"I shook up the world," Cassius Clay proclaimed
after he beat Sonny Liston to become boxing's heavyweight champion. Clay later became a Muslim, changed his name
to Muhammad Ali, one of the most flamboyant and well known athletes of the 20th
century. He was once on a plane and the
flight attendant instructed him to fasten his seat belt. He said, "Honey, Superman don't need a
seatbelt." She responded,
"Champ, Superman doesn't need a plane." He buckled up, but he never lost the sparkle
in his eye or the unwavering belief that he could accomplish whatever he set
his mind to. Muhammad Ali was a great
boxer - maybe the greatest ever. But, while
his victory Liston was surprising, he did not "shake up the world." Champions come and champions go.
Historical
events leave a lasting mark. The
Holocaust, the end of WW II, the landing on the moon, the fall of the Berlin
Wall, the terrorist attacks of 9-11-01; these are events we don't forget. These
things matter. But even moments in history and stories that have a lasting
impact can be located at in time and to left at that point in time Hitler,
Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., Barak Obama, Donald Trump - they all matter for
good or bad reasons; but they all pass away. Time marches on.
One man truly shook up the world. Jesus of Nazareth came from a small village
in Northern Israel; he was the son of Joseph, a carpenter, and he lived in the
first century AD and as far as we know, spent a few childhood years in Egypt
but otherwise never traveled outside of Israel.
His life changed the world like no one else has.
Jesus was God in human flesh – 100% divine and 100%
human. He lived a perfect life, never
sinning a single time. His countrymen
accused him of blasphemy and turned him in to the Roman authorities; though
Jesus was not found guilty of any crime, to appease the crowd, the Roman
governor, Pontius Pilate, agreed to take Jesus’ life. He was flogged, and they pounded a crown of
thorns into his head. The soldiers
mocked him and forced Him to carry the wooden beam he would hang on from the
city to the hill called Golgotha. And
there, he was killed.
Who killed him?
The authorities who accused him?
The soldiers who flogged him? The
governor who passed the sentence? God,
who allowed it to happen? Or, you and
I? We sin as all humans do. Jesus died on the cross to take on himself
the penalty for our sins. We desperately
need God's forgiveness, and we receive that forgiveness when put our faith in
Jesus.
The story doesn’t end with Jesus’ lifeless body hanging
on the cross or laid in a tomb. On
Sunday morning, the women who followed him, brought spices to the tomb to
anoint His body, a last act of love for their lord. When they got to the tomb, the earth beneath
their feet rattled and shook.
They
watched as an angel descended from heaven and rolled away the boulder sealing
the opening. The angel announced that
Jesus was not there. Living people don't
lay in graves. They had seen him
die. He was really dead. But on Sunday morning, he shed those burial
clothes and walked out of that tomb alive and well. Because he conquered death, all who trust in Jesus have eternal
life. Everyone who confesses that Jesus
Christ is Lord will be saved from eternal separation from God. The only ones who face an eternity apart from
God are those who reject Jesus and choose not to follow Him.
If
you choose to open your heart to Christ and ask Him in, He'll come. You'll know Him, you'll be adopted as a child
of God, and you'll be a subject in the Kingdom of Heaven. Only Jesus "shook up the
world."
Matthew,
the Gospel writer, uses the word quake three times.
In chapter 27, Jesus hanging on the cross, cried out,
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me." When he died, the curtain in the temple that
cordoned off the section called the Holy of Holies ripped in two.
The
people believed that God literally lived in there. Once a year, the high priest would go in
there and offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people that year. They tied a rope around the priest so that if
he died in God's presence they could drag him out. The only time any ancient person even uttered
God's name was on that day. The priest
would go in, make the sacrifice, pray God's name, and he was done.
When
Jesus died, his sacrifice was acceptable for all sins of all people of all
time. God tore the temple curtain to
show that he doesn't live in a little room.
God is present in all places. In
Christ all people can go to Him. At the
moment the temple curtain ripped, Matthew reports there was a powerful
earthquake. Rocks were split in
two. Creation itself cried out when
God's son died. One of the Roman
soldiers declared "Truly this man was the Son of God." This mighty Roman warrior, was
awestruck. He knew that he was
witnessing an act of God.
The
second time Matthew used the word ‘quake’ comes from what was read earlier -
28:2. Mary Magdalene and another woman
named Mary went to anoint Jesus' body when the ground beneath their feet began
to tremble. But this earthquake wasn't
intended to terrify or kill anyone. Just
as the earth cried out in anguish, now, Sunday, the earth rumbled praise. Jesus conquered death and just as he
predicted they would, the rocks cried out!
On
Easter Sunday morning, we see Heaven's power unleashed. When one angel - not an army - but 1,
descended, the earth shook. Several
strong men working extremely hard were need to move the stone that sealed the
tomb. The angel rolled it away
effortlessly. He moved the boulder so
the women could see that the grave was empty.
Jesus was already gone. He didn't
need the angel's assistance. His
resurrected body cannot be constrained by physical limitations like stones,
doors, locks, or walls. This second
quake was a testimony that Jesus was and is alive.
The angel's action leads to the third time Matthew used
the same word - quake - to tell the story.
Before Jesus was buried, Pilate dispatched a small unit of soldiers to
guard tomb because the chief priests feared that the disciples would try to
stage a resurrection by stealing the body of Jesus. When the angle descended, those guards fell
to the ground, stricken with fear. Just
as the earth quaked at Jesus’s death and again at his resurrection, Matthew writes
that the guards quaked. For fear of the
angel, the guards shook and became like dead men. Imagine a battalion of Romans marching into
town, the ground rumbling with each step. Now, imagine these mighty soldiers
lying in the fetal position and begging for life because one angel showed them
the might of the Lord.
The angel told the women, "Do not be afraid. Go quickly and tell His disciples He has been
raised." They started down the road
to carry out their assignment, but they encountered someone along the way. The risen Christ himself met them to say
"Good Morning!"
The
women fell at his feet, overcome with joy, relief, and awe. "Do not be afraid,” he said, “Go and
tell my disciples to meet me in Galilee."
When he met the disciples, he told them, "Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded."
The Easter story is easy to remember and retell. Jesus Christ has risen. He is alive.
Go and tell people they can have life in Christ if they come to Him in
faith. The women who were brave enough
to come to the tomb were the first messenger, the first witnesses to
testify. Next, the 11 male disciples, excluding
Judas, met Jesus, believed, and became the leaders of the first churches. They told and retold the story of the death
and resurrection of Jesus. The church
was born. The world was changed
Today there are churches all over the world. In every almost language on earth, people can
read the story and make their own decision to follow Christ. There are churches of all shapes and colors,
and in God's church all people are brothers and sisters. Prejudice has no place here. In His name, we are united. We have peace. We share love. We live life together. Kings and beggars alike find salvation in the
cross and eternal life in the empty tomb.
Jesus shook up the world, but you only feel the tremors
when you submit your life to His will.
You only experience the glory when you ask Him into your heart. Do you want to become involved in the story
of Easter by giving your life to Christ?
Or, would you prefer to live as if it didn't matter? His invitation is open. You can come to Him, invite Him in, He'll
take residence in your heart, and your life will be changed forever. He's done His part. He went to the cross and now the tomb is
empty.
The
next step is yours. The final line of an
old worship song goes like there. “Were
you there when he rose up the grave?
Were you there when he rose up from the grave? O-o-o, sometimes it causes me to tremble,
tremble, tremble. Where you there when he
rose up from the grave?" Let your hear tremble. Ask Jesus to shake up your world. Receive Him as Savior. Worship Him as Lord. Tell of what he’s done as the good new;
world-changing news.
AMEN
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