The Easter Story

Scripture:

Matthew 28:1-10

Quick Summary:

Jesus dies on the cross for our sins. Then, on Sunday morning, a few women go to the tomb to honor him. There is an earthquake, an angel appears and the soldiers faint they are so scared. But the women or filled with so much joy that the grave couldn’t hold Jesus, that they run to tell everyone the good news. Jesus is victorious over death!

The Point:

Jesus dies for our sins and rises to new life.

Questions for Family Time:

1.     Why did Jesus die?

a.     He died so our sins and mistakes.

2.     Why did he rise from death?

a.  He rose to show he had the power of God in him. Because he rose, all of us can have life forever!

3.     What did everyone feel at first?

a.      scared still

4. What did the women feel next?

a. MEGA Joy!

5. What did the women do because of their joy?  

a. Ran to tell others about Jesus.  

Deeper:

Jesus has died on the cross and been laid in the tomb. This morning, the women are going to pay their respects at the tomb. Then something crazy happens. An earthquake announces the arrival of an angel who pushes the stone away from the entrance. This event is so wild, that the trained soldiers guarding the tomb faint. Actually the Bible says they “become like dead men” because of their fear. That inability to move is everyone’s reaction in Matthew to this kind of fear. The Greek word is actually phobos as in phobia. It is a fear that paralyzes people. It stops them in their tracks. It is a crippling shock that makes us, as we say “a deer in the headlights.”

The soldiers’ reaction is completely predictable, but the women’s response is completely not predictable. Rather than being stuck, we find them running. In fact, we find them sprinting as though they were racing, running to tell the disciples that Jesus is not dead…Jesus is ALIVE.

How did the women, who should have responded with paralysis, RUN with the good news? The answer is right there in our text. They were still afraid, but they also were filled with JOY. This is the same joy that Jesus talks about over and over in his parables…the joy we experience when God’s kingdom breaks through the darkness of our world.

These women had much to fear but their joy in God’s work on earth was greater than their fear. Because of joy, they would run into a dark and broken world. Because of joy they would be the first to worship the risen Lord. Because of joy they would be the first preachers of the Resurrection. Because of joy that God will not let darkness overtake his kingdom. God has broken into the world to save it, and no one can stop him. 

Personal Reflection:

               When has fear stopped you? When has the joy of Jesus moved you forward?

Jesus Healing: Dead are Raised

Scripture:

Luke 7:1-17

Quick Summary:

Jesus brings the centurion’s servant back to life. Then, on the way to the cemetery, he brings the widow’s son back to life. 

The Point:

Jesus can restore our lives, no matter who we are or how we are different.

Questions for Family Time:

1.     What was the miracle today?

a.     Jesus raised the dead.

2.     Who was dead?

a.  The centurion’s servant and the widow’s son.

3.     How were they different?

a.      The centurion was a really good guy who was a VIP. The widow was really poor and not important in her community at all. She was going to have to be a beggar or slave if Jesus didn’t do it.

4. How were they the same?

a. They both needed Jesus help.

5. Do you think Jesus would help you?  

a. YES! Jesus would help anyone, no matter how they are different.

Deeper:

            When Jesus heard about the centurion, he came highly recommended. The chief religious leaders saw him, though he was a foreigner, as worthy of a miracle. By all measures, the widow who lost her son was in more need of a miracle that day. She lost more than a servant who could be replaced. She lost her only son. As the only male left in her immediate family all of her assets were in his name: her land, her house, and her livestock. None of them would be left in her name. Her livelihood relied on her son’s life. With him gone, she was now a ward of the state, a beggar with no resources of her own.

Yet, unlike the Centurion, even though she was Jewish, no one spoke up on her behalf.  While the Centurion may have had merit, she had need.

As I thought about how that is true for our society, I couldn’t help but think of scholarships. I have spent a lot of years filling out scholarship forms, and they basically fall in these two categories. There are scholarships based on merit: how high your grades, how many activities you are in, who you know, and how high you tested. Then there are the need based scholarships: how many resources do you have? The belief is that scholarships will give a person a better future. They aren’t like loans, which you have to pay back, but a free gift.

This man and woman were hoping for a gift too, something they knew they couldn’t pay back. The synagogue leaders put in the centurion’s name on merit. The man knew though, that based on merit, he wouldn’t make the cut. He received something he didn’t deserve, even with his glowing recommendations. And who could have been more in need than the widow? The widow was given something that she needed desperately.

Now my scholarship metaphor breaks down here because the truth about scholarships is that they are an either/or deal. There are limited numbers of scholarships and everyone competes over those scholarships. We make our merits look better, and our poverty look worse because each scholarship is a competition with losers.

But Jesus doesn’t choose the Centurion OR the widow. He doesn’t choose according to a reference letter or a bank account. He chooses BOTH of them.

He chooses to help the faithful Gentile. And he chooses to help the poor Jew. In two stories, Jesus chooses every demographic in his world. He proves what Paul will say when he write to the Galatians: There is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

           Jesus brings life wherever he goes. He brings it regardless of our merit. He brings it regardless of our poverty. There are no limits put on his gift. We call that gift grace. So whatever you think disqualifies you from the life he offers, you are sorely mistaken. All you have to do is accept the gift.  

Personal Reflection:

               What difference have you thought keep you come from Jesus? How does this passage challenge that?