The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ According to John 10:1-10

Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.

The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.

I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

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Since what has been named the 2026 Iran War, originally ‘ a military operation’

Information – trusted information is scarce. False information is aplenty.

There are many examples of this, including  the original forecast of the expected duration of the war – two to eight weeks, or as some forecast – three to four days.

As of today, no-one knows when the war will end.

Trust has been destroyed, lives lost or ruined, as the duty of care has been discarded like so much trash.

Jesus tells his listeners to be on the look out for those who can’t be trusted –  thieves,  robbers, wolves –  predators. 

Predators!

With so much duplicity in  our world, where do we turn?  To whom do we look?

” At me’  Jesus  says.

”  I am the shepherd. The sheep know my voice. I am the gate for the sheep,” he says, using an example people would understand.

The sheepfold at that time would have only three complete sides. The shepherd would be there, at the fourth side, checking the sheep as they came in, slowing them down with his rod, so he could check them for injuries. And when all were safely in he would lie across the entrance so that anyone wanting to come in to do harm would have to deal with him first. .

The shepherd  had a heavy wooden rod with which to beat off any lion or wolf or bear that might try to attack the sheep. The staff was used to rescue lambs from thickets or crevices where they might have fallen into danger.  The rod was the protection.

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

He might also have a slingshot.

A famous shepherd by the name of David fought off a lion and more with a slingshot, didn’t he?

When you care about your charges, you will fight ferociously to protect them won’t you?

You won’t exploit them.

Who is being a shepherd?

And who is being a wolf?

There are plenty of stories about governments wasting our resources – not safeguarding what belongs to the people.

There are many who are only interested in their own welfare?   Some of those who manage major corporations seem more interested in lining their own pockets rather than worrying about their shareholders, and their employees.  And their customers.

Some who claim to represent us are in the pockets of other interests.

Financial analysts have given so-called independent advice, which later was found to be just a come-on for stocks they were actually selling. 

We should do what Will Rogers suggested when investing.  He said, “ Take your money out of your savings, invest it in a stock, and when it goes up, sell. If it doesn’t go up  – don’t buy it!”

It looks like  no-one is out there looking after you, doesn’t it?

So what do we do?

I think the only answer is to look elsewhere for protection, for guidance, for an example in how to live.

I think you have to look to someone with good references; someone who has proven to be a good friend; someone who has delivered what he promised to deliver; someone who is a good shepherd.

Someone you can follow.

Like Jesus.

The early disciples, and those who joined them chose to follow Jesus. And to live as he would.

We read in Acts that in the early days of the church, no one wanted for anything. The reason was that those who had much, gave so that those who had less could eat.   Those who could, helped those who couldn‘t.  Those who could work helped those who were too sick to work. 

A few years ago, such people would have been called communists  – those who had much, sharing with those who had nothing, and all property held in common.

But it was just that the followers of Jesus were trying to live as he might have.

Simply put, we have to try and live as Jesus did. We have to share with those less fortunate. We have to see that no brother or sister goes hungry.

We have to try each day to be more and more like him; loving others; putting him before wealth and power; and looking after our neighbour rather than preying on him, or her.  

We have to show the world that we are God’s people,  spreading his word where we can, and encouraging and exhorting those in positions of power to serve rather than to exploit.

And if we are chosen to lead, leading as a shepherd would – protecting and watching over those for which we have been given responsibility.

This might sound idealistic.

Naïve.

People  say  you have to look after yourself first, and last.  The wolves are out in front, winning at every turn. Money makes money.  And that is good for everyone they say, even those who somehow don’t get the chance to share. 

It is good that some people are rich and powerful.?  The system somehow takes care of people?  Isn’t that what they say?

Don’t believe it.

In 1923 at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, eight of the most powerful money magnates in the world gathered for a meeting. These eight, if they combined their resources, and their assets, controlled more money than the US Treasury. The group included such men as Charles Schwab. He was the president of a steel company. Richard Whitney was the president of the New York Stock Exchange, and Arthur Cutton was a wheat speculator. Albert Fall was a presidential cabinet member, personally a very wealthy man. Jesse Livermore was the biggest bear on Wall Street in his generation. Leon Fraser was the president of the International Bank of Settlements. Ivan Krueger headed the largest monopoly.

Quite an impressive group of people wouldn’t you agree? .

But take a look at that same group later in life. Charles Schwab died penniless. Richard Whitney spent the rest of his life serving a prison sentence in Sing Sing. Arthur Cutton, the great wheat speculator became insolvent. Albert Fraser, the president of that big international bank? He committed suicide. Seven of those eight great big money magnates had lives that were disasters before they left planet earth.

Where did they go wrong? 

They went wrong by thinking that what they had and controlled actually belonged to them. That they were deservedly gifted with knowledge and power and had no sense of responsibility towards the thousands who depended on them to make good business, and good moral, decisions.

I guess to be charitable towards them we might characterize them as bad shepherds – very bad shepherds.

Jesus is the good shepherd. The one who cares for his sheep.

In fact dies for his sheep.

That’s right –  dies for his sheep!

Jesus died for his sheep!.

He died to save his sheep from dark sinful, shameful, empty lives, and to give them new life, new hope, new reason to live.

He was the only one who could do that. He was the only one with the right credentials.

He didn’t sin.

He did His Father’s will.

 He put us first and himself last. Everything he did was to benefit others.

He spurned riches, spurned power, lived as an itinerant, slept out in the open.

He was what today is called ” a low overhead” sort of guy. 

He wasn’t making off with the company profits; wasn’t making himself rich and others poor.

No, he put himself last.

As should we!

The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad.

Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.

But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.

Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.
Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.”

Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!  Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”  Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.

They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!”

Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

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                      A young man, name of Mike, had had a bad year. It began with his mother getting sick, and although they had expected her to recover, she had weakened and died.

Then his sister had called him and told him that she and her husband were getting a divorce.

Then he had been working on the roof, and as he was coming down the ladder, he stepped off  –  two rungs from the ground – fell and broke his ankle.

And to cap it all off, he had heard from the Income Tax department about the Tax return he had so meticulously worked on.  He didn’t get the refund he had been counting on.  He got a letter asking him to send in the back-up to his last two year’s returns, for audit.

So now, he was sitting on a bus, heading for the coast,  to take a couple of week’s holiday, to try and settle his mind, to recuperate, but most of all, to try and put his life back into some sort of order.

He chose a seat near the back of the bus hoping not to be disturbed.  He wanted to read his book, or to sleep. He didn’t want company. He just wanted to be quiet.

But a large man with two suitcases, and a couple of shopping bags, was pushing his way down the aisle, saying “Sorry. Sorry,” to the people he brushed against with all his stuff, and seemed to be heading Mike’s way.

Mike pretended to be asleep,  but he couldn’t help peeking when he heard the grunts and the sighs as this big passenger rammed his stuff into the overhead luggage rack.

The man sat down, right next to Mike.

So Mike closed his eyes again, and tried to sleep. But it was hard. The big guy was taking up more than his fair share of seat, and Mike was feeling a bit claustrophobic.

“I’m Maurice,” Mike heard. Then again, “ I’m Maurice,” and Mike wondered who the guy was talking to, so he opened his eyes, just for a moment,  and he saw the man was talking to him. 

With his hand outstretched, the big guy said again, “Hi, I’m Maurice.”

“Oh, ….Mike,”  he said, reluctantly taking the other’s hand, and receiving a firm, but friendly shake.

Well, to make a long story short, and it was going to be  long, because Maurice was going the whole way, they got into conversation. Mike realized he would have no choice, so he resigned himself to listening to this bore.

Turned out that Maurice wasn’t a bore, really. He had a ready smile, and a look of happy serenity about him. And somehow Mike found himself doing most of the talking. He told Maurice about his terrible year, his own temporary disablement, and the feeling he had that his life had fallen apart.

Maurice appeared to be genuinely interested in what Mike had to say.  He listened quietly, made encouraging noises along the way, with his eyes always on Mike. 

About noon, the bus stopped for passengers to get off to buy refreshments if they wished, but Maurice rummaged in one of his bags, and pulled out two packages of sandwiches. He offered one to Mike. It seemed so natural a gesture that Mike accepted. Maurice pulled two cans of coke out of the same bag and handed one over.

Mike opened the can and was just about to  put it to his mouth when Maurice asked, kind of shyly, “Do you mind if I say grace?”

“Oh….. yes…. go ahead,” said Mike, wondering if he should close his eyes, and if the other passengers would think them crazy or something, but he went along with it.

Maurice gave thanks for the food, and asked God’s blessings on it; then he did a remarkable thing. With eyes still closed, he asked that God would bless his new friend Mike, and help him see beyond his troubles to a brighter and happier life.

And Mike felt moved by that, and although he was a bit embarrassed, he thanked Maurice.

They ate in silence, then Maurice put away the cans and wrappings, and settled down to sleep.

Mike wanted to ask Maurice about himself.  He felt  bad that he had seemed to be the only one talking.

But the big guy’s eyes were closed, and there was nothing for it but to try and sleep himself. There would be plenty of time to talk to Maurice before  they got off the bus when they reached the coast.

He dropped off right away.

In what seemed like a only second later, he was awakened by the bus driver shaking him, and saying, “We are here. Time to get off.”

Mike looked around and the bus was empty, except for him and the driver.  All the passengers, including his new friend Maurice, had disembarked.

He got up, took his bag and got off the bus.

The sun was shining. He could smell the sea. He felt excited, and  relaxed, all at the same time. He squared his shoulders. His mind was at ease. It  was as if he had left the darkness of his life behind, at home. As if a burden had been lifted.

He felt ….better….healed?

It seems to me that is how we meet Jesus – he comes to us in our life’s journey. He comes to us when  we need him most. Like a friend he drops in for a short while. It is like being with someone who really understands you.

He is there for a while, as we need him, then slips off, leaving us to try it on our own.

To see what we can make of it.

That’s what happened on the road to Emmaus, isn’t it? The two men – we read that they were disciples – were walking along, depressed, eyes downcast, when a man fell into step with them,  kind of joining them on the road.  

He listened for a while as they told him of their sorrows, and their feelings of defeat  – they  had expected something else of their rabbi, Jesus. They had thought he would bring about a transformation of Israel, and restore the old glory. Isn’t that what the scriptures had foretold?

But this stranger told them about the prophets, and explained to them how the Messiah would come, and would be rejected by his own people, and would be mistreated, and would have to die on a tree, but would rise again, and bring another kind of glory to the world.

This Messiah would live and act and be, in a way that glorified God.

And would enable others to glorify God.

(How much better it would have been throughout history if people, instead of seeking to glorify their country, or their clan, or tribe, had instead been about glorifying God? )

The two travelers didn’t recognize the stranger as Jesus until he broke bread with them.

But they had been helped on their journey, not the physical journey – although his presence must have made the seven mile walk from Jerusalem less tedious – but in their life’s journey, which was soon to include going out into the world and telling people about their Lord.

And they would continue to be helped on their life’s journey by the spirit of Christ within them.

Then he was gone.

He would be always within call – within prayer – as it were – he had always promised that – but they were now to take their knowledge of him,  and his teachings, and the example of his life, and help bring others to know him as they knew him

Help others to want to be more like Jesus.

It wasn’t quite their time yet, of course.  They were still to receive the Holy Spirit; still to be energized, if you like;  still to be empowered to do the big job that Jesus had  given them.

But they would always remember this time, the time they spent with Jesus, on the road to Emmaus.  They had met their Lord, again –  a man declared dead, buried, and supposed to be forgotten.

They had witnessed Christ alive. The Risen Christ.

They could say without doubt, and they did say it, on their return to Jerusalem, “He lives! “He lives.”

Meanwhile, back at the seaside, Mike, breathing the sea air, felt renewed. He had met Christ. Living in his erstwhile friend, Maurice.

The two disciples who had met Jesus on that dusty road, along with the other disciples, were not given rules to live by. If you remember, Jesus had merely said, “Love others as I have loved you.”

And they would try to be like him, live like him. In fact some of them went to their deaths, like him.   But by his example, they had also learned how to shoulder another’s burden. 

The  way Maurice had shouldered Mike’s burden.

There are a few lessons for us here, aren’t there?

One is that we ought to try and live as Jesus did.

Another is that we should be ready to share someone else’s burden.

Another is that we should be open to finding Jesus in others, and in ourselves….

…..and that Jesus comes to us, in whatever guise, when we most need him. 

And again, he may just put us on the same road as someone else – someone who needs us to be Jesus.   

See, it’s not all taking, nor is it all giving. And that’s a good job, because there are times when we need help and there are times when we can give help.

And he seems to put us in the right place at the right time, as either giver, or receiver, of his blessings.

A Canadian soldier, in London at the end of the war, walking among the bombed-out ruins, was struck by the number of orphan children living there.   Street kids in what was left of the streets.

He came to an area where a few shops were still standing, and  smelled the unmistakable aroma of fresh baked bread.  There was a bakery shop, and there was  a young boy, tattered and mucky, with his face pressed against the bakery window.  The glass was steamy from the heat of the ovens. And that smell of freshly baked bread wafted out through the open door. 

The boy saw the baker bring a tray of freshly baked confections and place them in a glass display case in the window. He sighed loudly, and rubbed his empty stomach.

The soldier, on an impulse went over to the urchin and asked him, “Would you like one of those?”

“ I really would, mister.”

So he went in and bought a dozen, came out and gave the bag to the boy.

As he walked away, the little boy caught up with him, grabbed his sleeve, and as the soldier turned to see what was up, asked, “Are you God?”

At that moment, at that time, in that little boy’s life, that Canadian soldier was God, wasn’t he?

He was doing what God would have wanted him to do, anyway.

Wasn’t he?

And that’s the whole point, isn’t it?

Amen.

             The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to John

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31)

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There is a beautiful story of a husband and wife, who had a very loving, very trusting relationship.

They knew quite surely, that he would give his life for her, and she for him. Their trust and love of each other was really quite extra-ordinary.

One day a friend told the woman that she had seen the husband going into a house, in a poor part of the city, which she was sure belonged to a woman who lived alone.

She teased the wife about it. “Maybe he is keeping a mistress,” she said, laughing.” She looks older than he, but not much older.”

The wife laughed, along with her friend, and dismissed the thought. Her husband would surely tell her about it over dinner that night, and there would be a quite ordinary explanation.

That night at dinner, her husband talked of many things, but never mentioned his visit to the house in the city.  The wife thought that her friend had made a mistake and dismissed it from her mind. 

But her friend told her that she had again seen the husband at the house in the city, this time, as he was leaving. And, she said, hesitating, she had seen him embrace the lady of the house as he bade her goodbye.

Again, the wife expected her husband would make mention of it at supper, but he didn’t.

Her friend told the wife of subsequent occasions when the husband visited the same house, but the wife only smiled. Her love and trust of her husband never wavered.

Her friend was getting exasperated with her. Did she not care? Wouldn’t she come and see for herself?  Surely if she saw, she would believe.

“No,” the wife said, ” I love my husband and I trust him, and I know he loves me and would do nothing to hurt me.”

“And even if I saw, it would make no difference to the way I feel about him. I know him.”

The friend eventually stopped telling the wife anything at all. The wife tried to forget about it, and the relationship between them continued to be blessed with peace and happiness. 

Then the husband’s mother, long a widow, died, and they laid her to rest outside of town, in the graveyard of a small country church she had attended as a young girl.

They visited the graveside often, but one day, they set out, “To visit my mother,” as the husband said.  But this day, instead of driving into the country, the car headed towards the city.

Eventually, the car drew up at a house in the poor part of town.

She asked,” I thought we were going to your mother’s grave. Why are we here? “

He said  nothing.

He knocked on the door and a woman the wife had never seen opened it. He stepped forward and embraced her, then stepped back.

“Mother,” he said,” I would like you to meet my wife.”

The lady of the house, as it turned out was the mother who had at the age of sixteen, given birth to him, and had been forced to offer him as a baby for adoption.

He had somehow found out the name and address of his real mother, and although he visited her, he had kept it secret so as not to hurt his adoptive mother.  

After his adoptive mother’s death, he felt  he could now visit his real mother openly.

This was the woman he had been secretly visiting.

This story tells about a wife who had such faith in her husband that nothing could shake it.

Even, had she accepted her friend’s invitation to go and see, her faith would not have been shaken. In her heart she knew him.

Today’s Gospel story tells us about seeing and believing, and knowing the truth in one’s heart. 

Thomas said he wouldn’t believe the other disciples had seen Jesus, not until he had seen the wounds in His hands and side.

Jesus came to the upper room as Thomas met with the other disciples. It almost seems that he came especially to see Thomas.

When Jesus said, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put

out your hand, and place it in my side,” Thomas answered, “My Lord and My God.”

John doesn’t say that Thomas accepted the invitation to touch the Lord’s hand or feel His side. Rather, we see he had learnt in the mere seeing of the glorified Lord that plain seeing or touching were not, as he had thought, enough by themselves to bring

believing.

He didn’t simply believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead and could now visit His disciples again; that would be a belief in a miracle of resuscitation, or even of resurrection, but that would not be enough for him to believe in Jesus Christ as being one with the Father.

It might justify Thomas saying, “My Lord,” but it could hardly justify him saying,” My God.”

Rather, Thomas has gone from a rabbi-disciple relationship with Jesus, to one of being brought into the presence of God.

He now understands Jesus’ earlier words, “If you knew me you would know the Father also.”

That’s why he responds,” My Lord and my God.”

But he didn’t some to see  God in Jesus with his physical eye. He didn’t see it with some sense organ located in the physical body.

His belief came from a Holy Spirit-induced love of Jesus that filled his heart with the truth.

Thomas is the bridge between those who knew and saw and believed, and those of us who came after and  believe without seeing.

Jesus responded to Thomas,” Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

And isn’t that what faith is?

There have been many attempts to locate the historical Jesus.

There has been much speculation about Him, His life, His works, His relationships with those who followed Him, and so on, presumably by people who want to either see before they believe, or by those who will not believe and want to demolish His memory.

Either way, it is a futile quest. 

And we don’t worship  a rabbi, a teacher, a prophet, someone who died long ago.

Our  faith is not in a long-dead miracle-worker, someone who did remarkable things, but is long gone.

Our faith is in the living God, the living presence of God, as shown to us in Jesus the Christ.

There is a children’s story which uses binoculars to tell children about Jesus. It begins by describing what they do;  how they bring things that are far away, nearer;  how you can see birds high up in the trees; how things that cannot be seen by the naked eye can be brought into view.

And I think that likewise, Jesus can be described as God’s binoculars.  It is through Jesus that we see God.

Because He came from God.

Because God wanted to manifest Himself – show Himself  – to cut through all the stuff that people had built around His name.

He wanted to get around all the ritual, all the self-serving piety, the way the church had taken ownership of Him and obscured  Him from His people.

He wanted to show Himself as loving and forgiving, and sacrificing, in a way that could never be denied.

And He did that in Jesus of Nazareth.

And if the Spirit is in us, and if God has possessed us, and if we have given ourselves to Him,  then we understand that.

And we don’t need to see or touch his wounds to know it.

And no matter what false prophets say about Him. No matter what so called enlightened theologians say about Him. No matter what new interpreters of the Bible tell us…. of their attempts to see and touch…… we know!

The Pharisees  who examined the man who had been born blind but who had been given his sight by Jesus, saw a man who could see.

The former blind man told them, “Never has it been known since the world began that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.  If this man were not from God then he could do nothing.”

The Pharisees said,” Who are you to tell us about God. Get out of here.”

Some people have eyes but cannot see. 

The woman I told you about at the beginning of this meditation loved and trusted and didn’t need to see. 

Thomas when he saw the proof, somehow found that he didn’t really need to see either. 

And Thomas serves as a link between those who did see and believed and those of us who have not seen, but believe.

We were not there at the wedding in Cana when the first of the signs took place.

We were not there near the city of Bethsaida when the five thousand were fed.

We didn’t see the healing of the ten lepers, or the giving of sight to the blind man, or the man who had been paralyzed get up and walk.

We weren’t in the crowd when Jesus preached..

We weren’t at the crucifixion.

Nor at Pentecost.

But although those events were pivotal events in the ministry of Jesus, and the birth of the church, it does not matter that we didn’t see them.

As we now know, seeing was not always believing.

We are among those who didn’t see, and yet are called to believe.

To paraphrase the father of the boy possessed by demons, and who asked for healing by Jesus,” We believe, Lord, help our unbelief!

And so, in the words of today’s collect, we ask,  “Almighty and eternal God, the strength of those who believe and the hope of those who doubt, may we, who have not seen, have faith and receive the fullness of Christ’s blessing, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever,

Amen.

The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Matthew.

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.”

So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” (Matthew 28:1-10)

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Holy Week is a busy time, isn’t it? It begins with Palm Sunday, followed by  Maundy Thursday, and the stripping of the altar. That is followed by Good Friday, where we come together in quietness, ponder the journey our Lord took, staggering under that  cross through the streets of Jerusalem, as portrayed by the Stations of the Cross, and all this after six weeks of Lent, wherein we have pondered on Jesus’s journey, and our own life’s journey.

But now, now…we have the triumph of the empty tomb, the resurrection.

Traditionally, we in the Western Church have focused more on the crucifixion of Christ, as evidenced by the many crucifixes you may have seen, especially in the Roman church,  with the figure of Christ on them.

The Eastern church always focused on the resurrection, and that focus can be seen in the empty crosses that adorn their churches.  

One focuses on the crucifixion, and the terrible sacrifice Jesus made for us; the other on the triumph of his resurrection.

And you see it in our liturgies, which point to the sacrifice  that Jesus made, the price he paid for our sin, and of course, that sacrifice, is the central part of the Eucharist.

I don’t think we place as much importance on the resurrection as we do on the crucifixion.

Admittedly, without the crucifixion, there could be no resurrection. But the crucifixion alone would be just that – the magnificent act of self-sacrifice of an innocent  person. 

The crucifixion is made a whole event by the rising again, of Jesus.

Because we are not about death, we are about life, aren’t we?

A faith that promised death, that focused on death, that sanctified death, wouldn’t attract too many people. 

True we are redeemed by the death of Jesus.  True, he took the punishment for our sins upon himself, so that we might approach our God without fear and trembling. True, we are made clean by his death. Paul says that in our baptism, we were buried with him, but he also tells us that if we have died with Christ – that is if our old life has died – then we will be raised to new life with Christ.

Jesus died so that we may live for ever.

The proof of the fact of our own everlasting life in Christ is in his everlasting life, and in his rising again from the dead.

By our baptism, by the sacrifice that Jesus made on the  cross, by his resurrection, we are not only promised life everlasting,  but new life here on earth.

New life.  Here and now.

New men and women,  made new by what Jesus did on the cross.

Redeemed!

We call Jesus, our Redeemer, don’t we?

Apart from hearing the word in church, I had never heard the word redeemer in any other context.  Then one day, I was reading a novel that had a short passage that had to do with someone taking a precious item to a pawnbroker, to raise money.

They were given a ticket with which to redeem the item within a certain number of days.

The person going to get the item, and paying the price, was called the redeemer.

Sometimes we get in hock, don’t we?  In debt to God, sort of.

What would you call a person that is dependent on drugs, or sex, or booze, or has some other addiction? 

What would you call a person whose life has been such that they have used up all the goodwill they had, and had fallen into such a pit of despair, or loneliness, that they have no freedom of choice. They are trapped in the web that their life has woven around them? 

You could say they were ’in hock ‘, couldn’t you? 

They need to be redeemed.

They need to be given new life.

They need someone to take that ticket, and buy them out.

That is what Jesus did, isn’t it?

But is that the end of it?

There has got to be more than that.

What are we going to do with our new life?

I remember reading a news story about a pop star – it’s a long time ago and my memory is getting a little hazy – but he was getting a transplanted liver for the second time.

His own liver had been destroyed by the life he had led, and he had already received one new liver.  But  once he got that new liver,  he went out and did the same things again, until that new liver was destroyed, and now he was ready for a  second one.

So he was going to be on his third liver. His own, and two more.

There are many people in line for liver transplants who can’t get them. He got his because of his wealth.  

What is he doing with the new life he has been given?  Again? I will let you guess. 

What are we to do with our new life?  It’s a hard question, isn’t it? But we are not alone. We have help.

A London businessman was selling a warehouse.  The building had been empty for months and needed repairs. Vandals had smashed the doors, smashed the windows, and strewn trash all over the place.

As he showed a prospective buyer over the property, he took pains to say that he would replace the broken windows, bring in a crew to correct any structural damage and clean out the garbage.

The buyer said, ‘Forget about the repairs. When I buy this place I’m going to build something completely different. I don’t want the building; I want the site.’

That’s how God works with us.   Compared with what God has in mind for us, our own efforts are as trivial as sweeping the floor of a warehouse slated for the wrecking ball. When we become God’s, the old life is over. 

He makes all things new. All he wants is the site and the permission to build.

All we have to do is give him the property and he will do the necessary building.

So, it’s life, and new life that we are talking about tonight, on the eve of the resurrection of Jesus.

Death has had its chance, now it is time for life.

The women were told, at the tomb,  “He has been raised from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee.”

Then Jesus himself told them, “Do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me. “

It’s never been about death. It never has been. It’s about Jesus triumphing over death. It’s about our triumphing over death, with him.

Maybe it’s time we started focusing on life.

I’ll leave you with my favorite story, a true account, from the Soviet era.

It was about 1930 when the Communist leader, Bukharin journeyed from Moscow to Kiev. His mission was to address a huge assembly. His subject: atheism.

For a solid hour he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity, hurling argument and ridicule.

At last he was finished and viewed what he thought,  to be the smoldering ashes of our faith. “Are there any questions?” he demanded.

After a few moments, a solitary man arose and asked permission to speak. He mounted the platform and moved close to the Communist. The audience was breathlessly silent as the man surveyed them, looking first to the right, and then to the left.

At last, he shouted the ancient Orthodox greeting, ‘CHRIST IS RISEN!”.

The vast assembly rose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of an avalanche, “HE IS RISEN INDEED!”

It’s all about life.  Isn’t it?