God raised Jesus from death to life, you receive the blessing Jesus promised. I hope you believe, I know I do.
-Jeff Fletcher
Reflection Questions
- What do you love about God and His plan as revealed in John 20? What questions do you have about God and His plan and Jesus’ part in that plan?
- What has Jesus offered to you? Have you accepted these gifts? Why or why not?
- What is the next step in God’s plan and what is your role in it?
Seek Grow Love 