SERMON 495
EASTER –
ACTS
THIS IS THE LORD’S DOING, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR
EYES!
Beloved in the Lord, grace
and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord and savior, Jesus
Christ, and from the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life.
He is risen! He is risen
indeed! The Psalmist said it better than anyone else when he stated in our
Psalm for the day, THIS IS THE LORD’S DOING, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES.
That by the way is our theme for this Easter meditation. THIS IS THE LORD’S
DOING, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES.
So let us begin with the
Lord’s doing! Just what has the Lord done? Besides the voice of the Psalmist we
have before us this morning the testimony of two of the disciples of Jesus,
Peter and John, as well as the testimony of the one chosen by God to be the
apostle to the Gentiles, Paul.
Peter tells us that with God
there is no partiality. What God does for one, God does for all. And God came
among us preaching to all of human kind. God came among us in Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, doing good, healing the sick, casting out the demonic, and preaching
peace. God intended to be reconciled to all of humanity and God in Jesus Christ
asked all of us to be reconciled to God in return. All we were asked to do is repent
and believe the good news of forgiveness and life in Jesus Christ.
What has God done? Peter
tells us that God sent Jesus and allowed him to be put to death on a tree.
Human kind and all of the evil powers desperately wanted to get rid of Jesus.
God wanted to get rid of sin and death so he allowed Jesus to be put to death.
Everybody got their way, but in the end God gained the victory.
Peter tells us that God
raised him on the third day and allowed Jesus to appear to him and a number of
his followers. In his appearing Jesus ate and drank and spoke at length with
them.
Peter tells us that Jesus
commanded them to preach this good news to the whole world. Jesus was the one
promised for ages in the scriptures through the prophets. Jesus is the one
ordained by God to be not only the Savior of the world, but also the judge of
the living and the dead.
What has God done? John tells
us what happened on the third day. He tells us about Mary Magdalene coming to
the tomb only to find the huge heavy stone covering rolled away. Jesus was only
a body, and that she knew well, because she had been there when they began
embalming him and had buried him. He was dead; that she knew for sure. When she
saw the empty tomb she thought someone had stolen the body. She ran and told
Peter and John and they came rushing to the tomb. They too saw that the body
was gone but noted that the linen wrappings were all there still arranged as
though the body had simply come through them without disturbing them.
John tells us that Jesus then
appeared to Mary asking her not to touch him, and telling her that he would
soon be ascending to his father and her father too, his God and her God too.
What has God done? We listen
now to the third voice, the Apostle Paul. Paul had never met nor seen our Lord
Jesus during his earthly walk. But Jesus had appeared to Paul and turned his
life around from that of a persecutor of Christians to a disciple and
proclaimer of Jesus Christ. Paul spoke with Jesus, was given visions from on
high, and spoken with the disciples about everything that had happened.
Paul states the facts about
what God has done with clarity and in simplicity.
He tells us that Jesus died
for our sins, that he was buried, that he rose on the third day, all according
to the Scriptures. Then Jesus appeared, and Paul names the appearances,
including one time when Jesus appeared to more that 500 people at one time,
appearing lastly to Paul, after his ascension into heaven.
What has God done? The
Psalmist, speaking centuries before Christ, tells us ever so eloquently what
God has done. He tells us that God is good and that his mercy endures forever.
He tells us that God is our strength and our salvation. He tells us that God
has gained the victory. He tells us that we shall not die, but live and declare
the works of the Lord.
We know it all to be true.
God cleared away the debris of our sin and disobedience when Jesus died on the
cross. God raised Jesus from the dead announcing that sin and death now have no
dominion over us. God will raise us from the dead and give everlasting life to
all who are in Christ Jesus.
THIS IS THE LORD’S DOING AND
IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES! We have spoken about what God has done. Let us
turn now briefly to talk about what is marvelous in our eyes.
What is marvelous in our eyes
was stated by an anonymous writer decades ago. Writing about Jesus he said.
He was born in an obscure village,
the child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in still another village, where he worked
in a carpenter shop until he was thirty.
Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book. He never held office.
He never had a family or owned a house. He didn’t
go to college. He never visited a big city.
He never traveled two hundred miles from the place
where he was born. He did none of the things
one usually associates with greatness.
He had no credentials but himself. He was only
thirty three when the tide of public opinion
turned against him. His friends ran away. He was
turned over to his enemies and went through
the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to the cross
between two thieves. While he was dying,
his executioners gambled for his clothing,
the only property he had on earth.
When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave
through the pity of a friend.
Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today
he is the central figure of the human race
and the leader of mankind’s progress.
All the armies that ever marched, all the navies
that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat,
all the kings that ever reigned, put together,
have not affected the life of man
on this earth as much as that
ONE SOLITARY LIFE.
It is indeed marvelous in our
eyes that this one solitary life has so affected all of human kind. But this
one solitary life goes on. He rose from the dead and lives and reigns
eternally.
Our Lord Jesus still
functions in this world through the Spirit in the lives of all his followers.
He rose from the dead. We who believe in him and have been baptized into his
death and his resurrection are now his body in this world. Jesus lives and
serves in this world through us. We continue to bear witness to his life and
death and mission, by his power and in the new life that he has given us. His
work of bringing salvation to all of human kind continues through us by the
power of the Spirit. This ONE SOLITARY LIFE continues to serve and save and
give hope through those who are his body in this world, those who believe in
him and follow him.
It is a marvel to our eyes
indeed that Jesus reigns and rules and saves and calls all women and men to
himself through us.
But there is another marvel
to our eyes yet to be revealed. This Lord Jesus who rose from the dead is now
by God’s commission creating a whole new universe to replace the one in which
we live. When he comes again in glory we shall see him as he is and that new
world as it will be. This ONE SOLITARY LIFE is still working and creating a
universe and a home for his own. This ONE SOLITARY LIFE lives on as the Lord of
all in heaven and on earth. This is indeed a marvel beyond description.
THIS IS THE LORD’S DOING, AND
IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES! During this Lenten and Easter season we have heard
reports of a document called the Gospel of Judas with commentaries here and
there, many intended to undermine the faith and put into doubt the witness of
the church that Jesus is the risen Lord of all.
That ONE SOLITARY LIFE
changed the course of this world forever. Jesus is but the first fruit of the
resurrection from the dead. And we who confess his name have already been
raised into that life that will never end.
If this is indeed the Lord’s
doing and if it is indeed a marvel in our eyes, we simply cannot remain silent,
treading so lightly that no one knows that Jesus is the Lord of our life.
On this Sunday of the
Resurrection let us recommit ourselves to earnestly bear witness to the marvel
that we have seen and know. What a privilege the Lord has given us. Jesus is
the resurrection and the life. He or she who believes in him, though they die,
yet shall they live. “I know that my redeemer lives and though worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh, shall I see God.”
He is arisen! Glorious Word!
Now reconciled is God my Lord. The gates of heaven are
open.
My Jesus rose triumphantly, And Satan’s arrows broken
lie,
Destroyed hell’s fiercest weapon.
Oh, hear, what cheer!
Christ victorious, Rising Glorious,
Life is giving.
He was dead, but now is living!
That which is marvelous in
our eyes must be proclaimed to the ends of the earth, and those who have been
baptized into Christ are the ones called to do it. May we do so in the fullness
of joy. May our words and our lives always reflect what the Lord has done for
us and the marvel we have seen with our eyes.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!