Bible passage Ephesians 5:8-4 (22nd March, Lent 4)
Ephesians 5 14 Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
It’s time to wake up.
I started my working life as a farm working man. We used to start work a daylight and pretty much would work till dark. … Many times I was woken up with the boss banging on the door telling me it was breakfast time It was always a bit of a shock especially when your feet hit the cold cement floor, mind you cement was a bit of extra luxury!
There is an urgency in this reading which we should not miss.
As we approach Easter, we will naturally be thinking and talking about resurrection. In today’s world resurrection can mean any number of things but in the ancient world it meant only one thing. The Greek word for Resurrection is ANASTASIS which means, “to stand up again’, in other words it envisioned a bodily presence, it meant bodies! So for both Jews and pagans broadly speaking it held this single meaning. But it never meant a disembodied soul or spirit.
Because of that for the pagans (the non Jews) they knew that resurrection was not possible. …They did believe in eternal life but it was a life that had no sense of the physical. Plato the great ancient philosopher looked forward to death because of the belief that death released from the physical body the immortal soul which then flew away to eternal freedom.
Jews never held such beliefs. When Paul spoke to Athenians they listened intently because they loved to discourse but as Acts 17 recalls, Acts 17:32 32 When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
For the Jews, the idea of resurrection, of standing up after death had by the time of Jesus had become a significant part of Jewish culture. Not that anyone expected Jesus to be resurrected after his crucifixion. The idea of a single individual was not part of their thinking. They looked forward to the Day of the Lord and on that day the dead would rise. They looked to passages like Ezekiel 37:” can these dead bones live again”. No one believed that a lone person would stand up after dying.
You will remember the story in Luke of the walk to Emmaus, when they were talking to the risen Jesus, though they didn’t know it was him said sorrowfully. We had hoped that he would be the one to redeem Israel Luke 24:21 So the resurrection that we celebrate at Easter was not part of their mental set. Not even close.
Now we have skimmed a very much debated picture by people who have written books about this subject but it does bring us directly to our text for today. Paul is battling to help his people to understand that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead and a new era has begun. This then ushers in a completely new perspective on the future.
We need to wake up and realise.
1]. A new era has begun. With the resurrection of Jesus life has changed. No one in human history has had such a dynamic influence on the world. Yes it is polarised, some oppose, some ignore some accept but all have been affected and we need to wake up to what has really happened. A new era has begun.
2]. This change is brought about solely by the power of God. This did not happen by chance but through the planning and power of God. His power alone raised Jesus from death. Acts 2:24 & 1 Corinth 6:14
3]. Forgiveness, peace & strength for daily living is given to believers now. Romans 8:1-2; 1 John 3:2: Phil 4:12=13
4]. The future is assured. The fullness of the Kingdom is coming. Romans 8:19-23 Ephesians 4:4 & 3:14-19
Thus there is no need to live in fear for the true future belongs to Jesus Christ, we need to wake up now and know that Jesus lives and has accomplished everything that we need for full and fruitful living.
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