Easter Message
April
12, 2020
Messenger：Ps. Satoshi
Translator：Yuko
“Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee”
Mark 16:1-8
Mark 16：1-8
Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary
the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they
could anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they
went to the tomb. 3 On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away
the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4 But as they arrived, they
looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled
aside.
5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a
white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, 6 but the angel
said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was
crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they
laid his body. 7 Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is
going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you
before he died.”
8 The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and
they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.
Happy Easter!
There are two major celebrations in the
church.
They are Easter and Christmas.
Easter is when we celebrate Jesus’
resurrection.
And Christmas is when we celebrate
Jesus’ birth on this earth.
There is a common event between the day Jesus
was born and the day of His resurrection.
That is the appearance of angels.
The night of the first Christmas, a
messenger appeared to the shepherds who were looking after the sheep in the
fields and told them, “The Savior has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of
David!” The shepherds were also told that they would find the Messiah as a baby
wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.
That messenger was an angel.
The shepherds who heard this went to
look for the newborn baby and met Jesus who was sleeping in a manger. They were
filled with joy.
Similarly, an angel appeared on the
morning of Jesus' resurrection.
The angel appeared at the empty tomb.
The body of Jesus who had been crucified
and killed was buried in a tomb.
It was a Friday evening.
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of
Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.
(Mark 15:47)
Early on
Sunday morning, three women, including Mary Magdalene, headed to the tomb where
Jesus was buried.
They
went there to anoint the remains of Jesus according to funeral customs.
When they arrived at the tomb, the stone
had been moved and they were able to enter.
Jesus’ remains were not in the tomb, but
there was an angel there.
On Christmas night, the angel appeared
in a field, and on the morning of the resurrection, the angel appeared in the tomb.
The women who saw the angel in the tomb
were surprised. And they listened to what the angel said.
“You are
looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.”
“He isn’t
here! He is risen from the dead!” (Mark 16:6)
“He isn't
here! He is risen from the dead!”
This was what
the angel said.
So, where was He?
The angel told the women to tell the
disciples and Peter the following:
“Jesus is
going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see Him there, just as He told you
before He died.” (Mark 16:7)
That first Christmas night, the
shepherds who heard the message from the angels were able to meet the Savior
sleeping in the manger as the angel had said.
How about the disciples and Peter who
heard that Jesus had risen from the dead?
It is not mentioned in Mark's Gospel,
but in John chapter 21, it records the events that the Risen Jesus appeared to
Peter and His disciples in Galilee.
John 21:1-4
1 Later, Jesus appeared
again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. 2
Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.
3 Simon Peter said, “I’m
going fishing.”
“We’ll come, too,” they
all said. So, they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
4 At dawn, Jesus was
standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who He was.
Lake Tiberias is another name for the
Sea of Galilee.
The disciples were fishing in Galilee.
Peter said that he was going fishing, and
the other disciples heard that and went fishing with Peter.
Peter had formerly been a fisherman. But
when he was called by Jesus, he abandoned his fishing nets and followed Jesus.
But now, he turned away from the calling
given by Jesus and was trying to return to his old life.
However, the results of the fishing were
miserable. They couldn't catch anything.
There was a very sad atmosphere.
We can sense the contrast between this
event and when the shepherds who found baby Jesus sleeping in the manger at the
first Christmas. They were rejoicing and praising God.
I think the disciples had already met
with the risen Jesus at this point.
This is because the event described in
John chapter 21 is the third account of the risen Jesus having appeared. (John
21:14)
Perhaps Peter thought he was not worthy
to follow Jesus. So maybe he was trying to distance himself from the calling
given by Jesus.
Because He experienced a great sense of
failure.
Peter denied Jesus three times when
Jesus was captured by religious leaders.
I can imagine that Peter must have felt
that he had totally failed.
That is because once he had said to
Jesus, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” (Mark 14:31)
but he did deny Jesus - three times.
Perhaps he was so overwhelmed by his own
cowardice and sense of guilt he thought that he could not recover. And as a
result, Peter began fishing again.
In such a place, the Risen Jesus
appeared. Jesus was watching the disciples fishing.
The Risen Jesus helped Peter to get back
on his feet. The disciples lowered their nets as Jesus told them to, and then experienced
the miracle of catching a lot of fish.
Maybe this event reminded them about when
they met Jesus for the first time.
And Jesus prepared a meal for his
disciples to eat when they returned from fishing.
The
meal brought comfort to their hearts, and then they realized that they were actually
sitting with the Risen Jesus.
What do you think the atmosphere was
like as they ate that meal?
I imagine they may not have exchanged
many words, but it would have been full of happiness. I imagine it was a very
warm atmosphere.
And when the meal was over, Jesus invited
Peter to join His work again.
“Feed my
sheep”.
Jesus had
once invited Peter saying, "You will fish for people.”
Now, He
said, "Feed my sheep," and invited Peter again.
And He said, “Follow me”
Jesus
said, "I will go to Galilee ahead of you."
What happened
in Galilee at that time restored Peter and his disciples. That was Jesus’ purpose.
From that point, they re-started their mission to follow Jesus.
When Jesus told Peter that he would deny that he knew Jesus three
times, He said the following to Peter:
Luke 22:31-32
31 “Simon,
Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you,
Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen
your brothers.”
“When you have turned back, strengthen
your brothers.”
As Jesus spoke these words, Peter was
able to get back on his feet.
Jesus prayed for Peter that he would not
abandon his faith. And the Risen Jesus appeared to Peter who had become weak. Jesus
reminded him of the calling he was given. Jesus had a meal together with him. And
once again, he gave Peter an important role.
Because of Jesus’ care, Peter recovered,
and he began to work to encourage many people.
The Risen Jesus will also help us
recover.
“When you have turned back, strengthen
your brothers.”
These words from Jesus really spoke to
me through something I experienced this January.
A few weeks ago, Takako-san shared a
testimony in the morning service.
She shared about the work of God
revealed through a girl called back to heaven.
I was also involved in the funeral.
After she passed away, I went to the
hospital and prayed with her family.
Her father and brother surrounded the mother
holding Sanvika-chan who had passed away a few moments before.
When I saw the mother holding Sanvika-chan, it was like seeing my wife holding
the body of our eldest son, who was called to heaven when he was young.
It was about 20 years ago.
In the same way, my eldest son was
called to heaven at the same age as Sanvika.
There was the coffin ceremony, farewell
ceremony, casket ceremony, pre-cremation ceremony, picking up the little bones
...
I attended everything and I performed the
funeral.
And we talked about various things with
Sanvika-chan's parents.
We wept together.
The children were similar not only in
age when they passed away, but also that both of them were born with
disabilities.
Until now, we have been involved in
funerals for various people, but I had never experienced a situation so similar
to that of my eldest son.
So, around the days of her funeral, I
remembered the time when my son passed away, and I sometimes wept.
They were not just tears of sorrow. I
was remembering the sadness but at the same time, I cried because of my appreciation
for how God had cared for me through the death of my oldest son.
At that time, the words mentioned
earlier came to my heart.
"When you have turned back,
strengthen your brothers."
God helped me to stand again, and then I
had the opportunity to be involved in the funeral of Sanvika-chan.
I didn't know if I could encourage this
family. However, during the funeral, they shared their hearts with me, and in
return I was able to share my feelings.
We could understand each other
amazingly.
God’s way is really miraculous. Twenty
years have passed since my son passed away.
I never imagined that someday, in
Fukuoka, I would be involved in the funeral of an Indian family. And that
through this experience, we would find out how much we had in common through
sharing our feelings.
"When you have turned back,
strengthen your brothers."
God led me to be involved in the funeral
for this family. I think it was really God's grace.
The night after the farewell ceremony,
when I was thinking about the funeral and the relationship with this family,
one scene came to my mind.
It was the vision of my eldest son Yuya
and Sanvika-chan meeting in heaven.
When I was thinking about it, tears came
but at the same time, I started to feel joy.
Even though they went to heaven at
different times from each other, even if they never met each other on earth, Sanvika-chan’s
family and we got to know each other and our children became friends in heaven…
What unexpected joy.
God has helped me recover, and He gave
me the opportunity to be involved in the funeral of the family who went through
an experience like the one I once had.
"When you have turned back,
strengthen your brothers."
These words from Jesus were also words for
me.
The Risen Jesus appeared to Peter and helped
him recover. In the same way, Jesus appeared to me and He helped me recover.
The Risen Jesus helps us get back on our
feet.
Even if we have made the biggest
mistakes.
Even if we have failed in a big way,
Even if we feel a big sense of disappointment
with own weakness.
And even if we are facing the death of a
loved one.
Why can we believe this?
This is our hope.
Our faith is all about Jesus’s
resurrection.
In 1 Corinthians 15:19-20, Paul said the
following:
1 Corinthians 15:19-20
19 And if our hope in
Christ is only for this life, we are to be pitied more than anyone in the
world.
20 But in fact, Christ has
been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have
died.
Jesus is risen. And Jesus is still alive
now and helps us to recover.
Jesus said, "I will go to Galilee
ahead of you."
Jesus went ahead of the disciples who were
stumbling, failing and weak-hearted and He has waiting for them in Galilee.
And Jesus took care of them gently and
helped them to recover.
This Easter morning, let's rejoice that
Jesus is alive and believe He is waiting for us to draw closer to Him.
Let’ pray.
