By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
April 27, 2025
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John 20:19–31 (ESV)
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Last week I probably did not deliver the expected Easter message. I did not cry out multiple times that Jesus is Risen! I did this because that first day of Resurrection was a day of confusion. It was a day where Jesus’s friends had to wrestle with knowledge. They were told that he would rise, and they believe the words that Jesus spoke. And yet they were wrestling with their own knowledge of the world around them.
We wrestle, we struggle. Life is often difficult because we face challenges from every direction. Maybe it is my personality but I seem to dwell in the mindset of struggle. That is my default position, I often find myself in the middle of situations and I do not even know how I got there. When I was in management in retail, I was placed in a store that was struggling, it was probably the single store that struggled the most. On the outside it may not have seemed like it, because we were selling merchandise like any other store, but behind the scenes there were problems. Thousands of dollars were misplaced. Large value items were missing with no explanation. Management seemed to be in chaos, the facilities were inadequate for volume of retail flow. Everything seemed in shambles, it did not only seem that way it was that way. I would spend nearly every waking moment working. And it seemed as if I go no where. I was once visited by my market manager and we walked around the store for an hour and he did not speak a single word to me. He would go look at a report and grunt. He would talk question one of the administrative staff, I would try to comment along with them and he would shoot daggers out of his eyes as he turned to me, and grunt again. For an hour this went on, and I walked with my notebook waiting for some directive or mention of what to do to improve the situation. We got to the front of the store, and he final said a word, “Your store is terrible.” And he left. He used words that I cannot repeat in church, but I got the full picture.
This place was in the midst of a struggle and no one knew how to get it out of that position. I was there for two years, and faced complete management changes nine times. And at the end of those two years, every problem that faced the store was placed on my shoulders because I was the only manager that had been there for a year. And I was unable to provide documentation of what we were attempting to do. I had never felt so small. But the worst part is that the reason the documents were unavailable is because we were not allowed to purchase office paper, and everything was to be saved on our computer. And a week before our inventory, my computer crashed. I had everything saved on an external hard drive, but it could not be accessed because the IT Department had not finished setting up the security protocols.
With all of the turmoil going on at that store, things did improve. One of the market managers that covered the area, would often come and just sit in my office doing her reports. I asked her once why she did that because she was touring my store, or giving me any instruction or performing disciplinary action. And her answer was interesting. She said to me, “your office is peaceful. You know your store is chaotic, and things are slowing changing. Everyone is on edge and stressed out, but I can come into this office in this terrible store and it is peaceful and I can focus.”
Life is filled with struggles and stress. That is where we found the disciples last week. The women among them had left early to anoint the body, but there was no body to be found. Then two angels came and stood with them asking them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?” They were confused because everything in them wanted to believe that he had risen just as he said he would, yet they had just lived through the most traumatic event of their lives. They watched an innocent man was imprisoned, tortured, and executed. They watched this. It was not just some random person within society where they could jeer saying, “he probably did something. I don’t know what but there was probably a good reason for this to happen to him.” The jeers that most people could find comfort in, were not available to them because they knew. They knew Jesus, and they watched, unable to do anything as the systems of the world came crashing down on one man. With the justification, “It is better for one man to die than lose a nation.”
Is it better? Can we live with ourselves when we take a step back and look at the humanity of those around us? In the abstract sure. But what if it was your friend that was wrongfully accused? What if it was your son or daughter who was whipped? Can we remain at ease with our justifications when we know the life and lifestyle of the accused?
They were living in chaos. They wanted to believe. They wanted to hope. They wanted to praise yet their experience dictated something different in their minds. How can I speak out against the brutality of the empire? How can I speak up when everyone I know seems to be satisfied with what is going on around us? How can I think it is wrong when those that have authority justified it?
Imagine what you would do in that situation. Imagine if you had been visited by angels who seemed almost annoyed that you did not have the faith to sing praises at the sight of the empty tomb. Imagine.
The disciples were doing the very thing most of us would have been doing if we had found ourselves in that situation. They sat in a room with the doors locked, because they feared the Jews. John is often ridiculed for statements like this. Many have said that John is giving justification for antisemitism. But we need to remember the context. Scholars debate about when the various books of scripture were written but they all agree that John’s was the last of the four. The people that first followed Jesus had Hebrew heritage, so when they say words like this there is a reason. They had experienced persecution at the hands these people. It was the religious leaders that handed Jesus over to Rome, it was the religious leaders that stoned their friends, threw them from the temple, and hunted them down. John is not being antisemitic he is being honest. They locked themselves in a room because the religious establishment might be looking for them. They had justified the killing of their teacher, the logical next step would be to find the remanent of his followers and kill them as well.
We know how they feel. Because there are countless times within our lives where we have felt the need to speak up, but remained silent because of fear. My classmates might laugh at me. My friends might think I am uncool. Maybe I have misread or misunderstood what is going on and I do not want to seem ignorant. Maybe I know what the response will be and I just do not want to hurt their feelings or cause a fight. We are silent out of fear, and our silence is submission. Our silence is quiet acceptance.
They sat in a locked room in fear. Their entire world had come crashing down and now the body of their teacher is missing and they are struggling to accept the implications of what that means. The angels said he has risen, but we watched him die, can a dead person rise on their own. Then Lazarus pipes in, “I was dead once.” and Mary and Martha respond, “Yes that is right he was dead, for days, and Jesus brought him back.” Then one of the twelves speaks up, “but Jesus was alive with power when he called out to Lazarus. Can he really do that if he, himself is dead?” Then I am sure someone probably told them to talk quieter because they thought they heard something. And they all sit again with their eyes fixed on the door and their ears straining to catch the shuffle of feet on the dirt just outside.
“Peace be with you.” a voice suddenly says in the silence.
Imagine the shock.
Imagine how many of the group had fainted.
Imagine how long it would have taken for you to catch your breath.
They were locked behind a closed door. And Jesus somehow was standing right there. He utters those words and then he rolls up his sleeves, and lifts up his shirt to show his hands and his side. I have not really thought about it too deeply, but Jesus says four words, and he immediately shows them these things. Why?
It is probably because they just sat there with their mouths open in stunned silence. Some of them probably had to be reminded to breathe.
Once they get their senses back and their faces begin to soften from terror to recognition, Jesus speaks again. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
Peace.
This is the word that my eyes kept falling on in prayer. My mind of course is hyper focused on this because I know that this world is currently not at peace. This word can be used in three different ways according to my theological dictionary. The first gives the sense of a treaty of peace. This means that there was some sort of physical conflict occurring between parties and they had come to terms. The second concept is to be at a state of rest. And the third is a peaceful attitude. I know you are not supposed to use the word to define itself, but this is a theological dictionary not grammar. Peace is without conflict so the point is this can be between multiple parties, either nations or individuals. It can be with your environment, or within yourself.
Usually, we look at the fear surrounding the situation. We see that the disciples are locked behind closed doors and we take the statement about peace from Jesus as being a peaceful attitude, or maybe calm down. But then I thought about the proclamation that was raised by the crowds on Palm Sunday. They cried out, “Peace in heaven.”
This caused me to pause this week. They are looking at the victim of the height of human injustice. Religious leaders threw this one man to the dogs, for what reason? To save the nation. The world’s leaders, used the power given to them to investigate the incident, and instead of giving justice, they decided to appease the crowd. And they mocked and tortured Jesus within an inch of his life. This was not enough so to ease the tension, so they listened to the masses and executed him. The idea was that if they are brutal enough the people will not revolt. They will submit, they will not speak up and will keep quiet to protect their own life. Jesus faced the full evil within the heart of humanity’s quest for power. In their desire to hold and maintain power they used violence and brutality to beat any resistance out of the population.
This is the way of the world. Humanity wants power, they want influence and prosperity. And often the way to gain and maintain this is to use force, or the threat of harm. Most of us do not face this in the physical sense, but we face it everyday in other aspects. How many of us go to work and have the threat of losing your job hanging over you? How many of us might lose a scholarship if we get a bad test score? What will happen if we forget a love one’s birthday or your anniversary? We constantly live under real and imagined threats. But then there are those that live under even more intense threats. A governor’s house is firebombed on passover. And there are people within this society that are genuinely fearful of a traffic stop because they know people that were stopped for speeding and ended up in the hospital or worse. We do not know the full story of every situation, but fear is often where we life. Because fear is the tool of the enemy.
Jesus stands before them. He shows them the marks of injustice. And he says, “Peace be with you.”
Could it be that this is more than saying “Chill out?” Could it be that Jesus is showing them that He has overcome the injustice we all feel and is telling them there is hope? There is peace between heaven and humanity?
At this point Jesus does something interesting. He breathed on them. What does this look like in your mind? When I was a child, I would read this and I thought Jesus was like a fire breathing dragon, or like superman blowing icy air onto the disciples with super breath. But then I began to learn about other cultures, like the hongi practice among the natives of New Zealand. Where when people greet one another they press their noses and foreheads together to share the breath of life. That is now what I picture as I read this passage. I see Jesus going to each of the disciples, pressing his head to theirs and sharing that intimate space.
He breathes on them and he then says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Peace be with you. Receive the Holy Spirit. My mind is transported back to the beginning of the human story. God breathed on you lifeless first parents and gave them life. He gave them the breath of life, and then he placed them into the Garden. What this poetic description is telling us is that we became the image bearers of God to creation. We became the image or physical representation of the divine being, and were placed within the temple dedicated to worship that deity. God set humanity as his image bearer, that is why he said do not make an image of anything and worship it as him, because he had already given us the bearer of his likeness. We are his image. And the breath that he gave our first parents was the Spirit living within them, giving them true life.
That life was lost when humanity joined in the spiritual rebellion and ate of the tree. In their desire to be like God knowing good and evil they turned away from God’s teachings and because of that turning, God’s spirit could not longer reside within us and we died spiritually.
But there is peace in heaven. Jesus took on humanity. God became flesh and dwelt among us. He faced the full extent of human knowledge of good and evil. He experienced the justification of our national security, and he died for the good of a nation. But things did not transpire the way the kingdoms of men intend.
We assume that if we are strong enough, if we can exert enough force we can make the world bend their knees to us. We see it playing out in the playgrounds of schools, the bully using force to ensure their standing. And this mentality moves up into all aspects of society. Its in our workplace and among nations. It is humanity seeking our own knowledge of good and evil. Desecrating the bearers of God’s image in the process.
Yet Jesus looks at his disciples, he presses his head to theirs breathing on them and says receive the Holy Spirit. Take back the life that was once lost. Live once again in communion with the Spirit of God. And with Christ, God took the rebellion of humanity onto himself, and in his resurrection he offers us the life we once lost. He restores each of us back to image bearers of God to the world, as the Spirit of God is taken into our lungs and we share the breath of life.
Jesus then tells us what we should do with this new restored life. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
Imagine what would be coursing through the minds of the disciples at that moment. The power of that statement is profound. Within us we have the power to restore creation or continue its destruction. We have within us the power to redeem relationships, or continue the disorder. We have the right to bear God’s image, to be his representatives and his ambassadors to creation. And this is a power that is not lost on the disciples.
They were living in fear. They were locked away hiding from the world. Living in a state is dis-ease. And Jesus brought peace. Peace emotionally, peace environmentally, and peace spiritually. He restored hope, he by standing with them and sharing the air between them restored the dignity of who they are. They are children of God, image bearers to the world. And agents of the King who comes in the name of the Lord.
But there was one that was not with them that day. Thomas my favorite disciple. They go out to find him. No longer are they hiding away but they the go out seeking the one the one left behind. They go out to bring him back in among them. They want him to experience the very thing they experienced. Yet Thomas, like so many of us is skeptical. “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my fingers into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Thomas was skeptical, yet he joins with them. He did not believe, yet he did not neglect or turn away from his friends. He may not have agreed with them but he saw something with them, that he wanted. And Jesus met him there. He met him where he was. He showed him what he needed to see. And it is Thomas the once skeptical disciple that proclaims, “My Lord and my God!” It is the skeptic that understood the fullness of who Jesus is. And Jesus tells him, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
We live in a world of struggle. I struggle there are moments where I wonder if there is a God, moments if I have any faith at all. There are moments when I wonder if I have made a difference, or if I should just go off alone as Thomas did. But then something happens. I see a sunset and I marvel as the beauty. I see the unique pattern in the iris of the eye. I see the smile rise from the lips of my son to his eyes as he plays a sport he loves. I see those little things and am reminded that there is more. I know the science behind the beauty of the sunset, I know the genetics involved with the formation of the eyes. I do not know where Albert gets his ability from that is a divine mystery. I know these and yet I cannot answer why here, why us. Why do we have the privilege on this planet to experience life? I am a skeptic. And Spirit has shared the air with me. I can face the struggle because I know that there is hope. I can look at the injustice of the world and yearn for change, because I have faith that Jesus is risen.
That does not take away the struggle. I stepped down from that job in management, for a number of reasons. But it taught me a great deal. There can be peace in the midst of a struggle. I can testify to it because one of my bosses came to the worst store of the market to find peace. She found that peace, not because I was anything great, but because there was peace reflecting around, there was hope in the air. The world is what it is. It is filled with humans that fight among themselves trying to be the one that possesses the power. They throw that power around and demand respect, expecting us to bend our knees to them. But we have a hope greater than them. Jesus took their blows to the grave, and he rose again. And today he is calling us to his peace, he is pressing his head against ours share the breath that brings life, and is encouraging us to forgive, just as our Father has forgiven us. He made our peace. Will you share it.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church June 07, 2026 Click here to join our meeting for worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 4:13–25 (ESV) 13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 31, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 2 Corinthians 13:11–14 (ESV) 11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 24, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Corinthians 12:3–13 (ESV) 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
April 20, 2025
Click here to join our Meeting for Worship
Luke 24:1–12 (ESV)
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
He is not here, but has risen.
As I have journeyed through my life of faith, I have often contemplated the message the dazzling men proclaimed to the women that came to anoint Jesus’s body. “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”
I have sat with these words. I have prayed with them. I have tried to create the scene within my mind picturing the electric clothing of the men and attempting to smell the spices in the women’s arms. I want to know the passage, experience the passage. I want to walk around inside it. I want this so that I can know.
“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”
The passion week is one that is filled with emotions. On Palm Sunday, the disciples cheer for joy. They are shouting at the top of their lungs, “Blessed is the king who comes in the the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Blessed is the King who comes, or who bear the name.
We discussed this briefly last Sunday, but is important to revisit it today. To bear the name, is to embody the name, or essence of that name. This is why in one of the ten lessons God gave his people in the desert was to not bear the name in vain. God’s people were to embody the essence of God, to bear his image or likeness to the world. Humanity was created to bear that image, to reflect the light and wisdom of God into creation. It is for that reason our First Parents were place inside the garden, which was creations’ temple, the place where God dwelt. But it was our first parent’s fall, they listened to the deceptive words of the serpent and marred the image God created as good. When they praised Jesus on Palm Sunday they praised him saying that He was the one that would restore what was once lost. He was to bring peace between heaven and humanity.
Yet within mere moments the tone changes. The religious leaders quickly seek to silence the celebrants. And Jesus wept for Jerusalem. He enters the temple courts and he see throughout that people are using the image of God to extort and manipulate people, so he drives the vendors. This action further disturbs the religious leaders and they demand an answer, “by whose authority do you do these things?”
The people begin with cheering, and suddenly things begin to change. Has Jesus changed, no, his message remains the same, but the focus shifts. The people are proclaiming the King who will bring peace with heaven. Everything on heaven and earth, if Jesus is this proclaimed king, must be interpreted through him.
The cheering quieted, and soon plotting ensued. Jesus challenged society. He compelled them to look at their own lives, causing them to examine where their identity was found. The answer, “it is better for one man to die than for us to lose our nation.”
I want us to contemplate that statement for a moment. The religious leaders and society in general proclaimed with a justified conscience that it is better that someone should suffer so that we could maintain the status quo.
Jesus went from being proclaimed as the name bearing king bringing peace to heaven, to a wrongfully accused victim of societies injustice. In less than one week. It is easy to accept that society in general did this, but one of his friends betrayed him, and one of his closest friends denied knowing him. And according to the gospel of Mark, someone was so afraid that they ran away naked. Oddly tradition has this individual as being the one that wrote that particular gospel, John Mark. And the only ones that remained were a handful of women, and John who is believed to have been the youngest of the apostles.
These same women are the ones that we see in today’s passage. It is early Sunday morning, likely just as the sun is beginning to rise, and they went to the tomb, taking spices they had prepared. As I was reading this passage I sat with it as I usually do, I try to read slowly and build a mental image of it. I try to imagine the scene and consider things as best as I can from the perspectives of the various people. I do not know if everyone or anyone for that matter tries to do this, but for me, I find this to be my preferred method. These are the same women that had been standing at the crucifixion, because Luke uses feminine pronouns as he continues. They, meaning the Galilean women prepared spices that Friday prior to sundown. They sat all through the Sabbath, that Holy Saturday, in utter despair. And the first thing they do as soon as it is possible they go out to the tomb to bring the spices they prepared to anoint the body of Jesus.
How were they going to do this? They knew how Jesus was laid to rest. They knew that he was sealed in a tomb. They knew that officials from the temple and the civil government had been stationed to guard the tomb. They knew that there was a large stone rolled in front of the entrance, because that was the manner they buried the dead in their culture. They knew this but they did not plan for it. They simply grabbed the spices and went.
I have been in a place similar to this. You are so distraught you are seemingly in a state of automation, just moving forward completing the tasks immediately in front of you but not really thinking about it. And then all at once something is not where it should be, or someone did not show up that you assumed would. In that moment everything comes crashing down around you and you are emotionally paralyzed unable to do anything else.
This is what Luke means when he says that they were perplexed. They brought spices to anoint the body, but there was no body. The word here does not mean they did not see a body, it means there was no corpse to be found.
Their entire world had just come crashing down around them. For years they had followed this rabbi. He had loved them, he had treated them unlike any other teacher Judea. They were on an equal status as the men in the company. Jesus had let them sit at his feet. This was a place reserved for the true disciples. If it were like a classroom today it was the front row. These women were not relegated to the back where those that audited the class would sit, but they were part of the group.
No one else had offered them anything like this. They were with the teacher accepted, not pushed back to the margin, and here they were standing where the body should have been. They looked before them, and they stood perplexed.
Their life had not gone the way they thought it would. They received some glimmer of hope that maybe something would change, and that was taken away from them. And now they had one last thing to do, anoint the body of their teacher and there was not a body to anoint.
Many church leaders like to say that the empty tomb proves that Jesus rose. This is not really the case. Very early people tried to explain how the body went missing, and accusations were made, the problem though is that there is no body to be found, and those that were accused denied taking the body to their death. The empty tomb only proves one thing. There was no body to be found.
The women did not know what to do with this knowledge before their eyes. But when they blinked two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. I do not know what you would do in this case, but I can guarantee you that these women were more composed than I would have been. The word frightened does not quite get to the raw emotion that Luke is attempting to express. We see, “they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground.” But the word for frightened means terrified. They were in a state of such fear they had lost all control of their body. In that moment they were completely subject to the fight or flight impulses within their body. And we are told what their bodies did. They fell.
I personally do not like that they translate the next word as bowed. This gives us the sense that they were in righteous awe, but the word means that they face was oriented to the ground. We can almost get the image that these women knew they were angels and they entered into a state of worship, this is not the case. They were terrified and were unable to control their bodies. Their faces likely hit the stone floor, someone might have even bloodied their nose. They were afraid and rightfully so. Nothing about this situation exudes confidence. The stone was moved, the body was gone, and out of no where two people shining like stars just appeared beside them, and without warning they speak.
“Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Why do you seek the living one among the dead? Why are you looking here? Where are we looking for hope and fulfillment?
“He is not here, but has risen.”
This is an exciting phrase to us. For two thousand years we have proclaimed this to all who will listen. It is exciting, but grammatically its passive. It is as if the angels are looking at these women laying on the floor and in complete boredom as it this is something that happens regularly they say, he has risen. Just like every morning.
Like I said before, these women have a great deal more composure than I have. In my mind as I contemplated on this passage I just wanted to lash out at these angel. What do they mean? How can they with little or no emotion just say such a thing? Then the angel say the thing I really want us to think about, remember.
“Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
Remember?
He did not say this once but three times. Once was a bit vague, but two times Jesus was descriptive, giving clear details of the event. Jesus said these things, while he taught them.
He took them to the far north to the mount of Transfiguration and asked, “Who do the people say that I am?” And during that conversation Peter proclaimed the Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And Jesus proclaimed to them all that upon that rock, upon that foundation he would build his church and the gate of Hell would not stand against it. Shortly after that conversation Jesus explained for the first time how this would be accomplished. Peter who just confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, then spoke out against him. This will not be. It cannot be. I will not allow it to happen. And Jesus rebuked him and said, “Get behind me satan!”
Again shortly after Peter, James, and John had seen Jesus with Moses and Elijah while they were walking south again, Jesus told them again that he must be turned over to the religious officials and suffer. They did not understand and did not want to ask any questions this time, and Jesus let it remain in the air as they continued to walk. And eventually the mind of the disciples began to wander, and as they walked they began to argue about which of them would be the greatest in the kingdom.
They came to a house in Capernaum, and Jesus asked them what they were arguing about. Again they remained silent. And Jesus looked at the people in the room and brought a child in front of them saying, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
Who was this child? We do not know, but it was a child of one of someone in that room. The intent of the message was clear. The child was great. The women are great. The ones that are often disregarded within our society, we are to receive them, encourage them, teach them as if they are the most important person within the community. They wanted honor, and Jesus told them that the greatest honor we can have is to encourage those around us to become the people God created them to be.
The final time Jesus spoke of his suffering was as they were walking toward Jericho. A rich man came to Jesus asking what he might do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told this man to go sell all that he had and give it to the poor, then come follow him. This walked away distraught. And the disciples stood in amazement as Jesus told them that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom.
Each of these teachings tell us a similar thing. The ways of this world, what the world values, what the world sees as strength and power are worthless in the eyes of God. Instead there is something more important. And these angels look at these women at the empty tomb and say Remember!
Remember!
This is the same command that God gave Israel when they left the bondage of Egypt which is also celebrated at this time. Remember! Remember that you were once slaves in the land of Egypt, and that God brought you out after he brought the gods of that empire to its knees. Remember.
Remember how God had turned the Nile to blood and other various plagues and eventually broke a dynastic line. Remember. And they remember his words.
They returned to the place the disciples were gathered and told these things to the others. The disciples look at them and their faces tell us a story. Luke says that the words seemed to them an idle tale. This again does not quite catch the emotions of the word. It means utter nonsense, something completely devoid of anything worthwhile. This word scholars believe was only used in a coarse manner. Which I think is important to consider. The disciples looked a these women as if they had completely lost their minds. They thought in their intense grief that they had lost touch with reality. And it is at this point that Peter gets up and runs to the tomb. He bends over looking in. He stoops, meaning he does not just glance in but he investigates. He sees the linen cloths by themselves. He knows that there was once a body within but it is not there.
He walks back to the house marveling at what had happened. The sense of this is dumbfounded. He has no words to express what he had just seen.
He marveled. And he then thinks about what Mary Magdalene and the others had said. He remembers. He remembers the stinging rebuke he received from his best friends and teacher. He remember how he had been reprimanded and humbled as he argued with the others about which of them was the greatest. He remembered the rich man that had everything and was turned away. He remembered. And then he remembered the rest. He remembered that Jesus had said that he must suffer, he remembered what was said around the table just a couple of days prior. He remembered that Jesus had knelt at his feet and washed them. He remembered
But what does it mean?
The crowds praised Jesus as the King who came in the Name of the Lord to make peace with heaven. The powers of this world rejected, killed and buried him hoping to never have to face him again. The powers of the world seek only to gain wealth and power and will use this power to lord it over the people, setting themselves up in the place of God demanding adoration and praise. And Jesus said they were the least among the residents of God’s kingdom if they enter at all. They killed Jesus, and there is no body. Which can mean one of two things. Either Jesus rose or someone had painstakingly removed the body while leaving the linen burial cloths behind. What will we do with that information?
If someone removed the body the powers of this world remain in control and there is no peace in heaven for the kingdoms of earth prevail. But if Jesus rose, everything changes. If Jesus rose the poor are blessed, the meek inherit the Earth, the child is the greatest, women are the first apostles and every human being is a bearer of the image of God worthy of dignity and respect.
In today’s passage the disciples are left in a state of uncertainty. They are left perplexed and marveling at what had happened. They are left without assurance only faith. Later their faith becomes sight. Later they are able to proclaim as we do that He is risen!
He is risen! He has overcome the sting of death, and stand victorious. Yet do we believe? Do we believe or is it merely words we utter? Are we seeking the living one among the dead? Remember! The tomb is empty. What does that mean for to us today?
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 10, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 3:13–22 (ESV) 13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 03, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 2:2–10 (ESV) 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 26, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 4 (Faith and Practice of EFC-MAYM pg 61) Do you provide for the suitable Christian education and recreation of your children and those under your care, and…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
April 13, 2025
Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship
Luke 19:28–40 (ESV)
28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Today we announce Jesus as King! Today our King enters triumphant! Today we proclaim with a loud voice, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
I sat with this passage this week. I sat wondering what I might say. I struggle as a pastor. I struggle because I am fully aware of who I am. I know that I am not perfect. I often sit paralyzed in my own mind with what some might call imposer syndrome. This is a physiological term that means, “the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills.” What can I say, what can I offer? Sometimes I feel as if it would just be better if I read the passage of scripture and sit down letting the Spirit teach us.
I am justified in my thoughts in part, because I and we as Friends fully believe that Christ is our ever present teacher and guide, that God’s Spirit will visit our hearts and lead us in the places we need to go without any need for a human intermediary. But then there is urging within me that will not allow me to heed my anxieties and self inflicted inadequacies. This urging, this prompting drives me to look deeper into scripture, to study, to pray, and to speak.
I struggle even more during the High Holy Days of the liturgical calendar. What can I say about Christmas? How can I offer anything meaningful to the Triumphal Entry or Resurrection Sunday that has not already been heard?
This is my humanity. This is my pride. This is my sinful nature bearing a disfigured image. We often want to add something great, to make a difference in our community and in our world. Yet for most of us we are not in a position or have the resources for us to believe that this is possible.
This is where I have been this week. I read through the passage. I prayed. I let myself be distracted.
I read the passage again. I prayed, and I let myself get distracted before I could even bring my mind to a state of centered worship.
I did this several times. I even chided myself for being lazy. I compared myself against all people that I perceived to be better than I. I even said to myself, “Pastor Bilengana would not let his mind get distracted like this.”
I am sure we all get caught in self doubt. We can all dwell in a place where we focus on the things we wish we did better, instead of living as we are. Our minds can become focused on ourselves, our needs, our wants, our short comings, our… we are often trapped in ourselves. Trapped instead of living free in the time and place, in the situation God desires his light to shine into through us.
This is something that struck me about today’s passage. Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. He knew full well what he would face once he arrived. Even his disciples knew to some degree what they might face. My favorite disciple, Thomas, spoke up when Jesus announced that they were heading to Jerusalem, saying, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:16). They knew what they were facing. They knew that they were going to walk into a struggle, yet they went.
In John’s gospel, this trip would have happened right after Jesus raised Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, and they leave the mourning that turned in to celebration and turned toward Jerusalem once again. They draw near to Bethphage, which is a small village just outside of Jerusalem. If we were to consider this in contemporary terms Bethphage which is between Bethany and Jerusalem, would be a suburb. It was part of the metro, but just outside the city’s jurisdiction. But there is a difference between suburbs in ancient times and today. In ancient times the city was the place to be. The city had the services, the protection, the jobs. And the suburbs were the places of darkness. The places people lived to get out of sight so that they could prey upon those going into the city to do business. Today this is somewhat reversed. We often regard the city as the place of danger, and the suburbs as a place of quiet safety. This is a recent phenomenon, as a result of transportation technologies.
They stop in this suburb. And Jesus tells the disciples to go into the village and get a colt. We often get caught up in the tradition of this story and do not really consider the context. In the entire Gospel up to this point we never read about Jesus riding an animal anywhere. They are either walking or on a boat going across the Sea of Galilee. Yet here they are on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and today Jesus wants them to get him a donkey to ride.
To obtain a donkey to ride in itself is not an uncommon request. As I was studying, one of the commentaries mentioned that there were stables where people could hire a donkey. Like renting a car, or one of those little electric scooters you can scan with your phone and ride around town and leave sitting when you are done. Jesus tells them he wants a donkey, and they go out to get him one. But the kicker is he did not give them any money.
Imagine what you might have been thinking if you were one of the disciples he sent to do this task. Never in the entire time you had been following this teacher had he ever made a request like this. They walked from one end of Israel to the other multiple times over the past few years. They walked. Jesus had never asked for such a luxury before, yet right now he does. And he is specific he wants a colt, a beast of burden that had not yet been trained to carry the weight of a passenger.
What is going through your mind? As I sat with this passage the first thing, because I always think of these things, was that sounds like a unnecessary expense. I am sure that some of the disciples probably thought like I do, their name is usually Judas. But there is something more. These disciples knew the scripture. They knew that the prophet Zechariah spoke of this.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a cold, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)
Is it time? Is it about to happen? Is everything we hoped for going to finally come to pass?
They go out to find this donkey, exactly where Jesus said it would be. Some commentators have said that it might be likely that Jesus had already arranged for the donkey to be there, but as I read that I go to thinking, how? When would Jesus have made an arrangement like this. According to Luke, they had traveling from the far north down to Jerusalem. And just prior to this he was in Jericho eating with Zacchaeus. According to John, he would have just left Bethany, after attending a funeral service. When would he have made arrangements to get a donkey, and if he did make such arrangements, I would have thought he would have ridden it from Jericho on in.
The other likelihood is that Jesus knew where the donkey was because Jesus knew. This is what Luke is alluding to. Jesus knew things that were beyond the abilities of a common man. The disciples found this donkey just where he said it would be. And just as Jesus told them, the owner of the donkey came out to question them. “Why are you untying the colt.”
This is where things began to get interesting to me. Jesus told them that if anyone asks you, “’Why you are untying it?’ You should say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” They get there and the owner comes out and ask. There is something interesting in this because the word owner and the word Lord in English were translated from the a derivative of the word Kurios, which means master or owner. This word is often used to refer to the Lord, but to use the same word for both the owners of the colt and Jesus in the same sentence is interesting. The owners asked a question and the disciples answered them saying the owner has need of it.
This floored me during my bout of selfish inability this week. It is a perspective that I had not associated with the triumphal entry. I have always looked at things from the perspective of the disciples, the cheering crowds, I have even considered things from the perspective of the donkey, but never once did I look at it from the perspective of owners of the donkey.
Two random people come into their place of business, they come in as if they own the place, and when questioned they respond as if they do.
God is the true owner of all of creation. All that we are, all that we have is at our disposal because God has given us abilities, and placed us within a community to use those abilities. This is not a perspective I enjoy. I am the type of person that would like to think I have earned what I have, and that if I apply myself I can achieve great things. This is part of the American culture, a part that over the past few years, I have come to realize is not a very Christian perspective.
The things we have are a blessing from God. And if you claim to be a follower of Jesus, all that we have is his and should be used for his glory. Your strength, should be used to glorify God. Your intellect, degree, professional licenses although you worked hard to obtain it, are a blessing from God, and should be used for his glory. Your finances, or lack there of, are also a blessing from God, and should be used for his glory. Does this mean we should not enjoy the fruit of our labor, of course we can, but we should be mindful of the source and be willing to use all that is available to us to glorify the one from whom all blessing flow.
The Lord has need of it.
He needs us to use what we have to encourage those around us. He has need of it. This throws a huge wrench into the philosophies of this world, because all too often we want what is ours and are willing to force people to adapt to our demands. The person arguing at the customer service desk, or the president of a nation all demanding that we get what is rightfully ours. But it is not ours, the Lord has need of it. We are merely stewards of the talents he has entrusted to us. Are we willing to release our ownership to Him?
God owns, God is the sovereign ruler over all of creation. When Job was sitting in his despair God said to him, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements – surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7). Who are we to lay claim? It is God who has the right, and by his grace he gives us liberty to steward it.
The Lord has need of it. This rang in my ears as I sat in contemplation. And then my eyes fell on something else within this passage I had not noticed before. “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Did you catch it? It almost sounds like a Christmas carol, except instead of peace on earth it says Peace in heaven. This jubilation comes from Psalm 148 yet in the Psalm it says praise or hallelu-jah not peace. We think of praise in heaven, we think of heaven as being the place peace, yet here it seems as if peace is not yet assured.
This is something we often miss in our contemporary expressions of faith. We miss the supernatural. We think of the ancient cultures as being practitioners of superstitions and that they saw demons and angels everywhere. We like to think of them as being unenlightened, yet they built structures beyond what we give them credit for. Our ancient parents were not dumb, they just had a different perspective or understanding of the world around them. They wanted peace yet all they saw was war. They wanted prosperity, yet they suffered. We say they created religion to explain this, but maybe there really was something supernatural happening within the world. A cosmic battle waged between spiritual forces in the heavens over who could lay claim to creation.
This is seen throughout the pages of scripture, even within the verse I read from Job, “all the sons of God shouted for joy,” it said. We might not like the way that the translators handled that passage, but they did translate it accurately. We would rather see it as the angels shouted with joy, but the word in Hebrew is elohim, which means spiritual beings. God is an elohim, as are the angels, but the angels are not the same as God. In Hebrew tradition there were three events within Genesis that explain human suffering. The first was the fall in the Garden, the second was the events that lead to the flood, and the third was the tower of Babel. That third event the nations were divided among the sons of God, and the nations all had some divine overlord. Israel was the people God chose for himself.
But the battles waged on Earth between these nations, were part of a greater cosmic battle. The sons of God were fighting for the right to rule all creation. As the nations fought, the angels also battled in the heavens. As a nation fell so did the spiritual being set over that nation. It sounds fantastic and like superstition to us but this was the mindset of the ancients. This was the context of the hope of their messiah. They believed that the true king, the King who comes in the name of the Lord, would come to reverse curse that was brought about by those three falls of humanity. Three falls brought about by cosmic deceit and trickery. Falls caused by humanity seeking to fulfill their quest for wealth and power through an alliance with spiritual forces.
The Hebrew people desired a king that would reverse not only the bondage they had to Rome, but all wickedness and sin. One that would restore peace between God and humanity. “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Jesus was proclaimed king but more than king of the Jews, he was being proclaimed king of humanity, and king of all creation. He was king of heaven and earth. And this scared the religious leaders. The people were crying out, that Jesus was king, that he was a king greater than the Emperor, and this was bound to cause a disturbance. They came to Jesus and pleaded with him to silence the crowds. “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” This term rebuke is a strong and violent word. It is more than telling them to quiet down. If you were to think of it today, it would be the police with a bullhorn clothed in riot gear, ready to open fire on anyone that spoke.
They were asking Jesus to tell his disciples to be quiet, to submit to authority, to cower before force. They were wanting the opposition to be silenced. This is the prequel of cancel culture. Which is and always has been oppression.
Jesus responds to the religious leaders saying, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” His answer is deeper than it appears on the surface. Many believe he is quoting from the prophet Habakkuk, which says:
Habakkuk 2:6–14 (ESV)
6 Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say, “Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own— for how long?— and loads himself with pledges!” 7 Will not your debtors suddenly arise, and those awake who will make you tremble? Then you will be spoil for them. 8 Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you, for the blood of man and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell in them. 9 “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm! 10 You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples; you have forfeited your life. 11 For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork respond. 12 “Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity! 13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing? 14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
The stones will cry out from the walls, and the beam from the woodwork respond. “Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity.”
The past few, well years really, I have been examining my life and faith. The things I once believed, I have come to realize were often pale representations if not outright manipulations of God’s teaching. And this has humbled me. Who am I? What do I believe? Do I believe in the king that will reverse the curse brought about by the forces of evil, or will be silenced and submit to the authorities and powers around me?
Today we celebrate the King. The king of heaven and earth. The king that will bring peace and justice to all. Not just for one nation under God, but the entire world, because that is who the Messiah is. The one that will bring all nations back to God. Is this your Lord, if so the lord has need of you.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 19, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 1:17–23 (ESV) 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 12, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 1:3–9 (ESV) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 05, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili John 20:1–18 (ESV) 1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the…
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