The Story Behind My Nikos Blog

Tomorrow’s New Testament Lesson is I Corinthians 15:53-57. This is TOTALLY at the very top of my favorite scriptures list! This scripture is why I named my blog, “Nikos” when I created it back in the summer of 2008. I just realized that this year marks the 10th anniversary. 

Footnote: “Nikos” is pronounced “Neekos.”

In verse, 57, Paul writes, “But thanks be to God who gives us the victory (nikos) through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Nikos” is the Greek word for “victory.” So, here’s why this particular Greek word that we find in the Bible is so awesome, awesome enough for me to choose it as the title of my blog. 

In this chapter of his letter, the Apostle Paul explains the meaning of "resurrection." By resurrection, Paul is NOT referring to a "spiritual" non-physical state of being. The resurrection body is physical, just not subject to sin, illness, and death. This is what resurrection meant in the 1st century Jewish world.

This chapter in I Corinthians depends on the readers having the particular Jewish worldview that there is the present age and a time is coming when heaven and earth will fully overlap and sin and death will be no more. When heaven and earth come together completely, God will raise up the faithful and give them resurrected bodies. Jesus' resurrection was a foretaste of what awaits God's people at the close of the present age. When people are given resurrection bodies, they will be changed and transformed and this will happen in an instant.

Many people today misinterpret this passage because our culture's worldview has changed significantly since the Jewish worldview of the 1st century. Their worldview believed that heaven and earth were two separate parts of God's creation. Today, we often see heaven and earth as far away from each other. The Jewish worldview believes that they are closer than we think and the future hope is that one day they will fully unite.

This biblical worldview is why the Celtic Christians from the early centuries referred to the overlap of heaven and earth as “thin place” moments. They are thin places because the distance between heaven and earth is razor thin. How do you know when you are experiencing a “thin place” moment? It’s when your soul, the deepest part of your being has an “aha!” moment. It’s that mysterious moment where you realize God was present in a very real way. These aren’t always dramatic experiences. Sometimes, we miss them and only notice them after they happened to us. 

The important thing is for us to be conscious of these “thin place” moments in our everyday lives. This will lead us in having a more biblical worldview and we will be more likely to share with others how God is at work in our lives.

Four Common Assumptions - Getting the Easter Story Right

Over the years, I have noticed that people both inside and outside the church don't always get the story about Easter quite right. Since Easter is the greatest of all the Christian celebrations, let's take a look at some of these commonly held assumptions that may take us off course in our understanding of the good news of the empty tomb.

Assumption  #1 - The good news of Easter is that Jesus died for me and rose again so that I can go to heaven someday.

How can this commonly held assumption not be quite right? Isn't this what my 2nd grade Sunday School teacher taught me? Isn't this what those evangelical religious tracts are all about? Actually, many Jewish people during the time of Christ believed that a day would come when all of God's people would be raised to new life. They believed that this would come at the end of the present age. The whole heaven question wasn't an issue for them. They already believed that this would happen for God's people.

The uniqueness of the good news of Easter is that heaven has already been launched on earth through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and we are called to be part of this new reality where God is transforming the world. As we serve in the name of Christ, we are living out this good news.

One of my favorite sermons I delivered was the sermon that I entitled, "The Good News of the Good News." In summary, the sermon basically said that the good news of the good news is that we don't have to wait to go to heaven someday. Heaven is happening in the here and now as we participate in the building of God's kingdom here on earth. That's the good news of the "Good News."

Assumption #2 - The Old Testament was very clear that God would send a Messiah to die on a cross and be resurrected. 

OK, this is what we call "arm chair quarterbacking." Yes, in hindsight, after reading through any of the four gospels, we can look back at the Old Testament and pick up on some hints, but even the most evangelical Christian living today would not have guessed that Jesus' life would have played out the way it did had that person lived during the time of Christ.

The disciples didn't get it and they were his closest followers! Yes, there was a belief that God would someday send someone who would suffer on behalf of God's people. And yes, there was also a belief that God would send a Messiah to free the Israelites from foreign oppression. Nobody ever put these two thoughts together to see this as one person fulfilling both roles, not to mention in the specific events that we see in the life of Jesus.

Jesus of course, brought these two strands of Old Testament thought together, the suffering servant and the conquering Messiah. Put together, you have the story of Jesus who suffered on the cross and by doing so defeated sin and death. Putting these two things together was genius on Jesus' part and if we lived back then, like the disciples, we would have been two steps behind Jesus at every turn. Maybe we should refer to Easter as the "surprising good news."

Assumption #3 - The resurrection story is about how Jesus went to heaven and that someday we can go to heaven too.

This is closely associated with assumption #1 which is covered there. The focus with assumption #3 is the meaning of the word, "resurrection." In the first century, "resurrection" had a particular meaning. It referred to when God's people would be given new bodies at the end of the present age when God's kingdom would fill this earth.

By resurrection bodies, I am referring to physical bodies that are not subject to disease and death anymore. When Jesus was resurrected, he didn't go to heaven. We are told that Jesus spent the next forty days with the disciples. He was not a ghost. He was someone who could even eat a meal with the disciples and be touched by them.

On the fortieth day, Jesus ascended to heaven in his resurrected body. Notice that there is no thought here of Jesus' body being discarded so that his soul could be freed to go to heaven. In Jewish thought, the body was not seen as divided from the soul. The division of body and soul is more of Greek philosophy which many people think is biblical but really isn't.

The whole point of resurrection is that one day, God will give all of God's people resurrected bodies that will never suffer or die again. Jesus' resurrection is a foretaste of this good news.

Assumption #4 - Heaven is a place that is really, really far away from this world.

There are many misunderstandings of the word, "heaven" from a biblical perspective. In the bible, heaven is not in outer space somewhere. Heaven is God's space and the world is what God has created and wants to renew and make whole again.

Easter is the good news that this rescue project of the world has already begun through the resurrection of Jesus and we are invited to join in the fun! In this view, heaven is not really, really far away from the world. God has come close! Whenever we see love, justice, peace, compassion, hope, and joy in our world, we are seeing the signs of heaven overlapping our world. How cool is that?!

Pre-Easter Thoughts - Rev. Robert McDowell

Dear Friends, 

Recently, I was flipping through the pages of N.T. Wright’s book, Surprised by Hope. It’s a book that explores the connection between the resurrection of Jesus and what this good news means for our everyday living. 

I offer the following quote from his book to help us prepare for our upcoming celebration of Easter: 

"Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of His creation; 

Every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or to walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for one’s fellow human beings and for that matter one’s fellow non-human creatures; 

And of course, every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching,every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world;

– all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that God will one day make." - 1



In short, I think this quote is reminding us to keep living out our Easter faith through word and deed. We are an Easter people! 

Pastor Robert 


1 – N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, Harper-Collins, 2008, p. 208

Easter Worship @ First United Methodist Church (2014)

Easter is all about love!

Pastor Robert's 1960's Plastic Easter Bunny

Last year, I received a wonderful Easter gift from my brother. He found my childhood plastic Easter bunny hidden away in storage and sent it in the mail to me. He/she now sits next to my favorite bible commentaries on my book shelf throughout the year.

Now, I don't offer this picture of my plastic Easter bunny to show off or anything like that. I wanted you to meet him/her to show that the wonder of Easter never leaves us no matter how old we are. I can still picture him/her lying in my Easter basket filled with jelly beans year in and year out without fail when I was a kid.  Even in my middle age years, he/she continues to remind me of our time together so long ago 

Every year when we celebrate Easter and Jesus' victory over sin and death, we are reminded that Easter hasn't left us. It's a celebration that we can enjoy not just on Easter Sunday, but every day.

If my plastic Easter bunny could talk, he/she would say, "Attend an Easter worship service at a church near you!" If you come to the church where I serve, that would be 7:30 am, 9:00 am, and 10:30 am. 

So, when I got my Easter bunny in the mail last year, I popped opened his head and noticed that there are 1960's jelly beans still in his body waiting to be consumed. If you want some, hit me up. 

Happy Easter, every bunny!

Easter Thoughts - Sharing the Good News

     Last year while on vacation, I met a little four-year old girl who lives next to my niece’s house. She was one of the most outgoing four year olds I have ever met.

     Even though she had just met us for the first time, she engaged us in a conversation that was quite impressive for a four year old. As she was talking with us, her mother told her to tell us about the bug. “Tell them about the bug you saw.”

     The little girl’s face looked really sad as she described in great detail about this bug that looked like it was going to die. We were all wondering why she was telling us this very sad story.

     All of the sudden, her eyes lit up and she began jumping up and down with great joy. “But then it turned into a butterfly! It did! It really did! It turned into a butterfly!” I don’t think I’ll ever forget the excitement in her voice as she told us about the dying bug that turned into a beautiful butterfly.

     As we approach Easter and the good news of the empty tomb, I think of this little girl who was so excited to share her story of life over death with us. May we do the same.

C'mon Christians. Admit It. The Resurrection of Jesus Is Difficult to Believe

OK, if we're honest, Easter and the resurrection of Jesus accounts in the gospels are very difficult to believe. I have found that most Christians simply believe it to be true because this was taught to them throughout their lives and they've never questioned it.

There's something beautiful about passing on the faith from one generation to another, but it doesn't mean that we shouldn't ask questions or express doubts.  Easter is much too big and important for us to just say that we shouldn't ask questions about it and accept it by faith. Yes, faith is central to our approach to the biblical stories and especially in how we approach the resurrection accounts, but we also need to perform a reality check with our biased worldviews.

1st Century Judaism Worldviews: These varied from there will be no resurrection of people from the dead to yes, this will happen but not until the end of the age when all of God's people will be bodily resurrected.

21st Century Western Worldview: A secularist worldview provides little to no room in allowing for a belief in the resurrection account.

What if we set aside our worldviews and with an open mind examine the resurrection of Jesus from a sociological/historical perspective? This is what New Testament bible scholar, N.T. Wright has done. Listen to his explanation of the resurrection and how it all ties in with our preconceived worldviews of what is possible and what is not possible. A big thanks to Scot McKnight for reminding me of this perspective.

Bob Dylan's Picture of the Second Coming

Recently during a lecture, New Testament scholar, Tom Wright sang the Bob Dylan song, "When the Ship Comes In" to help give us an idea what that future time will be like when Jesus returns and sets up his gracious and loving kingdon over all creation.  A big thanks to Thomas McKenzie for sharing this.  During this final week of the Easter season leading up to Pentecost Sunday, this song helps us to celebrate the glorious future that awaits us thanks to Jesus' life, death, resurrection, ascension, and second coming.  Come Lord Jesus, come!

Oh the time will come up
When the winds will stop
And the breeze will cease to be breathin’
Like the stillness in the wind
’Fore the hurricane begins
The hour when the ship comes in

Oh the seas will split
And the ship will hit
And the sands on the shoreline will be shaking
Then the tide will sound
And the wind will pound
And the morning will be breaking

Oh the fishes will laugh
As they swim out of the path
And the seagulls they’ll be smiling
And the rocks on the sand
Will proudly stand
The hour that the ship comes in

And the words that are used
For to get the ship confused
Will not be understood as they’re spoken
For the chains of the sea
Will have busted in the night
And will be buried at the bottom of the ocean

A song will lift
As the mainsail shifts
And the boat drifts on to the shoreline
And the sun will respect
Every face on the deck
The hour that the ship comes in

Then the sands will roll
Out a carpet of gold
For your weary toes to be a-touchin’
And the ship’s wise men
Will remind you once again
That the whole wide world is watchin’

Oh the foes will rise
With the sleep still in their eyes
And they’ll jerk from their beds and think they’re dreamin’
But they’ll pinch themselves and squeal
And know that it’s for real
The hour when the ship comes in

Then they’ll raise their hands
Sayin’ we’ll meet all your demands
But we’ll shout from the bow your days are numbered
And like Pharoah’s tribe
They’ll be drownded in the tide
And like Goliath, they’ll be conquered

Copyright © 1963, 1964 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1991, 1992 by Special Rider Music

On Your Mark. Get Set. Go!

On a beautiful sunny day before Easter Sunday, hundreds of children and their families visited our Crossroads facility to enjoy our annual Easter Eggstravaganza event sponsored by our Christian Education Special Events Team.  Our Magic Ministry Team wowed the crowd with another wonderful performance which included the story of the empty tomb.  The children were then invited to go outside for what they had been waiting for, the traditional easter egg hunt.

I took this picture to show how much fun the children had that day.  There was a whole other group of children looking for easter eggs on the other side of our facility. 

The good news of Easter and the empty tomb were evident throughout the event.  Thank you, First UMC, for reaching out to our community with God's love!
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Mount Pleasant Community Easter Sunrise Service Message

Delivered by Joe Clark, member of First UMC, Lancaster on Mount Pleasant,  Lancaster, Ohio

“The Greatest Love Story; Ever"

Good morning and Happy Easter!

Will you please pray with me:  We know where two or more of us meet in your name, Lord, that You are there also.  May the meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth be acceptable unto You., Lord. Amen.

When I think of the great love stories in history, these few come to mind: Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”;

Abigail and John Adams; you may not know this fact about our second President, John Adams.  When he was Ambassador to France, he wrote a love letter to his wife, Abigail every day.

Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning; you may remember her poem to her husband; “How Do I love Thee?  Let me count the ways. 

                             I love thee to the depth and breath and height

                             My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

                             For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

                             I love thee to the level of every day’s

                             Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.

                             I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

                             I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

                             I love thee with the passion put to use

                             In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s
                             faith.

                             I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

                             With my lost saints, I love thee with the breath,

                             Smiles, tears, of all my life!  and, if God
                             choose,

                             I shall but love thee better after death.

These love stories, as lasting and beautiful as they are, are pale compared to the Greatest Love Story Ever Told.  It started with the birth and life of Jesus Christ and the climax began with what we call Holy Week; Good Friday and Easter.  I would like to share with you my thoughts and my faith as it relates to this Greatest and most dynamic of ALL Love Stories.  It is the story that changed the world, and can change each of us if we accept God’s grace. 

To talk about the wonderful story of Easter, the greatest celebration in history would not be complete or as meaningful without briefly considering the prior happenings of Holy Week, especially Good Friday.

Good Friday wasn’t a good Friday for Jesus and His Disciples.  The same week that Jesus joyfully and triumphantly entering the City of Jerusalem, He was arrested, tried, convicted, tortured, scoffed at, crucified and buried.  Certainly WE wouldn’t call that a good week, that’s for sure.  After Jesus was arrested, His closet and best friends wouldn’t acknowledge Him.  None of them came to HIs defense or to support Him.  One of Jesus’ favorite disciples, Simon-Peter even went so far as to deny he knew Jesus; not once, but three times during the next few hours after Jesus was arrested.  Just as devastating, was the fact that one of His own disciples betrayed Him.  Needless to say again, this was not a good day for Jesus.  It is extremely difficult to imagine the injustice and the betrayal Jesus had to suffer, especially, to this kind and loving person who truly loved everyone, especially the social outcasts of His society, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the lepers and all the other forgotten people. 

It goes without saying, without the Good Friday experience, the crucifixion and Jesus’ resurrection, the following Sunday is just another day on the church calendar.       

Let’s go back to the first Good Friday.  I’m sure the Disciples were scared to death after Jesus was crucified.  The Disciples were best friends of Jesus; Jesus was also their leader, teacher and their Messiah, and to most of the Jewish people Jesus was expected to be the king who would end the Roman oppression; but now He was dead and buried.  What an incredible turn of events!  Most likely the Disciples were consumed with the fear that they would be hunted down, tortured and crucified as well being close friends of and devout followers of Jesus.

The Disciples obviously didn’t understand about the resurrection or  forgot what Jesus had told them about His death and eternal life.  Their leader is dead, there is no future for them.  That’s probably why the Disciples denied they knew Jesus and went into hiding.   I’m sure we would have done the same thing as well.  

Thank God we have been blessed with knowing . . ., as Paul Harvey would say, THE REST OF THE STORY.

Good Friday marks the beginning of the greatest love story ever.  And we are the benefactors of its truth.  On the third day after the crucification of Jesus, He rose from the dead and eventually ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God, the Father.  Because of Jesus’ resurrection, He took with him ALL the sins of the world, past, present and future; including mine and yours to be forgiven and forgotten, and the guarantee of life eternal in paradise.  Wow!  Can you believe it? 

Because of Jesus’ resurrection and His intercession with His and our Heavenly Father, we can experience an unimaginable peace and euphoric joy forever.  It is a paradise where God’s love is such that we are not capable of defining or imagining in our best of dreams.  In the Gospel of Luke, Chap. 23: Verse 42-43; one of the condemned who was being crucified with Jesus said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  And Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Also, it is God’s statement of truth to us in the Gospel of John Chap. 3, verse 16.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.”  Let me quote the Gospel of John again, . . .”For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.”  And in the Book of Romans, Chap. 5, Verse 8, the Apostle Paul said, “. . . God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”

As hard as we try, we are not capable of loving God like God loves us  because we are imperfect beings.  We are not capable of that kind of love.  Think about it.  Is your love for God great enough or so perfect that you would be able to give-up one of your children, let alone your ONLY begotten son or daughter as a sacrifice for the sins of the world?  I love God very much, but I also know my love for God is not such that I could give even one of my sons as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.  That’s what God did for us.

Should I or we be feeling ashamed of ourselves at this point?  NO!  I believe God does not expect us to sacrifice any one of our children to prove to God of our love for or our obedience to Him.  In the book of Genesis, Chap. 22, Verses 1-12, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac on a makeshift altar.  At the last minute as Abraham was about to stab Isaac on the altar as a sacrifice, God withdrew his command.  It was God’s test of Abraham’s obedience to Him.  And for Abraham’s obedience to God, the angel of the Lord said to him, “. . . by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, . . . .”

So, . . . what is God’s hope and expectation of us in return for His gift of unconditional love and grace?  The answer is found when Jesus states God’s two greatest commandments 3 of the 4 Gospels.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Chap., 22:  Verse 37, Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

And a second is like it:  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang ALL the law and the prophets.” 

It is OUR HEARTS that God wants.  It is the kind of love WE ARE capable of as imperfect beings; great love no doubt, but not the perfect, unimaginable and unconditional love God has for us. 

In the Gospel of John, Chap. 15:  Verses 9-11, Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.  I have said these things to you SO THAT MY JOY MAY BE IN YOU, AND THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE COMPLETE . . . .”

Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we can not only enjoy God’s incredible love, but there is another incredible gift of love from God.

It is HOPE!  The Hope that, we as sinful beings with all our warts, diseases, disabilities, shame and even death, can overcome all these and more.  We can become perfect beings and reside in a perfect place with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and our Heavenly Father.  That’s not all; we will be with all our family from all time as well as all our friends.  It will be heavenly where the environment will be a life of peace and joy forever and ever.  And all the people said, Praise the Lord. 

You might say at this point, how do we know, and I say to you because the Bible tells me so.  In 1st Corinthians, Chap. 15:  Verses 57 and 58;  1st Corinthians, Chap. 15:  Verses 57 and 58.  The Apostle Paul said this truth, . . . thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. . . .Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

Even today, after 2000 years, you and I can participate in the greatest love story ever.  Jesus said in His prayer to the Disciples, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  This love story is on-going and it will never end.  As far as God is concerned, every person in the story is the main character.  All we have to do is accept God’s grace and God will show us the way, the truth and the life through the life and teachings of His Son Jesus Christ.  I can’t say it too much; God loves you and me unconditionally. 

Go forth this day and celebrate God’s love and the truth of God’s forgiveness, and joy, and peace, and the hope of eternal life; and share this truth with everyone you meet.  This is no dress rehearsal! 

The forgiveness of our sins and eternal life through the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is God’s Easter gift to all of us.

Let us pray:  Our heavenly Father,  give us the faith and the strength of conviction to love you with all our hearts, and with all our souls and with all our minds and with all our strength and to love our neighbors at least as much as we love ourselves.  Give us strength and stamina to be your hands, your feet and your voice.  In Christ name and for his sake we pray.  Amen.

Scripture References:

John 3:16, Matt. 22:37-40, Luke 10:27, Matt. 26:39, Gen. 22:1-12, Mark 12:30-1, John 15 9-12, Matt. 6:9 and Romans, 5:8; 1st Corinthians, 15: 57-58.

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Easter Prayer

O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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Easter & the Creation Story

     Did you know that the gospel writer, John, is preoccupied with the days of the week?  It’s true.  The calendar is vitally important to him.

     John begins by telling us that the scene of that first Easter takes place on the first day of the week.  But does it really matter what day of the week it is?  It matters to John.

     If we look carefully at the Gospel of John as a whole, we notice that John’s Gospel is really a new interpretation of the seven days of creation in the Book of Genesis.  Whether or not we see those seven days as literal 24 hour days is not really the point for John.  The point is that each day of creation, however you define a day, is to remind us that God created the world and called his creation good.

    We remember that for the first five days of creation, Sunday through Thursday, God created the heavens and the earth, the sea, the dry land, the plants, the fish, the birds, and the animals.  When John begins his Gospel, he reminds us of the story of creation by using the same three words that are used to begin the Bible… “In the beginning…” 

     John gives us another detail that relates back to the creation story.  This detail comes later in his gospel when he tells us that Jesus appeared before Pontius Pilate on a Friday. We call this day, Good Friday.

     And it was on Good Friday, with Jesus standing next to him, that Pilate said these words about Jesus, “Here is the man.”  And if we remember from the Book of Genesis, it’s not until the sixth day of creation, that God creates humans, male and female.  And in creating man and woman on the sixth day, God’s design is for the man and the woman to care for creation wisely and lovingly and to help all of creation worship and honor God.   According to the Book of Genesis, that is what it means to be fully human.  To take care of creation so that all of creation will worship the Creator.

     By presenting Jesus to the people on Good Friday as the man, Pilate was unknowingly pointing to Jesus as the man who is the true living human embodiment of the Creator, God.  This is the man who has made the invisible God, visible. 

     To continue his seven days of creation motif, John carefully points out that Jesus was placed in a tomb on the Sabbath which is Saturday, or the seventh day of the week.  Just as God created the world in six days and then rested on the 7^th day, the body of Jesus will also rest in a tomb on the 7^th day. 

     And of course, all of this is leading up to John's account of Jesus' resurrection.  Up to this point, John has creatively woven the seven day creation story into the life and work of Jesus.        

     Just to summarize, he begins his Gospel with the words, “In the beginning” which are the same words which begin the Book of Genesis and then go on to tell the creation story.

     On Good Friday, Pontius Pilate presents Jesus to the people by saying, “Here is the man” which is a phrase that also takes us back to the Genesis creation story when God created man and woman on the sixth day. 

     And then on the Sabbath, the day that God rested after the six days of creation, Jesus’ body is taken from the cross, wrapped in linen cloths, and placed in a tomb to rest.

     By telling the life of Jesus in this way, John has covered each day of creation, and by doing so, helps us to see what he meant when he tells us at the beginning of his Gospel, “He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”  John wants us to see that Jesus and God are one.  Jesus is the full embodiment of God.  Jesus was with God when the world was created.  When we look at Jesus, we are looking at God.  That’s quite a powerful claim.  Jesus is God in flesh.  Maybe we need more convincing.

     John has taken us through the seven days of the creation story in telling us who Jesus is in his Gospel, but he still has one more day left.  On the Jewish calendar, Sunday is the first day of creation and is the first day of a new week which brings us back to how John begins the Easter story.  “On the first day of the week, very early, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark.” 

    Mary, grief-stricken, and somber, makes her way through the garden to find the place where Jesus had been laid to rest.  She will do what is appropriate to do on this day after the Sabbath.  She will pay her last respects to Jesus.

     This was supposed to be a day of mourning and a day to reflect on what could have been.  Hopes and dreams of a better world now crushed. Thrilling moments and mountain top experiences, now just a faded memory.  A relationship like no other relationship now ended.

     We’ve all been there, too.  We know what it’s like to face that first day of the new week, with that feeling of emptiness and despair. 

     The loss of a loved one.  A broken relationship.  Unemployment.  A broken dream.

     But time doesn’t stand still.  The next day comes.  There are pictures from the funeral still spread out on the kitchen table.  There are bills to pay, clothes to fold, the lingering uncertainty of what the future holds, the self doubt, and trying to decide where you will go from here.

     It’s the first day of the week.

     But this isn’t where John’s Gospel ends.  Because, it was while Mary was walking to the tomb early on the first day of the week, that to her amazement, she finds an empty tomb, and Jesus, risen from the dead.

     This is where the Gospel was headed all along.  First, with Jesus, present with God in the creation of the world.  Then, Jesus, the perfect image bearer of God offering his life for the sins of the world on the sixth day, Good Friday.  Jesus placed in an empty tomb on the seventh day, the Sabbath.

     And finally, we make it back to day one.  And on this day, Jesus is raised from the dead, the power of sin and death is broken, and new life and new hope bursts forth in ways we could never have imagined.

     What began as just another beginning to a new week, has for John, become a day of new creation. For the church, the surprising good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ has led to a renaming of this first day of creation, from simply being the first day of a new week, to what we now call, the eighth day.

     The eighth day of creation is the long awaited biblical hope for that time in the future when God would begin to make all things new.  This eighth day language, in referring to Jesus’ resurrection and Easter Sunday, is the church’s way of saying that a new day is dawning and hope is alive.  Death has lost its sting and new life is bursting forth. Every Sunday is a reminder that God’s work of new creation has begun because of Easter and the empty tomb. 

     And the good news of our faith is that the same Jesus who was present when the world was created and who died on the cross on the sixth day of the week, Good Friday; and who was laid in a tomb on the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week; is the same Jesus who rose again on a Sunday, now the eighth day; and who is present with us every single day.
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Easter Greetings from Bishop Bruce Ough, West Ohio Conference

An Easter Message from Bishop Bruce Ough, West Ohio Conference

Christ is risen!

Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name and spirit of the Risen Christ, and on behalf of the West Ohio Conference, I greet you in this glorious Easter season.

Easter defines Christianity. Paul writes clearly and boldly to the church in Corinth: "And if Christ wasn't raised, then all you are doing is wandering around in the dark, as lost as ever." (I Corinthians 15:17, The Message) If Christ is not risen, then our faith is worthless. But since Christ is risen, our world is redefined. The empty tomb is the geographic center of creation. The risen Christ is the focal point of history. The dark night is over. We are an Easter People!

Every Christian and every church should approach Easter and the entire Easter season as a sustained, explosive carnival of hope and joy. The author Frederica Mathewes-Green once received this letter from a Jewish friend at Christmas:
The big celebration in Christianity should be Easter. No Easter, no Christianity. So all the focus on Christmas, at least to me, seems misdirected. Why Christians don't whoop it up more at Easter is a mystery to me now. How inspirational! How joyful! That is the time to toast each other, lay on gifts, attend worship services, pack in the rich food. Something really substantial and holy to remember.
(from Easter Changes Everything)

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Dear West Ohio United Methodists, let the carnival of hope and joy begin. Celebrate Easter. Celebrate boldly, and loudly, and passionately. The resurrection of Christ is everything. Without it, humanity is lost forever, death wins, darkness prevails, and we are without hope.

And so I pray:

God of power and majesty, you have raised Jesus Christ and delivered him and us from death's destruction. Throughout this Easter season, continue to:
Threaten your people with resurrection,
Awaken them to new possibilities,
Kindle in them the fire of your love,
Grant them victories over sin and evil in their lives,
Open to them the gate of everlasting life,
Beckon them to proclaim the marvelous mystery of death and resurrection,
Renew their hope and joy, and
Claim them as your Easter People.
For all praise is yours, now and throughout eternity. Amen.

Bishop Bruce Ough
West Ohio Conference
Easter 2010

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The Easter Story - 1st Century Style

Dr. Tom Boomershine, my New Testament professor at United Theological Seminary taught that the gospels were originally told in story form. When you couple good story telling techniques with solid biblical scholarship on how the story should be told, you end up with a fresh hearing of the bible that can literally change your life.

I had Tom for both the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John. For the first class of the Gospel of Mark, Tom shared with us the Gospel of Mark by memory. It took him two hours to do this, if I remember correctly. He told us ahead of time, that he would probably make a few mistakes along the way, which he did, but he reminded us that storytellers in the 1st century had the same problem. But it's no big deal. You just keep going.

Through Tom's classes, I learned that how you express yourself when you read scripture reveals a lot about your theology and your interpretation of that particular passage.

So, here's Tom sharing the resurrection account from Mark's Gospel. Enjoy!