Why Were You in Church on Easter?

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.” – Matthew 28:6

 In the mid-1950s, a British pastor named W. E. Sangster began to lose his voice due to a rare disease that caused his muscles to deteriorate. For him, this was devastating, because he loved to teach God’s Word and sing praises to God. Sangster eventually lost the ability to speak at all. On the Easter morning just a few weeks before his death, he took out a pen and paper, and with a trembling hand he wrote these words to his daughter: “It is terrible to wake up on Easter morning and have no voice with which to shout, ‘He is risen!’—but it would be still more terrible to have a voice and not want to shout.”

On Easter Sunday, most Christian churches saw their biggest attendance day of the year. People who rarely if ever attend at any other time showed up to pack the place. And we might ask ourselves … why?

Before we look at that question, let’s take a look at that first Easter morning. We usually focus on the group of women who went to Jesus’ tomb, but they weren’t the first to arrive there. They were beaten to the tomb by about 36 hours … by Roman guards. Governor Pontius Pilate had ordered the tomb sealed and guarded by armed soldiers after the chief priests and Pharisees remembered that Jesus had predicted, “After three days I will rise again” (Matthew 27:63). They wanted to make sure Jesus’ disciples couldn’t steal the body and claim that he’d risen from the dead. So, when the women arrived, the guards were standing right outside.

As a sign of respect and love, the women had come to anoint Jesus’ grave cloths with spices and oils. But their plans were shaken up—literally. According to Matthew 28:2, there was a “violent earthquake” as an angel from heaven came down rolled back the stone and sat on it. “His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow” (v. 3), and the guards were so terrified that they “shook and became like dead men” (v. 4). They were frozen in place—so scared they couldn’t even run away. The angel announced: “He is not here; He has risen, just as He said” (v. 6). The angel sent them to share the good news with the disciples, and the women saw Jesus for themselves on their way back.

In verses 11-15, Matthew tells us some of the guards went into the city and told the Jewish leaders what had happened. The leaders hastily met and devised a quick plan. They gave the soldiers “a large sum of money”—likely a year’s wages, or about $30,000 in today’s currency. They ordered the soldiers that, if anyone asked them what happened to Jesus’ body, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep” (v. 14). The soldiers took the money and obeyed their orders (v. 15). That was their story, and they were paid well to stick to it. But deep down, the soldiers knew the truth. And so did the women. And later that day, so did Jesus’ apostles. Within a few short years, Christianity swept across three continents, because the fact of the resurrection was plain for all to see.

Now, I want to ask you two very important questions:

Question #1: Did you go to an Easter service to worship Jesus because you were somehow PAID to be there … or because you WANTED to be there? The soldiers at the tomb were there on Easter morning because they were PAID to be there. The women at the tomb were there because they WANTED to be there. Across our nation, millions of Americans attended Easter services last week who haven’t set foot inside a church building in a long time. Many of them came because a family member pretty much made them come. Others might have come to church because they were serving lunch afterward. Still others came for an Easter Egg Hunt, prize giveaways or free entertainment. All that to say, many people come to Easter services because they are—in some way or another—paid to be there.

Question #2: Are you walking past a goldmine of eternal treasure for a few quick bucks? As the Roman guards left the temple courts with a bag full of cash, they thought they’d struck it rich. They were fools! They ran past a goldmine to pick up a few pennies. That’s how it is when we choose money over Jesus, when we choose goods over God, when we choose the temporary things of earth over the eternal things of heaven. And many of us do it every day. We live for the moment. We live for pleasure. So, many of us don’t read God’s Word every day, because we don’t feel like reading God’s Word every day. We don’t go to church with our families each week, because we don’t feel like it. We’ve got more important things to do. You can do that. God has given you free choice. But when it comes to your time, your priorities and your money, if you and your family are the center of your universe, you and your family ARE your god.

Are you more like a paid soldier who was at the tomb for the money, or are you more like one of Jesus’ followers, who came to the tomb because they truly loved Jesus Christ and wanted to be close to Jesus, worship Jesus and live for Jesus? If you’re just in it for the money, your church will still be glad to see you. But you and I both know—that’s not going to fly with God. I hope and pray that when you come to church, it’s because you WANT to be there. I hope and pray that instead of toying with Jesus Christ, you trust in Him … love Him … and serve Him.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person at 9 a.m., or online at 10 a.m. on YouTube or Facebook Live. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Set Free by the Empty Tomb

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” – John 8:36

Last week as we celebrated Easter, I remembered a story I once heard about a first grade teacher who gave her class an assignment that involved plastic eggs. She passed out an egg to each of her students and told them, “Easter is about life. So, I want you each to take your egg home and put something inside it that is a sign of life.” The next day the kids returned with all sorts of things in their plastic eggs: leaves, blades of grass, an ant and even a butterfly. But when one little boy opened up his egg, it was empty. The other kids laughed. The teacher asked him, gently, why he didn’t do his assignment. He answered, “I DID do my assignment. My egg is empty because on Easter Jesus’ tomb was empty. Isn’t that a sign of life?”

It certainly is. And today I’d like to take a look at one of the first people to discover the empty tomb: Mary Magdalene. That empty tomb transformed her life. And it can transform yours as well.

 

All four gospels mention women going to the tomb at sunrise on resurrection Sunday to anoint Jesus’ body with spices. Matthew, Mark and Luke mention several women in the group, but each time, Mary Magdalene is at the top of the list. And John doesn’t even mention the other women. He focuses entirely on Mary Magdalene. What was so special about Mary Magdalene? That’s just the thing: As best as we can tell, she wasn’t very special at all. In fact, before she met Jesus a year or two earlier, she was pretty messed up.

Now, over the centuries many Christians have assumed that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute with loose morals. But nothing in Scripture supports that. When Mary Magdalene is introduced in Luke 8, we read that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her (verse 2). So, most people who knew Mary Magdalene wouldn’t have said, “She’s a floozy!” They would have said, “This lady has lost her mind! Those demons are making her as nutty as a fruitcake.” But one day Mary Magdalene met Jesus. He drove out the seven demons and set her free. And she was never the same again.

From that point forward she stuck with Jesus wherever he went—regardless of whether he was popular or unpopular, regardless of whether the crowd was shouting “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday or “Crucify him!” on Good Friday. Mary Magdalene was one of the few remaining followers of Jesus who was faithful and courageous enough to stand at the foot of his cross. She was the first to arrive at Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning. And she was the first to see Jesus after he rose from the grave.

This woman had likely been tormented by demons for years, but she was set free from her demons by the power and authority of Jesus Christ. And she was forever grateful to him. She had been forgiven much, so she loved much.

This transformed woman became even more transformed when she experienced the empty tomb and saw her risen Savior face-to-face. She ran back to the disciples and exclaimed, “I have seen the Lord.” They probably thought she had lost her mind again. But she hadn’t.

This oppressed woman had been transformed by Jesus Christ. And she was more in her right mind than ever before. Once again, Jesus Christ had set her free.

Honestly, many of us need to be set free in much the same way as Mary Magdalene. Some of us are held captive by our past. We look back on who we used to be and we’re the first to admit, “I was nuts! I was out of my mind. I wasn’t rowing with both oars in the water.”  And what’s worse, we know our family and friends had a front row seat to our nuttiness. They saw it all! They heard it all! And sometimes we feel like crawling into a hole. We know that we’ve deeply hurt the people who mean the most to us. We’ve burned so many bridges. And even though we’ve made big changes in our lives, we can’t repair the damage we’ve done. We’re still haunted by the demons of our past.

Well, I have good news for you. Just as surely as Jesus drove Mary’s demons out of her, he can drive the demons of our past out of you and me—if we’ll let him. There were likely times when Mary Magdalene thought about the woman she used to be, and she felt like crawling into a hole. But Jesus Christ had set her free. So, she boldly stood at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified. And she boldly led the ladies to Jesus’ tomb on Resurrection Sunday. And after seeing Jesus with her own two eyes she proclaimed to the rest of Jesus’ followers, “I have seen the risen Lord!”

So, if you feel like a prisoner of your past, Jesus holds the key to your prison cell. He alone can set you free. As Jesus himself says in John 8:36, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” So, journey to the empty tomb today. Come to Jesus and take hold of his forgiveness. Take hold of his healing. And take hold of his peace. Because the tomb is empty, because Jesus is alive … you CAN be set free from the demons of your past. You CAN be set free from  your guilt and shame. Jesus Christ can set you free. And if the Son of God sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our online worship service tomorrow at

10 a.m. at Live.GreaterImpact.cc or on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.

I Am Not a Fan of Jesus

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

- Matthew 21:9

Over the past several months, my wife Christine and I have really enjoyed watching L.A. Lakers games. Christine has been a big Lakers fan since she was a kid, and she got me hooked early in our marriage. Now, this year the Lakers have been having a fantastic season. They acquired LeBron James two years ago and added Anthony Davis to their starting lineup last summer. Together LeBron and A.D. have led their team to first place in the Western Conference. The Lakers are having one of their best seasons in 20 years.

But I have a confession to make: I didn’t watch nearly as many Lakers games last season or the season before that. And it wasn’t because I was busier than I’ve been this year. It’s because over the past few seasons, the Lakers stunk. Yes, I am a fair-weather Lakers fan. When they’re playing well, I jump on the bandwagon and cheer them on. But when they’re stinking it up, I pretend I don’t know them. To diehard Lakers fans, that makes me a bit of an embarrassment. I’m not a loyal fan through good times and bad. But when all is said and done, I can live with being a fair-weather fan. Because, after all, it’s just basketball. But when it comes to the most important thing in life—following Jesus Christ—I never want to be a fair-weather fan. And I hope you don’t either.

On the first Palm Sunday, almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus was greeted by thousands of fair-weather fans as he entered Jerusalem riding a donkey colt. The enthusiastic crowd lined the streets of Jerusalem, placing cloaks and palm branches on the ground in front of Jesus. And according to Matthew 21:9 they shouted: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Now, there is a whole lot of meaning packed into this one word: “Hosanna.” Hosanna means “Save us now.” Or to say it a different way, “God save us!” Some of the people in the crowd that day were probably in terrible health and wanted Jesus to heal them as he’d healed so many others. Some were probably out of work and in debt up to their eyeballs, and they wanted Jesus to get them back on their feet. And certainly many Jews in the crowd were sick and tired of Israel being under Roman occupation. They longed for the coming king of the Jews to be a military leader who would mobilize a Jewish army to drive Rome out of Israel once and for all.

There were likely many reasons why people shouted “Hosanna!” on that first Palm Sunday. But I think it’s safe to say that most of those reasons were selfish. People were excited to see Jesus enter Jerusalem because, on that day, he was wildly popular. They were getting to lay their eyes on a celebrity. And they were hopeful that Jesus would do something for them. Well, five days later Jesus would do something for every one of them. But it wouldn’t be the thing that they most wanted. Instead, it would be the thing that they most needed. You see, Jesus didn’t ride his little donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to heal diseases or provide a financial bailout or kick out the Romans. Jesus rode his little donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday because he had his eyes fixed on the cross. He had come that day to save the world from sin and death.

Sadly, the fair-weather fans of Jesus would end up saying, “Thanks, but no thanks! If you’re not going to give me what I want, I’ll just pick up my palm branch and go home.” By the time Friday rolled around, Jesus was arrested, flogged, had a crown of thorns shoved on his head, and was nailed to a cross. It was just five days after Palm Sunday, but the cheering crowds were nowhere in sight … just a few dedicated women and one apostle a short distance from the cross.

I wonder—had I been there in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, would I have been one of the few loyal followers of Jesus there at Calvary? Or would I have kept my distance and kept my mouth shut, along with all of Jesus’ other fair-weather fans? How about you? Are you a fair-weather fan of Jesus?

To be honest, there are times when it’s easy to cheer for Jesus and stick by his side. But at other times, it’s really, really hard. It’s hard to cheer for Jesus when He doesn’t seem to answer your prayers and your life seems to be falling apart. It’s hard to cheer for him when your health is failing, when you lose your job, or when your bills are piling up. It’s easy to cheer for Jesus and take selfies with him on Palm Sunday … but it’s not so easy to do the same the rest of the week. Jesus isn’t looking for fans who wave the palm branches on Sunday but take a hike on Monday. Jesus is seeking truly loyal followers who trust him and love him and obey his commands every day.

So, here we are, in the midst of one of the most challenging times in the life of our nation. During this Covid pandemic, it’s not easy for some of us to trust Jesus. Will you trust him anyway? It’s not easy for some of us to love Jesus during this time. Will you love Him anyway? And it’s not easy for some of us to obey His commands during this crazy season. Will you obey His commands anyway? If your answer to each of these questions is “Yes,” I can guarantee you that you won’t regret it. I hope you , can join me today in saying: “When it comes to Jesus, I am not a fan! I choose to be a loyal follower. And nothing that goes on in this world around me will change that.”

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our online worship service Sunday at 10 a.m. at Live.GreaterImpact.cc or on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.

A Peace of Jesus This Easter

“As [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.’” – Luke 19:41-42

Last Sunday hundreds of millions of Christians around the world celebrated Palm Sunday, the day when Jesus Christ mounted a young donkey, crested the Mount of Olives and descended into Jerusalem. A crowd numbering in the hundreds—possibly even in the thousands—surrounded Jesus and shouted, “Hosanna!” which translates, “Save us now.” And they added, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38). The crowds waved palm branches and placed their cloaks on the dirt road in front of Jesus.

But why did they do it? Why did the crowd make such a big fuss about Jesus? For starters, they did it because they had heard first-hand accounts of Jesus’ breathtaking miracles (Luke 19:37; John 12:17-18). They had heard the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, while others had been told of how Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, drove out demons, and cleansed lepers. There’s no doubt about it: The crowd was celebrating the “miracle man” and hoped that he was the promised Messiah sent to deliver the greatest miracle of all—freeing Israel from their Roman oppressors.

But obviously Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth was much more important than working miracles. And delivering the Jews from the Roman Empire was nowhere on his God-ordained to-do list. Jesus’ purpose was primarily spiritual, not physical; his intention was to usher in peace with God, not war with Rome. Yet as Jesus made his way down the Mount of Olives on his little donkey, he seems to have been the only one on the hillside who understood this fact.

Surprisingly, as the crowd of enthusiastic worshipers cheered wildly, Jesus wept subtly (Luke 19:41). He was weeping over Jerusalem. And as he wept he spoke prophetically about what would happen just forty years later. In his mind’s eye he could see decades in advance what we are only able to see through historical hindsight. In the year 70 A.D., the Roman army surrounded the walls of Jerusalem and proceeded to do exactly what Jesus prophesied they would do. The Romans built siegeworks to scale the city walls. And upon entering the city, they leveled the temple and slaughtered tens of thousands of Jewish men, women and children. 

So, as Jesus looked across the Jerusalem valley below, he saw what was, and he saw what would be. And it broke his heart. He loved the people of Israel, and their impending destruction brought tears to his eyes, especially because he realized it was 100% preventable. Rome’s coming destruction would be an act of divine judgment, not ushered in because of Israel’s rejection of Rome’s authority but because of their rejection of Christ’s authority. What Israel needed most of all wasn’t war with Rome but peace with God. And Jesus alone could usher in that peace. But sadly, those in the crowd who yelled “Hosanna!” on Sunday were likely some of the same ones who yelled “Crucify him!” on Friday.

As Good Friday has passed and we celebrate Resurrection Sunday (aka, Easter), I’d like you to consider the powerful words about peace that Jesus spoke as he wept over Jerusalem on Palm Sunday: “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42). Tragically, the people of Israel were so consumed by their hatred of Rome that they were blinded to their desperate need of reconciliation and peace with God, which Jesus Christ alone offers.

And the same is true of many people today. It’s easy to become so consumed by our battles with people that we are blinded to our need for peace with God. Sometimes we are consumed by bitterness. We are filled with thoughts of vengeance. It’s far too common for Christians to say, “I love you, Lord!” on Sunday and, “I hate my boss!” or ”I hate my ex-husband!” on Monday. My friends, this should not be. If you were able to see your life through God’s eyes, you would see that your resentment toward your spouse, kids or neighbor is driving a wedge between you and God. If you were able to see your life as God sees it, you would see that what you most need is not retaliation against your friend or family member who “stabbed you in the back,” but peace with God.

So as Easter comes and you join hundreds of millions of Christians around the world in celebration of your risen Savior, don’t be a shallow, short-sighted worshiper like those who surrounded Jesus on Palm Sunday. Push aside your resentment toward others. Forgive those who don’t deserve to be forgiven. Make peace with those with whom you need to make peace. And open your eyes to the Prince of Peace whom you celebrate. He can certainly bring peace to your broken relationships. And his specialty is bringing peace to your broken relationship with God.

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information, visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com  and join us Sundays at 10 a.m.