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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion March 27, 2005 Get Met |
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Frontline Devotion for Sunday, March 27, 2005 By Don
Kress
Matthew
28:1-10
Happy Easter!
If you’ve judged from the title that today’s devotion is about life
insurance, you’re incorrect. But it is, I guess you could say, about
life assurance.
Today’s text is so full of themes about which I could have written.
That’s one of the greatest things about being a writer for Frontline devotions
– it causes me to read and meditate on scripture passages far more than I ever
have before. For example, I could have written about the stone being
rolled away from the entrance to Christ’s tomb. In contemplating over
today’s text, it occurred to me that the stone wasn’t rolled away to let
Christ out – Christ has already arisen, and the rolling away of the stone
serves not to let Christ out, but to let us in. “He is not here: for He
is risen…Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Another theme is the
use of “is” in speaking about Christ’s resurrection. While some
translations say, “He has risen,” most say, “He is risen.” I much
prefer the use of “is,” as it speaks to a current event rather than a past
event. Christ is risen! It’s not something that happened in the
past and is now only history. It is something that is happening today!
But the theme in today’s text that struck me the most is that described in
verse 9: “And as they went…Jesus met them.” The initiative was
Christ’s, not there’s. Finding Jesus is not a game of hide and seek.
He doesn’t stay hidden from us until we find Him. Instead, He comes to
us, and greets us in common terms. Many translations say that Jesus
greeted them by saying, “Hail!” – the customary salutation of that
culture when friends met. It corresponds to our “Good morning!” or
“How do you do?” Other translations are “Be glad!” or
“Rejoice!” or “Peace to you!” Jesus met them with ordinary words
on his lips. Jesus encounters us in that same way today: He meets us
in ordinary places with ordinary words. Stop trying to find Him, and start
being open to being met by Him.
We’ve been studying Matthew in our devotions, but I want to visit Luke for a
moment, specifically Luke 24:13-32. This is the story of Christ appearing
on Easter to two of his followers as they walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
It’s one of my favorite resurrection stories. In fact, I have a painting
depicting this story that hangs in my home. The risen Christ meets these
two followers as they travel, and they don’t recognize Him until they sit down
to eat. The passage in Luke describes it this way: “Now it came to
pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed it and broke
it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew
him…And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He
talked with us on the road…?” In the church I attend we commemorate
this story every time we have communion as we pray, just before receiving the
elements, “Reveal yourself to us, O Lord, in the breaking of bread, as once
you revealed yourself to your disciples.” The resurrection Christ will
meet you today. Don’t be so busy searching for Him that you fail to
recognize Him. Be open to getting met by the risen Christ!
When the early Christians would greet one another on Easter morning, the would
embrace while one exclaimed, “Christos voscres!” The other would
reply, “Vo istine voscres!” Translated as “Christ is risen!” –
“He is risen indeed!” Through this greeting, through the exchange of
five words, we express the very truth of the gospel. Express this truth as
you greet one another today!
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for the very present gift
of your resurrection. Help me to understand that your resurrection is not
just a passport to heaven, but a power that can change me today. Help me
to be open to that power. Help me to be open to being met today by you.
Amen.
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