While the religious Jews had to lie to themselves and others about Christ's resurrection, there are others whose hearts burn within them as they experience the resurrected Christ. And how did they recognize him? In the breaking of bread. Now tell me again why we don't celebrate the Lord's Supper more often?
When we come to grips with the reality of Christ's death, and the supernatural power of His resurrection, we simply respond like Thomas:
John 20:27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." 30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
When we consider the magnitude of our sin and the intensity of the wrath Christ bore on the cross for our sin, when we consider the infinite love of the Father to provide His only begotten Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sin, we will embrace His desire for all peoples to know this amazing love:
Matthew 28:18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus who died on the Cross bearing your wrath for my sin. Thank you for the promise of resurrection life because Christ was resurrected. Lord Jesus, I believe in you; please reveal yourself to me like you did to those two on the road to Emmaus. Please let me experience you each and every day. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit, and anoint me to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and do the Father's will. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, the One with scars on His hands and feet.
You know, it's funny how some of the same arguments are being made about Jesus' death and resurrection, as they were back in His day.
ReplyDelete1. He didn't die. Yet, the soldiers pierced His heart; and the confirmation of death was made when blood and water flowed out of Him.
2. It wasn't Him, it was a look-a-like (stunt double as I prefer it). So when was the "switch" made? In the garden before Judas (who knew Him well) betrayed Him? After the "kiss", did the arresting soldiers call a time out, and awaited the stunt double? Maybe it was while He appeared before the Sanhedrin. Or maybe it was when He stood before Pilate; or Herod. Or did the director call "cut" after He actually laid down on the cross to have the nails driven in? The truth is, there was no stunt double.
3. The most absurd is that He wasn't buried in the tomb; but was buried in the ground. In order for Pilate to order guards around the tomb, and seal it; there had to be proof that He was in the tomb. Why would Pilate send orders of death to those who broke the seal of the tomb, and place guards around it, without the proof that the body was there, and the body was the one of which was proclaimed?
4. The disciples moved His body while the guards were on coffee break, or sleeping. Mmm, intriguing. At the risk of death, the disciples stole His body, then buried Him in the ground. At the risk of death, the guards claim they were sleeping, while the disciples did this; yet no punishment was given to the guards, nor were the disciples sought for their crimes of body thievery (yet they stood in public proclaiming the resurrection of Christ); nor were they interrogated to show the governing authorities where they hid the body. You would think there would be the urgency to find the body of Jesus to disprove the "myth" of what was being preached. Especially since identifying Him would be easy (at that time, since His body wouldn't have been as decomposed, if He was dead like they claimed).
4. It wasn't His physical appearance people saw, but it was His "spirit" people saw, spoke with, and watch ascend. I think this is where people confuse the Christian faith, with that of the Muslim faith. Muslim faith claims they saw the spirit of Muhammed ascend to heaven; while his body remained. His disciples and other people (more than 500 people saw Him, I Corinthians 15:6) ate with Him, touched Him, spoke with Him, etc for 40 days after His resurrection (Acts 1:3). That's a pretty big lie by a lot of people. Without physical resurrection there is no conquering of death, no eternal life, and our faith is in vain (I Corinthians 15:12-28).
It is to great grief that the "proof is in the pudding" about the resurrection of Christ. There is physical evidence of this in the Shroud, that no scientist is willing to claim the DNA in the blood is that of Christ. They do this on the technicality that they do not know what the DNA would be like. I bet Jesus would be 0 negative (the perfect, universal blood), and the rest of His DNA structure would follow the pattern of perfection (just a thought).
Which is why a "Fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good." (Psalm 14:1)