Our world saw this first hand when Christ came to earth. It is so hard to see God as a king. When I think of a king I picture the whole red velvet scene and the big fancy chair. Of course Christ is worthy of all of that but He came as something so much more. He is and always will be King but he also came as one of us. Could you imagine if Christ came down as an almighty king and then tried to lead? He would come off as a ruler instead of a guider. We see firsthand of how humble and true Christ is devoted to saving the world as a normal man.
When I sit back and look at the whole ideal about Christ and his passion for us, I see the greatest love story of all time. It is just beyond belief that a man that looked totally normal but yet was a king that came on earth to lead a revival to then be sacrificed. But the thing that gets me is that His death was planned from the very start. As we talked last week about how foolish the Roman soldiers actually looked when they thought killing Christ was all their doing. Besides them physically killing Him…God had planned the sacrifice from the beginning. And the Son of God’s ways on this earth and then a death that a human then would go through gave us a reason to not be afraid for even the king of the earth could go through it.
Remembering the ways and actions in the weeks leading up to His death and resurrection have given us so much promise and reason to constantly love the Lord. We are constantly reminded of this when we look back at the Easter story. Not the one that is filled with the Easter bunny and overfilled Easter baskets but the story that explains the whole reason we are here. For if He did not die, then who would of saved us all? That’s exactly it…no one..
The Guard at the Tomb
The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming (Doubt it!!) and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”(WOW! Would you be bad off if you had Christ in the flesh?) Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.” So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it. (Did NOT hold Him back!)
The Resurrection
Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.” The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. (WHAT LOVE!) Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”
The Great Commission
Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Readings taken from Bible Gateway from Matthew 27:62-28:1-10,16-20
One of my favorite parts out of that is the vision I get as Christ is delivering the Great Commission. Here was a born King that humbled himself that just so happened to just recently rose from the grave to then sit down His followers to show them the game plan. But that ancient game plan was from all of eternity. We are to make the new disciples as well and live through the love and commands of Christ forevermore. He shows and holds so much love for us and let us have joy and so much pride that we call him….Father.
HIS words: Jesus said to her “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall NEVER die. Do you believe this?”
~John 11:25-26
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