A New Beginning

Sermon for Easter 2022

Easer is the holiest of all special days of Christianity. Christmas probably has more impact on our lives and certainly our economy. Retailers normally make over half their income in the two months before Christmas. But Christmas doesn’t define our faith. Christmas is the birth of a baby, not just any baby, but a child that was to become our Savior, and he became our Savior when he exited the tomb on that first Easter morning.

All four Gospels chronicle the events from the last supper through Christ’s crucifixion to his resurrection, but they all have different view-points. I encourage you to read all of them keeping in mind that Matthew was on the fringes of the action afraid for his life. He was a very devout Jew and directed his writings to Jewish Christians. Mark was both Peter’s nephew and his scribe. Most of the information in Mark’s Gospel is from Peter, and Peter was hiding out denying he even knew Jesus during the persecution. Luke wasn’t even there. His book is a research paper and his sources were primarily the women followers of Christ. John was actually a player. He was connected well enough to be allowed into the courtyard during the trial by the priests and was at the foot of the cross with Mary the mother of Christ. So, each of the four writers had a different perspective.

All four tell that the Jewish leaders and teachers of the law planned to trick Jesus to get evidence to have him killed. Luke gives a very detailed account of the attempts at entrapment. John comes as close as anyone to providing the logic used for the plot. They all, however, catch the concept that the Jewish leaders are afraid of Jesus. Why would that be? Jesus’s teachings were all about love and forgiveness. Repay insults with kindness. Love one another. Treat other people like you would like them to treat you. Why would those teachings create fear in anyone? The eleventh chapter of John indicates the leaders were afraid the Romans would take away the temple, and their nation would be destroyed. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Oh, it makes sense that Caiaphas, the high priest, would rationalize that as the reason, but the real reason is a bit more subtle. “If we let him continue doing these things, everyone will believe in him.”, and we will be out of a job. That last part is not a quote they are my words. If everyone believes in Jesus, the high priest will be out of a job and the Jewish leaders and teachers of the law will lose their positions of authority and social status.

And here is a real kicker. It didn’t matter whether or not Caiaphas and the others believed what Jesus was saying or not! It didn’t matter if Jesus was the Son of God nor not! They would lose their privileged positions if Jesus was the true Messiah or not. It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that the people would believe and follow Him. Their earthly positions were more important than their relationship with God. Do we see that in our society? Absolutely! Our elected officials begin to position themselves for reelection as soon as they take office. Part of that is understandable. The first responsibility of any government, past present and future, is to maintain power. Kings cannot do good things for their nation if they have been deposed. Congressmen cannot serve the best interests of their constitutes if they have been voted out of office. Do we have the same thing in the church? You bet. The church is a bureaucratic hierarchy just like government or any other large organization. Would you believe there are actually ordained ministers who are lacking in faith? Several years ago, we had a district Superintendent who felt the need to convince me she was a Christian. I interpreted that to mean she wasn’t quite sure. Not all church officials gain their positions through faith and piety. The candidates for church leadership and for government are all humans.

Judas was also human. I was once told by a very smart man of God that we must continually work on our relationship with God or Satan will work on his relationship with us. Matthew and Mark sort of indicate Judas was motivated by greed. Then he felt remorse, so much so that he killed himself. I don’t know Judas’s rationale, but I am convinced Judas let his guard down just enough that Satan got through to him. I am also convinced Jesus never did anything by accident. Every action He took was planned in minute detail. Jesus needed someone to betray Him, so he chose a follower who was weak in faith and susceptible to the lure of Satan. It was part of the plan. Was Judas evil? I don’t know, but I do know he had the requisite weakness of faith to do what Jesus required of him.

Why did Peter betray Jesus? Again, it was part of Christ’s plan. How many of you have ever done something then realizing it was wrong pledged never to do it again? I remember once while coaching a football game, one of my players broke the snap on his helmet. It took a few minutes to fix and it was during a critical part point in the game. So, I borrowed a helmet from a freshman and sent my senior back in the game. What I did was wrong. I used the freshman as something other than a football player, and I have never forgotten. Peter denied Christ, not once but three times, and the memory of that weakness, if that is the right word, made him stronger.

Caiaphas and the other priests were afraid of losing their power. They were afraid of not being needed. Priests were believed to be conduits to God. Jesus taught otherwise. The concept that we, you and I, could have a personal relationship with the Almighty was a revolutionary change in religious philosophy. Anyone know how many times in the Old Testament an ordinary citizen prayed directly to God??? One! And that was a mother praying or her son. Prayer was always a group activity, led by a priest. Jesus taught differently. Remember the Lord’s Prayer? You can find it in Matthew. The followers of Christ asked how to pray. They didn’t know how. The answer was the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus taught them how to go directly to God without a priest as an intermediary. If the teachings of Jesus became widespread, a major role of the religious hierarchy would become unnecessary.

When Jesus rolled the stone away that first Easter morning, he revealed the gateway to Paradise, and you are your own gatekeeper. You choose your own path. You can choose whether or not to follow Jesus through the grave to salvation. That is the miracle of Easter.

Dear Heavenly Father. You gave us the freewill to choose our own path Then you sent your Son to be our guide. Give us the strength and wisdom to follow His teachings. Amen.