Covid-19 Update: We are meeting for Sunday School at 10 AM and worship at 11:00. There are no evening services or other activities scheduled at this time. If you choose to join us there will be hand sanitizer and masks by the front door, please observe social distancing in the sanctuary. Sermons are also posted online. Be safe, stay well, and God bless.
1 Timothy 3:16 is another text that provides a succinct description of who Jesus is. The mystery aspect will be explained at the end.
Note: Somewhere in the middle of this sermon I get confused by my own notes. I wrote down Romans 6:10-11 and it should have been Romans 8:10-11. I knew what it said but had planned to read a couple of verses to provide context. I resorted to “the Bible says” and that’s not the kind of reference I like to give.
Jochebed was the mother of Moses. He had an older brother and sister but Exodus 2 details the events of his birth and his mother’s love. She loved her son and chose to fear and obey God rather than Pharaoh.
In John 20 Jesus breathes on the disciples and tells them to receive the Holy Spirit. If they were not receiving the promise of the Comforter at that time (and they were not, that’s the day of Pentecost after the ascension) then what exactly is happening? We’re going to start in Genesis 2 and get there. We’ll get there.
In the early hours of the morning, after the Sabbath had ended, a few women walked toward his grave to finish matters left unattended.
They carried spices for anointing, to honor custom and tradition. For he had been quickly laid in the grave on the day of Preparation.
So early on Sunday morning, even before it was light, they approached the tomb of Jesus to set things back to right.
The stone, however, was rolled away and no body lay behind it. Was he taken by believers or hid by guards? Their concern was how to find him.
They were startled by an angel, dressed in white, a splendid vision. “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” he asked. “He is not here, he is risen.”
Filled with fear and excitement at what the angel said, they ran to tell the disciples that Jesus was not still dead.
The eleven found the women’s story understandably hard to believe. But Simon Peter ran to the tomb, for himself he just had to see.
The stone was moved, as they said, and the sheet lay in its place. But the napkin was to the side neatly folded, that had covered Jesus’ face.
Peter saw the empty tomb, Jesus’ body was gone for sure. That didn’t mean he was alive. Seeing is one thing; faith required more.
Mary Magdalene met Jesus, and two believers on the road spoke with him. Finally the eleven were in a closed room, When Jesus did not enter but appeared to them.
It would take time for them to understand all that Jesus had taught them. His most important work was on the cross, and by his blood he bought them.
The crucifixion, resurrection, Great commission and ascension; it seems like an awful lot for a few lines of poetry to mention.
So here’s a thought, perhaps a challenge, instead of letting your mind sit idle: this story of Jesus and many others are all right there inside your Bible.
There were other people, from the Old and New Testaments, that were dead and restored to life. Jesus is the firstborn of the resurrection. Colossians 1 describes the incarnation and how we are redeemed and reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus.
Many events during Jesus’ earthly ministry had been recorded prophetically hundreds of years earlier. As Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, let’s connect some of those dots to see the whole picture. Or at least more of it.
The introductory verses of Hebrews says a lot about Jesus in just a few words. Let’s unpack some of that profound understanding contained in just a few short statements.
Up until this point Daniel has been interpreting dreams and visions for the kings of Babylon. Beginning in chapter 7, Daniel describes and gives the interpretation of his own visions of the end times.