Jonah

A few weeks ago I had a dream in which I found myself arriving in prison. I was the typical prisoner claiming my innocence, saying I’d been framed. I felt that I was there undeservingly due to a succession of circumstances beyond my control but in the eyes of the court I was guilty so that’s where I found myself. In truth I deserved to be in prison but I really had no concept of my guilt at all. It was only after a while of being in prison that I realised I was in the wrong and then suddenly in my dream I escaped!

In a second dream not long after, there was a giant tree in our garden. My solution was an elaborate scheme to relocate the tree to another place in the garden. It was going to cost about $5,000. While planning it, I came home one day to find that a man I didn’t know had cut it down! This made me angry that someone had destroyed the beautiful tree and ended my great plan. But when I was told that I could sell the wood for about $5,000, I realised I was $10,000 better off than my way.

Today I want to look at the story of Jonah, the man who was told to go east but went west instead, and not because he didn’t hear right! It’s a story that stands out from the other books in the Old Testament – it’s a short story of human frailty, of God’s Grace, of repentance and forgiveness. But it is also filled with miracles and good humour.

This is the first time in the Bible that God showing mercy to a Gentile city. Usually we find God at war on Israel’s behalf, telling Israel to go and completely wipe out the foreign armies and take no prisoners – men, women or children. But in the Book of Jonah, God is revealed like we know in the New Testament – merciful to the Gentiles.

Ninevah first appears in the Bible in Genesis 10. If you remember, one of Noah’s 3 sons was Ham. Ham was the son that Noah placed a curse on. One of Ham’s descendants was a guy called Nimrod. Nimrod was a powerful man, but he was against God. He built several great cities of the ancient world including Babel (which became Babylon), the tower of Babel and Ninevah. Ninevah was an amazing city, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. The main city was about 7km2 but including the suburbs it had about a 100km circumference. The main city walls were 30 metres high (10 stories or more) and were thick enough to have a 3 lane motorway running along the top. There were 1500 towers along the city walls. So it was huge and intimidating and filled with a large population of 120,000 people, a threat to the nations around it and an enemy of Israel. After Jonah, both Nahum and Zephaniah prophesied Ninevah’s destruction. Zephaniah said “He will destroy Assyria and make its great capital Ninevah a desolate wasteland like a wilderness”. Nothing seemed more improbable at the time but in 612BC, Ninevah came to a sudden demise at the hands of the Babylonians and the Medes. If you go to the site of Ninevah today, you will barely find any trace of its existence, it is exactly as the Lord foretold.

Jonah was a prophet from Gath-Hepher who was born about the time of Elijah. Gath-Hepher is about 8km from Nazareth. So Jonah was born sometime after David but before the Israelites had been taken captive by the Babylonians. Some Jewish tradition says that Jonah was actually the Widow’s boy that Elijah had raised back to life, but I couldn’t find the reason why that is thought. The only other mention of Jonah in the Old Testament is in 2 Kings 14:25 where Jonah predicted that Israel would recover lost territories between Hamath and the Dead Sea. There is plenty of reference to Jonah in the New Testament by Jesus. Some scholars think the story of Jonah is just a picture, but Jesus clearly taught it was true. Some scientists think that it is impossible because there is no fish big enough to swallow a man whole and for him to survive that long inside the fish and then be spewed up again alive. Some might assume the fish was a whale, but of course it may not have been. You cannot rely on nature to explain what happened because it was a miracle – a supernatural event.

Telling Jonah to go to Ninevah was a very big ask from God! It definitely looked like a suicide mission. “Go to the great city of Ninevah and give them this announcement from the Lord: I am going to destroy you for your wickedness rises before me; it smells to highest heaven”. Sometimes God may give us a task that is impossible. It was kind of like an asking an Englishman to go to Berlin in the middle of WW2 to tell Hitler that God was about to destroy them. Not on your life thought Jonah. In fact I hope you do destroy them! I’m going the other way thanks very much!!! So at the crossroads of his life, despite all the good things he’d done before, Jonah chose to go his way, the opposite direction to where God was asking him to go. He could argue that the circumstances were overwhelming, that it wasn’t fair of God, that he was afraid, the wrong guy for the job, but in the end he made a bad decision. It is always best to go God’s way. God would have to save Jonah before He could save Ninevah.

The first few verses show us the typical pattern for someone who goes the opposite way to where God has told them…”He went down to the seacoast, to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket, went on board and climbed down into the dark hold of the ship to hide there from the Lord”. Jonah was heading in a downward spiral, because now he was in the dark, cut-off in his relationship with God.

Jonah is done with God, but God is not done with Jonah. God is not going to leave Jonah this way! God is actually going to save Jonah but’s he’s going to have to shake him from his sin and it’s not going to be too pleasant. God intervenes with the 1st miracle by causing a storm that threatened to send the boat down to the bottom of the sea. Meanwhile, Jonah is asleep in the dark hold of the ship. How could he be asleep at a time like this? Was it because he had peace like Jesus did when Jesus was asleep in the boat when the storm came? No! I think the reason he was sleeping was because he was escaping from God and he was feeling depressed. Jonah was comfortable in the dark, he felt safe hiding from reality but it was a false peace.

When the captain comes down into the hold of the ship we find out Jonah’s true state. He admits he is running away from God and that it is his fault that the storm has come but he is not prepared to repent and pray for God’s help at this point. It looks noble of him to offer to be thrown into the sea to stop the storm but he is still rebelling. He should have told the sailors to turn the ship around and head back to Joppa so he could start doing what God wanted. The sailors would have done it. But Jonah would rather commit suicide by being thrown into the sea than do what God wants. So the sailors throw him in the sea and the 2nd miracle is that the storm stops immediately. And good comes out of the situation because the sailors then vow to serve the Lord for the rest of their lives. Something people often do when God helps them out of a crisis!

The 3rd miracle is the Lord sends a great fish to swallow Jonah and rescue him from being drowned in the sea. But Jonah is still not saved. Jonah had not reached his lowest point yet. He was like the prodigal son. He was going even further down. It is really sad to watch someone stubbornly hold on to their way. You cannot expect to fight God and win. He will beat you every time. When will you be ready to admit you are wrong and repent?

The 4th miracle was that Jonah survived being in the great fish 3 days and 3 nights. When the Pharisees came to Jesus asking him to give them a miracle, Jesus referred them to this event as the only miracle he would do for them - a future sign of his resurrection from the grave. That Jesus would also survive being in the belly of the earth 3 days and 3 nights.

But for Jonah it took 3 days and nights inside the great fish for him to give in and finally pray. That’s quite a long time to be in the depths of despair before you finally cry out to God, it shows just how stubborn Jonah was. He had been down to the bottom of the ocean and felt rejected and cast off from the Lord, totally separated from the love of God he used to know, totally alone. And Jonah knew that it was because of his sin that he was in prison at the bottom of the ocean. When Jonah stood at the gates of death, he finally came to his senses. “When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord”.

Some of us really stubborn ones have to hit absolute rock bottom before we will start looking up. It’s really crazy isn’t it? But in that moment God’s Grace was there for Jonah as it is for anyone who will look up. “The Lord ordered the fish to spit up Jonah on the beach, and it did.” It was painful, he stunk and he felt sick. He probably was sick! But Jonah was saved. Jonah was thankful to be alive.

Then the Lord spoke to Jonah again. Just because he was saved he wasn’t off the hook. He was saved for a reason, just as we all are. We still have our responsibilities. “Go to that great city, Ninevah and warn them of their doom, as I told you before”. Some parents will punish their children but then they don’t actually make the child do what was asked. Not God! I think there was a moment there when Jonah looked at God just like a child after being punished to see if there was any possibility that he would not really have to go. And God probably just raised an eyebrow. So Jonah makes at least an 800km journey to Ninevah. It could have been further depending on where exactly Jonah got thrown up on dry land. Quite often when we disobey, doing the right thing becomes harder than it was in the 1st place.

Finally Jonah arrives in Ninevah and begins preaching. He’s not really that happy about it. What did he preach? There was no grace in his message whatsoever. The message Jonah gladly gave them was one of their doom – hellfire and brimstone with no escape. I am sure that Jonah reminded the Ninevites of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was really scary stuff. “40 days from now Ninevah will be destroyed”. Where did Jonah get the 40 days from? He made that up! That was what Jonah wanted not what God had said. He gave them pantomime preaching, totally over the top and he didn’t want them to believe it as we shall see later.

Now the 5th and I think greatest miracle. Some might say it was the way Jonah looked after being in the fish, flesh eaten away by acid, stinking, hair fallen out, covered in seaweed. He looked like an alien a creature from another planet. Perhaps they thought he was the only living survivor from Sodom. Maybe they thought he was a god to have come out of the fish. Was it something about him that really freaked them out, or was it something else? What really made them scared? I think it was the overwhelming presence of God, Jonah was just the mouthpiece. When someone is under the conviction of God there is an extreme urgency to get saved! The presence of God was so thick in Ninevah, that the people understood that the threat that Jonah was giving them was real. They could be in Hell in an instant, just like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. On the very 1st day of Jonah preaching, the people repented and not just a few of them. The entire population of Ninevah! We would celebrate if just one or two people gave their lives to the Lord in one of our meetings. Everybody in the city of Ninevah repented from the King down. They were so scared they stopped their sinning immediately and cried out for God’s mercy. Jesus referred to this event by saying “The men of Ninevah shall arise against this nation at the judgement and condemn you. For when Jonah preached to them, they repented and turned to God from all their evil ways. And now a greater than Jonah is here – and you refuse to believe him”. The time to repent is always immediately on hearing Jesus call. You are taking a great risk if you put it off. The modern church has abandoned this type of preaching but perhaps we should reconsider!

It is amazing (isn’t it?) that as soon as the people repented God abandoned his plans to destroy Ninevah. The threats God makes are real, he will carry them out if we don’t repent. Hell is real and eternal. The Final Judgement will happen. The Sheep will be separated from the Goats. This is the God that many people will face. But if we will repent, he immediately forgives and restores us. God’s threats of judgement are not ultimately for our destruction but to cause us to repent, to change and turn to him. The Lord is not willing that any should perish. Why are you still fighting God? “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whosoever (merely) believed in him, shall not perish but have eternal life”. This is the God that we want to know.

In my 1st dream, I was in prison for reasons I did not understand. But finally I realised I deserved to be there. It was only then I escaped. The lesson that the people of Ninevah have to teach us is don’t wait another second if you are not right with God. Sort it out today! Ok, now Jonah has just preached the greatest evangelistic message ever and an entire city has been saved! All his trials have not been in vain. His life has counted for something. He’s a hero. He should be ecstatic, on cloud 9, but is he? No, he is very angry! This was not the outcome he hoped for at all. His heart is not right so he will have to go through yet more pain. This brings me back to my 2nd dream with the big tree that was cut down. That was not my plan and I was very angry about it. I think I can recall several times in my life when God has not acted like I think he should. Because of my perceived loss, I will then go through a period of anger, depression and isolation. After a while, sometimes a very long time because I’m very stubborn, the wisdom of God’s decision will become clear and I will come to terms with it and usually appreciate.

Firstly Jonah complained to the Lord, mainly it seems he was embarrassed that the Lord hadn’t done what Jonah had threatened the people with. He wanted to be proved right. He didn’t want to be laughed at as some crazy old prophet. He felt that the Lord had made him look a fool. He was angry with God and he was behaving like a child. He asked to be killed. He was still suicidal. Did he really think that would cause the Lord to change his mind again and destroy Ninevah, just because he felt sorry for Jonah? Some people will do anything to get their own way! It was good he was being honest but he didn’t appreciate the Lords decision. The Lord asked him a question to try to get him to see reason. The Lord asked Jonah “is it right to be angry about this?” I noticed that Jonah didn’t even answer this question from the Lord. I can remember at Intermediate School being so angry with my teacher that I didn’t speak to her for a whole term, even when she asked me a question directly. Talk about silent treatment. That is how Jonah is treating the Lord now. But notice the Lord doesn’t get angry with him back. He is very compassionate.

So Jonah went and sat sulking on the East side of the city as he waited there to see if anything would happen. He’d said 40 days, so my guess is he waited there 40 days, probably calling for fire from Heaven just like Elijah. He even built a shelter from some leaves and got as comfortable as possible while he waited. He is unbelievably stubborn isn’t he? I can understand Jonah because I’m just like him. The 6th miracle in this story is that when the leaves wilted in the heat, the Lord made a vine grow up quickly to shelter Jonah from the heat. That was very kind of the Lord wasn’t it? Jonah was grateful for the vine. Perhaps he thought that God was finally listening to him and would destroy Ninevah after all.

Once again Jonah’s true colours are revealed when God does the 7th miracle and sends a worm to eat the vine and cause it to die. When the fierce sun comes up in the morning and a hot wind from the east starts blowing, once more he wished to die. “Death is better than this!” Jonah said for the 3rd time. He wanted to die rather than not get his own way. He is either manic depressive or an overgrown child. My bet is the latter. God is the master parent he does not give in to our tantrums.

The Lord asks Jonah “is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” Jonah feels totally justified in saying “yes!” He feels the Lord is torturing him. Now the Lord points out that Jonah is really just feeling sorry for himself and for no good reason. The Lord has been very kind to Jonah throughout this story. The Lord’s point is why shouldn’t the Lord be kind to whoever he wants to especially those who have never heard of him before?

There are so many lessons in the story of Jonah for us aren’t there? What is God is saying to you today? I think though there is one overriding moral of the story and that is;

There are 2 ways to get what God wants done. Gods Way or Your Way…You Decide!!!

Book of Records

Do you enjoy reading books like the Guinness Book of World Records and finding out strange records like: Who can eat the most hotdogs in a minute or who can swallow the most swords without killing themselves?

While I was looking for information I found some really amazing records and some that I thought were a waste of time even putting in the book. For example, did you know the record for the most kicks to someone’s own head is 77? It’s an actual record. If it’s that easy, maybe I could set a Guinness world record for stalling for the longest time before having to write a speech.

There must be some sort of criteria to fulfil in order to get a world record officially recognised.

And how did the Guinness Book of Worlds Records come about anyway?

Well in 1951 Sir Hugh Beaver, who used to be the managing director of Guinness Breweries, went on a bird shooting party in Ireland. He got into an argument over which was the fastest game bird in Europe, the Koshin Golden Plover or the Grouse. He realised that it was impossible to confirm without proper tests. Later that night Hugh Beaver knew that everyone in the world would be interested in finding out all kinds of answers to questions like that, so his solution was to create a book of records. This was how the Guinness World Book of Records was created.

During the 59 years there have been some amazing records set. In 1999 in London a man called John Evans balanced a 159.6 kg car on his head!
Do you know that a boy in India is living his life with twelve fingers and thirteen toes, if that boy was in our class I’m sure he would do well in our basic facts tests with all those fingers.
In China there is a man who is 7 ft 5 which is 2.57 metres high, and the smallest man in the world is from the same city as the tallest man in the world. The smallest man is 2 ft 5 which is 74 centimetres small! If you think that’s amazing then listen to this!
The oldest primary student is 90, he enrolled to go to school at 84 years old!
In 2008 a guy called Tom Sietas held his breath for 16 minutes and 13 seconds,
I struggle to hold my breath for 1 minute! And here is one really dangerous one: at least 12 people have been killed doing the bullet catching trick, in which a gun loaded with a bullet is fired at a magician who will try and catch the bullet between his teeth!! That’s pretty crazy! Don’t try it at home!
Anyway for one about food: the largest sushi roll ever made was 6 ft long, the Japanese must have some hungry people. The person who holds the most Guinness Worlds records is a man called Ashrita Furman who has set 4 records. He holds records for long distance pogo-stick jumping, most glasses balanced on the chin, most hopscotch games in 24 hrs and fastest time to pogo-stick up the CN tower

What drives people to try breaking these dangerous or downright stupid records? Amazingly, the Guinness Book of Records is the world’s most sold copyrighted book, (and also something to add in is that the Bible is the world’s most sold un-copyrighted book) what is people’s fascination with it? Consider the things in the Bible that mankind has searched for throughout history
- A search for truth
- A search for significance
- A search for the absolute limits
- A way to feel better about yourself
- A fascination with the unusual, extreme and even freakish!

These are the same things that make the Guinness Book of Records so attractive to us, although in a worldly way of course.

So go ahead, make a record get your name written in that book, but don’t forget there is another much more important book to have your name written into!!!

Stories

What is your favourite type of story? – action, horror, fantasy, murder, mystery, thriller, fairy, funny…

Last few weeks I’ve been working on a story to tell you today. It’s not a love story (sorry girls) but it does start with a “Once upon a time there was a king and a queen in a far away land”…and there is a prince, a murder, a flight away from danger, friendship, a battle, some sadness, a rescue and of course a happy ending. I felt it was missing something, couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I got to the end yesterday and I realised it doesn’t have a true villain, so I’m going to have to rewrite it now and tell it to you another day…sorry about that!

Every good story needs a hero, a villain, some heroic deeds, a crisis or moment when all appears lost, a surprise or two, redemption, maybe a moral thrown in, in my opinion a happy ending (although modern stories don’t always end this way).

Stories can be very short. Some people are good at telling jokes – these are just short stories with a punchline or twist. Songs are short stories to music. Other stories are very long and drawn out – has anybody actually read the Lord of the Rings? Good job a movie was made but even that’s long…

The bible is a very long book. Our friend on the radio tells us every day he’s on, that the bible is made up of 66 different books by 40 different authors and is written over thousands of years.

It might be surprising to you for me to say this but the whole of the bible is the story of Jesus Christ. You can see him in every book, even before he was born on earth. My friend from India loves movies and he tells me that in the Indian movies, the hero often wears a mask covering his eyes. None of the characters in the story can recognise him but of course it’s plain to the audience. Just so with Jesus, once you’re a believer, God begins to show you Jesus in every book of the bible.

Each one of us also has a story being written, the story is not over yet (fortunately). And I’m sure we want our stories to be happy especially to have a happy ending! Where are you in your story? None of us really knows but - At the beginning? Best of times? Worst of times? Heroic deeds? Are you the hero facing a villain, maybe you are the villain!!! A crisis, all seem lost… In our stories I’m sure there have been a few surprises and not all of them good.

Jesus once said “All those who come and listen and obey me are like a man who builds a house on a strong foundation, laid upon the underlying rock. When the flood waters rise and break against the house, it stands for it is strongly built”. All of us face a crisis in our stories. We can face it on our own, but do we have the strength to get though?

The bible calls Jesus the Author of our faith! We can let him write our life stories if we want. He promises us that we can endure any storm and he promises us a happy ending. I’m getting older now and maybe a bit sentimental, but I’m happy with that! I hope you are too.

The Bridge

An Easter parable. A sad story with a happy ending...
A bridge keeper is forced to choose between either saving his son or saving a train full of people. How much more must God love you and me!
Click here

Easter Story

Last week we looked at the Easter story from a Prophetic point of view and saw how all the prophecies written hundreds of years beforehand concerning the coming of the Messiah and his death and resurrection were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This morning I’d like us to look again at the factual accounts of the Resurrection in the gospels. It has been said that there is far more evidence for the truth of the resurrection than any event of that time. This is the most important event in history. If it is true and we believe that, then what devoted happy lives we should be living. Amazingly, it can be measured. The time is known, the place is known and the story is laid out clearly. But don’t expect to get too much help from the scientific world. It doesn’t seem interested in looking. Thankfully God has placed a desire to know the truth in each one of us and we can think it through for ourselves.

I do want to add that science isn’t everything despite what you see on programs like CSI. We all know of cases where someone who was obviously guilty got off on some technicality or someone not guilty was convicted based on poor assessment of the facts or corrupted evidence. Science can sometimes get hung up on small details just like we can. I think it is so important to read these accounts with the big picture in mind and to put questions on small details to one side to be answered later.

The big facts are;

1. Here in the gospels we have the eye witness accounts of 4 followers of Christ which tell us that 11 disciples, several women and family members and more than 500 other witnesses actually saw Jesus Christ alive and well after he had been crucified, died and been buried. The bible says that you only need 2 witnesses to establish a fact, but here we have several hundred.

2. The empty tomb. No one at that time could deny that Jesus’ body was missing.

3. The disciples never backed down from their claim and most died for that. They had no choice – they had seen and touched him. In fact Jesus told Thomas “You believe because you have seen me. But blessed are those who haven’t seen me and believe anyway” John 20:29

And just as important as those big 3 facts are your belief and experience of Jesus at work in your life, the things that he has done for you. These eye witness accounts and personal testimony are just as valid as scientific evidence, and incidentally in all this time science has not even come close to proving the Resurrection story is false.

Nevertheless it is worth today to look at how the world has tried to explain away the Resurrection. When you hear the arguments that have been put forward by the sceptics and balance that against your own knowledge of the truth and personal experience, I am confident you will cast any doubts aside and believe just as the writers intended.

Let’s have a look at these false explanations of the Resurrection. As the Police would say, we want to eliminate the wrong suspects from our enquiries and having eliminated all the other suspects, be left with the truth – that Jesus rose from the dead is an historical fact. First of all then;

1. Swoon Theory: That Jesus didn’t actually die but somehow revived in the tomb, rolled the stone away, walked out and recovered. To do this Jesus would have had to survive the beating and lashing he received that ripped open his flesh, the nails in his hands and feet, more than 6 hours nailed to the cross, and a spear thrust into his side and up into his heart. Then after 2 nights in the cold tomb and in critical condition with severe loss of blood, roll the very heavy stone away (up to 2 tonne), walk out passed the Roman Guard, and within a few hours appear to the women and disciples fit and well. We can very safely assume the executioners had done their job and that Jesus had died. When Jesus was speared, doctors say that the blood and water coming out was proof of death. John who was at the crucifixion said “I saw all this myself and have given an accurate report so that you also can believe”.


2. Hallucination – The people that claim they saw Christ after he died were only hallucinating. Well that sure was a lot of people hallucinating! This theory is very poor for a number of reasons;

>The number of witnesses – 1 Corinthians 15:5-6 tells us “He was seen by Peter and later by the rest of the “Twelve”. After that he was seen by more than 500 Christian brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died by now. Then James saw him and later all the apostles. Last of all, I saw him too, long after all the others, as though I had been born almost too late for this.”

>The number of sightings – at the tomb, the road to Emmaus, the upper room on 2 occasions, at the lake and on the Mount of Olives.

>They were physical encounters not just sightings. Jesus encouraged the disciples to touch him and told Thomas to put his hand in the holes in his hands and side.

>They all testified the same type of story that they had heard him speak, seen him, touched him and eaten with him. With a hallucination you would find that one person’s was quite different from another’s. Hallucinations are very individualistic in that respect.


3. Impersonation – The person they met wasn’t the real Jesus. It’s true that quite often in their encounters, people didn’t recognise him or naturally doubted at first. In one of the funniest passages in the bible in Matthew 28:16-17 we’re told “Then the 11 disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus said they would find him. There they met him and worshipped him – but some of them weren’t really sure it was Jesus!” However the fact they didn’t recognise him was more to do with;

>They weren’t expecting to see a dead man alive again

>His body was resurrected and was somewhat different.

However their lack of recognition was always temporary and after hearing him speak or eating with him, the bible tells us suddenly they would recognise him. It is not possible that an impostor could have fooled his family not to mention the disciples who’d been living and travelling with him those last 3 years. Also could anyone other than the Son of God have ascended into Heaven right before their eyes?


4. Spiritual Resurrection – This one was sadly put forward by modern scholars. They say that the story is only an illustration of the truth of new life after death. So what they’re really saying is that Christ’s body remained in the tomb. They’re missing one crucial point – the empty tomb! But also the encounters were definitely physical not spiritual. Jesus told the disciples specifically that he was definitely not a ghost. In Luke 24:39 “Look at my hands! Look at my feet! You can see that it is I, myself! Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost! For ghosts don’t have bodies as you see I do!” In fact Jesus resurrected body should give us great hope of a physical resurrection;

>He could appear in different forms so they didn’t recognise him (Mark 16:12)

>He could eat

>He could appear and disappear

>He could pass through solid objects like the door not because he was a ghost but as Winkie Pratney said, because he was more solid than the door!


5. The Wrong Tomb – The suggestion here is that the women and the disciples went to the wrong tomb. This is not credible for several reasons;

>The tomb was right there at Calvary where the cross had been

>The women and John who were at the crucifixion could see the body being buried a short distance away. One may have been mistaken but not all of them.

>There was a Roman seal on the tomb with guards standing over it and it was easily identifiable

>Most importantly, Jesus’ enemies the Jewish Leaders and the Romans could not produce the body or show the correct tomb. The body was definitely missing and the tomb was definitely empty


6. Theft – All of the previous theories are ruled out leaving the only one the Jewish Leaders could offer at the time. That the disciples had stolen the body. Actually they knew it wasn’t true but they wanted to try and squash the story there and then. This is found in Matthew 28:12-15 “A meeting of all the Jewish Leaders was called, and it was decided to bribe the guards to say they had all been asleep when Jesus’ disciples came and stole his body. ‘If the governor hears about it,’ the Council promised, ‘we’ll stand up for you and everything will be alright.’ So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and is still believed by them to this very day.” Apart from what is written in Matthew about the bribes, what else points to the claim that the disciples stole the body being false?

>The evidence of the linen cloth and swath being left behind neatly folded. People hurrying to steal a body wouldn’t bother to undress it and leave the clothes folded neatly behind. That clearly points to Jesus himself.

>The disciples were not willing or able to take on a Roman guard of well disciplined battle ready soldiers;
i. Their hopes and dreams of Jesus being the Messiah had been crushed
ii. They were grief stricken over the loss of their friend
iii. They had all run away less than 2 days before and were hiding in the upper room. Only the women were brave enough to venture out first thing on Sunday morning.
iv. The only fighting man among them was Simon the Zealot

>There was no reason to move him. Jesus had been buried honourably in the best tomb paid for by a rich man

>It didn’t do them any favours to tell people that Jesus was alive – they were persecuted to their graves because of it. If they had stolen the body, then nearly all of them died for a lie.


So there you have them. Six suspects ruled out because they don’t stack up under cross examination.Still you have to explain the empty tomb.

So who do you believe? The eye witness accounts or the critics writing 2000 years later?

All of which we know leaves us with the only true explanation, that Jesus really did rise from the dead. This is what the gospel writers wanted us to know about God. That in his kindness, all he wants from us so we can be saved is our belief. Believing in the Resurrection is the key to our salvation. As Romans 10:9 says “For if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord, and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved”.

Since Jesus is alive today, we don’t have to travel back in time to meet him, we can go to him now. DL Moody once preached a very simple message “Do you believe that Jesus died on a cross and was raised from the dead. Then why don’t you thank him for it?” Thousands were saved because of it.

This last week and a half as I prepared for today, I’ve sat down and read the accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and tried to put myself in the story. I’d encourage you to do the same. The more I read and challenged them with my own questions, the more sense they made to me. They seem so full of real responses, of accurate pictures of ordinary life being invaded by the extraordinary and in no way do they attempt to gloss over the weaknesses of people. They don’t paint the disciples as heroic souls who battled against the Romans and fought for Jesus. They are very honest accounts of doubt, of fear and surprise and joy found in a new reality with real hope.

That really is the challenge for me. That having been convinced about the Resurrection and receiving the new life, of then letting it motivate and change me on a daily basis. Then telling others what I’ve discovered. Yes we need to believe for our salvation but we owe God more than just belief.

What does this mean to you? Put your name to Jesus’ question “Jesus told her, ’I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone who believes in me, even though he dies like anyone else, shall live again. He is given eternal life for believing in me and shall never perish. Do you believe this Martha ?” John 11:25-26

Zac

When Zac was a young boy he wanted to be a top athlete, the fastest in his country, to win the gold medal at the Olympics one day. Actually he was a natural athlete being blessed with strong arms and legs and his parents were very proud of him. Whenever it was school sports day they would go along and watch with pride as Zac cleaned up. Although he was the shortest in his class he could beat anyone in the school in a race, even the older kids. He just focussed hard on the finishing line and ran at top speed, arms and legs pumping like bees wings. He looked a bit funny but he always finished first and it made him feel good. Zac loved to imagine himself lining up in the 100 metre final at the Olympics, hearing the crowds cheer him on as he tore down the track, lifting his arms in the air as he broke the tape and doing half a dozen back flips with everyone shouting his name as he went up to collect the gold medal.

But things began to change for Zac as he got older and went to high school. This was mainly because Zac didn’t grow tall like the other boys, and the other kids would tease him about it. He prayed every night to God that he would grow as tall as the other boys but nothing changed. Eventually Zac grew angry with God about it, and what’s more he couldn’t be bothered with people either. He became a bit of a loner at school and couldn’t wait to leave as soon as he was allowed. He decided he was going to make it in this world on his own.

So he left school at 15 and started up his own business with the same determination that he used to win races when he was a kid. And it didn’t take long before he was making a lot of money and a name for himself. As his wealth grew, he began mixing it with top businessmen and government leaders and he would get invited to all the best events, be in the news quite a bit as well. But Zac grew to be a hard man, and most people didn’t like him. He didn’t have any true friends and Zac wasn’t happy. Although he would go to the top holiday destination by the lake in his private boat and moor up the boat outside his big bach on the waterfront, he would go there alone. One day while on holiday he looked out the window from the top deck and saw the fishing boats go by. Fathers and sons fishing together, working hard but enjoying themselves. Zac felt empty as he watched them. He’d trade in his life for theirs he thought even though they were poor at least they were happy. He began to remember his childhood with his mum and dad when they went camping. Things were simple back then, but they were happy times. He had plenty of friends, a mum and dad who loved him and his dream of winning the gold medal.

Zac went home from his holiday more depressed than ever! Back to work at his prime office in the city, back to his lonely life. One day at the office as he was working through his budgets and checking his bank balance, he heard a real commotion outside. The sound of a crowd shouting, the noise was getting nearer and louder. Zac couldn’t concentrate, and he got a bit annoyed at the noise. He could hear the crowd shouting a name but couldn’t quite make it out. That reminded him of when was young dreaming of people chanting his name at the Olympics so with some curiosity, he went to the window to look out, but couldn’t see from the ground level who they were shouting for. Zac went outside and tried to get a look over the people’s heads but he was too short to see. “Jesus, Jesus over here” he heard them shout out. “Oooh” Zac’s eyes opened wide. This is that famous man everyone is talking about, who has been doing great miracles all over the country, I want to see him! Zac quickly looked around, there was a great big tree nearby. “I can still climb that” he thought to himself, so he ran over fast as he could and shot up the tree quick as a cat. From the very top he could see Jesus just a few metres away. Jesus suddenly looked up at him straight in the eye. And to Zac’s surprise called out to him, “Zacchaeus!”

“Wow, how do you know my name!!!” Zac exclaimed “Am I in trouble?” Zac said. Zacchaeus is what my mum used to call me when I’d really done something wrong he thought.

“No Zacchaeus” Jesus laughed “quick come down for I am going to be a guest in your home today”…

What about you, have you lost your way like Zac? Jesus has been looking for you. He wants to be a guest in your home today!

Temptation in the Wilderness

It's the beginning of another year and a time when many people are making resolutions of change. You might want to consider Jesus at this time because if ever there was an example to follow when starting out on a journey...it's him! Let's go back to the start of Jesus' ministry and examine what happened from the time he was baptised by John to right after. You can read this passage in Matthew 3:16 – Matthew 4:11

What a moment in Jesus' life when John declared who Jesus was and God spoke from heaven! Wouldn't that make you feel good to know there was a great purpose for your life acknowledged by some words of encouragement from man and from the Lord in heaven above? Starting out on a journey begins with a sense of purpose. But note how the baptism preceded testing. Suddenly instead of the great vision you have for your future and God's clear movement in your life, you find yourself in the wilderness with nothing but the Lord's promise to keep you going. You're hungry and facing temptation to give in and quit or worse...

Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness which is Satan’s domain ( Matthew 12:43.). This echoed exactly what had happened to Moses and the Israelites when they were led into the desert by God right after all those great miracles. They had been mightily delivered from Egypt and were now going to the Promised Land in a hurry! But when they realised it wasn't going to work out as they had imagined, it wasn't too long before the rumbling of complaints started.
Jesus had fasted for 40 days and being severely weakened, found himself in a great spiritual battle with the Devil himself. What a terrible predicament to be in.

Satan sure knows how to pick his moments. There would be 3 great temptations – 3 tactical traps that would have spelled indescribable disaser if Jesus failed to overcome them. Where do you go when you have nothing left to give, when all your strength is gone and the thoughts you're having are overwhelming you? You hear that voice saying it would be so much easier to give in even though you know in your heart the disaster that would follow. More than that, this moment in Jesus' life was more important than the immediate. It was preparation for an even Greater Battle ahead at the Cross. God will never allow trials and temptations to come into your life without a greater purpose in mind. And he will give you the deeper strength you need to win the struggle in those moments.

The 1st Temptation was to turn stones to bread so that Jesus could eat and satisfy his hunger. What was the trap in this? It was a seemingly innocuous question from Satan, but Jesus spotted the danger immediately. Jesus recognised he was hungry like Esau was. Esau had given away his inheritance for some soup and bread. Jesus responded to Satan from Deuteronomy 8:2-3.

Satan's way of trying to trick Jesus had 3 strategies.
– Cast doubt with the words “If you really are God’s Son”. Jesus had heard God's voice at his baptism and he didn't forget those wonderful words. Maybe you need to remind yourself of those great moments in your life when you heard God speak to you. Never forget them!
– Try to get Jesus to disobey what the Holy Spirit had asked Jesus to do. It was the Holy Spirit who had asked Jesus to fast and Jesus was waiting for the all clear from him. It is only following after the Holy Spirit that will give us life. Following our own nature leads to death.
– To cause Jesus to be discontentment with God’s provision. Remember God will always provide what you need which might be less than you think. You can trust him with less. You don't live on bread alone.

It can be a frightening moment when temptation first arrives in your life. Satan was doing everything he could to keep Jesus in the desert. But there is an opportunity in every temptation to “turn the tables” on Satan. You can frighten him off by making him realise you're going to grow by overcoming what you are facing. Don't be scared of him. Make him scared of you!

Since Jesus had overcome the 1st temptation he would have strength at the Cross when he heard the words from the crowd “Come down from the cross if you are the Son of God”. He did not need to prove he was God's Son. He could remember his Father's beautiful words at his baptism and he also knew he could overcome Satan even in his weakest moment by remembering the Wilderness.

The 2nd Temptation was to Jump. What was the trap? Satan actually misquoted Psalm 91:11-12. I don't believe you'll ever hear a truthful word from Satan. He is the father of lies and can't bear to tell the truth. He will always pervert what has God has said. The passage Satan quoted can not be applied to jumping off tall buildings! That is indeed foolish. God sends his angels to protect you from stumbling on your journey so that you won't fall and cut, bruise yourself or break a bone but he may not help you if you do something reckless. He does care for you so don't learn the hard way. Make sure you know not only what God has said, but what he means. Think carefully on his words and put them in context. Be wise.

Jesus referred Satan to Deuteronomy 6:16 and Exodus 17:7. Massah means “tempting Jehovah to slay us”. Why did the Israelites even ask “Is God going to take care of us or not?”. After all even in the desert, they had manna from heaven every day, a cloud to lead them during the day and a pillar of fire at night. It was very clear that God was looking after them so why were they complaining? God does want us to ask him for our daily needs and they needed water, but what he hated was the moaning and questioning of his love that he got instead. I'm sure all parents and anyone who tries to lead can understand where God was coming from! How they were testing his patience!

Instead of complaining, ask your Heavenly Father for your daily needs and trust his provision. In God’s timing, the angels came and cared for Jesus. God will send you strength when you most need it. He loves you.

At the Cross, the religious leaders shouted “Come down from the cross and we’ll believe you”. They mocked Jesus and told him to jump. Quit they screamed at Jesus. “Let God show his approval by delivering you”. Don't let the Devil trick you to jump when you are so close to victory. Keep waiting, angels are coming.

The 3rd and final temptation was a deal with Satan. Jesus was promised the World in exchange for his worship and loyalty. Oh boy we know this trap, you'd think there would be no way anyone would fall for this. When we were kids, we never thought we would face trouble like that. It would be easy to go the right way! But every day teenagers and adults come to this same crossroads in their life and the promise of power, wealth, fame or happiness lures them down the wrong road. Don't you hate it?

If you are standing at the crossroads in your life remind yourself what to do from Jeremiah 6:16. Satan’s Shortcut to obtaining the Kingdoms of the World is the high road to nowhere. It comes with a diabolical condition and a heavy price. “The Wages of Sin is Death!”…always. The Father’s way for Jesus was the Cross…the low road. There is no other way to tell you that this is difficult and involves suffering. Yet it is only for a short time, you'll get through. The first step down the right road is the hardest, once you start you can't even turn and look behind you in the narrow way. Yet the way get's brighter as you go. The other way get's darker. Jesus chose God’s Way and won his battle. Jesus resisted and the Devil went away a while. Finally there was peace and quiet and the trial was over.

At the Cross, Pilate tried to limit Jesus to being the King of the Jews. “So you are the King of Israel are you?” Satan mocked. But with his last breath, Jesus earned the right to be the King of Kings. That's where he sits now.

In order to win your Battle, learn from Jesus;
• Jesus went where the Holy Spirit led him
• Jesus fasted for 40 days and was prepared. Your enemy is tough so get ready... Ephesians 6:13-17
• Jesus never doubted his relationship with the Father
• Jesus knew the Word of God
• Jesus overcame by obedience to the Word of God
• Jesus knew his life purpose and calling
• Jesus chose the low road…the Father’s Way

Which way do you choose as you stand at the Crossroads? Choose Life.