Salvation on the Road After The Cross

Today I want to share a word about salvation on the road after the Cross as I comment on Luke 24:13-49. Let’s begin by reading Luke 24:13-24

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”

My father was a heavy truck mechanic who would work for the same company for nearly forty years. My dad grew up during the Depression era and so my father was a very frugal mam. I remember very clearly when my mother and father had a long debate one night about buying an electronic calculator so they could do their taxes.  It was sort of like buying a computer today, because some couples might debate buying an expensive computer. They were debating this purchase because my father was very frugal, and he liked to save money as well as other useful things. In fact, he never threw away a screw or a nut or a washer or anything that could be useful someday. 

My dad had a big wooden box where he had stashed all of the fasteners he saved. It was a big wooden ammunition crate that he had scavenged from somebody, somewhere. If he needed a screw or a nut for a project, he would get an old scrap of a cloth tarpaulin and he would lay that out. Then, he would tip that wooden box over, and he'd go through all those little items he had saved over many years until he found what he needed. Then he'd pack it all back up again until the next time.

My dad was good at saving things that might be useful someday, down in the future. Well, our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, came to seek and save that which was lost. He was the one who saved us, as we will see in Luke 24. Let’s begin by reading verses 13 through 24 and seeing some surprised disciples.

First, We See Surprised Disciples:

After the crucifixion, the disciples were defeated, and they were demoralized. This actually began before the crucifixion, because they had been so excited about celebrating Passover in Jerusalem. That was something so exciting that it was the highlight of their life up to that day. So, they were shocked, they were dismayed, they were upset and surprised, by Judas and his betrayal of Jesus.

They'd been frightened by His arrest and by His trial. And when He was crucified on the cross, they were more than surprised, and they were more than saddened. They were shattered. They saw something they never expected to see, and it just destroyed their faith. Because of their shattered faith, these disciples scattered to the four winds.

Some of them, like these two who went to Emmaus, left Jerusalem. Some of them were holed up in the upper room. The doors were shut and barred, and they were hiding out in a place they hoped was safe from the Jews and the Romans. Later on, we see in the Scriptures that Peter decided, "I'm going fishing." When you are in trouble, “you go with what you know.” Peter was a fisherman, so he went back to what he was comfortable with. Thomas, the doubting disciple, just disappeared. Nobody knew where Thomas went. He had a bolt hole, and he went there to hide out.

Now, these two that were on the way to Emmaus were discussing these events when they were met by Jesus. They were talking about the events of the past week, because that's what people do. When someone has a situation in their life, they talk about it. They tell their story until they're finished telling it. Then, when they're finished telling it, they don't talk about it anymore. These two, these followers of Jesus, were doing just that, talking about what had happened in their lives.

When Jesus came upon them, Jesus said, "What's all this about?" They were surprised because surely, everybody knew what was going on in town. They looked at Jesus and they basically said, "You ain't from around here, are you?" Surely, everybody knew what had happened.

Of course, Jesus knew what had happened, because it had happened to Him! As was the case all through His ministry, Jesus wanted to use this as a teaching moment because they didn't understand what was happening. They had seen it with their own eyes. They had heard the stories from others, and they were at a loss, and they had no idea what these things meant. They were surprised.

• They were surprised by the betrayal.
• They were surprised by the trial.
• They were surprised by the scourging.
• They were surprised by the cross.
• They were surprised by the resurrection.

But, if we read verses 25-32, we see that Jesus had a superior explanation.

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

Next, We See a Superior Explanation: 

Jesus not only provides salvation, but here we also see Him being the master teacher that He always was. Jesus was called rabbi, which meant teacher, and He wanted people to have a saving knowledge of what He’d done for them, and for them to understand the truth of the Gospel. As He said in the Scriptures, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."

These folks wanted to know the truth and they were genuinely confused. Today, many people are confused spiritually as well; even a cursory review of social media outlets will confirm that fact. But even before social media, there were plenty of spiritual ideas floating around in the world.

The key element is that Jesus said, "You need to know the truth." Then He went to the beginning of Scriptures and started to teach them all that they should have already known. We need to remember that Jesus and the early church did not have the same total Bible that we have today. The Bible that they had was the Old Testament. Jesus said, in essence, "If you understand the Old Testament and you know me, you know everything you need to know to find salvation." Again, Jesus was saying, that those who know the truth will be set free. But as Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?”

• Truth is not a philosophy of life.
• Truth is not an abstract concept.
• Truth is not a system of belief.
• Truth is not a list of principles.

Truth is much simpler than all these things. Jesus said very simply in John 14:6, “I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life.” So instead of complex theories, what they needed was the Savior.

They didn't need to understand all the reasons why the Jews rebelled against Jesus, and they didn’t need to understand the legal reasons why the Romans were the ones that had to put Jesus to death. They didn't need to understand the reason why God worked it out so that almost all known humanity at that time were responsible for the death of our Savior and Lord. What they needed to know was there was a Savior who suffered and died for them. What they needed to know was there was a Savior who rose from the dead for them, and what they needed to know was a Savior who could warm their hearts. 

No doubt they were a little embarrassed at the situation they were in.  It's embarrassing when you don't recognize someone that you should know. These disciples were embarrassed, but what is more embarrassing than what they experienced, is to cross over into eternity without recognizing your Savior. That's much worse than anything.

Next, let’s continue by reading verses 33-43:

And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”  But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

We Also See Scared Sinners: 

What we see in the upper room were a group of scared sinners. To put their situation in context, we need to remember who these people were. We know what they became in the rest of the New Testament. We know their ministries. We know that they all died as martyrs for the cause of Christ. But at the time that we see them here, they were just regular ordinary people. None of these folks were what we today would call opinion leaders or influencers.  

They were nobody in particular, and so when Jesus came in their midst, they were scared. They were scared because they finally understood He was different. He was the son of a carpenter, but He was also the Son of God. Because He was God, they were scared.

They also knew that they had really betrayed Him. All of them had run away. Thomas hadn't even come back yet. They were frightened. And frankly, we would have been frightened too, because they knew they were hopeless sinners in the presence of extreme Holiness. 

This situation was not really about the disciples, however. It was about Jesus coming to the disciples. They were nobody important. They were smelly fishermen, and they were rebellious people, and they were traitors, and they were scared, and they had run away, and they had betrayed Him. Yet, Jesus came to them anyway. He saw fit to come in their midst and to talk to them and to bless them. What did He say when He came in? “Peace be unto you!”. 

So, in the upper room we see some scared sinners, but we can also see a sufficient Savior. 

Let’s read verses 44 through 49:

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

 

Finally, We See a Sufficient Savior:

Jesus is the sufficient Savior.  Jesus is sufficient because He fulfilled the law. Jesus said, "I did not come to abolish the law, I came to satisfy the law."

• He satisfied the law by His life; He lived a perfect life.
• He satisfied the law by His death; He was the perfect sacrifice.
• He satisfied the law by rising from the dead and completing His work.
• He fulfilled the law that we are incapable of fulfilling ourselves.

Jesus is sufficient because He has done for us those things that we can't do for ourselves. Because He fulfilled the law, He gave us freedom from our sins by relieving us from the debt of sin. When we are in Jesus, we are freed from the power of sin. In Jesus, we can live an abundant life here on earth, and we have the guarantee of an abundant life in the hereafter.

Finally, Jesus is sufficient because He sent us the Helper.  He sent us the Holy Spirit to write God’s law on our hearts the way God said He would in the Old Testament. He sent us the Holy Spirit to help us live out our life without fear and He sent us the Holy Spirit to give us authority for being a witness. 

Conclusion:

Jesus is the one who provides us salvation. He provided salvation for these disciples, and He provides it for us also, because He is the way, the truth, and the life. 

The question for today is this, have you met the Truth?  Has your heart been warmed by His presence in your life? Have you allowed Him to save you from your sins?

My daddy loved to save stuff. Jesus does too. And He would love to save you today.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Determination on the Road to the Cross

Today I want to share a word about determination on the road to the Cross as I comment on passages from Luke, Matthew, and John. Let’s begin by reading Luke 18:31-34:

And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon.  And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Introduction:

We often live in dread of our fate. For example, I once received an e-mail from a man which told a tale from years past that illustrates this: 

“I was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital after my wife had gone into labor and then the nurse walked out and said to the man sitting next to me, ‘Congratulations sir, you're the new father of twins!’ The man replied, ‘How about that, I work for the Doublemint Chewing Gum Company.’ The man then followed the nurse to his wife's room. 

About an hour later, the same nurse entered the waiting room and announced that Mr. Smith's wife has just had triplets. Mr. Smith stood up and said, ‘Well, how do you like that, I work for the 3M Company.’ The man then followed the nurse to his wife's room. 

The gentleman that was sitting on the other side of me then got up and started to leave. When I asked him why he was leaving, he remarked, ‘I think I need a breath of fresh air.’ The man continued, ‘I work for 7-UP.’”

Jesus’s human fate was nothing less than gruesome.  He was beaten, and abused, and He was whipped until His flesh was flayed.  He was hung from a Roman cross which was the means for a cruel, lingering, and horrible death.  Who would choose such a fate as this?

Jesus. Only Jesus.

As we continue to see Jesus as the masterful person that He is, we will see clearly that not only did Jesus allow this fate, but He also actually chose it.  We’ll begin to see why as we review our first text for today.

Jesus Predicted His Fate: 

Jesus came to the Earth with a purpose. From the beginning of human sin, God had a purpose: to redeem the world. Satan’s rebellion and sin had ruined God’s perfect creation, and this was something God could not abide, and so Jesus had come to redeem a lost, dying, and decaying world. In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."  Therefore, His whole mission was focused on this purpose, and He, as always, was still on task.

The Disciples, however, were distracted by other things. They had just come into Jerusalem. Now they felt as is if they were in the “big leagues.” They had just experienced the Triumphal Entry, but they didn’t know yet how fickle the crowd can be. They were also looking forward to Passover in Jerusalem, which emotionally, was like attending the Super Bowl or celebrating Christmas in Bethlehem. Trouble was far from their minds!

As we see in the passage from Luke 18, Jesus was focused on His purpose, and He reminded them of it. This was the third time He’d done so, and both times before were near in time to an exciting event. The first time was just after Peter’s profession of faith in Matthew 16, and the second time was just after the Transfiguration in Matthew 17.  Each of these (Peter’s Confession, Transfiguration, and Triumphal Entry) were important, but . . . they would be meaningless unless Jesus went all the way.

Jesus, of course, intended to go the distance and do what needed to be done!

Jesus Attracted His Fate: 

Let’s continue by reading Matthew 21:10-16:

And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”

In Jerusalem, Jesus was a threat to the establishment:

• He threatened the traditional way of interpreting the Word of God.
• He threatened the political power of the Sanhedrin.
• He threatened the bankrupt fundamentalism of the Pharisees.
• He threatened the bankrupt liberalism of the Sadducees.
• He threatened the security concerns of the Romans.

Jesus was like a thunderstorm: you couldn’t ignore him, and no one could predict where He would go and what He would do.

Jesus was no different in Jerusalem than He was in the Galilee or in Samaria. The difference is that in Jerusalem, He brought a disruption to the power structure of that day that they did not expect or desire. 

The snobby people of Judah expected there to be disturbances in Galilee.  What more could you expect from low-class people? Likewise, nobody cared much about what happened in Samaria, either.  Those “half-breeds” were beneath the notice of the elite. Now, however, like the attack on Pearl Harbor or the attack on 9/11, Jesus brought the threat home. Something had to be done!

In response to this threat to their power, the forces of evil were going to strike back: They were going to kill this “man” if it was the last thing they did.  Just like when David was caught with Bathsheba, they were caught in their sin. They were going to cover it up with a murder conspiracy, just like David. And Jesus, being God, knew exactly what they were doing. What do you think He did?

Jesus Embraced His Fate: 

As we read in John 18:33-38, Jesus embraced His fate:

So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him . . .”

People have different reactions when they are confronted by their fate. For example, Adolph Hitler committed suicide, while Saddam Hussein fled and wound up hiding in a hole in the ground. Saddam Hussein’s sons died in a shoot-out with the US Army, but others try to plea-bargain their way out of trouble. A few will trust in God, like the teenaged girl asked by the shooters at Columbine High School, “Do you believe in God?”  When she said “Yes,” she was shot and killed. One thing is certain, however: all of them would rather be somewhere else, doing something else. Not Jesus, however.

• He embraced His arrest.
• He embraced an illegal, night-time trial to take place.
• He embraced the experienced of being brutalized and killed.
• He embraced the fact that in all these things there was a purpose.

What Jesus did was literally, out of this world! What Jesus did was based on a different reality than the one that humans embrace. Only in God’s economy could defeat be victory. Only in the spiritual realms could this suffering bring succor!

Jesus came to give us what we couldn’t give ourselves. To do this, He had to be crowned King with a crown of thorns. He embraced this fate without reservation!

Jesus Allowed His Fate: 

Finally, John 19:5-11 tells us that Jesus allowed His fate:

So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews[a] answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

Those in power thought that they had Jesus right where they wanted Him. The Romans had Him in custody, so He was contained. The Sanhedrin were going to kill Him and so He would be out of their hair. The Disciples had been scattered to the winds and so they could threaten neither the Roman nor the Jewish establishments. Satan had manipulated it all, or so he thought. 

In truth, they had all been caught in Jesus’ trap. In fact, Jesus was right where He wanted to be, with the same attitude that the legendary Marine, Lewis “Chesty” Puller once expressed when surrounded by the enemy, “All right. They’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us … They can’t get away this time.”

Jesus had come for this purpose and in an example of spiritual Jujitsu, He was using His enemies’ own actions against them. Jesus was in control, not the Romans, nor the Jews, nor Satan. He could have had armies of angels come release Him. He could have spoken and rained fire down on His captors. He did not, not because He couldn’t, but because He wouldn’t. He was right where He wanted to be.

Why would Jesus knowingly, willingly, and determinedly, inflict the trauma He experienced upon Himself? Because He loves us, and He wants to save us. Because He wants to give us righteousness, and He wants to have a relationship with us. Because He wants to give us a relationship with God that we need, and that God desires.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Conclusion:  

Jesus embraced His fate on our behalf. Have you embraced what Jesus did for you? Don’t you think you should? 

Does your life honor what Jesus did for you? Don’t you think it should?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Daybreak on the Road to the Cross

Today I want to share a word about daybreak on the road to the Cross as I comment on Luke 23:54 to Luke 24:12. Let’s begin with verses Luke 23:54-Luke 24:1:

It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning  The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.  But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

Introduction:

A common meme says that there are only two kinds of people in the world. There are those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good morning, Lord," and there are those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good Lord, it's morning."  For those of us who aren’t morning people, here’s a good story:

The Bear family was just waking up. Baby Bear went downstairs and sat in his small chair at the table. He looked into his small bowl. It was empty. "Who's been eating my porridge?" he squeaked.

Daddy Bear arrived at the table and sat in his big chair. He looked into his big bowl. It was also empty! "Who's been eating my porridge?" he roared, as big bears often do.

Momma Bear put her head through the serving hatch from the kitchen and yelled, "For Pete's sake, how many times do we have to go through this?!"

"It was Momma Bear who got up first. It was Momma Bear who woke up everybody else in the house.  It was Momma Bear who unloaded the dishwasher from last night and put everything away."

"It was Momma Bear who went out into the cold early morning air to fetch the newspaper and the wood for the fire. It was Momma Bear who set the table.  It was Momma Bear who put the cat out, cleaned the litter box and filled the cat's water and food dish."

"And now that you've decided to come downstairs and grace me with your presence.... listen good because I'm only going to say this one more time..." She yelled, “I haven't made the stupid porridge yet!!"

At daybreak on the first Easter Sunday, some women got up to do a very important task, but they learned an even more important lesson.

Daybreak Revealed a Disagreeable Task:

It is a fact of life that women, particularly wives and mothers, often get saddled with disagreeable tasks: 

• Cleaning the house.
• Washing dishes and clothes.
• Taking care of the needs of children.
• Cleaning up after someone has gotten sick. 

Who gets called when an accident happens at home? Mom does!

These women came to do a necessary, but disagreeable task. There had been no time on Friday to anoint the dead body of Jesus, but now that the Sabbath was over, they had the chance. They arose early to do this, possibly to avoid trouble.

The seemingly mundane actions of these women actually teach us a great deal.  They believed that Jesus was really dead, and they obviously had not yet understood what He intended to do. That said, they loved Him enough to do this dangerous, disagreeable task, and because of their love and bravery, God allowed them to see the truth first!

A careful reading of the New Testament demonstrates that Jesus was a great liberator of women, and this incident is part of that forgotten narrative.

Let’s now look at Luke 24:2-5:

And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.  And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

Daybreak Revealed a Dismaying Discovery:

When the women arrived, they were shocked. The tomb was open, and their Lord's body wasn’t there. Even more frightening, strangers appeared nearby, suddenly as out of the morning mists. Naturally, the women were frightened and upset, and not just because of their sudden appearance, but also because of the social unrest they had witnessed on Good Friday.

So, who were these men? They had the characteristics of angels: They appeared out of nowhere, and they shined, and they glowed. Even more importantly, they came with a message.

Their message was a critical one. The entire history of salvation could have been changed! What if they had said, “Jesus’s body was stolen?” What if they had said, “The man was a fraud, and He never died?” What if they had said, “Foolish women, He was a devil?”

We find out what they said in Luke 24:5-9:

And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  

Daybreak Revealed a Dynamic Message:

The message of the angels was none of those above. Their message was one of hope and promise! 

Jesus was not there because He is not dead, though He had died. Jesus was not there because He is risen. Jesus had done just what He said He would do.

These ladies didn’t understand before, but they would now. They were the first to understand the essential truths of the Gospel:

• Jesus lived a perfect life, and He fulfilled all of the law and the prophets.
• Jesus died in our place for our sins.
• Jesus rose again, defeating death and Hell.
• Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God today, interceding for us!

To discard these facts would be like discarding a car’s engine. A car without an engine may look nice, but it can’t do its work of transportation; it doesn’t have the power. A belief system that does not include these facts is just as powerless!  

So, what did these women do? They ran to tell others about this glorious and joyful news. Unlike Peter, who wanted to build houses and remain on the Mount of Transfiguration, they didn’t keep this wonderful news to themselves. They told everything to all those who needed to know!

Luke 24:8-12 tells us how their message was received.

And they remembered his words  and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

Daybreak Revealed Disbelieving Disciples:

We know what the Disciples had experienced during Holy Week. 

They had been so excited about having Passover in Jerusalem. But they had been shocked by Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, and they had been frightened by Jesus’ arrest and trial. They were shattered by Jesus’s death on the cross among thieves, and so they were totally defeated and demoralized. 

So, naturally, they couldn’t believe what they heard. They believed that the world as they knew it was over, and they needed more than wild stories and rumors. Besides, in those days, women were not trusted with important news. They just wouldn’t believe unless they saw for themselves.

Even when Peter saw, with his own eyes, he still didn’t understand. Even though he was one of the closest friends of Jesus, he was as perplexed as the women. He would need a special messenger to teach him also.

There is an old saying that the ground is level at the foot of the Cross. This story would seem to support that astute idea! Peter, without the help of God was no more or less wise than the women were!

Conclusion:

Today we know everything that the women knew and even more. 

In the dawning of each new day, whether that daybreak is eagerly awaited or filled with dread, we need to remember, that Jesus rose from His grave, and defeated death, sin, and Hell.

What makes a difference in our lives is our relationship with Jesus. If we let Him, He can transform every daybreak, and all our days and nights as well.  If we do, we will find ourselves blessed, because, as Jesus says to us, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Happy Easter!

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Fame, Faithlessness, and Fickleness on the Road To The Cross

 Today I want to share a word about fame, faithlessness, and fickleness on the road to the Cross as I comment on Luke 19:28-48. Let’s begin with verses 28-34:

 When He had said these things, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As He approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, He sent two of the disciples and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here.  If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’” So those who were sent left and found it just as He had told them. As they were untying the young donkey, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the donkey?” “The Lord needs it,” they said.

Introduction:

Holy Week is an amazing time in church worship. We know, from the Scriptures, a day-by-day account of the week that ended with Jesus being crucified on Good Friday and then rising again on Easter Sunday. It was an eventful, and spiritually vital, time. 

The interesting thing to me is that this week, in many ways, is bounded by two mob scenes. In each of these scenes we see people shouting and gesturing because of Jesus. The amazing, and sad, thing is, these two scenes are 180 degrees out of phase with one another.  

Accommodation: 

As we saw in previous events along the road to the Cross, the fame of Jesus had spread far and wide. It is one thing for a person to develop local fame, but it is altogether different for someone to gain national attention. This reminds me of a story I once heard about a person who was a local celebrity.

This fellow, who I will call John Smith for convenience, was a well-known man in the county where he was from. Everyone knew and revered him, to the point that when some young school children were asked by their teacher who the President of the United States was, they replied, “John Smith.” John had a way of making friends wherever he went, and he knew how to “Make friends and influence people.”

One day, John’s family and his best friend and his family travelled to Rome. One of the sights they wanted to take in was when the Pope came out on his balcony to bless the crowd in the square below. In the bustle and excitement of the crowd, his friend lost track of John, when suddenly the crowd began to shout and point excitedly. To his friend’s amazement, on the balcony stood John Smith and a man in a white cassock and skull cap. Amid all the shouting and excitement, another tourist grabbed his arm, and asked, “Who is that on the balcony?” John’s friend replied proudly, “Oh, that’s my friend John Smith, but I don’t know who that guy in white is!”

In the 21st Century, people often gain fame by making a spectacle of themselves. That type of fame is really infamy or notoriety. In the 1st Century, however, Jesus had gained national attention for several valid reasons.  First, He had performed many miracles, from feeding the 5,000 to raising Lazarus from the dead. He was a powerful teacher, and He was also known as a man of spirituality and prayer. In addition, Jesus was not afraid to challenge the authorities, and He wanted to give people hope of a life free of legalism and all its onerous requirements. His fame was such that people had gathered in the Temple to wait on Jesus to come to Passover. 

Jesus was planning to attend, of course, and He planned to fulfil prophecy in doing so. The prophet Zechariah had written, 

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9

So, Jesus sent His disciples ahead to acquire that donkey. Undoubtedly, its owner had heard of Jesus, and he willingly let Him use it. It is human nature to allow association with fame to rub off on us, and that might be the case here. In any event, Jesus, like He had done before and like He would do again, had fulfilled the law and the prophets.

Not only did His fame produce accommodation on the part of the owner of the donkey, but it also led to acclamation by the crowds. Luke 19:35-38 says:

And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.  And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.  As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Acclamation:

The scene that unfolded above might remind us of human events that could seem similar on the surface:

• It might make us think of a political rally or a victory party on the night after an election.
• It might make us think of the celebrations that broke out in many cities on VJ Day.
• It might make us think of the reaction of a crowd to an entertainer. 
• It might make us think of the celebration after a city’s sports team has won a championship

Some of the people present at the first Palm Sunday may have been reacting to Jesus in one of those ways.  In fact, since Easter had not yet happened and since the Holy Spirit had not yet come, I doubt that anyone present there, including His disciples, knew just how much Jesus deserved their praise.

Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. He deserved all the praise He was given on Palm Sunday, and even more. We can see a glimpse of the type of praise and worship Jesus deserves in Revelation 7:9-12, which tells us that in heaven, 

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

The fame of Jesus, as much as it sparked an outpouring of emotion by the crowds in Jerusalem, was not enough to overcome faithlessness on the part of unredeemed humanity. Verses 39-48 say, 

And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

Accusation:

As we noted early on our journey with Christ to the Cross, Jesus was the most competent and powerful person that ever lived. We also noted, however, that people often misunderstood what He was doing, and why He was doing it. Take for example the reaction of some people when He wept at the grave of Lazarus: 

So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” John 11:36-37

The events surrounding the resuscitation of Lazarus, was not the only time when accusations were made about Jesus. In Matthew 11:18-19, Jesus was accused of being a man with many vices,

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.

In John 5:18 we can see that some leaders were so upset with Jesus that they were prepared to kill Him,

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God

Before everything was done and said, some people came right out and accused Jesus of being in league with the Devil, as we see in Matthew 12:22-24,

Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

When everything was finally done and said, the Jews arrested Jesus and illegally tried Him before Pilate. At that point, we can see a huge flip-flop on the part of the people gathered in Jerusalem. Let’s turn to Luke 23:13-25 to see how fickle unredeemed humanity can be when it comes to honoring and serving God:  

Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish and release him.” But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed.  So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.

Abandonment:

In less than a week, the crowds in Jerusalem went from saying "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” To shouting “Crucify! Crucify Him!” What a remarkable flip-flop!  Yet, when we think about the record of humanity in the Bible, we should not be surprised at all. In fact, we don’t know it to be the case, but it would not surprise me at all if some of the same people acclaiming Jesus on Palm Sunday were also there, condemning Him on Good Friday.

From the beginning of time, people have proved to be fickle: 

• Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day, until they chose to follow the serpent.
• Abraham trusted God until it came to his wife, Sarah. Then he decided to lie to Pharaoh and say she was his sister.
• Pharaoh decided to allow the Jews to leave and worship God, but then he changed his mind.
• The Children of Israel followed Moses to the Promised Land, until they found out that the tribes there were tough to defeat.
• Once in the Land of Canaan, the Israelites served God until they didn’t. Then when they cried out to God to save them and He did, they served Him, until again, they didn’t.
• God was ruler in Israel until they decided that, like everyone else, they wanted a king of their own.

In the New Testament we can see the pattern continue:

• Peter was a stout defender of Jesus, until he betrayed Him.
• Ananias and Saphira were honest with God, until they weren’t.
• The church at Ephesus lost their first love for Christ, and the church at Laodicea were lukewarm
• Paul warned Timothy that, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons . . .”

Even today, many church pastors have found that their congregation honors them and follows them as a man of God . . . until they don’t. 

And so it went, and so it goes.

Fickleness is a trait that causes much fear and distrust. One reason that people distrust politicians is that they often flip-flop on issues. They see which way the wind is blowing before they say a word. And, one of the most discouraging and soul-crushing experiences is when a friend we thought we could trust betrays us.

One of the biggest problems we encountered with the COVID-19 epidemic was that, to the average person, it seemed very fickle. As my son told me, “COVID-19 is very infectious, except when it isn’t.” I can’t help but agree with his summary.

The Good News for us is that while we may be fickle, and we are, God isn’t. The Scriptures tell us that God is unchanging, and Hebrews 13:8 tells us, 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

If there is one, rock-solid fact in our lives it is this: unlike us, God isn’t fickle, and He will always stand by His Word, His Way, His Will, and His eternal love for us. This means we can trust God, we can trust His Word, and we can rest in His love. He will never flip-flop, and He will never stop redeeming humanity from our own fickleness.

Conclusion:

We can trust God, but the question that comes to me is this: can God trust us?

The record shows that God can certainly not trust unredeemed humanity. People in their natural state are faithless and fickle. The Good News is that during Easter, Jesus died and rose again to redeem people from their sinful state and provide salvation to all who accept it.

Even more, Jesus also sent the Holy Spirit to us to empower and to equip us and to stiffen our resolve to be faithful to God. Because of the presence of the Spirit in our lives, we can be faithful and steadfast. While even redeemed people can be weak in our faith and fidelity at times, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness, and this is cause for us to be hopeful and helpful instead of being hapless, helpless, and hopeless!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Demonstrating Devotion on the Road to the Cross

 

Today I want to share a word about demonstrating devotion on the road to the Cross as I comment on John 11 and 12. Let’s begin with John 11:53-57:

Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for^[f] Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

 

Introduction:

Today, we want to consider whether knowing Jesus is worth the cost.

 

As we begin today, I must make a confession. I know that from time-to-time, I can be pedantic. Ok, so maybe more often than time-to-time, but I believe that words have meaning. So, when I hear a ministry leader say that a particular ministry or ministry platform “is losing too much money,” it sets my teeth on edge.

 

To my way to thinking, ministries cannot lose money, because they are not intended to make money. A ministry might not be covering its costs, or a ministry may become too expensive for an organization to support, or a ministry might not be accomplishing what it is intended to accomplish, but a ministry cannot, and never will, lose money!

 

There, I said it! Now that my rant is over, let me expand more rationally on my thoughts on this matter.

 

Today we will see that those who knew Jesus the best when He walked this earth believed that knowing Him was worth the cost. They demonstrated their devotion to Jesus in several ways during His last days before Holy Week. Let’s look at them together today

Anticipation:

As we consider our text for today, the first thing we see is a sense of anticipation on the part of those who were in the Temple. They were looking forward to seeing Jesus, and they were glad to wait on Him because He was worth it.

 

When someone waits on you, it is a compliment. For twenty years my wife and I had to decide between our families with whom we would eat Thanksgiving dinner. We always appreciated it when the one side of the family would say, “Go ahead at eat dinner with the other side of the family. We will wait on you.” First, it demonstrated that they understood the situation we were in. It also showed us that they valued us enough to wait for our arrival.

 

Contrast this with the time when I was a director of missions of a local association, and I had been invited to participate in an ordination council. I arrived on time, only to find that the council had already taken place. The other members of the council had arrived much earlier than expected, and the pastor of the church decided to proceed with the event without waiting on me to arrive and without calling me to see if I could come earlier. I guess that my presence wasn’t considered necessary or important.

 

We need to remember that the Jewish people had been looking for the Messiah literally for centuries. For example, Psalm 34:34 says,

 

Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

 

Isaiah 25:9 says,

 

It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

 

Hebrews 11:13-16 describes the anticipation of God’s faithful people this way,

 

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

 

If we remember back to the birth of Jesus, we will find two people in Luke Chapter 2, Simeon and Anna, who had been looking forward to the birth of the Messiah for decades. This is what Simeon said in Luke 2:29-32 when he held the Baby Jesus,

 

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
    according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

 

Today, we are like those Old Testament saints, as we wait for our Lord to return. Are we eagerly awaiting His return? Do we gather in worship each week in anticipation of God coming to be present among us?

 

Not only did His followers anticipate the coming of Jesus, they also took action to demonstrate how valuable He was to them.  John 12:1-2 says:

 

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.

Effort:

Have you ever known a person whose birthday was a few days before or after Thanksgiving. Or maybe Christmas? They say that timing is everything, and for those folks, that timing is quite awkward. I am sure that many families over the years have told their child that they will just celebrate their birthday on Thanksgiving or Christmas, as appropriate.

 

The question is, are such arrangements appropriate? Every family will have to decide for themselves, but I know what Mary and Martha and Lazarus did when Jesus was in town and Passover was just a few days away. They thought it was worth the effort to host a dinner in Jesus’s honor.

 

Jesus had not been gone that long, but the ones He loved also loved Him, and they wanted to celebrate His safe return. They acted as if a long-lost loved one had returned, just like the father of the lost son did when he returned home in Luke 15:22-24,

 

But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate”

 

When the older son objected, the man told him in verse 32:

 

It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.

Hosting a dinner in honor of Jesus was good, but as we see in John 11:17-23, that was not enough for Mary:

 

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

 

Extravagance:

 

Over the centuries, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ has been envisioned in many ways. We have organized the church as a kingdom or as an empire. We have envisioned it as an army, as a school, as a business, or even as a multi-national corporation. It is none of those things.

 

The church is the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ. It is not intended to make money, conquer nations, or enhance human reputations. The church is intended to venerate God, love Jesus, obey His commandments, and be filled with the Spirit.

 

Often it costs little financially to fulfill this mission. Prayer and devotion cost nothing, monetarily. You can spend as much as you want on a Bible, but they can also be had for little or no money. Saying a word of encouragement only costs us breath and intentionality. All of us, rich and poor alike, can serve God.

 

At times, however, fulfilling our mission can be expensive. One of the primary roles of government is to protect its people. To do this, governments form police forces, staff courts, build prisons, and recruit and deploy military forces. All of this is expensive, often hideously so. The only thing more expensive than employing these means of protection is not to employ them, leaving the people vulnerable.

 

Don’t misunderstand me; I do believe in good stewardship. Churches and ministries must adopt and employ sound business practices, which is something I believe is inherent in Jesus’s counsel to us to be “as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves.” At the same time, we must not “bury our talent” either.

 

We must learn to do whatever it takes to worship and serve our Lord and our Savior. Mary did not spare any expense when it came to worshipping Jesus, because He was worth it to her. By some estimates, she spent nearly a year’s wages to anoint Jesus. If that figure it correct, is no wonder that Judas was jealous of that use of those funds; yet as we can see from the reaction of Jesus, it was the right thing for Mary to do.

 

How much is serving Jesus worth to you? To your family? To your church? None of us will ever spend a year’s wages to anoint the feet of Jesus, but it might mean devoting even more to the cause of serving Him. In Matthew 13:45-46 Jesus illustrated to us the true value of following Him:

 

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

 

Jesus gave His all to provide salvation for you and me. He thought it was worth the price. Do we have the same opinion of Him?

 

Finally, John 12-9-11 shows us another facet of the devotion shown by those who walked with Jesus

 

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

Identification:

At the supper in Bethany Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with a costly perfume. She considered it worth the cost to honor her Lord in that way, and not only was it an object lesson for us to follow, it also was a foreshadowing of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord. But this meal also was noteworthy because another follower of Jesus was present: Lazarus.

 

Lazarus, as we remember, was the brother of Mary and Martha and all of them were followers of Jesus. In fact, Jesus and Lazarus had a close relationship, because when he became sick, his sisters sent for Jesus, saying “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

 

Mary and Martha knew Jesus could heal their brother, and because of their relationship, they expected Jesus would hurry to their brother’s aid. Events did not play out that way, however, because Jesus had a bigger vision for this situation than Mary, Martha, or Lazarus could ever imagined.

 

Jesus allowed Lazarus to die and be buried. In fact, He delayed his coming to them so long that when He asked for the tomb to be opened, Martha demurred, protesting that Lazarus would have already begun to decay. These circumstances allowed Jesus to demonstrate His power over death by raising Lazarus from the grave and restoring him to his family.

 

Not only did Jesus demonstrate His power, He also empowered the witness of Lazarus, such that people came to Bethany to see him as well as to see Jesus. This troubled the chief priests so much that not only did they plot to kill Jesus, but they also decided that Lazarus, a “known associate” of Jesus, must go as well.

 

We don’t know what ultimately happened to Lazarus. The Bible doesn’t record his second and final physical death. We do know that he was closely associated with Jesus and that he was a powerful witness for Him.

 

·       What about us? Are we “known associates” of Jesus?

·       What about our own witness to Christ? Acts 1:8 tells us that we will be a witness to Him, but are we a good witness or a bad witness?

·       What about our reputation? Are we known as people whose lives were transformed by Christ?

·       What about our safety? Being a “known associate” of Jesus was hazardous to Lazarus’s health, but like Mary, he believed it was worth the cost.

·       Remember, Jesus was a countercultural figure in His society, and He remains so today. Is being a “known associate of His worth the cost to us?

·       What about Jesus? Would He be glad to be a “known associate” of ours?

 

My desire for all of us is that we would relish the idea of being a “known associate” of Jesus, and that He would be glad to be a “known associate” of ours!

         

Conclusion:

So, the question of the hour is this, “Is Jesus worth it?”

 

·       Is He worth your time?

·       Is He worth waiting for?

·       Is He worth the effort?

·       Is He worth the cost?

·       Is He worth the risk?

Those you knew Him best in this earth answered those questions with a resounding, “Yes!” So should we!