Resurrection

All The Things He Can

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

During the last week of my Dad’s life I learned more from him than all the years before. The reality of God’s love reflected in his concern for my getting meals even though he only received his through a tube. He worried I was missing sleep at a time that he spent his night in the ICU. Most of all, dad loved having me and his nurse read the Bible to him. And that week he often quoted his favorite verse

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

Those last seven days with my dad along with his verse helped carry me through the sorrow threatened to overwhelm me with his death. Just after the death of Jesus it was the same for His disciples, His family and especially His mother. They hardly dared to recall the joy of those last three years seeing lepers cleansed, storms calmed and the dead raised. All that changed the night of the betrayal by Judas. That was followed by the arrest and false charges by the religious leaders. Finally the Romans sentenced Jesus to be crucified between two criminals and die a horrible and degrading death.

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But in the pre-dawn of hours of the third day everything changed. The stone sealing the grave had been rolled away. The women who came early to the tomb were met with men in white clothing who told them that the Lord was not there – He had risen. The bitterness and loss that they felt was quickly replaced by wonder and new faith as they encountered the risen Christ. Once we have invited this same risen Lord Jesus to rule our hearts we will discover that our lives are no longer defined by the many things we cannot do but by all the things He can!

 

Emmaus Road

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. Luke 24:28-29 ESV

It is interesting that these two disciples had walked all day with Jesus. They had listened to all He had to say. They had talked with Him and told Him all their problems. But all down that long hot and dusty road, they never realized who they were spending their day with.

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All down the path they had walked focused on their hopelessness, confusion and fear. At any moment Jesus could have stopped them in their tracks shouting, “Hey guys, it’s me! I came back from the dead! Everything is going to be great!” but He didn’t. Instead Jesus first asked them about their problems then patiently explained from scripture God’s plans. Then He fell silent and acted as if He would just go on without them.

Then those disciples made a choice that changed their destination from a village to a vision. They chose to offer a small kindness to the stranger who had shared His day with them. Jesus accepted their invitation and when they sat down together to eat, He blessed the bread and showed them who He was. Will we invite some of the least likely strangers to sit with us tonight? When we make room for them at our table Jesus will still break the bread and give us a glimpse of His face just as He has been doing for 2000 years!