We associate different things with Easter. What comes to your mind when you think of that holiday? Easter _____ . (Fill in the blank.) Easter baskets. Easter candy. Easter dinner. Easter eggs. Maybe that and more.
How about Easter education?
That was part of that first Easter Sunday. That is why Jesus came to his troubled disciples that day. As we continue to contemplate and commemorate Easter, we listen and we learn. Jesus opens minds at Easter with a message of peace from the work, a message a peace in the Word, and a message of peace to the world. We read from …
Luke 24:36-49
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, our living Lord,
Open minded usually has the idea of being willing to consider something new. Perhaps along the lines of a recipe. Mom plunks something down on the table that doesn’t resemble chicken nuggets and French fries. Before there are any comments, she encourages those seated in the dining room to have an open mind about the entree.
But I am suggesting a different outlook than that. Like what goes on in a classroom. A teacher presents material to his or her students. They get it and grasp it because their minds have been opened. What was foreign to them before is familiar to them now. That is what our Savior does.
Jesus Opens Minds at Easter
1. With a message of peace from the work (36-43)
2. With a message of peace in the Word (44-46)
3. With a message of peace to the world (47-49)
1. With a message of peace from the work (36-43)
An educator once made the sarcastic comment: “School is not where young people come to watch older people work.” (By the way, it wasn’t me.) There must have been some frustration that those in the desks were less than enthused or excited and made it obvious with their lack of effort and energy. But it is different on Easter Sunday. It was all about what Jesus had done. The disciples needed that instruction. Jesus opens minds at Easter with a message of peace from the work.
Fear was the dominant emotion that Sunday (Jn 20:19). The 10 were huddled together behind locked doors. Jesus was dead. (So they supposed.) Crucified three days earlier. What was next? Or even who was next?
Sure there were the reports from the women who had gone to the tomb in the morning to anoint Jesus’ lifeless body. (Or so they suspected.) They had seen him taken from the wooden cross and placed in a borrowed grave. But they reported spotting an angel who said that Jesus was not there (Lk 24:6). And then they saw him. Peter also (Lk 24:34; 1 Co 15:5). The two came back from Emmaus, out of breath and filled with joy (Lk 24:13-32). All with the same message: “Jesus was alive.” Could it be? They had many things to chat about.
And then: “While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them” (Lk 24:36). He didn’t knock at the door. But there he was in the middle of them.
And he greeted them. “Peace be with you” (Lk 24:36). Peace was more than what he desired for them like our casual greeting, “Good Morning.” Peace was something that he delivered to them. He created it through his blood shed on the cross and now conveyed it (Col 1:20). It was the same thing that he had shared it with them a few days before on Maundy Thursday: “My peace I give you” (Jn 14:27). And now it was theirs. Peace. Peace between them and God. But hadn’t one denied? Yes. But there was no “how could you?”, but “peace to you.” But hadn’t they deserted him? Yes. But there was not, “shame on you!”, but “peace to you.” And he didn’t give them homework. “I did my part. Now do yours.” No, it was finished (Jn 19:30). Jesus died once and for all (He 7:27). There is nothing left to do. “Peace be with you” (Lk 24:36).
And that peace is ours to have and to hold. All is right between us and God. Because God punished Jesus in our place on the cross, we have peace with him (Is 53:5). “Peace be with you” (Lk 24:36). Enjoy it. “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ro 5:1). Jesus opens our minds at Easter with a message of peace from the work of dying and rising.
At first this was not helpful because they were horrified. “They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost” (Lk 24:37). That doesn’t imply that there is such a thing no more than when a child hears a bump in the night. What does immediately or automatically assume? It is a monster under the bed or in the closet. That doesn’t make them real. That is because they are not. As the disciples gave him their constant attention, there was absolute confusion.
Jesus addressed that quickly. “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?” (Lk 24:38). The thoughts in their heads were whirling and twirling like fruit in a blender for a morning breakfast smoothie. While that might be delicious, this was not desirable. So instead of students doing show and tell, Jesus does. “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have” (Lk 24:39). The fancy word is a “tactile” learner—one who acquires information by the sense of feel. You can describe a sheep as soft, but it is more meaningful if you feel some fleece. Or even go to a farm. This was no field trip though. Possibly the apostle John had this in mind when he jotted down: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (1 Jn 1:1). Jesus was alive. This was not a hologram or a hallucination. Their fingers did not lie.
Jesus lives, not because we wish it or want it. But because he revealed himself to his disciples. “He showed them his hands and feet” (Lk 24:40). That demonstration was definite. Those were the marks of Friday’s crucifixion—the very proof of our rescue from sin.
But it is not too surprising to hear: “They still did not believe it because of joy and amazement” (Lk 24:41). They didn’t want to be duped or deceived. So Jesus kept on convincing them: “‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence” (Lk 24:41-43). Jesus wanted them to be certain that it was indeed him and not some phantom. The food did not drop through him. It digested in him.
And he wants us to be sure. When we see those wounds on Jesus’ hands and feet, we can be confident that Jesus came out of the tomb to guarantee that our guilt is gone. “Peace be with you” (Lk 24:36). Jesus opens our minds at Easter with the message of peace from the work of heading to the cross and heading out of the grave. “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps 118:24).
2. With a message of peace in the Word (44-46)
An instructor doesn’t just peddle his ideas or promote her own ideals in class. There is usually a textbook or a reference work to consult or confer. That is what Jesus does. Jesus opens minds at Easter with a message of peace in the Word.
Jesus had taken them through the course material before. This was not the first time that they were exposed to the subject matter. “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (Lk 24:44). That three-part designation—the law, the prophets, and the psalms—is code for the Old Testament. He turned their attention to the Scriptures. And there was that divine necessity of carrying out every last thing that was put down from Moses to Malachi—from the Crusher of Satan to the Prince of peace, the Sun of Righteousness (Ge 3:15; Is 9:6; Mal 4:2). As the psalmist had us sing: “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone” (Ps 118:22; Acts 4:11).
Many of the Jews wanted to crucify him as Peter pointed out after healing that crippled man (Acts 4:10). We want to keep him. Like Peter also preached: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). We build our faith and base our trust on him.
It is easy to content ourselves with a basic knowledge of the Bible. It could be with the attitude of “I know enough.” We have the opportunity to dig in and bring out more of an appreciation for what Jesus had to do, did do. The Old Testament is not useless, but useful. As we study and search, we find out that there is not one thing that Jesus did not complete. All for us. And like Jesus put it together for his disciples (Lk 24:45), he brings it together for us as a teacher explains how simple subtraction fits into long division. Jesus opens our minds at Easter with a message of peace from the Word. “The LORD has become my salvation” (Ps 118:14).
3. With a message of peace to the world (47-49)
Pupils often dread the end of class. That typically means the time for an assignment. It is different with Jesus. This is not a bunch of math problems, but a bunch of mighty promises. Jesus opens minds at Easter with a message of peace to the world.
Jesus reminded them of the reality: “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day” (Lk 24:46). It was the third day and there was Jesus. He was the One anointed to offer up his life for us and take it up again. And now: “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Lk 24:47). As those men went about their work, they would point out one’s sins and point to one’s Savior. They would turn others to him, not from him. The starting point would be where they were and as far as they would go—finally into all the world (Mk 16:15; Acts 1:8). That would be their mission: “You are witnesses of these things” (Lk 24:48). What had gone into their eyes and ears would come out of their mouths and lives. But in a bit. “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Lk 24:49). Jesus would make good on that on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit would arrive in blessing.
We have seen and heard. And now we tell. There is forgiveness in Jesus. We kid ourselves if we think that we are without sin (1 Jn 1:8). Instead we confess them (1 Jn 1:9). And God sends them all away. He cancels them and cleanses us. “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 Jn 1:7). That is not just for us, but for all. Jesus opens our minds at Easter with a message of peace for the world. With the Messiah, we make clear: “I will not die, but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done” (Ps 118:17).
While there are fun and food at Easter, there is more. And it is not fear. Jesus lives. That kind of education opens minds. That is what Jesus did the first Easter. He opens minds with a message of peace from the work on the cross, in the Word of the Lord, and to the world of his love. Go in peace from the Savior, go to peace in the Bible, and go with peace around the globe. Christ is risen. Happy Easter. Amen.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ (1 Pe 5:14). Amen.
April 15, 2018
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