Looking for a resurrection surprise

“Now there was a man called Joseph, a member of the Jewish council. He was a good and just man, and had neither agreed with their plan nor voted for their decision. He came from the Jewish city of Arimathaea and was awaiting the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. He took it down and wrapped it in linen and placed it in a rock-hewn tomb which had not been used before.”

“It was now the day of the preparation and the Sabbath was beginning to dawn, so the women who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph, noted the tomb and the position of the body, and then went home to prepare spices and perfumes. On the Sabbath they rested, in obedience to the commandment.” Luke 23:50-56, Phillips

…

“The resurrection was not an anticipated event. Jesus receives the normal treatment a dead person received. He was definitely laid to rest, and the preparation of spices shows that the women expect him to remain there. The resurrection catches everyone by surprise.”

“It is not unusual for God to be active in our midst and even to tell us about what he is doing, but we miss the point. We can get so locked into a routine of how things normally take place that we risk missing what God is doing out of the ordinary. A text like this reminds us to keep our eyes open and to look carefully for God's promises, which might show up in surprising ways.”

Luke: The NIV Application Commentary by Darrell L. Bock, (pp. 603-04)

At the beginning of Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol, Dickens makes a point that he wants us to unequivocally get: Marley is dead. In his words, “Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail...There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.” In the same way, Luke notes these observations about Joseph and the women in the concluding verses of chapter 23. If we don't get that those who were there were fully persuaded that Jesus is dead nothing wonderful can come of this story as well. We have to know that Joseph (and Nicodemus as John notes) carefully laid Jesus in the tomb and sealed it while from a short distance away the women were watching so they knew which crypt to return to when the Sabbath was over. Like Old Marley, Jesus is dead. All hope that God would somehow miraculously intervene is gone. It is, in their minds, very much the end.

I pastor a congregation that is fairly young-ish. While we have 'em, there aren't a lot of gray-heads in our faith-community (well, strictly speaking, that's not true as a lot of us are becoming gray-er). I only say that not because we're biased against “old” people but to emphasize that we don't deal too regularly with death (unlike our Lutheran and Catholic friends in town who deal with it quite frequently.) As a rule we handle more weddings and infant dedications than funerals. Sure we know the Scripture that reminds us that “there is a time to be born and a time to die” but we usually deal with more screaming infants than groaning seniors. Death, by and large, is not too common for us.

Sure would be great to have them back

But lately, we have been touched by mortality and while we continue to pray for those afflicted with life-altering conditions, our prayers from our perspective have had little affect. Steve is a guy from our fellowship who last May while out on an early evening ride on his Harley east of town collided with a deer who had suddenly popped out of the trees. And no, he wasn't wearing a helmet. He was med-flighted to the Cities, his life was spared, his broken leg set and his road rash treated but the brain injury he received that day persists. And while he is aware enough that he was in an accident so much else that comes out of his mouth is not reality-oriented. He remains hospitalized at a facility that specializes in brain trauma. Who can say when the end of it will be? Will he recover completely? Will he be able to live a normal life again? Will he ever be able to safely return home?

These are real questions that all those around him are thinking about if not always asking out loud. Kari, his wife, remains remarkably strong although that is testimony to God's grace and people's prayers. Honestly, I can't say what's going on in his kids but based on my history with another family in our congregation whose dad experienced a life-altering accident when his boys were little, we may not know for awhile. So much is up in the air. But it feels like a death to me – death of hopes and dreams of a life now laid to rest like Jesus' cold body in the tomb.

Her life hangs in the balance

Just a little while ago, Debbie called tearfully asking for prayer again. Her new-born granddaughter, Sophie, who already has had more surgical procedures than any normal person should ever have in a lifetime in her brief few weeks of life, has been hospitalized at a major hospital downstate who specializes in the treatment of childhood trauma. Despite the best that medical technology can do for her and despite the earnest prayers of people all over, it appears she is losing her fight to live. Based on what Debbie's daughter has been posting on Facebook of late, it looks like death is approaching – and with it the end of a life that's hardly begun.

“Pray!” the men and women of faith exhort us. “Believe!” And, of course, we are doing both – praying for Steve's and Sophie's resurrection to life, believing that God is able to do all things. But reality is that at the present time Steve isn't getting any better and Sophie...Sophie may not be with us much longer. I don't think I am being pessimistic. I think I'm just stating the obvious. Death is at work in both of these individuals.

But reading this passage this morning during my devotional time has put me in the place of those witnesses who either laid Jesus in his tomb or watched those who did. Those of us who know the rest of the story know that a glorious surprise awaits them all. But for the moment nothing could be further from their minds. Unlike Kari and Debbie, I'm not invested in these crises other than being one of the watchers; in this case, their pastor seeking to walk with them through this season of their lives. Despite evidence to the contrary, my heart tells me that God is at work in Steve and Sophie both. To use Bock's phrase, I'm trying to keep my eyes open to the potential of a resurrection surprise in both cases. The elders and I have called for a Service of Healing and Wholeness this Sunday evening showing our willingness to apply obedience to the command of Scripture: “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14, NIV). At the same time we're looking for the promise to be fulfilled: “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up” (v. 15). The surprise, of course, is how God will choose to raise these and others in our fellowship in need of healing at the present time. In the mean time, like the women from Galilee, we return home to busy ourselves with praying and tending to other acts of love and devotion, waiting until it is the appropriate time to return to the tomb.

While reflecting on this passage that well-known sermon whose refrain is oft-quoted - “It's Friday but Sunday's coming” - has come to mind. It's a message about hope being greater than despair, of the serendipitous breaking into our lives like the sun on a cloudy day and. It reminds me that I don't have the whole picture but God does and so its best, in the end, to keep on trusting in his love and faithfulness.

It’s Friday
Jesus is praying
Peter’s a sleeping
Judas is betraying
But Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
Pilate’s struggling
The council is conspiring
The crowd is vilifying
They don’t even know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The disciples are running
Like sheep without a shepherd
Mary’s crying
Peter is denying
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s a comin’

It’s Friday
The Romans beat my Jesus
They robe him in scarlet
They crown him with thorns
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
See Jesus walking to Calvary
His blood dripping
His body stumbling
And his spirit’s burdened
But you see, it’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The world’s winning
People are sinning
And evil’s grinning

It’s Friday
The soldiers nail my Savior’s hands
To the cross
They nail my Savior’s feet
To the cross
And then they raise him up
Next to criminals

It’s Friday
But let me tell you something
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The disciples are questioning
What has happened to their King
And the Pharisees are celebrating
That their scheming
Has been achieved
But they don’t know
It’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
He’s hanging on the cross
Feeling forsaken by his Father
Left alone and dying
Can nobody save him?
Ooooh
It’s Friday
But Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The earth trembles
The sky grows dark
My King yields his spirit

It’s Friday
Hope is lost
Death has won
Sin has conquered
and Satan’s just a laughin’

It’s Friday
Jesus is buried
A soldier stands guard
And a rock is rolled into place

But it’s Friday
It is only Friday
Sunday is a comin’!
S. M. Lockbridge