Midweek Lent 5 (April 2020)

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: Matthew 28:12
Theme: The Truth Comes Out

Dear followers to the cross,

This evening we conclude our midweek Lenten series, ‘Promises kept, promises broken’ with a look at the guards posted at Jesus’ tomb. The world has changed dramatically since Ash Wednesday kicked off our Lenten season back on the 26th of February. No one could have foreseen how rapidly one virus would spread across the globe and how radically people’s lives would be impacted. Western society is facing levels of anxiety, and instability not felt since the world wars of the last century. People’s confidence in many of society’s structures has been shaken. Let us pray that in the weeks and months ahead many hearts would be open to the unshakeable truth of salvation in Jesus Christ.

What can be said about the guards at Jesus’ tomb? Their poise was shaken by an earthquake. Their task was simple, but it was a highly responsible charge: No one was to interfere with the body of this Jesus, the King of the Jews. The qualifications for the job weren’t particularly demanding, but competence was paramount, and soldiers sometimes needed to have nerves of steel. The penalty for failure was severe. Such liability came with the territory. We have more than anecdotal evidence to suggest that capital punishment was an expected penalty for failure.

The example of the jailer of Philippi in Acts 16 is sufficient to illustrate. This public servant needed only to guard Paul and Silas who were imprisoned at his location. The Scripture says, “About midnight…there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, ‘Don’t harm yourself!’”1 Then, he enquired of Paul about salvation.

The jailer in Philippi went from ‘initiated suicide’ to baptism. Now, that’s absolutely astounding, but that’s the power of the gospel. It can instantly change a situation of despair into an occasion for rejoicing. His sword was drawn, his life was forfeit. But then, miraculously, a higher power took over. Baptism’s power is in the promise of Jesus and the work of the Spirit, a power authenticated in the crucifixion and resurrection, a power which transformed the jailer’s life that memorable night.

Unfortunately, fleeing was not the end of the story for the guards at Jesus’ tomb. They became involved in a conspiracy to cover up their failure. The Bible says, “When they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers.”2 Money talks. Of course, you might argue they deserved danger pay anyway! Their lives were certainly on the line. And, humanly speaking, what could they have done differently? Nevertheless, the cover up is a reminder of human sinfulness. The temptation to cover our tracks is endemic to all of us. The first inclination of the sinful nature, when there is threat of punishment, is to exonerate oneself. The problem is our self-acquittals have no authority. They are just specific examples of what the apostle John means when he says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”3 Our self-acquittals have no authority. Christ alone can absolve us.

He is the only One with the power to forgive because He is the only One who has earned the authority. Lent is preparation to better appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus. But the crucifixion is not just about an event, it’s about a person. It’s about the exertion of the one Person who is also divine, incarnate love. In the incarnation the visiting God becomes the residential God. And, in the crucifixion, the sovereign God becomes the ransoming God; He becomes the Redeemer of humanity, not just the Creator. Said differently, in the incarnation He becomes Immanuel- ‘God with us’. In the crucifixion He becomes Substitute- ‘God for us’. And, subsequently, through the Holy Spirit He becomes immanent, ‘God in us’. Not that at any point previously He was remiss of any of His responsibilities. But the promise to send a Messiah in the flesh had to become fulfilment so that mortality could be swallowed up by life.

Only the structures He establishes are invincible. And we’re not talking about ethereal, religious ‘mumbo-jumbo’ here. Dear friends, neither the present nor the future are or will be purely metaphysical existences, that is, disembodied, spiritual-only states of being. The incarnation guaranteed that matter- physical existence- is here to stay; despite world wars, despite the coronavirus, despite whatever other catastrophe might still commence. We are corporeal beings and we will be resurrected as such, though, of course, perfected. Even now Jesus retains His physical body, eternally glorified as it is. He bears the wounds of His passion.

So, did the guards keep their promise? Were they faithful in their duty? Well, it was impossible for them to comply with orders. A superior power intervened, and they could do nothing but flee. Confronted with seismic activity and angelic hosts it’s difficult to fault them for dereliction of duty. None of us could have bested them. No mortal can withstand the divine majesty.

The well-known phrase “promises are made to be broken” is attributed to a man named Jonathan Swift. Swift, who lived between the late 17th and mid-18th centuries was an Anglo-Irish poet, a cleric, and satirist. Witty with a very dry style he penned many influential publications and novels including Gulliver’s Travels. Though effective for literary purposes, the phrase, of course, isn’t actually true. Promises aren’t made to be broken, unless one is engaging in intentional deceit. But promises are certainly bound to be broken. There are only two categories of beings that make promises. Humans will fail again and again in keeping theirs because human beings are sinners. God’s promises, however, remain inviolate. The Scripture says, “God is not a man, that He should lie”4 And again, “Let us hold unswervingly to the to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.”5

As this midweek Lenten series draws to a close, the coronavirus rages on. It’s leaving a path of destruction in its wake and no one knows how much carnage is still to follow. But true hope is never lost. We can be robbed of optimism; but we can’t be robbed of eternal hope. We can be robbed of freedom; but we can’t be robbed of the liberty of knowing we are reconciled to God through His Son. We can be robbed of material provisions, the ‘creature comforts’ we’ve become so accustomed to; but we can’t be robbed of our baptismal and heavenly inheritance. We can even be ‘robbed’ of the rest our temporal lives (and don’t assume our local communities will remain untouched by this scourge); but we can never be robbed of life in that higher dimension.

Jesus Christ is not entombed. He’s not practicing ‘social-distancing’. The Father has raised Him. The Spirit has released Him. He lives to make continual intercession for us before the Father’s throne. He’ll never fail in His duty of guarding us, body or soul. Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

Midweek Lent 2020- The Guards
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Acts 16:25-28
2 Matthew 28:12
3 1 John 1:8
4 Numbers 23:19
5 Hebrews 10:23