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That There Man A man stopped to look into a London shop’s window and viewed a picture of the crucifixion. A ragged little street urchin stopped, too. The man wondered if the boy understood it, so he asked, “Sonny, what does it mean?” The little boy, in a strong cockney accent, answered, “Dontcha know? That there man is Jesus, and them others is Roman soldiers…and the woman what’s cryin,’ is His mother, and they killed Him.” Soon, the man turned away, but heard the little boy running after him. “Say, Mister, I forgot to tell ya—that there man?…He rose again!” I believe this story presents us with a very important question: “What are we going to do with that there man named Jesus?” Throughout this recent Lenten season, our church was brought face-to-face with the reality of His death, as each week, we pounded a nail into the cross. Each one—pride, infidelity, envy, indecision, hatred, and cruelty—each one, pounded deep. But, praise God, it didn’t end there. In fact, ironically, the best news the world ever had, came from a graveyard outside of Jerusalem. In all of history, there is nothing more significant—the birthday of eternal hope; the anniversary of the victory of the soul over death. The words, “He is not here, He is risen,” changed life’s meaning. Why? Well, the fact is that sin—any sin, yours and mine both—separated us from God. Day after day, we pounded those nails of sin deep into His Spirit. When we are born-again, all of that changes. John Taylor once said, “The resurrection will not set us free to live the future in holiness unless the cross first sets us free from the bondage of the past.” When we are born-again, we hate those nails and the sin they represent, and this only happens by the power of God’s Holy Spirit. This is illustrated in the true story of hundreds of ducks, who, being blinded by the intense fog, were swept along the Niagara River—and over the Falls. Many survived the pounding, only to find themselves trapped in a frigid mass of ice below. Helpless, they flapped their wings and squawked incessantly, but to no avail—they could not save themselves. Many today are being swept along that river of their own thinking, blinded by the fog of self-sufficiency. And down they go, only to find themselves frozen in the tracks of sin, unable to save themselves. It is not enough to think that we will be fine in the end, just because we are pretty good people. The Scripture says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10) Surrender to the Cross and the empty tomb is the only way to escape the bonds of the past and now live in the freedom of the resurrected life. The true message of the resurrection will melt even the most frozen of hearts—if it is allowed. What will you do with that there man named Jesus? Allow me to show you what those who were closest to Him in life did with Him in His death…and beyond. Before dawn, several women intended to anoint Him further—a proper burial following a very hurried one three days earlier. Oh, they wondered about the huge stone that had been placed in the entry way, but that was not their primary concern. They would not leave Jesus alone! At the cross, a soldier had given Him a drink and then said, “Let’s leave Him alone.” That is the cruelest thing you could do, especially considering all He has done for you. The women knew what He done for them—Mary of Magdala had had seven demons cast out of her. She had been delivered from her life of sin and her service to Satan. In love, she was the first at the tomb. Jesus has done no less for you, shedding His blood as payment for your sin. Will you come early to where He is, in order to worship Him—no matter what others think? Olivia Langdon was known as a woman of faith, but then she married Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain. He, having no faith, ridiculed her and made light of her devotion to Jesus. Her prayer life declined in order to please him and her fervent faith cooled right down. Not really meaning to hurt her, he said to her one day, “Livy, if it will comfort you, go ahead and lean on your faith.” “I can’t,” she said, “I don’t have any left.” This haunted him all of the rest of his life, often wishing he could restore her hope. But it was too late. It wasn’t too late for Mary, though—even after His death, she wouldn’t leave Jesus alone. Lo and behold, to their amazement, the stone was rolled away. And sitting on it was a radiant angel, who told them, “Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead.” (Matt. 28: 5-7a) What did they do with that good news? “They departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring His disciples word.” (vs. 8) What did they do with that there man Jesus? Exactly what they were told to do, even though their good news would be met with a great deal of unbelief. What? Unbelief? How could such great news not be believed? Mark tells us, “And they, when they had heard that He was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. (16:11) Luke puts it this way: “And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.” (24:11) They thought the best news ever given was nothing more than foolish, silly chatter. And this is not talking about the world; this is talking about the church! It sounds crazy, but it is precisely what is happening today. Much of His “church” is not really understanding what He has done for them, and therefore, refuses to believe His Good News, opting instead to make up their own. Many are insisting that religious entertainment, psychology, marketing, and even fantasy literature and movies, are good tools to get the message out. Absolutely not! They might mention the name of Jesus, but they are not His way. These things have become very popular today for one reason—as a substitute for the power of the Holy Spirit. And in go the nails! Oh, how the heart of Jesus must have been pierced as those closest to Him didn’t believe! But praise God—even in the midst of their doubt, Peter and John got up and ran to the tomb. They just had to know! John, probably being younger, pulled ahead of Peter and arrived first. He stopped at the entrance and stooped down to look in. Is there really any other way to approach such a miracle—in humility and submission? In the meantime, Peter arrived and burst right in. Seeing the grave clothes lying in their places, he still walked away wondering what was going on. When John stepped in, he believed. “Pisteo” is the Greek word, and it means that he put his faith and trust in the power of the resurrection, and then obeyed. In fact, to trust in Him is obedience. At the sky lift at Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the crowd was becoming impatient as a man refused to go through the turnstile. “Go on through,” urged the attendant. “But it won’t open,” answered the man, without even touching it. “Go ahead, keep walking,” others said, urging him to push through the bar. Finally, he pushed it and walked right through. He just needed to push through, and so did Peter and John. Many today are missing true salvation because they are too satisfied with dead ritualistic “Christianity,” and far too comfortable with their own ideas about Jesus and His ways. What they hold to is nothing but idle tales and silly chatter, and they refuse to push on through the turnstile. And unless you push through unbelief and disobedience, you will never get on the “sky lift” of resurrection life today. True Easter says, “Go ahead, die to self—surrender to His Lordship and give up your control. Go ahead, push into the stile simply because He says to—all of time, past, present, and future, is in His hands—He is risen!” Oh, and don’t forget—He won’t forsake you on the other side of the turnstile, either. It wasn’t until Jesus met Mary in the garden and called her by name that she truly understood the places in her life where she was still trying to mold Him into what she wanted Him to be—the literal meaning of His command, “Touch me not.” (John 20: 17a) And the same is true with Peter. It wasn’t until later that day, when Jesus appeared to him personally, that the power of His resurrection really hit home. Years ago, a young missionary woman spent hours sharing the Good News with a group of Hindu girls. Suddenly, one started to sob uncontrollably. “What’s wrong? Are you ill?” asked the missionary. Through her tears, she said, “I cannot bear it—not another word. He has done so much for me out of love, I must love Him.” It was later the missionary, in relating the story, said, “I never realized until that moment how little I loved my Savior.” The talk of colored eggs and Easter bunnies is about over, but the greatest story ever told will never come to an end. In fact, the greatest question, which everyone on the face of this globe must answer, is still before us—what will we do with that there man named Jesus? Copyright (c)
2005 Christ Our Rock Bible Church. |
