Easter: The Return
I am convinced that the early Christians were bold in telling others about Jesus because they lived with the expectation that Christ would return soon.
Very soon.
Good or Bad, have you ever been expecting somebody’s return?
Let me tell you about Shawn. In High School – there was one guy that was bigger and badder than anybody around. The guy must have stood about 6’4 and tipped the scales at nearly 300lbs. He was mean as a snake. Shawn was known for bullying people, mangling their faces, and staying in ISS.
Now, to contrast Shawn’s girth, I stood about 5’7, and weighed 160lbs.
One day as I was walking to class, I pulled out my Case XX pocket knife to show it off to Shawn. She was a beauty. 2 ½ blade, wooden pearl handle…she was a nice knife… he took it from me. I mean, he just reached out with his big hand and took it from me.
One year later, I sat behind Shawn in our American History class. He turned around and showed me my knife! Blade open and everything, I reached out to grab the knife, pulled it away from him, and in doing so, sliced Shawn’s thumb from the tip of his thumb, to the knuckle.
How tough was he? He didn’t even flinch! He sat there in silence. He tore off a piece of his shirt, wrapped it around his thumb and turned around to look at me. I gave him back the knife.
He went to the office to get a bandage because the bleeding wouldn’t stop. (not because he wanted help…) Between the next two class periods, there was a rising tension growing in the halls of the school. Everybody knew I was a dead man.
The office sent him to the local clinic. Two hours later, I was called to the office over the intercom system because Shawn had left the clinic and had told staff he was returning to the High school to kill me! The office staff barricaded me into this little office, pushed the desk up to the door and waited for his return.
Good or Bad – have you ever waited for the return of somebody?
Acts 1:9-15 (NLT2)
After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” 12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile.
Jesus looked his followers in the eye and told them, “Go – tell – baptize – teach.. Tell the world about me.”
Instead, they stood staring.
Now, I understand they were surprised…Jesus had just floated up into the heavens. But the commands of Jesus couldn’t have been any clearer. They were not called, equipped, and brought close to the heart of Jesus for three years to stand around and stare at the sky.
The only thing that snapped the disciples out of that gawking stare was the declaration by the two men robed in white, that HE WAS GOING TO COME BACK!
Jesus will return
Jesus is going to come back…these are the words that snapped the heads of the followers of Jesus. They returned to Jerusalem, and they began leading people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus because they were certain he is going to come back.
The life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament. If Jesus fulfilled those – they were certain – Jesus would keep his word and he will return.
The first followers of Jesus believed that the return of Jesus would happen any moment…Any moment, they would see him return on the clouds, just like how he left…
So…
With an eye to the sky…
They worked…
They dated…
They got married…
They raised their children…
…All while leading people to Jesus.
They kept a careful watch for the Return of Jesus…they were expecting his return any moment, so they kept leading people to Jesus.
I am willing to bet that the disciples thought about the times Jesus taught them about his return…
Matthew 24:37-41 (NLT2)
“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. 40 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.
People are always trying to read the signs for when Jesus will return…
But…
Life will feel normal when He returns
We usually think being 'taken' is the goal. But in Noah’s day, being 'taken' meant you were caught in the flood. The people left behind were the ones safe in the boat. Jesus is saying that His return will be a day of total separation. You are either standing on the solid ground of a relationship with Him, or you are swept away by the reality of your own sin. There is no middle ground.
Jesus describes people eating, drinking, celebrating, and getting married. These are ordinary life activities. There is no indication that these actions were sinful in themselves. That little detail is significant.
In the Days of Noah, people continued with daily life, but ignored God’s warning. God had already spoken. Noah had already built the ark. The message of coming judgment was present and visible. Yet people did not respond. Jesus says, “They did not realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away.”
We have already received every bit of warning about the return of Jesus that we are ever going to receive.
God is not going to give us any further advanced warning. He is not going to send a notice in the mail. He is not going to take out advertising space during the playoffs or the Super Bowl.
Life will continue as usual, and then suddenly, it will be interrupted forever.
Two men work in a field. One is taken, and one is left.
Two women grind grain. One is taken, and one is left.
The people who failed to listen to God’s warning in the Days of Noah were taken away in the flood waters of Judgement. There will be a time when we are separated from those who do not believe in Jesus. There are people around you, people you love, who will be taken away in the coming judgment of Jesus. Being near the truth is not the same as responding to the truth. Each person will stand on their own response to God.
If you are a follower of Jesus, at some point, you understood that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin, you asked him to forgive you, and you accepted him as your Savior and surrendered your life to him. So, you are ready. You will be with Jesus when He returns.
But what about those closest to you? If Jesus returned today are they ready? Are you praying for those who do not yet know Jesus as their Savior? Begin to lift up their name to God each week in prayer and ask God to give them the faith to believe in Jesus.
And while you are praying for them – understand the Jesus you call out to you is much bigger and much larger and much more glorious than the Jesus we normally envision in our minds as we pray.
Jesus is not a mascot - He is LORD
What I am about to say, I do not say with any judgment in my voice or tone. You have probably seen this “Little Jesus.” He’s cute, right? I have a couple at the house. I have a couple in my office. If you look closely enough, you will probably see a few of these in odd places around the church.
The problem with this little Jesus is that it perpetuates a stereotype of Jesus that reduces him in value. Jesus is reduced to a mascot, to a cheerleader…to the little buddy that rides with us in our shirt pockets…We keep our little buddy Jesus in our shirt pocket and we pull him out when times are tough, then stick him back in.
Our view of Jesus is already too small.
In the Book of Revelation, Jesus described himself as:
Rev. 22:13
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."
Not only was He at the beginning, but He Himself IS the beginning. Not only will He be waiting for believers at the End – HE IS THE END! That does not sound small to me!
All history streams from Him and is directed toward him, to be completed by Him.
This is what Jesus WILL look like when he returns…
Revelation 19:11-15 (NLT2)
Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. 12 His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. 15 From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress.
Eyes like flames of fire.
Armies of heaven behind Him.
A robe dipped in blood.
A sword in his mouth…
Jesus Christ will be more glorious than we could possibly imagine on the day of His return. Every person who has ever lived will be overwhelmed — undone — when they see Him split the sky.
Now let this thought settle into your heart for a moment:
Who Jesus will be on that day is precisely who He is today. Precisely. The same eyes that will blaze like fire when He returns — those are the eyes that are on us right now. Let that awe shape your prayers this week — Spend more time praising and adoring Him than bringing our list of requests.
The office staff at my high school took Shawn's return seriously. They barricaded the door. They prepared. They did not go back to business as usual — because they knew someone powerful was coming.
Are you ready for the return of Jesus? Have you been born again and forgiven for your sin? This world is a broken place, because we are a broken people. But today, that can change.
The Bible uses the word repent — which means a U-turn. A change of direction.
After Peter preached about the death, resurrection, and coming return of Jesus, the crowd looked at him and asked, "What must we do to be saved?" Peter said simply: "Repent."
I repented when I was eighteen. You can repent this morning.
Romans 10:9 (NLT2)
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.