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CHOCOLATE EGGS OR JESUS

There’s a great Bible anecdote told in Pastor Adrian Rogers’ book, Believe in Miracles But Trust in Jesus. He plays off the story found in Mark chapter two, where a paralyzed man is getting a free ride — courtesy of four friends — over to a crowded house where Jesus is preaching. Maybe you remember how they toted this guy up on the roof and let him down through the shingles and rafters on a sheet. But this is before. They’re lugging him through the streets of Capernaum; each friend has one corner of the stretcher.

And the man in the bed moans to himself: “Oh, what’s the use of this? Jostling me around for nothing. It ain’t gonna do any good. I’m totally paralyzed. Even this Jesus can’t help me.”

And one of the four friends pipes up, “Well, look, I was blind, and I’m able to see now. Jesus healed ME.”

And the man gives a feeble little nod. “Yeah, sure, but that was just your eyes. I’m paralyzed all over.” And they go a little farther and the moaning starts up again. “Poor me. What a waste. There’s no chance. Might as well turn around.”

And a friend holding up the second corner tells him: “Hang on there. Look at this arm of mine. It used to be withered, man. I couldn’t do a thing with it. You can read my story in Luke chapter six, how Jesus made my arm well.” But the man in the stretcher just shakes his head, which is the only part of him that still moves. “I know, I know. But that’s just your arm. One arm. My whole BODY is out of whack. There’s no way I’m going to get well. No way at all.”

And the third man tries to help out. “Don’t be discouraged. I was stone deaf, and Jesus was able to make me well. I’ve got 20-20 hearing now.”

But all these testimonials don’t do a bit of good. “Give it up, guys,” the invalid man moans. “I don’t think Jesus did heal your ears, because you’re not hearing me. And so what if He did? That’s just your ears. I’m COMPLETELY wasted. From head to toe. Internally. Externally. Every system in my body has shut down. How in the world can Jesus go from your little miracles to healing a case like ME?”

And finally Stretcher-Bearer #4 has just had enough. He drops his friend right down in the street and shouts at him, “Hey, fella! Enough weeping already. My name happens to be Lazarus, and Jesus raised ME up from being DEAD!”

And Pastor Rogers puts in his book: “End of discussion!”

But I want to join this gifted preacher and writer in taking us to a new level of thinking here on Friday. We’ve spent four days now on the radio series: EASTER: TURNING THE CORNER. And what an incredible realization that this Person named Jesus Christ really DID conquer death. That He came out of the tomb on Sunday morning, bringing with Him the guarantee that people just like you and me can defeat death as well. Friend, that is absolutely HUGE, and that is also absolute REALITY.

But here’s the danger. We can read a story like this one, and just count down the miracles. A man gets new eyes. A new arm. New ears. A whole new body, even. And Lazarus even gets a new life — the miracle of resurrection. And we might say: “Unbelievable! I want these things. Better eyesight. Better hearing. No more rheumatism.” And of course, who would pass up a new LIFE, or eternity, if it was offered?

But the sobering point is this: friend, more important than to want these wonderful THINGS — even if they’re gifts from Jesus Christ — is to want Jesus Christ Himself. New eyes are not important; JESUS is important. Long life, as good as it is — eternal life, as glorious as IT is — is not as important as having Jesus.

Dr. Rogers makes this very point a bit earlier in the book:

“Here is the message in the miracle,” he writes. “Jesus put it right on the line before He even raised Lazarus from the dead: ‘I am the resurrection, and the life.’ JESUS is the answer to the problem of death. This is why I will repeat again: believe in the miracle, but trust in Jesus.”

I guess as we move into Easter weekend, and go to our respective churches this weekend, we could look with a bit of disdain at those for whom the holiday stays on the level of eggs and bunnies. We’re way above that, aren’t we? So, good for us. But isn’t it possible to go to church, and worship, but still just kind of be SETTLING for a bit of religion? An hour with stained glass on all four sides of us and good choir music?

Or maybe we want BLESSINGS. Maybe YOUR eyes are bad, or your heart. Or you have breast cancer. It’s perfectly acceptable to go to church this weekend and fall to your knees in prayer. God is there for you, friend. But if we allow Easter to be just a time where we want chocolate eggs, or better vision, or a better marriage, or a new heart, OR EVEN ETERNAL LIFE . . . but don’t seek JESUS . . . then we’ve missed the true meaning of Calvary and Easter.

Jesus Himself said, over in John chapter 14:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

We’ve said before that if this statement isn’t true, then it’s being said by the most egomaniacal, foolish man on the planet. Of course, if it IS true, Jesus would have no choice but to clearly give us that information. But friend, if you want to live again beyond the tomb, if you want the blessings and the miracles, then you need to move BEYOND those things and seek the Man who has them for us. His name is Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful thing it is when we learn to seek Him just because of HIM – and not for the Easter baskets and the Christian candy.

And you know, Jesus want so much to give us all of it. Good eyes and ears and hearts, yes. Eternal life, yes. But friend, He wants to come down right now, even before Easter, and be a part of your LIFE. Right now. I like this paragraph from Dr. John Stott’s incredible book, The Contemporary Christian, which we’ve borrowed from many, many times. This is out of a chapter called “The Relevance of the Resurrection.”

“We are always in danger of trivializing the gospel,” he writes (speaking of Easter baskets), “of MINIMIZING what God is able to do for us and IN us. We speak of becoming a Christian as if it were no more than turning over a new leaf, making a few superficial adjustments to our usual patterns of behavior, and becoming a BIT more religious.”

We mentioned that the other day. “Oh,” we say, “this is good. I’ll be more honest on my taxes. I’ll be good to my neighbor. And since it’s Easter, I’ll try to make it to church.” We think Christianity is just EDGING toward goodness. Stott blows that away, though, as he continues. Notice:

“Then scratch the surface, crack the veneer, and behold! underneath we are still the same old pagan, unredeemed and unchanged. But no, becoming and BEING a Christian according to the New Testament is something much more RADICAL than this. It is a decisive act of GOD. It is nothing less than a resurrection from the death of alienation and self-centeredness, and the beginning of a new and liberated life. In a word, the same God of supernatural power, who raised Jesus from physical death, can raise US from SPIRITUAL death. And we know He can raise US because we know He raised HIM.”

You know something? That just gives me goosebumps. Friend, this is what Easter is all about! God the Father raised up His own Son from DEATH! Jesus walked right out of a TOMB; now THAT is CHANGE! That is historic! And this same Father says to us, “Hey, this same kind of power is what I want to bring right down and fill YOU up with too! Let Me rebirth you, let Me remake you, let me revitalize you.” If God can burst open cemeteries with just one angel, is He really going to be content — are WE really going to be content — with slightly improved EYESIGHT? Don’t we want the total package, the total gift? Don’t we want Jesus Himself, and all that He brings with Him?

We happened to notice that Queen Elizabeth turns 78 in a few days. And really, don’t spend your last shillings buying her an expensive present, because Her Majesty is personally worth something in excess of eight BILLION dollars.

I suppose if we asked real nice, she might send you and me both a check for five pounds. Or euro-dollars. Maybe an autographed picture from Buckingham Palace. But wouldn’t you rather be a part of the royal family, and receive it all? To be in line to be a king or queen yourself one day, and reach full potential? And of course, even here we can get stuck on the eight billion dollars, and not sense how completely and totally God wants to make you and me into royalty, into something that makes dollars and euro-dollars shrink down to zero.

Friend, all you have to say . . . is yes. I’ve done it. I want it all, but most of all: Jesus. And it takes just the one word: YES. What if you were to say it too? Right now? It would certainly make today . . . a good Friday.