This blog serves as an outreach for Pastor Randy Powell of the First Baptist Church of Franklin, PA. Feel free to ask questions or send me an e-mail at pastorpowell@hotmail.com
What did Jesus do on the afternoon of Easter Sunday? As it turns out, he took a walk with two of his disciples and spent a few hours explaining to them how the Hebrew prophets of old had predicted everything that would happen to the Messiah, including his suffering and death. As we celebrate Easter, let us remember our need to share this Good News with those who need it most.
Our video feed wasn't ended as usual when the sermon concluded, so this video also includes my prayer for Israel and Gaza and our final hymn.
Instead of finding rest in a solitary place, Jesus and the disciples are met with a large crowd. Jesus has compassion on them and teaches them, but when the disciples observe that the people need food, Jesus says, "You give them something to eat." HOW? They can't solve this problem, but Jesus still asks them to try, to asses their resources, and then uses their small contribution (5 loaves and 2 fish), blesses it, and then has the disciples be the one to pass out the food to the crowd.
What is our lesson in all this? 19th century missionary William Carey said it best, "Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God."
Jesus sends out his 12 disciples in teams of two with a message of repentance and the power to cast out impure spirits and heal the sick. While we might wonder if the disciples are ready for such responsibility, the bigger surprise is that Jesus forbids them to take any supplies with them for the journey. Why? Not because God wants to reward poor planning or laziness, and not because God's servants should suffer from physical deprivation (as some sort of spiritual discipline), because they shouldn't. Rather it is an object lesson for the disciples, and for us, that when God promises to do something he will be faithful and fulfill it. In addition, the passage offers a stark warning to those who fail to heed the call to repent: the disciples are to symbolically 'disown' the town/village by shaking the dust of their sandals off as they leave. God is always trustworthy, our fellow man (including ourselves) needs to be held to account.
Now that Jesus is publicly proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God, he turns to the task of recruiting disciples to teach and train. At the Sea of Galilee he finds two sets of brother, Andrew and Simon, and James and John; all fishermen from Bethsaida. Having called each pair in turn, they quickly join Jesus who promises to send them to "fish for people". This interesting metaphor connects to their background, and speak to the need to pull people in with the 'net' of the Gospel that they too might learn of God's forgiveness and love. We continue that task to this day, as a Church, and as individual Christians, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the Lost 'fish'.
Less than twenty-four hours before his brutal death upon a Roman cross, Jesus celebrates the Passover with his chosen disciples; his friends. He tells them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." For Jesus there was immense value in this time with his companions before he walked the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows) alone. Jesus' friends bolstered his courage and his hope, helping him find the endurance to complete the Father's plan and drink the cup placed before him. We too require Christian fellowship to fulfill the tasks assigned to us by the Father.
With his own final trial less than twenty-four hours away, Jesus purposefully leads his disciples from the room where they had just finished celebrating the Passover, outside of Jerusalem to a garden where he intends to spend time in fervent prayer. Before the humiliation, physical pain, and spiritual turmoil began, Jesus chose to spend time with both his friends and his Heavenly Father. Prayer would fortify Jesus each step of the way from the Gethsemane to Calvary, a path he would walk alone, but one he prepared himself for with those he loved.
We all pray when in a crisis, and we should, but what we ought to be doing as well is praying before we're faced with trouble. We will, as Christians, face things in our lives that will test us to our limits, our faith will be put to the test, the question for us is: What will we do to strengthen that faith beforehand? For Jesus, the answer was clear: Prayer with the Father. Even though Jesus came into the world for the very day that was beginning, the prospect of bearing the world's sin upon his should must have been excruciating, not to mention the torture of a crucifixion itself. It was necessary, then, for Jesus to use prayer to strengthen his resolve to conform to his Father's will. If Jesus himself considered prayer to be a necessity, should not we as well?
As the disciples huddle behind locked doors on the evening of the first Easter, Jesus suddenly appears in their midst and tells them, "Peace be with you." These words and the proof of Jesus' resurrection later form the basis for the remarkable willingless of ten out of eleven (all but John) of the disciples choosing martyrdom over abandonment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even today, Jesus offers his peace to any who are willing to accept him.
