|
HIS
LIFE: |
|
Jesus' resurrection Picture this. A friend of
yours says, "I'm going to die. Then, on the 3rd day, I'm going to rise
from the dead." How would you react? I think I'd have a really hard time
not bursting out laughing! But how would you react
if your friend DID it?! Would you be surprised? Of course. Would you
understand it completely? Probably not right away. And … the next time your
friend made a promise to you, do you think you'd listen? Absolutely! The above scenario? That's
what Jesus did. He told His disciples on several occasions that he would die,
and that he'd then rise. That's exactly what happened. Here's how. After Jesus
died - at 3:00 p.m. on Friday - several of his followers hastily buried him
in a tomb cut out of the rock, like a cave; a stone was rolled in front of
the entrance. The burial was hasty because the Sabbath Day began Friday at
sundown - the Jews would not allow themselves to work on the Sabbath. The
religious leaders remembered Jesus' promise that he'd rise. Of course, they
didn't believe it, but they thought that the disciples might steal his body
and claim he had risen. So, they asked Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor,
for permission to seal the tomb and post a guard. Pilate agreed. Early Sunday morning an
earthquake shook the whole area. An angel rolled the stone away from the
front of the tomb, revealing that the tomb was empty. The grave clothes were
still there, folded. During that day, Jesus appeared several times to
different groups of his followers, assuring them that he had risen, just as
he'd promised. During the next 40 days,
Jesus spent some time with his disciples, but not a lot of time. More on that
later. He appeared more than a dozen times after his resurrection, sometimes
to individuals, sometimes to small groups, sometimes to his group of
disciples, and one time he appeared before 500 people! He wanted people to
know that he really had risen. But so what? What does it
mean? For the answer, listen to what St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:17,
"If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in
your sins." If Jesus didn't rise, then his work was useless. If Jesus
didn't get out of the grave, you and I are stuck - stuck in our sins, with no
way out. You and I would stand before God as guilty, to be condemned
eternally. But what if Christ HAS
risen from the dead? What would that mean? That would mean that we're no
longer "in our sins". That would mean we're forgiven! That would
mean that we stand before God as innocent! Christ HAS been raised!
He did get out of the grave! That is God's ULTIMATE proof to you that you're
innocent and that you now have a new life in Christ! So what does Jesus do
AFTER he's risen from the dead? Next page! |