CORONA VIRUS PRAYER FOCUS The “Unnecessary” 40 Days: Week Five
CORONA VIRUS PRAYER FOCUS
The “Unnecessary” 40 Days: Week Five – The Body of Evidence (Matthew 28:11-15)
He presented Himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking to them about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).
Our focus has been on how Jesus was reaching out to His disciples to bring them together during the forty days of his post resurrection experiences that culminated with His ascension to heaven. But what was going on among other segments of that society during these “unnecessary 40 days?” Specifically, what was going on among those enemies of Christ who had planned and schemed to destroy Jesus and His movement? Perhaps the most interesting aspect of their response is what they were unable to do. They were unable to produce the body of Jesus! Had they been able to do so, Christianity would have died on the vine. The apostolic message would have easily been refuted. “These lunatics can rail all they want but here is the proof that they are not worth listening to. Here is the body of the one they claim is alive!”
The problem, of course, was the body of Jesus was not there. The tomb was empty! What were the enemies of our Lord to do now? Matthew 28:11-15 records the chosen course of action. The chief priests bribed the soldiers to say that the disciples had come at night and had stolen the body! A careful analysis by any thinking person of that day would have blown holes in this story. The guards had been sent by Pilate (Matthew 27:65-66) which means it was a contingent of Roman soldiers. Roman guards paid for a prisoner escaping with their lives! Average Joe would know, “Hmmm, if the disciples had stolen the body during these guards’ watch, they, the guards, wouldn’t be alive to talk about it!” Yet, it appears that corrupt leaders conspired with a corrupt government to spread a lie through disseminators of fake news that was believed by many (Matthew 28:15), in spite of the obvious evidence that debunked the story.
From the day the tomb was vacated until the day Christ was elevated to the Father’s right hand, the focus of the 40 days centered on the resurrected body of Jesus Christ. This will likewise be this week’s prayer focus.
Time of Praise (The Body is Produced!)
Even though the enemies of Jesus Christ could not produce His body, a body was produced nonetheless. The body was produced by God the Father, as attested in Acts 2:23-24, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it.”
The Apostle Paul is emphatic in declaring that the Christian faith is predicated upon the resurrection of Christ (I Corinthians 15:14-20). In addition to providing for us the very basis of our faith, the resurrection body of Christ that God produced has provided us with much to look forward to ourselves (I Corinthians 15:49-57).
Because of His resurrection
· Our bodies will also be resurrected when Christ returns (I Corinthians 15:21-23)
· Our bodies will be glorious, like Christ’s glorious body (I Corinthians 15:49)
· Our bodies will be imperishable (I Corinthians 15:52-54)
· Our bodies will be immortal (I Corinthians 15:53-54)
· Our bodies will be indicative that death is swallowed up in victory! (I Corinthians 15:54-57)
Spend a few moments praising and thanking God for providing such a glorious future for us through the crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension and exaltation of Christ, our King!
Lives again our glorious King
Alleluia!
Where O death is now thy sting?
Alleluia!
Dying once He all doth save
Alleluia!
Where’s thy victory O grave?
Alleluia!
Soar we know where Christ has led
Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head
Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise
Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies
Alleluia!
– Charles Wesley
A Time of Reflection (A Supernatural Body)
The body of the Risen Christ was corporeal, touchable, visible, recognizable and capable of ingesting food (Luke 24:35-43), but, it was not JUST a natural body. It also had supernatural characteristics such as being able to pass through walls (John 20:19), be either recognizable or unrecognizable at whim, and disappear into thin air (Luke 24:13-31). In addition, the Risen Christ in His body maintained other supernatural characteristics that had characterized His incarnate state prior to His crucifixion and resurrection. For example, he enabled the miracle of the net-ripping catch of fish (Luke 5:1-11; John 21:1-6), He knew what people were discussing even when He was not within ear shot (Mark 9:33-37; Luke 24:13-17), and He knew the future (Luke 22:31-34; John 21:18-19).
One of the great mysteries and wonders of the incarnation of God in Christ was that He Who is over all of natural creation became a part of that creation! This incredible man who is also God, that we know by the name of Jesus, knows our every thought. He has born all our sorrows and suffered and died for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:4-5). He entered the realm of the fallen state of nature and is able to restore and redeem us to our intended state as established in our identity as God’s image bearers (Hebrews 2:6-14). He did this by being marred by the weight of sin yet never Himself tainted by it (Hebrews 4:14-15). He Who knew no sin became sin for us in order that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (II Corinthians 5:21).
He is bigger than the galaxies and more minute than the subatomic structure of the atom. Louie Giglio of Passion Church in Atlanta has put together some incredible video presentations of the greatness of God in creation. Below is a Hubble shot of the Whirlpool Galaxy showing a cross at its center. Juxtaposed to this is an electron microscope shot of the laminin molecule, considered the “rebar” of cellular structure, which also reveals a cross-like image. These are reminders that Christ has created the largest things imaginable and also the smallest things imaginable (Colossians 1:15-17).
WHIRLPOOL GALAXY LAMININ MOLECULE
Take time now to reflect on the greatness of God compared to our insignificance. This is a great way to check our pride and vanity (Isaiah 40:21-26).
Now consider the minuteness and detail of that same God who knit us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13) and knows us better than we know ourselves (Psalm 139:1-6). This same God loves you in such an intimate way that He sent His son Jesus Christ to pay the price for your sins so that you could be saved (I John 4:9-10). He who cast the stars into space and calls each one by name (Psalm 147:4), knows YOUR name (John 10:3, 14, 27)! Take time to reflect on His love. If you’ve never given your heart to Him. Pause right now and confess your sins, receive Him as your Savior today! Believer in Christ, reflect on His love. Hear Him speak your name. He is inviting you to an ever closer walk with Him.
I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses
And he walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share
As we tarry there
None other has ever known
– Jim Reeves
A Time of Intercession (The Body which is the Church)
The Church is known as “the body of Christ” (I Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12-16; 5:30-32). While this is primarily a term that comes from the Apostle Paul, there are definitely hints of Christ seeing Himself in His church that come from His own words spoken prior to His resurrection, after His ascension and even during the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension. Matthew 25:40, 45 can be applied to the church in the sense that Jesus identifies treatment of His “brethren” as tantamount to treatment of Himself. In Acts 9:4-5, Jesus identifies Himself with the church that Paul, then called Saul, is persecuting. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? … I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” On the day Christ was resurrected He insisted that Mary Magdalene stop clinging to Him because He had “not yet ascended…” (John 20:17). The body of Christ that she wanted to cling to had to give way to the body of Christ who would take His exalted place at the right hand of the Father. When He commissioned His disciples He promised that He would be with them always “…to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). He is still with us today, through the indwelling of His Spirit. Thus, although the exalted body of Christ is in heaven, the body of Christ on earth continues to function through the Church.
This body of Christ, the church, is here to call people out of darkness into His light (Matthew 5:14-16; II Corinthians 4:6). The very name “Church” in Greek is ekklesia, literally “ones who are called out.” We who are called out are here to call others out of the world into the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:12-13). In order to accomplish this, we need to function as a body. I Corinthians 12 is an excellent illustration of how we are gifted to enhance the functioning of the body. We are here for one another. There are more than 60 verses using the phrase “one another.” Some examples are:
· Love one another (John 13:34)
· Serve one another (Galatians 5:13)
· Be devoted to one another (Romans 12:10)
· Be kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32)
· Admonish one another (Romans 15:14)
· Be in harmony with one another (I Peter 3:8)
· Forgive one another (Colossians 3:13)
· Encourage one another (Hebrews 3:13)
· Edify one another (I Thessalonians 5:11)
· Bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2)
One of the best ways we can put these “one anothers” into practice is to “pray for one another” (James 5:16).
Take time now to use your prayer list for this week to intercede on behalf of the “body of Christ” and other requests for your neighbors and friends in the world, your government, health care professionals, first responders, COVID-19 victims and families, those without jobs, business that are reopening, etc.
Like a mighty army
Moves the church of God
Brothers we are treading
Where the saints have trod
We are not divided
All one body we
One in hope and doctrine
One in charity
Onward Christian soldiers
Marching as to war
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before
-Sabine Baring-Gould
The Lord Ascends …. The Spirit Descends (This Same Jesus)
What do Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, and members of the Unification Church have in common? They were all founded upon a belief that Christ has already returned to earth in secret or in some partial way? Yet, when Christ ascended, two angels informed the upward gazing disciples as to the defining characteristics of the return of Christ: “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 11). Let’s review then some key facts that will define his return:
· He ascended from the Mt. of Olives and He will return to the Mt. of Olives (Zechariah 14:3-4)
· He was taken up in clouds and He will return in clouds (Revelation 1:7)
· He was taken up visibly and He will return visibly (Matthew 24:27-31)
· He ascended bodily and He will return bodily (Zechariah 12:10; John 19:37)
It is clear that any group who claims that Christ has returned in secret or in some partial way is making a heretical claim. The Body of Christ that ascended has taken a seat at the Father’s right hand and has remained there since, and will remain there until it is time for Him to return (Hebrews 1:1-3). That same Christ who sits bodily in this exalted place has also assumed the position of being head over the church, His body on earth (Ephesians 1:19-23).
When the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), the Body of Christ on earth was birthed. Rather than preoccupying ourselves with the details about Christ’s return, we need to occupy ourselves with being part of His functioning body on earth, the church, so that we can complete the work He has for us to do until He returns to earth (Matthew 24:42-46).
I have been challenging us to identify ministries or activities that God would have us focus upon when the pandemic restrictions are lifted. What would Jesus, who sits at the right hand of the Father, have do to further the work on earth through His body, the church? How can we emerge from this time to be better members of the Body of Christ on earth?
The Jesus who ascended to Heaven is the same Jesus who will return to earth someday. He has not changed. In spite of all the many superficial differences, denominational name tags, and frankly, mistakes made within the church, the true body of Christ on earth as seen from heaven, has also not changed. We are Christ’s church and the gates of hell will not prevail against us (Matthew 16:18). We are His and He remains the same, yesterday today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
As of old He walked t’Emmaus with them to abide
So through all life’s way He walketh ever near our side
Soon again we shall behold Him - Hasten, Lord, the day!
But ‘twill still be this same Jesus as He went away
Yesterday, Today, Forever, Jesus is the same
All may change but Jesus never! Glory to His name!
Glory to His name, Glory to His name,
All may change but Jesus never! Glory to His name!
-A.B. Simpson