Celebrating 90

A Word to Today’s Adolescents

Very little is known of Jesus’ first thirty years beyond these events: 1) Jesus’ birth; 2) His appearance in the Temple at about twelve years of age; 3) His baptism in the Jordan when He was approximately thirty years old; and 4) His temptation in the wilderness.

The data is relatively sparse compared to what He did in the last three years, but the few facts we do know certainly bear studying.

Speaking as a human who needs all the aid he can get in studying the life of Jesus, it would have been so helpful to have a record of Jesus’ life between the ages of 13 and 19. But of course God knew what He was doing when He did not include those years in the sacred record.

Without speaking rashly, I can say I would give five years of my life to have a moderately complete record of Jesus’ teenage years. To me it seems such a record would be very helpful. But the only tidbit of information from that time of Jesus’ life is contained in the account of His trip to Jerusalem at twelve years of age with His parents. (Luke 2.41-51) And at that time He was just on the threshold of entering the teen years.

Here is a tremendous thought that hit me like a “revelation,” but of course it is much less significant than a revelation and I am sure many others before me have had the same illumination. The thought is this: Jesus said to His parents, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2.49) Jesus knew at that early age – this stripling of a lad – He knew who He was: He was the Son of God. By a little extrapolation we can say that Jesus knew He was God Himself!

Following is the scriptural logic behind this assumption on my part: As every Jew was taught from infancy that there is but one God, Jesus knew that if He were the Son of God, which would make Him a God, He would have to be the one only God. It is likely that with the knowledge that He was the Son of God, immediately came the full awareness of who He was – this lad named Jesus was God the Creator of the entire universe!

By a little more reasoning we can view it as a distinct probability that Jesus was also flooded with the knowledge of the enormity of the suffering and sacrifice He would have to make because He was God, like whom there is no other, and He was love, like which there can be no other. What person in the whole cosmos could have so much to sacrifice and what person could agonize so greatly? The human Jesus was unique in this sense: There is no other one in the universe who has divinity as their literal Father and no one else could experience such a loss as that suffered by Jesus when the beloved Father turned His back on Jesus. And of course Jesus was a witting accomplice in this awesome desolation of Himself.

We know, of course, that He never sinned; still what were His experiences in His inner self? What battles raged in His mind during His teen years? How did He relate to His peers? We will never know, and we have to let it go at that. Such matters are best left in the hands of God.

Perhaps the Israelite culture of Jesus’ day did not allow its youth the same individual freedom of expression that today’s youth has. But one fact is clear: In any age or any culture there is a transition period between childhood and the adult years in which the urge for individual expression and the strictures of society on non-adults will cause a certain amount of stress within the non-adult (teenager).

It is a tension and feeling of frustration ranging from feeling mildly irked with society to a major upheaval within the teenager. Whether “mildly irked” or “major upheaval” is the operative term, there has to be some adjusting done on the part of the teenager. It has been amply demonstrated over the years that society or good ol’ Mom and Dad are not apt to change their manner of doing things to alleviate the temporary discontent of youth that will pass with the years.

The old myth of “growing pains” that referred to the physical stress that accompanies bodily growth is a more viable theory when it is applied to the discomfort and turbulence that attend the development of the whole youth’s being – spirit, soul and body. Depending on the severity of the problem it could require only minimal help for the teenager or the outside help of a wise, trained Christian counselor. Nor should we overlook the proven efficacy of the prayer raised to God in faith.

The Teenager Needs Help from Others

If you are one who is mired in the teenage years, I don’t have to tell you they are a turbulent time of life. They are a furiously churning rapids you are trying to navigate before you have attained sufficient navigational skills for the journey.  You greatly need the help of one who is older and wiser to help you get through the rapids without tipping your frail craft over.

But not every older person has gained the wisdom that enduring the teenage years can bring. Don’t listen to every paunchy middle-aged or snowy headed senior “counselor” who wants to give you advice. You can usually get the “feel” of someone who wants to tell you how you should do and be at this time of life. The sincerity or lack of it will show through, but even then, you need someone who has been through what you are confronting and is now serving God. Sincerity is vital, but so is wisdom that comes from above and is acquired the hard way, by severe testing.

I will add this: There may be some young adults who failed miserably in their teenage testing, but who have somehow made it through and can look back and see where they failed and why. If they are now walking close to God – hear them. They can help you. They should admit, first, that they were not examples of how you should act, but they can tell you how they made their lives worse by not listening to their parents, counselors and right-thinking friends who had faced the dangers before them.

There Is Some Good in the ‘Old Ways’

Let me remind you teenagers (who do not yet know what life is all about): The “old ways” are not necessarily wrong – but that does not mean they are right simply because they are the “old ways” and possess a special kind of merit. But you, as one who is in the midst of the chaotic teen years, don’t always have the wisdom to determine what is wrong and what is right. You should not look on your parents and counselors as stodgy old people just because they are – well, stodgy and old. What do stodginess and age have to do with it? These middle-aged individuals are persons who once were young and had the same natural rebellious attitude you have. The attitude, it seems, comes with the territory. But, by the grace of God, these older individuals came through the rapids, wiser and better persons than before they entered that turbulent time of life.

So look to your godly parents and your Christian counselors and even your right-thinking friends who have not too long ago been jostled and nearly upended in the same waters in which you are now perilously flip-flopping. These are people who can help you; they have been there, done that.

If you were about to go hiking on a dangerous trail known for the mountain lions lurking nearby, would you prefer to hear advice from an unseasoned hiker or from one who had actually faced a cougar and had come away with his life? What can a novice hiker tell you? He hasn’t even set foot on the trail, much less encountered a deadly mountain lion. Your “parents, counselors and right-thinking friends who have faced the dangers before you” have a lot to offer you. Listen to them. It may be that you will yet come out of this topsy-turvy time of life alive – banged up and scarred, but alive and fit to continue your journey, a more mature and wiser human being.

 

Life Out of Death, Light Out of Darkness

Epilogue to Tragedy

Mat. 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-11; John 20:1, 2

Jesus’ body lay entombed over the Sabbath. At the end of the Sabbath (Saturday evening easing into the first day of the Jewish week), Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joses, Salome and other women bought spices with which they intended to anoint the body of Jesus. It is possible that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had not been able to properly prepare the body of Jesus because of the nearness of the Sabbath, which of course started Friday evening at sunset.

Text Ref. 37

Before the women could reach the tomb, something wonderful and miraculous happened. To start off the chain of events, there was a great earthquake and an angel descended and rolled the stone away from the door of the sepulcher. His appearance was striking: his face shone like lightning and his clothes were a brilliant white. The members of the guard that had been posted there quaked with fear and became like corpses. Small wonder: the glory of God was roundabout them and they all were painfully aware that they were more than a little out of divine favor.

The fact that the women remained loyal to Jesus when He had disappointed them so greatly presented a striking tableau. Jesus had shown His followers abundant evidence of His power over affliction and even death. He was God to them although they might not have been able to explain it. He was the imperturbable, unflappable one on whom they depended for their very existence. But now He had been cruelly humiliated and slain. They were grievously disappointed, but there was something about this Man that claimed their loyalty even in His fall from divine favor.

They would not have been able to explain it. I imagine all they could have said was, “No one ever performed miracles like Jesus and no one ever spoke like Him.” How could they forget the many wonderful miracles? How could they dismiss the words of life and love that flowed from His mouth? They could not; and they did not attempt to resist the love they still had for the greatest Man the earth has ever known.

It is not recorded just how Jesus left the tomb, but He had no need for the angel to roll the stone out of His way. His body was now glorified and He could be on one side or the other of the stone with just a thought. The stone had been rolled away so that Jesus’ followers might know that He was risen. Jesus had already quit the grave before the angel appeared.

Meanwhile, the women bringing their spices were wondering how they would get into the tomb. The stone was more than they could handle. But, as so often happens, God in His own way had taken care of their immovable obstacle. Arriving at the sepulcher, they were amazed to see that the stone had been moved in anticipation of their coming.

Apprehensive, they neared the open sepulcher and eased their way inside. Jesus’ body was not there! Before they could ponder the meaning of this turn of events, they saw two men standing to one side. The clothing of the two men glowed with a mysterious light. Frightened speechless, the women hastily bowed down to the ground.

“Why seek ye the living among the dead?” the angels asked; and that is a significant question. We certainly need to know that Jesus suffered and died for us and that He lay in the steely grip of Death for the time He Himself had predetermined. But Jesus had also predetermined the day and the hour and the second of His glorious victory over death and carnality and sin. It was now time for His unquenchable glory to burst forth, burning its way through the tatters of mortality binding Him.

“He is not here, but is risen: remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ Go…tell His disciples and Peter…lo, He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him.”

(The account of this event and the subsequent account of all the happenings up to Jesus’ ascent into heaven are a composite of the four accounts as given by the four Gospel writers. Of course, this entire work is a composite or harmonizing of the four Gospels.)

Naturally the joy of the women was boundless. They were ecstatic. Quickly leaving the tomb, they went to tell the apostles the good news. Mary Magdalene went ahead of the others, perhaps by a shorter route, and reached the house where the apostles were before the other three could get there. She did not tell the eleven disciples that Jesus was arisen, but, rather, that His body had been taken away. Why did she not tell them? It might have been that since such astounding news was almost unbelievable to her, she feared that the apostles would never accept it from her. If that was her reason, she was right: they could not even accept the news that Jesus’ body was gone from the tomb.

Luke 24:12; John 20:3-10

Peter and John, their curiosity aroused, ran to the tomb to see for themselves. Out­running Peter, John came to the open sepulcher, looked in and saw the grave clothes lying to one side neatly folded, but did not go in. When Peter reached the scene he had no hesitation in entering the grave site. John went in after Peter and saw the evidence of Jesus’ having arisen, and he knew in his heart that it must be so.

“Then went in…that other disciple [John himself], which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw, and believed.”

Jesus’ Appearance to Mary Magdalene

Mat. 28:9, 10; Mark 16:9-11; John 20:11-18

Text Ref. 38

After telling the apostles that Jesus’ body had disappeared, Mary Magdalene returned to the sepulcher, reaching it after Peter and John had left. Standing outside the tomb, Mary was a forlorn figure, weeping and confused, unsure at this time just what had happened to Jesus. A short time previously her joy had been boundless. Angels sent from God had assured Mary that her Lord was alive … or had she been betrayed by her own wishful thinking? Even the eleven Disciples were confused.Mary ventured a look inside the tomb. There she saw two angels who she must have thought were two men sitting, one at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had lain. “Why are you weeping?” they asked. “They have taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they have laid Him,” she replied,still weeping.

She then turned about and saw a man she thought was the gardener. He repeated the question to her: “Why are you weeping?”

“Sir,” she pleaded tearfully, “if you have taken him somewhere else, tell me where He is and I will take Him away.”

He said simply, “Mary!” and the old love and concern were evident in His voice: It was Jesus!

Mary had turned halfway away from Him with her head lowered. When she heard her name so spoken, she could not fail to catch the affection behind the word. Turning quickly to Him, she cried out, “Master!” and fell at His feet, weeping. The tears this time were not in sorrow, but in joy and relief.

“Don’t cling so to me,” Jesus assured her, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brethren and say to them that I shall ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

Jesus makes it a point here to include them all in the family of God with Himself. Mary went and did as she was instructed.

Jesus’ Appearance to the Other Women

During this time the other women whom Mary Magdalene had left arrived at the house of the apostles. This was shortly after Mary had followed Peter and John back to the tomb. The women told the apostles what they had seen and heard, then they started back to the sepulcher. Why did they want to go back to a dank, gloomy tomb where there was no Jesus — only a reminder of former more pleasurable days? Only God can fathom the mind of a woman.

On their way, Jesus Himself appeared to them.

“Hail!” He greeted them; and they fell at His feet as Mary had done, overwhelmed with gladness. Their Lord was indeed very much alive and now glorified.