HIDING OUT
Scripture: ACTS 3:12-15, ACTS 3:17-26, PSALM 118:19-24, I JOHN 5:1-6, JOHN 20:19-31
HIDING OUT
Kenneth Kroohs
Acts 3:12a, 13-15, 17-26; Psalm 118:19-24; I John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31
SECOND SUNDAY of EASTER
April 30, 2000
Thank God Easter is over!!! .... Cannot speak for any of you, but it sure was an exhausting time for me. Wonderful -- fun -- exciting, but exhausting.
Christ has died ... Christ is risen ... Christ will come again --- and therefore I am saved. But nothing seems to have changed.
If we read all the accounts about the disciples we discover that for them nothing had changed. Or maybe, just maybe, things got worse for them. It was bad enough when the authorities were criticizing Jesus. Terrible when Jesus was arrested but once Jesus was killed it appears that the authorities lost interest in the disciples. They were not anything or anyone special and their leader had been eliminated. So they were probably safe until --- the resurrection.
Now the disciples are in real trouble!! Now they cannot avoid focusing on Jesus as the messiah, the Son of God. Before the resurrection they could misunderstand and avoid the consequences but afterwards?
Afterwards, they still did not understand!! If anything they are even more frightened by the implications of what had happened. They are hiding out.
This entire account is rich with wonderful details. Details about our lives .. our lives today in the 21st century. These are not ancient stories ... these are stories about you and me.
The news has been announced -- proclaimed. ... the Good News that God raised Jesus from the dead!! That Jesus is alive!! What wonderful news! What frightening implications. Consider first how they ... and we discover the Good News .. how God reaches us.
Don't get hung up on the physical Jesus walking through locked doors. That is not the point - although ---- it is certainly worth asking what doors we keep locked within ourselves. What doors do we keep locked in an attempt to keep God out of our lives. .... none? .... maybe ... ...
Kenneth Kroohs
Acts 3:12a, 13-15, 17-26; Psalm 118:19-24; I John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31
SECOND SUNDAY of EASTER
April 30, 2000
Thank God Easter is over!!! .... Cannot speak for any of you, but it sure was an exhausting time for me. Wonderful -- fun -- exciting, but exhausting.
Christ has died ... Christ is risen ... Christ will come again --- and therefore I am saved. But nothing seems to have changed.
If we read all the accounts about the disciples we discover that for them nothing had changed. Or maybe, just maybe, things got worse for them. It was bad enough when the authorities were criticizing Jesus. Terrible when Jesus was arrested but once Jesus was killed it appears that the authorities lost interest in the disciples. They were not anything or anyone special and their leader had been eliminated. So they were probably safe until --- the resurrection.
Now the disciples are in real trouble!! Now they cannot avoid focusing on Jesus as the messiah, the Son of God. Before the resurrection they could misunderstand and avoid the consequences but afterwards?
Afterwards, they still did not understand!! If anything they are even more frightened by the implications of what had happened. They are hiding out.
This entire account is rich with wonderful details. Details about our lives .. our lives today in the 21st century. These are not ancient stories ... these are stories about you and me.
The news has been announced -- proclaimed. ... the Good News that God raised Jesus from the dead!! That Jesus is alive!! What wonderful news! What frightening implications. Consider first how they ... and we discover the Good News .. how God reaches us.
Don't get hung up on the physical Jesus walking through locked doors. That is not the point - although ---- it is certainly worth asking what doors we keep locked within ourselves. What doors do we keep locked in an attempt to keep God out of our lives. .... none? .... maybe ... ...
There are 9202 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
