What Are You Reading? – Slow Down

well hello and happy monday morning i hope that you had a wonderful easter yesterday and this morning we're actually going to jump into john chapter 20 and look at the events after easter we're going to look at the events after jesus now it's still on easter morning but we're going to look at the events after Jesus comes out of the tomb. And so this was something that I found kind of fascinating as I realized that Jesus is never in a rush. You would think that he would be in a rush or in a hurry because he's got a limited amount of time, but as with his ministry, Jesus is never in a rush. So why do we rush? And so where I want to jump in, like I said is John 20 and this is after he has spent some time he's he's revealed himself to Mary Magdalene and then John and Peter ran to the tomb and they noticed that he was not there and then he comes and in verse 19 he reveals himself he comes to the disciples it says John 20 19 it says on the evening of that first day of the week when the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. And after he said this, he showed them his hands and sighed. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again, Jesus said, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. And with that, he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. And so what that kind of what kind of stood out to me this um this morning was that in verse 19 it says on the evening so it's been an entire day i mean can you imagine the conversations that the disciples were having um you know mary magdalene has seen the seen the lord and peter and john were at the tomb they know his body is not there can you imagine the discussions that they were having throughout the day and then all of a sudden jesus shows up and so we know that some of these discussions were happening, but Christ was not in a rush. He was not in a rush to reveal himself immediately that day, but he did that evening. And then we know he's not in a rush again, because in verse 24, we get a discussion from verse 24. Let me see my verses here. Yeah, it says in verse 24, Thomas, you know, he's doubting that this has even happened, it has happened. But then in verse 26, It says a week later, his disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. And that's when Jesus comes again and he says, peace be with you. So for an entire week now from the other gospels, I didn't find the time this morning to look through on the whole timeline of everything. I don't remember exactly when it is that Christ is on the road with the two disciples. I need to relook at that timeline. But for this instance, with his disciples, with the original disciples that are in that room, they have to wait an entire week. Can you imagine the joy and the anticipation and the waiting and the excitement of knowing Christ is risen and yet you're still waiting for him to appear? And he said, peace, have peace, rest, rest in this, rest in this situation. It made me wonder about each of the members up there. mean each of the disciples but then also i mean was mary up there mary the mother of jesus and she lost it's just to think about the suffering that they all went through because there is suffering and watching somebody else suffer their suffering of being helpless and for having gone through that entire experience and watching it's traumatizing watching somebody go through that and i can't even imagine the extent to which christ went through i believe it's tenfold of what we can even grasp or imagine and then so to experience that and then to know that he is risen i mean they had they had witnessed lazarus be raised from the dead and yet they're waiting on christ and so then he appears that evening he appears that evening to all of them and then he's gone and then they're waiting for another week and he comes back and so can you just imagine the joy and the anticipation for that entire week that the disciples had just I mean the discussions of like do you remember when he said this or when he said that and those kinds of things it makes me think of those bible studies when the conversations just keep going and you can't stop and so my encouragement this morning it's not as much deep scripture based but to just take a moment to have peace in whatever situation of life you are in whether it's a season of waiting a season of excitement a season of suffering whatever it is to just be at peace peace be with you that's found in Christ and then to just take a moment to not rush that's one of my my like Achilles heel is to just jump from one thing to the next and to instead just wait upon the Lord and just wait for him to arrive because he's never in a rush. So my word, my two words for today are to just slow down, to slow down, but in the slowing down, to just fully immerse myself in the joy that Christ is risen. Good Friday happened. Praise the Lord, it happened. But he is risen and he is risen. indeed. And so that is just something to be excited about. And don't let the excitement of Easter Sunday diminish as we are now on Monday. Let that excitement continue today and just rest in it, be excited about it, and let joy overflow all the more. So I hope that you guys have a wonderful Monday. Remember to slow down today to thank God for Jesus and his sacrifice and for defeating death and um just slow down be at peace and um just like the disciples just spend time contemplating and remembering everything that christ has done for you and simply be excited about it so thanks so much and i hope you guys have a great monday

Originally published at warren.church.