Eastertide Series: So What? Imperishable Savior He Is

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1 Eastertide Series: So What? Imperishable Savior He Is April 11/12, 2015 Easter Eastertide Series: So What? Imperishable Savior He Is Written by: Robert Ismon Brown Connections Pastor for Education, Chicago First Church of the Nazarene Background Notes Key Scripture Text(s): Matthew 28 Matthew 28:1-20 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." 11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Introduction According to Jewish practice, days actually began at sunset and not at midnight. Once the sun went down on Saturday, the new day had already begun, though it was dark. This method for keeping time comes from the first chapter of Genesis where the evening and the morning constituted the day and occurring in that order first evening (at dusk) and then morning. Based on this definition of day, the events surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus took place from Friday through Sunday, encompassing parts of three days, 1 with Jesus rising on the third day. 2 Jesus was not buried for 3 x 24 (=72) hours, but for selective portions of three days. He had to be buried before sundown, Friday, to avoid Sabbath law violations. His resurrection took place on the third day, that is, Sunday. Of special note is that Jesus was buried for one complete Sabbath day (evening and morning), something which has powerful symbolic meaning. His rest in the tomb marked the end of the old creation, standing in readiness 1 Prior to the events, Jesus foresaw the three days duration of his death: Matthew 12:40; 26:61; 27:40; 27:63; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34; 14:58; 15:29; John 2: It may also be that the Apocalypse s use of three and one half days for the death period of the martyrs in Revelation 11:9, 11 draws its imagery from the burial of Jesus. 2 References to the third day are found throughout the Gospels: Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 27:64; Luke 9:22; 13:32; 18:33; 24:7, 21, 46. The Acts and the Letters continue the practice of using this expression: Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:4. -1-

2 for the arrival of the new creation which began on the first day 3 of the week. The constant references to the first day signal the coming transition of worship from a Sabbath-only affair to a First Day celebration of Jesus resurrection. 4 Let us bear in mind that Sunday begins at sundown after Sabbath, and that Sunday dawns at sunrise. We celebrate new creation on Easter Sunday. The body of Jesus undergoes a dramatic transformation once the Sabbath ends. The resurrection would have taken place sometime between sundown after Sabbath when Sunday began and sunrise on Sunday when the first day has its dawn. By the time the women arrive at the tomb, by the time the earthquake occurs, and by the time the angel comes down from heaven, Jesus has risen from the dead. Matthew s account is full of dramatic events that are very compressed. The scene is much more animated than the other writers. Two women named Mary come to the tomb early on Easter. A violent earthquake appropriately punctuates what is without question an earth shattering event. Biblical narratives like this are rich with imagery that adds dimension to the story. We tend to think of the ground as solid and reliable until we live through a Japan-style earthquake with its tsunami sequel. Whatever people thought about Jesus up to this point has been substantially shaken by the resurrection. At the moment of Jesus death, Matthew informs us, the earth shook and the rocks split (27:51) and the tombs broke open along with a most mysterious resurrection of ancient worthies (27:52) who would later appear in the holy city (27:53). This profound earthquake impacts the centurion at the cross (27:54). An equally profound earthquake occurs, on Matthew s telling, in conjunction with the resurrection. Message? That the death and resurrection of Jesus, taken together, are world-changing events of history. In the Bible God often used the natural order to underscore His salvation message. Consider: the Exodus had its plagues on Egypt and its parting of the Red Sea; the giving of Torah had its fire and smoke on the mountain. And now, the cross/resurrection has its earthquake! 5 The drama created by Matthew s approach to his material further underscores the conviction that Jesus is an imperishable Savior who is able to save those who trust in him. The Story of the Imperishable Savior Matthew's Gospel contains one of the most stylized versions of the resurrection. Consistent with the writer s well organized writing style he places in careful sequence the events of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus in Matthew The closing paragraphs of Matthew 27 describe the burial of Jesus. In ordinary cases of crucifixion, criminals were taken down from crosses and thrown into a common grave where their bodies were subject to the indiscretions of carrion and wild animals. The situation with Jesus is different, for when the time comes for Jesus to be taken down from the cross, Joseph of Arimathea gains permission from Pontius Pilate to take the body and give it a proper burial in his own tomb burial. Among the Jews burial was a twostage affair in which initially the body was placed inside of a tomb wrapped in an appropriate burial shroud with spices. Over a period of time the body would decay and only the bones would remain, and this would lead to the second stage of the burial which involved taking only the bones and placing them into what was commonly called a bone box or an ossuary, a family-specific burial box where multiple generations rested together in a tomb as a lasting memorial. In the case of Jesus, Joseph actions implied that there would be a stage 2 burial. However, because of events that would surely follow, Jesus rose from the dead and the second stage would be avoided. Evident in Matthew s gospel is that the readers could say with confidence that they knew where the body of Jesus was placed: in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. This was important for the later critics who claimed that 3 First day language equates to on the third day language. See Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, Meeting together to break bread becomes a familiar theme (Acts 20:7) as does the taking of offerings (1 Corinthians 16:2). 5 Two Old Testament texts speak of God coming in an earthquake: Isaiah 29:6; Ezekiel 38:19. Others speak of how the earth shook : Judges 5:4; 2 Samuel 22:8; Psalm 18:7; 68:8; 99:1; Isaiah 2:19, 21; 13:13; 24:18; Haggai 2:6, 21; Habakkuk 3:6. According to the New Testament writer to the Hebrews, God will not only shake the earth but also the heavens (Hebrews 12:26). -2-

3 the body of Jesus had somehow been misplaced and that is why his disciples claimed that he had risen from the dead. But Matthew offers a second possible reason to Jesus critics namely that the disciples of Jesus might in fact have stolen his body and claimed that he had risen from the dead. And yet that possibility is removed, for Matthew gives record of Pilate s authorization that the body of Jesus should in fact be sealed within, and to this end a Roman guard placed. This decision was made because of pressure from the Jewish leadership fearing a further deception, as they refer to Jesus at the end of Matthew as the deceiver and they anticipated that the followers of Jesus would imitate their master in deceiving others about the resurrection, when in fact they had stolen the body. Comments about the manner of the guard drip with some degree of sarcasm, as Pilate tells the Jewish leadership to take a guard go make the tomb as secure as you know how. There may be the suggestion in this statement that the dead really need no guard and that whatever is necessary to guard the dead must be part of the leadership's own ingenuity, but that he, Pilate, has very little interest in placing the guard although he is willing to authorize it. At the start of chapter 28 Matthew, once more with the sort of scribal care that he always gives his material, places the events on a timeline. First, he makes reference to the Sabbath, then he makes reference to time after the Sabbath at dawn on the first day of the week. We then have a careful statement of who was present at the tomb during this time frame. References are made here to Mary Magdalene and a person that he refers to as the other Mary. As a footnote to biblical names, we know from research done on names in the first century that the name Mary was a very prominent name, 6 and so it is no surprise that Matthew must come up with some qualifications for each of these Marys. One of these Marys previously anointed Jesus for burial (John 12:3), and so it is appropriate that Matthew places her here in the list. Matthew only says that the two Marys came to look at the tomb, and we are not entirely certain whether their arrival here was a kind of secondary guard, in Matthew s mind, to make sure that nothing untoward happened to the body of Jesus or that they simply visited out of deep and genuine devotion and love for Jesus, prepared to more completely prepare his body after an earlier hasty burial. And yet the closest they could get to him now was outside the tomb, sealed as it was by Roman guards. They must have felt quite disenfranchised, as at that moment the power of the Roman state stood between them and their beloved master: what could they, poor women, do to get to close Jesus perhaps to show more devotion? Certainly they could not touch him, they could not be beside him, and they could not see him for he was out of their reach: death had separated them from Jesus, and now the powers of the world had separated Jesus from them. But the power of creation intervenes. There is in the narrative of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus a strong emphasis on the role of creation and the role of nature in what happened that day. While Jesus hung on the cross, the sun eclipses at noon and darkness falls across the land but now on the first day of the week language which suggests creation in Genesis 1 something dramatic occurs, for the text says there was a violent earthquake and there was the appearance of an angelic messenger. Matthew makes it clear that this angel came down from heaven and makes his approach to the tomb, rolls back the stone, and sits on it. There is a kind of triumph in the action of the angel, and there is also a contrast to the guard placed by Pilate at the tomb, as if the armies of heaven have their earthly representative in this angel who comes as a military officer of the heavenly army with power to defeat the guard that stands at the tomb. There is a great emphasis on the majesty of the angel with specific references to the appearance of the angel with his bright and shining clothes, white as snow, and there is also an emphasis on the emotional reaction of Pilate s guards, as the text describes them as being so afraid of the angel, that they shook and became like dead men. It becomes a theme of the New Testament s telling of the gospel that the powers of this world will tremble before the overwhelming majesty of the resurrected Jesus. He is Lord and he is Victor, and these images are all present in the actions of the angel and in the reactions of the guards at the tomb. As overwhelming as the angel is to the Roman guards, he is by 6 See the fine work of Richard Bauckham in his book Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006). -3-

4 contrast gentle and assuring to the women. The angel speaks the familiar words do not be afraid and he makes clear that he understands what the women are looking for: they seek Jesus, the one who was crucified. The angel in no way diminishes the historical fact of Jesus death, as he affirms what the women know: that he was crucified, that his body lay in the tomb, and that in fact they were there looking for this self-same Jesus. In the exchange between the angel and the women there is no misunderstanding: the power of the angel rolled away the stone and opened the tomb to the full view of the women so that what they probably hoped in their wildest expectations and deepest yearnings, namely that the stone would be rolled away, suddenly became a reality before their very eyes. The angel, like a respectful host, offers to his visitors a welcome to the empty tomb and to the place where Jesus no longer lies. The angel speaks the encouraging words that he is not here, he is risen just as he said. The invitation by the angel to come and see the place where he lay adds to the evidentiary nature of Matthew 28 where the writer uses extreme care to select particular facts about the events to assure the reader that what happened to Jesus was no fantasy but a deeper reality. The angel also emphasizes the visual nature of what has happened to Jesus: he does not say to the women come think about this Jesus, ponder this Jesus, reflect on this Jesus, or have fond memories of this Jesus, but rather he says come and see. The angel speaks with highly personal words to the women when he addresses them, and he identifies their deepest yearnings, responding to them with the good news of the resurrection of Jesus. But he is not only informing them, he is also commissioning them as he gives them specific instructions. After the women come and see, they must go quickly and tell his disciples. It is extraordinary to notice the special place that Matthew gives to the women in his resurrection story when he places emphasis on their role as messengers of the good news, and then sends them to none other than the original disciples of Jesus. Much has been written about the role of women as witnesses within the first century, and scholars have long noted that the Gospel writers run a great risk by giving this witness role to the women since women were largely excluded from the judicial process where testimony was required in a court of law. However, Matthew is not at all hesitant to identify the women as witnesses to the events surrounding the resurrection. The angel gives them instructions to the disciples that they are to be ready to make the trip to Galilee where in fact Jesus will meet them. The message that they are to bring is straightforward: He is risen from the dead, the angel identifies Galilee as the point of meeting, and he tells the women that they will in fact see him if they follow these instructions. Early on in the resurrection stories of the Gospels we see the importance of obedience to the word as a prerequisite for having a full experience of the resurrected Jesus. Thus, an announcement is heard and instruction is given and obedience follows. When the angel concludes his conversation with the women, he uses the words now I have told you. This appears at first glance as a kind of solemn divine request made of the women, that is to say, they are not to regard the angel s words lightly, but they are to recognize his words as in fact having the binding authority one would expect from the mouth of an angel of the Lord. It's his way of saying you have your orders; now go do them. The text continues with the women's departure from the tomb, described here as taking place in a hurried fashion. The emotions that are present here at the tomb are significant: on the one hand they have been so overwhelmed by the majesty of the angel s actions and words they are afraid but this fear, on the other hand this fear has now been tempered by joy: not simply the presence of joy but the filling of joy. No doubt the angel s words fear not and his explanation of what has happened and what they are to do in the future all contribute to the sense of urgency which causes them to run, not simply walk to complete their mission. This act of obedience prompts a response from Jesus himself, since the risen Jesus appears to them because they have listened to the word of his resurrection and they have responded to the call to obey by telling his disciples. No sooner are they on their way, the text says, then suddenly they meet Jesus and this confirms the truth of the angel s words when he told them in chapter 28: there you will see him. Matthew's use of the word suddenly in verse 9 of chapter 28 is characteristic of his Markan source, for it is Mark's Gospel which most commonly refers to the use of the word suddenly when underscoring the decisive -4-

5 nature of something Jesus said or did. Suddenly Jesus met them, but his suddenness is not abrupt, as he gives them kind greetings he becomes they're dearest friend once again. He has gone into death, come out the other side alive, and he greets them. Their response is predictable. Clasping and worshiping, they embrace the risen Jesus. He is not merely part of the message of the angel, but he is the personal Lord and risen one, and he now stands before them a transformed human being to be seen and heard and touched and above all, worshipped. Through His resurrection, Jesus has confirmed his identity as God's Son, and he has demonstrated that he is victor over death and the grave. The triumph of Jesus becomes the invitation to worship Him. This time it is Jesus and not the angel that speaks the words do not be afraid, and it is Jesus who confirms the message of the angel that the women should go on and complete their mission of telling the disciples in Galilee where in fact they should meet Jesus. Once again, the writer is intent on saying that Jesus, after his resurrection, is a person to be seen. They will see me, Jesus says. The emphasis on not being afraid may very well have to do with the kind of superstition that could have accompanied the events of Easter morning when those who saw Jesus at first imagined they had seen something like a ghost, and Jesus wants it clear to them that they are in fact actually meeting him and seeing him. Their actions of clasping him certainly add palpable evidence to the testimony that they could give anyone questioning whether this Jesus was actually alive in some tangible, visual and deeply personal way. This encounter with Jesus is brief, illuminating the women, who are then on their way in obedience to their mission. Matthew makes a transition at this point in his telling of the story of the resurrection. The guards, whom we left back at the tomb, rouse themselves from the grave and shake off their stupor from the events surrounding the opening of the tomb. By now they are on their way into the city to give a report. They do not return to Pilate immediately since guards neglectful of their duty who allow prisoners to escape do not end up well and have every reason to fear for their lives. Instead, thinking that they might have a more open hearing from the religious leaders, they return to the chief priests and give a full report. The irony of this part of the story lies in the fact that it was the Jewish leadership that originally feared deception from the disciples who might in fact steal the body. That is why guards needed to be placed at the tomb in the first place. But ironically the elders turn out to be the deceivers, not the disciples. Thus the leadership created a story that allegedly provided protection to the guards, but turned out to be is a risky story that essentially puts the guards in the vulnerable position. The Jewish leaders devised a story in which the guards fall asleep and the disciples come during the night and steal the body. What the leadership proposes is that they will intervene with the prefect Pilate in order to satisfy him and keep the guards from trouble. By bribing the soldiers to keep the story straight, what the leadership wanted was a simple cover story that said the disciples stole the body. In order to make the story plausible they needed to have the guards asleep. There were many problems with their story: questions have to be raised about whether or not guards would agree to such an arrangement that depends on trusting the leadership to provide excuses for the guards. But the credibility of the cover story is not the issue. Frankly, it's a pretty poor cover story and not the kind of explanation a soldier would want to offer. Such efforts to offer a natural explanation for what happened to the body of Jesus were more essential for the leadership of Second Temple Judaism than for the guards. Their concern was that this message and the whole Jesus movement would burst into flame once more. As it turned out their fears were well founded, since the cover story failed in its efforts to stamp out the Jesus message because the risen Jesus commissions his disciples that this message should be made available throughout the whole world. This is the essence of what the church has come to call the Great Commission. From Imperishable Story to Universal Commission The story of the resurrection is the real setting for this commissioning experience in Galilee, located in the mountains where Jesus had sent the disciples to meet him. Throughout Matthew's Gospel we observe the importance of the mountain as the place where Jesus becomes the new Moses as he gave the Sermon on the Mount containing the Beatitudes. Mathew s design of his gospel is to offer clear parallels between the life and work of Jesus and the story of Israel in the Old Testament. -5-

6 On the mountain in Galilee Jesus begins his commission with the words all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. The language used here is not only language taken from the giving of the Ten Commandments it also comes from Daniel 7 where an enigmatic figure appears called the Son of Man. Daniel sees and witnesses this strange figure coming to God, having all power and all authority given to him. By using the kind of language he does in Matthew 28:18 Jesus is consciously connecting his present and future authorization to that of the Son of Man, a personage who mysteriously appears in the Book of Daniel. The connection Jesus makes between heaven and earth also reminds us of the prayer that Jesus gave his disciples: your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Comparing that language with the words of the Commission in Matthew 28 suggests that the prayer will find its answer in the Commission itself as the disciples obey the commands of Jesus. The prayer of Jesus takes root in the world. Jesus authority has no limitations, and the reality of his resurrection solidifies that claim. There are other places in the gospels where Jesus speaks of how God the Father gives to him authority on earth, as in the case when he makes the statement that he has been given authority on earth to forgive sins. His authority to forgive sins and his authority to heal come from the same heavenly God (Matthew 9:6). When Matthew provides us with the language of the Great Commission, he speaks about the authority as universal and something given to Jesus by virtue of his resurrection that of an imperishable Savior. What is the content of the Commission that Jesus offers? Very specifically, Jesus foresaw that his disciples will in fact be going throughout the whole world where he authorizes them to make disciples of all nations. And so the universal authority of Jesus is matched by the universal mission of the disciples. There would be no need for all authority unless all nations are involved, Jesus seems to be saying to them. There has been some debate whether the statement go is a command or whether it is a circumstance. The Greek text uses a participle, therefore implying the simple act of going or as you are going or when you are going make disciples. In this interpretation, making disciples is the real imperative. What form does this disciple making take? It begins with an act of initiation. The emphasis at the front end falls on the words baptizing them. The baptism is itself the entrance sign of an individual into the new community of Jesus. It is not merely an entrance requirement but it is an act consistent with the authority of Jesus. It is an act that authorizes a human being to become a part of God's kingdom family. The act of baptism appears early in the telling of the Jesus story during the ministry of John the Baptizer. However, as the New Testament unfolds, baptism takes on a distinctly Christian perspective. Jesus sets the tone for the kind of baptism when he uses the language in the name of and then follows with the words the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Baptism as an authorization for membership in the Jesus community is always Trinitarian. God is imagined as a community of persons, and so when baptism takes place human beings are invited to participate in this community. Later writers like Paul will unpack the significance of Christian baptism and move our understanding deeper into the notion that we are in fact identified with Jesus in his death burial and resurrection. That is, baptism involves being placed into Christ in all aspects of his ministry for our salvation (Romans 6:4; Col 2:12). Baptism acknowledges the imperishable Savior through a concrete action. The Gospels tell that story by announcing the Jesus story. The letters of the New Testament tell that story through instruction (or catechesis) to the church. In a similar way Jesus foreshadows that instruction when he says that part of making disciples involves teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. The whole public teaching ministry of Jesus lies in the background of the Great Commission. Baptism initiates human beings into the community of Jesus. Once within that community, the teaching mission of the church begins and the basis for that instruction would become whatever it was that Jesus had commanded the disciples. What is interesting about Matthew's Gospel is that it was developed by the writer as a kind of catechism or a teaching manual for new followers of Jesus. It is not incidental then that Matthew concludes his gospel with the very commission which authorizes the instruction of new followers of Jesus. The basis for the Commission is the resurrection of Jesus who would not have all authority in heaven and on earth apart from the mighty act of being raised from the dead by God the Father. Jesus accomplished -6-

7 something essential as our imperishable Savior that made possible the advent of God's New Kingdom and has also formed that new community called the church. The kingdom itself is not identical with the church, but the kingdom is God's active rule in the world through Jesus whereby the formation of that church is possible. God's kingdom rules over all, a consistent theme throughout Scripture. But the kingdom takes on a very concrete shape in the form of the community, since the kingdom is not an abstraction in the New Testament but produces tangible results in the relationship of persons to God and persons to each other. What is interesting about the Commission is that it begins with the authority of the risen Jesus and it expresses itself in the mission of those who have received that message. The resurrection of Jesus as a simple event in the stream of history is not sufficient only as a message. The good news is not merely the announcement of an event, but is the proclamation that Jesus is Lord through his resurrection, and because He is Lord fundamental changes will take place in the world, among them the transformation of persons living together in community. Jesus is the imperishable Savior of his body. The New Testament uses the word body to describe not only the resurrection body of Jesus but also his body the church. This interesting play on the words body of Jesus and body of Christ is not mere poetry. If the physical body of Jesus is raised from death, victorious over the grave and over sin, so also the body of Christ His Church is intended to be the place where the victory over sin and death and hell are being continuously celebrated as a witness for the world. The resurrection of Jesus is the victory that God has achieved in the world, and through it the Kingdom of God has become present. What the disciples are asked to do in Matthew 28:19-20 is, in fact, to implement the resurrection of Jesus, the imperishable Savior. The meaning of the resurrection ultimately finds its way into the life of Jesus within his community lived for the sake of the world. Jesus makes that quite clear when he tells his disciples that he is with them always, even to the end of the world. The Greek word for world is probably better translated, age, where the word age used in this context refers to the intended purpose of God. It has to do with that span of history during which God brings his purposes to their completion. God raised up our imperishable Savior so that through him the church as his body might also rise as a witness to God s completed purposes in the world. When Jesus promised the building of the church, he added these crucial assurances: and the gates of Hades will not overcome it (Matthew 16:18). The resurrection means that the eternal being and purpose of Christ s corporate body is secured, and thus the work of God s people has eternal significance. After Paul gives us his magnificent treatise on resurrection, he concludes with these hopeful words: Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). By using the word therefore the apostle ties his argument about resurrection to the living realities of the church in the world. Our imperishable Savior makes possible our firm resolve in laboring for the kingdom. Jesus, Our Priest with the Indestructible Life In his letter to Jewish Christians, with plenty of applications for us, one New Testament writer offers a prosaically beautiful description of how the risen Jesus is our priest within a new covenant. Some of the language depends on knowledge of Old Testament practices, but the emphasis agrees with this week s theme: 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is declared: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." 18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. 20 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever.'" 22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. 23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. 26 Such a high priest meets our need-- one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for -7-

8 their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever (Hebrews 7:14-28). In the phrase power of an indestructible life resides the story of Jesus the imperishable Savior, the one who is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. His ability reaches to those who need intercession and the eternal benefits of his sacrifice for sin. He offers no half-way measures, but from his exalted place in heaven, is able to save completely. This Jesus lives forever without the human interruption of death. Although he is set apart from sinners, yet he intervenes for sinners who come to God through him, and his forgiveness of their sins is reliably once for all. Conclusion The Great Commission of Jesus carries with it a final promise to the heralds of its message: "I am with you always (Greek, literally, "all the days"), until the end of the age (literally, tes sunteleias tou aionos, "the completion of the age"). This mission reaches for completion, which is to say, there is work to be done, and you are just getting started. But no matter how long it takes, Jesus promises to be with his followers until the work is finished. a. The presence of Jesus during the mission comes from the Holy Spirit. Jesus makes this clear in several texts in the Gospels: i. "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:16-18). For Jesus to be "with them" is precisely equivalent to having the Holy Spirit "with them". The Greek word, translated Counselor, is actually parakletos, from para ("alongside, with") + kaleo ("to call"). This one is "with you forever" ("into the age"), the faithful Spirit who once lived with them (in the work of Jesus), but will soon be in them (when the Spirit comes after Jesus returns to heaven). ii. " he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven'" (John 20:22-23). The forgiving or retaining of sins is part of the mission. The proclamation of the Gospel is the offer of forgiveness. Where it is declared, the sinner may be forgiven; where it is not declared, sin remains a problem to the sinner. The Spirit empowers the messenger for the work of forgiveness. iii. "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning" (John 15:26-27). Notice the dual witness: the Spirit about Jesus, and through the Spirit, the Christian about Jesus. The expression "from the beginning" is important, for it identifies an important class of witness. Scholars call this the "apostolic" witness, since the apostles were with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry and could testify to his life, death and resurrection. The world "apostle", in Greek, means "one sent", and, in this case, in a special, authoritative sense. The Holy Spirit became the indispensable guarantee of the message's reliability, as he lived within and spoke through the messenger. The mission required authentication, and the Holy Spirit supplied it. Which leads to yet another important text about the Holy Spirit's role in the mission iv. "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you" (John 16:12-15). As authoritative messengers of "the mission", the followers of Jesus in the first century needed confirmation of their message, that is truly was the message of Jesus and not their own. This, too, was the work of the Holy Spirit. As time passed, the assured results of the Holy Spirit's work would become the text of the New Testament, written down by -8-

9 these original witnesses. At its heart, then, Scripture is true "missal", the mission of God in written form. The Bible is a missionary document, sent by God, carried by His messengers into the world, but authenticated by the continuing work of the Holy Spirit. b. We do not carry the message alone. Through the Spirit and the Word we have reliable companions on our mission. This was the meaning of Jesus' promise when he said, "I am with you " Our imperishable Savior is, then, our ever-present Lord Jesus. Peter, in his first letter, refers to this truth when he writes: 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you (1 Peter 1:23-25). Proclaiming the word of Jesus, risen from the dead, means releasing the imperishable seed that is living (has meaning) and enduring. In a world of transitory and frail realities, the Christian message plants new life in the midst of a culture of death. The church becomes the agent of the reliable where everything else fades to black. Surrounded by darkness, the light of the resurrection gospel persists, unquenched (John 1:4-5). To God Be the Glory! Amen! -9-