Often the funeral of the person who doesn’t know Jesus is a heavy with sadness that a life has ended and there is nothing left but memories.  So, the response of those who are grieving is to look for evidence, in the life of the person, that they had lived a ‘good’ life. The nature of the ‘good’ life is spoken of in many and various ways: was a good person, enjoyed life, was kind, lived life to the full ... etc..

The funeral of a person who does know Jesus, whilst it may contain some searching for evidence of the ‘good’ life, is at heart very different.  Although there is the sadness and grieving that comes with the separation of bereavement, there is also confidence and hope.

The search for the ‘good’ in a person is part of an unconscious desire (although sometimes it might be intentional) to make sense of the life that has ended.

Sometimes, when we talk about the resurrection of Jesus we take the same approach.  God raised Jesus back to life to prove that he was a good Son – we look back on the life of Jesus described in the Gospels, we see how Jesus was faithful to His Father, how he did and said so many good things, and we come to the conclusion that the Father made Jesus alive again, because Jesus was a good man.  But, in the Bible, God gives us a number of different reasons for Jesus being raised from death.

Jesus, himself, tells us (as he told his disciples on the night before he was killed) that he was going to his Father to prepare a place for his disciples, and that he would come back to take them there (John 13.36-14.7). He spoke clearly about returning.  Later that evening we learn, through his prayer, that his concern is for everyone who believes him through the message of disciples (John 17.20).  Jesus saw his death and his resurrection as necessary parts of bringing his friends home to his Father’s house.  If he didn’t die, and if he wasn’t raised, then none of what he had promised would happen.

Some days earlier, when Jesus was speaking with the bereaved sister of Lazarus, he announced to her that he, Jesus, is the resurrection and the life.  So, resurrection was not just a thing that would happen to Jesus, it is much more than that: Jesus is the resurrection.  Resurrection only happens because of Jesus.  Without Jesus there can be no resurrection; without Jesus there is no resurrection. We like to think that Jesus is love, but we should also remember that Jesus is the resurrection.

In our society that chooses to reject God, there is no expectation of resurrection. To have life after death would imply that there is some sort of unfinished business: some business that cannot be completed or resolved in this life.  Life after death suggests that there is more to life than what we see, smell, touch, feel, and taste.

Paul, the man who vigorously opposed Jesus, the man who Jesus challenged and turned around, adds to our understanding of the importance of the resurrection in many ways. When he was explaining his message to the ruling council of Athens, the Council of the Aeropagus, in around 49-50AD, Paul gave another reason for the resurrection of Jesus.  This reason also looks forward to a resurrection of all people – even those who don’t believe in God!

“In the past God overlooked such ignorance[1], but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this by raising him from the dead.”  Acts 17.30,31 (NIV)

Since the resurrection of Jesus is proof that the world will be judged, we will do well to be prepared for that judgement day by turning to the risen Lord Jesus, accepting his offer of safe passage, and trusting him to take us to his Father’s home as his friends.

Why resurrection? The resurrection of Jesus is yet another mark of God’s goodness mercy shown to a rebellious world, as the Almighty calls us back to engage with him as his people.  If we trust the one who is “the resurrection”, we can look forward to our own resurrection with confidence. If we continue to reject Jesus, resurrection is a prospect to awful to imagine, but it remains a real and present danger.

When I hear about the way God has blessed other fellowships with growth and baptism of new (on old) believers, I wonder if I should push for a greater level of commitment from people in our church.

But, when I read the Scriptures with the people God has gathered here in Sassafras, when we gather around God’s word and grapple with what he is saying I am challenged even more. On Sundays as we read through the book of Acts, and each Tuesday night at the Prayer and Bible group as we reading Paul’s letter to God’s people in Ephesus, I am challenged more and more by what God has done through Christ Jesus, and what he continues to do in his people here. It is so easy to have our heads turned by what is reported from other places, and to lose sight of what God is doing amongst us. It is so easy to start wondering what I can do, and forget to consider what God has done and what He is continuing to do. But, when God’s word is opened with His people, I am challenged to look to our risen Lord Jesus Christ, to see what he is doing in the lives of His people who he has redeemed with his own blood.

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 (New English Translation)

However, when Jesus told his disciples not to stop the children from being brought to him, he said that “the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these”. (Luke 18)

But what did he mean?  Why does the kingdom of God belong to children and people who are “like” children?  And, what is it about “children” that makes them so worthy of the kingdom?

If we look at what was happening when Jesus said this we can get a few clues.  In Luke 17 we find the Pharisees asking Jesus about when the kingdom of God would come.  First, Jesus pointed out that the coming of the Kingdom of God would not be predictable or obvious.  Then, he made it clear that the coming of the Kingdom was linked to judgement as well as God’s undeserved goodness and mercy.  Second, Jesus pointed out that the Kingdom of God was already in their midst.  This was a reference to the fact that He was with them.   He connected himself to the judgement through the rejection and suffering he would experience.

Jesus continued to build a picture of what the Kingdom of God is like, and who is fit for the Kingdom. Trying to save ourselves will not work (17.33). God is more willing to give justice than we are to ask for it (!) so we should not lose heart, but keep praying (18.1-7). Then Jesus contrasted the Pharisee and tax-collector.  The tax-collector was a despised person because he did the dirty work of the Roman overlords.  They were not known for being particularly honest or fair about doing it! The Pharisee was so concerned to avoid doing wrong that he became obsessed with being super good.  Jesus shocks his hearers by stating that “bad” man who asks for mercy is in a better position before God than the “super good” man who rests on his own goodness.

Then, after the incident with the children a rich ruler who, like the Pharisee in the parable, has done everything right came to Jesus to ask what more he must do to ensure he would enter the Kingdom of God.

Often people are tempted to believe that Kingdom of God belongs to children because they are innocent or intrinsically good.  But, Jesus dismissed that notion with the parable about the Pharisee and the tax-collector.  Our own goodness will not make us right with God.  To underline that Jesus rejects the lifelong good-living of the rich ruler.  Good living will not get the ruler into heaven by his own efforts either.  And, he cannot buy his way into the God’s Kingdom.  His wealth has got in the way.  He has to get rid of it all!

So, what about the children receiving the Kingdom of God?  If it is not because they are intrinsically good, or “innocent”, then why does the Kingdom of God belong to such as these?  In each case the men who are not worthy have assumed that their behaviour and their achievements have made them fit for the Kingdom.  A child has come naked into the world (Ecclesiastes 5.15).  A child has nothing to commend him or her, no achievement, no attachment to wealth or status.  So, a child must rely entirely on the mercy of God to enter the Kingdom of God.  But, we must also be careful to note all that Jesus says here.  He is using the children as examples: he doesn’t say that the Kingdom belongs to children, but that the Kingdom is received by such as these.  No personal achievement, no wealth, no status can get anyone into God’s Kingdom.

The rich ruler cannot even contemplate entering the Kingdom of God while he puts his trust in all his wealth.  The Pharisee cannot even contemplate entering the Kingdom of God if he behaves as if he has a right of entry.  His arrogance before God excludes him just as effectively as the rich man’s attachment to his wealth.

We cannot buy our way into the God’s Kingdom by our achievements or good works.  The only way into the Kingdom is through a humble trust in Jesus to take us to His Father.  People who are welcomed into God’s kingdom are people who Jesus has saved through his own suffering and death; people who the Father has given new life along with His precious Son, Jesus.

Shortly after this, many of those who had been following Jesus, many of his disciples, turned back and left him. It was only the day before that 5000 people had shared a simple meal Jesus had provided for them. And they continued to follow him until he told them that they would have to eat his flesh and drink his blood if they were to have eternal life. We don’t know what turned all those disciples away. Perhaps they were looking for something else; perhaps they didn’t like the way Jesus talked about Moses; perhaps they didn’t have the courage to continue with Jesus when it became clear that his life was under threat. If the Jews were looking for ways to take the life of Jesus when so many were following him, what chance did his followers have? Perhaps they didn’t like the way Jesus confronted them; he was challenging them to choose between himself and their traditions.

I grew up with a very different picture of Jesus from the picture John presents in his Gospel. The Jesus I was told about was only ever “nice”. I never heard about his uncompromising strength. I never learned that he knew he was under threat long before the night of the “Last Supper”. I never heard that Jesus love for his Father and for those the Father had given him would drive him on to taking his throne on a rough wooden cross. The “pastel coloured” Jesus I grew up with had been wrapped up in religious humbug. But the Jesus John describes is a man who resists all the trappings of religion, all the religious gamesmanship that men invent so that they can ignore God. The Jesus that John introduces is resolute in doing what he was sent to do. He wouldn’t be defended or turned away from his mission.

“Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” John 18.11

What are you discovering about Jesus?