It's Just A Matter of Time.

The first day of the 50 days began on Sunday morning. As the United States celebrates the hopping of bunnies and the painting of eggs, the Church celebrates and commemorates the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Nothing in history has been so world-changing as the life, the death, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. No sentinel event can even come close to the change that Jesus brought to the world then and even now.

There are many things we can learn from the gospel story. One of them is that it's just a matter of time until a crucifixion becomes a resurrection. It took but three days to see the most gruesome death of Jesus Christ turn to the most glorious comeback story in history. Imagine: Jesus was beaten, played before a crowd of death-mongers, spit on, made to carry a wooden plank, and then nailed to a cross to die. Everywhere around him people were either whispering to each other about how wrong He was, betting one another for some memorabilia of the downfall of this great Rabbi, or just somewhere in a corner regretting that they backstabbed Him. Days before His great humiliation, all of Jerusalem were on their feet receiving Jesus as the King. Young and old were shouting, “Hosanna in the highest!” People took palms and made a path for the King! In just a matter of days, the great Superstar of the time had become the laughing stock of all Jerusalem! But three days later, Sunday came! A huge stone was rolled away, an angel proclaimed His victory over death and the grave, and He eats with His disciples again. Most of us would have just stayed up on that cross and died! In fact, some of us would have been glad we died. After having such a great streak of success and fame, some of us would have refused to rise from such a degrading demise.

I recently read a story of a man who used to make $750,000 a year. He had a mansion for a house, luxury cars, and a year round schedule that boast of vacations and lavish visits to five star restaurants. Because of some personal choices and the economic state of the country, he lost everything. On the interview, the man and his family were about 7 months behind on their mortgage, the cars had to be returned, and he spent his working hours delivering pizzas! What so fascinating about this story is that the man never took his life, did not run from the shame, and didn’t seem to be in a depressed state. From the story, one can tell that the man had a resurrection in mind!

What I want to offer this week is: think of YOUR own resurrection. Yes, things are difficult, the bills still need to be paid, and there seem to be no hope in sight! But if we can learn anything from our Lord Jesus is that, don’t let yourself be kept up on your cross! Bury your demise and your shame. Wait on the perfect timing of God. Expect a resurrection! Don’t stay hanging on the cross. Don’t stay in the tombs of your disappointment. Don’t stay wrapped up by what could have been. Learn to trust in the promise of God that it’s just a matter of time! We need to muster the tenacity, the guts and the courage to wait for the upswing of our downturn.

Jesus could have died and stayed dead in the grave. What made Christianity become what it is today was not the death of Jesus, it was His resurrection! As Paul the Apostle declared in his epistle, "And if Christ wasn't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It's even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they're already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries." (1 Cor 15:17-20 Message Bible)