Easter Sunday—April 12, 1998
(April 11, 1993)
Living Hope
John 20:9 He saw and believed.
The seeds of life had been sown.
Wonderful, living words.
Wonderful loving deeds
The seeds fell on warm hearts and cold hearts.
They fell on good ground and stony ground.
And there the seeds of life waited
Now the Sower was gone.
All of a sudden it was winter,
It was night,
And it had never been this dark, this bleak,
Ever, ever before
Then, suddenly the Sun came up,
And it was springtime.
Some of the seeds began to feel the stirrings of life.
Some of the seeds knew they must respond.
The WORD was calling them to LIFE!
BELIEVING WITHOUT WORDS
The first person to believe in the Risen Savior was John the Beloved. His coming to this living faith is stated in just four words. He saw and believed. (8)
John is modest to a fault. He never calls himself by name throughout the book. But he does not deny what happened in his heart when he looked into the empty tomb. He had not yet even seen the risen Jesus. That would come later, and John would meet Jesus again and again. John's vision of the glorified and risen Jesus would finally surpass every vision, at least until we all behold Him face to
face.
But that first beginning is recorded so simply that it is easy to pass over as insignificant. John saw and John believed.
John saw what? The empty tomb. The empty grave-clothes. And that was all John needed. He remembered Jesus had said, "I will rise again the third day!" He remembered Jesus had said, "I will not leave you comfortless!" The seed has been planted in pure and fertile soil, and a miracle took place: John believed! That was it!
Mary's revelation is so much more dramatic. A sinner, a notorious sinner, she was the first to see the Savior! But John was good ground. The seed had lodged well.
John stands for millions of believers who have been implanted with the Good Seed of the Gospel before they ever came to rebellion, or before they knew enough to doubt.
John stands for many who know that Jesus is alive long before they reach the age of full understanding.
John stands for those who are so inclined to believe in Jesus that they know even before they know HOW they know! And never despise such faith! It will mature. It will be tested. It will have its revelations.
John was first!
FAITH IN THE GARDEN
The first person to see the risen Savior was a woman. She was without doubt a remarkable woman, with a strong character that had been refined and prepared for faith by the redeeming grace of Jesus. Her past keeps coming back to us; when she first met the Nazarene she had been possessed of seven devils. Jesus had set her free, and she had been a part of the faithful few that went all the way to the cross with Him.
But after the crucifixion Mary came to a dead stop. Her life was totally circumscribed by a visible, tangible Authority. She would gladly have died for Him, but she had not fully grasped how He had died for her! Her hope was in a living Messiah. And she had seen Him die on a cross.
She loved Him so much she wanted to go as far as she could in showing Him respect and honor. But all the words He had spoken, and all the things He had done were history now. Except that she still was free of the demons.
She went to honor a dead Jesus, but she went with love. And the hunger and cry and aching of her heart were answered in a way she never could have imagined. It is one of the most beautiful scenes in all holy writ.
Jesus, Himself, came to the Garden where she was. He came near and spoke her name. "Mary!" And within her the dormant seed of faith sprang to life!
"Master!"
Mary stands for the millions who have come to faith through love of a Christ they have been seeking. Perhaps we all have sought in the wrong places at times for Jesus. It may be that we have "supposed" and have almost mistaken the truth in the error of our suppositions. And then the living, risen Savior has spoken our name! I know you! And you know Me, too!
Mary stands for those who go looking with love for the Master.
FAITH THAT CAME IN TIME
It was a different kind of 'coming to faith' that John used for the very climax of his Gospel.
Thomas was a man who missed church on the first Easter Sunday. Perhaps if he had been there it might have been different. But it wouldn't have been so good for you and me if we didn't know this story of Thomas.
Thomas seemed to be that sort of person who is cursed with a gloomy outlook on life But at the same time he seemed to be as honest as he knew how to be.
Remember how at a time late in Jesus' ministry when Jesus said He was going to Jerusalem, and the other disciples tried to tell Jesus not to go, that it was dangerous? Remember who spoke up, and what he said? It was Thomas who said, "Well, let's go with Him and die!" He loved Jesus enough to follow Him even when he, Thomas, thought He was probably wrong!
Anyway, Thomas didn't see, so he wouldn't believe. I get the idea that Thomas didn't dare to try to believe, because he didn't want to be disappointed again. And besides, Thomas couldn't see how things had changed. They were still a powerless little band of outsiders in their society.
Thomas represents honest doubt. Thomas stands for millions who have been persuaded that all religions are made of smoke and mirrors, and that believing in an unseen God probably is delusion. (Who was it that said an agnostic is a person with no invisible means of support?)
Thomas would like Jesus to prove to him personally that He is relevant in a hostile world.
One thing comes through in this story. Jesus really loved Thomas. He may have been stubborn. He may have been unable to join in the celebration because he couldn't believe what he hadn't seen. Jesus still loved Thomas.
And Jesus found Thomas. And when Jesus came to where Thomas was, the arguments Thomas had insisted he would make were never made!
"Come, put your hand in my side!", said the Savior. Thomas never did! Instead he fell to his knees. The seed of faith sprang to life!
"My Lord and my God!" said Thomas.
It is a wonderful thing to know the story of Jesus. It is a wonderful thing to come to love Him and to believe in Him as the Christ of the Bible. Jesus said that the Good News of the Gospel is the Seed of Life, and to know about Jesus is to receive that seed into the heart.
But it is an infinitely more wonderful thing to believe! To believe, to be persuaded deep in one's heart that Christ is alive, and to make Him our own personal Lord and Savior.
Believing, in this sense, does not come from knowing more and more. Believing does not come by winning arguments, or human understanding. Believing comes when people meet the risen Jesus!
A church where Jesus is alive can be a place where Jesus meets with people, and brings the seeds of faith to life. A heart where Jesus lives can take the risen Savior to neighbors at school or in the work place. God help you and me to let the living Savior shine through our lives!
Whether we are like John, or like Mary, or like Thomas, if we will let Him, Jesus will come to where we are. He will speak the word that calls our seeking to a living faith: we can believe!
Now the Sower was gone.
All of a sudden it was winter,
It was night,
And it had never been this dark, this bleak,
Ever, ever before.
Then, suddenly the Sun came up,
And it was springtime.
Some of the seeds began to feel the stirrings of life.
Some of the seeds knew they must respond.
The WORD was calling them to LIFE!
StL #261 Christ is Risen, Christ is Living
StL #262 He Lives
StL #264 Thine is the Glory
Almighty God, who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ
hast overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:
Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's
resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by thy life-giving
Spirit; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and
reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without
end.
Postscript:
This week in the US, PBS carried 4 hours of programming on the rise of Christianity from the 1st to the 4th Centuries CE. The programs began with the statement (as the camera pans through a Gothic style church): Every Sunday, in every corner of the world, people gather to hear a story. For nearly two thousand years that story has been told and retold . . . .
HOW DO WE KNOW JESUS ROSE?
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?
HOW CAN OTHERS KNOW JESUS IS ALIVE?
Several years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday's supper. One thing led to another and the meeting ran overtime so the men had to race to the airport, tickets in hand. As they barged through the terminal, one man inadvertently kicked over a table supporting a basket of apples. Without stopping they all reached the plane in time and boarded it with a sigh of relief. All but one. He paused, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple-stand had been overturned. He waved goodbye to his companions and returned to the terminal. He was glad he did. The ten-year-old girl was blind. The salesman gathered up the apples and noticed that several of them were battered and bruised. He reached into his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this ten dollars for the damage we did. I hope it didn't spoil your day." As he started to walk away, the bewildered girl called out to him, "Are you Jesus?" (1)
(1) Reference
1. Are You Jesus? By Brennan Manning. From More Sower's Seeds, Second Planting, copyright 1994 by Brian Cavanaugh, T.O.R., p. 13. Paulist Press, Mahwah, NJ 07430.
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Dr. Russell Metcalfe is Pastor Emeritus of the Wollaston Church of the Nazarene. Permission to reprint or publish this material is GRANTED as long as the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit.
You can access more of Dr. Metcalfe’s sermons at his scripturally indexed sermon archives web site. Now with MP3 audio sermons and audio bonus material. http://russellmetcalfesermons.nazarene.nl/Sermons/Sermons.htm
