We pointed out a couple of days ago that the Jewish leaders only thought they were in charge when they wanted to crucify Jesus but NOT on Passover. Guess when he died?

And then we find out they weren’t even in charge when they killed him – he didn’t stay dead!

Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. (Matthew 27.65 – 28.4, ESV)

“Make it as secure as you can. So they went and made the tomb secure…” But not secure enough! Guards, seals, none of it is enough when God chooses to act.

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” (Matthew 28.5 – 7, ESV)

Tomorrow we’ll look at the meeting in Galilee. For now, I’m reminded of a song we sang as children:

Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? 
Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? 
God specializes in things thought impossible: 
He can do what no others can do. – Oscar C. Eliason, 1945

It’s difficult to watch your friends die. Ken Gray, for example, Skip Gray’s oldest son, lived to participate in his dad’s memorial on March 21 but not much longer. He just passed on May 5. I have another friend who has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He is receiving treatment and also praying for healing. I am praying for the cancer to be sent straight to hell.

But it might not. Even those who believe in and pray for supernatural healing say that in their experience…

...the percentage of people who get completely well, or at least experience some improvement, is somewhere between 5 percent and 25 percent, the latter figure being rare. – Moreland, J. P.. A Simple Guide to Experience Miracles (p. 111). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

None of us knows the answer, but there might be a clue in the crucifixion story:

And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26.51 – 53, ESV)

Twelve legions is a lot of angels! Strong’s Concordance states that in Jesus’ day one legion was nearly 7,000 men. Jesus could have been delivered, but he wasn’t. There was a larger plan.

They bound the hands of Jesus in the garden where he prayed.
They led him through the street in shame.
They spat upon the Saviour so pure and free from sin.
They said crucify him he’s to blame.
He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set him free.
He could have called ten thousand angels but he died alone for you and me. – You can hear the song here.

Jesus suffered, and he suffers with the suffering.

…he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13.5, 6, ESV)

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. (James 5.13 – 18, ESV)

And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26.39, ESV)

Matthew 26 and 27, the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus are hard to read, but the story starts with something I find amusing:

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.” (Matthew 26.1 – 5, ESV)

Jesus said he would be crucified on Passover, and it had to be so since he was the Passover lamb. John the Baptist said:

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1.29, ESV)

Paul, writing to the Corinthians, said:

Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5.7, ESV)

But the guys who crucified him, when they were planning it said, “Not during the feast lest there be an uproar among the people.” As I wrote in the title, “Who’s in charge.”

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. (Acts 4.26 – 28, ESV, emphasis mine)

¹  Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
²  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
³  “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
⁴  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. (Psalm 2.1 – 4, ESV)

We interrupt our last few blogs in Matthew’s Gospel to bring late news…there was a lunar eclipse last Sunday night, May 15. For us in the Mountain Time zone, it was at a civilized hour, beginning at 8:30p. We watched it right outside our back door until totality at 9:30p, and my handheld camera with massive zoom and vibration dampener did a pretty good job:

And I’m always in awe of the astronomers and mathematicians who tell us exactly when these things will occur.

The sun turned to darkness in August of 2017, and I had told myself that if I was close enough to totality I would go. (Once I was just outside totality and didn’t go – it’s a huge difference.) My son Mark (far right) set this picture up in advance and we were able to get it. (L to R, granddaughter Kesley, me, Mark’s running friend from Denmark, KC and Mark.

Peter quotes Joel in his first sermon in Acts 2:

And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2.19 – 21, ESV, emphasis mine)

Last week we read Matthew 24 and 25 in our daily readings, “The Olivet Discourse,” one of those hard-to-understand passages. When is Jesus talking about the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.? When is he talking about the second coming?

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24.1 – 3, ESV)

It’s not always clear what Jesus is talking about, but one thing is clear: the “so what?” We are to be ready.

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24.42 – 44, ESV)

There follows the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25.1 – 13) which ends:

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25.13, ESV)

This lesson from Matthew 24 and 25 provides another application for our story about the 501st Legion, folks who dress up as Star Wars Stormtroopers, participating in the filming of an episode of The Mandalorian provides. (I just found this picture of my son Mark and me with two members of the 501st, taken back in 2016.)

What if you were a member of the 501st, but you’d just sent your costume out for cleaning or you’d loaned it out to the kid down the street who damaged it? Oops. Not ready. Those who responded to the last-minute call to be extras in the episode were ready. Debbie Friley and her friend were ready.

And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. (Luke 12.47, ESV)

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. Titus 3.1, ESV)

Yesterday I told a Debbie Friley “whole life discipleship” story. Do we read stories like that (she was able to share the gospel with a homeless lady she saw while she and a friend were riding bicycles) and wonder, “Why isn’t stuff like this happening to me? Where are my opportunities?”

Here’s a clue. When I wrote to Debbie telling her how inspiring her life is to the rest of us, she responded:

Don’t you just love when you’re in your quiet time and you write in your Journal asking God to give you an opportunity to share the gospel that day and lo and behold he does! It is a rush second to none! – Debbie Friley, Navigator staff in St Petersburg, Florida

By the way, Debbie is in her 60s, still keeping physically and spiritually fit.

You have not because you ask not. (James 4.2, KJV)

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. (Colossians 4.3, 4, ESV)

A friend of mine heard a sermon recently in which he told me the pastor seemed to be measuring discipleship by how many “worship services” one attended – after all, the early church worshipped daily – and by how much time one gave to “discipleship” activities.

I don’t think that pastor could have been more wrong:

• First, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts” (Acts 2.46) isn’t referring to “services;” the temple court was a large place, big enough for them to meet and hear the apostles’ teaching (see Acts 2.42).
• Second, discipleship isn’t only or even primarily about fixed activities that one gives time to, as important as, say, Bible study, daily time with God, church attendance, etc., are. In that case, we’d have to ask, how much time? (I wrote about this last year.) Discipleship is about following Jesus all the time.

Here’s a story our friend Debbie Friley in Florida sent a few days ago that illustrates a “whole life” approach to discipleship. She didn’t quit being a disciple when they transitioned from meeting to share their quiet time to getting on their bicycles.

Tuesday mornings my friend Julie comes over around 7:00. We have our Quiet Times, Cycle and then our “Salt & Light Discipleship” Servant Team meets weekly for extended prayer and planning. Today there were only two of us so we decided to take our prayer and planning on the road….or should I say on the Pinellas trail, cycling. We had not been on the trail for quite a while, because we had been taking other routes.  But today we had more time and the trail is where the Lord lead us…and you will see why. On our way back, we saw a gal curled up in a ball off to the side of the trail in front of a bench.

So of course we turned around and went back to see if she was ok. She told us that she was homeless and that someone had stolen everything from her, wallet, purse, phone etc. Now you never know in these situations what is really true or not, but one thing we knew for sure that God had lead us on the trail today for “such a time as this” and that He was stretching His hand to this gal Amanda, probably in her late 20’s.

So knowing she was homeless I started calling homeless shelters for her but most of them were full or it wasn’t a good fit for her situation. While I was fervently trying to find a place for Amanda to stay, Julie was sharing the gospel with her and I joined in after getting off the phone. She clearly was very confused about God, the Gospel and so many other things. Julie shared some wonderful truths and scriptures with her. Julie asked her if she gave her a Bible to read, would she read it. She declined.

But I will tell you that she heard the Truth & seeds were planted and we are praying that others will come along and share the gospel with Amanda too. I only had $3.00 and some change with me, but I was delighted to give it to her. She said she was really hungry and would love a meal, so we directed her to a restaurant nearby. I called them, gave them Amanda’s name and told them the situation and said that I wanted to pay for her meal. When she arrived she told them who she was and then enjoyed her meal.The restaurant kindly worked with me on this and called me when she left and I paid for her brunch over the phone with my credit card.

So before we left Amanda today, we told her just how much God loved her, we prayed together with her and asked God to continue pursuing her and to meet her needs.

So please join me in prayer for Amanda that she would not forget God’s kindness to her today and that soon and very soon she will meet her true Provider, the Lover of her soul! 

Debbie and her friend living out the story of the Good Samaritan is a way better illustration of discipleship than attending more worship services, don’t you think?

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem…Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4.21 – 24, NIV)

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13.34, 35, NIV)

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15.8, NIV)

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned abortion in a blog, and I’m not going to articulate the case for pro-life. Others have done that very well. I just want to make an observation that might help us deal properly with the millions of people who are pro-abortion. They are human beings too, image-bearers who need to be loved and even forgiven because “they know not what they do.”

Let’s just look at this by the numbers (sorry about that, but that’s what mathematicians do!). Roe v Wade was 1973. Let’s say that’s 50 years ago.

• If a teenager was 15 at the time, she’s 65 now, and abortion has been “normal” for all of her adult life.
• If this lady had a daughter when she was 25, that daughter is 40 now, and abortion has been “normal” for all of her life.
• If she had a daughter when she was 25, that daughter is now 15, entering adulthood soon, and abortion has been “normal” for all of her life.

That’s three generations of people who, if they don’t get their values from scripture, draw their values from the culture. Now, all of a sudden, it appears that a right that seems as natural to them as breathing is possibly going away. I don’t know what the solution is, but I’m pretty sure that yelling at them won’t help. And one pro-lifer even argues that there is common ground.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6.12, ESV)

And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7.59, 60, ESV)

You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (Matthew 5.43 – 46, ESV)

It is Friday the 13th today…hope you’re getting through it.

Actually, I was born on Friday the 13th (in December) so I consider it a pretty good day!

It’s amazing to me that the most technologically advanced society in the world freaks out about Friday the 13th, and the number 13 in general. Most airplanes don’t have a 13th row. Most hotels don’t have a 13th floor. (They do, of course, but they’re not labeled as such!) Here’s a text I received from my son Mark a few months ago:

Chinese people consider 4 unlucky. We stayed in a “26-story” hotel in Hong Kong, except it wasn’t. There was no 4th floor, no 13th floor (to accommodate Americans!), no 14th floor, and no 24th floor.

For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary… (Isaiah 8.11 – 14, ESV)

Back to the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard after the Kentucky Derby’s history-making demonstration of “the last shall be first,” also part of that parable (last verse of the preceding chapter). I suggested that what the first workers received that the last workers didn’t was a full day of meaningful work.

My friend Rob Webster, contemporary worship leader at Frazer Methodist when I was on staff back in the early 2000s, now Director of Communication at Custer Methodist in Plano, TX, is a creative genius who has just started a blog series, The Story that Writes Us. The second episode is entitled, A Mandalorian and a Theologian Walk Into a Bar – only Rob Webster could come up with this. In this episode, he talks about the Star Wars spinoff, The Mandalorian, and the filming of the Season 1 finale, episode 8.

The short version is that at the last minute they wanted more Stormtroopers, but they had already sent the costumes back, they would have to hire actors, etc., etc. What to do? They called the 501st! What’s the 501st, you ask? It’s a group of people, Star Wars fans, who have formed a volunteer organization to dress up like Star Wars Stormtroopers and make appearances at various public events:

Some fans are content to collect action figures…other fans want to be action figures. Nothing professes your passion quite like building your own detailed costume replica of a classic Star Wars villain, and there’s nothing quite like the feeling that comes from bringing the characters of Star Wars into the real world and sharing the magic with others. – From the 501st Legion website, emphasis mine

So members of the 501st show up to be part of an actual Star Wars television episode. As Rob puts it:

Can you imagine that you are a huge Star Wars fan? You are such a big fan that you even make this armor yourself that looks just like the real thing. And can you imagine what a dream come true it was for these people to realize I’m no longer going to just be dressing up like I’m a character in a movie, I’m going to get to actually be in a Star Wars…production…How incredible is that?

And Rob’s application is, I think, like the workers in the vineyard, especially the 6:00 am guys, ready to go to work:

And I don’t know if we ever think about what it means to live as Christians in this world and how incredible it is that we get to be a part of this story… I had a chance one time to spend some time on a big-budget movie set [Bob’s note: this was The Big Fish, filmed near Montgomery, AL, in 2003], and the extras would be called in, they’d be in costume, and sometimes they’d just be waiting in this tent in costume all day and never really knowing if or when they would even get called to be on camera. But they were prepared…and couldn’t wait for the opportunity to do the thing that they’d been called there to do.

I feel like the Christian life can and should be like that. Not that we sit around and wait. We actively seek ways that we can follow after God, that we can be his hands and feet. But we’re prepared. And when the opportunity comes, we’re ready just like these Star Wars fans. They were trained. They knew what to do. They were ready. And they were so excited that they got to be a part of the story. – Rob Webster, The Story That Writes Us, Season 1, Episode 2

Good stuff. We are called to a great Adventure, called to be part of the story. Back to the Vineyard: the first guys still got the biggest reward: the joy of participation.

When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. “What a huge harvest!” he said to his disciples. “How few workers! On your knees and pray for harvest hands!” The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered. Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives. (Matthew 9.36 – 10.1, MSG)