Check out this collection of posts celebrating Easter

What Jesus Taught After His Resurrection

He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3

Jesus, after His resurrection, could have taught His followers a lot of things.
He could have told them what it was like to die. And then live again.
He could have explained the differences between a glorified body and the ones they still had.
He could have described the moment our sin debt was declared paid in full.

He didn’t.
The forty days He had with them, He spent speaking about one thing.
The kingdom of God.

That shouldn’t be a big surprise.
It’s the message He started with when He began His ministry. (Matthew 4:17)

The kingdom.
What it is.
How to live in it.
How to get more people in it.

If that was His message…
Shouldn’t it be ours as well?

Journey to Easter: The Empty Tomb

By Paula Wiseman

Jesus was not a victim of circumstance. He was not swept up by the events around Him. Every moment of His entire life was part of a divine plan laid down before time began. Each stop on the journey to Easter was purposeful and planned. We’ve stopped at the upper room, the garden, the chamber, and the judgment hall. Today’s stop is the empty tomb.

So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. Matthew 28:8

All four gospels tell us the tomb was cut out of a rock and stone was laid across the entrance. Matthew, Luke, and John tell us that it was a new, unused tomb. The Jewish leaders knew Jesus would rise in three days. He said as much during His trial. So they convinced Pilate to set a guard at the tomb. However, the guards were only capable of keeping regular people out. They had no power whatsoever when it came to keeping Jesus in.

In fact, when Pilate boasted of his authority, Jesus informed him that the only authority he had was what was given to him by God.

The empty tomb displays the stark contrast between the power of men and the power of God.

And if God only wielded power, fear would be our only response to Him. More like the guards. The empty tomb proves that His power is wielded out of His great love for us. The empty tomb proves God’s character and His promises as he vindicates Himself before the universe and for all of eternity.

That adds the great joy.

At this stop at the empty tomb, what is our own response? Jaded indifference because we’ve heard it all before? Muted skepticism? Obligatory celebration? Parroted catchphrases? Or do we realize this is holy ground? This is a glimpse into the heart and will of God. This is a place where our unworthiness meets His grace, where our failure meets His victory.

Reverential fear that clearly Jesus is not like us. Great joy that He chose to be one of us.
Fear that He is so much more than we will ever know. Great joy that He reveals Himself to us.
Fear at the dreadful cost of sin. Great joy that is was paid in full.

The evidence of our response is in what happens next. Do we, like the women, run to tell others? Do we go with fear and great joy?

If not, maybe we should stay here a little longer.

Next stop: the locked room

Easter was yesterday. What will we do TODAY?

By Paula Wiseman

Easter was yesterday. What will you do today title graphic

What is different today because Jesus is alive?

And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. Luke 24:52-53

Jesus Christ rose from the dead!
They saw Him, talked with Him, even ate with Him.
They couldn’t go back to the routine.

What did they do?
They worshiped Him.
Actively. Personally. Corporately.

They returned to Jerusalem.
According to His instructions.
To wait for the next step.

They exhibited great joy.
Not forced or fake. Not mere happiness.
Genuinely overflowing joy.

They were continually in the Temple.
Not squeezing it in amid other commitments.
It was their priority.

They were praising and blessing God.
Publicly. Authentically.
Honoring. Testifying.

Amen.
So be it.

Easter was yesterday.
What will you do TODAY?

Journey to Easter: The Judgment Hall

By Paula Wiseman

Journey to Easter Judgment Hall title graphic

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.” John 18:38

Jesus was not a victim of circumstance. He was not swept up by the events around Him. Every moment of His entire life was part of a divine plan laid down before time began. Each stop on the journey to Easter was purposeful and planned. Today’s stop is the judgment hall of Pilate, the Roman governor.

Pilate had been appointed governor or prefect around 26 AD, and like the rest of the Romans thought he was superior culturally, intellectually and morally to the Jews he ruled over. His appointment to this dead-end position was a signal that his career was over as far as advancement or promotion were concerned. So the Jewish people became the targets upon whom he vented his bitterness. He was harsh and provoked the Jews at every opportunity. At one point, he seized the Temple treasury to build an aqueduct. He brought imperial images into the holy city which was considered a blasphemous insult. To say he held the Jews in contempt was an understatement. Luke 13:1 makes reference to him murdering a group of Galileans in Jerusalem. Remember Galilee was outside his jurisdiction but was Herod’s domain. Galilee was also a known hotbed for anti-Roman sentiment and haven for insurrectionists. (Think the Easter Rising in Ireland in 1916 for a more modern type.) As soon as the band arrived in Jerusalem, Pilate made his move and had them slaughtered.

It is against this backdrop that Jesus, the king of the Jews, is delivered to his doorstep at the judgment hall early Friday morning. The charges were vague at best. “Doing evil.” (John 18:30) Pilate’s initial response was “I don’t have time for this.” But the charge that Jesus is an insurrectionist required further investigation. Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37)

Yes, but my mission is to bear witness to the truth. The truth is people are hopelessly separated from God because of their sins. I have come to reconcile and redeem them. (That’s reading between the lines a little.)

Pilate speaks for the skeptics across countless ages when he responds, “What is truth?”

It’s a fair question. In our culture, we’ve seen the rise of “personal truth”. Is that the answer? To the post-moderns, truth is something that everyone possesses and it is unique, but also malleable. However, if there is truth, doesn’t that also imply there is a lie? I don’t know that I’ve ever heard anyone claim, “What’s a lie for you, may not be a lie for me.”

The attraction of the “personal truth” is that it makes us, as individuals, the arbiters of truth, which in turn gives us complete moral authority, which means we never do anything wrong. Small wonder it’s appealing.

But if truth is an absolute, immutable reality, then it was established beyond me by someone greater than I am. And His pronouncements are that I have transgressed His character revealed in His law. He has the moral authority, then, levy punishment for those transgressions.

Rooted in Pilate’s response is the undertone that truth confers authority. He was used to wielding authority so he didn’t want to follow the truth business to its logical outworking.

At this stop on our journey, we are confronted with the same question. What is truth? Is it what Christ testified to, that we need a Savior? Or is it what we decide? And we continue to face this question every single day. Will we hold fast to what Christ says about us, about the Father’s love, about our security, about our empowerment and commission or will we define all those things in terms of culture, achievement, or identity?

What is truth? And more importantly, what will you do with the truth when you discover it? Pilate dismissed TRUTH and walked away. History says little about him after this moment. He faded into obscurity and then into eternity. Are our present-day struggles a direct result of dismissing, ignoring, or rationalizing truth?

Don’t move on from this stop at the judgment hall until you’ve considered what is truth?

Next stop: the Empty Tomb

It Is Finished

By Paula Wiseman

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. John 19:30

Tetelestai means it is finished, accomplished, fulfilled, paid in full.
So what is “it”?

Our salvation.
Our redemption.
Our ransom is paid.

Our atonement.
Our reconciliation.
Our sins are erased.

The law was fulfilled.
Death was defeated.
Prophecies were validated.

The wrath of God was turned away.
Justice was done.
Righteousness was imputed.

Peace with God was accomplished.
Our adoption finalized.
Satan was rendered powerless.

Our eternity was secured.
Our hope manifested.
Our glorification assured.

It is accomplished.
All of it.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Journey to Easter: The Chamber

By Paula Wiseman

And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. Matthew 26:57

Jesus was not a victim of circumstance. He was not swept up by the events around Him. Every moment of His entire life was part of a divine plan laid down before time began. Each stop on the journey to Easter was purposeful and planned. We’ve stopped at the Upper Room and the Garden. Today’s stop is the Chamber of Caiaphas, the High Priest.

Everything about Jesus’s trial was sketchy.
It was held in Caiaphas’s home, not the Temple.
It was a secret trial, not a public one.
It was held at night, not during the day.
It was held during a feast. (Plus, a death sentence required a three-day fast by all the members of the court before carrying out the sentence. Observant Jews weren’t supposed to fast during a feast.)

The Sanhedrin couldn’t nail down a specific crime Jesus has committed, even with bribed witnesses. They finally settled on Christ’s own confession to seal their verdict. Incidentally, in a typical Jewish trial, the defendant’s confession was NOT sufficient evidence for a conviction. The legal system God designed for the Jewish nation was structured to give the accused every advantage and allow for every reasonable opportunity for overturning the conviction.

Of course, that wasn’t the goal for this trial.

There was no time for a reasoned examination of the evidence. There was no desire to interview all the available witnesses. The verdict was pre-decided. This was a formality. A rubber-stamp. A kangaroo court.

The members of the Sanhedrin had regularly been embarrassed and called out by Jesus for their hypocrisy and self-righteousness, for their lack of compassion toward others and their cold-hearted formalism.

This stop on the journey to Easter is uncomfortable. The longer we linger in the Chamber the more we realize we have in common with Jesus’s accusers.

Do we have an expectation of who Jesus should be?
Are we offended when He suggests our righteousness is really just a show?
Do we demand He answer our questions or recognize our position?
Do we fail to thoroughly investigate His words and claims to discover the Truth?
Do we bring our preconceptions to Him and demand that He fit them?
Do we value our status and position so much that we are blinded to who He is and what He says?

Jesus didn’t receive a death sentence because of the skillful prosecution of the Sanhedrin lawyers. He received the death sentence because He willingly chose to carry out the Father’s redemption plan. He knowingly endured the injustice. The stop at Caiaphas’s chamber underscores what Jesus went through to redeem us. It also confronts us with the outworking of justice. If we received justice from the hand of God, we would be hopeless. Instead, He pours out His grace on us.

Next stop: The Governor’s Hall