Believing in the Resurrection…
Easter! Resurrection Sunday! Just another day to some, but to believers it is the consummation to the Christmas story. It completes the story of Jesus coming to earth as God, in the cloths of a man. Born to die. Born to be Prophet and Priest.
Over and over again Jesus told His followers and disciples He had come to die.
The Gospel of Matthew 16:21-28 we find Jesus “from that time,” and on a number of occasions, Jesus “began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed …”
Jesus predicts he will be arrested and die, while the disciples manifest their incomprehension, and Jesus uses the occasion to teach them new things.
He warns them in Mark 9:30-32 and also in Matthew 17:22-23… “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.”
But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
Jesus specifically mentions crucifixion as the way He will die in Matthew 20:17-19…”We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
Matthew 26:1-2 precedes the plot made against him by the religious Jewish leaders: “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
In John, chapters 12 to 17, mentions several occasions where Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure, which the gospel also refers to as his “glorification”: “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”
Yet, we find the women going to the tomb, early on Sunday morning. They are wondering how they will get into the tomb to anoint the body of Christ for His burial, which was hastily performed only three days prior. Now the tomb is closed up, sealed and guarded. Once they find the tomb, it is open and Jesus is not there.
I wonder if Martha remembered what Jesus has told her when He raised her brother from the dead:
“Jesus said unto her, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?’”
John 11:25-26 KJV
Jesus is ALIVE! We serve a risen Savior! He is the Prophet, the Priest and the soon coming KING!
We must keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He is alive!
He is living in you to do His good purpose in you, through you and around you. He is alive! He desires we have life abundantly and to live abundantly. He is ALIVE!
I serve a risen Saviour, He’s in the world today
I know that He is living, whatever men may say
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer
And just the time I need Him He’s always near
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today
He walks with me and talks with me
Along life’s narrow way
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart
In all the world around me I see His loving care
And though my heart grows weary I never will despair
I know that He is leading, through all the stormy blast
The day of His appearing will come at last
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today
He walks with me and talks with me
Along life’s narrow way
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Salvation to impart
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian Lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ, the King
The Hope of all who seek Him, the Help of all who find
None other is so loving, so good and kind
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today
He walks with me and talks with me
Along life’s narrow way
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Salvation to impart
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart
Songwriters: Alfred H. Ackley | He Lives lyrics © Word Music, Inc
Yes, I believe in a Resurrected Savior! Do you?
