Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alelluia!
Let us pray:
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of (our) heart(s) be
acceptable in your sight, O LORD, (our) rock and (our) redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).
In the name of Jesus.
I’ve been
reading the Chronicles of Narnia with
Naomi and Micah. We’ll sit down together
for “story time,” and depending on their mood, I’ll read a chapter or two. So far, we’ve made it through The Magicians’s Nephew, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and
we’ve just started The Horse and His Boy. Since some of these stories have recently
been made into major motion pictures, I thought it might be a nice reward for
them to see the story come to life in a movie.
So when they got back into town, one afternoon this past week, we sat
down and watched The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe.
Now, I
have to tell you, I didn’t make this decision without any reservations. You see, in the world of Narnia, where these
stories take place, there is good and evil; there are good armies and evil
armies; there are battles and war and swords and shields and even life and
death. And so, the movie depicts these
things. And knowing that we’re usually
fairly careful about what the kids watch on T.V., I had a sort of running
debate with myself about whether or not it would be a good decision to let them
watch the movie, and to see certain parts of the story. But I decided to go ahead with it.
And do you
know what? I was shocked. When the movie came to the big battle, which
would depict the fiercest fighting, and include some violence in telling the
story; when I expected Micah to cower, and turn away, or even cover his eyes, I
was shocked. For there he was, laughing
at it all. Now, he wasn’t laughing at how the enemies were being
defeated. It’s not like he was finding
delight in the violence itself. No, what
I figured out, was that he was laughing because he knew the ending. He was laughing because he know that the good
guys won in the end. He was laughing
because he knew, those big bad soldiers of the evil army, could growl as loud
as they wanted and do whatever they wanted to show you how ferocious they were,
but they were going to lose.
You see, I’ve seen Micah cower and
turn his eyes at pictures that were far less intimidating. But when Micah knew the ending, where there
might otherwise be fear, and dread, there was joy and laughter and
enjoyment. You see, Micah knew the
ending, and that made all the difference in the world.
In today’s Holy Gospel, when the
disciples were gathered together with Jesus on the night of the Last Supper,
the ending of Jesus’ story had not yet been revealed to them. Like a movie preview that gives you glimpses
of the story, without spoiling the story, the disciples had been given parts of
the story. Jesus had predicted his death
and resurrection at least three times before that night, but without seeing the
ending of things, the disciples were still unable to put the pieces together.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear
them now.” The disciples found
themselves in the middle of the story, with the most important parts yet to
come. There they were, living through
the events of Holy Week. If Jesus would
have taken that time to unload everything that was going to be revealed, the
disciples wouldn’t have been able to bear it.
It would have made no sense to them.
Without his being handed over to
sinful men; and without his being beaten and mocked and crucified; and without
his being buried in a tomb; and without his resurrection; and without him
standing in the midst of a room of frightful disciples, alive and in the flesh,
and saying, “Peace be with you,” and allowing them to see him and touch him;
without the disciples seeing the end of the story, so to speak, they would not
have been able to make sense of all the things Jesus had to tell them.
And so, once it was finished; once
he had given up his spirit in death, descended into hell to proclaim victory
over sin, death, and the devil, and burst forth from the tomb, he would send
the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of Truth—to guide them into all truth. Once Jesus work was accomplished, and the
story of salvation had been written, and everything that had to happen had
finally happened, then it was time, for the Holy Spirit to come and help put
the pieces together, and help them to see, and believe all things about Jesus.
You see, the Spirit would come,
and the Spirit would not bring with him some new, contradictory Word that would
have to complete what Jesus had failed to do.
The Spirit would simply take the Words which were given to him from the
Father and the Son, and the Spirit would hand those Words to those who would
hear them. Like a three-person assembly
line: everything started with the Father who had sent the Son, and the Spirit
would receive the Words that pointed to the work of the Son, and deliver them
to those whose ears would hear.
The Spirit would take the death
and resurrection of Jesus and deliver that to the disciples, and with the death
and resurrection of Jesus the Spirit would show the glory of Jesus. The Spirit would teach the disciples rightly
to know that the death of Jesus was not the end of Jesus but that place where
death itself was be defeated. And the
Spirit would teach the disciples rightly to believe that when Jesus burst forth
from the tomb, alive and well, He was simply the first of many who would one
day burst forth from their own tombs alive and well because of Him.
That was the work which the Father
had given to the Son, and it is the work which the Son accomplished. And once that story of salvation, written
long ago in the Words of the prophets, had finally come to its exciting
conclusion in the death and resurrection of Jesus, then the Holy Spirit would
act as the Spirit of Truth, and guide the disciples to see, and believe, and
eventually, to write all things which were given by the Father, worked by the
Son, and taught by the Spirit.
“A little while and you will see me on longer; and again a little
while, and you will see me.” In a
matter of hours, actually, this statement of Jesus would begin to be fulfilled. “A
little while and you will see me no longer.”
By noon the next day, Jesus would be dead, and in a matter of
moments he would be shut inside a tomb, and they would be able to see him no
longer. You and I hear these words of
Jesus with the entire story in mind, but when the disciples heard these words
of Jesus, they couldn’t make sense of them.
“What is this that he is saying, ‘a little while, and you will not see
me?’” I thought he came to be with
us. What is He talking about, ‘a little
while, and you will not see me?’”
Of course, Jesus knows what
they’re thinking. He’s sitting with
them, and all of them are repeating the question to one another, trying to
figure out what he might be talking about.
And so he adds to these words: “Truly,
truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will
turn into joy.”
Indeed, in just a little while,
the world would be rejoicing, for the crowd would have its way: Barabbas would
be released, and Jesus would be crucified.
The scribes, the Pharisees, sin, death, the Devil, and all who sought to
destroy this man from Nazareth would be rejoicing as the blood began to flow
from his open wounds, and as the nails were driven through his hands and feet,
and as He wondered why the Father had forsaken Him, and finally, as he gave up
His Spirit and died.
And as all the world was rejoicing
at the death of Jesus, those who had not yet been able to understand why the
cross was the necessary conclusion to the story of salvation, would be weeping,
and grieving, and could see no possible way how those terrible events they had
witnessed could somehow end in anything but defeat. And so, in their pain, and in their sorrow, not
knowing how the story ended, the disciples were overtaken by pain and sorrow,
and ended up locked in a room together, dwelling in despair.
When I was reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to
Naomi and Micah, there were a couple times when I thought one of them might end
up doing something similar. I remember
getting to that point in the story where Aslan and the White Witch make an
agreement with each other in order to save Edmond, one of the children. You see, early in the story, Edmond had been
fooled into believing that the White Witch was good, and the only way for
Edmond to be saved from being taken over by the White Witch and her evil empire
is for an innocent life to be given in his place.
As the story goes, Aslan—the
Christ figure—walks by himself in the middle of the night to the middle of the
enemy army, where they proceed to cut off his mane, and tie him to a stone
table, in the midst of wild cheers and jeers.
And then, after making sure that Aslan has been securely fastened to the
stone table, the White Witch plunges her dagger into his heart, and the lion is
dead. I remember reading that part in
the story, and then looking down and seeing the fear in Micah’s eyes. All he felt was pain and sorrow, and the only
ending he could imagine was the one still in front of him in the death of
Aslan. And so, in the most calm, and
soothing voice I could muster, I simple said to him—and to Naomi: “Remember,
sometimes a story can look so bad, and still have a happy ending.”
When Jesus told his disciples that
they would weep and lament when, for a little while, they would not see him, he
also promised them that their sorrow would turn into joy. In the middle of the story, without seeing
any way that the death of Jesus could give way to a reason for joy, the
disciples were dwelling in despair, just like Micah was fearful at the death of
Aslan. But in each case, when the end of
the story had been written, and the end of the story had been seen or heard, there
was plenty of reason for joy.
That stone table upon which Aslan
had been slain, would be cracked in two, and there he would stand, with a
gloriously new golden mane, and fiercely ferocious voice, that would cry out in
prophetic victory across the land of Narnia.
At that moment, all pain and sorrow and fear was gone; the only wonder
left in the mind of a once-fearful boy was how quickly the evil army of the
White Witch would be defeated.
How much more is joy that is given
where sorrow once lived in the heart of the disciples, when Jesus stands in the
midst of a locked room, with a risen and glorified body, and the voice of
victory, and says, “Peace to you!”?
For just a little while the
disciples could no longer see Jesus, and the sorrow in their heart produced weeping
and lamenting. But then, again a little
while more, and their sorrow was turned to joy when the crucified Jesus stood
before them in a victoriously happy ending that previously they could never
have imagined. All that remained for
those disciples was for the Spirit of Truth to help connect the dots, and put
the pieces together so that everything Jesus had said and done might now be
understood in the light of his death, and his resurrection.
And indeed, knowing the ending
would make all the difference in the world.
Like a mother whose joy at the birth of her son or daughter makes all
the suffering she endured for the sake of that child a distant memory, the
risen and victorious Christ puts his death into perspective. For just a little while, the disciples were
made to suffer by being separated from their Savior, but all of it occurred, so
that, in His resurrection, they might have a joy that would never be taken from
them.
When Naomi and Micah watched The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I
was worried that those scenes involving evil creatures, and a White Witch, and
even painful death might be too much for them to handle. But because they knew the ending; because
they knew that Aslan did not stay dead, and that the evil army was defeated,
and the White Witch cast out of Narnia, it didn’t matter how gruesome the
battle became, their joy was not going to be robbed, and so they watched, and
they laughed, and I was amazed.
But I was reminded, that when you
know how the story ends, it can make all the difference in the world. And you, my friends; you know how the story
ends. Sure, you live in the midst of a
life in which sin is constantly plaguing your heart; and the brokenness of this
world makes you wonder if you’ll be able to stand; and Satan tries to make you fearful
that the story of your life will not end well.
But the Spirit of Truth would
remind you, my friends, that Jesus did not stay dead, and neither will you who
trust in Him. For the risen and
victorious Jesus is only the first among many brothers and sisters who will
stand with glorious new bodies, and whose pain and sorrow will be forgotten in
the joy of a new creation. With the
Spirit of Truth reminding you that with Jesus, all things will end well, who
knows, maybe you’ll even be like Micah, and learn to laugh in the face
evil. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
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