"None Is So Blind" Sermon: John 9:35-41

“None is So Blind”

[John 9:35-41]

April 17, 2016 Second Reformed Church

            We are considering the last section of the history of this blind man that John tells us about:  Jesus met this blind man along the road and revealed to the disciples that he had been born blind that God would be glorified in Jesus’ healing of him.  So, Jesus sent the man to be healed, and he came back sighted.

            The Pharisees were angered because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, and they interviewed the man and his parents to find out if the healing was real, and what the man concluded about Jesus.  And the man told the Pharisees that he believed that Jesus was a prophet from God.  The Pharisees were angered by his answer and excommunicated him from the Temple and thereby the formal worship of God.

            Jesus had left when the Pharisees were brought in, but Jesus was not done with the man, and we see, first, this morning, Jesus made it clear to the man that Jesus is the Son of Man.

            “Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.’”

            Jesus had been keeping track of the man as he was interviewed by the Pharisees, and once they cast him out of their presence, Jesus again came to the man, because Jesus was not done with him.  The man had understood that Jesus was from God, he regarded Jesus as a rabbi and a prophet – one who spoke for God and spoke the Word of God, but it does not seem that the man had fully understood Who Jesus is, and Jesus wanted his spiritual, as well as physical eyes, to be opened.

            So Jesus asked the man if he believed in the “Son of Man.”

            Well, Who is that?

            We may remember that Jesus’ favorite title for Himself was “the Son of Man” – Jesus called Himself “the Son of Man” more often than anything else.

            Ezekiel was called “the Son of Man” 93 times by God, and this prophet is a type or a foreshadow of the Messiah – the Christ.

            Daniel had a vision that told Who the Son of Man is: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.  And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion,        which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14, ESV).

            The Son of Man is a human, Who came from heaven, Who stands before God, and He is sovereign over everything and everyone and all peoples, nations, and languages shall eternally serve Him.

            The fulfillment of this text is found in the Gospels – as Matthew records it: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’” (Matthew 28:18, ESV).

            The first century Jews understood the “Son of Man” to be the Messiah – the Savior – and they were correct.  The Savior is a human being Who stands before God, Who came from heaven, Who is Sovereign over everything that is and was and shall ever be, and He has a kingdom of people who are His eternally.  Including a certain blind man.

            Jesus was asking if the man believed in the promised Savior.  And the man said that he did – and he asked Jesus Who “the Son of Man” is, and Jesus told the man, “you’re talking to Him.”  Jesus told the man – most plainly – that Jesus is the God-Man, the promised Savior – the One Who stands before humans and God -- Who intercedes for us and makes us right with God – if we believe – the Sovereign God Who saves a people for Himself.

            One of my doctors is an Orthodox Jew, and during my visit this week, he said, “I don’t think you’ll mind my asking:  do Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah?”

            And I said, “Yes, we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and He came the first time to reveal Who He is, and He will return to judge and to restore the Creation.”

            And he said, “You may not know this, but Jews don’t believe that Jesus is the Messiah; we believe that Messiah will come about the year 6,000 (on the Jewish calendar – about 200 years or so from now) and set up his kingdom then.”

            Do you believe in “the Son of Man”?

            Do you believe in the promised Savior?

            Do you know Who He is?

            Do we take the opportunities to ask other people if they believe?

            If we can ask people about their family and friends and jobs and that strange mole they were having looked at, can we not also ask them the most important question in anyone’s life – do you believe in the Savior?

            Once Jesus told the man that He is “the Son of Man,” everything fell in place for him, and we see, second, the man believed savingly and worshipped Jesus.

            “He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him.”

            The man understood that Jesus is the Savior and He is God – the One God Who is worthy of worship.  No pious Jew would ever have worshipped a human being unless they knew – without a doubt – that this Man – is also the One True God.

            The man had his spiritually blind eyes opened, and he understood that the promised Savior was both God and human at the same time in the same person.

            Among our friends, we may have Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons.  Both of these religions say that Jesus is the Son of God.  Both of these religions think Jesus is very important and a holy man.  But they stop short of saying He is God Himself – so they do not worship Him as God.

            Jesus received worship as God from men and women while He was on earth:  we will remember as we looked at the Resurrection account, Jesus met the women on the road from the tomb and they clung to His feet and worshipped Him.  Jesus received this worship from them because He is God and it is right to worship Him – not simply to adore Him or hold Him in high regard.

            Once our spiritual eyes have been opened and we believe in Jesus – as He is taught in the Bible – we believe with our minds and our hearts and worship God our Savior – we proclaim the worth of Jesus because He is God the Savior.

            Jesus continued, third, by explaining why He came into the world.

            “Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.’”

            Our first reaction to this might be to say, “Wait a minute – didn’t Jesus tell Nicodemus that He did not come into the world to judge the world?  Isn’t that what we say – that Jesus came to reveal Himself now, and the judgment will occur when He returns?”

            Sort of.

            What was recorded about Jesus and Nicodemus?

            “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:16-21, ESV).

            What we have here is a statement that Jesus did not come to condemn the world.  He did not come to condemn the whole world.  He did not come to condemn those who will be cast into Hell.  He did not come to enact the final punishment deserved by those who never believe.

            However, Jesus does judge – Jesus does make distinctions among people – just like we do – right?  We say, “Don’t judge people,” but we make a distinction between male and female, honest and dishonest, short and tall, and so forth.

            In John three, Jesus judges – He does not condemn eternally, but He makes a distinction:  that is, the Light came into the world – Jesus came into the world, but the people preferred the darkness because they desired and loved evil.  Everyone who hates the Light, hates Jesus, because He exposes what is evil.  Everyone who loves the Light, loves Jesus, because He leads us in righteousness.

            So, judgement is made.

            Here, Jesus told the man that His judgment comes to two ends – He distinguished between two types of people based on their reaction to Him:  the blind are given sight, and those who can see are blinded.

            Now, Jesus didn’t mean that literally.  What Jesus was saying is that His presence – the presence of the Light in the world, would free those who knew they were blind spiritually and wanted deliverance – they would see, but those who claim to see perfectly well, but denied Jesus, would have their spiritual blindness confirmed.

            We may be familiar with the quote popularized by the Puritan commentator, Matthew Henry, “None so blind as those who will not see” (http://www.quotecounterquote.com/2011/04/none-so-blind-as-those-that-will-not.html).

            Henry used this quote several times in his commentary on the Bible in regards to passages such as this – meaning that the person who is most blind is the person who could see but refuses.  There is a self-inflicted blindness of the soul being referred to in these passages that makes the individual all the more guilty for his blindness.

            Isaiah had a call to the ministry that paralleled this idea:

            “And [God] said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’   Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts,      and turn and be healed.” 

“Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”

            “And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.  And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.”

            “The holy seed is its stump” (Isaiah 6:9-13, ESV).

            This is Isaiah’s call to the ministry from God: “I am sending you to preach to my people, and as you preach their deafness and blindness will be solidified, and they will completely turn away from Me.  And you are to continue to preach with everyone hating you and turning away from Me until 90% of them are taken into captivity.”

            Similarly, Jesus came to preach that those who are blind would come to spiritual sight, and those who claimed to be sighted would be convicted of their spiritual blindness – to the end that they would kill Jesus.

            Some of the Pharisees heard what Jesus was saying to the man, and we see, finally, those who refuse to admit their need for and belief in Jesus as Savior will bear their own guilt.

            “Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, ‘Are we also blind?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, “We see,” your guilt remains.’”

            The name, “Pharisees,” means “the set apart ones.”  The Pharisees were the pastor-theologians of their day.  They kept themselves separate from the common people, studied the Old Testament, and strived to keep all of God’s Law.  Although we use the word negatively today, it was not originally negative.  It came to be synonymous with “hypocrites” as certain Pharisees – as we see in the New Testament – became more concerned with their interpretations and additions to God’s Law than God Himself.

            In that light, the Pharisees asked Jesus is they also were blind.  “Yes, we understand that this sinner was blind, and You have healed him.  We understand that the common person in Israel is a blind sinner.  But You aren’t saying that we – the best educated, most law-abiding people – are also blind, are You?”

            Jesus explained that if they were blind – if they acknowledged their blindness and their need for a Savior – a need for His healing of them – they would be enlightened – made sighted – they would be forgiven for the guilt of their sin and received into the Kingdom of the Savior.  But since they say they are not blind – since they insist that they are perfectly sighted, then the guilt of their sin will be held against them – they will have to pay the debt for their own sin – apart from the Savior.

            There was another time when the Pharisees were complaining that Jesus was eating with tax-collections and sinners, and we read, “And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners’” (Mark 2:17, ESV).

            Unless someone recognizes that he is sick – sick even with a sickness unto death – he will not seek out a doctor.  People who are sick, but believe they are well, do not go to a doctor.

            How urgent is it for us to know and tell others that without Jesus, we are dead and blind and sick and scheduled to bear the debt for our own sins – something we can never do?

            The man born blind received his physical sight from Jesus, but, more importantly, he came to understand that Jesus is God the Savior, and the man believed in Him savingly and was saved from the debt of his sin.

            If the blind man had not believed that he was desperately in need, he never would have been able to receive the message of salvation from Jesus.  People who think that they have everything under control will not seek or except help – especially if it reveals that they are truly in need, after all.

            But that is the message we are all called to believe and tell others – we are born sinners – at odds with God – and the only way we can be made right with God is by believing in Who Jesus is and what He did for our salvation as recorded in the Bible.

            If we have believed, shall we go out on the roads and call people to believe and repent? 

            It may be that God has planned to save a CEO or a homeless person or someone here this morning through our witness to Jesus.

            Let us pray:

            Almighty God, we thank You for causing us to see when we were spiritually blind.  Thank You for breaking us and causing us to see the need that only You can fill.  Give us wisdom as we go throughout the streets that when we meet people we would have the right words to direct them to You – to show them their need of You – and we ask that You would be pleased to save all Your people through our proclamation of Your Gospel.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Review: "Wittenberg VS Geneva"

   Let me begin by saying I love the cover to the book, Wittenberg VS Geneva:  A Biblical Bout in Seven Rounds on the Doctrines that Divide by Brian W. Thomas.  Very entertaining and eye-catching!

   Thomas presents a well-argued and readable contradistinction between Lutheran and Calvinist theology -- arguing for the former -- on the issues of Atonement, Predestination, the Sacramental Word, Baptism Saves, 2 chapters on the Lord's Supper, and Apostasy and Assurance.  He ends his work with The Saxon Visitation Articles of 1592 (which I had never read) and a bibliography and Scripture index.

   Thomas says the "rounds" will go forth with two hermeneutical principles:

   1. Scripture interprets Scripture.

   2. The literal or plain sense of the text will be held (xiii).

   That being said, he makes his case for the veracity and triumph of the Lutheran view on these topics.  While I found the Calvinist view sometimes two-dimensional (probably because I think the Calvinist interpretation of these things is more accurate), I believe he did a fair job in explaining the differences between the two schools of thought and what their understanding of these things are.

   For me, the greatest asset to this book is coming to have a better understanding of my Lutheran brothers and sisters in the faith.  So, if you are not a Lutheran, read this book, and if you are a Lutheran, read this book and share it with someone who is not.  I am better able to understand the Lutheran view thanks to this book.

   However, I remain a Calvinist.  I do not find that the Lutheran arguments trump the Calvinist ones.  "Simply" read the book in reverse to understand why!

  I do, however, grow in my humility about the difficult things of the Scripture.  There are things that I (and others Calvinists) don't have just right -- and I believe my Lutheran brother would agree.  I believe our distinctives are important, and I will argue for the better interpretation to the best of my ability.  I thank Mr. Thomas for his excellent work in this book in helping me to understand how Lutherans come to their understanding of these things.

#WittenbergVSGeneva

[This review appears on my blog and on Amazon.com.  I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.]

"An Amazing Thing" Sermon: John 9:8-34

“An Amazing Thing”

[John 9:8-34]

April 10, 2016 Second Reformed Church

    Last week we saw Jesus come upon a man who was born blind, and Jesus explained to the disciples that the man had been born blind -- not as a result of anyone's sin -- but God caused him to be born blind that God would be glorified -- that Jesus would be revealed as God the Son and Savior -- in the healing of the man of his blindness.

    So Jesus healed the man -- He spit in the dirt and spread the mud on the man's eyes and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam, and the man did, and he was healed, and he returned to thank Jesus.

    We continue this history by looking at how the Pharisees reacted to this man being healed, and we see, first, the man testified that Jesus healed him.

    "The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, 'Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?' Some said, 'It is he.' Others said, 'No, but he is like him.' He kept saying, 'I am the man.' So they said to him, 'Then how were your eyes opened?' He answered, 'The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, "Go to Siloam and wash." So I went and washed and received my sight.' They said to him, 'Where is he?' He said, 'I do not know.'”

    This man who had been born blind was well-known as a begger that sat along the road and begged for alms.  But now, he was walking among all his neighbors that he had never seen with his eyes, telling them that he had been healed, and the neighbors were confused:

    "Is this the man who used to sit and beg?  It looks like him, but that man had been born blind, is it possible that he could have been healed?  Is it possible that his sight could have been given to him?  This has never happened, is it him?"

    "Yes, it is him.  I recognize his clothes and his smell.  I reognize his face -- not that I looked at him that closly, he was a begger, but still, I know this is the same man."

    "You're crazy.  People born blind don't get healed.  This is not the same man; it is someone who looks just like him.  You know, everyone has a double somewhere on earth.  Well, sometimes they cross paths.  This cannot be the same man."

    And the man kept telling them, "Yes, it is I; I am the man who sat for years begging by the side of the road.  I am the man that you know was born blind."

    And then they ask the important question:  "Then how were your eyes opened?"

    "Jesus did it!  Jesus made mud and spread it on my eyes and told me to wash in the pool of Siloam and He gave me sight."

    The man boldly testified Who the Healer was.  Though it was general knowledge that people who supported Jesus would be in trouble with the Pharisees, he could not help but testify to Jesus' miraculous healing work.

    We need to be that bold.  Not obnoxious, but bold.  We need to take every opportunity to tell people about Jesus and what He has done.

    What holds you back?  It can be nerve-wracking.  People could be offened.  Is it worth telling them how great our God is and the salvation He has made?

    "Where is He?  We want to ask Him some questions.  We want to know more about how He did this."

    But we see throughtout the Gospels that Jesus worked on the time schedule the Trinity planned before the foundation of the world -- and Jesus was nowhere to be found.  The man did not know where Jesus was.  The questions of the neighbors would have to wait.

    What would not wait was bringing the man to the Pharisees.

    And we see, second, the man testified that Jesus is a prophet.

    "They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, 'He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.' Some of the Pharisees said, 'This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.' But others said, 'How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?' And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, 'What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?' He said, 'He is a prophet.'”

    We're not told why the neighbors brought the man to the Pharisees.  It coud have been because the man had been healed and the neighbors thought the Pharisees should know.  It could have been because Jesus healed the man and the Pharisees were seeking a way to kill Jesus.  It could have been because Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath -- which is an issue we have looked at before.  But we're not told.

    For the first time, the text tells us that Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath, and from past experience in reading the Gospels, we do well to groan.  The Pharisees believed that any work -- even doing good -- was forbidden on the Sabbath. 

    But Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath," (Mark 2:27b, ESV).

    In other words, the Sabbath law was not given for humans to have one more list of does and don'ts, but to free us from our regular work, our striving and seeking to earn a living, and, instead, have one day in seven for worship and doing good to the Glory of God.

    So, the Pharisees asked the man how he had been healed, and the man told him that Jesus had made mud, spread it on his eyes, told him to wash in the pool of Siloam, and the man came back to Jesus sighted.

    And some of the Pharisees argued:

    Anyone who is from God will keep God's Law.

    The Sabbath law requires that we do no work.

    Jesus worked on the Sabbath by making mud and healing this man.

    Therefore, Jesus is not from God.

    But other Pharisees argued:

    If Jesus is not from God, how was He able to heal a man born blind?

    The Pharisees were divided.  It made no sense to them:  someone who broke their interpretation of the Law was a sinner, he could not be from God.  But Jesus broke their interpretation of the Law and He was able to heal a man born blind.  How can this be understood?

    The problem is when we add to God's Law -- when we add restrictions to God's Law or add a false interpretation of God's Law -- and this can be done with all good intentions, but it doesn't mean it is right.  In fact, it perverts the Gospel.

    The church I was at in high school and college had a group in it that worked with the young people, and as I grew my hair long, I was told that having long hair would send me to Hell.  And when I started listening to rock music, I was told that listening to rock music would send me to Hell.  And when I declared my major in Philosophy, I was told that studying philosophy would send me to Hell. And when I got my ears pierced, I was told that getting my ears pierced would send me to Hell.

    Even if any of those things are sins -- and I don't believe they are -- they would not send me to Hell.  Jesus said there is only one unforgiveable sin -- there is only one way to guarentee you will go to Hell:

    "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:31-32, ESV).

    The only sin that will never, never, never be forgiven is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.  What's that?  It is denying the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Everything else can be forgiven, but if you persist in your unbelief until death, you will go to Hell.

    So, the Pharisees turned to the man:  "You're the one who was born blind and now sees -- what do you conclude about this Man, Jesus?"

    "He is a prophet."

    In other words, Jesus is a Man from God -- a Man with a divine mission from God.

    The man answered the Pharisees directly and truthfully -- faithfully -- with the only answer that they found absolutely unacceptable, so they decided to confirm his blindness from birth with his parents.

    And we see, third, the man's parents confirmed that he was born blind.

    "The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, 'Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?' His parents answered, 'We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.' (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) Therefore his parents said, 'He is of age; ask him.'”

    The Pharisees concluded that this was a hoax to gain publicity for Jesus:  this man was never blind in the first place -- it was a con job.

    So, the Pharisees asked the man's parents two questions:

    Is this your son who was born blind?

    How is he able to see?

    To the first question, they had no problem:  Yes, this is our son, and he was born blind.

    The second question, they decided they could not answer.  Not that they didn't know they answer -- the text is clear that they did know that Jesus healed the man -- and they believed with him that Jesus must be the Christ -- the Savior.  But if they answered that the man was healed by Jesus, and Jesus is the One Sent by God, they knew the Pharisees said they would excommunicate anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Christ.

    And out of fear, the man's parents said, "We don't know how he was healed or who healed him -- ask him, he's an adult -- he can tell you better than we can."

    We can understand their fear:  to be excommunicated from the Temple would separate them from the community, it could make dealing in the market difficult, and -- most importantly -- they would be cut off from the worship of God.

    Whether they believed in Jesus as the Christ or not, they didn't dare say that He was or anything like it for fear of being banned from the Temple.

    In the early Church and around the world today, Christians meet in secret, because we are not called to seek out martyrdom.  Yet, as we have seen frequently in the past weeks and months, when these Christians are threatened with death if they don't recant -- at least some -- dozens -- hundreds -- have said they would not, and were decapitated or blown up.

    Do you know what the most persecuted religious group across history is -- far and away in numbers of martyrs?  Christianity.  A 2013 study showed that ten per cent of Christians world-wide are being slaughtered for their faith each year (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-james-clark/christianity-most-persecuted-religion_b_2402644.html).

    Are you willing to be put to death for your faith?  Or will you lie with the man's parents?

    Fourth, the man testified that he glorified God.

    "So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, 'Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.' He answered, 'Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.' They said to him, 'What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?' He answered them, 'I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?'”

    So the Pharisees turned to the man again and commanded him to give glory to God for his healing -- which was appropriate -- not to Jesus for healing him, because Jesus is a sinner -- that is, a man Who is against God.

    And the man answered, "I don't know Jesus' heart; I don't know if He is against God or not.  All I can tell you is that I was blind and now I can see."  In other words, "Of course Jesus is not against God; how could anyone do this miracle if He were not from God?"

    So the Pharisees tried to make him slip up -- "What did He do to heal you?"  "There must be something He did that will make us understand how you got your eyesight and also show us that Jesus is against God."

    The man wasn't taking the bait:  "I told you already.  Didn't you listen?  Do you want me to tell you again?  I know you listened by the way you interrogated my parents.  Why do you want to hear the story again?  Do you want to join me in becoming a disciple of Jesus?"

    Notice:  "Do you also want to become his disciples."  The man believed enough about Jesus to know that He was a prophet and Someone that he wanted to follow and learn from.

    In all this, the man was telling the Pharisees that he did glorify God -- he glorified God by giving thanks to God Who sent Jesus -- Who is from God -- to heal him.  And now, it seemed only right that he follow Jesus as his rabbi and prophet.

    Do we glorify God?  Do we give Him thanks for all the things He does for us and with us?  Even so many things that we don't think to remember, because they always seem to be there and it always seems like we deserve them to be there?

    We live in a very unthankful culture.

    Jesus said, "So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’” (Luke 17:10, ESV).

    The best we do is only what is expected of us.  Doesn't that show how great and loving and generous God is?  How worthy of all thanks He is?

    The Pharisees were furious at the man's response.

    And we see, finally, the man testified that Jesus is from God.

    "And they reviled him, saying, 'You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.' The man answered, 'Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.' They answered him, 'You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?' And they cast him out."

    The Pharisees spat and degraded the man, arguing that he may be a disciple of Jesus, but they are disciples of Moses.  They argued it this way:

    God spoke to Moses.

    We ought to be disciples of people from God -- that God has spoken to.

    Therefore, we are disciples of Moses.

    On the other hand, Jesus is not from God.  We don't know where He is from, so we will not be His disciples.

    And the man responded with incredulity:

    "Why, this is an amazing thing!"  "Are you really going to take that position?  Have you listened to everything that has been said?  Are you considering the facts before you?  Do you really have no idea Who Jesus is from?  Do you really have no understanding of Who sent Him?"

    "Just think for a moment:

    "God does not listen to sinners -- He will not grant people who are against Him what they ask of Him.

    "God does answer those who worship Him and do His Will.

    "Jesus asked God to cure my blindness -- blindness from birth -- which no one has ever been cured of before -- and God heard Him and healed me.

    "If that doesn't scream out to you that Jesus is from God, I don't know that you would hear anything.

    "Hello?  Could it be any more obvious?  What's wrong with you?"

    We know what was wrong, don't we?  These Pharisees were dead in their sin and unbelief, so they could not see what was clear to the formerly blind man -- they could not receive Jesus as the One Sent by God.

    This is how we understand that salvation is a gift from God.  We are born unable to choose to believe.  It is not until God enlivens us to receive Jesus as our God and Savior that we can and do receive Him.

     So, it is not merely a matter of our making a good argument for the Gospel, but of God being willing to open the hearts and minds of those we speak with about the Gospel.  So, let us spend more time in prayer, for those we know we will meet and those we may meet, and let us also pray that God would be pleased to cause people to receive the Gospel. 

    John wrote, "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him" (1 John 5:14-15, ESV).

    If we ask God that God will do His Will, He will do it.  Every request we make which is according to God's Will, God will grant.  God has chosen a people to save, and if we pray that our presentation of the Gospel would be used by God in bringing the people He has chosen to faith, He will do it.

    These Pharisees dug into the depths and they rebuked the man some more:  We will not listen to you -- we are the Pharisees.  We are better eductaed and more holy than you by far.  In fact, we pass this judgment on you:  your words prove that you were born blind because of sin you committed in the womb -- which you have not repented of -- so we excommunicate you from the Temple.

    And so we leave the man -- cut off from the Temple -- condemned by the Pharisees -- until next week.

    Let us pray:

    Almighty God, in this world, as disciples of Jesus, we will be condemned by the world.  People will talk down about us, and some of us my be called to die for our faith.  Help us to be bold and to pray for each other as we speak the Gospel.  Uphold us in prayer to You -- in thanksgiving to You -- pleading for the world and that God the Holy Spirit would use our words to change the hearts and minds of all those You have willed to believe.  For it is in Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.

Thursday Night Study

Join us tonight at 7 PM as we begin the study "Behold Your God" -- all are welcome!

Thursday Night Study -- Cancelled

Due to everyone cancelling tonight, we will not start our new study tonight. I hope Paul Vroom hasn't left yet! D.V., we will start our new study next Thursday at 7 PM. Thank you!

Thursday Night Study

D.V., we will begin a new study tomorrow evening at 7 PM.  We are planning to use the workbook and video series "Behold Your God:  Rethinking God Biblically" hosted by John Snyder of Media Gratiae.  https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/other-merchandise/behold-your-god/  Please plan to join us for these 13 weeks (or so) as we go through the workbook and video, and please only take a workbook (which will be provided) if you hope to use it for these weeks.  (It calls for a fifteen minute a week commitment outside of the study.)  We are hoping Paul Vroom will lead us in prayer each week!

"Blind for God's Glory" Sermon: John 9:1-7

"Blind for God's Glory”

[John 9:1-7]

April 3, 2016 Second Reformed Church

    Why are some children born with "birth defects"?  Why are some children born without limbs, blind, deaf, or with Down's Syndrome, bi-polar, and other diseases?  Who or what is the cause of these children being born disabled -- or "differently abled"?

    Jesus is no longer in the Temple as we rejoin the Gospel of John -- He is walking along the road:

    And we see first, the disciples held to a false dichotomy.

    A "false dichotomy" forces a choice between two options, when there are more.  For example:  Is the sky green or red?  The correct answer is neither -- it's blue.  Another example would be:  Are you dumb or just incompetent?  When it may be that you are neither dumb, nor incompetent.

    And so we read:

    "As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'”

    Jesus and the disciples passed a man -- an adult -- who was born blind.  His blindness was not caused by an accident.  It did not happen later in life.  He was born blind.

    The disciples held to the common false dichotomy that if a person was born with a physical imperfection, it was due either to the sin of the child in the womb or due to the sin of the child's parents.

    Let's consider these options:

    One possibility was that the sin of the man's parents caused him to be born blind.

    We can understand this:  if the parents engaged in excessive drinking, smoking, illegal drugs -- even prescription drugs, there is a chance that the abuse -- the sinful use of these substances could -- cause damage to the child in the womb -- including his being born blind.

    Another biblical expression of the parents' sin bringing injury to the child is that other sins may be held against future generations:

    About idols, God warned, "You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me," (Exodus 20:5, ESV).

    And Jeremiah said, "You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts," (Jeremiah 32:18, ESV).

    God, indeed, has said that He may punish the descendants for their fathers' sins.

    What about the child in the womb?  Can a child in the womb sin and be punished for sin in the womb?

    The answer must be "yes," at least in this sense:  we are conceived as sinners.

    David wrote, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalm 51:5, ESV).

    David was acknowledging -- not that his mother sinned in his conception -- but, from the moment of conception, the child in the womb is a sinner, because of the sin nature we inherit from our first parents.  Adam and Eve were our representatives in the Garden, and they sinned, and the guilt and the corruption that followed from that sin is borne by every mere human being.  This is what we call "Original Sin" -- the results of the sin of our first parents is that every mere human being is a sinner at the moment of conception and, therefore, under God's Wrath.

    Paul wrote, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”    “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10-18, ESV).

    Due to the sin of our first parents -- who were our representatives -- at the moment of conception, every mere human being is conceived, in the womb, a sinner inclined towards sin, having a sin nature.

    So, God may, indeed, punish children in the womb for their sin.

    This false dichotomy is seen in the way the Job's "friends" responded to his suffering -- their basic argument was, "Job, you are suffering horribly, therefore, you must have sinned horribly."  God takes them to task at the end of the book and tells them that they were completely wrong -- Job's suffering had nothing to do with his sin.

    It is often the way we think in our culture:  "What goes around comes around.  Karma, baby." 

    Well, no, not in this life.  In this life, some people suffer horribly for no known reason, and some people get away with terrible evil and do not seem to suffer at all.

    Justice says that if you sin, you should be punished.  But God is merciful and patient.  So God does not immediately give us the punishement we deserve for our sin -- thank God -- but He is merciful and patient -- for if anyone repents and believes in Jesus savingly, Jesus bears the penalty for our sin and credits us with His reighteousness, and we are saved.

    The disciples asked Jesus, "Was this man born blind for his sins or his parents'?"

    But the sin of the parents and the sin of the child aren't the only options, are they?

    A third possibility is that, due to the fact that all of Creation has been corrupted by the sin of our first parents, a child may be born with an infirmity, not for a sin of the child or his parents, but due to the general state of the fallen world.  "Everything is broken," as Bob Dylan sings.  In a broken world, things are broken because it is a broken world.

    And there is still another possible reason:

    We see, second, some children are born disabled that the works of God might be displayed in them.

    "Jesus answered, 'It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.'

    And we might find that disturbing:  sometimes God gives a child disabilities that God would be glorified in him and through him.

    Paul explained it this way:

    "But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?' Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?" (Romans 9:20-24, ESV).

    God can justly do whatever He wills with His creation -- including us.

    Do we want to be used by God -- for the Glory of God?  Do we trust our Heavenly Father to use us in the best way -- in the way that will bring Him the most glory -- and us the most joy?

    Some of us are familiar with the story of Joni Ericksen Tada.  In 1967, the 17 year old Joni was swimming, and she dove into the water.  She broke her neck, and has been a quardriplegic ever since.  She married in 1982.  She is a world renown painter, author of over fifty books, traveller and speaker, CEO of Joni and Friends -- an organization which advocates for the disabled,  and she is a profound, sound, joyful, and thankful Christian.

    One of her favorite quotes is from the Rev. John Newton, the author of the hymn, "Amazing Grace":

    "Some Christians are called to endure a disproportionate amount of suffering. Such Christians are a spectacle of grace to the church, like flaming bushes unconsumed, and cause us to ask, like Moses: 'Why is this bush not burned up?' The strength and stability of these believers can be explained only by the miracle of God's sustaining grace. The God who sustains Christians in unceasing pain is the same God -- with the same grace -- who sustains me in my smaller sufferings. We marvel at God's persevering grace and grow in our confidence in Him as He governs our lives." — John Newton (http://www.joniandfriends.org/jonis-corner/jonis-favorite-quotes/).

    Joni lives in extreme and constant pain, but the way she lives has been an inspiration and a help and an encouragement to those who suffer in many ways, and God is given the glory, because she says she can only continue and have hope and bear with her disabilities because God is Glorious and gracious.

    Would she prefer not to be a quadriplegic?  Of course.  But, if her being wounded is they way others are drawn to see the glorious salvation of God through Jesus Christ, then she is thankful and satisfied.

    We, as Christians, understand suffering and the Sovereignty of God in a way that non-Christians don't.  We can be thankful and have joy in great pain and frustration when they cannot,  because we know that God does all things according to His wise plan, and He sustains us know through all tribulation, and promises to restore us in the Kingdom.

    Would I prefer to have never had sarcoidosis?  Yes.  And I joyful and thankful that I have sarcoidosis?  Yes.  Because God has shown me His Grace through my suffering and He has turned others to Him and been glorified by them through what God has done and conintues to do through me.

    Now, that does not mean that we should not pray to be well or to seek medical treatment.  We should -- I do.  And if it pleases God, I know He can heal me.

    And we see at the end of this passage that it was God's intention to heal this man of his blindness to bring glory to God and to give this man joy, thankfulness, and the hope of salvation.

    But first, we see Jesus tell the disciples that He had work to accomplish while He was on earth.

    "'We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

    What was Jesus telling them?

    First, He was telling them that God the Father sent Jesus to accomplish His miraculous ministry with the disciples during a certain time limit.

    Jesus called the time of His ministry "day."  He, as the Light of the World, was shining in the world, exposing the darkness, preaching the truth, doing those things to break the power of darkness over people -- such as healing them.  All sickness, suffering, infirmity, etc., is a result of our first parent's sin, and Jesus had a mission to heal certain people as a sign that He is, indeed, God the Savior.

    Second, He was telling them that the time was coming when He would no longer be physically on earth, and His ministry of healing to prove that He is the Savior would end.

    While Jesus was in the world, He was the Light of the World -- He exposed people to the Light through His earthly ministry.  But that would come to an end -- He would not always be on earth proving Who He is as the Light through His ministry.  Once He was ascended back to the Father, He would not be on earth again to witness to Himself.

    This is not to say that God no longer heals.  He does!  But Jesus is not here on earth healing any more -- and when He returns, it will not be necessary.

    Jesus was telling the disciples that He still had works of healing to do that would expose Him for Who He is -- and this man was born blind and lived all these years as a blind man, so the day would come when Jesus would come by and heal him and make Himself know through healing him.

    So, does this mean anything for us?  We are not first century disciples.  Jesus is at the Right Hand of the Father.

    Much like the "Parable of the Good Samaritan," we can take this away from Jesus' statement:  we ought not be so concerned with how a person came to be in need as we are concerned with what may be done for him in Jesus' Name.

    Job's friends might have been useful to him if they looked for ways to comfort him in God, rather than trying to figure out what the sin was that made him suffer.

    We do well to do what we can to help people with disabilities in a way that they know that what we do is for the sake of Jesus Christ and His salvation, rather than trying to tell people what their problem is or what they did wrong.

    Finally, Jesus healed the man in a way that revealed Who Jesus is.

    "Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing."

    Jesus spit on the ground and made mud and spread it on the man's eyes.  Why?

    We're not told.

    Couldn't Jesus healed the man with a word or a touch? 

    Yes, we have seen Him do that elsewhere.

    Here we are not told why Jesus used this method for healing the man -- except, perhaps, that it fit well with the pun that Jesus wanted to use to reveal Himself.

    We will remember that Jesus had been teaching -- again and again -- that He was sent by the Father to do the Father's Will -- that He did not come on His own to do His Will, but He was sent by the Father.

    Now, some will argue that Jesus' saliva had healing properties, which is heresy.  Or that the mud was a special medicinal mud, which is highly unlikely.  Most likely, Jesus wanted to make this pun:

    Jesus -- the One Who is Sent -- sent the blind man to the pool named "Sent" to receive his sight.  The Sent sent the man to Sent to be healed.

    And he was -- the man's eyes were opened and he was able to see.
   
    Jesus was sent to earth to heal as a means to people understanding that He is God the Savior.  Jesus only healed on earth in His physical body while He was here.  Although God continues to heal, it is not as Jesus on earth.

    There are many reasons people are born with disabilities, including God's desire to use them with their disabilities to glorify Him.

    So, let us pray to find ways to help and encourage those with disabilites -- especially to give them hope in Jesus and His Gospel.  Let us be quick to listen and hear the stories of those in need and slow to judge the reasons that they have need.

    And let us pray that we -- in whatever way we might suffer or have pain or disability -- would be able to see God's Grace in those things and know how we might glorify Him through our disability and find joy and thanksgiving in Him as well.

    Let us pray:

    Almighty God, we thank You for this history of the man born blind -- that You make clear that You are Sovereign over whatever condition we might find ourselves and that You may even use suffering and disability to draw us and others to You and to glorify You through those infirmities.  Help us to be patient and to look to You in hope in all that we live through on this earth.  And may You be glorified in all that we say and do.  For it is in Jesus' Name we pray,  Amen.

April Sermons

D.V., I will be preaching as follows this month.  Join us for worship at 10:30 AM.

4/3/16 Annual Meeting & Pot-luck
 John 9:1-7 “Blind for God’s Glory”

4/10/16
 John 9:8-34 “An Amazing Thing”

4/17/16
 John 9:35-41 “None is so Blind”

4/24/16
 John 10:1-10 “I Am the Door”

"Good News & Conspiracy" Sermon: Matthew 28:1-15

“Good News & Conspiracy”

[Matthew 28:1-15]

March 27, 2016 Second Reformed Church

    What happened that first Easter morning?

    If Jesus physically rose from the dead, then Christianity is true, Jesus is the Savior, and we shall be raised from the dead in our physical bodies to eternal life.

    If Jesus did not physically rise from the dead, then, ...

    Paul put it this way:

    "Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied" (1 Corinthians 15:12-19, ESV).

    If Jesus did not physically rise from the dead, then Christianity is a lie, we have blasphemed against God, and we are damned in our sins.

    Our Scripture this morning tells us that there is, indeed, Good News, and there is also a conspiracy afoot.

    First, we see that the women went to the tomb to finish embalming Jesus.

    "Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb."

    Jesus' body had been released for burial shortly before the start of the Sabbath, so they had to quickly bury Him without all of the burial preparations being made, since it is illegal to work on the Sabbath.  So, after the Sabbath day, the women -- an unknown number of women -- the Gospels name about six -- the two Marys here being representative of the group that went -- gathered their supplies and went to finish embalming Jesus.

    And some have argued that they simply went to the wrong tomb.  They had been tired and upset when Jesus was placed in the tomb, and when they returned, they found an empty tomb, because it was not the tomb Jesus was laid in.

    But does that make sense?

    Yes, they were tired and upset when they went to the tomb, but there were at least six of them, were they all confused about where the tomb was?  They had spent time there, sitting by the tomb, watching the men put Jesus into it -- a new tomb, a tomb belonging to a rich follower of Jesus, the tomb where their beloved Lord had been laid -- where they would want to return and mourn.  And, it was the only tomb that had a large Roman guard posted at it.

    They went to the correct tomb.

    Second, an angel came with an earthquake to open the tomb and show the women that Jesus had physically risen.

    "And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men."

    As the women arrived at the tomb where Jesus had been laid -- the one with all the Roman guards -- an angel of the Lord came from heaven with an earthquake, rolled the stone away from the tomb and sat on it.

    The guards had stood watch over night.  The tomb had not been opened.  The angel came to open the tomb to show them that Jesus -- including His physical body -- was gone.

    The angel shown with blinding holy light, and the Roman guards were so afraid that all of them -- to a man -- fainted with fear.

    Third, the angel told the women that he had Good News and to not be afraid.


    "But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.' So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples."

    The angel was seated on the stone, the men were all passed out on the ground, and the women stood there, as the angel told them not to be afraid -- because angels -- and the reason they come -- are naturally fearful to humans.  As we look at the appearances of angels in the Scripture, they almost always begin their message with, "Do not be afraid."

    So the women shored themselves up to hear the angel.  And he told them the Good News -- "I know you have come to finish embalming Jesus, but He has physically risen from the dead, just as He said He would.  I've opened the tomb so you can see -- take a quick look in -- He is not here -- He is going to meet you in Galilee."

    Hearing this Good News -- Jesus is really, truly, physically alive -- risen from the dead -- the women ran away from the tomb with fear -- "What is happening?" -- and joy -- "Jesus, our Lord, is alive!" -- and they ran to tell the men who were in hiding in the Upper Room.

    Fourth, Jesus met them on the way to assure them.

    "And behold, Jesus met them and said, 'Greetings!' And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.'"

    Jesus had mercy on the women and sought to assure them and comfort them, so He appeared to them as they made their way back to the men.  And the women ran up to Him, and fell at His feet and clung to His feet -- His real, living, physical feet -- this was no ghost -- and they worshipped Him.  They understood and believed and worshipped Jesus as God in the flesh -- the promised Savior.

    And after this joyous reunion, Jesus told them to comfort the men -- to tell them all that had happened -- that Jesus called them "brothers" -- they were reconcilled to Him -- Jesus forgave their desertion and fear and denial of Who He is -- and He confirmed the message that He would meet them all in Galilee.

    And the women went and told the men the Good News of Jesus' physical Resurrection.

    The women told them that the tomb was empty.

    The women told them that the entire Roman guard passed out at the coming of the angel with an earthquake.

    The women told them that the angel met them there and told them that Jesus is alive.

    The women told them that they met Jesus on the way back and they touched Him and worshipped Him and He confirmed that they should all meet in Galilee.

    And some people argue that the disciples came during the night and stole Jesus' body to make it look like He had physically risen from the dead -- that this was all a plot to gain power over the chief priests.

    But, is there something we remember about first century courts and witnesses that make this claim -- in the light of the Gospels -- untenable?

    Who witnessed the empty tomb?

    Who witnessed the Roman guard passing out?

    Who witnessed the angel and his message?

    Who witnessed Jesus on the road and touched Him and worshipped Him?

    Who was not considered a reliable witness in first century courts?

    The women.

    If this had been a plot of the disciples to steal the body and pretend that He had risen, they never would have cast the women as the only witnesses to these events, because their testimony would not have been accepted.

    Therefore, it makes sense to believe that what the women witnessed and testified to is true.  We know women are just as good as being witnesses as men, but they did not allow the testimony of women in court.  So, the only reason women would be the only testimony to the Resurrection, would be that it is true.  It would have been insane to base a plot on the testimony of women in that time and culture.

    Now, when the Roman guards recovered from their faint, they had a problem:  the tomb was open and Jesus was gone.  If they went and told Pontius Pilate, he probably would have had them killed.  So, they went to the chef priests to see what they would say.

    "While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, 'Tell people, "His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep." And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.' So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day."

    The Roman guards went to the chief priests and told them that at the break of dawn, the women had come to finish embalming Jesus for burial.  "And suddenly there was an earthquake, and an angel came and rolled away the stone from the tomb, and we saw it was empty.  And then we looked at the angel, himself, and were overcome by the radiance of his glory, and we all passed out.  And when we awoke, the tomb was open, Jesus was nowhere to be seen, and the angel and the women were gone.  So, we thought to come to you to find out what to do."

    The chief priests took counsel with the elders and devised a conspiracy whereby they would deny the truth that they had just received:  they bribed the guards to say that the disciples snuck past the Roman guards, who had all fallen asleep, silently moved the stone from the tomb and stole Jesus' body, and the chief priests and the elders promised that they would run interference with Pilate, so they would not be punished by Rome.

    And Matthew tells us that -- at the time of the writing of his Gospel -- within forty years of the Resurrection -- the official story was that the disciples stole Jesus' body to make it look like He had physically risen from the dead.

    Now, why would Matthew include this conspiracy?

    Consider:  the New Testament identifies over five hundred people who were still living who were witnesses to Jesus being physically resurrected and alive.  If the disciples stole Jesus' body and somehow convinced over five hundred people to lie about Jesus being alive, do we seriously believe that every single one of them would be willing to endure persecution, torture, and death to not recant their story?  Does it sound reasonable that they could find five hundred people to endure suffering and death to cover up the theft of Jesus' body?

    Do you think you could get five hundred people to die to protect a lie you told?

    What really happened that first Easter morning?

    Did Jesus really physically rise from the dead?


    The fact that the Gospels have a group of women being the witnesses to the Resurrection and that the official story was that the disciples stole the body, yet they were all willing to die for the claim that Jesus really did physically rise from the dead are profound reasons to believe that Jesus did physically rise from the dead.

    So, I put the question to you:  Do you believe that Jesus physically rose from the dead?  Do you repent of your sins and submit to Him as your God and Savior?

    If you do, Easter is a day of Good News, indeed!  Jesus is alive.  Our salvation is secure.  We shall be raised in our physical bodies and spend an eternity of joy with Jesus and all those who have believed.

    If you don't believe, what is your reason for not believing?  This is a question of eternal life or death.  Are you sure?

    Let us pray:

    Almighty God, we rejoice and believe that You raised Jesus from the dead and provided evidence of this Good News.  We rejoice that You have made salvation for us through Your Son and applied it to us by God the Holy Spirit.  Convince us and assure us of Your Truth and help us to speak this truth in love to others.  For it is in Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.