Our Resurrection Sunday celebrations were a joy in every way. Celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus every spring is a wonderful experience. The Church throughout the centuries has celebrated a living and resurrected Lord Jesus. Though Jesus was a living person in history He is presently living in eternity in the same body that walked on the earth. The nail scars are still on His hands. Jesus is “the Resurrection and the Life”. As I was driving to Rockside last Sunday morning it was still dark. I was anticipating the Sunrise Service that Rockside hosts every year. It was foggy and chilly. I wondered if the sun would show its face over the eastern horizon. As I neared Rockside I looked through my windshield and then I looked through my rear-view mirror. I saw a line up of car headlights in both directions. It was a beautiful sight. I thought, “people are coming from every direction to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus”. It was a beautiful moment. As Paul says in I Corinthians 15, “if Jesus hasn’t risen from the dead we are of all people most miserable”. The resurrection is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. When we think of the Person & Work of Jesus we recognize the incarnation, the atoning death on Calvary, the Resurrection and the Ascension. And then in Acts we see the work of the Holy Spirit “revealing” Jesus in the hearts of men and women.
It was wonderful to have several baptisms at the end of our church service last Sunday. This coming Sunday we will be in Luke 24. We will study one of the appearances of Jesus after he rose from the dead. Those who meet Jesus on the Emmaus Road don’t “recognize” him. Have you ever seen someone that went to school with you and not recognized them after a 40 or 50 year absence? When you first see them they don’t look familiar. After they begin to talk with you a moment of “recognition” hits you and suddenly it all comes back to you. In Luke 24:16 we find this phrase, “they were kept from recognizing him”. Luke doesn’t tell us what prevented “recognition”. It may have been unbelief. It may have been that they had no category in their minds for someone “rising from the dead”. After all, no one ever survived a Roman crucifixion. When Peter saw the empty tomb Luke says, “he went away, wondering to himself what had happened”. Peter’s “understanding” didn’t allow for what he was seeing. We hold our beliefs and mental understandings of how life works very dear. The Bible and the Holy Spirit invite us into an understanding of belief, faith and trust in our unseen Father, Son and Holy Spirit which exceeds our intellectual capacities. In the Western world we put a high price on the intellect. Jesus says, “come as a little child”. Study Luke 24 and we will dive into the Emmaus Road account on Sunday. Prepare your hearts for Communion as we remember the Body and the Blood of Jesus.
God Bless You
Pastor Drew
