After Jesus had risen from death... "the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'” (Matthew 28:16-20)
It's that time of year when we are again reminded, even confronted, with the historical reality that Jesus died on a tree, was buried for three days, and then came out of the grave. The Biblical authors could appeal to more than 500 witnesses who had seen the risen Jesus, (1 Corinthians 15:6) but we need not only take their word for it. We can come to the risen Lord Jesus ourselves and see Him by faith. We can open our Bibles and pray with Moses, “Lord, show me your glory!” (Exodus 33:18) We can see the Lord seated on a throne in Isaiah 6 (John 12:41), high and exalted, filling His temple with splendor and majesty. We can witness the strange and mighty living creatures flying about His throne and calling out 'Holy, holy, holy!' with voices that shake the temple. They hide their eyes, for they cannot even look upon Him who continually upholds the universe by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). And then, as we despair at the impossible distance between His holiness and our sinfulness, we can see this Almighty King leave the glory of His throne and descend into our world as a humble servant (Philippians 2:3-8).
He came and found wretched, sinful us and He did the unthinkable: He treated us as more important than Himself. See the Lord as He stoops down and washes our feet, as a slave would his master (John 13). See Him lifted up on a cross, a mangled, bloody mess, dying in our place. See the perfect, righteous Lord taking all of our guilt and shame upon Himself, crying out “It is finished!” (2 Corinthians 5:21, John 19:30) Who could resist this love? Who could resist this King? See the empty tomb and let us run with the disciples to the resurrected Savior! Like the disciples, we come to Him with a range of emotions. Sometimes worshipful, sometimes doubtful, yet Jesus comes to every one of us with a truth we can rest our short and fragile lives upon: All authority is His. There is no man, woman or child who does not belong to Him. So go and make disciples. Go and rescue the perishing. The Lord has died so that they may live, and He is worthy of their praise! Believers, our lives or not our own, we have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). So let us go in His authority to neighbors and nations, because He will be with us always, even to the end of the age.
It's that time of year when we are again reminded, even confronted, with the historical reality that Jesus died on a tree, was buried for three days, and then came out of the grave. The Biblical authors could appeal to more than 500 witnesses who had seen the risen Jesus, (1 Corinthians 15:6) but we need not only take their word for it. We can come to the risen Lord Jesus ourselves and see Him by faith. We can open our Bibles and pray with Moses, “Lord, show me your glory!” (Exodus 33:18) We can see the Lord seated on a throne in Isaiah 6 (John 12:41), high and exalted, filling His temple with splendor and majesty. We can witness the strange and mighty living creatures flying about His throne and calling out 'Holy, holy, holy!' with voices that shake the temple. They hide their eyes, for they cannot even look upon Him who continually upholds the universe by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). And then, as we despair at the impossible distance between His holiness and our sinfulness, we can see this Almighty King leave the glory of His throne and descend into our world as a humble servant (Philippians 2:3-8).
He came and found wretched, sinful us and He did the unthinkable: He treated us as more important than Himself. See the Lord as He stoops down and washes our feet, as a slave would his master (John 13). See Him lifted up on a cross, a mangled, bloody mess, dying in our place. See the perfect, righteous Lord taking all of our guilt and shame upon Himself, crying out “It is finished!” (2 Corinthians 5:21, John 19:30) Who could resist this love? Who could resist this King? See the empty tomb and let us run with the disciples to the resurrected Savior! Like the disciples, we come to Him with a range of emotions. Sometimes worshipful, sometimes doubtful, yet Jesus comes to every one of us with a truth we can rest our short and fragile lives upon: All authority is His. There is no man, woman or child who does not belong to Him. So go and make disciples. Go and rescue the perishing. The Lord has died so that they may live, and He is worthy of their praise! Believers, our lives or not our own, we have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). So let us go in His authority to neighbors and nations, because He will be with us always, even to the end of the age.
