Anticipating Easter - Philip Yancey - Who was really in charge?

Normally we think of someone who dies a criminal death as a failure.

Yet the Apostle Paul would later reflect about Jesus, "Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."

What could he mean?

On one level I think of the individuals who in our own time disarm power. The racists sheriffs who locked Martin Luther King, Jr., in jail cells, The Soviets who deported Solzhenitsyn, the Czechs who imprisoned Vaclav Havel, the South Africans who imprisoned Nelson Mandela--all these thought they were solving a problem, yet instead all ended up unmasking their own violence and injustice.

Moral power can have a disarming effect.

When Jesus died, even a gruff Roman soldiers was moved to exclaim, "Surely this was the Son of God!"

He saw the contrast all too clearly between his brutish colleagues and their victim, who forgave them in a dying gasp.

The pale figure nailed to a crossbeam revealed the ruling powers of the world as false gods who broke their own lofty promises of piety and justice.

Religion, not irreligion, accused Jesus; the law, not lawlessness, had him executed.

By their rigged trials, their scourging, their violent opposition to Jesus, the political and religious authorities of that day exposed themselves for what they were - upholders of the status quo, defenders of their own power only.

Each assault on Jesus laid bare their own illegitimacy.

    -- From The Jesus I Never Knew, by Philip Yancey


[But even at His final hours, Jesus, the Savior God, pursued His mission - "Today you shall be with Me in paradise," He told the dying thief, laying bare His own true legitimacy!]

Anticipating Easter - The Tomb

(MT) As evening approached there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.

Then Joseph (MK) bought fine linen and took Him down, (JN) And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, and (MT) wrapped (JN) it in strips of (MT) clean linen cloth with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.

Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, (MK) and Joseph laid him in (MT) his new tomb which he had hewn out of rock, (JN) in which no one had yet been laid (LK) before. (MT) and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb and departed.

(MT)  Matthew 27:59-66
(MK) Mark 15:46-47
(LK)   Luke 23:53-56
(JN)   John 19:39-42


From a borrowed manger to a borrowed tomb. The life of a humble carpenter-preacher - but in death His body was treated with royal love and care.

He was, after all, a King.

MYRRH and ALOES. A very expensive mixture. Myrrh (also given to the baby Jesus by the wise men) was a valuable fragrant gummy resin. The Jews turned it into powder and mixed it with aloes (a rare sandalwood product).

Jews, unlike Egyptians, did not embalm. But this special mixture would delay decay and suppress the odor.

Some historians say this seventy-five pounds would cost, in today's money, several hundreds of thousands of dollars. And some say even powerful kings of the time would have received no more than this for their burial.


WRAPPED IT IN LINEN....Since Jews did not embalm, they wrapped bodies in perfumed burial cloths. Nicodemus, another prominent member of the Sanhedrin (John 7:50) assisted Joseph in caring for the body of Jesus.

The two men, who apparently kept their love for and faith in Jesus secret during His lifetime, came forth publicly to bury Him, while His disciples, public followers before His death, fled and hid afterwards.

STRIPS AND SPICES. The spices were spread along the full length of the cloth strips which were then wrapped around His body. Additional spices were placed underneath the body and set around it.

The sticky resin would serve to help the cloth adhere to the body.

TOMB HEWN OUT OF THE ROCK. This "tomb" was located near Golgotha (John 19:42). Mathew adds that it was Joseph's own tomb.

Joseph, a wealthy man, undoubtedly had the tomb prepared for his own family, much like the royal families of Egypt would prepare their final resting places.

Christ's burial there was a wonderful fulfillment of Isaiah 53:9 - He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.

Likely, as in many of these rock-hewn burial places, shelves were carved from the inside walls, providing a space for the body to be placed above the floor.

These shelves facilitated the handling of the bodies.

A fascinating reflection is of the Ark of the Covenant, with its mercy seat covering the broken law tablets and the two angels gracing the right and left sides of the mercy seat. The priest would sprinkle blood from the sacrificial animal on the mercy seat, between the angels. (See Exodus 25)

Symbolically, when God looked upon the Ark of the Covenant He would see the blood of the sacrifice covering the actual tablets of the broken law.

The blood of the perfect sacrifice made atonement for the people for the broken law.

That's why it was called the Mercy Seat. God's people found mercy there in God's presence amidst the shed blood.

Imagine the scene - Mary stood outside the tomb crying on Easter morning. "As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot" (John 20:10-12).

The shelf in the tomb images the mercy seat cover of the Ark and the blood of Christ sprinkled on the shelf with the two attending angels.

It's all there!

God's mysterious plan - His ultimate rescue plan - revealed to us by our gracious and loving God. A glimpse into the past and into the future.

     The LORD confides in those who fear Him; He
     makes His covenant known to them. Psalm 25:14

Anticipating Easter - Clouds

Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?"

But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.

Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"

"I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
   -- Mark 14:60-62


This was a direct answer from Jesus to the question if he is the Christ, or the Messiah.

He answers "Yes, I am."

At other times in the Gospel of Mark Jesus avoided inquiries about His origin and His identity (Mark 7:5-6, Mark 11:29).

This time He answers directly and fully.


By saying, "I am," Jesus claims to be the Messiah, the promised one, and that He is God Himself.

The "I am" (the sacred Tetragrammaton -- the four consonants of the ancient Hebrew name for God, usually translated Jehovah or Yahweh -- was the Name of God considered to be too sacred to be spoken aloud, and so the Hebrews uttered the titles Adonai or Elohim in its place in the texts) directly connected Jesus to the God who spoke to Moses:

     Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to  them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' then what shall I tell them?"

     God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
       -- Exodus 3:13-14


But that is not all. 

Not only does Jesus apply the "I AM"  Name for God to Himself, He also amplifies His claim by identifying Himself as the Son of Man and also the one who will sit at the right hand of God.

There are two scriptural references here in Jesus' answer.

"Son of Man" comes from Daniel 7:13-14:

     In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven....He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations, and men of every language worshiped him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. 

"At his right hand" comes from Psalm 110:1: 

     The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."


In both of these pictures of the Messiah, He comes as a judge. 

Everyone hearing this exchange -- all the ruling council of the Sanhedrin -- knows who the Son of Man is.

In Daniel 7 the Son of Man comes from the throne of God to earth in clouds of heaven to judge the world.

The clouds of heaven are not the same as clouds of earth, which are water vapor. The clouds of heaven are the shekinah glory of God.

So Jesus is saying he will come to earth in the very glory of God and judge the entire world.

It's an astonishing statement. It's a claim to deity.

He could have said many other things to describe Himself and His mission, but he chose specifically to  say He is the final judge.

It forced the audience (and forces us) to see the paradox.

He, Jesus Christ, the supreme, eternal judge of the
entire world is standing there at that moment of history being judged by the world.

Everything is upside down. He should be the ruler and we should be in the dock, in chains, facing judgment and punishment.

With these words, Christ incites the leaders.

The high priest "tore his clothes."

"Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked.

"You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?"

They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said "Prophesy!"

And the guards took him and beat him (Mark 14: 63-65).


What do you think? Was Jesus a crank, or delusional, or the supreme con artist?

Or was (is)  Jesus Christ exactly who he claimed (claims) to be? 

 

Anticipating Easter -- The Real Question

Thieves crucified on either side of Jesus showed two possible responses.

One mocked Jesus' powerlessness: A Messiah who can't even save himself?

The other recognized a different kind of power. Taking the risk of faith, he asked Jesus to "remember me when you come into your kingdom."

No one else, except in mockery, had addressed Jesus as a King. The dying thief saw more clearly than anyone else the nature of Jesus' kingdom.

In a sense, the paired thieves present the choice that all history has had to decide about the cross.

Do we look at Jesus' powerlessness as an example of God's impotence or as proof of God's love?

The Romans, bred on power deities like Jupiter, could recognize little god-likeness in a crumpled corpse hanging on a tree.

Devout Jews, bred on stories of a powerful Jehovah, saw little to be admired in this god who died in weakness and in shame.

So which was it? Was that God-Man hanging on the cross of shame a proof of God's mission failure and impotence, or evidence of His successful rescue mission based on His eternal love?

We have the same choice to make.



[The Greek word for 'It is finished' uttered by Christ from His cross, also occurs in ancient manuscripts of Roman tax receipts from the time of Christ, and means "Paid in full."]

Anticipating Easter - A Violent Death - From Timothy Keller

Jesus' death had to be a violent one. The writer of Hebrews says that "without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin" (Hebrews 9:22).

This is not a magical view of blood.

Rather, the term blood in the Bible means a life given or taken before its natural end.

A life given or taken is the most extreme gift or price that can be paid in this world.

Only by giving his life could Jesus have made the greatest possible payment for the debt of sin.

Jesus' death was not only a payment, however; it was also a demonstration.

James Edwards writes:

       The prediction of Jesus' passion conceals a great irony,
       for the suffering and death of the Son of Man will not
       come, as we would expect, at the hands of godless and
       wicked people...rather at the hands of "the elders, chief
       priests, and teachers of the law".....Jesus would not be
       lynched by an enraged mob or beaten to death in a criminal
       act. He will be arrested with official warrants, and tried
       and convicted by the world's legal jurisprudence -- the
       Jewish Sanhedrin and the Roman court.

The Jewish chief priests, teachers of the law, and,
of course, the Roman rulers should have been standing up for justice but instead conspired to commit an act of injustice by condemning Jesus to death.

The cross reveals the systems of the world to be corrupt, serving power and oppression  instead of justice and truth.

In condemning Jesus, the world was condemning itself.

Jesus' death demonstrates not only the bankruptcy of the world, but it also reveals the character of God and his kingdom.

Jesus' death was not a failure. By submitting to death as penalty, he broke its hold on him and on us.

When Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins, he won through losing; he achieved our forgiveness on the cross by turning the values of the world on their head. He did not "fight fire with fire."

He didn't come and raise an army in order to put down the latest corrupt regime.

He didn't take power; he gave it up -- and yet he triumphed.

The corrupt powers of his world have many tools to make people afraid, the worst one being death.

But since Jesus died and rose again from the dead, if you can find a way to approach Jesus and cling to him you know that death, the worst thing that can possible happen to you, is now the best thing.

Death will put you in God's arms and make you all you hoped to be.

And when death loses its sting, when death no longer has power over you because of what Jesus did on the cross, then you will be living a life of love and not a life of fear.

       -- From King's Cross, Chapter 9,
                                      by Timothy Keller



       When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable,
          and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is
          written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in
          victory.'

         "Where, O death, is your victory?
           Where, O death, is your sting?"

         The sting of death is sin...But thanks be to God! He gives
         us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
                                     --1 Corinthians 15:55-56