Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

I close my meditations  on Matthew with the first three verses of a hymn in Wesley’s book of hymns.   This is # 600.

It is a response to Jesus’ victory won for all who shall believe, like us!

Earth, rejoice, our Lord is King!
Sons of men, his praises sing.
Sing ye in triumphant strains,
Jesus our Messiah reigns.

Power is all to Jesus given,
Lord of hell and earth and heaven:
Every knee to him shall bow;
Satan hear, and tremble now.

All angels and archangels join.
All triumphantly combine;
All in Jesu’s praise agree,
Carry on his victory.

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

Matthew 28:20

That night in the Garden ended tragically, as far as the disciples were concerned.  After Jesus’ memorable heart-rending prayer which he prayed with great earnestness, while his three disciples slept. He prayed, “Not my will, but yours.”  The cry echoes through the corridors of time.  Is any greater prayer possible?

At this point the soldiers of the Palace Guard, all Jews presumably, snatched Jesus and delivered him to Pilate, the Roman ruler of the Province who had the authority to release or punish enemies of Rome.  Jesus’ accusers, Jews, demanded his death.   They claimed that Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph and Mary, had no right to be the promised Messiah.   The rulers of the Jews and their Biblical scholars determined to see this impostor killed!

Looking at the events from the side of the disciples, Jesus deserted them!  He was taken from them and, eventually, to their dismay, was killed on a Roman cross outside of Jerusalem.

Without their Jesus, the eleven disciples were drained of all purpose in life.  They just disappeared from the scene, except John.

I can almost feel their hurt.  Jesus was taken away.  They were alone!  They were held together by his presence.  Now what?

This is the backdrop of Jesus’ unforgettable words that he spoke after he arose from the dead.  “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  He will never leave them, he will be with them always – until this age ends.

Jesus’ promise to his disciples is for us who believe in him and live for him.  He has won our salvation.  That is accomplished.  Now he promises that he will never leave us, never.  That gives us full assurance as we place our lives into his hands and as we live through the ups and downs of life today.

The promise is for me, for you, for all who love him and follow him with all their hearts.  “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

As we look West from our place, we see this amazing flowering tree!  A huge bouquet of white sweet-smelling flowers.  Amazing.  It is, of course, a native locust tree, a valuable tree for our ancestors not only for its friendliness but because its wood made long-lasting fence posts.  It is one of my favorite flowering trees.

Another is the tulip poplar. I noticed today that is in full bloom as well.  We have a huge one on our property.  I will post a flower, maybe tomorrow.

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:16 – 20

We must pause to let Jesus’ words sink in.

All authority.  A few days before Jesus was on another hill, called Calvary, where he appeared to be a broken man, alone and defenseless.  Only John and a few women stayed as he suffered.  He died there.  Behold, he is now with his disciples on a hill in Galilee, not only alive and well, risen from the dead, but with a brief but comprehensive statement about what is happening.

First, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” As I contrast the bleeding, dying, reviled Jesus on the Roman Cross, jeered by his own people, and compare him with the shining, resurrected and eternally alive Jesus on the mountain in Galilee, I can hardly believe what is happening.  He now has full authority.  Over what?  He simply said, “in heaven and on earth.”  All the eyes of all in heaven watched Jesus as he died and in some marvelous way, in that sacrificial death, received his exalted authority in heaven, bought by his precious blood.  Heaven was satisfied and rejoiced because the Kingdom of God was poised to go forward.

This was easier for heavenly beings to believe and understand than earthlings, like us.  Jesus assured us that his death and resurrection changed heaven, radically, and can do so on the earth in all cultures, “all nations.”  It is not only possible but opens the door for the evangelization of all peoples on the earth, all people, note that!  The Kingdom of God is open to all who believe.  All sociological privilege is gone, forever.  In this kingdom all are brothers and sisters, cleansed by the blood of Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”  We live under that command today!  What Jesus came to do was driven by heaven’s desire that all people might be redeemed by the blood of Jesus.  So, go!  This is the universal missionary call.  It still excites and impels those who love Jesus.  That includes me.

We have more rose plants than any other flower, I do believe.  So we see in the first one to bloom a promise of a season of refreshing beauty and hope.  Here is our first.

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Mathew 28:8 – 10

Afraid yet filled with joy.  I would say, “a bundle of emotions.”  Who wouldn’t be anxious yet filled with joy – anxious about where their Jesus might be and hopeful because everything was changing.  These women just heard something so unbelievable that they were absolutely dumbfounded.  There they stood, carrying precious ointment to anoint his dead body that they last saw lowered into that tomb just hours ago.

Behold, they heard strange words spoken by the angel who was there, “He is risen.”  Can it be?  What does that mean?  Then, suddenly, there was Jesus before their eyes, risen!  Calmly he said, “Greetings.”  Like a good morning or a good day, as we say, without any fanfare.  Hadn’t he let it be known that he would rise from the dead?

To the women, his greeting changed their world. They fell before his feet and “worshipped him.”  They were the first persons to see him alive!  Jesus appeared first to these two amazing women, one of whom he freed from demons a while back.  They dropped their perfume and fell down in worship. Full of unspeakable joy, they found themselves dissolved in love as they fervently clasped his feet!

Jesus said, “Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”  So, these two Mary’s became the first carriers of the good news of Jesus’ victory over death, the new Kingdom’s first evangelists.  I find that hard to imagine but so like Jesus.

Further, I hear Jesus owning those who abandoned him.  He called them “my brothers.”  No need to fear, Disciple Matthew, author of this book, Jesus is full of grace, our mighty Redeemer whose blood cleanses from all sin and unbelief.  Go to Galilee, he said, where presumably the disciples had fled.   There, in their distress they would see Jesus, alive.  The kingdom he spoke of has come!

Somehow, I find a kindred spirit with the exuberant in our first white rose.  It’s beauty and flair is matched only by its rose fragrance.  I praise God for this reminder of the new life we have in Jesus Christ, our Rose of Sharon.  Let’s live for His glory.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

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.  The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

Matthew 28:1 – 7

Having marked the tomb where Jesus was laid, the tomb just completed by and for Joseph of Arimathea, the two Mary’s returned to that spot in the morning of the first day of the week. They carried perfume to anoint Jesus’ body, when they find him!  There they met an angel from heaven who rolled back the stone and sat on it. He shone with heavenly light.  The guards who were placed there by the Roman Government to make sure something like this would never happen, were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 

Then the angel spoke to the two astounded women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.”

I admire these two women. Where are the disciples?  Where are Joseph and Nicodemus, who placed him securely in the tomb?  Where is everybody?  We see only these two women who loved and served Jesus with all their hearts!  They were to hear with their own ears the greatest announcement ever spoken on this earth, “He has risen.”  Jesus has atoned for our sins and is now alive!  Finally, the door is open for salvation for all who believe in Jesus and who trust him entirely.  The Scriptures are fulfilled! The angel is excited.  He said, then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

I have relived this scene many times in my life.  I find myself, in holy imagination, being with these two wonderful women there at the tomb as the sun rises on the first day of the week, which in my mind, is the first day of the new era on earth, the reign of Christ on earth as it is in heaven.  This is real. I see it and, once again, rejoice.  Thank you, Jesus, and thank you, Father and Holy Spirit.

When we visited Longwood Gardens, the orchids once again caught our attention.  So, I bought one locally as a gift for Anna Ruth.  I see a glimpse of her beauty in the flower.

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”  So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.”

Matthew 27:62 – 66

So closes chapter 27!   And that is exactly what the priests and rulers of the Jews demanded of the Roman ruler, Pilate. Close the books on this Jesus!  He is dead.  Make sure that is the end of the story!  They knew that a whisper was going around that Jesus promised that after three days he would rise again.

The Jewish rulers did not know, nor did they want to know, that Jesus’ disciples were nowhere to be found and that they had no intention whatsoever to do anything but hide.

Pilate gave the Jews all the freedom they wished to make sure that Jesus remained, dead, in that tomb.  “So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.”  The Jews could finally sleep comfortably.  Jesus, “the deceiver” is now dead, he is no longer a factor.

I find this fierce anger against Jesus hard to comprehend.  Their own scriptures predicted his appearance.  Yet, when he did appear, they hounded him until that cruel death on a Roman cross.  John wrote, “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”  John 1:11

I suppose I should not be astounded, it is still like that today.  For people who do not know the grace of God, Jesus is an imposter and must be disowned. May we stand with the women who believed against all odds.  In a few hours, their faith will be sight!