“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” John F. Kennedy – January 20, 1961
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed…” – Dr. Martin Luther King – August 28, 1963
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” – Ronald Reagan – June 12, 1987
“I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people – and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” – George W. Bush – September 14, 2001
Heard those words before? They were just a few words, but they were memorable. Why? Because of the circumstances that surrounded them, and because of the impact they had. Three words spoken 2000 years ago spoken to less than a handful of people changed the course of all of history. At a cemetery outside of Jerusalem, an angel announced, “He has risen!” With those three words the course of human history was changed forever. With those few words, YOUR history has been changed. Now maybe you think that I’m overstating it a bit, but I don’t think that you can possibly begin to overstate the impact of those three words, “He has risen!” to fully appreciate the impact of those words we need to understand the circumstances that surround them.
It was Sunday morning. Some women who had been followers of Jesus went to a cemetery outside of Jerusalem. They went to the place where they had seen Jesus’ lifeless body placed in a tomb three days earlier, on Friday evening. A large stone had been rolled in front of the tomb and as added security, Roman soldiers were stationed there to prevent anyone from rolling the stone away and stealing Jesus’ body. Friday night had passed without incident. All day Saturday had passed, nothing. Saturday night had passed. Still nothing.
Then early on Sunday morning as the sun began to rise, the earth began to shake. The Bible tells us this, “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow” (Matthew 28:2,3). An angel was probably the last thing that these women ever expected to find when they went to that cemetery on Sunday morning. Their purpose for going there was simple. They had hoped to complete the burial process. But when they arrived they received some rather unexpected news, “He has risen!”
This was not what they expected. You don’t go to a cemetery to see IF the person is still there. You go because you KNOW the person is still there. This contradicted everything they had ever known and experienced. This is usually where a person’s story comes to an end. But Jesus’ story continued AFTER his death. He had died, but now he lives! What amazing news for those women received! How wonderful to think that their friend and teacher was not dead, but was alive! But it was so much more than that they were getting back someone they cared about. This was not only for them. This was an event that changes all of history, that changes your history.
You see, there was another event that drastically changed the course of all human history. It takes us back to the beginning of time. God created a world intending for it to be a place that would reflect his glory, where everything and everyone would work together in peace and harmony. He made two human beings from which every human has come, with the intent that those people and everyone after them would live with him forever in this glorious place. But those first two people decided that God was not worthy of their trust, that he was in some way withholding his goodness from them. They doubted God and they disobeyed God. And when they disobeyed God in an instant history was changed. That perfect world and perfect relationship that God wanted to have with all people was ruined. Like smudgy little fingerprints left on a once clean window, sin now leaves its dirty fingerprints on every aspect of our lives. We see the fingerprints of sin in our hearts. We see it in the jealousy and greed that continually compares what we have to what others have been given. We see those fingerprints in broken relationships and promises that leave lives shattered and hearts broken. We see those fingerprints in our bodies as a few rogue cells or disrupted DNA cause disease and suffering. We see those fingerprints throughout the history of the world. One group of people oppresses another resulting in violence, war and genocide. School shootings, abused children and neglected elderly. People can try to re-write history, try to “clean it up,” but that’s like trying to clean the fingerprints off a window using your bare hand. It doesn’t help. It only creates more fingerprints.
God wanted to change that history and he knew that there was only one way to do that. He himself would need to intervene. And so that’s what he did. God entered human history. Jesus was born as a human like any one of us. But because he was also true God, he was able to be and do what we cannot be and do. He lived a life that always glorified God. He obeyed, loved and trusted God his Father at all times. Jesus’ life came to an end after just 33 years in this world. But before he died, Jesus would suffer the worst part of sin, the part that we cannot see or experience in this life. Jesus suffered the eternal death of hell. He suffered the separation from a holy God that every sinner deserves to face at the end of their life.
Jesus did that to change YOUR history. You see, this isn’t like Tiger Woods winning the Masters which some claim as the greatest comeback in sports history. Did you any of you get a check on the Monday after Tiger won the Masters? Me neither. Tiger won, he gets the recognition and the paycheck. His win didn’t change my life!
Jesus did not just come to MAKE history. Jesus came to CHANGE history. The perfect life that Jesus lived and sacrificed at the cross as the payment for sin was not to work his way into the record books. He did it for you. Your history, the story of your life, that is covered with the filthy fingerprints of sin has been re-written by Jesus. God promises, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (Jeremiah 31:34). Sinless is your new story in Jesus. And not only has he re-written your past – he has given the story of your life a new ending. It is now the same ending that those women witnessed on Easter Sunday when they went to the grave of Jesus. Death no longer needs to be followed by the eternal death of hell. For those who trust in Jesus, death is now followed by life. That’s what Jesus promised with these words, “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die" (John 11:25,26). For those who believe in Jesus, death is now immediately followed by a life that is free from every fingerprint of sin – life as God intended it to be.
I understand that for many people that sounds too good to be true. People make and break promises regularly. Why should this be any different? But think about it. When someone really wants you to trust them on something big, they will build up your confidence by keeping other promises. And usually those other promises are things that the person knows they can actually do. For example, you don’t want to say to your 5 year-old daughter, “I promise that I will give you a unicorn on your birthday.” That’s kind of going to shoot your credibility for any future promises you make. You want to pick something you can actually deliver on, maybe promise a dog or a goldfish – something small and easy.
Now think about Jesus. Jesus doesn’t pick something small and simple like, “Trust me because remember I gave you a puppy or pony.” Jesus picks the hardest thing. Jesus picks the one thing that no one else has ever been able to do – the one thing that only God can do – come back from the dead. And Jesus places his entire credibility on that one thing. As the apostle Paul wrote, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins… But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.” (1 Corinthians 15:17,20). Those three little words, “He has risen” are life-changing! Those three little words not only mean that what Jesus promised he HAS done. Those three little words also mean that what Jesus has promised he WILL do for you.
That helps us to see through the fingerprints of sin in our lives because sometimes it’s hard to see God’s goodness or his plans through all those fingerprints. When you’re struggling in a difficult marriage or with a rebellious teenager. When you’re dealing with seemingly endless doctors appoints, treatment plans or chronic pain. When life has not exactly turned out the way you had planned or wanted. When you’re struggling to do the right thing and the failures seem way too regular. Dear friends, hear the words again, “He has risen.” This is proof of God’s forgiveness and faithfulness to all that he has promised. Know that he has promised not only to help you through the problems, but to use them to draw you closer to him, for your good and the good of others. Know that your forgiveness is not dependent upon your history, but only upon Jesus’. Know that when your life comes to an end, that your loved ones will be able to stand beside your grave, and like those women on Easter morning, they will know that your death has been followed by life eternal just as Jesus promised.
The audience was small, just a few women, but the impact of those three words spoken by the angel were felt throughout all of history. They have changed your history! “Christ is risen!” He is risen indeed! Alleluia and amen!
