Now, we come to that other vital aspect which lies right at the very heart of our Christian Faith – the Resurrection of Jesus Christ – that amazing event for which words are inadequate – we can but Worship and give thanks.

No other faith in the whole world has a Leader Who is Alive. Are the others not simply philosophies where one tries one best but that can never be good enough?

In Luke Chapter 24 we read of some women making their way through the streets of Jerusalem. It is around half-past five in the morning. It must have been a long wait, since the body of Jesus Christ was taken off the Cross, dead, and laid in that tomb.

Jesus has been absent from them for three days and three nights. Two Sabbaths have passed. Jesus was not crucified on a Friday. Work it all out in accordance with what the Scripture says and teaches.

They go prepared to anoint the dead remains of the Jesus they had loved. The voice of God had been silent over these long days. It was the custom to anoint the remains, and they were dutifully going to minister to the dead Body of Jesus Christ.

Those who had wanted Jesus Christ out of the way, and silenced once and for all, would be thinking they had succeeded. They must have thought they had won.

“It involved a bit of wheeling and dealing, but we did it. We have got rid of that troublemaker and disturber of our ways at last. Dead men don’t rise.” Not so!

These religious leaders had little knowledge of the power of God. They were unaware of what the Holy Spirit could do, and most of those who plotted and planned to have Jesus crucified knew very little about the ministry of angels. And they had not a clue as to the will of the Father!

When the women arrived at the tomb, they found two things they were not prepared for – the stone rolled away – and no dead Jesus inside! How would you have reacted?

God is full of surprises. We never know what He is going to do next. We never know what he is going to say next. Sometimes He really surprises us.

Their plans are shaken. They are perplexed and puzzled. They don’t know what to make of it all. They are not sure if they can handle what confronts them. Angels appear and they bow in fear.

The angels ask – ‘Why are you looking for the living among the dead?’ ‘This is the cemetery. This is the graveyard. He is not here. HE IS RISEN. Do you not remember that He told you all this when he was with you?’

Problems and fears arise when we forget the Word of the Lord. They were hearing what common sense was saying, and they had forgotten what Jesus had said.

There are many, even within the visible physical church, who have a real problem believing that Jesus Christ is risen and alive. When you have met the risen living Jesus Christ and when you are born again that ought never again to be a problem. There will be other problems that one should certainly not bother you.

Never forget what Jesus Christ has said and taught. If we do, fear and doubt and confusion and worse can wriggle their way in.

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Is This the Most Unknown Sentence In The New Testament? “For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

One friend, when he has gone on speaking engagements, has read these words and then has asked, “Now where does this sentence come from? Old Testament, New Testament, or William Shakespeare?” The majority have usually been wrong, and yet these words are spoken by Jesus as he approaches Calvary.

We are in Luke Chapter 23 and at verse 31. Is this the most unknown verse in the New Testament? These words are spoken just before Jesus Christ is crucified. What does He mean? When a green tree is wantonly destroyed, what on the day of judgement will be done with the dry sticks of the wicked?

If this is what they do when the wood is green and full of life, what will happen to dry lifeless wicked unrepentant men? These are the words of a carpenter. I am green, life producing, full of sap, full of the Holy Spirit. What do you think will happen when you are dry and ripe for judgement? Weep for yourselves. Are you ready to meet God? Or are you ripe for Judgement? Read the verse in the context in which the words were spoken.

Read verses 32,33 and 34. He was numbered with the transgressors. He was crucified. He forgave.

There are so few words. The Bible is very economical here. We are given the facts, which are not embellished with great detail.

A pastor was speaking with a woman who had left the church and would not return because someone had offended her. He went to see her, and a long list of faults and accusations poured out. He listened, and then asked, “Did they spit on you?” No. They spat on Jesus. “Did they ridicule and scourge and mock you?” No. They did all that to Jesus. “Did they tell lies about you and plan and plot and conspire to get you out of the Church? No. They did all that to Jesus and He forgave them.”

He went on to say to her, “There is not one single thing you have told me that is worth holding onto and remembering. There is not one single grudge or grievance that is worth harbouring in your heart.”

This is a word we need to hear repeatedly. “Forgive”. A lack of forgiveness binds us emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and may even cause us to become physically sick, but certainly robbing us of that poise and power and peace of which we see reflected here in the life of Jesus.

When we release a spirit of forgiveness, we can discover healing, wholeness, love, peace and contentment can flood our beings.

Jesus did not want to be limited or restricted in any way whatsoever, so he releases a liberating spirit of forgiveness.

Jesus is on the Cross, and still people are sneering and scoffing. “Let Him save himself.” He didn’t need to save Himself. He had never sinned, and if he had saved his own life, He could not have saved you and me.

Jesus Christ was not going to prove who He was their way. but God’s way.

The people in this passage are either deeply moved, or mocking, and it is not unusual today to find similar reactions to Jesus Christ and the Word of God. We need to keep remembering this.

To heal men’s sick bodies, a touch was all that was needed, but much much more required to save and rescue people from hell.

The marks of sin could be soothed and smoothed away by the Hands of Jesus, but to remove sin, required the blood of the Son of God. The blood of the lamb was going to be shed at this special Passover.

And on that cross, Jesus Christ takes on the principalities and powers of hell, defeats them, and conquers them, and He emerges victorious and triumphant three days later.

Pilate had an inscription pinned above Jesus and it read, “This is the King of the Jews.” It is true whether Pilate believed it or not. You can disagree with it if you want to, but it is still true. A man can disagree with anything he wants to in this book, but it is still true.

“This is the King of the Jews”. Everyone who looked at that sight on Golgotha, would be able to read it, because it was written in Greek and Latin and Hebrew.

Greek was the language of culture and learning, and the language of philosophy, art, literature, and of ethics and morals at that time.

Latin was the language of government and authority and power. Jesus is the King of kings – the king of nations.

People say that you can’t bring Jesus into politics, which really means, let’s not take Jesus too seriously, and certainly not that seriously. How Jesus is so needed in political debates and discussions in these present days.

Hebrew, or Aramaic, was the language of the religion of the Jews. Jesus is King. He is Lord, in every area of life. How Jesus is so needed in The Church and how we need to learn his ways, and love with his love and minister with his power.

That most unfamiliar sentence leads on into that which is so vitally essential.

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In Luke Chapter 23 and at verse 24, Pilate caved in, and gave the people what they wanted. He is so weak. He is so spineless. He has no moral backbone, and just goes along with the critics of Christ Jesus and with the crowd.

In reality, it was not Jesus who was on trial. It was them! Jesus is going to the Father, admittedly by a very painful route, but it was essential. The sacrificial lamb has to be slain.

Pilate’s pathetic actions, and Herod’s rage, and the evil plans of the religious leaders, cannot stop Jesus Christ from fulfilling the will of the Father and doing His Saving Work.

You cannot stop Jesus. You cannot stop God.

Having read of the trial of Jesus Christ, in Luke 22,23, we read on at verse 26, which describes the crucifixion, and it is the cross which lies right at the very heart and core of our faith.

That political weakling, Pilate, gives way to the demands of the people, and anxious Herod must have this rival king killed, and the Jewish leaders want this troublesome Jesus out of the way, and then, things can return to normal.

But, that can never be, after a man has met Jesus Christ. After you have been confronted by the Lord Jesus Christ, a man can never be the same again, no matter how that man might react, by receiving or rejecting.

There are consequences, good and bad, wonderful and tragic. We have a man like Peter, or a man like Judas.

When you meet Jesus, it can never be as though you had never met Him.

The physically exhausted Jesus is led away to be crucified, along the narrow compacted streets of Jerusalem, and across the busy thoroughfare to the hill.

It has been a long 24 hours, very long, for Jesus.

He has been teaching, breaking bread and sharing that cup at the Passover Meal, praying and wrestling and struggling and battling in the Garden amidst the olive trees. Jesus has been betrayed, arrested, denied by one of his key disciples, put on trial, taken here and there, mocked, ridiculed, scourged and now they compel someone to carry his cross.

This is not very pretty. How did people ever come to present it as being respectable and dignified, like His birth? Why does man want to dress things up, and have them appear nice? Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem, and now the real purpose of it all is about to be evidenced to the whole world who wishes to know and understand.

There are three most helpful words we use when leading people around these significant places in Jerusalem. They are Gethsemane, the Gabbatha (or Pavement) and Golgotha.

In Gethsemane, Jesus Christ prayed. At the Gabbatha, Jesus was on trial before Pilate, and today you can visit and walk on the very same excavated pavement slabs in the Via Dolorosa on the north side of the city of Jerusalem. And, on Golgotha Jesus Christ was crucified and shed his blood to wash away all our sin.

Those of you who preach and teach, take these three words beginning with the same letter and your people will remember what is so central and vital. Present your people with facts about Jesus Christ. Allow them to be confronted by the gracious loving rescuing and saving Christ. When we do our work, the Holy Spirit does His!

Author bio:
Alexander “Sandy” Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness – on the Moray Firth Coast – not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40 a.m., New Orleans time, at wsho.com.

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