Have you had that painful feeling of helplessness that there was nothing you could do to change something, ever? That some things in life are irreversible? Like you can’t untear a ligament and ligaments don’t heal. Tthat you can’t unrun a red light, undelete a document, or unbake cookies!
Some things in life are irreversible, but here’s some good news. Read through the gospels and you’ll discover that Jesus routinely reversed the irreversible. He reversed weather systems. He reversed blindness. He reversed incurable diseases. And on a Sunday morning two thousand years ago, he reversed death itself.
Easter is all about reversing the irreversible.
God Destroys the Evidence against Us
Jesus is praying on the Mount of Olives in Luke 22 when a mob comes to arrest him. Verse 49 says, “When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, ‘Lord, should we strike with our swords?’ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.” We know from John’s gospel that the disciple is Peter and the servant’s name is Malchus.
Peter’s in trouble. You don’t cut off someone’s ear and get by with it, especially when that someone is the servant of the high priest. Worse case scenario: Peter gets charged with attempted murder. Best case scenario: he’s charged with assault and battery. But that’s when Jesus intervenes in verse 51. “Jesus answered, ‘No more of this!’ And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.” Jesus reattached an amputated ear. But he does more than that. Jesus destroys the evidence! Imagine Malchus filing suit against Peter. He takes the witness stand and says, “Peter cut off my ear.” The Judge says, “Which ear?” Malchus says, “My right ear.” The Judge says, “It looks fine to me,” and throws out the case for of lack of evidence.
Jesus doesn’t just reverse an amputation. He destroys the evidence. And this isn’t just a story about Peter and Malchus. It’s about you and me and the way God forgives us. Jesus went to the cross to destroy the evidence against us. I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” When we put our faith in Christ, we are justified - "just as if I’d never sinned.” God forgives and forgets our sin. What a fact! What a feeling! What a terrific reason to celebrate Easter!
