What glorious music we have on Easter! It is because Jesus Christ Rose from the grave that we can sing praises to our God, even when facing the uncertainties of tomorrow!
Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 15:17,19 clearly states that: If there were no resurrection, we of all people should be most pitied. If Christ wasn’t raised, then all you are doing is wandering about in the dark.*
Our faith would be null and void if Jesus were still in a tomb The Nicene and Apostle’s Creeds affirm: He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures. (I Co. 15:3-4) Do we just recite those words? Or is it something we BELIEVE?
Body of Executed Leader Missing! (Read John 28:1-15)
Do you believe this Good News? “Jesus Our Lord” has risen is at the center of Christian Faith. Because Christ rose from the dead, as he had told his disciples, we know that what he said was true. Because he rose, He Lives & Represents us to God the Father.
Because he rose & defeated death, we know we also will be raised. Matthew’s account is consistent with the other Gospels, (Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-18), although each focus on a different part.
Those who had given their lives to Jesus for three years were distraught, even though Jesus had told them multiple times what he would face, they had seen their Master tried as common criminal and crucified in the most humiliating way the Romans knew. They failed to hear or believe that last part of what Jesus said: Three days later he will rise!
Matthew writes that the women saw Jesus taken down from the cross and placed in a borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, which had never been used. Sundown on that day (Crucifixion), began the Jewish Sabbath, therefore the women did have time to properly prepare Jesus’ body with spices and ointments, as was their custom. Those women, who journeyed with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, spent that Sabbath mourning. The disciples, closets to Jesus, were huddled in the Upper Room, where they had eaten their last supper with Jesus, behind bolted doors, for fear of being arrested.
All hope was lost. Their dreams shattered; their purpose of living gone. You may have experienced a little of that on Good Friday. At the earliest possible moment, as soon as the Sabbath ended, Saturday, at sunset, the women who had cared for Jesus and his disciples throughout the years of His ministry, purchased and prepared spices. The next morning, as light began to break the darkness, they left their secure homes & went to the tomb, prepared to anoint Jesus’s body with spices as an act of love and respect.
Matthew’s account of that Life Changing Morning, the Resurrection Power, is something that does not loose value with the current fickle fluctuations of Wall Street. It is for those feeling spiritually dry & wanting a new vision of hope.
This amazing TRUE story chronicles what the disciples went through before fully realizing that Jesus was alive. If you are reading about Jesus’ resurrection for the first time, you likely are having difficulty comprehending how the significance of the Resurrection Power is LIFE for YOU!
1. At First the Story may seem a Fabrication. It is impossible to believe. Let’s look at the facts. Women were concerned about who would roll the stone from the entrance to the tomb. The sealed stone+ was removed not so Jesus could get out. It was so Others could see he was not there.
2. Checking out the Facts you may still be puzzled. The women who entered the tomb were alarmed when they saw an angel dressed in clothing white as snow (bight as lightning). Don’t be afraid, he said, I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here. He is risen from the dead! Come see where the body was lying. Now go, tell his disciples (including Peter) that he is risen from the dead & he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him, just as he told you. (Women were the first Eyewitness.) The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were frightened but filled with joy. They rushed to give the disciples the Good News.(Lk 24:11) But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. Notice it was Women who were the first to be Commissioned to tell the Good News!
3. It was when the Followers Encountered Jesus Personally that they were able ACCEPT the fact of the RESURRECTION. Jesus appeared to Mary. (Jn. 20:11-18) Sensing another presence, she turned and saw Jesus but didn’t recognize Him. Mary’s Grief & Assumptions blinder her from seeing Jesus. Mary was looking in the wrong direction. She was riveted on the tomb. When Jesus approached, she didn’t look at him but stared at the grave.
Josephus continued: Those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again on the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct today. *
The same may be true of us. Many of us fail to see Jesus or Comprehend His presence, because we are wrapped up in our own assumptions & focused on other areas of life or bitterness/grief. Some of us focus on the sorrow & tragedy we have experienced. Others of us may be looking for answers in Philosophies or other religions. Some of us are just hiding, not wanting to take any risks. Mary was not thinking rationally.
It was when Jesus called Mary by name that she Recognized Him “Rabboni!” (is the Hebrew for Teacher.)
It was only when Jesus appeared to the Disciples that they believed, even if they didn’t fully comprehend.
What does it mean for us? Fact may direct our inquiry. Jesus approaches each of us, inviting us to respond to his invitation. It is when we Personally Meet Jesus that we are able to accept the fact of the resurrection and what it means for us.
Jesus’ resurrection is key to the Christian Faith, because:
A. Just as Jesus said, he rose from the dead. We can be confident that He will accomplish all he promised. We are not wandering about in the dark, because Christ was raised! (I Corinthians 15:19)*
B. Jesus’ bodily resurrection shows us that the Living Christ, is the Truth, the Life & Ruler of God’s Kingdom and alive now!
C. We can be certain of our resurrection because Jesus was resurrected, Death is not the end—there is future life (Eternal Life).
D. The divine power that brought Jesus back to life is God’s gift & available to us in brining the spiritually dead back to life.
E. The resurrection is the basis of our witness to the world. Like the disciples, the evidence is there. Why is it that some believe while other do not? Why is it that viewing the same information leads to different conclusions?
Ultimately it goes back to what John wrote at the beginning and end and stressed throughout his Gospel, namely that some believed because they were ready and had a need in their life. Those content with life—may think “Don’t upset my comfortable life.” Those who have not thought of their lives being contrary to God’s will, may not be receptive to Jesus’ message of Promised “Full Life.”
We who believe Jesus, do so because we trust the Scriptures. We who believe in Jesus’ resurrection do so because we believe those who told the story were eyewitness to Jesus. We who have followed the Living Christ, do so because this story is true and that He commissioned us to take that Good News to all the world. Yes, it is still Good News.
Mary met Jesus, liberating her from her past, giving her New and Real Life. It was May Magdalene who was given the joy of being the first to see the Risen Jesus.
Do you believe that Jesus was crucified and buried? If so, do you believe that he is still in the grave? Or Do you believe he was raised from the dead?
If Jesus was raised from death, what are the implications for your life? Paul wrote: “Jesus is the First Fruits.” That is, each of us will be raised into God’s presence the same way Jesus was raised from the dead. This is the Heart of the Gospel. Because Jesus was raised from death, those who believe in Him will recognize Him as their Risen Lord and Savior.
Where are you in your Stage of Belief?
Are You Personally Experiencing the Resurrection Power of Jesus, the Risen Lord?
I hope you have enjoyed "Journeying With Jesus into Jerusalem, his Triumphal Entry, his week publicly teaching and preparing his disciples for what was going to happen. Reading about his Trial resulting in his death on a Roman Cross and burial. Today, you have learned why all this happened and how Jesus from the beginning told his disciples that on the "Third Day" he would rise from the grave. We have also learned what all that means to us and how we are commissioned to tell others that "Jesus Is Alive!"
*Scripture is quoted from The Message, version of the Bible.
+ The Works of Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews and a History of Jewish Wars ETC.
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