Repent. That’s one of those Bible words, one that we see and hear so much that we get comfortable with it without really giving it a second thought. So, let’s give it a second thought. In Greek, the word for Repent is Metanoia, which is a combination of meta (meaning “after”) and noia (meaning “mind”). It literally means something like “to change one’s mind after.” When we Repent, we see our Sin with our 20/20 hindsight and resent it. Repentance, then, is 20/20 Resentment.
The Parable of the Lost Coin:
In his Gospel, Luke tells the story of a woman who goes searching for her lost coin. She has 9 others, but one is missing. So she searches her entire house—under rugs, on shelves, behind dishes…until she finds it and her joy is very great! Yet, Luke tells us that her joy is nothing compared to the joy in heaven when one of us sinners repents.
It’s so difficult for us to repent these days. How can we see our sin? We do not have 20/20 confessional hindsight today. Who is to blame for homelessness? I haven’t driven anyone into the street, and neither have you. Who is to blame for the children dying of hunger around the world? I haven’t taken food off their plate, and neither have you. The brokenness in our world is so massive; it can never be pinned to one person. So, how can one person see his or her sin—let alone despise it?
Think how easy it must have been for those living in Jesus’ time. The Lord, the Son of God was walking amongst them preaching the new law right in their midst! How easy it must be to see the error of your ways when the straight moral line of the Lord himself is walking right next to you!
Actually, the authors Matthew and Luke tell us just the opposite. They tell us that those of Jesus’ time don’t repent at all! Luke writes, “The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.”
Let’s translate that story. The Gospel authors are bringing up the story of Jonah. Jonah was a prophet called by God to go preach to a city called Nineveh. He was also basically a wet blanket and a coward. When God asked him to preach, he refused because he thought people would laugh at him. Well, we all know what happens next. God tips Jonah into the sea where a giant fish swallows him and spits him up on the shore of Nineveh.
So, if the people of Nineveh respond to such a pathetic preacher as Jonah and repent, how can people be so apathetic to Jesus, the very Son of God!
Actually, apathetic isn’t the right word. The people of His time despised Jesus. Sure, they gathered in crowds around him, and brought him their sick and dying to be healed. But, when the time comes, it is these same crowds that scream “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” It is not the leaders who drag Jesus to the cross through a protesting crowd. It is an angry mob that calls for Him to die.
When we repent, we hate our sin. What do we call it when we hate Jesus?
Wow, what a downer. This isn’t how Easter sermons are supposed to go! Look at all these bright clothes in the congregation. Listen to the music of our service. This is a day of Jubilation, of Celebration! Christ is risen today; He is risen indeed!
But, why? Why, do you suppose, that Christ has risen? Why, come to mention it, did Christ have to die?
Christ had to die because we are a bunch of coins.
You see, sometimes when we hear that parable about the Lost Coin we might think we’re The Lady—that we are the ones searching for a lost coin called Jesus. So, when we come to the Tomb and find it Empty, we are terrified. OH! That was the last place I had left to look!
But, we are not The Lady. We are just a bunch of coins. Christ has to find us.
Nineveh repented because of measly old Jonah. We persist in our sin even with Jesus calling after us! So, Jesus had to die. Jesus had to bring His light into the darkness, His life into death. Death—that furthest, darkest, dustiest corner in which Sin keeps us coins hidden.
And once He had blazed the light of heaven into that last grimy hole, was His work done? By no means! The Empty Tomb means that Christ has broken out, broken free of His stony prison, broken out into our midst.
So, for us coins, that Empty Tomb is amazing! It’s a miracle! It’s the greatest thing in the history of the World! Why? Because if Jesus isn’t in the tomb, it means He’s out in the World…looking for coins. Looking for you. Looking for us!
So we must remember, Christ’s Easter journey doesn’t just end with this Great Escape. His work isn’t done in the Resurrection and the Empty Tomb. Jesus went to Mary and consoled her. He went to the disciples and commissioned them. Jesus could have gone to Pilate and the High Priests with a great big “I Told You So!”
But that wasn’t His purpose on this great day. He was about the business of comforting, calling, and saving. And the good news of Easter wasn’t just for one group of people in one time in history. It was for all peoples in all times, and so Jesus prepares the Disciples to spread the word.
You are the new disciples. You are the coins that have been found. It is for your sake and mine that the tomb is empty. Go and share! Tell others as you have been told!
And we all say, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Amen.
Intern Mark Dixon