- Trinity Church
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
A summary of THIS sermon from Tim Stanley
Last Sunday we dove deep into the season of Lent and a question that might surprise you: How did Jesus actually prepare His disciples for the very first Easter?
If you missed the episode, here’s a look at the "bigger plan" Jesus was unfolding—and how it applies to our lives today as we seek to be a vibrant community grounded in truth.
The Wedding Analogy
Interestingly, while many of us observe Lent through fasting, Jesus’ disciples famously did not fast while He was with them. When questioned about it in Matthew 9, Jesus used a peculiar analogy: He called Himself the bridegroom and the time with His disciples a wedding feast. You don’t fast at a wedding; you celebrate!
But Jesus added a twist: He noted that the groom would be "taken away," and then they would fast. This "pause" in the wedding wasn't an accident. Jesus was giving the Bride (the Church) more time. He had a plan to prepare them for something much larger than just surviving His crucifixion—He was preparing them to reach the world.
A Slow Walk Toward Understanding
Through the books of Luke and Acts, we see that the disciples were often "slow of heart" to believe. They had cultural baggage, expecting a military Messiah to overthrow Rome. Jesus had to patiently deconstruct those expectations through:
The Road to Emmaus: Jesus walked them through the Scriptures to show that the Messiah had to suffer before entering His glory.
The Upper Room: He proved His resurrection was physical (by eating some barbecued fish!) and then opened their minds to the Great Commission: that repentance and forgiveness must be proclaimed to all nations.
The Ascension & Pentecost: He told them to wait for the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, the "undoing of Babel" began as people from every corner of the known world heard the Gospel in their own native languages.
From Jerusalem to the Ends of the Earth
The book of Acts shows a God who is constantly pushing the boundaries of the "insider" circle.
Acts 8: The Gospel reaches the "half-breed" Samaritans.
Acts 10-11: Peter is given a vision of "unclean" animals and told, "Do not call anything unclean that I have called clean." This opened the door for the Gentiles (that’s most of us!) to be fully included in the family of God.
Do We "Get It" Yet?
The sermon challenged us with a powerful question: We have Him, but does He have us? We "get it"—we truly understand Jesus' plan—when our desire for comfort and distraction is outweighed by our desire to see the eternal hope of Jesus reach our neighbors and the nations. We understand it when we see that every situation we are in, no matter how messy the world feels, is a "small thing" to a big God.
Final Thought
The wedding is currently on pause, and the Groom is preparing a home. In the meantime, we have work to do. Whether it’s through board game nights, helping a neighbor in the cold, or praying for missions in Sudan, we are called to be witnesses of a hope that doesn't fade.
