 We continue in our lockdown for another week after which we will get to know whether the lockdown will be extended or not. Meanwhile we are all in our own homes, not being able to venture out unless we are an essential services worker. Many of us are still filled with fear and anxiety as we hear of friends and neighbours suffering from this Covid Virus. The disciples too were in a similar situation after the death of Jesus. They too were filled with fear and anxiety. The disciples had hoped that Jesus would lead them into a new kingdom where they will be free from Roman rule. They never expected the crucifixion of Jesus despite Jesus repeatedly teaching them that the Son of Man had to suffer and to die and then be raised again on the third day. The death on the cross seemed to be irreversible. The disciples themselves were filled with fear that they had locked themselves for fear of the Jews on the evening of the first day of the week. The threat was too real for them. Their leader had been crucified and now they were like sheep without a shepherd, frightened and scared. They were also terribly depressed that their leader who had promised them a kingdom, was now cruelly snatched out by the cross. However, the resurrection of Jesus radically altered human history. The disciples who were scared a lot were filled with boldness and confidence. They were transformed because they were witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. This morning, the theme for our meditation is ‘Witnesses to Christ’s Resurrection.’ On the first day of the week when the women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other women went to the tomb, they found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb and when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Matthew records an earthquake and then the presence of an angel who tells them that he is risen and has gone ahead of them to Galilee. So also does Mark record an angel. Luke records two men who ask them ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead?’ The reaction of the women in all the accounts is the same. They were terrified on one side but they were also filled with joy and so they run back to inform the disciples about what they had seen. The disciples think that they are uttering nonsense. In fact the word that is used in the Greek is the word leros which means ‘nonsense’ or ‘idle talk a term used in medical settings of delirious talk of sick people. Here again we notice Luke the Physician with his medical terminology. Peter and John then rushing off to the tomb and finding it exactly as the women had informed them. John records that they still did not understand from scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. As the women were returning Jesus meets them and greets them. In John’s Gospel Mary Magdalene is crying outside the tomb when Jesus himself asks her, 'Woman why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Mary thinking he was the gardener says, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’ Jesus addresses her by name ‘Mary’ and she immediately recognizes who it is and holds on to Jesus responding to him as Rabboni! On the same day of the resurrection two disciples had set off to a village called Emmaus which was about 11 km from Jerusalem. The two disciples were talking with each other about all that happened as they could not get their head around it. They were so caught up in their conversation they did not even see Jesus joining them. They were probably going to Emmaus for the remaining part of the Feast of the Unleavened bread, as the main Passover celebrations were over. Even though they were leaving Jerusalem, the events that had happened in the last three days dominated their discussions. Jesus asks them what they were discussing about and they retort by saying whether he was the only one who was oblivious to all that had happened in Jerusalem. Jesus then explains to them beginning with a rebuke. They were foolish and slow to believe all that the prophets had spoken. The disciples were slow to understand what the OT scriptures had foretold about the Messiah. Jesus himself kept on teaching them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer and die and then be raised again on the third day (Mk 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34). The disciples did not understand the witness of the OT Scriptures. The Suffering Servant in Isa 53 should have shown them that glory would be reached only through suffering. Jesus would be taken up into heaven where he would receive his glory. Jesus will return also as the glorious Son of Man. The disciples on the other hand were looking forward to an earthly king and kingdom who would uproot the Romans and give them political freedom. Luke basically records that Jesus used all of the OT scriptures to explain that the Messiah had to suffer and die and then be raised again on the third day. The disciples’ minds were informed and their hearts were touched. The irony of it all was they were seeking empirical evidence of the resurrection when the risen Jesus himself was in their midst. The disciples are keen that Jesus stays with them and joins in the meal. Even though Jesus is actually the guest of the two disciples he plays the role of the host and breaks the bread. And as Jesus broke the bread their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus. It is not a communion service that Jesus is enacted here; rather, Luke wants to make the point that the Christians of his day were able to have the living Lord made known to them in their “breaking of bread” in a manner that was at least similar to the experience of the Emmaus disciples. The hospitality of the disciples was well rewarded! Christ’s absence turns into presence. Their eyes were opened. When we encounter Jesus our eyes will be opened too and our hearts will be warmed. The disciples were transformed because of the resurrection and they were witnesses to it. Because of their witness the Church exists today. We too are called to be witnesses to the risen Christ. May we too encounter the risen Christ and be his witnesses. Shalom Paul Swarup Video - Sermon (Hindi) Video - Sermon (English) Download English Version  The Lord is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!! Alleluia!!! Let me first and foremost wish each one of you a happy and blessed Easter. May the risen Lord sustain you through the power of the Holy Spirit in the days to come. We live at a time when the Corona Virus Pandemic has hit the world around. The globe has seen over 16 lakhs of people affected by this pandemic and almost a lakh of people have died. Our own country has crossed the 7500 mark with over 250 people who have died. America has had over 4 lakh cases and close to 16000 people have died. Italy, Spain, UK, Germany and other parts of Europe have been badly affected by this pandemic. Death seems to be all around us and the fear of death seems to have gripped the hearts and minds of people. People are anxious and afraid what will happen to them if they are infected by this virus. This has also affected the lives of millions of daily wagers who had to flee to their villages because of the plague. There is no work to do in the cities and there is no money and therefore they tried to get back to their villages. Some managed to get to their villages and some were stopped on the way. Some of them also died undertaking this arduous journey by foot. What we see all around us is death, fear, anxiety, fear of death, anxiety about the lockdown and how long it will be? Everything seems to be like the end of the world. The death of Christ on Good Friday seemed to be like the end of the road for the Messiah and his disciples. Jesus repeatedly taught his disciples that the Son of Man had to suffer and to die and then be raised again on the third day. Somehow, the death on the cross seemed to be irreversible and final. The final nail was struck when they saw Jesus being crucified. There was no going back on the fact of his death. The disciples themselves were so scared that they locked themselves up for fear of the Jews on the evening of the first day of the week. The threat of death was too real for them. Their leader had been crucified and now it could be the turn of anyone of them. They were also terribly depressed that their leader who had promised them a kingdom was now cruelly snatched by the cross. What happened on that first Easter morning had radically altered human history ever since? Mary came back as the first apostle with a message, “The Lord is risen!” The implications of the resurrection are that the death has been destroyed; sin has been removed; Satan has been defeated; and the Holy Spirit has been freely given to all of us. We are no more to be worried about death as the last and final step because of the resurrection of Jesus. We are also assured of the forgiveness of sins because Jesus took our place, died for us and rose again on the third day. The resurrection also clearly indicates that the Satan has been defeated as all the powers of Satan tried to keep Jesus down but were unable to do so. Finally, since the day of Pentecost till today, the Holy Spirit is freely given to every believer. The empty tomb gives us a future hope. If Christ has defeated Satan and death and sin then the new creation has begun and we are called to make it happen in our own world. We are ushering in the new creation when we give people hope for people in the midst of death, when we reach out to the migrant workers who are starving for food under this lockdown, when we show our love for our fellow citizens especially for the poor and the needy, when we care for all those in the medical fraternity. We are to have a new vision where we see our nations without corruption and without power struggles. We see a new world where there is a just distribution of wealth. We are called to be the Easter people. We are called to take the scripture in one hand and the power of God through the Holy Spirit on the other. We are to take a deep breath of the new creation which blows through the air this Easter and find out what we can do to make the new creation happen. The power of death and hell will oppose you for doing so and you will face many battles on the way. We are to go back again and again to the fact of Easter; the enemies are a beaten rabble. God’s new creation should also take place in our individual life. Paul says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil, desires and greed which is idolatry”. He also says that we should rid ourselves of anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language. As we go out into the world filled with the power of the resurrection, may we truly bring God’s new creation to our world, and may we ourselves be transformed into a new creation by the help of the Holy Spirit. May we pass on the hope of the resurrection to all our people who are in lock down assuring them that God is a God of life who has overcome death and he will give us the victory over this deadly corona virus. Shalom Paul Swarup Song - Aaj Jee uta hai Hymn - Jesus Christ is risen today ______________________ Video - Sermon (English) Video - Sermon (Hindi) Download Hindi Version Download English Version  Today is Palm Sunday and the churches around the world celebrate Christ’s triumphal entry into his own city, Jerusalem, to complete his work as the saviour of the world, to suffer and die and to rise again. In ancient times, palm branches symbolised goodness and victory. They were often depicted on coins and important buildings. King Solomon had palm branches carved into the walls and doors of the temples (1 King 6:29). At the end of the bible, in the book of Revelation, people from every nation and every tongue raise palm branches to honour Jesus (Rev. 7:9). Palm Sunday commemorates the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem when he was welcomed with palm branches spread on his path. This then led to his arrest on Maundy Thursday and his crucifixion on Good Friday. Therefore, Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week and the final week of lent. Jesus goes into Jerusalem from Bethphage and Bethany riding on a colt, the foal of donkey. It was a colt on which no one had ever ridden and the disciples brought it to Jesus. Jesus sat on the colt and entered into Jerusalem. As he went along, the people spread their clothes on the road, others spread palm branches which they cut from the fields and shouted, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” The crowd honoured him as the king and Messiah. However, the crowd didn’t expect a suffering Messiah who would die on the cross. They were expecting a deliverer who would deliver them from Roman rule and grant them, freedom. However, Jesus had come to give true freedom – freedom from our sins and life eternal. The people were praising him for all the good things that he had said and done. The Pharisees however, were not amused and asked Jesus to rebuke his disciples so that they would not utter such blasphemies and shouts of acclamation. However, Jesus tells them that the stones will cry out if they were asked to stop. So, what is the role of this Messiah? Zechariah reminds us that he is righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt – the foal of a donkey (Zech. 9:9). The prophet is reminding us that the Messiah is different from the other kings of Israel or other nations who were flawed and reflected only very imperfectly the character of God. But the Messiah is the perfect representation of God. He is the agent through whom God’s salvation is made available. He is gentle and humble as shown by his mode of transport. He brings peace and is not one who proclaims war. The Messiah therefore is God’s final offer to us and it would be perilous indeed to spurn it. On Palm Sunday we are reminded once again that Jesus has come into this world to enable us to make peace with God. However, his own people didn’t recognise Jesus. They didn’t know the day of God’s coming to them and ended up crucifying him. However, God in his providence brought about salvation through this which is made available to the whole world. Not all rejected him, and around that crucified king gathered a new people of God who were destined to herald the good news of his kingdom to the ends of the earth. This morning as we too enter into Jerusalem with Jesus may we truly appropriate the salvation and the forgiveness of sins that he offers to us. Video - Sermon (English) Video - Sermon (Hindi) Download English Version Download Hindi Version |
