Resurrection and Hope

Resurrection and Hope

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Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 28:1-10

  

I’ve always liked cornerstones on buildings. The cornerstone of my home church in Illinois indicates that the building was constructed in 1900, replacing an earlier church that burned in 1899. Of course, such a stone is typically of fine quality, not just any old large rock. 

Psalm 118 has a wonderful verse: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” Applied to Jesus, the verse shows the surprising ways of God in gaining our salvation through an itinerant teacher who was put to death by occupying forces. God’s ways are unexpected! To follow the Lord, we shouldn’t rest upon expectations. 

Matthew 28:1-10, for instance, has a similar Easter account as the other Gospels: the (male) disciples of Jesus do not go to the tomb, but the women are brave enough to visit the guarded location. Mary Magdalene Is accompanied by “the other Mary,” the mother of James. They experience an earthquake, which incapacitates the guards. An angel bids them to return to Galilee to tell the disciples, and on the way, the risen Jesus appears to them. Although Jesus does not exclude his eleven remaining disciples, he appears first to his women followers, who are essentially the first sent-out preachers of the Gospel!  

Another story of God’s surprises is the story of Peter and a very unlikely new disciple, the centurion Cornelius. Read that whole story in Acts 10. Within that story, which takes place a few years after the first Easter, Peter preaches some important aspects of Jesus’ work:  

“I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:34-43, NRSV). 

“I truly understand that God shows no partiality”! In this story, not only is Cornelius a non-Jew (most of the first Christians were Jewish), but he’s also an enemy! He’s part of the occupying force that oppresses the Jews in their land. People like him executed Jesus. But the Lord excludes no one! Soon, Cornelius and his whole household accept faith in the risen Jesus. 

What a wonderful story of how the Lord showers us with love and blessing through the Holy Spirit! What a wonderful Easter message!   

(A devotion written for our church)