Recently the world has been a buzz with the frenzy over seeing Mel Gibson’s rendition of the last twelve hours of Christ life. The movie called "The Passion of Christ" has opened in Theaters, even in predominatly non-Christian nations, to sell out crowds. Most sit in stunned silence in their seats and leave with little ability to express themselves about the graphic and violent nature of Christ’s arrest, punishment and death. It is a remarkable expression of the very somber Good Friday experiance of Christ’s death on the cross. And like we stripped the sanctuary of its paraments and colors and left in sombering silence after having nailed our sins to the cross, it is a message that seemingly at first is complete. The Jesus Christ died for the sins of many. "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world." And like all movies, come "the end" and the credits and you go home.
But when you go to a show; When you go to a play; what I told my Old Testament professor, is "You don’t walk out during the intermission, but you must remain until the end to often understand what happened in the beginning. And so maybe with the Passion of Christ, you really have to walk out of one Theater, and down the hall and into a squel that might well be called simply "He’s Alive!". And for every stunned movie goer who sat in eerie silence, now comes rejoicing! And for every person who left the first movie hall in speechless reverance comes sheer joy. And to the sorrowful comes hope, as the pronouncement of the empty tomb resonates across the theater speakers in Dolby Surround Sound "He is not here! He has risen!"
And the joy of the disciples moves into the Upper Room where Christ appears to them, and then Thomas goes and does it, he lets our human frailty to the story. It is like the wind going out of the sail, like Pavorotti singing a powerful note, and someone lets out all the air, as Thomas’ asks "But Lord we don’t know where you are going and how can we know the way?" Christ though isn’t phased that someone hasn’t been paying attention, and He responds with a boldness and certainty, "Where I go you know, and the way you know." And He answered Thomas with one of the best known Scriptures in the Bible. Now you are probably thinking of John 3:16 "For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." But that is not the one we speak of this morning, though perhaps similar in nature, when Jesus tells Thomas "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." The last being the obvious that Jesus Christ is the means by which we who call ourselves Christians find our way to God. For us, there is no other way. Now lets look at those other three statements briefly:
1) Jesus said "I am the Way". You want to know the way to heaven? You want to know how to get to those mansions prepared for you? You want to come to the place where I am going to be with the Father? Then come through belief in Me. I am the Way. Yesterday at a Thomas Lay’s (Euenice Dayton’s nephew’s) Funeral, a family member talked about how during his life, Thomas searched for his way. In Judean understanding :the way" was a symbol of how one travels there life. "In the Psalms, "way" is usedas a metaphor to describe a life lived eiother in accordance with the law, or the will and esire of God." (NIB, Vol IX, p. 742). In the Greek understanding Hodos (#3598) is was a "means for a journey". Going to take a journey to the Father? Then you must come my way!
When I was a teen, some scholars trying to reach lost generations and modernize the translation of the gospel message, produced a Bible called "The Way". As young people were asking, like Thomas, "What is the way of life?" an attempt was made to share the good news of Christ, that He is the Way! That His Word is the Way! That this is the Way of God, and all hope is not lost on Good Friday, but the Way has risen! He has risen indeed!
2) Secondly Jesus proclaism that He is the Truth! Jesus often said "I tell you the truth", contrasting himself against perhaps what the world might be saying. But more than that, in this teaching, Jesus elevates His simple statement to a higher pronouncement that "He is the Truth". ("Aletheia" #225). Jesus who is the way, is also the truth! We are not talking about a half-hearted truth; nor are we talking about a little white lie; nor are we talking about something misleading, or mis-interpreted, but He is none other than the Truth! "That in Jesus, the Incarnate Word, the Son of God, one can see and know God in a manner never before possible." (p. 743).
I don’t know if you saw Fox News this week, but they were reporting that Patty Bickerton lead a group at the Glassport Assemblies of God, Glassport, PA in which during a Easter Drama, they mocked, and beat an "Easter Bunny". Children were horrified at seeing the Easter Bunny beaten and Easter eggs smashed. Though I think that they tried to portray that Easter isn’t about the Easter Bunny, what they failed to do was stick to the truth, and the truth is that Jesus Christ is the one who took the stripes for our sins, and it was His body and Blood who were shed. We don’t need any other truth, but the truth of God in Christ.
3) "and the Life"... "Zoe" (#2222). Consider this implication of the Easter message that Christ gave His disciples. "Is there hope? Is there new life? Is there reason for joy? The answer to your questions has arrived this day. It is here waiting for you. It is a three-word message: Christ Is Risen! Good news for the depressed. Good news for those who have lost loved ones. Good news. Good news to those >who have lost their joy, Christ is risen. (sermonillustraitions.com "The Good News of Easter") It is why we cannot just leave the film the Passion of Christ in utter silence, we must make our way to the empty tomb, down the hall to the conclusion of the story that proclaims that Jesus is the Way, has risen and offers us a new hope for life!
In other words you can go to the cross and feel the pain of those nails!
You can go to pratorium and feel the whip on His back!
You can travel down teh Via Delarosa and hear the cross come crashing down on His back.
You can feel the crown of thorns pressing upon His brow.
hear the jeering mocking crowd.
BUT YOU CANNOT STOP THE STORY THERE, But you must run to the empty tomb, and find life from the empty grave!
Darkness filled the land o’er Golgotha,
as the sky turned ominously black.
The ninth hour was fast approaching,
and one knew there was no turning back.
Though sword would be used to thrust Him,
It was sure, it was already done,
And in a moment, as He gave up His Spirit,
there would be no glimpse of the sun.
The curtain was torn, from the top to the bottom,
the earth shook, and rock split apart.
Terror filled the land in an earthquake,
could this be the son of God?
He was laid in a tomb that was borrowed,
All seemed hopeless and lost,
Till the women approached on the (*)Easter morn
And soon they learned the stone rolled (*)away
And the guards were not there and (*) the tomb was bare
(*) and man stood before them to (*) say:
"He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me, a long life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart.
You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart."
