EASTER 2
April 24, 2022
Fr. Phil Eberhart
Who Moved the
Stone?
Can you imagine
being in the Disciples’ shoes that first day?
Our readings are filled with activity for them and for us!
First thing in
the morning, the women go to the tomb and find it empty. They run back but Mary lingers and “runs into”
Jesus. Mistaking Him for the gardener
she begs him to reveal where they have taken Jesus! Resurrection was certainly not on their
radar?
The women carry
the news back to the disciples and are laughed out of the room. But Peter and John run to the tomb (no doubt
or confusion as to where it is) to see the grave clothes empty and the head piece
folded neatly and set apart from the shroud Jesus was wrapped in.
Meanwhile two
disciples (not part of the Eleven who are locked in the Upper Room), encounter
a stranger on the road to Emmaus who tells them all about the things that have
been going on and explains it all from the Torah and the Prophetic Writings! Then when they sit down to eat, he breaks the
bread and they realize it was Jesus all along!
And He disappears as they are eating with him. Heart Burn!!
They run the seven or so miles back to the Upper Room and burst in with
the news … AGAIN … that Jesus is alive!
Just then… our
reading this morning!
Jesus shows up in
the locked room. “PEACE BE WITH YOU” - I imagine
they were scared out of their wits! They
have no frame of reference for this, even though he told them several times
that this was going to happen.
[ Val told me about a comic strip of the
conversation between Pilate and Joseph of Arimathea about the Body of Jesus:
Pilate: So let me
get this straight, You, one of the richest men in Jerusalem, with a brand new
tomb, want the body of this Jesus character, and you’re going to give him your
new tomb! I don’t get it.
Joseph: Oh, don’t worry about it … it’s only for the
weekend!]
Now the disciples
are totally undone! Here stands Jesus! Can you imagine Peter’s reaction? From silence in the corner, very
uncharacteristic for Peter, to (how does he later describe it?) as “Joy
unspeakable or inexpressible and full of glory.” 1 Pet 1:8
And if you read that full verse in context it says
almost the same thing as Jesus tells Thomas here, word for word! Though
you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe
in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,” Where do you think that all came from?
It
came from this scene in the Upper Room on the first night of the Resurrection
appearances of Jesus!
Friends,
The Resurrection
changes everything! It’s not just a cool
story that is the fairy tale ending of a horrible predicament! Tale of terrible suffering that ends in
triumph! It’s not JUST A TALE – it’s
not a fable or what do the liberals call it – oh yes : A MYTH!
This is no MYTH! No nursery rhyme with a neat ending.
This is A Creation-Altering
FACT.
A week ago last night
Jacob did a masterful job of laying out the arguments over the ages for a dead
Jesus. But they all FAIL because of THE FACTS.
Never mind the
Eye Witness testimony of people who saw Him die, dead and buried, then alive,
speaking, walking, eating, teaching.
Eye witnesses,(the pinnacle of courtroom testimony) many of whom were still
alive at the writing of the Gospel accounts!
And very able to immediately speak up and say, “NOT SO FAST THERE!”
Never mind the Disciples
themselves who were one minute cowering in the upper room corner for fear that they
were going to be next on the Jewish leaders’ list! And the next minute, they’re standing in the
open Temple Square proclaiming a Risen Jesus, whom they must Proclaim and Obey
over the temple authorities and Romans.
On pain of imprisonment and beating.
How do you explain that?
And what about
the soldiers?
1) Roman’s don’t sleep on duty – they die if they
do!
2) Disciples who are fearing for their lives don’t
move rocks and steal bodies – not these anyway!
3) So … WHO MOVED THE STONE? Just Google that question!! I dare you.
And finally, what
about the Body itself? No Jesus has been
found in any tomb… EVER.
WHY?
ALLELUIA !! ALLELUIA!
THE LORD IS RISEN.
THE LORD IS RISEN
INDEED. ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA!!
The Lord is Risen
… Indeed! In Truth and in the flesh! He was raised Bodily from the dead! He cooked and ate fish and bread, and they
were able to touch His wounds.
For 40 days in
all kinds of places and with all numbers of people Jesus appeared alive and
well. Can we say that this was the Disciples’
A HA MOMENT?
I’d love to say
FINALLY, they got it!
But not
really. On the morning of His Ascension,
they were still questioning him about his plans to overthrow Rome and set up
His own Kingdom! They never REALLY got it
until they were indwelt by the Holy Spirit Himself on Pentecost!
The period from
the Ascension to Pentecost – what we call the “Ten Days Together in the Upper Room”
followed by the Day of Pentecost had to be the most soul searching, prayerful,
desperate days of anticipation and questioning.
Ask … Seek …
Knock! God will give you the gift
of the Holy Spirit; the gift My Father
promised; the Well springing up within you!
Can you imagine?
40 days with
Jesus … alive in your midst. Walking,
teaching, one-on-one time, Thomas’s “come-to-Jesus meeting”. “MY LORD AND MY GOD!”
Blessed are those
who have not seen yet they believe!
That’s us
friends.
The proofs, the
reasonableness of the FACTS of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
are in my mind irrefutable to the rational mind and to faith (even faith as
small as a mustard seed, like Jesus said.)
Paul tells us
that this belief: That Jesus was risen
from the dead is at the absolute center of our salvation and that our
confession of this belief with our mouth is equally central to our salvation.
THE LORD IS
RISEN! THE LORD IS RISEN
INDEED!!
Did anyone here
have to cross your fingers when you said that second part?
If so… Google “whomovedthestone?”
and read about it in detail. Book has
been around since 1930!
AND SO…
If you can
answer: The LORD IS RISEN INDEED and you
believe it in your heart, you are “saved.”
Everyone who “calls on the Name of the Lord, will be saved.”
But if you’ve
never heard this before – or you’ve heard it but like Thomas and most of the
other disciples, there is still doubt… still questions in the back of your
mind. IT’S OK!! Jesus did not throw Thomas away here! Peter could not walk on the water all the way,
and later denied Jesus (while they were face to face in the courtyard of the
High Priest’s house!)
Please, please,
let someone know; me or another
Christian friend. Call or text me. Don’t just ignore your questions? READ UP!!
FIND OUT, for your sake!
This is heaven or
hell. Answer the question: WHO MOVED THE STONE?
WHAT DO YOU
BELIEVE ABOUT THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD AND IT’S MEANING
FOR YOU AND FOR LIVING YOUR LIFE FROM NOW ON?
Let’s pray:
Heavenly Father,
you have delivered us from the dominion of sin and death, and brought us into
the kingdom of your beloved Son: Grant that, as by his death he has called us
to life, so by his love he may raise us to eternal joys; who lives and reigns
with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
