Easter: One man's story

Introduction: “Sunrise was dawning when Los Angeles motorcycle police officer Bob Vernon saw a red pickup truck speed through a stop sign. This guy must be late to work, he thought to himself. He turned on his flashing red lights and radioed the dispatcher that he was in pursuit. The pick up pulled over, and the officer approached.
Meanwhile in the truck, the driver thought, The cops already know! He was scared. He rested his hand on the same gun he had used a few moments before to rob a twenty-four-hour convenience store. The sack of stolen money was beside him on the seat.
The police officer, Bob Vernon, said, ‘Good morning, sir, may I see your--’ He never finished the sentence. The truck driver shoved his gun toward the policeman’s chest and fired from just inches away. The policeman was knocked backward fully seven feet and landed flat on his back. A few seconds later, to the shock of the robber, the police officer stood up, pulled his service revolver, and fired twice. The first bullet went through the open window and smashed the windshield. The second tore through the door and ripped into the driver’s left leg.
‘Don’t shoot!’ the thief screamed, throwing the gun and sack of money out the pickup window.” (Charles Mylander, The Encourager)
Bob Vernon, the motorcycle policeman who would later become an Assistant Police Chief in Los Angeles, had a resurrection experience. His bullet-proof vest, made of dozens and dozens of layers of Kevlar woven to a thickness of 3/8”, stopped the gunman’s bullet cold. The super-strong Kevlar fabric enabled patrolman Vernon to rise, so to speak, from the dead and arrest the criminal shooter.
In May of 1995, Randy Reid, a 34 year old construction worker, was welding on top of a nearly completed water tower outside Chicago. According to writer Melissa Ramsdell, Reid unhooked his safety gear to reach for some pipes when a metal cage slipped and bumped the scaffolding he stood on.
The scaffolding tipped, and Reid lost his balance. He fell 110 feet, landing face down on a pile of dirt, just missing rocks and construction debris. A fellow worker called 911. When paramedics arrived, they found Reid conscious, moving, and complaining of a sore back.
Apparently the fall didn’t affect Randy Reid’s sense of humor. As the paramedics carried him on a backboard to the ambulance, he had one request: “Please don’t drop me!” Doctors later said Reid came away from the accident with just a bruised lung.
Randy Reid had a resurrection experience. A fall from a 110 foot tall water tower should have meant his death. He arose, so to speak, from the dead, only to plead, “Please don’t drop me!”
Both Bob Vernon and Randy Reid had resurrection experiences. Figuratively speaking, both came back from the dead, for by all that’s normal, both should have died. Yet they lived!
When we come to Easter on the church’s calendar, we come to the main day for celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead. Unlike patrolman Vernon and welder Reid, the Lord Jesus really died. He suffered terribly on the cross. When it was evident to the soldiers at the foot of the cross that He had died, He was taken down and buried in a borrowed tomb. But three days later, His tomb was empty! The Lord Jesus was raised from the dead!
Here is how one of the Gospel writers conveyed the facts of this experience: “They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”; this was to fulfill the Scripture: “THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.
But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.” And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.” After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body.
Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.
So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord,’ and that He had said these things to her. (John 19,20 selected verses)

What a story! If you are visiting with us today, we want you to know that we believe these facts to be authentic history, and we are building our lives on these truths. And the truths of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus have huge implications for us on this day, 2000 years after the fact.
For you see, some of us, in the course of life, have taken a crushing blow to the chest, sort of like Bob Vernon. And that blow has knocked us more than 7 feet onto our duffs --- and we don’t have the strength to get up! We’ve been unfairly wounded, had a trust betrayed, or been misjudged. Others of us have been badly unappreciated in our work or in our marriage. Our self-esteem has been devastated. Some of us find it tough to get out of bed every morning, because our teachers don’t like us, we’ve lost a loved one who gave meaning and purpose to life, or our health is failing. We’ve fallen and we can’t get up.
Some of us, like Randy Reid, have slipped and fallen, and we’ve fallen more than 110’. Our pride or greed or self-centeredness put us on a slippery slope and we are falling, down, down, down! We got hooked on the wrong kind of supports --- drugs, drink, or debt, and now we’re depressed and we are falling down, down, and further down.
Some of us have given the devil a foothold in our life, and that foothold has become a fortress, and we are falling down, down, and farther down.
We are falling, and the slope is slippery, and we can’t stop.
Easter’s true story of the resurrection says there is hope. And that hope is not only for the other person who came to our mind who has fallen or is falling, but that hope is for YOU and for me.
Let’s look this morning at a man who could be any one of us --- and what the resurrection meant to him, it can mean to every one of us!
This man’s true story is found in Acts 3 where we meet the man, see a miracle, and learn an important message. (If you want to take notes on your bulletin insert, this is the structure of the sermon today.)
“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer-at three in the afternoon.”
‘One day’… What a day it was! It was a great day! Just like so many that preceded it. Love, joy, and peace reigned in the new Christian community. In the words of John Stott, “The good ship Christ-Church was ready to catch the wind of the Spirit and to set sail on her voyage of spiritual conquest.” It was a great day, characterized by sweetness and light. The Spirit of Christ had come, the apostles teaching was profound, the worship was a praise gathering, caring and sharing was the order of the day, and evangelism was bold and bearing fruit! What a great day!
But the days hadn’t always been so great. Think back with me to the day of the crucifixion. The Shepherd had been struck and the sheep had scattered. It was a dark day. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus said about Jesus and the crucifixion, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.”
Remember that scene in the movie, Apollo 13, when the space craft goes behind… There’s a 3 minute time frame when all contact with the capsule is lost. Everyone holds his breath, wondering what will happen on the other side. So it is with the disciples. It’s been three days ‘since these things happened.’ Then there is the news of the resurrection!
And so, now in Acts three, these are great days! And on this day, Peter and John meet a man. Let’s continue reading in our text.
“Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.”
How could we characterize this man, the key figure in our Easter story? ‘Pitiful’ is one word that comes to mind. He is the victim of a birth defect, crippled from his mother’s womb, reduced to the daily humiliation of begging. He has been beaten down by the despair and hopelessness bred of forty-plus years of being different, despised, and dependent. My guess is that a sense of failure permeates his entire being. He’s unable to work, he is unattractive to marry, he is unproductive in society, he is unsure of tomorrow. He surely knows the whole range of meaning in the word ‘disappointment.’ Every nuance, every shade of meaning of ‘disappointment’ he knows full well.
No beach, no golf, no Smokey’s chimneys, no Harley-Davidson, no dates, no dancing, no savings, no IRA, no nothing… Well, perhaps, not ‘nothing’. Our text tells us he does have friends who carry him to this gate of the temple each day, so perhaps he has a place to live. Maybe…
And perhaps at one point, this man had a glimmer of hope. For his place of begging was outside the temple gate called Beautiful. This particular gate is on the east side of the temple, on the same side of Jerusalem as Bethany and Olivet. In and out of this same gate would have traveled a prophet by the name of Jesus on his way to His friends home in Bethany and on His way to the Mount of Olives. Could it be possible, he may have thought, that the Healer, the Ressurector, the Tormentor of demons… could it be possible, he may have thought, that He might see, come, touch, and heal?
But then there had come the nasty news of a particularly brutal crucifixion, and the Great Physician was gone. What little hope there had been was snuffed out. There would never be another chance to yell His name, to catch His eye, to plead for mercy. The Miracle Worker and the crowds that followed Him would never pass through this gate on their way east again. Or would He?
What were these two men on their way to pray saying?
“When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, ‘Look at us!’ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’”
The lame man momentarily may have wondered. “Is He back? How could that be? What could this mean? Dare I take this offered hand?”
Friends, this is where we all are or have been. We were born crippled by sin, unable to do anything that would please God in the slightest. He had no hope. Try as we might, we could never consistently do the right things. We may have had a reputation as a good person, but when we looked at ourselves in the mirror, we knew… No amount of iron will or self determination or personal discipline could keep us from making the same mistakes over and over.
In God’s eyes, and perhaps in our own, we were pitiful, worthy to be despised, unable to be productive in godliness, and certainly unsure of what tomorrow might bring and how we would face it.
Yes, if we were honest, we’d have to say we resembled this beggar at the temple gate. Disappointed, unfulfilled, without hope… If there are any who still feel this way, stay with me this morning. The story gets better. Back to Acts 3. The Miracle.
“Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade.”
The miracle is that this lame man is made whole. Dr. Luke, the writer of Acts, says ‘the man’s feet and ankles became strong.’ The crippled man begins to leap and walk and jump (and maybe performs some cartwheels, too!). The power of Jesus comes surging through the hand of Peter and the beggar is made whole. Peter will say in a moment, in verse 16, “…and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.”
So the Lord Jesus had seen this crippled beggar at the temple gate! So the Lord Jesus had just been waiting for a more powerful moment to reveal His power! Though the Lord Jesus had been murdered, and though the gloom of that day had been etched deeply into the memory of the cripple, suddenly He was back! And He did a miracle through the hand of His servant, Peter.
What was it that Peter had said? “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Peter is saying, “I have Jesus in me. He is alive! He can make you whole! He can pick you up where you’ve been knocked down. He can take you off the slippery slope and set you back on your feet, no matter how far you’ve fallen.” Jesus is alive, and He enjoys giving life to the depressed, the distressed, the disappointed, the despised, and the hopeless. He is in the business of making cripples whole, of giving perfect health to those known to be handicapped.
Would you like to put your hand in His hand today? Wouldn’t you like to have Him touch you through the hand of one of His servants? He is alive, doing those kinds of things today. Won’t you take His hand? What do you have to lose?
That is Peter’s message. Back to Acts 3.
When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed Him over to be killed, and you disowned Him before Pilate, though he had decided to let Him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised Him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.” Acts 3:1-16
Men of Israel, even though you handed the Lord Jesus over to Pilate, even though you exchanged Him for a murderer and became murderers yourselves, even though you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, even though you are the most guilty of any generation, even though your generation sets the standard for colossal failure, even though all this is true, your sins can be washed away, you can be forgiven, you can be made whole.
And what was offered to these people by Peter is what we offer today on this Easter Sunday. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead means that He is alive, and He is still offering life to cripples today. To those of us like Bob Vernon, knocked on our duffs… to those of us like Randy Reid who have fallen badly… Jesus says ‘Come,’ take the hand of one of my servants, put your trust in Me, and I will make you whole.
Friends, you can be forgiven of your sins. Those strongholds of sin and temptation in you life can be demolished. You can get back up from being knocked down. You can be rescued from the slippery slopes of poor choices and past failures. You can get up tomorrow with joy and purpose. You can be a friend of Jesus who He will use to reach out to others.
Easter’s resurrection means all of these things. You are just a decision away from its experience!

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!