When I was at work on Friday , we have a big bay and one of my colleague was asking a question to my other colleague. Why you did not take a holiday today and why Good Friday is good ? My other colleague answered her, that Jesus died for all my sins and wrong doing. What does that mean? I will illustrate it with a story; once upon a time there was a king and in his kingdom there was justice and order. Over a period of time, one day, he got a complain that there were some eggs which were stolen every day. Everybody wondered who could dare to steal in a just and orderly kingdom. The king passed a law that if the thief is caught he will have to bear 100 lashes till death as his punishment for this crime.
An enquiry took place and a trap was placed to catch the thief, and eventually he was caught. The king summoned everybody to watch the assassination which was going to be so brutal. When everybody gathered, the thief was brought in the center of the kingdom so that everybody can watch the punishment. To keep the suspense alive the thief was in a mask so that no one can see him . The king commanded that he be tied on the pole and the mask to be removed and begin with the lashes. As soon as the mask was removed, the king could not take his eyes off the thief , he was shattered, but the law that he made had to be fulfilled . It was the kings very own son. Now there was no turning back on the law, which the king commanded. He commanded his soldier to start lashing, but before he started lashing, he stood before his son, and the king removed his cloak, embraced his son, covering him. Then he commanded now begin with the punishment as he stood there embracing his son. Everybody was amazed to see this. The law for a wrong doing is death, and there was no turning back. What the king did was by taking all the lashes , was that he fulfilled the law but spared the life of a wrong doer.
That’s why good Friday is a good Friday for us, the punishment which we were supposed to undergo, His love covered us from that punishment and he died on our behalf and that was good, because we were saved on someone else’s expense.
Today as we celebrate Easter , JESUS was resurrected (Resurrection is the concept of coming back to life after death), he was risen from death. It is a celebration which gives me a hope of life after death which is eternity , i.e life never ending .
As we are aware, that when Jesus was crucified (i.e.he was killed on the cross) all his disciples (who followed him) left him because they thought the same will happen to them as well . They will also be killed. When we read the bible it says that they all locked themselves in a room and they were fearing for their life.
Let’s read John chapter 20:
The Empty Tomb
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
We saw that after Jesus’ Resurrection, he again met his disciples. They were the ones who left him alone when he was dying on the cross.
When we look at history (i.e. not from the bible). It records the events of the 12 disciples as to where they went and what happened to them .
They went to different parts of the world out of which one disciple also came to India, i.e. ST Thomas.
History states that many of them were killed and died a horrific death.
So we were talking about the disciples just few minutes ago, who ran away when Jesus was taken for crucifixion. We also read that they all locked the door for fear of their life.
So the question was, what changed them? As we had discussed about history that they were all martyred and also went to an extent to loose their lives?
It was the Resurrection day which changed them. There is power in Resurrection. Everything changed in their life after that event after they saw Jesus alive.
Why the event of Resurrection was so powerful?
Resurrection had a message of Love:
Jesus not only showed his love on the cross. He also showed himself after he was resurrected (He came back to life).
He came back to his people and showed himself again to them. He understood that they needed him most during this time. In our life as well, when we need Jesus the most, he is there. When we think that everything is finished and there is no hope for us. He comes back and shows himself to us. He is such a loving God. He is always there. He gave a counsellor, that is the Holy Spirit to us, who directs us, and leads us.
Resurrection had a message of Forgiveness:
Jesus showed himself to people (disciples) who betrayed him . Who denied him. This shows his act of forgiveness towards everyone, even to each one of us sitting here . We have denied him but he continuously shows his love and forgiveness.
We all know how much difficult it is, to forgive people who have hurt us very badly . We take an extreme step, that is, we just want to disconnect from them.
Once there were a couple. Each time they fought the wife would break something and the husband could clearly hear it from wherever he was. This happened over a period of time and the husband came to expect that whenever, they had an argument, he would hear a sound of breaking.
One day it so happened that, they had an argument but he didn’t hear any such sound. Next day when both of them were sober and settled with their fight. They were seated on the breakfast table, the husband apologised to his wife. He said “I am very sorry about yesterday but I have a question ringing in my head, why didn’t you break anything yesterday after our argument?” The wife replied “it is true that I did not break anything yesterday but I did clean the toilet with your toothbrush.”
It is indeed very hard to forgive. But Jesus forgives us and also asks us to forgive.
The event after Resurrection commands us to forgive people.
The ultimate and the primary message from the Resurrection is HOPE:
Jesus conquered death. And he promised an eternal life after death, to whoever believes in Him.
The Resurrection gives us a hope of life after death. Isn’t that amazing! A hope to face tomorrow.
We sung a song. “Because he lives”
God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal and forgive
He lived and died to buy my pardon
An empty grave is there to prove my savior lives
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives
The message of Resurrection is that :
Because my God lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives
Life is worth living.
Friends, Instead of all our challenges, hopeless situations. There is Hope because of this Resurrection day, Easter.
That I can face any situation, any discouragement, any hopeless situation because my God lives and he holds my future.
When we understand this Hope, life becomes more interesting, worth living now and for eternity.
He is in midst of us which gives us hope, that he is always with us. His promises will never go in vain. Every word from my God will be Fulfilled. Whatever he taught his disciples were fulfilled.
The Tomb is empty, Jesus is resurrected. The disciples saw that there was no fear of anything and we know that rest is history.
Let us grow in Hope and Love because Jesus is always with us. May we have a blessed day and the Joy of Resurrection spread into each day of our life.
Virjil Selvan is Pastoring the New Hope Community. The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.
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