Weekly Bulletin

While the women were wondering [why the body of Jesus was missing from the tomb], suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.   In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?   He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”  Then they remembered his words.    Luke 24:4-8

 

But Thomas said to the disciples, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”  A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”  Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”  Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”      John 20:25-29

 

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.  More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead….  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.        I Corinthians 15:14-19

 

 

One of the hymns (a Gospel song, really) we will sing to celebrate Easter is He Lives, written in 1933 by a Presbyterian pastor named Alfred Ackley.  He told people that he wrote the song after a conversation with a young Jewish man who asked him, “Why would I worship a long-deceased Jew?”  Around that same time, Ackley was listening to a well-known preacher on the radio and heard him suggest that it didn’t really matter what happened to Jesus so long ago, “because God’s truth just goes marchin’ on.”  Undoubtedly aware of Paul’s words in I Corinthians 15 (above), Ackley was so distraught over what he heard that he sat down with a pen and paper and wrote what we now know as the hymn He Lives.  The closing line of the song’s chorus was his consistent testimony in response to people who doubted Jesus’ resurrection – “You ask me how I know He lives?  He lives within my heart.”

 

The Fulcrum of Faith History      One of the reasons Alfred Ackley was so upset by others’ denials of Jesus’ resurrection was probably that he knew Bible scholars considered the death and resurrection of Jesus to be “the fulcrum of faith history,” an eternal inflection point after which nothing would be the same.  It was the turning point John wrote about (John 1:17), that “the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”  The resurrection was the apex of God’s plan of redemption for fallen humankind, validating Jesus’ identity as God’s Savior and his teachings of the possibility and necessity of victory over sin and death. 
             Ackley knew the New Testament’s documentation of the change Christ brought to people’s lives.  He frequently cited the apostle Paul’s writings to describe how that change is implemented – “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20); “I pray that Christ will be at home in your heart by faith” (Ephesians 3:17); and “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).  Ackley also knew that a true witness of Easter’s meaning required more than knowledge of historical facts and warm feelings about them.  It had to be an authentic, personal reality – thus the line, “He lives within my heart.”

 

Words are Easy       In Acts 19, Paul was at Ephesus during his third missionary journey.  The Spirit of the Lord enabled him to perform many miraculous healings and to cast evil spirits out of people.  Some sons of a Jewish chief priest watched Paul work and decided to try doing an exorcism themselves, perhaps for financial gain or popularity.  They were careful to command the spirit to leave the man “in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches.”  The evil spirit retorted, “I know Jesus and I know about Paul, but who are you?”, and it caused the possessed man to give the chief priest’s sons a severe beating. 
            In a similar manner, it can be quite easy nowadays to celebrate Easter by proclaiming “Christ is risen” and singing that “He lives within my heart,” but what are we to say if someone asks us for evidence to back up those claims?  That gets a little more difficult, especially if we’re saying those things because it’s Easter, not because they are the “fountain of Living Water” that gives us life and is transforming our spirit and character every day to be more like Jesus.  As I have thought about it this Easter season, my answer regarding that request for evidence that Christ is risen and lives in my heart includes trust in the biblical record of eyewitnesses, the biblical and historical record of transformed lives, and my personal spiritual journey and experience of the Spirit’s faithful presence.  I will share examples from those categories who had/have a ready answer for how they knew/know Jesus lives.

 

Mary Magdalene (John 20:1ff)     John wrote that early on the morning of Jesus’ resurrection, Mary went to Jesus’ tomb, perhaps to help complete preparation of his body for burial, but also in sorrow and mourning.  She found the stone had been removed from the entrance, and Jesus’ body was gone.  She ran to tell Peter and John, and they ran to the tomb to see for themselves, then returned home.  Mary evidently had followed them back to the tomb, and there she encountered angels who asked why she was weeping.  Someone behind her repeated the question, and Mary answered thinking he was a gardener who might know where the body had been taken.  Then Jesus spoke her name, and joy returned.  He told her to go tell the disciples he had risen, and that she had seen him.  Matthew’s account of that morning (28:1-10) indicates that a few other women who followed Jesus closely also were there and had a similar experience.  How did they know he lives?  He knew their names; they knew his voice and saw his face; and he transformed their sorrow into joy.  Those evidences can be true for us today, too.
 
Cleopas and Friend from Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)     On the afternoon of the resurrection, two of Jesus’ followers who had been in Jerusalem that day and knew some of what had happened were walking the seven miles back to their village Emmaus.  Jesus unexpectedly joined them and entered into their discussion of the day’s dramatic events.  He ended up giving them a tutorial on God’s plan of redemption as it is written in their scriptures, and how the things they had witnessed that day fit into that plan.  When they reached Emmaus, they offered Jesus food and lodging for the night, but as he gave thanks and broke bread at the table, he revealed his identity to them and then suddenly disappeared.  They quickly headed back to Jerusalem in the dark to report to the disciples what they had experienced, marveling at the way Jesus made their scriptures understandable and alive.  How did they know he lives?  He taught them about himself from the scriptures and opened their eyes to his immediate presence.  Those evidences can be true for us today, too.

 

The Ten (Luke 24:36-43)    Luke recorded that as the Emmaus men told the disciples in Jerusalem about their time with Jesus on the road and at their table, he suddenly appeared with them and wished them peace.  Some in the room were frightened, thinking he was a ghost.  Jesus calmed their fears and proved his identity by showing them his crucifixion wounds and inviting them to touch him.  He asked them for a piece of fish to eat.  After he finished, he gave the disciples the same gift he had given Cleopas and his friend – he opened their minds to understand the scriptures regarding what they had experienced, and what was to come.  How did they know he lives?  He calmed their fears, gave them peace, welcomed their touch, and opened their minds.  Those evidences can be true for us today, too. 

 

Thomas   (John 20:24-29)   There is no clear explanation as to why Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples on that night after the resurrection.  Some think he was overwhelmed with sorrow, others that he was hiding somewhere else in fear of Jesus’ killers.  When the disciples met with him a few days later, they told him joyfully that they had seen the risen Jesus.  Thomas owned up to his doubt of their good news and said that unless he could actually touch Jesus’ wounds, he would not be able to believe he really was alive.  One week after the resurrection, the group was together again behind locked doors at the same house when Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst, again wishing them peace.  He went straight to Thomas, invited him to touch his crucifixion wounds, and urged him to “stop doubting and believe.”  Thomas could only reply, “My Lord and my God!”  How did he know Jesus lives?  The Lord named his doubt, provided the needed remedy, and asked him to grow in faith.  Those evidences that Jesus lives can be true for us today, too.

 

The Apostle Paul is the most logical non-eyewitness of the risen Jesus to illustrate people who knew that Christ was risen and alive.  Paul’s first encounter with Jesus was truly non-eyewitness – a blinding light from heaven stole his eyesight for three days, and Jesus’ voice boomed out of the heavens to introduce himself and call Saul to a new life of service to God’s kingdom.  In II Corinthians 11:23-12:10, Paul lists the many ways the living Christ was with him during dangerous travels, hostile audiences, shipwrecks, imprisonments and floggings, and countless other perils.
             The contemporary example of a non-eyewitness who had a ready answer to explain how he knew Jesus lived in his heart was our friend and mentor Stan.  We observed the 12th anniversary of his death this week, so he’s been on our minds.  Stan disciplined himself to cultivate the deepest friendship with Christ we have ever witnessed.  It would take a long time to listen to all the evidences that Christ ruled in his heart.  Such evidences can be true for us, too.

 

Our Personal Spiritual Journeys      As I reflect upon my own experience, it is difficult to recall a time when I didn’t know or didn’t care whether Christ had risen and was alive.  That doesn’t mean I’ve always honored that conviction, but I always knew he was waiting for me to let him live in and through me.  My awakening to living in his Spirit was in my late teens and early 20s when I had to start making choices about college, career, financial matters, marriage, and other lifetime decisions.  If you ask me how I know he lives in my heart, I will first tell you about the keen sense of Christ’s presence and teaching I experience when I awaken each morning.  Then I’ll tell you how all those choices over the years have been led by his Spirit — so long as I was willing to trust him and let him lead – and have resulted in a far more joyful, meaningful, fulfilling life than I could possibly have come up with on my own.  That is what Easter means to me, and how I know he lives in my heart.  I serve a Risen Savior…. who walks with me and talks with me as my Savior, Teacher, Lord, and Friend along life’s narrow way.  It’s a Way of life available to us all.  He is risen indeed.  Halleluiah!

 

–Ron Ferguson,  Easter Sunday 5 April 2026
 

 

1) How do you answer the question posed by the title of this devotional?

2) Which evidences of Christ living within you (underlined above) are most important to you?

3) Why was it important for Thomas to admit his doubt?  In what ways was Jesus compassionate to him?

4) Why do we get so consumed with things that are not eternal that we fail to recognize that Christ is with us?