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DAVID'S EMAIL BIBLE STUDY:
Holy Cow!


A. INTRODUCTION  ... I use “Holy Cow” a lot. I grew up in Richmond Hills, Queens where Phil Rizzuto, great Yankee shortstop, was from. He exclaimed “Holy Cow” whenever words failed him. Home-run, lightning storm, a great play, a near miraculous finish. Like Easter, for example. Easter would deserve a lot of “Holy Cows”. In recent weeks we’ve followed Jesus’ path to the cross. It was fraught with drama, intrigue, political shenanigans, personal despair, and physical torture. A horrific death. Remember Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”? It was gory, mind-numbingly so. When Pope John Paul saw it, he remarked, “It is as it was”. That’s the background.
 
B. TODAY ... Luke 24:1-12
 
C. SUMMARY.   As with the crucifixion, now with Easter, let’s use all the info we have, not just Luke. Even movies and musicals you remember. So, a summary.

A rich man gets permission to bury Jesus in a new tomb. The Jewish Sabbath began Friday night, so everyone wanted Jesus’ body out of sight, properly buried. To prevent anyone from stealing his body and creating a conspiracy theory that Jesus was resurrected, the Romans put soldiers at the tomb and the Roman seal on the heavy stone that covered the entrance to the tomb. Early Sunday morning an earthquake shook loose the stone, a bright light disabled the soldiers. They were later bribed to say that Jesus’ body was stolen. A group of Jesus’ female followers go to the tomb to give Jesus’ corpse one last respectful cleaning. They find tomb empty. Angels tell them that Jesus had done what he promised: come back to life. Mary Magdalene does meet the resurrected Christ, who reassures her. The women return to the Disciples’ hideout and tell them, but the men mock them. Peter and John do rush to the tomb and confirm that it is empty and are left wondering.
 
D. KEY POINTS
  1.  Don’t wanna ruin Easter by giving my Easter sermon three weeks early. But this is the heart, the centerpiece, the foundation stone of the Christian message. Jesus was brutally killed, left for dead, and returned to life. Therefore, for 2,000 years the world gives attention to what Jesus said. Forgiveness, grace, love, compassion, prayer all have clout, heft, legitimacy “because he lives” (as the old hymn proclaims). I wrote a poem too long for this email, but the title says it all: “Something Happened That Day”. In the poem I look at 10-15 hard to believe Bible stories, and say of each, “something happened that day”. And whatever it was that happened that day was soooo convincing that centuries of people have devoted their whole lives to sharing Jesus’ life and teaching. Martyrs have given their lives rather then renouncing the Easter story. The dying find peace, the grieving find comfort, the sinner finds peace, the oppressed find a hero. All because of Easter’s resurrection miracle.
  2. DOUBT is the first step to faith. I was taught that in seminary. They got it from the Bible. The Easter story is full of doubters. The male disciples didn’t believe the female followers of Jesus. Mary Magdalene didn’t believe the angels. Later in the day, Jesus met up with two followers full of doubt and discouragement (click here to see Alida’s 3/31 sermon). Poor St. Thomas is forever known as “Doubting Thomas” because he couldn’t believe Jesus’ Easter appearances to all the others. But there’s constructive doubt (I’m still looking) and destructive doubt (I quit). All the great doubters I’ve known in life or in the Bible did one key thing: they kept putting themselves in a position to be confronted by faith. Mary Magdalene didn’t believe the angels, but she hung around the garden tomb area. Peter and John didn’t believe the women, but they rushed to the tomb. Thomas didn’t believe the disciples. In athletic terms, they “stayed in the game”. Don’t be afraid of doubt, in yourself or in your friends and loved ones. Just don’t settle there.