Month: April 2020

1 Corinthians 15.35-49

Today we come to the next part of 1 Corinthians 15. So far, Paul has laid out the evidence in the scriptures and the testimony of the witnesses that Jesus did rise from the dead. He has argued that this makes certain our resurrection from the dead at Jesus’ return. And Paul has explained some of what will happen on that day. At the start of our text, Paul is introducing an objection: “How can everyone be raised from the dead? What kind of body will they have?”

The message of this text is twofold:

1. There will be resurrection of the dead.
2. We will receive better bodies, to be like Jesus.

First, let us be certain that the dead will be raised to everlasting life.

Though our bodies may decay, God will give us new bodies. Though they will be different to our bodies now, they are still bodies. Though they are bodies like we have now, they will be more glorious.

In verses 26 to 41 Paul introduces 3 illustrations to show the pattern of the resurrection:

First we read of the seed. It is sown into the ground, like bodies being buried, and the plant that grows is different from the seed that was sown – it receives its body from God, as he has chosen, according to the type of seed.

The point is this – there is more than one type of body. We will be raised to transformed, better bodies. As the plant is different from the seed, so our bodies then will be different to now. As God gives the body to a plant, so he will give us better bodies. 

Second, different animals have different bodies. As the animals have different kinds of bodies, so our bodies then will be different to what they are now.

Third, just as the stars and moon differ in glory, so our bodies then differ in glory from our bodies now.

In these three images Paul is demonstrating that resurrection from the dead will happen. Of course these old decaying bodies will not be lifted out of the ground! Fool! There are different kinds of bodies, that God gives as he chooses, and these will correspond to what came before. And what is to come is much more glorious than what has come before.

So, the objection does not stand. God will give a new, different, better body. May we be people of confidence, trusting our faithful God.

May we know it for certain: the dead will be raised to life.

Second, when we are raised, we will receive better bodies.

Receive the hope of the resurrection: new bodies! No more sickness or shame or sin or death! We will live forever with Jesus, in bodies like his.

I don’t know how you feel about your own body. Indestructible or failing, strong or fragile, impressive or embarrassing. Let us all hear the good news of the resurrection: though now our bodies are frail and dying, then they will be strong for everlasting life.

Now our bodies are weak, dishonourable, perishable. Then they will be powerful, honourable, imperishable. 

Now we are of the dust, like Adam. We bear his image and share his weakness to sin and all its consequences in sickness and death. Then we will have bodies from heaven, like Jesus. We will share his holiness, his indestructible life. This is the climax and the completion of God’s healing and transforming work.

God will give us better bodies, like Jesus’ body, and we will share his life. We will receive better bodies.

I wonder how much this truth shapes our thinking and praying and living. Do we fear death? Do we seek pleasure in this life because we don’t believe there is anything more? Or do we endure sickness full of hope in the day when we will be free from it? Do we thank God that the embarrassment and weakness and fragility of these bodies will be replaced by honour and power and everlasting life?

Jesus rose – the scriptures prophesied it, the apostles witnessed it. When Jesus returns, God will give us new and better bodies, like Jesus’, and we will live with him forever.

So let us be certain: God will raise us from the dead. And let us rejoice: he will give us better bodies.

Let’s pray.

Father, thank you for this sure and certain hope of resurrection from the dead. We are sorry for the times when we have lived as though this body and this life are all we will ever have. Help us to know for certain that we will rise from the dead. Help us to rejoice and give thanks for the better bodies that you will give us. Help us to wait in eager anticipation for that day when we will see Jesus face to face, and we will share his eternal life. In his name,
Amen.

1 Corinthians 15.20-34

It’s always a relief when we get to verse 20 of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. In the previous verses, Paul has been playing out a thought-experiment. What would happen if Jesus was not raised from the dead? The answer is that our faith would be futile and we would be pitied.

But verse 20, the beginning of our passage today, affirms the central and most crucial aspect of our faith: ‘In fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.’ Let us never forget how ground-breaking and life-changing Christ’s resurrection is. Jesus is the first-fruits, He’s our pioneer from the realm of the dead, leading the way for all of us who will one day follow in his footsteps. We too, will one day be raised just as Christ has been raised.

There’s a nice symmetry which Paul lays out for us next in verse 21: ‘For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being.’

Just as one human was sufficient to open the door to sin leading to death, one human being, Jesus Christ was completely sufficient to close the door to sin and death once and for all.

Do you see the significance of Jesus’ humanity has for our resurrection hope here? If Jesus was not fully human, but more of a demi-God, we would not have the full assurance that we will one day follow in His footsteps because He wouldn’t be completely like us. Jesus is the first fruits of those who have died, and then when Christ returns, we also will be raised. What an incredible hope!

Next, in verses 24-28, we get a breath-taking picture of Christ’s complete sovereignty over all creation. There will come a day when Christ will put all His enemies under His feet, even the last enemy to be destroyed, which is death. Praise God – we have a certain hope that all the disease, heartbreak, greed, poverty, loneliness, relationship break-downs, wars, addictions, jealousy, the list goes on – all these things will one day be destroyed by Jesus Christ.

But this battle is not won yet – we see that all too clearly every time we turn on the news. We still see suffering and sin in our world and our hearts today, but we know Jesus has the ultimate victory. We know that when we fight suffering and sin today, we are working towards an eternal destiny which Christ will one day bring to completion. Our labour will very much not be in vain as Paul reminds us in verse 58 of this chapter. So let’s keep going, and keep reminding ourselves and each other that there will come a day when all tears, pain and suffering will cease.

The final 5 verses of our passage today cause us to step back and ask ourselves, ‘How should I live if I have this hope of resurrection?’ Paul says that if there were no resurrection then we should ‘eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ If there were no resurrection, it wouldn’t really matter how we live in this life. Living longer, living happier and living more comfortably in this life would be our goal, for it would be our only life.

But we know that there is a resurrection. We know that that this life is not the end and Paul outlines two impacts this should have on the way we live:

Firstly, Paul says that he is daily in danger for the sake of the Gospel. His eyes are so fixed on the prize, that it does not matter to him what happens in this life, for his eyes are fixed on the victory and resurrection he will receive through Christ. Now I’m not suggesting that you go and find some wild animals you can fight for the sake of Jesus. But ask yourself, how should I live my life now, considering I have a certain hope of resurrection after I die? How should you steward your finances? What is the best use of your time? How could you share the hope you have with your friends or colleagues?

Secondly, Paul also gives a call to holy living. He says in verse 34: ‘Come to a sober and right mind, and sin no more.’ As we will discuss more in tomorrow’s devotional, our bodies will have some sort of continuity into the next life. The physical body which is sown will be raised a spiritual body (1 Cor 15.44). Therefore, we should seek to live holy lives in this life because of our resurrection hope for life after this life.

So today, let’s take a step back, let’s remind ourselves of the wonderful hope we have in Jesus and let our final destination shape the way we live our lives today.

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, there are no words to praise you enough for the incredible hope and life we have through Jesus. Thank you that Christ’s resurrection gives us certain hope of our own resurrection. May we never lose the wonder of this incredible truth. Help us to live today and every day in light of our wonderful final destination. We love you Lord,
Amen.

Not so long ago, my husband decided to make a birthday cake. He hunted out a recipe, got the ingredients together, whacked them in a bowl and fired it in the oven. 30 minutes later and he had something that looked suspiciously like a cake. Success! He iced it and congratulated himself on his cake baking prowess. It was later that evening that he spotted 150g of butter in the microwave and therefore decidedly not in the cake. Tucking into a slice revealed that although his creation did indeed look like a cake, it didn’t quite taste like one. There was clearly something missing. 

And this is where today’s passage is leading us. Not so much towards a discussion on butter to flour ratio, but rather the question of whether removing an ingredient changes the whole. More specifically, whether a belief in the resurrection of the dead is really all that important to our faith.

Whilst ‘on the third day he rose again’ might roll off the tongue – after all, we say it in the creed and we sing it in the songs – Paul is calling us to imagine an alternate reality: a world in which Easter Sunday never arrived. He’s hit pause at the Saturday and calls us to linger there. So let’s do just that… what if…? 

• What if the final vision of Jesus was him hanging, bloodied and lifeless on the cross?
• What if all his promises of new life and new hope ultimately came to nothing?
• What if he didn’t rise from the dead?

If, if, if… Paul uses this tiny word seven times. He doesn’t hold back. ‘If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile.’ It’s simply pointless. Just as some of the disciples did in the shadow of the cross, we may as well pack up and go home. If Jesus remains in the tomb, neither do we have any hope of leaving the grave. There’s no point to any of it. God is misrepresented, we’re still dead in our sins and at death everyone perishes. A sobering thought.

That isn’t to say, however, that a belief in the resurrection is the only ingredient of faith. 

If we were to ask each other, what makes you believe the Gospel? We would each throw other offerings into the mix. Maybe:

• Because I pray and God answers
• Because Jesus shows me how to live 
• Because it makes me the best version of myself 

There is nothing wrong with pointing to the good things of this life as reasons for the hope we have in Christ. But we don’t have to walk with Christ for long to realise that good things can feel fleeting and sometimes invisible altogether. There are times when:

• I pray and God doesn’t seem to answer
• When I don’t want to live in the way Jesus calls me to 
• When I’m frustratingly far from the best version of me 

The final verse says: ‘If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.’ The word ‘only’ is crucial here. Paul doesn’t say this life offers no reason to hope in Christ. Of course not: there are glorious blessings for us to celebrate and rejoice in. But we are to make sure we fix our eyes on the extraordinary truth of the resurrection. We are to hold tight to it, refusing to loose our grip, determining to believe and keep on believing that this world is not all there is. There is a resurrection, there is life beyond the grave, there is a hope for the future. And, my word, will it taste good. 

Let’s pray.

Father God, 
Forgive us for all too easily living as if this life is all there is. Lift our eyes, we pray, and make the mind-blowing doctrine of the resurrection real to us. Give us a new perspective and help us to live in light of it. In the names of Jesus, our risen Lord and Saviour,
Amen.

1 Corinthians 15.1-11

Believing that all Scripture is inspired by God does not mean that every chapter of the Bible has equal significance for Christian living and believing. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is a towering giant of a text even amongst the writings of Paul the Apostle. It is honoured with the longest single quote from Scripture in the Nicene Creed: ‘he died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, he was buried, he rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.’ When Paul says something is of first importance – we sit upright, we stop talking and we pay attention. The saving events anticipated in Scripture are simple: his death dealt with sin, his burial confirmed his death and located his body and the rising of Jesus the Messiah brought resurrection to light. As Harold Dodd observed: the resurrection is a reversal, not just of the death but of the burial of Jesus. On Friday he was dead and buried. By Sunday morning the tomb was empty and Jesus was alive.

Later in this chapter Paul goes on to expound the key implication of the resurrection of Jesus for Christian believing: if Jesus is raised bodily then bodily resurrections are possible and she is no fool who hopes in God for a future bodily resurrection. Jesus, Paul teaches, is only the firstfruits. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is only the first helping of the final resurrection of the dead.

Paul sets out his list of resurrection witnesses not so much to convince people in Corinth of these basic facts. No one was saying straight out: we don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Rather he is tackling those who prefer a doctrine of the immortality of the soul and who regard the hope of the resurrection of the body on the last great Day as either unnecessary, philosophically incoherent, or just downright distasteful (surely bodies are not that great!). The core of Paul’s point is an argument by counterexample: if resurrections can’t happen, Jesus was not raised. But since Jesus was raised the assertion that resurrections can’t happen is just plain wrong. Christian faith and hope therefore rest on facts: the death of Jesus who shed his sacrificial blood for the sins of the world and his bodily resurrection as the basis of Christian hope. Moltmann captures the point perfectly when he says: ‘The immortality of the soul is an opinion – the resurrection of the dead is a hope. The first is a trust in something immortal in the human being, the second is a trust in God who calls into being the things that are not, and makes the dead alive.’

All this rests on a key fact: Jesus’ bodily resurrection. We don’t have direct access to the actual moment of Jesus resurrection: no one else was there. No one was up that early. What we do have is eye-witness testimony to both the empty tomb and the presence of the risen Jesus – passed on and passed down the centuries to us. But Paul’s pen practically elevates those witnesses from distant acquaintances in a far off land many years ago to being our neighbours two doors down. We hear Paul’s letter and Paul knew these people personally. Here we learn that Jesus appeared alone to broken Peter – Cephas – who Paul had met and spent time with. Paul also tells us that Jesus appeared to his own brother James. Neither of these encounters with the two men is recorded in the Gospels. Both Peter and James’s lives were turned right round. Nowhere else can we find the astounding report that the Lord appeared ‘to more than 500 brothers at one time.’ No wonder that so many who heard the testimony of Peter and the twelve, James and all the other apostles were irrevocably convinced that the tomb was empty and that Jesus had risen.

This gospel of Jesus’ saving death and risen life is God’s power to save. Down the ages people have been tempted to tidy things up a bit on God’s behalf and make the gospel more sophisticated or more respectable in the eyes of a watching world. Or to turn the Christian message into something essentially ethical or moral. But the gospel is not a clever set of ideas or a convincing argument. It is neither beautiful aesthetically (people dying on crosses are not pretty and Jesus didn’t come out of the tomb all shiny – he left that to the angels). Nor did the risen Lord Jesus overwhelm people with his power. In fact they hardly recognised him. Instead he pointed people to Scripture and said: this has now come true in me. The glory of this simple factual gospel is that it is God’s power to save us. As Paul says in the opening of this chapter, we are called to receive the gospel and to stand in it. When we do these things we will be saved by it. This is the foundation stone of all Christian faith. As we will hear tomorrow the whole edifice of Christianity stands and falls on this one matter: the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Honestly, without this we may as well pack up our little religious games and go and do something more useful. But seen in the light of Jesus death and resurrection life the universe and everything is transformed.

To the sceptic Paul’s list of eye-witnesses trumpets loud and clear: all your philosophy, all your science, all your arguments, all your prejudices and all your predilections come up against this one great brute fact: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. This is the great event with which we have to do. It means that the rest, as they say, is his story.

Lord Jesus, we rejoice from the bottom of our hearts that you became obedient even to death on the cross for us and for our salvation. And we rejoice that by your mighty resurrection you showed yourself to be the resurrection and the life. Lord, embed these simple truths in our hearts and lives by your Holy Spirit, so that we may live in all the good of your work for us.
Amen

John 21.9-19

I wonder what breakfast is like in your household. Is it a leisurely affair with coffee, bacon and the newspapers? A noisy tangle of bodies grabbing for the Coco Pops? A quick cereal bar snatched from the cupboard as you race out of the door? Often, the way we start our day sets the tone for what follows. 

Today’s reading describes Jesus’ approach to breakfast. It’s one of the handful of times that he appeared to his disciples between his death and ascension. In these precious moments, Jesus has important things to say to them. But not before they’ve eaten. Ever the servant king, he prepares a fire and cooks them some fish to eat. As he has shown with several culinary miracles already, Jesus provides his followers with their daily bread physically as well as spiritually. 

Here, when he meets them on the beach, he wants to make sure that they’re ready for what is coming next – and no one is at their best on an empty stomach. Spurgeon puts it like this: ‘Much had to be said and done; but they must breakfast first. They were to be questioned, rebuked, instructed, commissioned, warned; but they must first be fed. […] Things that were of prime importance must yet be kept back a little while, until they could bear them and profit by them.’

So the first thing Jesus says to his dearest friends is, ‘Come and eat.’ So it is with us. Jesus wants us to recline at the table with him, to be nourished and filled. To taste and see that he is good (Psalm 34.8). This is the crucial starting point, both for the disciplines and for us. Spurgeon continues, ‘Many things call for your earnest attention; but it will be poor haste if you rush to work without refreshing the inner man. Pause a while, and feast with your Lord, in order that you may be able to attend to your pressing duties.’

It is only once they have eaten that Jesus moves on to the serious business. Peter, once again warming himself before a fire, may already have been recalling his triple denial of his friend and rabbi. So when Jesus himself asks him the same question three times, it stings. But notice that the question is not, ‘Do you repent?’ It is, ‘Do you love me?’

This, too, is the most important question that faces us as Christians. Do you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind? This is not the same thing as loving him perfectly. Peter knows this only too well. It means loving him ‘with the best love of which he, a sinful human being, is capable’ (James Boice). But it is only from this love that obedience flows. This is what allows Peter to stop looking backwards at his past failures and instead to look forward to the task that Jesus has for him. 

And it is once Peter has declared his love that Jesus reveals what this task is: ‘Feed my sheep.’ Just as I have fed you, says the Shepherd King, go and do the same for my flock. Love others as you love yourselves. This is, after all, how people will know that you are my disciples (John 13.34-35).  

N. T. Wright explains that Jesus’ words of commissioning to Peter are also words to us. ‘Here is the secret of all Christian ministry […] If you are going to do any single solitary thing as a follower and servant of Jesus, this is what it’s built on. Somewhere, deep down inside, there is a love for Jesus, and though (goodness knows) you’ve let him down enough times, he wants to find that love, to give you a chance to express it, to heal the hurts and failures of the past, and give you new work to do.’

This meal on the beach, then, comes at the start of a new day for Peter. He must learn what it means to be the disciple of a resurrected Lord. Jesus shows him that it starts with something as ordinary as breakfast. ‘Come and eat,’ he says, and be filled. ‘Do you love me?’ he asks, for that is all I require of you. ‘Feed my sheep,’ he instructs, for this is the overflow of our love for each other. ‘Follow me,’ he summarises – a call that we too can hear as we reach for our toast and marmalade. 

Risen Lord Jesus,
We love you. Thank you that you welcome sinners such as us to sit and eat with you. Help us to remember amid the rush of our busy lives to take the time to feast with you and be refreshed. Thank you that your grace is new every morning – that even when we fail you, you offer us forgiveness and continue to trust us to act as your hands and feet in the world. Fill us with your love that we might follow you in caring for your sheep. 
Amen

John 20.19-31

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Yet so far, Jesus has only appeared to Mary Magdalene. In today’s passage, it’s the disciples’ turn to encounter Him.

Have you ever waited with bated breath for something you weren’t quite sure was going to happen or not? Imagine the disciples hearing that Mary has seen Jesus. This, after his brutal crucifixion. This, after his certified burial. Feel their incredulity, confusion, trepidation and ever-so-slight sliver of hope… only for Jesus to suddenly appear in their house where they were cowering behind locked doors!

It’s easy enough to point fingers at the disciples, to criticise or mock them. But maybe our responses wouldn’t have been all that different. Maybe we might even have similar reactions today. Let’s look at three things we can learn about the resurrected Jesus: PEACE, PURPOSE, PATIENCE.

Verse 19 reveals that the disciples were hiding with the doors ‘locked for fear of the Jews’ – understandable really, considering what they’d just seen them do to their Lord and Master. It was only a matter of time before the knocks on the door demanding their arrest and death, right? Yet in the next verse, this very fear turns into rejoicing! All it took was Jesus to appear in their midst, alive and well, bearing the physical marks of his death.

I wonder if you’ve ever found yourself in a fearful situation only to find joy in God’s presence and salvation?

I know I’m not the only one who notices that Jesus says ‘Peace be with you’ three times (vv. 19, 21, 26). It’s often said as a polite greeting in church nowadays, but in this case the disciples must have really needed it!

The first point is that the resurrected Jesus brings PEACE, even in the most hopeless of situations. Already He fulfils what He promised in John 14.27: ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.’ Fear is a natural part of our lives. But we can believe that Jesus does and will give us peace ‘which surpasses all understanding’ (Philippians 4.7).

Jesus then does two things: He announces that He is sending them out, and He breathes on them so they can receive the Holy Spirit.

We were never meant to keep Jesus to ourselves. His promise of eternal life isn’t just for me and you. He died and rose again for everyone! We cannot be myopic and inward-looking; rather we must respond to Jesus’ commission (or co-mission) to seek and save the lost.

But we cannot do this alone. Just as the Father sent His Spirit upon Jesus before His ministry, so too does Jesus breathe His Spirit upon us. Did you know that the Greek word for ‘breathe’ is the same word used in the Greek Old Testament when God breathes life into Adam (Genesis 2.7), and when the dry bones are raised to life (Ezekiel 37.9)?

The second point is that the resurrected Jesus gives us PURPOSE, and He also gives us life and authority to fulfil it. He gives us His Spirit to go out into the world; and we can only go out into the world if we have His Spirit. It’s a both/and!

Did you notice that locked doors couldn’t keep Jesus out? It shows that his resurrected body didn’t have the same limitations as our physical bodies. He could very well have said, ‘Don’t touch! Don’t gawk! Hands off!’ Yet He doesn’t withhold Himself from His disciples, even giving Thomas permission to touch His wounds as proof of His death and resurrection.

Thomas is an interesting figure: he goes from stubborn unbelief to wholehearted confession of Jesus: ‘My Lord and my God!’ (v. 28) One thing’s for sure – you can’t fault the man for his honesty. But what is even more astounding is Jesus’ acquiescence to Thomas’ demands.

The third point is that the resurrected Jesus demonstrates PATIENCE and immense grace. Even when we doubt, even when we struggle to believe, He invites us closer to reassure us of His goodness and love. He’s not obligated to meet our demands, yet He always meets us where we’re at.

But make no mistake: Jesus calls us to higher faith. ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ (v. 29) The journey of following Jesus is truly one where ‘we walk by faith, not by sight.’ (2 Cor 5.7)

Let’s pray.

Lord, help us to believe in You more and more. Increase and strengthen our faith in You. Thank You that You are patient with us when we doubt. Thank You that You are the bringer of peace when we are fearful. Thank You for the gift of eternal life. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit to empower us for the purpose of sharing You with those who don’t know You yet. Restore unto us the joy of your salvation, and renew a right spirit within us. In Your name we pray, Amen.

John 20.1-18

The John Rylands Library in Manchester has on display a tiny fragment of papyrus, smaller than a credit card, entitled ‘Rylands Library Papyrus P52’. Not an especially enthralling name, but when I first saw it I was filled with an almost giddy excitement.

Why? Well the ‘Rylands Library Papyrus P52’ has an alternative name: the ‘St John’s Fragment’. Most scholars agree that it is the earliest existing fragment of a New Testament text, and the most widely accepted theories suggest it probably dates from some time in the second century AD. Why did I find that so exciting?

Well, partly just because I love old stuff, but mostly because the apostle John lived to be very old himself, probably dying in his nineties around the year 100AD. And so – while no one knows anything much about the scribe who wrote ‘Papyrus P52’– I imagined the possibility that that scribe might have lived at the same time as, maybe even had mutual acquaintances with, or perhaps, just perhaps, may have met the aged apostle John. Was I looking at a page written upon by someone who knew a man, who actually knew Jesus? And not just knew Jesus, but who, as today’s reading tells us, was one of the first to see and believe in the universe-shifting, once-in-history event that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ? We often describe the gospels as being eyewitness accounts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. But in this handwriting, I felt a closer connection to the eyewitness of John. In this tiny piece of papyrus, I found the truth of the gospel and the resurrection suddenly felt tangibly closer for me – bringing deeper awe and wonder.

It is so easy to forget that nobody, not even his closest disciples, saw the resurrection coming. At the start of our passage no one knew Jesus was going to rise from the dead – what we’re reading of are the very first people to believe and to see the resurrection.

But for us, this is probably an overly-familiar passage. In fact, I wonder if the story of the empty tomb is one of the most well-known stories in all of history.

But let’s try to see it afresh. In looking at it to prepare this devotional I was struck by how small that story starts.

John’s honesty is humbling. He doesn’t tell you about how he knew it was coming: instead acknowledging that they didn’t understand. He says that he and Peter weren’t there first, that Mary was; that he was afraid to go into the tomb.

When he does go in, he sees the grave clothes laid out as though Jesus has shed them like a cocoon. No one has come and taken the body with the grave clothes, nor have they unwrapped Jesus and discarded the wrappings. Jesus has stepped out of the grave clothes for which he – as the now living Lord – has no need. John sees this and he believes.

Mary, still overcome with grief, weeps that Jesus’ dead body has been taken. But moments later, when she finds herself face-to-face with the resurrected Christ, he is full of beautiful tenderness for her and calls her by name. He shows he knows her, she finds that she recognises him, and she too believes.

And then she is given the joy and responsibility of being the first person to announce that she has seen the risen Lord.

This story, so widely known in history and across the globe, starts that small. Two men who half understand, one woman who has seen the resurrected Christ. The odds of her being believed, of that story making any impact upon the world: I wouldn’t like to guess how slim they are. But, Mary does what she’s been asked to do, she goes, and she tells the disciples she has seen Jesus.

Such a small beginning. But odds don’t really mean anything when you’re dealing with the Son of God who has defeated death, so with the resurrecting power of God behind it, my, does that story grow.

Josephine Butler, a nineteenth century Christian social reformer from the north east (after whom one of the Durham University colleges, amongst other things, is named), once said “One woman and God is a majority” – perhaps this has never been truer than at the beginning of the spread of the news of Jesus’ resurrection.

On that first Easter morning no one believed that Jesus would rise from the dead, but that truth that he did, has passed, from person to person, from heart to heart like the flames of thousands upon thousands of candles all being lit from one small spark. A flame that has spread almost unimaginably far across time and space.

Perhaps you have a single moment when you first saw the truth of the resurrection. Perhaps it was a longer, slower realisation, with Thomas-like initial doubts or uncertainties. But, however we have come to say we believe, however that ever-spreading flame was ignited in our hearts, my prayer is that in looking at it again, we’ll feel it tangibly close; that we’ll see more of the wonder of knowing the risen Lord and hearing him call us too.

Maybe a moment of feeling new awe and wonder will come by considering carefully the viewpoint of each person in the story; maybe it’ll come by studying the robust historical evidences and logical arguments for the truth of the resurrection.

Or maybe we’ll find them in something as unremarkable as taking a trip to a library. In seeing a tiny piece of papyrus and finding ourselves strangely connected to an unknown scribe, to John, and to Mary; knowing that our faith in the resurrection connects us to them, as we also say ‘I believe’.

Heavenly Father,
We thank you for the resurrection of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. We praise you for your power which has defeated death, and so gives life to us. Forgive us when we are dismissive of it through familiarity, and by your spirit, please fan into flame the fire of faith within us, that we may confidently say, with our hearts and lives, that we believe in our risen and glorified Lord.
Amen.

John 11.1-44 (reading includes verses 1-7, 17-29, 32-44)

This is a story many of us know. A story of life and death – and life again, foreshadowing Jesus’ own resurrection. But its also a story about faith and love. 

The life and death in question are those of a young man – who lives with his older sisters, Martha and Mary in Bethany; just a few miles from Jerusalem. They have become friends of Jesus, hosting him and his disciples and so when Lazarus becomes seriously ill, they send for their friend and rabbi. They are certain of 2 things – 1. he loves them, and 2. he has the power to heal… they’ve seen him do it many, many times. 

The complicating factor is that at the end of chapter 10 the religious leaders had essentially taken out a hit on Jesus life… they wanted him dead and he had left the region as a result. So, coming back to answer the plea of Mary and Martha means Jesus putting his life on the line. In fact, verses 7-16 tell of the disciples’ discussion about going back – and in the end Thomas suggests “Let us go that we may die with him!” Going back to help puts them all at risk. 

However, we know that’s not why Jesus delayed. He delayed because the father told him to. Because it was time to show what the power of God really looked like. More than multiplying food, healing the ill, casting out demons – it was time for the true extent of the kingdom to be revealed. 

And this is where the love and faith kick in. Because Jesus truly DID love his friends, Martha, Mary and Lazarus, he was fully aware of what waiting was going to do to them. 

• That Lazarus was going to die, feeling afraid and abandoned. 
• That Martha was going to be furious, angry with Jesus for not coming sooner – we hear that in her words. When they sent for Jesus the message was, “He who you love is ill”. When she races to meet him on the road she says “MY brother.” I was with him Jesus – WHERE WERE YOU?
• And he knew that gentle Mary would have her heart broken. Sobbing at his feet, her grief and disappointment with him raw, her distress so palpable that it reduced him to tears too. 

Jesus knew the waiting would break their hearts. But it seems to me that he knew that the mutual love they had meant he could trust them. He trusted their faith in him. And he was right to. 

Martha, despite her grief and anger STILL believed he was the Messiah, still believed in the resurrection. She wasn’t sure he loved them anymore, but she still believed he was from God – her faith was intact. 

And Mary still knelt at his feet. She still came when he called for her. She still l called him her Lord, even in her sorrow. 

Jesus knew that the other side of the waiting in hope, the disappointment, grief and anger they would feel, was something that would blow their minds. A blessing so remarkable that it would change not only their lives, but the lives of everyone who would ever hear the story. Something that means 2000 years on they still have the honour of being known by all those who follow their rabbi. 

THEY would experience the defeat of death. They would experience the joy of resurrection. They would be the first to realise what the power of God means for those who put their faith in Jesus. 

Because he knew they loved him, Jesus trusted them.

I wonder whether you’ve ever considered that Jesus might have faith in you?

So often, when things go wrong or when our prayers aren’t answered we can wonder where Jesus is? it can feel like he is delaying, and we can decide that means he doesn’t love us. 

This story shows us that that is not how things work in the economy of the kingdom. As we were recently reminded, Jesus did say that hard times will come. That his people will face difficulty – just like all humanity does. We are not promised health, wealth and prosperity when we become followers of Jesus. And we are not promised resurrection of hopes, dreams, bodies on our own terms, with our own timing. But we are promised 3 things. 

Firstly, that our prayers, our cries, our tears are precious to God. In fact, the psalmist says he collects our tears in a bottle. Jesus didn’t tell Martha to calm down or Mary to pull herself together – he acknowledged their anger and pain, shared it – and wept with them. 

Secondly, we can be certain that we are loved. That never changed for Mary and Martha, just because Jesus wasn’t working on their timescale didn’t mean he didn’t love them. His love for his friends, including us, does not waver – he just has more for us than we can actually imagine; something bigger is always going on. Something which looks different from an eternal perspective. 

And thirdly, we are promised that ultimately God will bring good out of all circumstances for those who love him. It was about a week from them sending the message to Jesus finally arriving. That’s a long week, but there was a purpose. First century Jews believed that the human spirit hung around the grave for 3 days, on day 4 they were gone, the person was really dead. Jesus waited so everyone knew he hadn’t resuscitated Lazarus but had really brought him back from the grave. Resurrected him. 

And that resurrection power is still at work. Transforming lives. 

Even if there is something you hoped or dreamt for that you think is dead and gone, beyond possibility – Jesus CAN still bring it back. 

Even if something feels like it has broken down, that it is rotten, stinking – Jesus can give it new life. 

And ultimately, we are promised that those who are in Christ will one day be resurrected themselves – as Lazarus was, and as Jesus himself would be too. 

There’s a lot of emotion going on in this little story, both awful and awesome. But the love, faith and power of Jesus runs through it all. Ultimately this is a story about hope and joy – and that is the ultimate promise of God. Hope eternal and joy unending – one day. 

Let’s pray. 

Jesus – please give us confidence to know how much you love us. That regardless of whether our hearts are warm or cold towards you right now, yours beats for us and you have faith in us. Help us offer you our tears and joys, hopes and fears, successes and disappointments. And to know that they are all precious to you, that you walk with us in them all. And reassure us that you are the defeater of death, the one with the power to breathe resurrection life into our  situations, circumstances, dreams and visions. And ultimately, one day into our very beings.Help us to stand secure in the promise of resurrection for all those who are in Christ Jesus. 

And all god’s people said… AMEN!

John 10.11-18

And so we come today to another passage in John’s Gospel which points forwards to Jesus’ resurrection. ‘I am the Good Shepherd’. This is the fourth of seven ‘I am’ statements in John’s Gospel, each of which revealing something unique about Jesus’ character and purpose.

‘I am the Good Shepherd’. In just five words, Jesus has revealed something ground-breaking not only about who He is, but also who we are. In this passage, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, the Jewish teachers of the law. By claiming that he is the ‘Good Shepherd’ He is indicating that he fulfills the Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah will be a shepherd to the flock of Israel and this would not have passed the Pharisees by. King David wrote in his famous Psalm that ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ and the prophet Ezekiel prophesied in Ezekiel 34: ‘As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.’ (Ezekiel 34.12).  Any Jew listening would have made the connection. Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah.

But He’s claiming more than that. Jesus portraying Himself as the Good Shepherd is a beautiful picture of God caring for His flock, providing for their needs and protecting them from harm. We are His flock. Jesus cares deeply for our needs and He provides for us. Perhaps that’s the truth you need to hear today.

But taking it even further still, Jesus says ‘the Good Shepherd lays his life down for the sheep’. He is so devoted to his sheep that, unlike the hired-hand, he is prepared to lose his own life in order to protect the lives of his sheep. Jesus laid his life down for us, he laid down his life for you and for me, so that we could be free from the bondage of sin and come to the Father.

Next Jesus says in verse 14: ‘I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.’ This is an astonishing statement, but it’s so easy to just let it wash over us. Jesus and the Father are in perfect relationship and know each other so deeply and intimately. And yet Jesus says that in the same way, Jesus knows us and we know Him. We, too, are invited into this beautiful relationship. We too are known deeply and intimately and, even more astonishingly, we know and love the Lord Jesus as well. Verse 16 is a comfort to those of us who are gentiles. We were not of the original flock of the Lord, but we too have heard and responded to Jesus’ voice and are now part of the one flock, with one shepherd.

 And now we come to the climax of the passage. This is the bit which would have really ruffled the listening Pharisees’ metaphorical feathers. Jesus says in verses 17-18:

“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Jesus says he has power to lay his life down and also has the power to take it up again. Jesus has essentially claimed to be God, for only God could have the authority to take up his own life again. On his journey to the cross and on the cross itself, Jesus was in control, He knew what He was doing. No one took his life from Him. He willingly, knowingly and lovingly laid His life down for His sheep. But he not only knowingly sacrificed His life, but, incredibly, He had power to take it up again. Jesus defeated death, rose to new life, making the way for us to do the same.

Those listening to this prophecy responded in different ways. Some thought Jesus was a mad man, or was possessed by a demon. But others weren’t so sure, they had seen Jesus’ healing powers, and were starting to wonder whether there might be some truth in Jesus’ words.  

How will you respond to Jesus’ words today? Will you take some time to dwell on the truth that Jesus is your Good Shepherd, who knows what you need and will care for you. Will you take time to listen to Jesus’ voice, perhaps spending some time in a quiet place, making room for your Good Shepherd to speak. Or perhaps you want to spend some time praising the Lord Jesus, thanking Him for His perfect, once-and-for-all sacrifice; a sacrifice given willingly, knowingly and lovingly for us. Jesus laid His life down for His sheep and only Jesus had the power and authority to take His life back up again.

Praise be to God!

Let’s take a moment to pray:

Father God, thank you that Jesus is our Good Shepherd but that He was also our sacrificial lamb. Thank you that he laid down his life for us, but thank you that He also had the power to take His life up again. Help us to live each moment of every day in awe and wonder at the indescribable gift given to us through Jesus’ Christ. In His precious name we pray, Amen.