Easter Sunday April 24, 2011
Today as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
I want to consider that out of apparent defeat God turns the tables,
turns things upside down, and secures the most amazing victories.
My premise is that our darkest hours,
When the storms of life are at their peak,
The horrendous time we are in may be the prelude to seeing the glory
of God.
Psalms 30:5 (MSG)
The nights of crying your eyes out give
way to days of laughter.
Nights of crying your eyes out—
The night that time of darkness,
Crying your eyes out—that time of distress, despair and defeat;
Gives way to the day,
The darkness slowly becomes light,
defeat becomes victory,
tears become laughter.
Consider the distress, despair and defeat Jesus experienced.
Jesus handpicked Judas.
One of the 12, that group of men that Jesus most closely mentored.
Judas his friend,
his disciple in whom Jesus entrusted the secrets of the Kingdom of God,
whom Jesus allowed to witness the miracles and
be privy to the explanations of parables, betrays him.
Betrayal is a bitter sting.
A stab in the back,
A twisting of the blade.
A friend turned traitor.
John 18:3 (NIV)
So Judas came to the grove, guiding a
detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees.
They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.
Betrayed by a friend, darkness, distress, despair and defeat.
Peter, another one of the chosen 12,
One of the inner circle of three, Peter, James and John,
I would think one of Jesus closest friends.
Peter couldn’t stay awake to pray.
Peter brought a sword with him to the garden.
Peter totally denies knowing Jesus at all.
Jesus closest friend disserts him in a time of crisis.
Jesus is going to have face those who hate him alone.
John 18:17 (NIV)
"You are not one of his disciples, are
you?" the girl at the door asked Peter.
He replied, "I am not."
Disserted by a friend, alone, darkness, distress, despair and defeat
Jesus is brought before the elders of the community.
The wise pillars of the people,
Dispensers of justice and truth.
They accuse Him of crimes He hasn’t committed.
but instead of hearing his defense
they punch Him in the face.
They deny Him due process.
Instead of justice He’s guilty before the trial.
John 18:20-22 (NIV)
20 "I have spoken openly
to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple,
where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.
21 Why question me? Ask
those who heard me. Surely they know what I said."
22 When Jesus
said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face.
Justice is denied, darkness, distress, despair and defeat.
In a huge case of who switched the price tags,
Jesus is rejected by the very one’s He loves.
His mission to liberate His people from the bondage of sin dismissed.
Jesus who preached love, forgiveness, and reconciliation,
is exchanged for Barabbas, a man sedition, of violence, a murderer.
John 18:38-40 (NIV)
With this he went out again to the Jews
and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him.
39 But it is your custom
for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want
me to release 'the king of the Jews'?"
40 They shouted
back, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!" Now Barabbas had taken part in a
rebellion.
Rejected by those He loved, darkness, distress, despair and defeat.
The death sentence is pronounced.
The soldiers of the court mock and torture Jesus.
Jesus the most human of beings is subject to inhumanity.
John 19:1-3 (NIV)
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him
flogged. 2 The
soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed
him in a purple robe 3 and
went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they
struck him in the face.
Heartless, cruel, sadistic treatment, making a horrible situation an atrocity—
Darkness, distress, despair and defeat.
Making Jesus a public spectacle,
They paraded him through the streets to the place of execution.
Not a swift death, but a deterrent to all who dare defy the earthly
powers that be.
Naked they crucify him.
John 19:17-18 (NIV)
Carrying his own cross, he went out to
the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).
18 Here they crucified
him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
Execution, darkness, distress, despair and defeat.
The carpenter from Nazareth,
Who healed the sick, cast out demons, and told people about His Heavenly
Father, Disgraced, beaten, bloody, naked,
with nails through his wrist and ankles pinning Him to the
Roman crucifix, He hangs 6 – 7 hours.
Its death by suffocation,
the weaker one becomes the less they can breath until finally
exhaustion makes it impossible to push to relieve the pressure
so you can inhale.
Jesus dies.
John 19:30 (NIV)
Jesus said, "It is finished." With that,
he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Death, darkness, distress, despair and defeat.
God’s chosen one is defeated.
If you have ever been overcome by the circumstances of life you know darkness.
If you have had the situations of life break your heart you know distress.
If all your hope for a better day has been sucked out of you,
you’re familiar with despair.
If you’ve given up, you know defeat.
Its in those difficult times of darkness, distress, despair and defeat
That our faith is attacked.
Satan that prowling lion pounces. (1 Peter 5:8)
Satan that dragon breathes his fire. (Revelation 12:3)
Thoughts come uninvited:
God has forsaken you, He doesn’t hear your prayers.
You’re being punished.
God either doesn’t care or doesn’t have the power to do what
you want
God is doing this to teach you a lesson.
He just isn’t going to tell you what that lesson is,
you’ll have to figure it out by yourself.
In order to get done what He wants He is causing your
suffering right now.
God doesn’t love you, He’s using you.
You’re alone in this.
Things will never get better.
Call it quits.
What has God ever done for you anyway?
Look at all the stuff you’ve done for Him and He
can’t throw you a bone?
God is just wishful thinking,
Come on, have you ever really seen a miracle?
Were your prayers ever really answered?
All this religion stuff is just superstition,
Man’s attempt to deal with forces that are feared.
We wonder why God could allow such things to happen to us.
We speculate that God has forgotten us.
We doubt God’s love and care.
We question our faith.
We ask why, but all our answers mock us because there is no answer to the
why question.
We seek meaning, but all our searching is in vain.
We want the pain to stop, the situation to resolve itself,
the loved one restored, the circumstances righted,
the justice of our cause to shine like the noon day sun.
We want to be rescued.
We want things to be like they used to be.
But instead all we have is darkness, distress,
despair and defeat.
It’s in those times of darkness, distress, despair and defeat
that we are tempted to surrender our faith.
Oh Friends, don’t give into that temptation,
Because God allows Himself to be defeated to show us His glory.
Isaiah 55:8 (MSG)
"I don't think the way you think. The
way you work isn't the way I work." God's Decree.
God turns things upside down and inside out.
Darkness, distress, despair and defeat are preludes to glory.
Out of the ashes of our hopes and dreams and prayers comes
Something totally amazing.
On Golgotha they murdered Jesus.
Near Golgotha they put Him in a grave.
3 dys slowly creep by.
All a prelude to glory.
John 20:19-20 (MSG)
Later on that day, the disciples had
gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the
house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, "Peace to you."
20 Then he showed them his
hands and side. The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were
exuberant.
The deeper the darkness,
The greater the distress,
The more crushing the despair,
The more bitter the defeat,
The greater the glory.
Out of the ashes--Resurrection.
Jesus who was dead is now alive.
Suddenly all that pain and anguish and suffering is gone.
In its place there is faith and praise and joy.
Up from the ashes of our situation,
Darkness turns into light,
Distress turns into rejoicing,
Despair turns into hope,
Defeat turns into victory.
We stand amazed at what God can do.
We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus because it is God’s seal of approval on the ministry of Jesus.
We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus because it is a miraculous display of glory
that brings hope to all that believe.
Hope that no matter how dark
Or how distressing,
Or how in despair we feel
Or how bitter the defeat,
Hope that our difficult times are a prelude to
glory.
Psalms 30:5 (MSG)
The nights of crying your eyes out give
way to days of laughter.