Easter Sunday – A Spiritual Body…  No Need to Touch

John 20 & I Corinthians 15

Christ is Risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!

It is fitting that Thomas, “the twin,” would have 2 very different responses of faith to the report of Christ’s resurrection, and then to the in-person appearance of Jesus to him a week after the resurrection. We want to think “evil twin” vs. “good twin.” But we have in Thomas the day of Easter, and a week later the same man, Thomas the doubter and Thomas the confessor.                  

John’s Gospel records both accounts. On Easter eve, Thomas missed the appearance of Christ to all the 12, except Judas, who was out spending his betrayal cash to buy his and others’ cemetery plots, (so to speak… so much for the short-term benefits of materialism). Later, when the other disciples reported the visit of the very alive Jesus, Thomas proclaimed the materialist’s creed: “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.” (John 20:25)

A week and a day later, Thomas joined the still afraid disciples behind locked doors. Jesus quotes Thomas’ own doubting creed of the previous Sunday, and says: “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” (John 20:27) Next, we hear the doubter’s doubt erased in the confession that would take him all the way to India: “My Lord and my God!”

Did Thomas really need to touch Jesus to believe? It’s doubtful. J We have no record or indication that he did touch – or need to touch – Jesus’ side to believe. Thomas apparently doubted even the strength of his own God-given faith! The requirement he placed on his future genuine faith… was actually more proof than Thomas really needed.  No touching necessary!

When Adam was created, the Lord began with the material, and added soul and spirit. But when St. Paul was inspired to describe Jesus’ (and our) future resurrected being, he would say it would be “a spiritual body.” (I Cor. 14:44) Spirit – first… then “body.” Priority does not necessarily mean primacy.  But speaking of our resurrected nature as a “spiritual body” seems to prioritize the spirit.  Yet especially because of Jesus’ own words, our raised bodies will indeed be true “bodies”: “For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:39b) Maybe it’s just a matter of “Easter eyes.” In our resurrection, we will think of, and be aware of, spirit first, then body.

But even with our present body/spirit 1.0 – we seem to doubt the potency of the Spirit of God working within a regenerated soul. We don’t need all of the proof we think we need that Jesus is the Christ. And yet Jesus has given us so much material proof: prophecy as well as archeology (consider His tomb now recently removed from the materialist’s “doubtful list” to “validated”), geography, astronomy, history, physiology. But none of those “proofs” following “prophecy” bring us to the believing creed of Thomas: “My Lord and my God!” It is a “broken and contrite heart” – given hope by the Voice of our Living Lord in Scripture: “Peace be with you… Do not disbelieve, but believe.” We don’t need to touch Jesus, but rather be touched by His Living word of hope and peace, mercy, life, and joy. We need not to resist.

Prayer: : Hallelujah! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! My Lord and My God! Amen.

April 4 Holy Saturday – A Missed Sabbath Worship and Reading

Joshua 4

The disciples of Christ were a fumbling bunch of fearful fellows after the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Despite the fact that Jesus was the perfect teacher, healer, friend, and pastor, 100% of the flock scattered on the Passover.   Faithful leaders who struggle to see growth can find some solace there.

Jesus’ manner of prophesying this was curious, yet profound: “You will all fall away because of Me this night.” (Mt. 26:31) Even this truth was a twice-told prophecy, once on the way walking up the hill to the garden to pray, and 500 years earlier by the Prophet Zechariah: “…Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.” (13:7)

They would fall “because of Me,” Jesus would say.  Important fact: He did not scatter them.  Instead, because He appeared weak, they feared for their lives.   And they missed church the next day.  John tells us the disciples were literally locked up in fear. And what reading did they miss?  Joshua 5.   A portion of that chapter was read in the synagogues and the temple on Holy Saturday.  The epic reading of the coming victory over the massive walls of Jericho, included the “Captain of the Lord” addressing Joshua in a private meeting – after the Passover – and before Jericho’s walls would come “a’tumbling down,” the “Captain of the Lord” was God, in human form. 

The timing of this reading is precisely corresponding to the day after Passover in Jesus’ day. God would bring the wall of Jericho down through trumpet blasts of praise. Jesus would destroy the walls holding mankind inside the “gates of hell” through people who — like Peter — would confess the strong name of Jesus, as “the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” (Mt. 16:16)

The walls of fear, doubt, guilt, and shame, encircling Peter – and all of the fearful disciples who abandon their Lord – would come crashing down the “day after the Sabbath after the Passover.” (Lev. 23:11) The Triune God, Yahweh the Great “I Am” – the Living One, would erase death forever – for the faithful. “Death could not hold Him” – would later be included in Peter’s inspired sermon. (Acts 2:24) After Easter, the disciples were free from their fear; sight had replaced fear, for them. For us who stand on the “foundation of the Apostles and Prophets,” (Eph. 2:20) Jesus is the living Cornerstone, and He is not falling!

Prayer: : Lord, in our walls of doubt, proclaim the trumpeting truth:
“Mercy triumphs over judgment!” Free us from all ungodly fears.
May we stand firmly on Your promises! Amen. (James 2:13)

April  3 Good Friday The Agony of Faith

Jude 3

“The Passion of the Christ” visually and aurally portrayed the agony of Jesus’ suffering and death in such a potent way, that many cannot watch it.  And it’s too much anguish for younger saints. But, to me, this movie awakened me from the blasé’ narcolepsy that people like me exude when we say almost tritely, “Jesus died to take away our sins.”  It made me clearly see some of hell – in the gruesomeness of Jesus’ beating, the whipping, spitting, mocking, nailing, and dying of our Lord.  

That’s agony. We don’t discuss hell much. But certainly, Jesus believed in it, suffered it… and my goodness, He visited hell in His descent! Not to suffer, but to announce victory. In Colossians 2, one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible, Paul poignantly described Jesus’ death and resurrection as the two-sided coin of victory: “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them, in Him.” (Col. 2:14) Paul seems to be thinking about the parade of the defeated soldiers which was a common practice in Roman war.  Without a parade or fanfare, Jesus triumphed on the cross – when He was nailed in apparent defeat, only to pull down a crushing condemnation of Satan who is now an “Accuser” silenced by the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, our Salvation.

Jesus’ brothers, James and Jude, seemed to be unbelievers during Jesus’ ministry. (Mk. 3; Jn.7) But the resurrection convinced them that Jesus was Christ and Victor. To deny that He was, after meeting Him alive, would’ve been madness, and their own condemnation. (I Cor. 15, Acts 1) So they came to faith, and they suffered for it.

Jude, most likely Jesus’ brother (see vs. 1 & 17), would write: “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” (Jude 3)

What does this verse mean? The underlined word “contend” is the Greek word giving us “agony.” It can mean “fight, race, conflict.” The phrase means – “Join the fight… and fight with all your might!” I think most Christians don’t join the fight because they are afraid of getting beaten up. They have a proper picture of the conflict. Fighting the devil (usually done best by fleeing) is the “race of faith.” (Heb. 12) It’s agonizing when done daily, and seriously. But James is also describing a fight against unfaithful and distorted teaching. Fight to keep Jesus, Jesus, and His Church, His Church. The more you read and hear Scripture taught accurately, the more you will want to be in the ring. Not many fighters are out of training, or out of shape.

We fight to announce the victory that matters most:  the victory over sin, death and the devil. If we are not fighting, we should think about His passion. All that agony, for apathy? People who do not believe the agony and victory were real, will discover for themselves – winner or loser – that the Cross was both agony and victory.

Prayer: : Lord, thank You for taking my agony. Inspire me to fight the good fight of faith. Amen.

April 2 Maundy Thursday  Wanting More of a Good Thing

For several years Elijah taught Elisha, who wanted to fill Elijah’s shoes – and then some.  So Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. That’s not really a covetous desire! For the Spirit of God leads us into faith and into all that is good which reflects the Lord’s heart and work.

Think of Jesus.  All that He said and did was good and Godly! That’s what Elisha wanted. And he got it! Elisha would serve quietly, and at the end fade away in sickness, no chariot of fire for him. It could be that a double portion of Elijah’s spirit was also necessary because keeping the faith while facing such an end required the Holy Spirit in abundance. And with only 7000 faithful people, Elisha would require more faith to mentor more spiritual leaders, something we also need today.

When Elisha was called by Elijah (I Kings 19), Elisha was plowing with a yoke of oxen in the field. He asked Elijah if he could kiss his parents. He was permitted this.  But Elisha did something that showed he was not hesitant to serve his new prophetical office. The oxen were slaughtered in a fire stoked by their yoke. Elisha was all in! And the sacrifice was turned into a meal of thanksgiving for a call to serve.

On Maundy Thursday, Jesus was pointing to His coming sacrifice in the meal.  He, too, would be “all-in” on His mission.   And we can return repeatedly to the meal of divine mercy and strength that He left us, knowing we are never able to fill Jesus’ shoes, but always walking and growing with Him by faith. Jesus was not looking back.  He was calling us forward, to take up our cross with Him, knowing death is not the end for us.

Prayer: : Lord God, give me the spiritual gifts I need now to be Your faithful servant.
Enable me to bear, with faith, the burdens that come with the blessings.
Provide Your Church with blessed pastors and teachers and servant-leaders of all kinds!
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

April 1 Two Measures of Faith – Elijah and Elisha

As a child, I learned about the wonderful work of God through two great saints: Elijah the bold flaming chariot dude and Elisha who seemed to be the more understated of the two yet had twice the measure of Elijah’s spirit and did twice as many miracles.  Elisha’s work seems understated in comparison to Elijah’s – axe heads floating, and blind armies being captured, fed, and released. Plus, Elisha seemed to be a rich kid! What’s God doing calling him?!

We learn so much from these two prophets, but we also learn that the Lord gives the gifts that He deems fitting for the time and the person.

My 2 year old grandson likes to try to walk in his grandparents’ shoes. He wants to try something new. Something bigger than what he’s got. And maybe, he wants to grow up to fill those shoes, too?

Elijah was spent. His hard and faithful work apparently had borne little fruit, at least in his mind. (We tend to magnify the negative.) The tsunamis of cultural unbelief seemed to overwhelm his mission despite his tenacity, astonishing miracles, and reliance upon God.

In desperation, he heads south to Mt. Sinai, back to the site of the covenant, and the Shekinah – shaking/quaking glory of God. (Maybe he was a bit surprised when God appeared. He spoke not in a rock-shredding wind, but in a gentle whisper.) Elijah was ready for God to take his life. (There’s an important lesson here: a person should not take his or her own life.  After all, he or she neither created nor owns that life.  {Ps. 24:1}) In a divine contrast, Jesus gave His life, so that even the most troubled human lives have an eternal divine value placed upon them. God knows our struggle, and, in the right way, He helps us.

God did not oblige Elijah’s prayer for a trip to heaven, just yet. But He did tell the exhausted prophet some important information: God hears when people need help.  So Elijah got a sidekick to mentor and find mutual encouragement in fellowship, working for the Lord. Also, in essence the Lord said: “Elijah, you can’t count.  You are not the ‘only faithful saint left.’  There are 7000 faithful others around, not many, but enough to keep the candle burning in the winds of unbelief.  Trust Me.  I see the soul….”

Prayer: Lord, in a world often hostile to Your bride, the Church, and to Your Word of Law and love,
we face much resistance. Encourage us with faith, to persevere.
Remind us of the supreme value You have placed upon us – Your Own life.
Give us the supports we need to carry on.   In Your Name, Amen.

March 31 – … Walking by Faith Means We Accept the Whole Christ and Mission

Romans 12

Moses clearly did not want to go to Egypt.  In fact, two chapters of Exodus include Moses arguing with God, revealing his deep reservations. If Moses was compromising on circumcision with his wife or her family, he was also simultaneously not abiding by God’s wishes.

These tensions percolate in many households:  to avoid conflict, the faithful often miscalculate and try to take the role of “peacemakers” by sacrificing the path they know is the Lord’s will.

When the path of God is clear, it needs to be taken.

It is one thing to have weak faith; it is another to have “2 faiths.”  [Sounds like “two-faced!”]

The fact that only one of Moses’ sons was circumcised is an example of syncretism.  Here were two Old Testament incompatible spiritual truths: God’s people were marked with the sign of circumcision.  And only ½ of Moses’ sons had that mark. Would Moses also compromise with Pharaoh and take only ½ of His people out of Egypt?

St. John wrote the book of Revelation while banished on a remote prison island because of the Word of the Lord. He refused to dilute the Law or Gospel.  Jesus would reveal to John in prison that He would spit out those who were “lukewarm.” (Rev. 3:15-16) Moses and his child were on the verge of being “spit out.”

After His incarnation, Jesus was fully God and fully man. God was all-in on the redemption plan! Ours is a faith grounded in creation and humanity. A real man had to die, while shedding blood, in order to redeem. (Heb. 9:22b). 

To follow Christ, we live a life of loss and sacrifice, “… take up your cross and follow Me.”Yetthis life of sacrifice, like Easter, has a daily and eternal “newness.” Baptism is that new birth now. We can’t be “half baptized.” God calls us to be “living sacrifices” for Him. (Rom. 12:1) Not easy, but good!

Prayer: Lord, thank You for being all-in on redemption. You shed Your living blood for all of my sin.
Let me accept fully — by trust in Your word — a path I do not fully understand.

March 30 – Bridegroom of Blood

Exodus 4

One of the more curious accounts of walking by faith is found in Exodus 4. Moses has seen the burning bush, removed his shoes, very reluctantly accepted the position as God’s spokesman and deliverer, and was headed back from watching sheep in the Sinai wilderness for his father-in-law Jethro, toward Egypt.  There he would confront the most powerful ruler on earth, Pharaoh, who was enslaving and gradually killing off the males of Moses’ people, the Jews. A fairly intimidating mission.

Forty years after fleeing Egypt, Moses is now called back. He bids his father-in-law goodbye and takes his wife Zipporah and their two sons. This is a reluctant deliverer, and we see a sign of his vacillation in the account at the beginning of this family journey back to Egypt, in Exodus 4:24-26.

Here in a cryptic retelling of the story (by Moses), we learn that only one of Moses’ 2 sons have been circumcised. Why? We are not sure.  Maybe it was considered abhorrent by Zipporah or her family, and Moses lacked the resolve to circumcise the other child. A further murky fact is that Zipporah becomes aware that this oversite has now placed either the boy or Moses (?!), in the wrathful path of God who sought “to put him to death.” (Ex. 4:24) That’s a serious cost for missing surgery!

It is now Zipporah who must perform the act.  She does so faithfully but with great protest!! She throws the child’s foreskin at the pitiful prophet’s feet, and exclaims, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”

She is right. To be associated with the true God is to have a relationship of blood, loss, and newness.

The sign of the power of blood is everywhere in Scripture: “the life is in the blood… the blood shall be a sign for you… the water was turned into blood… This is the blood of the New Covenant.”

Circumcision was a sign of cutting away the old and of becoming new.   It appears to be a radical act, especially for cultures new to it. But it is a foreshadowing of the far more radical shedding of the Holy Precious blood of Christ nailed to the cross.  “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Heb. 9:22)

Prayer:Lord Jesus Christ, You became a man in order to have Your precious blood shed.
Give me a contrite heart when I consider the great cost of my redemption.
May I approach Your Holy table with repentant joy.  The life is in Your blood.   Amen.

March 28 You Shall Worship

Deuteronomy 11:17

Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them.

Luke 4:8

And Jesus answered him, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”

I don’t know about you, but when I miss a church service, I have the feeling all week that something is missing in my life.  That feeling is what I believe to be due to my faith. I do not go to worship to show others that I am any better than they are, or to make me feel better about myself.  It is completely to show honor and praise to God almighty and to help my faith grow by the hearing of the Word. Faith is like growing a plant. It needs to be continually nurtured, fed and watered, and that is exactly what happens during a worship service.

There are those who say that they can worship anywhere – at home, in nature, in the car, or just anywhere.  Of course, that is true, and we should worship God wherever we are.  But, is that what God intended when He said to “Remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy”? My faith says to me that that kind of “remembrance” is more than worshipping wherever I am.  My faith says that I need to hear God’s Word as preached on Sunday morning.  It tells me that I need to be with those who are also worshiping as supporting fellows in the faith.

I look forward to being with you on Sunday morning and sharing in all that God would have us hear.

Prayer:: Heavenly Father, help me to know the importance of spending time in Your House a
nd the tremendous opportunity it provides to help my faith grow into a strong one.   Amen.

March 27 A Long Road to Hoe or a Difficult and Challenging Task Lays Ahead

Exodus 12-15

This past Christmas, I received a book from my son entitled (Archaeological) Evidence for the Bible.   I am a firm believer in the unerring truth of the Bible, so I am not in need of archaeological proof, but rather, I enjoy history and wanted to place events in the Bible in some context for historical sake. I have aways been intrigued by the Book of Exodus, which is the liberation of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt in the 13th century BCE, under the leadership of Moses, and their safe passage through the Sea of Reeds (traditionally mislocated as the Red Sea). There is no agreement on the date of the Exodus.  An early date is 1446 B.C. or a later date of 1220 B.C., and even knowing what pharaoh was in power at the time is in doubt, since such negative information of an “Exodus” would never be included in ruins to disfavor the Pharoh. Likewise, the exact numbers of Israelites to leave Egypt is in doubt, but the authors explain that the problem is not one of accuracy of the text, but of translation. So we leave the numbers aside.

So, what of the difficult and challenging task that lay ahead for the Israelite’s, i e. forty years in the wilderness?  Well, the Sinai Desert is described as “24,000 sq. miles of nothing.”  And archaeologists have not yet discovered evidence of the Israelites there, as nomadic people are described as “archaeologically invisible.”  Even the exact route they took to escape from the Egyptians is unknown.  But recently (2025) archaeologists uncovered a 3,000 yr. old Egyptian fortress along the route tied to the Exodus.  The shorter route which led from Egypt to Canaan was the Horus Military Road where the fortress was found.  But God did not lead them on the road through the Phillistine country, though that was shorter, for God said if they faced war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.  So, God led His people around by the desert route toward the Red. (Exodus 13:17)

So, what of modern-day pilgrims and their search for a pathway on earth?  Perhaps you or someone you know walked the route in northern Spain leading to Santiago de Compostela.   Roughly 500,000 pilgrims make the journey annually.  Or maybe you choose the less traveled route in Ithaca, firmly believing in God to walk in faith rather than sight.  Regardless, it is a long road to hoe, but God is with us, every step of the way.

Prayer: Lord, we thank You for Your Word, our lighted path on our journey of faith.
Bless us with discernment as we examine what the world offers as evidence of Your deliverance.
 We praise You for knowing the risks that lay ahead as we walk by faith.
Continue to sustain our faith as the good fight of faith is waged,
 until our final rest and victory is won in Christ. Amen.

March 26  Seeing the Old Heart

Numbers 20

It’s both tragic and comical that our same spiritual weaknesses keep coming back. When God first called Moses, he was reluctant to journey back to Egypt. But God showed Moses – in both action and Word – that He and His Word were true, where the Egyptian gods were not.

 Moses did not just “speak to the rock” to bring water.  Instead, he went beyond God’s clear words, and he struck it twice with his staff.  Then, we get God’s clear description of what was going on in Moses’ soul:  an old cocktail of the sin of doubt, mixed with anger.

God said: “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” (Numbers 20:12)

God was revealing something we could not see:  Moses’ heart.  My “take” on explaining Moses’ blunder, by reading into his words and actions, is that his mistake sprang from anger and self-justification. He was sick of the people’s lack of faith in him and in God.   But that explanation is insufficient.

God reveals that Moses and Aaron “have not believed Me.…” This veteran of listening to God’s miraculous Voice… doubted it! The Word was going to do the work! But Moses’ unbelief in the Word to do the work (at this end-of-the-road moment) ruined God’s potent object lesson. When God spoke and created the universe, no one was there to hear or see it.  This rock episode was a microcosm of that ancient truth and event.  If Moses had listened, water would’ve come out of the rock as a fitting pre-conquest reminder that their Lord’s Voice could do anything!

Jesus is the Word of God. That Word is miraculous.  But doubt can creep into the hearts of seasoned soldiers of the cross. Age and perpetual spiritual tests can grow old so to speak. The good news in the account is that Moses was forgiven.  But the bad news was Moses would share in the same chastisement that the people did: “No holy land for you!” Moses was forgiven because the Word really did do the work! On the cross.  All of it!

Prayer: Lord, Satan can use age, infirmity, perpetual resistance, to wear down our faith in You
and Your Word. Deliver us from unbelief. And finally forgive us when we trip and fall.
 Do the work we cannot do. Forgive us out of Your mercy alone. Amen.