Two days ago, on Good Friday, we asked ourselves the central question: What does it mean when we say that Jesus died for us on the cross? We talked about how Jesus took God’s justice fully onto himself because he was the only one who could, and through his blood shed for us, we can be one with the Father in the same way Jesus is one with the Father, through faith in the same Jesus Christ. Today let’s move on to part two of this same central question.
When Jesus died the world became a different place. The first sign of this totally different world is what we are celebrating today. In this new world, Jesus was raised from the dead. Nothing short of a revolution had begun. It wasn’t just a surprising and happy ending to what we thought was a tragedy. It was the beginning of a new sort of life, a new way of living. This beginning meant that what we thought was the darkest, most inevitable power in the world, death, had been defeated.
There is a couple of ways to view this revolution. Firstly, and I’d suggest to you a very common way, is that “Jesus dies for my sins so that I can go to heaven.” This is certainly the end result, but it can indicate a pretty self-centred view of the world – which is what Jesus died for in the first place. This child-like theology echoes through the centuries of church teaching. Decades ago when I was in Sunday School, we sang a Hymn called “There is a Green Hill Far, Far, Away.” It has this line “He died to make us Good.” We won’t be spending eternity fully enjoying the company and glory of God because we were good in this life; but because we knew we weren’t but believed on his Son and what he achieved for us on the cross.
So what’s the danger in thinking that Jesus died for my sins so that I can get to heaven. It’s all to do with our understanding of Mission. Mission is what the church does every moment of every day in all we say, think, and do. So if we have this simplistic idea that Jesus died so that we can get to heaven, when people ask us why we believe, the only answer we will have is, “so I can get to heaven.” Sounds pretty lame doesn’t it?
There is another way of looking at this. The revolution that was sparked on and by the Cross is nothing short of the inauguration of the Kingdom of God on earth. This is what Jesus and John the Baptist before him proclaimed. The Kingdom of God is near to you, literally meaning Jesus himself. Not just when we die, but now!
Later on in the service we will be saying The Lord’s Prayer, the prayer that Jesus taught his companions, and we’ll all say together “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.” On earth. That is in this life. The Apostle Peter teaches that we become part of the Kingdom of God the moment we believe; not just when we die.
Tom Wright, writes that the New Testament teaches that we are ‘to be image bearers reflecting God’s glory into the world, and the praise of creation back to God.’ Image bearers. We are all made in the image of God. When we believe, our true self as God made us is born from above. Just as Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3.
Jesus’ resurrection means that we have new and eternal life. We are truly liberated to be what God made us to be. This is really exciting news. So when we look at the empty tomb of Jesus, we see the empty tomb of what we died to. We, like the wonderful Mary Magdalene who, in today’s gospel account, sees the empty tomb, and is astounded and rushes off to tell everybody. Now look what happens to her and what also happens to us when we do it.
On the way Jesus meets us, we don’t know who he is at first. Then he looks us right in the eye and says our name. ‘Mary,’ ‘Rick’. We recognise him when the Holy Spirit fills us with the knowledge that we are fully known by the living God. Then he smiles a smile like no other, and like Mary, we too just want to cling to him and be with him all the time.
This is what salvation and eternal life look like in the here and now. Not some vague idea of meeting this guy called Jesus wearing a long white robe in a cloudy sort of heaven and saying, ‘Um, my name’s Rick, I believed in you, down there, can I come in. Please?’
We truly can walk with Jesus all the time because the Kingdom of God is here, and it is now. This is the good news that transforms lives. This is the revolution right here and this is how mission works. Here in Drayton and everywhere else in the world.
We don’t have to think about how we have to act or what we have to say to convince people about Jesus. When we walk and sit and talk and listen and eat with him, we become more and more like him. Jesus didn’t try and argue with people about God. He had one-on-one conversations with people as we read during Lent. He loved his Father with everything he had, and did and said nothing that wasn’t from the Father.
We become like that too. As Paul puts it, we are ever changing from glory to glory. Paul also tells us that we are Jesus’ body on earth. All of us become different parts of this amazing thing called the worldwide Church of God. We shouldn’t compare ourselves with anyone else. Paul says that’s like a toe wishing it were a finger. Or an ear wishing it were an eye. Every single one of us are vital parts in God’s wonderful plan for humanity and all of creation.
This way of looking at the revolution that began at the cross allows us to view eternity in a far more exciting way. When Jesus returns, we will fully know all the details of how God’s wonderful plan worked out. Our mortal brains are too finite to understand anything of how God has worked throughout history and is working now. This is proved when we look at our own lives – fully mysterious in all the machinations that have brought us to the point we are now. But then we will fully know, just as we are fully known by God.
Every day, we just remain in Jesus in this newness of life brought about by the resurrection we celebrate this morning. Trusting in his love and forgiveness. Hanging out with him all the time. Now, not just later in heaven. Now. Jesus is risen and the Kingdom of God is truly among us. Alleluia! Amen.