A remarkable thing took place in South Africa on December 3rd, 1967. On that day a doctor named Christiaan Barnard performed the very first human heart transplant. He removed from a patient a diseased and failing heart, and he replaced it with a strong and healthy heart.
It has been quite a week in our nation. If you watch the news you have seen hatred and discord. There has been violence and death. There has been rioting and looting. We have, in short, seen much that is bad in humanity. It can make a person weary and fatigued. Are you there yet? Does it all make you long to see something different? Something kind and virtuous and “good”?
It is now the third Sunday of the season of Easter, and by this point in the season, it might be the case that perhaps a little bit of Easter fatigue has begun to set in. Perhaps you’re growing accustomed to saying and singing “Alleluia,” so that using that word doesn’t seem as quite special as it did two weeks ago. Perhaps you’re getting used to seeing the paschal candle lit, so that seeing that little flame on the top today doesn’t strike you the same way it did on Easter Sunday.
Many years ago when I was still a Seminary student in Mequon, I found myself in a discussion with a person who did not believe that Jesus Christ is true God. They were zealously trying to convince me that he was not God! After bringing up parts of Scripture that clearly say Jesus is God, I brought up our text for this morning.
How would you have handled it? How would you have handled publicity for the single greatest event the world has ever known: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead? What if you were the publicity manager and had to plan the appearances of the risen Christ? Keeping in mind publicity managers always go for maximum exposure and maximum effect, where would you start?
One day when George was eight, his parents left him alone at home. His mom had some errands to run while his dad was away at a meeting at church. Everything was going just fine for George at home until he decided to chase the dog. They ran from the kitchen out into the living room. The dog was barking, and George was laughing with delight. They wove in and out of the furniture, circling faster and faster each time around.
Do you remember how excited you were when you first got your driver’s license? You couldn’t wait to drive! You volunteered to run every errand mom or dad had if it meant you got to take the car. How do you feel about driving now? We humans eventually grow tired and bored of everything.
What does royalty look like? And what kind of treatment should royalty receive? Should a king or a queen be seated on a throne, robed in fur and velvet, with a scepter in hand and a servant at hand to offer a tray of refreshments or maybe to fan the monarch with a large palm branch? Should a king or a queen ride in a limo or on a private jet?
I’m going to read some famous last words, and you can see if you know who spoke them just before death. Here’s the first set: “Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit.” Those were reportedly the last words spoken by Caesar Augustus. How about these? “Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow!” Those were the last words spoken by Steve Jobs before his death in 2011. Now see if you know these: “I’m bored with it all.” Those were the last words of Sir Winston Churchill.
It was Passover week in Jerusalem, and people from far and near converged on the city and the Temple during this sacred time. It was not only Israelites who came. Non-Israelites who had come to know Israel’s God also came to worship and observe the Passover. We meet some of them in our text today. They are called “some Greeks.”
