In Jesus Holy Name April 18, 2021
Text: Luke 24:36,38-39 Easter III Redeemer
“The Anchor in the Midst of Doubt”
Woody Allen could not sleep at night. He was a restless soul. He needed an anchor. Fears kept the moviemaker awake. He could have passed as everyone’s ideal uncle, polite, gentle smile. But he could not vacate fear from his soul. He feared that God was not real.
David wrote: “I will fear no evil”. How could he write those words. David’s anchor was holding to the solid grip of his “good shepherd”. Woody Allen had no anchor. He was a strident atheist. For him, life was a “meaningless little flicker”. No God, no purpose. No life after this life. So he made films to stay distracted.
Aristotle called death the thing to be feared most because “it appears to be the end of everything.” The Sadducees saw the grave as a tragic, a one way trip. No hope. No escape. ( That’s why they are so Sad..u see!)
They could not comprehend the words of Jesus when He promised: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. In my Father’s house there are many rooms… I am going there to prepare a place for you and I will return so that you may be where I am. (John 14:1-3) When Paul told the philosophers in Athens about Jesus who rose from death, they laughed.
Jesus promised His disciples that He would return from the dead, even after He was crucified. Dare they place their hope and hearts into the hands of a small town Jewish carpenter, who worked miracles? Though Jesus warned His disciples they were not prepared for the trauma of His death nor the shock of His resurrection. But faced with their own possible arrest by Jewish and Roman authorities, the disciples remained locked in hiding.
They were terrified that the same thing that happened to Jesus might happen to them. They were too afraid to attend the burial of Jesus. They had left it to a few women to help Nicodemus and Joseph. Fear was blinding them to the words of Jesus.
Fear comes to all of us. We fear the mole on our back. An ambulance ride demands valor when there is pain in the chest. There is fear that the present plague will never leave us alone. Fear herds us into a prison of familiar walls and slams the doors. Will we ever be able to walk out?
Fear can be a gift from God that keeps us safe. Not all fear is bad. A small child needs the fear of automobiles. Otherwise, he can easily be crippled by playing in the street. Adults who plunge rashly into fearful situations rarely come to a happy ending. Proper fear stops us from saying things we shouldn’t say and doing deeds that are downright dangerous. But fear loses that godly purpose when it cripples us when it dominates our lives and rules us with an iron hand.
The gospel less finds us with the disciples on the Sunday morning following Friday’s crucifixion. The disciples of Jesus had gathered, not to change the world, but to escape and hide. They were scared rabbits. Their hopes were buried with death of the Jewish carpenter, whom they thought to be the Messiah. It was a gruesome reminder about the consequences of going against those who hold the reins of power. They were hunkering down.
It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James that told the apostles about the empty grave and the words of the angel. “He is risen, He is no longer here. Go tell His disciples.” They did. But fear kept doubt alive and the doors and hearts locked.
The husband and wife from Emmaus had just finished their 2nd 7 mile walk back to Jerusalem. They told of their experience with the risen Jesus. Just as they were telling their story, Jesus appeared in the room. Luke tells us that they were startled and frightened at the sudden appearance. “I am no ghost”, Jesus said. Touch my scars. It is I myself. Even then doubts persisted until Jesus asked for something to eat. Jesus was patient with the doubters in the room.
John Drummond points out that Jesus consistently made a distinction between doubt and unbelief. “Doubt is “can’t believe”; unbelief is “won’t believe”. Doubt is honesty; unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light; unbelief is content with darkness.”
In their moment of doubt Jesus then begins his second bible study of the day.
“Everything I told you while I was with you is found in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. The words of scripture, validated by the physical resurrection of Jesus became their anchor.
You don’t need to be told what an anchor is. You’ve held the iron with pointed edges. Maybe you have thrown one into the water to steady your boat. You need a big anchor when the clock of time is clicking towards its end.
Because of your soul you may wonder where you are going. Woody Allen had a soul but like so many others he laughed at the foolishness of believing in the existence of God. Because he rejected the promises of God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus , his soul was adrift. Because you have a soul you wrestle with right and wrong. Because you have a soul you value the life of others, even the unborn. Your body is fragile it feels the pain of death and knows the suffering of disease. Your soul needs an anchor.
Our broken commandments leave an indelible mark in time. Our selfishness breaks relationships. We casually utter careless, words and move on forgetting that our words hurt another. Sometimes our words, or the words of parents in our past have scarred us deeply. Self worth is lost.
Children at play often say: “That one did not count.” We may harbor the same thought that our words “did not count”. They do. We think our broken commandments, our sins can be easily swept away with the words, “That one does not count.” Those words will not work with our righteous God.
The pain we cause hurts our soul and the soul of others. Words can not be taken back. Broken commandments remain broken. In fear our first ancestors, Adam and Eve hid themselves from a justly angered God. God promised He would send a redeemer. David was a moral failure. God gave him a second chance. Jonah found himself in the belly of a big fish. Peter denied Jesus three times during His trial and was forgiven.
We are stuck between two dire choices. Do we ask God to just erase our sins and do away with justice? Or do we ask God to uphold justice and do away with sinners. God’s solution was to take the punishment of sin upon Himself. Jesus paid the price by voluntarily dying on the cross in our place.
I’m sure that Jesus reminded the disciples in the upper room of words that David had written: “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever.” Goodness and mercy. Not goodness alone, for we are sinners in need of mercy. Not mercy alone, for we are in need of God’s goodness. “Goodness supplies all our needs, and mercy forgives every sin.”
The Easter Sunday morning bible lesson helped the disciples to understand how God’s justice and mercy would both be met on a wooden cross. Forgiveness paid. The fear of death removed by the resurrection from death and the grave.
Billy Graham wrote: The Romans crucified thousands of people before and after Calvary. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, no right-minded person would have glorified anything so hideous and repulsive as a cross stained with the blood of Jesus. By the miracle of His rising from the grave, Jesus placed the seal of assurance upon the forgiveness of our sins.
A dead Jesus who remained in the tomb could not have been our Savior. An unopened grave would never have opened heaven. The sacrifice on Calvary had fulfilled its purpose; the ransom price paid for your sins and mine had been accepted by God. “Your acceptance before God is not a question of your efforts, how well you think you did this week, how much you read the Bible or prayed or resisted temptation. Your acceptance before God is always a question of what Jesu Christ has done for you. Through His blood shed on the cross you have peace with God.” (Leonard Sweet - Jesus Speaks p. 102)
Listen to the final words of Jesus that Luke records after the Sunday morning bible study. “I am going to send you what my Father has promised.” The Holy Spirit the third person of the Trinity…for He will guide each believer in all truth. (John 16:7)
The Holy Spirit brings the words of Jesus to life. The promise of God’s love is made real in our heart and lives… His love drives out all fear. Watch the radical change with the disciples when the anchor of the resurrection gripped their soul. Just a few weeks later….. (Read Acts 4:1-13)
The same Holy Spirit that dwelt in Jesus was “transferred” to the disciples on the day of Pentecost. The disciples no longer needed the physical body of Jesus at their side for the Holy Spirit the invisible presence of Jesus was now inside their body and soul. For three years the physical voice of Jesus was inseparable from His physical body… but now… after the resurrection the Holy Spirit speaks to the heart and mind of every disciple, that includes you and me.
Jesus told Mary at the empty tomb… “Do not cling to me.” Things were about to change. The members of the Trinity are not in competition with each other. Jesus reminded the disciples that unless “He left them, they could not receive the Comforter the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew that His Holy Spirit, which He alone possessed, would be transferred to each and every disciple after the resurrection.
“Jesus said: “I will ask the Father and He will give you the “Spirit of Truth” for He will live with you and be in you.” When you hear the voice of Jesus that is not a voice, you are hearing Jesus. The same Holy Spirit dwells in each believer. Listen to Him. For His perfect love drives out all fear. The Holy Spirit is the anchor for your soul.
