Mission Impossible (April 17, 2022)
“What is impossible for people is possible with God.”—Luke 18: 27
Our passage begins with a really big question, “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life? (Luke 18: 18. The question is posed by a rich man who has kept the ten commandments.
Jesus replies to the man that there is one more thing he must do. He is to sell and leave ALL his possessions behind and come and follow Jesus. The man becomes very sad because he is very rich! Jesus gives us another hard teaching, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”
Those that hear this teaching ask another question, “Then who in the world can be saved?” Thus begins our “Mission Impossible” Story for today…
In yesterday’s, “Sabbath Unrest”, we looked at where the disciples were during this Holy Sabbath, the day after Jesus’ crucifixion. They were hiding behind closed doors.
Today’s One Year Bible reading explains why. Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus said, “Listen, we’re going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of man will come true. He will be handed over to the Romans, and he will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon. They will flog him with a whip and kill him, but on the third day he will rise again.”
But they DIDN’T UNDERSTAND ANY OF THIS!!!! The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about.”
Ahhhhhh, got it! So, now we know where the disciples were and why they were there. They did not begin to understand, Not YET!! But then how many of us can begin to grasp the IMPOSSIBLE??
So, here is my next question, “Where was Jesus during the “Sabbath Unrest”. Ummmm, a silly question you may think? Duhhh, he was in the tomb!! Really??? I know his dead body was there, but what about his spirit?
Let me just say that I am not a Greek scholar or famous theologian. I am just a girl who loves Jesus and is a student of the word. If you use your Bible Gateway App to look up our passages it will give you all the cross-references that are related to the passages that we are reading. Just follow the breadcrumbs and see where it takes you…
First, Luke 23: 43 tells us what Jesus says about where he will be after he dies, “Truly I tell you, TODAY you will be with me in paradise.” Please, note he says, “Today”. Paradise, I wonder where that is located? Remember reading about the “bosom of Abraham”? Paul describes Paradise in 2 Cor. 12: 3-4. The Jews word for Paradise is “Pades” which means “park” or “garden”.
Secondly, we see that Jesus completed the work of salvation that God established him to accomplish and fulfilled ALL the prophecies in the OT that foretold this event. ALL!
Check out two passages that tell us about this completion of the gospel being available to ALL mankind. “For this reason, the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” I Peter 4:6.
Did you get that? The good news of Jesus’ death, completion of atonement, and payment for sins both past and future were preached to those who were DEAD!
Next, let’s check out Ephesians 4: 7-10. This passage begins by quoting OT prophecy. “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” This quote is from Psalm 68:18. The passage goes on to describe this “ascending” and “descending”. “Who does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.” Let’s go on and follow the breadcrumbs…
After Jesus resurrects, he first encounters Mary Magdalene. Look at what he says to her, “Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to … my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” (John 20: 11-17) Later on they can touch him, but not yet.
Remember that I told you that the end of the story was really going to be a doozy? Well, here we go!!!
Check out Matthew 27: 51-53. This passage tells us EXACTLY what happened after the time of Jesus’ death and even immediately after his resurrection. “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Why? This curtain represented the barrier between God and man. Jesus the great high priest’s death removed this barrier and paid the price for sin to take away God’s wrath.) “The earth shook, the rocks split, and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came OUT OF THE TOMBS after Jesus’ resurrection and went in the holy city and appeared to many people.”
DOOZY ALERT! This is like the real Halloween on steroids! It was more like “HALLOWED WEEK”. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to LIFE! DEAD MEN WALKING!!!
Now, let me ask you this little question, “Have you ever in your life been to an Easter production and they started having people coming up out of graves walking down the aisle?” I have not, but I sure would like to know why we skip over this “little detail” that is HUGE!!!!
One more question that I would like to pose. How did these folks get the memo to come on back out of the grave without the good news being preached to them?
You see, in the OT their sins were only “rolled back” temporarily by the sacrifice of a perfect lamb, but now the PERFECT Lamb of God had given himself as a sacrifice to remove their sins as far as the east is from the west, and they were up WALKING and TALKING about it!!!!
Oh, to be a news reporter and interview them. Where have you been? What did Jesus tell you?
How long will you be on earth? I could go on and on with questions for them. However, it wasn’t really about them. They just answer the question that we started with today.
“Then who in the world can be saved?” (Luke 18)
Dead men are walking, the blind now have ‘eyes to see’. Those that are willing to leave “their riches and their plans” can come to God through complete faith in Jesus and be born again.
Happy “HALLOWED WEEK”! Mission Impossible becomes POSSIBLE! This is the message of EASTER!
“What is impossible for people is possible with God.”—Luke 18: 27
