[Propertalk] Luke 24:1-12 Easter sermon quotes - Part 4

[Joe Parrish]

Capes notes that "through the fourth century
there is ample evidence that some Christians, even Gentile
Christians, continued to observe sabbath." The Christian theologian
Tertullian, in On Prayer (c. 205), wrote as though corporate
prayer on the sabbath were commonplace, and the Apostolic
Constitutions in the fourth century taught that both sabbath and
Sunday should be kept as festivals to the Lord. "Those Christians
who maintained a sabbath practice took their cue from the Lord
of the Sabbath, to whom the substance of the new creation
belongs."
Emperor Constantine decreed in A.D. 321 that workers should
rest on the venerable day of the Sun. Over the next centuries,
Christian believers began resting on Sunday and referring to the
Lord's Day as "the sabbath," attaching to the eighth day the
significance that is given to the seventh day in the Decalogue.

http://www.baylor.edu/christianethics/Sabbathstudyguide3.pdf

Robert B. Kruschwitz, 2002
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You cannot force anyone to believe anything. I cannot make you believe anything. God alone has that power. My calling is not to explain the resurrection or to defend it but to share my experience of the resurrection and to encourage you to experience it, to be uplifted by it.
As far as what the resurrection means, I can only tell you what I think it means. To me, the resurrection means that the powers of evil do not have the last word in the world or in your life. 

http://teamnoah.info/Stirred/joanna.html

Sarah M. Foulger
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In his stimulating & imaginative 'Ballad of the Breadman', [The Sun Dancing, Kestrel, '82] Charles Causley portrays Jesus as 'charged with bringing the living to life'. I like that. For me it's a better starting point than much of our usual church talk about 'bringing the dead to life'. Aren't the living dead more priority than the dead dead? 

http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/laterallyluke/LLK24112EASTER.html

Brian McGowan
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Maybe the news of Easter was simply too overwhelming for them to believe. Many years ago, a friend told me that his young son was a great fan of both Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers. The boy faithfully watched both of their television shows, and one day it was announced that Mister Rogers would be paying a visit to the Captain Kangaroo show. The boy was ecstatic. Both of his heroes, together on the same show! Every morning the boy would ask, "Is it today that Mister Rogers will be on Captain Kangaroo?" Finally the great day arrived, and the whole family gathered around the television. There they were, Mister Rogers and Captain Kangaroo together. The boy watched for a minute, but then, surprisingly, got up and wandered from the room.
Puzzled, his father followed him and asked, "What is it, son? Is anything wrong?"
"It's too good," the boy replied. "It's just too good."

http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=2166

Thomas G. Long, 2001
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Note the word "must" in verse 7: "the Son of Man must (emphasis mine) be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." The death and resurrection of Jesus are not accidents of history. The death of Jesus was not merely the result of human decisions, even though human decisions played a crucial role. There was a divine purpose at work. "Must" implies divine necessity. Herein lies a great mystery. On one hand, human beings brought about the death of Jesus. Yet, in that very death the purposes of God were accomplished. Human beings are responsible for the death of Jesus. It is not God who brings about the death of His Son. Yet, when Jesus is crucified by the hands of sinners, God has not ceased His activity in the events of history. Even this awful death becomes the arena of God's work in the world.

http://www.cresourcei.org/lectionary/YearC/Ceaster1nt.html

Jirair Tashjian
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