Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts: “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” [Mark 2:5-7 (CSB)]
By forgiving people’s sins, Jesus was placing Himself in the role of God because only God can forgive sins. Had Jesus not been God, it would have been blasphemy. When He raised the dead, multiplied food, stilled storms, and healed incurable diseases, Jesus was doing other things that only God could do. His incredible claim that He could bring Himself back from the dead, something only God could do, was another way Jesus claimed His divinity. The undeniable proof of His claim came Easter morning when Jesus demonstrated power over both life and death. The tomb was empty and people saw the risen Christ—they heard Him speak, watched Him eat, saw His wounds, and touched Him. The forty days the resurrected Jesus remained on earth, however, is about more than proof of his claim to be God; it’s about proof of our relationship to God.
Let’s return to the disciples in that locked room Easter morning. The man they thought was going to redeem Israel was dead and His body was missing. Were they any less confused, disappointed, frightened, or troubled by those events than the two Christ followers returning to Emmaus that day? Not only were the disciples perplexed, they probably were guilt-ridden, as well. Peter, John, and James had failed to stay awake and pray with Jesus in Gethsemane and Mark tells us they all deserted Him that night. After promising he’d never deny Jesus, Peter did just that three times! Jesus’ closest companions were nowhere to be found the following day when the crowd shouted “Crucify Him!” and it was a stranger who carried His cross. The only disciple at the crucifixion was John. Rather than any of the disciples, it was Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who boldly risked their positions in the high council to see that Jesus got a proper burial.
When Jesus appeared to His disciples on Easter, thinking Him a ghost, they were startled and frightened. Once they knew it was the Lord, I’m not so sure they stopped being afraid of Him. But, instead of a reprimand for their doubt, Jesus simply showed them His hands and feet. Rather than shaming them for their cowardice, He spoke of forgiveness. While they may have anticipated a rebuke for their incomprehension and confusion, Jesus patiently explained the Scriptures’ prophecies and how He fulfilled them. When He appeared to Thomas, rather than scolding the doubter, Jesus told him to believe and offered proof. When Jesus appeared to the seven beside the Sea of Galilee, He didn’t admonish them for returning to their livelihood. Instead, He provided them with an enormous catch and made breakfast! Rather than confront Peter about his betrayal, Jesus restored their relationship and spoke to him of love. We know the Lord also spent time with his family but, rather than exacting retribution from the ones who thought him a religious fanatic, He forgave them; His half-brothers (two of which wrote epistles) joined His followers. Moreover, when Jesus finally ascended into Heaven, He didn’t leave His followers alone; He gave them His Holy Spirit!
The Resurrection tells us that Jesus defeated sin, Satan, and death and proves that He was God. The forty days the resurrected Christ spent on earth, however, tells us that the God who lived as a man for over thirty years was like the man who died and rose as God. It demonstrates that He was as gentle, patient, loving, and forgiving after the resurrection as He was before. He calmed the disciples’ fears, answered their questions, eased their doubts, knew their concerns, forgave their failures, and loved each one of them. A God of relationship, Jesus continues to know, see, hear, love, and forgive us today.
“Alleluia” (or “Hallelujah”), like “Amen,” is a word familiar throughout Christendom. Meaning “Praise the Lord,” it is the transliteration of the Hebrew hallel, meaning to shine, be boastful, praise, or rejoice and Yah, an abbreviated form of the name of the Lord: YHWH (Yahweh/Jehovah). Although two distinct words, they were consistently written as one (halleluyah). In the Old Testament, this extraordinary word occurs only in Psalms. Usually found at the beginning, halleluyah was an imperative call to praise or boast in the Lord—a call to shine a light upon Him! Whether we spell this beautiful word the Latin way as “alleluia” or the Greek way as “hallelujah,” the meaning is the same. Many modern translations simply translate it as “Praise the Lord!”
Joe Btfsplk was a character in Al Capp’s Lil’ Abner comic strip. With a last name that sounds likes what’s known as a “raspberry” or “Bronx cheer,” the poor man had a dark cloud of perpetual bad luck hanging over his head. Btfsplk no longer appears in the comics but I think his dark cloud of misfortune has settled over the head of a dear friend I’ll call JB (in honor of Capp’s luckless character). Since JB’s retirement, if something could go wrong, it has and, as soon as one challenge resolves, another one appears. When I saw the photos from his most recent mishap, JB looked as if he’d been tossed around in a giant rock tumbler filled with broken glass and boulders.
The celebration of the Lord’s Supper/Holy Communion/the Eucharist has been central to Christian worship since the early church. While Protestants think of the Eucharist as the sacrament commemorating the Last Supper with bread and wine, for Roman Catholics and some Orthodox, “Eucharist” specifically refers to the consecrated elements, especially the bread. How ever you define it, the word “eucharist” originally had nothing to do with this beautiful sacrament.
What would you do if you were six and your father said that your mom is in the hospital because she finds it hard to be happy and “did something stupid”? That question is answered in Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s one-act play, Every Brilliant Thing. In their play, that boy, now a grown man, tells the audience that he made of list of everything that was “brilliant” about the world—everything worth living for—and left it on his mother’s pillow. Reflecting a six-year old’s priorities, the list included ice cream, Kung-Fu movies, laughing so hard you shoot milk out your nose, burning things, construction cranes, and “me.” Although she returns the list with its spelling corrected, the boy’s mother never comments on it. Nevertheless, he keeps adding to his list. Although his mother eventually takes her life, the narrator tells how his list took on a life of its own and eventually saved him from his own depression and suicidal thoughts.
