Ashley & Matt's Wedding Reception Toast

I want to start by wishing everyone here ... my family, Matt's family, our friends, friends of the Rousseaus, Ashley's friends and yes, even Matt's friends a very warm good evening and welcome! I also want to thank all the great Four Oaks people ... starting with my pastors Paul Gilbert and Erik Braun, their wives Susan who just so happens to be Ashley's first non-family "mentor" [she taught her sixth grade math at Community Christian School ... Ashley was always so very impressed with Susan that she frequently came home saying that she wanted to be just like Susan when she "grew up." Ashley, just so you know, you did end up a lot like Susan in your love for people, your graciousness, and your heart for God! I also want to welcome and thank Tori Braun for sharing her husband Erik with our church body and me in particular as well as with my family. The time Erik spends in the Word each week laboring for our body has not been wasted ... God's Word has yielded, and my prayer is that it will continue to yield, a rich harvest in the lives of the Four Oaks body, my family members as well as in my own. I want also to thank Josh & Jessica Hughes for their help and service, for Josh who plays and sings like an angel, as well as Jessica's wonderful wedding advice. And lastly thanks to Matt Robinson, Kirk Tanis and Bruce Greer for their behind the scenes work that will hopefully make this wedding ceremony proceed successfully from a facility and technology frame of reference. Sadly, they are seldom noticed until something goes wrong. But they have done yeoman's work in creating such a functional and beautiful space from something that once was so very ugly.

It is certainly a bittersweet day standing here on the Eve of my first daughter's wedding. Ashley in so many ways was and is an answer to many prayers prayed by many of our friends, her mother and me. Janna had gotten pregnant the year before Ashley was born only to have us lose the baby to a miscarriage at 8 weeks or so. I was a third year medical student at that time and had cared for several women who had gone through the same thing we were then facing ... it seems so much more clinical when its someone else grieving. But it was now our turn to grieve ... and grieve we did ... a surprising amount as I remember it, considering just how common miscarriages are. Then the following spring we happily learned that Janna was pregnant again. We'd tried hard not to get our hopes up too much, after the bitter disappointment only six months before, but there was no way not to get excited. Then at about six weeks gestation or so, Janna started bleeding again. Ashley, I can't begin to tell you how many people prayed for you at that time, and the prayers of the righteous availed much on your behalf. Within just a few days we had our first ultrasound which showed what looked like two gestational sacs but no clear baby in either. The hormone levels were inconclusive and we waited anxiously and prayerfully [though helpless personally ... I so wanted to be able to fight for my baby ... but ultimately I had to trust you to Jesus ... something that has become a bit of a life lesson for me]. A week or so later, Janna had a followup ultrasound that showed a single gestational sac and a fetal pole ... there you were ... so very tiny but we could, at least, see you! We often wonder if you don't have a twin sister or brother up in heaven that we'll get to meet some day. But at least we had hope again that you would make it. Janna's bleeding had slowed significantly and finally stopped. Her pregnancy then became like so many other first pregnancies ... there were all the mysterious firsts, quickening [was it gas? or was it you?], hiccups [your mom was convinced you had them and I as the know-it-all senior medical student said "unborn babies don't get hiccups" ... so we bet and she made me ask one of my attending OB professors who confirmed that, "of course, they do!" Lost another one to your mom ... but these are things that aren't in any text book]; childbirth classes, and then finally we were ready for the big day.

Labor started in the middle of the night [like all first labors seem to] and Janna woke me up from a sound sleep at 3:00 AM saying "It's time...the baby is coming." I drove her over the 3/4 mile to the City of Faith Hospital only to find out that she was just fingertip dilated; and so they sent us to walk on the indoor track for an hour. You know your mom has always been a good walker! And thus we trucked along between contractions when she would double up with pain every five minutes or so. Then we checked back in, only to learn that her cervix hadn't changed much. So they gave her a shot of Stadol and sent her home at about 5:00 AM saying, "you might have this baby later today, but, then again, you might not." The Stadol put your mom to sleep, but it failed to stop the contractions; so she woke up every 4-5 minutes in pain and then went back to sleep. It was quite a weird thing to behold. At about 10:30 that morning she woke me back up saying "It's time to have the baby." I checked her myself this time and she was 8-9 cm dilated; and that's when I panicked, flying around the apartment and getting everything into the car. We drove back over this time knowing they wouldn't kick her out again ... and then they panicked, calling your doctor who was at church where all good Christian doctors should be at 11:00 AM on a Sunday morning. She arrived just in time to watch me catch you as your mom delivered you. What a rush of great and awesome emotions holding you, staring at you, hugging you for the very first time! You were so very petite and also so very amazing in every detail. There was never a more proud set of parents than we were for you! And you were just so very perfect. It went straight to our heads.

We had read a book in our church Sunday School the semester before, How to Really Love Your Child, which simplified parenting down to making sure your child's emotional tank was always full. If that was the case, then your child would feel totally loved, safe, accepted and protected and there would be no need for screaming, disobedience, defiance, etc. Well, did we ever have that down! And did you ever reciprocate! There we were, God's gift to parenting. And sadly, we looked down on so many other poor parents whose babies screamed in restaurants, in church, in movie theaters, wherever, knowing that their emotional tank must be sadly lacking. But not our baby's! Then Alli happened! But that's another story for a different rehearsal dinner! Suffice it to say that we never looked down at other parents again, and we threw that book away!

You have been such a wonderful daughter Ashley, over all these many years. You saw me crying last Saturday as I was even trying to recall the hand full of times in these past 23 years that you've disappointed me. There were so very few of them. Losing your UNF scholarship by not taking enough hours your third semester [not reading the fine print], overdrafting your checking account on multiple occasions [saying things like "but Daddy, I checked on-line and the bank said I still had money" which I guess is the modern day equivalent to "well, I still had checks left" that blondes said in my day, "but Daddy, I don't think in numbers" or "but Daddy it was Father's Day and I couldn't bear for you not to get a card...that was one special card + $35 overdraft fee that I basically got to buy for myself ... but even then your heart was always in the right place], locking your keys in your car repeatedly...all parents should be so lucky! We just thought we had problems. I remember Paul Gilbert calling me aside after church about four years ago saying, "Steve, I just wanted to tell you just how exceptional your daughter Ashley is." I said, "I know Paul, she is the best." But he wouldn't stop. He thought I didn't get it. He kept after me, saying things like "I've seen virtually every kid who has come up through our youth ministry program here and I just want you to know just how exceptional your daughter, Ashley, is." I again said, "I know Paul, she is amazing! But I've known that for almost 19 years now!" He probably still thinks that I don't get it.

But you've got to remember that I've always been your biggest fan. I can still remember filming all your swim meets while screaming out encouragement to you like a crazy loon and loving it when you would leave all those other swimmers an entire pool's length or more behind you. You were so petite, but boy were you fast! And your technique was incredible! So much so that the middle school boys on your swim team here in Tallahassee made your life so miserable that you felt like you had to quit, just because you could out-swim them as a third grade girl! That was another of my disappointments ... me vicariously living through you as your coaches in Hawaii thought you had Olympic potential as a swimmer [nevermind that your gymnastics coach there also said the same thing about you in that sport]. Both of them wanted you to spend 3-4 hours/day with them training. It's too bad that your mother and I wanted you to go to school too.

I guess life is a series of choices ... and yours has been one of many excellent choices. I remember the day that Pastor Mark Olmos and I baptized you in the Pacific Ocean! I was so proud of you then ... a lei on your neck and a heart surrendered to Christ. Many more leis for achievement would follow, for musicals you'd perform in, for graduations from high school and college. You made me so proud graduating at the top of your nursing school class [I think you were third in your class] and I absolutely love sharing the field of medicine with you! We always have so much to talk about and I think we always will.

So it's all come down to this ... what man would ever be worthy enough to marry my firstborn daughter??? But then I think, which of us is worthy enough to be the bride of Christ? So ultimately, it comes down to calling I think. I remember countless times over the past 23 years praying for your future husband from the first very days of your life all the way till this very day ... that God would select a man who had a heart truly after His, who would love you like Christ loved the church and would provide a safe and wonderful spiritual cover under which to nurture you in your walk with Christ and to raise kids who walk in His ways. I confess it's a bit easier to pray this once I knew who the man would be, but that didn't stop either Janna or me from praying prayers like way back when I could still hold you in the palm of my hand. We prayed for yours and his physical purity as you came together on your wedding day ... that that gift to each other would not be defiled. What a joy to know that it hasn't. I'll tell you in 23 years of medical practice, I have seen only four other couples make it to their wedding days sexually pure! So God has been more than faithful to you both and to us! I remember Ashley first "going out with you" Matt, in the eighth grade. I'd tease her by asking, "Where are you guys going?" She'd reply, "Nowhere Dad, but you know what I mean!" Sadly, I knew all too well. Another man [well, more of a boy really] was coming between us. By your senior year of high school your heart was totally stolen. Not that it wouldn't be and hadn't been broken a few times when you guys would split up, but I think your relationship matured to deeper levels with each break. The truth is, there really wasn't anywhere left to go but down to the altar and neither of you were really ready for that. So you've both learned deep lessons in patience and in waiting on God. Those are hard but necessary lessons to learn in life. And I think you are both mature beyond your years. Matt, I've enjoyed watching you, from afar initially, but up close these past five years. I love how you have a heart for those who not the first chosen. You have a way of making the "less special" seem special. You certainly may be an extrovert's extrovert, but one with a tender heart for the Lord. And despite the very challenging hand you've been dealt over the last four years or so, I see an incredible amount of spiritual growth. God's grace is all over your life. It is my prayer that God calls you into full-time Christian ministry ... I see all the giftings in you that are needed to make a remarkable difference for the Kingdom. And you won't find a woman better suited to be a pastor's wife than Ashley. So, tomorrow I will walk her down the aisle and give what God has given me to protect and to nurture over to you to do the same. And in that may He receive great glory! For those of you who follow my blog linked to Facebook you know "The Mystery Is, Indeed, Great!

I'll close my toast [I'm sure Janna is screaming out inside...the toast is already burned to a crisp by now] by reading the lyrics to a very old contemporary Christian song [how's that for an oxymoron?] ... one that was riding the airwaves and on my iPod when Janna & I were your ages, but one that has always had deep meaning for me. What's that you say? They didn't have iPods when we were you age? Well, I guess that is probably true. Heck, they didn't even have Walkmans when we were your age nor CDs. I think Franklin had just discovered electricity or something like that. Anyway, this song was written and performed by Scott Wesley Brown and it sums up what I wish for you more than anything else I can think of. There is certainly no shortage of things that we can wish for in this world ... but there is only one thing that we were made to wish for, and it's that simple thing that I wish for you both. If somehow you can manage to keep this both first and central your whole lives through, then I have great confidence that Christ will use you both mightily all the days of your lives. And I'm just as confident that you will always know what true joy is.

I Wish You Jesus

I could wish you joy and peace

To last a whole life long.

I could wish you sunshine

Or a cheerful little song.

Or wish you all the happiness

That this life could bring.

But I wish you Jesus,

But I wish you Jesus,

But I wish you Jesus,

More than anything!

I could wish you leaves of gold

And may your path be smooth.

I could wish you treasures

Or that all your dreams come true.

And I could wish you paradise

That every day be Spring.

But I wish you Jesus,

But I wish you Jesus,

But I wish you Jesus

More than anything!

Cause when I’ve wished you Jesus…

I’ve wished you EVERYTHING!

Ephesians--"The Mystery is Great"

For the next few months my devotional time will be focusing on Paul's letter to the Church at Ephesus, which is also believed to be an encyclical for all the churches in Asia Minor since the designation "in Ephesus" was missing from the earliest manuscripts. Our fellowship groups at Four Oaks Community Church will all be studying this book of Scripture this semester, and since I lead one of these groups, and since my eldest daughter is scheduled to marry a week from today and one of this book's great themes is the mystery of Christ and the Church as His Bride, and since I've never done an in-depth study of Ephesians it seems like a good time to dig in! With that as a preface, this entry will just highlight a few verses of the introduction where Paul celebrates the riches of God's grace [1:1-14].

Paul's personal celebration is centered on the fact that he is "an apostle of Christ [Messiah] Jesus by the will of God" [v. 1a]. This certainly was not due to his own will. At the outset of Christianity [called The Way at the time], he had been a militant opponent of Christ, even acting as an accessory to the murders of believers [Acts 7]. But then on the Damascus off ramp he met the risen, living Christ and heard his call, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? ... I am Jesus whom you are persecuting" [Acts 9:4, 5]. The effect was a conversion so radical that within just a few days Saul "baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ" [Acts 9:22]. It was nothing short of a miracle and made him one with the Twelve!

It also reminds me on a much smaller scale of the Damascus Road experience I had with the Lord when He spoke to me audibly on the "Clearwater Road" that last Wednesday morning in July 1980 at 5:30 AM as I drove into work and totally redirected the trajectory of my life ... commanding me to change my career path from architectural engineering to medicine and my spiritual path from attending a secular university [Oklahoma State] to a Christian university [Oral Roberts] ... three weeks before I returned to Stillwater, OK to start my junior year! I both shudder and wonder at times how very different my life would have been had I not obeyed His call. Yet it was the surety of this calling that enabled me to "Press On" toward the high calling He had on my life during the stressful years of medical school [very long hours and mountains of material to learn] and residency with its 100+ hours of work per week ... both of which seemed Herculean tasks at the time I endured them. And I was the one who would NEVER major in biology if that was the last major on earth, the very thought of even touching let alone dissecting anything dead totally repulsed me. This was the very first time I learned to never say never to God!

As an apostolos, one sent, Paul's authority was not self-generated, but was ordained of God. He therefore could not help but preach Jesus ... "for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" [1 Cor. 9:16]. This was certainly something to celebrate, but it was not a cause for selfish vanity. Before he met Christ, he was named "Saul," named after the tallest and vainest of the Benjamites, King Saul, from whom he was descended. But now Christ had changed his named to "Paul" meaning small. He had been both cut down to size and humbled enough to say "we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" [2 Cor. 4:7]. Paul's smallness became the medium for God's greatness to be manifest, and his weakness a channel for God's power to flow uninhibited! Such a model he is for all of us.

"To the saints ... the faithful in Christ Jesus" [v. 1b] ... Paul's celebration now moves from himself to all of us. This is a most remarkable designation for in the Old Testament the people of Israel and sometimes even the angels were given the honored title "saints." Therefore, as Marcus Barth explains, "By using the same designation ... the author of Ephesians bestows upon all his pagan-born hearers a privilege formerly reserved for Israel, for special [especially priestly] servants of God, or for angels. Applying this privileged word "saints" to pagan Greeks was mind-boggling to those with a Jewish background. "Saints" means "holy ones, those set apart and consecrated." It was a word descriptive of what had occurred in their hearts. Paul also added that they were "faithful" -- actively believing and trusting in God.

Then Paul gives what would become the most sublime of Christian greetings, "Grace and peace to you from our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" [v. 2]. Kent Hughes notes that this greeting "bears the poetry of redemption, for the regular Greek greeting was 'Rejoice!' [chaire], and the regular Jewish greeting was 'Peace' [Hebrew shalom, Greek eiriene]. But here Paul combines the two, and replaces rejoice [chaire] with similar sounding but far richer charis -- 'grace.' He in effect combines the greetings of the Eastern and Western worlds, then modifies the Western one giving us 'Grace and peace.' This greeting celebrates how the gospel works. Grace comes first, and as it fills our lives through the Holy Spirit, it brings shalom -- peace, reconciliation, wholeness."

Now that Paul has celebrated his calling, his mission, his deliverance from self and has celebrated the saints, he moves on to celebrate our mutual blessings: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" [v. 3]. This is a dramatic, introductory prelude to a song which extends to the end of v. 14, one long rhapsodic sentence! At the root of this celebration is the idea that both he and the Ephesians [as well we by extension] have been elevated to "the heavenly realms." That is, they occupy the place where Christ is now enthroned, seated at the Father's right hand [1:20]. This is also where all of us who are united to him through faith are now seated: "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus" [2:6]. J. Armitage Robinson states that "the heavenly realms are the immaterial reign, the 'unseen universe' which lies behind the world of sense" -- the place of Christ's throne, where we are enthroned with him! Temporally we live here on earth; but spiritually we live in the heavenly realms where Christ lives. Paul calls us to immerse ourselves in this truth and celebrate! But how closely do our lives mirror this reality? How often does this reality even enter our awareness? The mystery is great!

But there is more. We have been blessed "with every spiritual blessing in Christ." Under the Old Covenant, God's promised blessings were largely material, such as those promised to obedient Israel in Deuteronomy 28:1-14 -- fruitful wombs, flourishing crops, abundant flocks, bread in every basket, prosperity and worldly influence. Likewise, under the New Covenant, Jesus takes care of his own materially and charges them not to worry about their needs [Matt. 6:25-34]. It was Charles Spurgeon who once said "We shall have enough spending money on the road to glory; for he who has guaranteed to bring us there will not starve us along the way." But in addition to this, the overwhelming promises of the New Covenant are spiritual [Jer. 31:31-34]. Paul's song, the berakhah, in vv. 3-14 include these five dynamic spiritual element: 1) holiness, 2) adoption, 3) redemption and forgiveness, 4) the Holy Spirit, and 5) the hope of glory. Hughes asserts that we receive thousands of blessings under these headings all crowned with "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" [Gal. 5:22].

William MacDonald states that "to be in Christ ... is to partake of all that Christ has done, all He is, and all He will ever be." Of course, it remains for us to grow and thus claim more and more of these blessings which are now already ours. But first we must believe it! Paul's statement in v. 20 that Christ is seated at the right hand of God in "the heavenly realms" is fairly easy for believing hearts to accept. But it is not so easy for the same believers to truly embrace the fact that they themselves are seated "in the heavenly realms" as 2:6 asserts. Some assert that Paul is speaking metaphorically here. But if he is, then it must be the same for Christ! The truth is: Christ is in the heavenly realms, and so are we! He is there literally, and we are there representatively, as members of his Body. He is there as our Head and brings our actual presence with him because we are in him! Believing this will greatly elevate our Christian living! We are seated in the heavenly realms. We do have every spiritual blessing. Belief is the beginning!

Secondly, we must focus on this truth. We must reject the deadly notion that this is mystical, incomprehensible, and beyond our ability to practice. Paul says, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" [Col. 3:1, 2]. What is our mind set on? Position? A new car? A new house? A promotion? A raise? Our wardrobe? Paul says, Stop! Rather, keep on seeking the things which are above. This is our divinely-given responsibility.

Third, we must ask for the blessings. Jesus says in Luke 11:13, "... how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" What does Jesus mean? Isn't the Holy Spirit already given to believers? The answer according to Hughes is explicit in the Greek grammar, which means the operation of the Holy Spirit. Prayer brings increased fullness and power of the Holy Spirit. We must ask! As we ask for more holiness -- a greater sense of adoption, more peace, more love, more patience, more power from the Spirit -- we will receive it all.

Well, there it is. A week's worth of meditation on a single [or perhaps two] pages(s). Our calling is most certainly high. Far too often we walk far below it. God's grace continues to rescue and restore us, but I feel His Spirit challenging me [us] that "in Him" [another huge theme of Ephesians and a term that Paul uses 169 times in his letters] we can do far more. It starts with realizing who and where we are with Christ and then truly believing it. Then we must truly understand that "apart from me, we can do nothing" [Jn. 15:5], die to self, and press in to Him. As we do that I believe our lives will be truly transformed. The mystery, indeed, is great.

The Road to Emmaus--From Ice to Fire

It was late that Friday afternoon when the darkness had lifted from over Golgotha's hill and the sun again shone full on Jesus. He cried out in triumph, "It is finished!" which was followed shortly thereafter by "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" and then he breathed his last. Kent Hughes comments here that those gathered around the cross did not recognize his victory. As Christ hung motionless, the warm sun spread over his spilled blood. Yet those who had hoped in Jesus slowly trudged away from Calvary with the icy fingers of death tightening about their hearts in chilling, numbing grief. Despairing hands hurriedly prepared his cold, lifeless body for burial and laid it in the borrowed tomb. So deep was their despair that no one even contemplated the possibility of a resurrection. And even when the women arrived at the tomb at dawn on the third day and found the tomb empty, they suspected someone had stolen the body. Lastly still they did not believe even when the angel told them "He is not here; he has risen!" at least not until the angel quoted Jesus' very words following Peter's confession that Jesus was the Messiah [Luke 9:21-27] and just outside of Jericho prior to Bartimaeus' healing [Luke 18:31-34] to them ... "then they remembered his words" [Luke 24:8]. Immediately, they rushed home to tell the Eleven, who concluded that they were speaking "nonsense" and even Peter, who did not dispute the women's testimony but who instead ran to the tomb, came out from the sepulchre and "went away, wondering to himself what had happened" [v. 12].

Indeed, all those who had followed Christ were in despair that afternoon/evening though some had probably heard rumors of the empty tomb. We pick up the story in Luke 24:13-24 where Cleopas [Jesus' uncle] and his wife Mary [inferred from John 19:25] were making the sad journey from Jerusalem back to their home in Emmaus. They, like everyone else, were devastated. They "had hoped he was the one who was going to redeem Israel" [v. 21]. But what kind of a 'Messiah' would manage to be imprisoned by his people, be handed over to the Romans and then crucified? Only the delusional kind. The Scriptures clearly promised a Messiah, and they had thought Jesus was the one. But he failed to deliver ... now they needed a fresh word from God.

Did God even care? Of course He did! Our resurrected Lord understood the confusion in their hearts perfectly. He knew not only their geographical location, but also the very terrain of their souls. And we can take comfort from seeing Jesus, fresh from the cosmic trauma of death for the sins of his people and resurrection for our eternal lives, monitoring the footsteps and heartbeats of a despairing couple, then we, too, know that we are both known and loved.

Somehow they were prevented from recognizing him as he asked them, "'What are you discussing together as you walk along?' They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them named Cleopas, asked him, 'Are you the only one living in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have happened there in these days?' 'What things?' he asked" [vv. 17-19]. Cleopas responded to Jesus' question with biting sarcasm, not realizing the irony of him accusing Jesus of not knowing what was going on! And yet Jesus graciously sought to enlighten them. His second question, "What things?" got them to express their confusion regarding the empty tomb and the disappearance of Jesus' body. And even with the Lord standing right beside them, it was beyond their capacity to make the obvious connection. To them, the empty tomb only compounded the tragedy, for they thought someone had stolen the body, adding insult to injury. And thus the good news was just more bad news! Ironically, Cleopas even mentioned that it had been three days since Jesus' death not recalling that Jesus had, prior to his Passion, repeatedly predicted his execution and resurrection on the third day. Cleopas let it all out--confusion, disappointment, disillusionment, depression, shrinking faith and even anger. And surprisingly, Jesus did not reject him. He honors spiritual honesty ... he wants us to tell him the truth. For the truth is that he already knows it anyway!

As the women earlier in the day had been gently rebuked by the angel, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" [v. 5], Jesus similarly rebukes Cleopas and Mary, "How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" [vv. 25, 26]. Certainly they believed the prophets, but just as certainly they did not believe all that the prophets had said. Like so many of us, they had read and believed the prophets selectively, embracing the Messiah-ruler passages and discounting/ignoring the suffering servant ones.

"And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" [v. 27]. This must have been exegetical heaven! The root idea of the word "explained" is the same word from which we derive the word hermeneutics, the science of Bible interpretation. The Word of God incarnate explaining the written Word of God! Wow!

John's Gospel states that from the very onset of Jesus' ministry, he taught that he was central to the Old Testament. "You diligently study the Scriptures," he told the Pharisees, "because you think by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life" [Jn. 5: 39, 40]. The Apostle Paul preached as much when he explained before King Agrippa, "I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen -- that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles" [Acts 26:22, 23]. Other examples include Philip encountering the Ethiopian eunuch on the road reading Isaiah 53:7, 8 and Philip interpreting the passage to him as the good news about Jesus [Acts 8:35]; Peter preaching in the house of the Gentile Cornelius, "All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name" [Acts 10:43]. The apostles knew that the Old Testament preached Christ! Indeed, Peter claims the Old Testament prophets themselves understood this and tried "to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow" [1 Pet. 1:10-12].

The apostles' Christocentric belief that the Old Testament is full of Christ was stated by the Apostle Paul in the axiom, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ" [2 Cor. 1:20]. Here in Luke, on Resurrection Day, Jesus taught that he is the divine 'yes' to the Old Testament. As they walked those few miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus that afternoon, Jesus interpretively explained the whole of Scripture to them. What it must have been like to hear him speak of the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22 as prophetic of his substitutionary atonement and even hint of his resurrection [Heb. 11:17-19]; or to hear Jesus, 'the Lamb of God' [Jn. 1:29] expound on the messianic significance of the Passover lamb as it related to his suffering and death, his body and blood [Lk. 22:14-20]. Under Jesus' tutelage, the various Old Testament sacrifices coursed with fresh insights on salvation. Perhaps Jesus spoke of how the tabernacle and the temple pointed to him -- that he, indeed, is the temple. Perhaps he also spoke of other grand images of him throughout Scripture such as the manna in the desert as well as the bronze serpent healing those who gazed upon it in faith. Surely, he took them through Isaiah 53, showing them as he did the Twelve in the Upper Room, that he was "numbered with the transgressors" and that the very theme of that chapter prophesied as to how the Suffering Servant would die for our sins [vv. 1-9] and then appear alive, triumphant and reigning [vv. 10-12]. Moreover, he must have unpacked Psalm 22, beginning with the words "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" -- and then applied them to the cross. The more Jesus opened the Word, the faster their hearts raced! This stranger made a compelling case that suffering and death were not obstacles to Jesus being the Messiah, but instead, made Jesus' claim to be Messiah all the more credible and convincing. The Messiah had to suffer! The scales fell off their eyes and the confusion in their minds melted away like the frost after sunrise. The Scriptures literally came to life in their souls.

What grief they [and by extension, we] would have been spared had they/we only known and believed God's Word beforehand. Hughes remarks "If we find ourselves hurting and despairing and do not find that Scripture speaks to our condition, it is not because the Bible has failed us, but because we do not know it well enough. We cannot be profoundly comforted by that which we do not know. We need to study our Bible with an eye to our Savior, because everything to with our salvation and shalom is 'yes' in Christ."

As Christ in disguise continued to unpack the Scriptures, Cleopas and Mary came to see not only the plausibility but also the very necessity of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. They understood why the tomb was empty. Perhaps they were divinely kept from recognizing Jesus so that they would base their understanding of the Resurrection entirely on Scripture and not on experience. When they arrived at their lodging, the couple insisted that he come in with them to eat. And it was there at the table, when Jesus broke bread with them that their eyes were opened, and instantly they recognized him; and just as suddenly he disappeared from their sight. Some think it was at that time, for the first time, they saw his nail-scarred hands. Yet David Gooding [among others] believes that the breaking of bread in Jesus life was "an inimitable gesture of self-revelation" with previous examples being the feeding of the 5,000 as well as the Last Supper. In any case, it must have been overtly shocking! A more than welcome total surprise! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! And just like that, he was gone. Yet that most explosive moment must have been burned into their souls for eternity. Their souls' "winter of discontent" was gone forever ... replaced with hearts aflame ... a fire that remained even after Christ was gone. "They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, 'It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.' Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread" [vv. 33-35].

And it is still the same two thousand years later because even now Christ knows where we are. He knows the geography of our lives both inside and out. He knows the temperature of our souls. He knows whether there is ice or fire. And he still chooses to meet us where we are, but always framed in the context of his Word. This life-giving, energizing truth is that Christ suffered and died for our sins 'according to the Scriptures.' And then, on the third day, he rose from he dead 'according to the Scriptures' [1 Cor. 15: 3, 4]. He is the Savior prophesied on Mt. Moriah, the atoning Lamb of the Passover, our tabernacle and temple [for he is our sacrifice and our priest], our manna/bread of heaven, the Suffering Servant who was 'numbered with the transgressors,' the Son who suffered separation from the Father for us when he bore our sins, and ultimately the Resurrection and the Life, as he is the only way to eternal life. In this, as in many other ways, we do not so much need more light but perhaps we need more fire!

The Resurrection--From Confusion to Witness

Jesus' followers, due to the imminent Passover Sabbath, were unable to completely prepare his lifeless body for proper burial immediately after He was taken down from the cross that Friday afternoon. So they "wrapped Him in linen cloth and placed Him in a tomb cut in rock in which no one had yet been laid. ... Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes [for the coming proper burial]. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment" [Luke 23:53, 56]. The light in the souls of these poor Galilean women had just been extinguished; their souls were covered with sackcloth. They were depressed, exhausted, mourning and utterly hopeless. They expected nothing following the Passover except more sorrow. They certainly never expected to find an empty tomb awaiting them.

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus" [24:1-3]. Now they were completely confused and bewildered! The apostle John tells us that Mary Magdalene thought Jesus' body had been stolen and, rather than providing joy and relief, the empty tomb only intensified their distress.

"While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground" [vv. 4-5]. Suddenly everything changed and the women were overcome with fear. While they bowed, one of the angels voice the immortal rebuke, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" [v. 5]. They stood accused by God's messengers of coming to anoint a lifeless Jesus when they should have known He would rise from the dead. Sadly, too many post-modern churches today "look for Jesus among the dead." They love the example of the dead Jesus as they preach about His courage, His love and compassion for the downtrodden, His willingness to challenge the religious establishment of His day, His unwavering convictions and even His faith. Their sermons are filled with vain sentimentality as they speak of hope springing eternal, the caterpillar morphing into the butterfly with true success occurring only after one battles his own chrysalis, etc. But the word resurrection is never used ... except perhaps metaphorically.

The angels them proclaimed, "He is not here, he has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' Then they remembered His words" [vv. 6-8]. The light now had begun to come on...and it has been gaining in intensity as the centuries have marched on. We must not forget, however, that the significance of the Resurrection is inseparable from Jesus' prophetic word about both His death and resurrection. It is the Word of God that makes sense of everything. Luke 24 recounts three separate episodes [this encounter between Jesus' female followers and the angels; the encounter on the road to Emmaus; and lastly Jesus' appearance to His disciples in Jerusalem] where Jesus' followers all begin in a state of bewilderment and end up becoming witnesses to what they had seen and heard. It is highly significant to note that each of these episodes begin with a call to remember God's Word!

The prophetic word both from Jesus as well as the rest of Scripture is central to the Gospel. The atoning death of Christ is only fully understood in the light of the whole revealed Word of God. It is also significant to note that those who rejected the prophetic word also rejected the Resurrection, just as Jesus had taught they would, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead" [16:31]. The challenge for us is to be people of the Word. We must be diligent in our study, as our hearts and minds can only grasp the immensity of Christ through the light of Scriptural revelation.

Then something remarkable happened ... these bewildered, then rebuked, then instructed women actually became witnesses! They forcefully and repeatedly spoke the good news to the Eleven. Sadly, however, the men were not too impressed! "But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense" [v. 11]. They basically discounted the resurrection story they were hearing as just so much female hysteria. Would we have done any differently??? Yet these are the very same men over whom Jesus had prayed for an entire night before calling them to be His disciples [6:12, 13]. And again over whom He had just extendedly prayed on the night of His betrayal. Their faith would become the very foundation of the Church. Like so many of us, they had heard but not heard God's Word. It somehow never occurred to them think that Jesus meant exactly what He said. We would do well to remember that 99 percent of Scripture is intelligible. It was Mark Twain who once said, "It's not what I don't understand about the Bible that bothers me. It's what I do understand!" The apostles failed to put into practice what they did understand. Jesus had earlier prayed, "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth!" [John 17:17]. Like the Eleven our growth toward spiritual maturity begins only by heeding the Word.

The Great Exchange

Luke reveals that Jesus' death was covered by darkness, "It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness covered the whole land until the ninth hour" [23:44]. The sixth hour was noon when the sun would be at its zenith...and darkness engulfed the landscape around the cross and hovered there for three hours until Jesus' died. The Old Testament often identified darkness as a sign of cosmic mourning [Amos 8:9, 10; Zeph. 1:15]. Darkness also likely signified the a literal/physical reign of evil that Jesus had prophesied at his arrest the night before when He said, "But this is your hour -- when darkness reigns." But what actually was happening in the spiritual realms during those three black, wretched hours??? We on this side of glory will never really know the full extent of what Christ endured as he had sin upon sin upon sin poured onto His soul until He literally became sin for us all: "...and the Lord laid on Him, the iniquity of us all" [Is. 53:6]. Paul described the cosmic transaction as "God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" [2 Cor. 5:21].

So the perfect One, who had enjoyed unbroken fellowship with His Father for all eternity, was suddenly cut off from that sweet communion as wave upon wave of our hideous sin was poured over His sinless soul, which likely convulsed and recoiled as He was repeatedly broadsided with all our lies, idolatries, hatreds, jealousies, infidelities, pride, murders, slanders, lusts, etc. and the full weight of God's fury was unleashed on Him! And yet we remember that just three short years before, He was the very One God had spoken from Heaven about and said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased" [Matt. 3:17]. Those words must have been but a distant memory in Christ's soul as He agonized, truly alone, for the first time in eternity, yet in our place. I think if we could catch but a glimpse of the horrors He suffered that day, sin's allure for us would be greatly tempered.

At the very moment of Christ's death, the great curtain of the Holy of Holies was sundered: "And the curtain of the temple was torn in two" [v. 45]. It was the grandest of the 13 curtains in the temple and served to block all eyes from and keep all people out of the Holy of Holies save the high priest who once a year could enter to make sacrifice for both his sins and the sins of his people. But now it was as if the great curtain had been slashed in two by a great sword ... not only did this serve as a sign that God's people would now have unlimited access to the Father through our great high priest Jesus: "Therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith" [Heb. 10:19-22]; but this also served as a sign that the judgment of God had begun on Israel, and history would show that the temple would ultimately be destroyed in less than 40 years...just as Christ had prophesied over the city before He entered and on the road to Calvary that very morning.

While under the cover of the oppressive darkness, the Gospels reveal that Christ uttered three phrases: 1) the cry of the abandoned soul in which Jesus quoted Ps. 22, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" [Mk. 15:34]; 2) the victorious shout "It is finished" [Jn. 19:30] and 3) Jesus' very last word from the cross [found only in Luke], "'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' And when He had said this, He breathed His last" [v. 46]. The phrase "into your hands I commit my spirit" was the traditional Jewish evening prayer that faithful Jews said prior to sleeping. It is a quote from Ps. 31:5 where David lists his many travails at the hands of his enemies, yet nevertheless asserts his confidence in God, asking that God preserve him from death. And yet when Jesus, the ultimate son of David, prayed this prayer, it was even more a prayer of trust in the Father because He prayed it at the very moment of His death.

Moreover, when Jesus prayed this prayer, He added the word Abba [Father] to the beginning ... a revolutionary ascription! No one had ever prayed like this before. R. Kent Hughes states that "Jesus' use of 'Father' [Abba] framed his public ministry. It was the signature of his soul from first to last. It is the one recorded word of his youth: 'Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house [Luke 2:49]?'" "Father" was the opening word of the prayer He taught His followers to pray. It was the word He used in Gethsemane to accept the cross: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me." It was the first word He spoke from the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" and now it was the last statement He would make before dying. Hughes describes it as the sustaining lyric of His life and here at His death, it expressed His ineffable peace and trust in His Father.

This prayer was lifted and personalized by Jesus from Psalm 31 but the message will be missed unless we feel the force by which it came. Luke writes that "Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' When He said this, He breathed His last" [23:46]. Rather than the cry of defeat Satan was expecting to hear, he heard instead Jesus' shout of victory! It was just before this, that He had cried out "It is finished!" in the perfect tense ... it is and will always be finished! This is why we can say in faith and with great confidence that "Jesus saves!" Only the perfect God/man [Son of Man] could take the totality of our sins upon Himself and then give us His righteousness. This is the great exchange.