Word of Life Church Podcast

On their 40th wedding anniversary Brian and Peri Zahnd talk about a life of following Jesus together.

Have you ever said goodbye to a hero?Have you ever had to lay away your dreams?Have you ever been so lonely that a stranger is your best friend?Then you'll know what I meanSo this is our highway to heavenOur American dreamThe two fools on the road to emmausWell they might as well be you and meHave you ever been angry at your country?Have you ever been angry at your God?Have you ever been so angry that you can't see what you've got right in front of you?Have you ever been distracted by the homeless?Have you ever thrown your dollar with disgust?Have you ever thought the great commission's just too great a cost?Have you ever played the fool? -Jason Upton

When Jesus died his soul descended to hell, Hades, Sheol, the realm of the dead. But Jesus did not enter Hades as a captive, Jesus invaded Hades as a conqueror. Because Jesus is fully human, he could die and descend into Hades. But Jesus is fully God, it was impossible for Hades to hold Christ as a captive.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just a one-off personal victory for Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus Christ has cosmic implications -- new heavens and new earth! The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the event that guarantees the resurrection of the human race! This is what the Apostles and the early church taught and emphasized. But somewhere along the way this emphasis got lost in the West. Now is the time to recover The gospel message that the resurrection of Christ is the resurrection of the dead ones.

Coming from the Mount of Olives, Jesus not only entered Jerusalem from the opposite direction than the Roman governor, but in the opposite manner. Instead of riding a warhorse like Pilate and all the warhorse riders throughout history, Jesus rides a donkey, and not even a full grown donkey, but a donkey’s colt. Jesus’ triumphal entry was the anti-military parade. It was a mockery of Rome’s intimidating show of military power. It also presented Jerusalem with a stark contrast between the way of war and the way of peace.

On three occasions in Galilee, Jesus foretold his death by crucifixion. But in Jerusalem, a few days before his death, Jesus talked about the meaning of his crucifixion. We cannot attempt to understand the meaning of the crucifixion without paying attention to how Jesus understood his death. Jesus interprets the meaning of his crucifixion by saying it will accomplish three things:1. It will judge the world.2. It will cast out the ruler of the world.3. It will draw the whole world to him.

In the time of coronavirus the question isn't who can we blame, the question is how we can love and who can we help. We don't know what's going to happen, but we know we're not abandoned. We can't control our lives, but we trust God. We can help everyone, but we can help someone

We find ourselves here again at the the well in Samaria. This sermon invites us into the story of the woman at the well with a fresh perspective and a daunting challenge. Are we willing to see this woman as strong and brave? Are we willing to follow her lead and visit the places of our own pain? In doing so, we will find a God who doesn’t exempt himself from places of pain, but rather makes himself present there in that very place.

At the Transfiguration the disciples had a powerful encounter with the brightness of Jesus in his divine glory. During the season of Lent we can let the brightness of Jesus shine into some of the dark places of our hearts. Shadowy places develop in our hearts when we are living from a place of pretense or hypocrisy. Shadowy places expand in our hearts when we move away from love. God wants to do incredible things in our world and God has chosen to do those things through the church. God wants to set right a world gone wrong and that begins with setting his people right. Lent is a time for self-examination and repentance, a time to allow the brightness of Jesus to shine in our hearts to reveal pockets of our hearts that still do not look like Jesus.

In speaking of the devil I mean something, though not precisely, like this: Experiences of evil and pressure toward evil that become disturbingly present in our lived experience. We all have these experiences with evil from time to time, and in those moments there’s no doubt that the devil is real. And are angels heavenly energies of grace that are generally non-material (as we understand materiality) but can at times assume a material presence? This seems to be what C.S. Lewis thought and I tend to agree.