A Message of Encouragement

The closing chapter of the Gospel of Matthew unfolds for us the wonderful account of that first Easter morning. Let us go back to that morning so long ago. There were two women both of who were named Mary and they came early to the tomb to worship and care for the body of Jesus. For them it was not a happy occasion because they had been at the foot of the cross and witnessed the death of Jesus. Now they were going to the tomb with spices to anoint the body. In fact, far from their minds was the resurrection that Jesus had told of in advance. This is supported by Marks account of that first Easter morning as recorded in Mark 16:3, “Who shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?” To their surprise, an earthquake, and empty tomb, and an angel greeted them. 

Angels appeared in both the Old and New Testaments, always in connection with a great event. This can be especially observed in the life and ministry of Jesus. An angel appeared to Mary and then to Joseph concerning the birth of Christ. An angel announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds in the field. An angel comforted Jesus following His temptation and again at Gethsemane. Now on this first Easter morning, an angel is again sent as a divine messenger. The angel’s message to the women at the tomb and to the world then and now is that there is hope for everyone’s redemption. The resurrection was the most dramatic point in the history of the world. For up to this point there was no hope for our redemption, no hope at all, until Jesus Christ died for our sins and conquered sin and death.  

The Announcement by the Angel was a Message of Encouragement. Note the words in verse 5 and 6, “Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen as he said.” Jesus said He would raise from the dead, but these women rather than being excited about the great event, were depressed and discouraged because still fresh in their minds were what they had seen at the foot of the cross. They had forgotten what Jesus had told them while He was still alive. It was truly a time of despair as these two women went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus on that first Easter Sunday. They did not expect to hear a message of a Christ that was alive but they expected to find His lifeless body. They had let the circumstances of the last three days confuse them. We in the same way let the circumstances of this world get us to take our eyes off of Christ and His power.

What this message did was give these confused women and the little band of fearful disciples who were hiding from the authorities, a new hope. They would go from the pits of despair and fear to a renewed courage and victory. What the resurrection did was validate the teachings and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. All that Jesus said He was, and all the claims He made were now proven true when He rose from the dead. That is why the chief priests did what they did in Matthew 28:11-15. They had to discredit the resurrection of Jesus because it would not only prove that Jesus was the promised Messiah, but they would be shown as the hypocrites that Jesus said they were. 

The whole priestly system and the sacrifices of the temple were no longer needed. This is clearly seen in Matthew 27:51, “And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom” which meant direct access to God. There is no longer any need for a high priest to be the mediator between us and God. We can approach God directly. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can now have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that prior to this time was not possible. We can now have Christ living within our hearts.

Let us all have a renewed faith as we hear the message of the angel, “He is not here: for he is risen.” Christ is alive and well in the lives of Christians today. He hears us as we pray. He takes note of our distresses. He supplies the grace we need. As our living Savior, He guides and directs us in every avenue of our life. The power of the resurrected Christ can do what no person or group of persons can do for you. It will make you a new man or women in Christ. Yes the Good News is, Christ Arose! He is the Risen Savior, your Savior, Christ the Lord.

Pastor Ralph

Taking Up Your Cross

We read in Matthew 16:24, “ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” For many Lent means giving up something that we like for the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday. For myself it is a time to reflect about the events of the life of Christ and at the same time take a good look at my own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Lent should be a time that we do more than give up something. It would be a good time to improve some area of our Christian life. Jesus never meant that we had to give up normal comforts and endure self-inflicted pain to overcome sin or gain favor with God. There is no special merit in giving up something for the sake of just giving it up. 

Paul addresses this issue in Colossians 2:20-23. “If you die with Christ to the principles of this world, why, as though you still belong to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch! 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”

To simply out it, Paul is saying that self-inflicted punishment or pain does not really get to the heart of the sin problem in the lives of people. These are external works. What really needs to happen is for a change to take place on the inside. Outside things are something we wear that does not really affect the inner person. Jesus did not mean self-inflicted punishment when He spoke of denying self. He doesn’t want us to suffer but He does expect us to put Him first in everything. Nothing is to occupy such a place in our lives that it prevents us from giving our Lord and Savior the love, honor, obedience, and service He alone deserves.

Is Jesus Christ the top priority in your life? This needs to be considered during the Lenten Season. Luke 9:23 says essentially the same things as Matthew 16:24 but he adds the word daily. We read, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” 

To deny oneself means to obliterate self as the dominant principal of life and make God truly number one. This is what Christ meant by denying self. During this Lenten Season, let us do more than give up something. Let us take serious what it means to deny self and take up one’s cross and follow Jesus. Lent points the way towards Easter Sunday and the glorious event called the Resurrection. Let us prepare for this wonderful event by growing in our Christian walk with Jesus Christ. 

Pastor Ralph

The Day the World Changed

“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel; and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.  

The Jewish people were under Roman rule. It is estimated that five million people were slaves. Infant mortality was very high and few lived to the age of six. Plagues took many lives. Rome taxed the people to the maximum. On that first Easter Sunday we find that the women wept as they prepared spices and perfumes for the body of Jesus. 

We find two men who were sorrowful on the road to Emmaus Eleven disciples were very confused and disillusioned. We find a rather bleak picture the first Easter morning. We look at our world today and we find a world that is still very troubled. A large part of our world still has little freedom. We look at this planet and find hunger and poverty prevalent in many places. Crime is on the increase and we are loosing ground in our fight against drugs and alcohol abuse. Many persons are depressed and worried over bad relationships with people and many suffer from low self-esteem. Easter April 9, 2023 dawns on a troubled world.

The women who came to the tomb were sad but hurried back excited after they found out that Christ had rose from the grave. This is seen in Matthew 28:8, “And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.” That first Easter morning quickly turned sorrow into joy. Remember that Christ told them He would rise from the dead but they did not figure it out while Jesus was with them. We see this in the fact that their major concern was to get to the grave to anoint the body.

But once they reached the tomb, they were no longer sad. In fact their lives and the lives of the disciples would forever be changed. The greatest change of all was that they now believed all that Jesus had told them. The Resurrection validated the message of Jesus Christ. All that He had told them had now come to pass. That day the world did change and the message was quite clear, Jesus was now the living Savior who had risen from the dead. The disciples were now ready to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ to the world. 

Pastor Ralph

Preparing for Easter

Since the early centuries the Church has suggested three things that we undertake during Lent, prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It is for this reason that the Gospel text for Ash Wednesday every year is Jesus’ advice on prayer, fasting and almsgiving (Matt 6:1-6, 16-18). During Lent we want to pray more, fast and help the poor.

Lent is a time for more prayer. We live busy lives and there is much emphasis on enjoying life but a life without prayer is a life without the joy of the presence of God. If we do not pray we are not Christians at full potential; we are only walking when we could be running. Martha was busy serving when Jesus came but Mary spent time with him and Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” (Luke 10:41-42) Lent is not only about helping others and doing something, it is also about the type of person that we are. We pray because all goodness comes from God and when we pray we touch God. God is our loving Father who greatly desires us to allow him to be close to us. So we need to pray more during this Lenten season so that we may experience more of the joy of the Lord.

In the past the church put more emphasis on prayer and fasting. From a spiritual point of view, fasting symbolizes our dependence on God. It expresses the fact that we really are trying to put God first in our life. The Bible tells us that fasting from food must go together with fasting from what we know is wrong. In other words, when we fast from food it is to be accompanied by a loving and forgiving attitude towards others. To fast this way is to please God by making an effort to forgive those who have hurt us and to not harbor resentment any longer? Why do we keep grudges? Is it because we like to be in control? To forgive, we also need to give up our need to be in control. If we have a problem forgiving someone, we can share it with the Lord and ask his help so that we may forgive. We do not want to live being dominated by past wounds. We need to live in the present, free of the past.

The word “Lent” is an old English word that means “springtime.” May this Lent really be a new springtime in the lives of each one of us. Through prayer, through fasting and by forgiving others and not bearing grudges, we can be like Jesus in the desert for forty days overcome temptation and be well prepared to celebrate Easter.

Pastor Ralph