2010 April — wadehodges.com

Being Happy for Jesus

Filed Under: GH, Theology

There’s an element of the resurrection that is oft-overlooked when Christians celebrate Easter.

Yes, the resurrection is good news for the world, and yes, it’s good news for sinners like us.

But have you ever thought about how the resurrection is good news for Jesus?

After all, he was the one who was dead!

We’re so selfish in our spiritual pursuits that we skip over Jesus and jump immediately to the implications of Jesus’ resurrection for us.

When was the last time you let yourself be genuinely happy for Jesus in the same way you would be happy for a friend who just received some wonderful news?

When we forget to be happy for Jesus we diminish his pre and post-resurrection humanity. It’s as if we believe that since he was the Son of God, resurrection wasn’t that big of a deal for him. Simply a foregone conclusion.

What if when he is enduring Black Friday, he’s doing so with the hope of resurrection, rather than the certainty of it?

I know, I know, this goes against the grain of an all-knowing Jesus who always knows what everyone is thinking and what is about to happen next. But still, it makes for a more human Jesus, not to mention a better story, to see him on the cross trusting God to take care of him in death, rather than just enduring the cross so that the Father could trump evil with the inevitable resurrection card.

On the cross, Jesus asks the question, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

What if he doesn’t get his answer until Sunday when the Father raises him from the dead? The resurrection is the Father’s way of saying to Jesus, “My son, I have not forsaken you, I have not abandoned you to the grave, I will not let my son see decay.”

Without the resurrection, Jesus would be just another failed Messiah who was tossed onto the garbage heap of history with all the others who couldn’t back up what they said. But Jesus is different, his Father set him apart from all the rest.

The resurrection is the Father’s way of repeating what he said at Jesus baptism, “This is my son, of whom I am quite proud, listen to him.”

The resurrection means that Jesus is alive, that Jesus is Lord, and that Jesus has been rewarded for the way he lived and died.

Let’s be happy for our Lord, brother, and friend.

April 7, 2010 By Wade 4 Comments

Dwight Schrute on the Resurrection

Filed Under: Pop Culture, Theology

Yesterday, I had someone tell me that part of my teaching reminded her of Dwight Schrute.

While not intended to be done in the Schrute-ian style, I can see why she made the connection. See if you can picture Dwight saying this to the camera.

Let’s say you and I get in a fight.
And you become so angry with me that you kill me.
Then, let’s say that several days later, God raises me from the dead.
Whose side do you think God is on?
Who is right and who is wrong?
Who would you start listening to?

April 5, 2010 By Wade 2 Comments

Enter the Darkness

Filed Under: Church, Gospel

Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour–when darkness reigns.” (Luke 22:52-53)

Up until this point of the story, Jesus has been battling the forces of evil–and winning. With every word of good news he preached, every demon he banished, every disease he healed, every outsider he included; Jesus encroached upon the gates of hell.

But now, near the end, the darkness finally gets its day. Evil finally has its way with Jesus.

“When darkness reigns.”

These three words draw me into the last few hours of Jesus’ life and show me something I do not want to see.

I see people who will do whatever it takes to preserve their power.

I see a religion gone so bad that it will trample anyone who threatens the status quo.

I see politicians who exchange truth for popularity.

I see good people overwhelmed by their fear.

I see cowards who desert their friend in his time of greatest need.

I see big talkers make promises that they can’t keep.

I see people who love money more than God.

I see people who try to force God’s hand so that he’ll do what they want.

I see people in power use their strength to heap abuse the innocent.

I see people being emotionally manipulated by their leaders to say and do things they will later regret.

I see people who think they understand God’s will so clearly that they’re willing to kill those who disagree with them.

I see the worst of humanity put on display.

If I look closely enough, I see myself. For the darkness is a part of me. I carry within me the same motives, fears, weaknesses, and hypocrisy that was in full effect on the day Jesus died.

I resist entering the darkness with Jesus because I see myself doing the same kinds of things to others that they did to him.

Maybe you see something else.

Maybe you see the times when the darkness has overtaken you. Stepping into the darkness with Jesus reminds you of the times when evil has had its way with you.

The times you were abused or betrayed or deserted by someone you thought you could trust.

The times you were treated badly by religious people who were so sure they were right and you were wrong.

The times when you were overwhelmed with despair and left wondering why God had forsaken you.

It’s in these dark moments of identification with Jesus that God gives us the grace to realize that long before we entered the darkness with Jesus, he stepped into the darkness with us.

Isn’t this the hope of the gospel story? That Jesus entered the darkness on our behalf, to do to the darkness what we could never do ourselves. He entered the darkness to both redeem us from the evil at work inside of us, while also giving us the power to transcend what the darkness has done to us.

The gospel is bright, full of light, but only because first there was a day when darkness reigned.

Thank God I looked.

April 1, 2010 By Wade Leave a Comment