The following is the manuscript that I previously used to record an Easter Sunday Morning message. It is a bit longer than a typical blog post for that reason. For those who would prefer to watch and listen to that message rather than read a 3,800 word manuscript, I’ve included the video on this page as well.

---

April 12th, 2020

Today I want to share with you the story of Easter.  I know most of us have heard all the parts of the story and know many of the events of Holy Week and Easter Sunday. But don’t turn off the TV or computer yet.  My goal for you today is not to know what happened on Easter, but rather, to understand what happened on Easter. While the Bible definitely contains information, its primary purpose is not to convey information.  It’s there to convey wisdom.  It’s not a textbook given to provide facts.  But rather a collection of stories, and poems, and letters written to guide us towards truth.  The Bible provides meaning to events in the world.  What Truth lies underneath that event? What role does God have in that story? What role do the people of God have in that story?  What is to be learned? What is to be confessed?  What is to be surrendered? Repented? Entrusted to God? What is revealed about who God is?  This is the purpose of the Bible.

And the primary way that the Bible does this is through the telling of stories.  Stories that we miss when we grab a verse or two and focus on that.  Stories that we miss when we have our own stories in mind already and need something to support what we already believe.  So while it is important today to know the information about what happened on Easter, it is so much more important to understand what the Bible tells us those events mean. 

As we begin, it’s important to state that Easter Sunday morning, the empty tomb is part of a larger story.  Yes it is a great thing that Jesus was killed and now he’s alive because we love Jesus or Jesus is on our side. But its bigger than that. Easter Sunday is a part of a story. 

It’s a story about a trial. And not just any trial. It’s a trial for the king.  And not just a trial for a king, but a trial for the kingdom as well.  There will be testimony from witnesses.  There will be evidence presented.  Arguments made.  A judgement will be declared by the ruler of that territory. 

So as we go through our Story today ask yourself this question:

 “Who is on Trial here?” 

Who is being accused?  Who is offering a defense?  Who is trying to keep their actions hidden? Who is the criminal?  And who is accusing them? Who is the witness who brings the crimes forward for all to see and to be judged? 

Our story begins today with a man named Judas who was a follower of Jesus.  He knew that the Jewish chief priests and teachers of the law wanted to get rid of Jesus, but were unable to do so while there were crowds around him.  The chief priests and teachers of the law, who were supposed to be the religious leaders, the holiest people of all God’s people, had to hide their actions, hide their motivations; they had to do their work in the dark of night instead of in the light of day.  And so, these religious leaders gave Judas 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus and allow them to carry out their plans quietly in the cover of darkness

The story continues to develop as Jesus prayed and went to a garden on the Mount of Olives.  It is there, while Jesus is praying and asking his disciples to pray, that Judas arrives with those wishing to secretly arrest Jesus. 

Peter, one of Jesus’ followers, quickly pulls a sword and attacks a guard.  Jesus heals the wound and instructs his followers not to fight.  So, this lynch mob of sorts comes to where Jesus is praying, looking to arrest an innocent man, and Jesus stops any fights, heals one of those who were there to get him, and then tells the religious leaders and their crowd to leave everyone else alone. 

Once Jesus calms things down on both sides, he calls out the motivations and methods of the chief priests and religious leaders.

You who are supposed to be the holy ones, the leaders of our nation’s faith and moral conscience, have come in secret in dark to do the work that you don’t wish others to know that you are doing. 

Jesus, having not committed any crimes, is then arrested and bound and led away to the High Priest’s house.  There Jesus is questioned and interrogated about what he has been teaching.  But rather than trying to explain what he had been teaching, he responded by contrasting the secret activities done by the religious leaders with his own behavior; further highlighting the difference between himself and them.

There are hundreds, even thousands of witnesses as to what Jesus taught and did.  Why the need for the secret arrest and interrogation?  His teachings were public. If they were exercising their authority as religious leaders and attempting to convict a false teacher, wouldn’t it make more sense to have the trial in daylight with all the witnesses who could confirm what was said?

Unless, of course, as Jesus knew and was calling out, this wasn’t about Jesus being a false teacher.  This wasn’t about being righteous and above reproach.  The secret interrogation wasn’t about discovering what Jesus was teaching.  It was a sham trial that had a purpose beyond investigating whether Jesus was teaching Torah correctly or not. 

The chief priests and religious leaders brought Jesus here to accuse him of crimes against God, but who isn’t it obvious who is sinning here? Who is looking like the criminal? 

---

So not only have they arrested Jesus in the secret of night to have a sham trial, but they respond to the truth that Jesus brings up with the use of physical violence.  And Jesus says, if I’m wrong, testify as to what it was I said wrong. But if you can’t testify what I’m saying wrong, you have no right to strike me. 

The religious leaders think they finally have heard enough to move forward with their false trial.  The Son of God question can function in two ways; for the Jewish crowd it would be a claim to divinity and being king of the Jews.  In the Roman world this would be a direct challenge to the Caesar.  Son of god was a title that was attributed to the Roman Caesar indicating their authority and power to rule came from a divine source.  And so, Jesus being the Son of God would upset the Jews, but more importantly, as the religious leaders believed, it was enough to make Jesus a traitor to the empire. 

After hearing this, they took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor of the region. They believed he would convict Jesus and have him executed.

They took Jesus to Pilate, but the religious leaders would not enter inside Pilate’s home because he was a gentile; a non-Jew.  Entering the home of a Gentile would make them unclean and they wouldn’t be able to participate in the Passover activities.    And just so we are all on the same page, for these chief priests and religious leaders, going into a gentile’s house made you unclean, but falsely arresting and accusing an innocent man was ok, holding a sham trial in secret with no witnesses was fine,  asking the rulers to execute an innocent man didn’t make you unclean.  Can you see the how terrible this story makes the religious leaders look?  Can you see the power dynamics at play here?

Remember our question from the beginning:  Who is on trial? Who is being accused of sinning against God or committing crimes?  Who is innocent and who is guilty of something? 

So they took Jesus to Pilate, because he had the power to execute.  And they wanted access to that power.

 But Pilate didn’t want to do anything with Jesus. 

In Luke’s version of this story, Jesus is sent to Herod next and he too found no guilt in Jesus.  Herod and his men mocked and harassed Jesus, but ultimately sent Jesus back to Pilate.

Pilate again says that he can find no guilt in Jesus, has Jesus beaten to see if that satisfies the religious leaders.   Pilate didn’t find anything wrong with Jesus, but was comfortable beating an innocent man if it might get rid of the religious leaders.  This is what justice is reduced to when the concern isn’t for the people involved but for those in power to keep and consolidate their own power.  If there was a religious uprising in Jerusalem, Pilate would be held responsible and removed from his position.  So, this appearance in front of Pilate was less about what was right for Jesus, and more about what was good for Pilate. 

And the Chief priests pulled out the trump card:

Remember, son of god was a name reserved for the emperor of Rome.  Not only was Jesus being accused of being king of the Jews, but claiming to be ruler of the empire!

So Pilate asked the religious leaders again what they wanted him to do with Jesus.  They shouted that they wanted Jesus crucified. Pilate was hesitant to get in the middle of this situation.  He knew it was clearly a matter for Israel and didn’t really have anything to do with him. 

At the same time a man named Barabbas, who had been arrested for committing murder, was released because the crowd demanded it. An innocent man is set for execution. A murderer is set free.  Everyone who hears this story knows this is wrong.  This isn’t justice.  This system of power is broken.  It is visible to everyone.   

So, in our story right now, who is on trial?  Who looks like the ones who should be judged?

 What is revealed is the unspoken collusion between the religious leaders and the rulers of the land.  The religious leaders had access to power and control because of their relationship with Rome.  The Roman empire had a strong influence over the people of Israel because it controlled its religious leaders. 

While the people of Israel were desperately seeking God to show up and change their circumstances, the Roman empire and the religious leaders we’re working together to maintain the status quo. The hope of the people was a revolution; a dramatic change in who was ruling. The current rulers were willing to work together to hold on to their power, even at the expense of their own people; even at the expense of their own integrity; even at the expense of their own souls. 

So, Jesus is set to be crucified, not because he did anything wrong, let alone deserving of being executed, but because men with power wanted to maintain that power regardless of who got in the way.

While on the cross Jesus speaks a few final words.  He asks God to forgive the people who did this to him.  He creates a new relationship between John and Mary making sure they knew they were family.  He declares his trust in God.  And then he dies.  The devious plot has reached it conclusion. Life goes back to normal for the religious leaders and for Pilate.

Jesus spoke his final words, breathed his last breath and then died. The Bible says that despite Pilate and the religious leaders offering a judgement on Jesus, witnesses to this whole thing also came to their own conclusions:

A Roman military leader who witnessed this whole series of events pronounced his opinion that Jesus was righteous or as other translations put it, Jesus was innocent.  But this isn’t just about Jesus being innocent. 

If you asked that centurion on that day who was the criminal and who was the godly one, what would his judgement have been?  And to some extent, we are all meant to be the centurion at this point.  After witnessing this story unfold, what conclusions are we coming to?  What judgement are we making?  There is judgement and condemnation in this story, but it is not against Jesus.  But against the ones who executed an innocent man.  

But the story isn’t finished yet.

In a final act of hypocrisy and perversion of religious values, the Jews wanted to have Jesus’ legs broken to speed up the process of dying on a cross.  (They didn’t know Jesus was dead already.) On a cross you die when the weight of your own body prevents you from breathing.  When your legs are broken you can’t support your body weight.  You die faster.

 The reason the Jewish leaders wanted to speed up the process with Jesus is because they didn’t want his body up there on the sabbath.  It would have been inappropriate to leave and forbidden to remove it on during sabbath. 

 Again, making sure we’re on the same page: according to these men, having an innocent man executed because his teaching could upset your position of power is fine.  Leaving that innocent man’s dead body on the cross during the sabbath would have been unthinkable. 

Who is on trial in this story?  Who is being judged?

And then Sunday morning comes. The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive. He is risen! 

Remember how I started this story?  I said:

It’s a story about a trial. And it’s not just any trial. It’s a trial for the king.  And not just a trial for a king, but a trial for a kingdom as well.  There will be testimony from witnesses.  There will be evidence presented.  Arguments made.  A judgement will be declared by the ruler of that territory. 

So, as we go through our Story today ask yourself this question:

 “Who is on Trial here?” 

Let’s work backwards through those statements. 

Who is the ruler of this territory?  Depends upon who you asked.  The religious leaders confessed that they served no king but Caesar. He was the one who ruled and to which they were appealing to.  Jesus told Pilate in John 19:11:

“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” 

 Who is the ruler of all?  God the Father is supreme authority over all the earth.  The Bible affirms this time and time again.  God has dominion over all of heaven and earth.  He is the one to weigh the evidence and declare a judgement. And he does.    

A judgement is declared: and the verdict is: guilty! Of course, Jesus isn’t declared guilty, but Jesus wasn’t on trial with God. Jesus may have been on trial with the religious leaders or with Pilate, but Jesus went to Jerusalem not to be tried, but to be a witness for the prosecution against the rulers of the kingdoms of the world. He went as a witness that presented evidence before the Judge. He went to reveal the corruption in the hearts of those who rule this kingdom.  He went to demonstrate that purity of heart and soul was actually viewed as a threat to these men.    He went to proclaim the truth about what God was really like, about what God’s kingdom was really like, about the proper way to wield power. He went to confront and accuse the corrupt religious rulers and the unjust governmental rulers who both claimed divine authority to their positions. 

Jesus came to proclaim the truth about who God is and what God’s kingdom is like.  He came to proclaim the truth about the corrupted kingdoms of this world. He came to teach us the difference between the path that leads to death and the path that leads to life. 

What evidence did Jesus present?  Jesus bore witness to their sins with his very own body. Without warrant or cause, they arrested him, slapped him, flogged him, mocked him, and crucified him. The abuse he endured was exhibit A in his case against the kingdoms of this world.  His wounds were the evidence presented in this trial. 

Who was on trial?  The rulers of the worldly kingdoms were on trial.

The systems built upon power, wealth, control, through injustice and oppression were drug out from the darkness and into the light for all to see as they did to this man who was without sin what they always do.  The ugliness and depravity of the kings and kingdoms of this world were laid bare in front of God and everyone else.   And after reviewing all the evidence God came back with a verdict: Guilty.  Guilty of such brokenness and evil. Guilty of corrupting God’s good creation.  Guilty of oppressing and committing acts of violence against people in their efforts to satisfy their lust for power and control.  Guilty of idolatry; they were clearly worshiping a different god than the one that was revealed in Jesus.

The guilty verdict arrives as God says yes to Jesus. Jesus promised a hope that God was a God of true justice and that God would not only punish those who did wrong, but would make right the wrongs that were done.  This is seen immediately in the resurrection of Jesus.  The injustice that Jesus incurred was overcome by Jesus being raised from the dead. 

Jesus taught that the ways of God and God’s kingdom lead to life. Whoever tries to save his own life will in fact lose it.  But whoever loses their life in the pursuit of Godliness will receive true life. 

Was Jesus telling the truth about God?  The empty tomb is the indicator that Jesus was telling the truth.  Jesus said a day would come where the evil of the world would be overcome by righteousness.  Light would overcome darkness. Life would overcome death.  The empty tomb and the resurrected Jesus reveal that Jesus wasn’t just rambling on with some wishful thinking or inspirational rhetoric. But Jesus spoke the truth about God.  Everything Jesus said was true and the resurrection was the proof. 

The kingdoms of this world, and their claims of divine authority, their claims that this is how God wanted it to be, the claims that the those who had the most power, the most wealth, and the most might, were the favored, the blessed, were all proven to be lies. 

Jesus went to Jerusalem to confront their corruption and abuse of God’s creation. God weighed all the evidence and the resurrected Jesus is God’s announcement of judgement on the kingdoms of this world.  It is God’s demonstration that final judgement and ultimate authority rest in Him alone. 

And so, the empty tomb is great because we love Jesus and we’re glad he came back to life.  It’s great because his followers needed to see him again.

But Easter Sunday morning is such a big deal because Jesus settles once for all what God is like.  Jesus spent his earthy ministry teaching us what God was like, and in the resurrection we see that we can put our trust in Jesus.  We can put our faith in Jesus.  We can follow the way of Jesus fully confident that it is the way that God wants us to live.  We can follow the ways that lead to life and avoid the ways that lead to death. We can know what God’s kingdom is like here and now and we can begin to live in it.  We can clearly see the difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. Then we can choose in which kingdom we wish to be a citizen.  Jesus reveals God to us in such a way that we can know God in a deeper way.  We no longer have to be lost. We no longer have to be ruled by the kingdoms of this world, but can clearly see the kingdom of God and enter into the abundant life that is there. 

So for this Easter I want for you to hear the story and know this:  What Jesus said was true.  You can trust in Him. You can put your faith in Him.  You can find salvation in Him. The rulers of the world used all their power and might to arrest, judge, condemn, judge, and execute Jesus.  They killed him, buried him, and believed that the story was over as the stone was rolled in front of the tomb. 

But His story was not over. Jesus is not still dead.  He is Risen!  He is Risen indeed!

---