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| From the broadcast
the weekend of March 22nd & 23rd, 2008: |
This edition
of The Gospel Greats was our Resurrection Day
special.
The Two
Promises
Resurrection
Day thoughts from Paul Heil (originally written Easter, 2001. Program
references are to the Easter broadcast that aired that
year.)
_____
 Two of the most
important messages in all of history were delivered by angels:
"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where
the Lord lay." (Matthew 28:6.)
"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus,
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye
have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11.)
The first announced the fulfillment of a promise. The second reaffirmed
a promise not yet fulfilled.
As I sat back and listened again to our Easter program, I realized that,
perhaps more than usual, this Easter program dealt with two key promises:
Jesus' promise to rise from the dead after three days and, secondly, His
promise to return someday for believers (His "second coming"). As I said
on the program, He kept his promise to rise from the dead after three days
(as outlandish as it must have sounded at the time). And we can surely expect
Him to keep His second promise as well.
On our 2001 Easter broadcast, [the late] Roger Bennett of Legacy Five related
the Jewish custom from the time of Christ which symbolizes Jesus' plan to
return. They had a custom that "when they ate a meal with other people, if
they were going to leave the room and not return, they would throw their
napkin into the chair and that would be a sign to the people who would be
cleaning the room that they would not be returning. But if they were just
leaving for a few minutes and would be returning, they would fold their napkin
neatly and just lay it on their seat." When the disciples found Jesus' tomb
empty, they didn't find His graveclothes just thrown in a corner, no longer
needed. No, the Bible tells us they were neatly folded. (John 20:7.) In light
of the custom, that was significant. The Lord is coming back.
Dallas Holms' powerful song, "Rise Again" incorporates both promises:
"...I'll rise again, There's no power on earth can tie Me down! / Yes,
I'll rise again. Death can't keep Me in the ground!" and "...I'll
come again.../ Come to take My people back!"
Rodney Griffin, in connection with his song, "No One," talked about
a different twist to these two promises, noting that "the Lord had been faithful
to His disciples. There were no secrets. He told them He would die and rise
again in three days. It was all told. But when He stepped out of his tomb
on Easter Sunday morning, not a single disciple was standing there."
Didn't they believe Him? Didn't they understand what He had told
them? Did they think it was simply too good to be true?
But consider, as Rodney said: "The Lord has told us He's coming back. But
will he find anyone waiting this time? Are we going to be sharing Jesus with
the people He's placed in our lives — our family, our friends, people
at school...or will there be no one...faithfully sharing about Jesus?"
And will we be as surprised at His second coming as the disciples seemed
to be at the resurrection?
If our celebration of Easter is simply commemorative of something that happened
nearly 2,000 years ago — as supremely significant as that was —
then we're missing a very big part of the picture. Easter affirms the promise
of the Lord's return. And it validates His promise-keeping power.
Kirk Talley and Rodney Griffin wrote a song called "He'll Make Good On
His Promise" that also captures the connection between these two promises:
as Jesus said, "'Go on, crucify me / But I promise in three days I will
arise.' / Just like He said, they found the tomb was empty / The promise
of a living God could not be denied." And then "I've heard it all
my life 'the Lord is coming,' / The stage is set, He is on His way. / No
time to waste, now get your house in order / For He has made a promise, and
today might be the day."
"...as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement:
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look
for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
(Heb. 9:27,28.)
"...I am the resurrection, and the life: he that
believeth in Me, through he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"
(John 11:25, 26.)
That's the most fundamental and urgent question you will ever hear.
And you will answer affirmatively — either now (when it makes
a difference) or later (when it won't).
For more information, see our Free Gift
page. |
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