Standing at the Tomb of Jesus

"Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb" (John 20:1)

Imagine for a moment, beloved, that you are standing at the tomb of Jesus within hours following His resurrection. And imagine how you personally would react to the stone standing off to the side and the entrance to the tomb open and accessible to you. How would you respond? What would you do?

Three separate people at least visited the tomb that morning and in their reactions to the stone rolled back and the empty tomb we discover how people today in our world tend to respond to the good news of the risen Christ. Note first how Mary Magdalene responded following the visit of Peter and John to the tomb:

"But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb" (v.11)

The Greek word parakupto means "stoop down near or by" something and let's us know that hers was a "cursory" glance into the tomb. This is the look of a casual bystander. She had no intention of looking further but, in her grief, merely glanced toward the open tomb. Today so many people hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, but do so with distracted hearts, not really taking in the true message of grace.

Peter's view, however, was entirely different. As he arrived at the tomb following the more fleet of foot John, he went immediately inside:

"Simon Peter therefore also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he beheld the linen wrappings lying there..." (v.6)

The Greek word theoreo means "look at, examine closely" and is the word from which our English "theory" comes. Peter and John had run to the tomb because they had not believed Mary's report. So Peter went into the tomb as an "investigator," one looking for facts to prove his supposition that Jesus was still dead. His was the concentrated look of one who investigates thoroughly, yet without belief. And today lost people will hear the gospel message again and again, perhaps in church services and perhaps without, but still without responding in faith to the message they have come to know so well.

John's view was even more distinct from either Mary's or Peter's. He had followed Peter's bold move and gone into the tomb himself. He too looked around inside the burial vault:

"So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb entered then also, and he saw and believed" (v.8)

The Greek word horao means "see with perception or understanding." John saw all that Peter saw within the empty tomb, yet his seeing led to spiritual discernment and the sure conviction that Jesus had clearly risen from the dead, just as He had said that He would do. His was the look of one convinced by the evidence and established on personal faith. How thankful we are today for those who truly hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, are convicted of personal sinfulness, and convinced that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God, and who put their trust in Him as Savior and Lord.

What is your reaction going to be as you too, through the experience of another Easter holiday, "stand at the tomb of Jesus," beloved? Will your experience of this holy day be casual, gaining from you just a cursory look or thought, a passing glance and then on with life as usual? Or perhaps you will be one who traditionally concentrates on the message of Easter, respectfully and reverently, yet without allowing that message to touch your heart personally? Hopefully, yours will be the response of a convicted and convinced listener, a worshiper who opens his or her heart fully to Jesus Christ and to all that He can bring to you. We are all "standing at the tomb" in this season. What will our world see our reaction to be?

Ron

Just How Thirsty Are You?

"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, 'If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink'" (John 7:37)

Surely the deepest longing of the human heart must be that of spiritual well-being, beloved! Jesus called it "hungering" and "thirsting" for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). Such a hunger fills the hearts of so many people today, but few really seem to know what to do about it.

At a ceremonial celebration, Jesus stood before the people of Israel and proclaimed Himself to be the satisfaction of that hunger and thirst. As He told the woman at the well in Samaria, those who come to Him in true faith will never again know such spiritual longing, but will find their hearts and souls filled to overflowing with His love and mercy and grace.

But there is a requirement if we are ever to know such spiritual satisfaction, beloved. First of all, we must truly thirst after Him. Just how thirsty are you today? Does your soul long for the deeper waters of a spiritual intimacy with Jesus that few believers ever seem to find?

Secondly, we just come to Him in sincere faith. It does us no good to think wistfully of the possibility of spiritual overflowing while just before us stands the source of everlasting water from which we will not drink. Just how thirsty are you? Enough to come to Him in genuine faith and trust?

Finally, we must truly drink of His grace and love in an everlasting relationship wherein we yield to Him all that we are or ever hope to be. We must forsake all of the broken cisterns and dried-up wells of this world and make Him our sole resource in life. Just how thirsty are you? Will you drink of Jesus and find in Him all that your soul desires and needs?

If we do, as He promised the Samaritan woman, He will become in each of us "a well of water springing up to eternal life" (John 4:14). Would you have your life to overflow with those rivers of grace that are found only in the Lord Jesus Christ? Just how thirsty are you? Are you thirsty enough to come to Him in simple and child-like faith, committing the whole of yourself to His love and to His right to rule your life? Are you ready, believer or not, to "drink" of Jesus and to drink long and deeply? His supply is unending! All you need to do is come. He is waiting for you.

Ron

No Man Cares for My Soul!

"Look to the right and see; for there is no one who regards me; there is no escape for me; no one cares for my soul" (Psalm 142:4)

NO MAN CARES FOR MY SOUL! Is that not the most mournful cry of the human heart ever uttered among men, beloved? Yet I was reminded recently of just how often this cry wings its way skyward from hearts that do not yet know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. How can those who do not have such a relationship with Him think much of us who do when we so often pass up God-given opportunities to share the good news of Calvary with them?

If you have visited my blog site, you have no doubt noted my recommendation of our son Jerry's blog which you can find easily at this site - http://www.jerrythinks.blogspot.com - and I still encourage you to visit his site if you want a real blessing. Most recently he has posted a short video clip featuring celebrity Penn Jillette of the comedy team of Penn & Teller. Jillette relates on the video an experience he had just had with a man who was obviously a Christian. From the sounds of it, he was also a Gideon - businessmen known far and wide for the placing of the Scriptures in schools, hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, and more.

In the video clip, Jillette related how this man who had been to see his show came up to him afterward to tell him that he enjoyed it and to sincerely compliment him on his talent. By his own admission an avowed atheist, Jillette was surprised when the man presented to him a copy of the Gideon New Testament with the Psalms. In a non-aggressive and completely disarming way, according to Jillette's own account, this man shared with him the love of Jesus Christ. Jillette's response? He concluded his video clip by telling his listeners that this was a very "good man," and went on to urge those who have strong Christian beliefs to be bold in telling others. In fact, Jillette stated emphatically that he deeply respects those who have such beliefs and who believe them enough to try to "proselytize" others. By contrast, he concluded that he has no respect for professing Christians who will not speak up for their beliefs. The question which he then posed and that which utterly gripped my heart was this:

"How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?"

As I watched the video clip and heard Penn Jillette's own words commending this believer who had the courage to confront a major star lovingly with the gospel of Jesus Christ, I began to be amazed at just how "right on" Jillette is. How often in our lives as Christians today, you and I who profess that we believe in Jesus Christ and love Jesus Christ and would do anything for Jesus Christ, we ought to be asking ourselves why there is yet left even one person in this whole wide world whose heart still cries out and says: "I looked all around me in my life and could find no one who cares about my soul"?

May God have mercy on us for our lack of compassion, beloved, and may He light a fire within each of us to let this lost world know and know now that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. I hope that Penn Jillette's own words, those of a professing atheist, will convict your hearts as they did mine. By the way, if you'd like to see the video, check out Jerry's blog site. Just click on the blog address link above and, once there, click on the word "March" on the archive list. Then, when you see Penn Jillette's face appear, all you have to do is hit the "play" button. God bless you.

Ron

What Is That in Your Hand?

"And He said to them, 'How many loaves have you? Go look!' And when they found out, they said, 'Five and two fish'" (Mark 6:38).

It all began with Moses standing before God, beloved, protesting that he was perhaps not the best choice to be redeemer of Israel. He tried to use the excuse that they might not believe God had sent him. What was he to do then? In response, God asked him a simple question, one that He has been asking throughout man's history and asks of us even today:

"And the Lord said to him, 'What is that in your hand?'" (Exodus 4:2a).

We all know how that simple shepherd's staff became in the hands of Moses "the rod of God," beloved. With it God used him to confound Pharaoh's magicians, to part the waters of the Red Sea, and to utterly defeat the Amalekites at Rephidim. And it all began simply with what he had in his hand!

And when the impoverished widow, in fear of starving to death, came to Elisha and appealed to him as the man of God on behalf of herself and her sons, he too asked her:

"And Elisha said to her, 'What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?'" (2 Kings 4:2a).

Here was a lady who needed a miracle from God and where did the man of God focus her attention? Upon that which was already at hand! Clearly, beloved, God operates within our lives with His own certain "expectation" from us. He expects us to take what we already have been given and use it for His glory with all of our might.

When the disciples came to Jesus expecting yet another miracle, asking Him how they could possibly hope to feed that great throng of people at Bethsaida, His reply to them echoed His Father's attitude found earlier in Scripture:

"And He said to them, 'How many loaves have you? Go look!'"

Jesus was asking them - "What is that in your hand?" - and letting them know for certain that they would begin with that provision already present. Jesus knew full well what He intended to do already to feed them all, but this was a wonderful opportunity to teach His disciples a very important lesson in life.

We have sadly become today a people who seem to live by the principle - "Have a need, expect a miracle." The thought of using what we already have for God's glory and our own good seldom seems to occur to us. But God is still operating within His world today with that same sense of divine "expectation," that is, by asking us first, "What is that in your hand?"

If you have your Bible handy as you are reading this devotional, beloved, let me ask you to pick it up and hold it for a moment. If not, then just imagine that you are holding it. Now let me ask you, "What is that in your hand?" God has already provided us with all of the resources of divine truth and principles for living as Christians that we could ever hope to receive via one miracle or another! But what are you doing with it? Do you live daily by its standards? Are you claiming its promises? Are you bringing your life into line with its expectations?

If you would see the miracles of God in your life today, beloved, then you must first make sure that what is in your hand already is being used for God's glory and for the advancement of His kingdom. What is that in your hand?

Ron

Worship Outside the Walls

"I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship" (Romans 12:1)

How many of you have ever heard someone say, "I don't feel that I need to go to church in order to worship God?" Now, for the record, the focus of this week's devotional thoughts is not on who goes to church and who does not! But there is an unusual sense in which that oft-heard statement is true. "Worship" is not limited to what happens between 11 a.m. and noon on Sunday morning. I recall preaching a message years ago entitled "From the Postlude to the Prelude" which dealt with that very issue of what takes place when we are not "at church." Would it surprise you to learn that what takes place, or at least what is supposed to take place outside of scheduled worship services is worship itself?

It's true! Note in the words of the apostle Paul to the saints in the city of Rome his reference to that which is every believer's "spiritual service of worship." Our problem is that, whenever we see the word "worship," we customarily think of organ and piano music or praise bands, of free-flowing spontaneous congregational praise or solemn liturgy, of joyful jubilation or quiet reverence. But we seldom seem to think in terms of true "service" unto God. And that is what the thrust of the Greek word latreia is. In fact, it is likely that the King James Version carries for us the best translation possible here:

"which is your reasonable service"

As latreia in that day focused upon the actual service which the Levitical priests offered unto God daily in the temple, so our "worship" must include that which we give to Him in ministry through the living of our lives, a "worship without walls." Your "spiritual service of worship," then, that which He has every right to expect from you as His redeemed one, is that sacrifice of your whole life in living daily so as to glorify His name and accomplish His purposes. Don't leave your "worship" at church, beloved, but make it a matter of ongoing ministry, moment-by-moment as you seek to glorify Jesus Christ!

Ron