Verses for Vessels
Easter Lights... 12
"Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors." - Isaiah 53:12 NIV
HE IS RISEN!!! GLORY TO GOD!!!
Right on time...
Rest is good. In fact the book of Ecclesiastes says that the sleep of a labourer is sweet! 1. And Oh what labour our Prince did suffer; what travail of childbirth. Yet as soon as the baby is born, the pain is soon forgotten. All that now matters is the child: its welfare, its upkeep, and its future. Rest is good, but a time comes when the One who was at rest must arise. The work of redemption was finished, but a fresh work; an eternal one, awaited our Prince. It was time. In Matthew's account of the resurrection, the story starts like this: "After the Sabbath..."2. The job of the Sabbath was finished. The purpose of ALL Sabbath was completed. It was time for the next phase of God's unfolding Kingdom. The down payment had been accepted for the betrothal; now the Prince must arise and return to prepare the bride's place. Back on earth, and in time with time, the author of time had to abide by his timings. Recall that in the Jewish custom, the day actually starts at sunset. Hence we have in Genesis account of creation the refrain, 'and there was evening and there was morning the first day' 3. Hence after three days and three nights, the One who made the time and fashioned the consonance of events was heading for the sleeping Prince. At some point after sunset following the end of the weekly Sabbath, God raised Jesus up from the grave. Halleluyah!! And it would be almost another twelve hours before anyone found out... He is no longer there. But we will come back to that in a bit.
Portions and spoils
Today marks the final day of our reflections on the suffering Prince from the book of Isaiah. As we can see, the pain is gone, the rest is over, and the suffering is no more. Rest was good. But joy is exceedingly better. For though weeping did endure for the night of his trauma, joy was breaking forth in the heavenlies and across the universe over our risen Prince. He has transformed from a suffering Prince to the Reigning King. In today's verse the prophet Isaiah begins to paint a picture of the glory and honour that has come to our King: Portions with the great, and spoils with the strong. He is the rightful heir of all things and his Father has just confirmed it by his resurrection. According to the apostle Paul,
"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father." -Phil 2:9-11 NIV
And this honour is his and his alone.
Mortal corruption...
Back to Jerusalem with our friends and brethren. The Sabbath is over, and Mary, with the other women, is heading to the sepulchre to anoint the body of Jesus. This was a duty to the dead often carried out by close family and loved ones. It was to keep the body from decaying. Spices, ointments, and various other preparations are put together to produce a strong embalming mixture. I suspect it must have cost some money and time and energy, just to get it ready. Now the Sabbath was over and they could finally get on with their determination to keep the dead around for much longer; a mark of love and honour. Embalming the dead was common in those days. But perhaps it is almost as old as man has been here. From the Egyptians to the Mayans, we find that the idea and practice of preserving the dead is common to humanity across many ancient and even modern cultures. For some of these cultures, it went beyond preservation from decay, to a more or less religious notion of preparing the dead for the afterlife. Hence the Pharaohs had elaborate burial arrangements for their mummies. Whether the aim is to preserve from decay, or to prepare for the afterlife, humanity continues to do all it can to combat mortality.
Immortal and divine
Death is common to all. Flies, birds, loved ones, good ones, evil people, pets, plants... every thing that lives, also dies... at some point. The fight continues against our mortality even today. With advances in healthcare, diseases control and nutrition, we have been able to improve the average lifespan of humans. People are living longer and working till much later than, as recently as, a century ago. On embalmment, we do not even need to wait to be dead. Skin treatments and body reconstructions are common place now for those who can afford it, all in a bid to stay younger for longer; essentially, an attempt to preserve the body from ...death. But mortality is our nature as humans. Immortality, on the other hand, is a divine attribute. We should not and must not confuse the two. Jesus certainly did not. Therefore to acquire immortality, we must of essence, first acquire divinity... the God nature. But how could God offer his nature to mere mortals? How could he justify such generosity to to the frail and sinful? Well, in comes our Reigning King.
Great Intercessor...
You see, in Resurrection he acquired the God-nature physically. In resurrection Jesus became an immortal Man... a physical human being who has an endless life because he is possessed of the life-giving Spirit of God 4. As a human being, and having acquired what we could never have before now, he also became our mediator and High priest FOREVER, interceding for our own perfection and immortality in time and eternity. Because he was numbered among us, God has qualified him to come on our behalf to intercede for us until our spiritual and physical transformation is complete. For those of us who may have acquired his Spirit, we are let into his activities when we pray. Paul describes his manners as intense, and with deep groanings for us according to the will of God 5. He is interceding for God's kingdom and glory to be fully expressed in all who have believed him. And he releases all that he obtains from the Father to us according to our needs in him. That is the new service that our Reigning King now renders for us, for our upkeep, our growth and our glory. That we become just like him- this perhaps, is his highest joy.
See, he is not here...
The women are almost at the tomb. It was still dark; the evening had almost passed and morning was soon to come. They had been thinking about that stone, and the seal over it. How were they going to move those aside? Suddenly, there was an earthquake. They quickly huddled together and held on to each other. In fear and amazement they approached the tomb... Alas, the stone had been rolled away. The guards on either side of the entrance were flat on their faces in fright and bewilderment. What was the meaning of all this?... they wondered. Suddenly, they saw a man in gleaming clothes, sitting on the stone. At this point their knees could no longer hold together and they buckled and also fell flat on their faces. "Why do you seek the living among the dead", the man said. "He's not here. He is risen" 6. This is my paraphrased retelling of the events on that glorious morning. But the facts would suggest that he was long gone before they had their early morning encounter. Later on we would see Jesus walking into their meeting room without having to open the doors 7. Yet he ate and drank as any physical human would do. The point I seek to make is this, the stone could not have kept him in! Hallelujah! The angels rolled away the stone because the women, and the guards, needed to know that the tomb was empty. The women needed to know that the physical body of Jesus need not be preserved. He is risen and he now lives FOREVER. Nevertheless, as long as they still thought he was in that tomb, they may never have been open to his supernatural visitations which were to follow their encounter. In a sense, the stone was rolled away for us.
Moving on...
He is risen. He lives as a man in heaven, as our High Priest and intercessor, and as God forever. He reigns on high as our King, in righteousness and power. That is why he arose. Now we too can have that same immortality by his Spirit. The same Spirit that raised him up, also lives in every one who believes, and can vitalise our mortal bodies in all sorts of ways 8: with healings, strength, wisdom, grace, gifts, power, righteousness, and hope. That same Spirit will give life to your mortal body too. That is the Spirit that will renew us at the trumpet blast when Jesus comes for his own, and clothe us physically with the same type of immortal body9 that walks through walls, and is able to eat of the great wedding Supper with Jesus Christ. If any is fretful or discouraged, let the prophecy of Isaiah which ends in hope, birth new hope in your walk. You may very well advise any detractors who think they have successfully sealed your tomb that they may be guarding an empty tomb. God has moved on with those who have believed him. No power of hell or earth can resist the Spirit of his resurrection. Jesus, our intercessor, lives and reigns forever. And of his portion we are being served,... daily.
PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, thanks so much for the victory you won for me at the cross. I am grateful that because of your resurrection, there is hope for me beyond the Cross. I welcome your resurrection power. I welcome your Holy Spirit to guide and sustain my walk with you forever. In Jesus name, amen.
References:
.1). Ecclesiastes 5:12 .2). Matthew 28:1 .3). Genesis 1:5 .4). 1 Corinthians 15:45 .5). Romans 8:26-27 .6). Luke 24:5-6 .7). Luke 24:36-40 8). Romans 8:11. .9). 2 Corithians 5:4.