I do have to confess that sometimes the Bible actually makes me laugh. As I have been preparing for this year’s Holy Week services, and as I was reading through the various accounts of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as recorded in all four Gospels, it happened again. In Matthew’s account, they're about to bury Jesus in a borrowed tomb. At the request of the chief priests and the Pharisees, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, issues this command to his soldiers: "Go, make it as secure as you can." (Matt 27:65)
This has to be - at least in retrospect - the dumbest order ever given in history. "Use a really big rock, guys. Put on a really strong sealer. Post some really intimidating guards." Sure, Pilate was probably concerned about keeping meddlers out. Sorry, Governor, but that's not your problem. Your problem is keeping Jesus in! That is Mission Impossible!
No man, no plan, no empire can stand in the way of Jesus. The stone? Rolled away. The seal? Easily broken. The soldiers? Here's what the Bible says, "So afraid...that they shook and became like dead men." (Matt 28:4)
And Jesus? Here's what the angel said to the women in Luke 24:5, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!" He's not "entombed" in some dusty old history book or in some religious institution or religious observance. He is the all-powerful, death-reversing, game-changing Savior who's proven there's nothing He can't beat. Unleashed that Easter morning, Jesus is to this very day, healing families that nothing else can heal, crushing Satan, lifting up the oppressed, protecting the vulnerable, reshaping nations, steering history, shattering addictions, defying disease, and making sinners like me into living proof that He is alive.
And now, this living Savior is knocking on the door of your heart this very Easter season; seeking to do for you what He has done for millions who've let Him in. He walked out of His grave so He could walk into your life. He died on a cross so you could be forgiven of the sin that will forever keep you out of heaven and condemn you to an unthinkable eternity. But he already died that death penalty. He died to pay for it. He's offering - yes, this Easter season - to forgive every sin of your life, because He died for every sin of your life. He's standing ready to unleash that resurrection power on the things you can't fix, on the things you can't change, on the things you can't control.
You see, they found out two thousand years ago; we've been finding out ever since that nothing... nothing can stop this Jesus. No tomb could contain what love released! And today He stands at the door of your life ready to come in and bring all that love and all that power into your life. If you have never begun a personal relationship with the living Savior named Jesus, could there be a better time of year than this to let Him come into your life that He paid for on a cross?
You say, "Pastor, how do I do that?" Well, let me encourage you...let me invite you to join me at the empty tomb each and every week in worship. Join me there and let me explain to you how to be sure you belong to Him, and this will be for you an Easter like no other.
Join Us Easter Morning
April 20 • 8:00 & 10:30 a.m.
“I Know_______________”
Connecting People to Jesus,
- Pastor Jon
