Behind the Easter Story - Part ONE
Behind the Easter Story - Part TWO
An Easter Message from Jack Graham
In Christ Alone by Travis Cottrell
How Great Thou Art by Anne Murray
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ - A You-Tube Video By Randall Niles
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Thoughts on the Resurrection
Devotional from Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron
What do you think was the most significant event in human history?
Unquestionably, the greatest event was the faint sound of a heartbeat in a cold and lifeless body in a tomb, two thousand years ago. The sound of blood rushing through the heart of Jesus of Nazareth was a sound that will thunder throughout eternity, because of its incredible implications.
The fact that God raised someone from the dead is not really significant. He raised the dead a number of times both in the Old and New Testaments. But this resurrection had enormous lawful repercussions. It was evidence that the Judge of the universe had acknowledged that the payment for our sins was acceptable. It was the key that unlocked the door to immortality for humanity.
Here's another question for you. What is the most precious substance in the universe? It was unquestionably the blood of Jesus Christ. Nothing else could redeem us from the just curse of God's Law. When eternal justice called for our blood, Jesus gave His blood to atone for our crimes. We were not redeemed with silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ.
Many Jews had been crucified as criminals by the Roman cross. All suffered unspeakable pain.
But this Jew's suffering was different because He was the Lamb of God, whose blood did not contain the taint of sin carried by the lineage of Adam. He was truly the Lamb of God.
These are wonderful biblical truths that Christians know and rejoice in.
But, this Easter, millions of both Jews and Gentiles will celebrate biblical events that they don't fully understand. For one or two holy days they will give God thanks for His mercy and for the Passover lamb.
Christians celebrate Easter and the resurrection of the Passover Lamb every day of the year.
May you have a blessed Easter,
Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron
Easter Musings- - -COMMENTS- - -
EASTER: THE CRUCIFIXION, THE RISEN CHRIST AND THE EMPTY TOMB.
2007
Dear Cheryle and all,
I feel so overwhelmed with all this day has meant to me -
First I listened to Charles Price this morning from People's Church in Toronto, the Living Truth Broadcast - then our Church service at 11:00 a.m. in town, totally, worship of the Risen Lord, - a wonderful message from our Pastor Shaun. He is very passionate for the Lord.
This evening I listened the second time to Charles Price and later still to Charles Stanley who each have regular TV broadcasts.
Each message was so profound - not so much different from each other but the thing so huge for me and fills my heart with joy is how entirely they each lift up Jesus - this is in effect what shows me how wretched I am without Him, not leaving me wretched though, but holding out the unfathomable Remedy through Faith in Him.
Jesus - the One and Only sacrifice sufficient to take away all our sin - the only way we will ever experience real repentance toward God is to know the real Jesus - not some pseudo 'ministry' or 'perfect church' etc.
It is important to take heed to who we hear and what we hear and how we hear. They must preach Christ crucified -
We must come to understand that we must identify with both the fallen Adam, his nature and position, and likewise the position and provision by Faith if Christ and His work on our behalf, appropriated to us by Faith alone in Christ Jesus alone.
We must understand we were born in sin - born with the condemned Adam nature - we are born in sin - separated from the life of God, born dead, and the only remedy is Gods Gift - I believe until we grasp our fallen nature in Adam we will never see the imperative of believing and receiving by Faith in Him the Free Gift of Christ's substitutionary Sacrifice which took away all sin.
Romans 5:6- For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.....
Verse 12: Therefore, just as through one man, sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-....
Verse 15: But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by one man's offense, many died, much more the Grace of God and the gift by the grace, of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.
Verse 16: And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from the offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense, death reigned through the one, much more those who RECEIVE the abundance of grace and the GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS will reign in life through Jesus Christ.
Verse 18: Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to ALL men, resulting in condemnation, even as through one Man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
The life is in the blood, and God's justice and wrath against sin could only ever be satisfied by Christ's blood, because of Who Christ was, fully God and fully man, (without the fallen nature of Adam) therefore Christ was ABLE to fulfill ALL righteousness. Such was the Substitutionary Sacrifice that it can only ever be RECEIVED, imputed to us, His Gift, His Grace, appropriated by our belief alone in Christ Jesus alone.
- The Free Gift which is the Grace of God, is not appropriated by some ‘ministry’ as we once were deceived to believe.
- While we know God’s strategy is still people, God’s provision in Christ is not appropriated by some ‘certain sent ones’ who have left their homes and pretend to dispense salvation through a method they claim to be the only way to be saved.
- And secondary method to bring Christ to a sinner is to trample on the Blood of Christ, the Finished work of Christ on the Cross.
- To put a comma and etc. and ‘method’, after Christ’s words “IT IS FINISHED” is to violate the very reason for which Christ came.
- It is spiritual treason against the Sovereign Lord God.
- To add some other ‘price tag’ to faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone, is to deny the very provision which alone is able to justify the repentant sinner before the Judgment Seat of God.
- To truly know that when Christ died - I died - Christ took on my condemned nature with all its sin and nailed it to HIS CROSS -
- Jesus took on all I am in a lost state - and wants to give all He is because of the New Life.
No wonder Thomas declared - MY LORD and MY GOD – [Was Jesus fully God and fully man?] Thomas declared so!
Anything that is less or more than Christ and Him crucified is faulty evangelism and grave spiritual error.
- I shudder to think I ever thought that some so called ministry was the means to get to Christ - some ‘gate to the gate’ or ‘way to the way’.
Imagine we thought some self sacrifice and 'wanting to do better this week' would ever be acceptable. That was not at all what God wanted but it was what we thought was needed because we didn’t understand the Cross of Christ.
How we elevated a system and all the trappings thereof - the complicated set of rules to make ourselves acceptable -
How dare we despise HIS Cross and diminish His Cross or 'add to' His Cross.
Likewise, we did not understand the fulfilled Righteousness of Christ, imputed to all believers by faith alone in Christ Jesus alone.
- How could we think our little schemes of works could compare or be remotely what God wanted. If that were enough, why would Christ need to come at all???!!!
Little wonder we were always weary and defeated in body, mind and soul.
- If the devil cannot make atheists, he is just as happy to make self-righteous Pharisees who come on their own terms, with their own set of rules who still claim ‘salvation’ of the soul.
No one ever disputed the empty tomb -
Some tried to twist what happened - The Romans resisted the preaching of the Resurrection - but they never disputed it.
If the body had been stolen - indeed the Romans would have dug it up from hiding and shut up once for all these transformed disciples - but they hadn't stolen it so they couldn't produce it.
Praise God for the risen and living Lord.
- Jesus said, “No man comes to the Father, but by Me!”
- There is no other way. Jesus is the only Way.
Praise God for that.
To those who have the audacity to call the Blood of Christ ‘cheap grace’ is to despise the greatest cost ever paid, a cost we can never begin to imagine – we cannot fully know our own sin, much less the sin of all the world.
I strongly urge us all to read the book of Romans often.
Know the simple ‘statement of faith’ of the Apostles after the Resurrection and then Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given to all believers.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 etc…
The Apostle Paul writing:
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve……etc…
This was no longer the time limited message to the Jews only, that Messiah is here. After the Jewish nation as a whole rejected Christ as the Messiah God has now turned to the Gentiles. This gospel is the Power of God unto eternal life.
Put the Cross in the center and everything makes sense.
Put some ‘ministry’ in the center and you’ll be confused forever.
Blessings in Christ,
Sharon hargreaves
March 16th, 2008
Roman executions were brutal and horrifying, and other punishments were also dreadful.
Crucifixion deaths were meant to terrify the population, particularly when the crime had been one that defied Roman authority. Jesus was presented to the Roman governor as a dangerous seditionist, a revolutionary—and his having been hailed as a king on Palm Sunday, a great popular leader whom the Jews would accept as a ruler, lent credence to that. In that Roman province, the local population was allowed to maintain its local culture and religion, and the Jewish group that controlled the temple was recognized by the Roman occupation as the local authority.
It was in charge of civil order and law, within its own sphere of influence, and was expected to keep order and make sure the population behaved—or did not give the Romans any trouble. The Messiah would threaten that order. The Quisling king the Romans recognized (nurtured in Rome, as it happened) as king of the Judean province was very cooperative with Rome, and upsetting that situation would be a threat to order. The Roman governor, Pilate, left his seaside city and base of power at Passover time, when there would be a vast influx of Jews into the traditional Jewish capital to make their annual sacrifice at the temple, to stay at his residence there, keep an eye on things, and perform certain ceremonies meant to keep things smooth between the captive province and Roman authority. Releasing a prisoner of the people’s choice was one such gesture.
That Jesus’ death would be by crucifixion was well understood by all who realized the Romans would execute him. Judas’ intention in handing him over to the high priests and Jewish high court may have been to get him disciplined by them—not killed by the Romans. Or it may have been his idea that Jesus should get together with Caiaphas and his crew and resolve the serious contretemps caused by Jesus’ having driven out the money changers and merchants from the Gentile Court of the temple. We simply can not know those dynamics fully. He certainly placed himself in conflict with Jesus’ mission and intention. Discipline by the Sanhedrin might have been something other than death; the Roman occupation did not allow Jews to inflict the death penalty, but likely they did sometimes when the Romans weren’t looking. If the Jewish high priests wanted to make an example of Jesus and wanted him to be executed, they would have to get the Romans to do it.
We know how barbaric crucifixion was. Yet a drink with a sedative was offered to those being killed by crucifixion (Jesus refused it), and at some point the suffering was shortened by the breaking of the lower leg bones so the person could no longer rise up reflexively on the platform to allow his chest to expand and diaphragm to function. The person would die from asphyxiation shortly after that. Jesus yielded up his spirit, apparently by his own will, before that could be done. The separation of blood components that occurs only some little time after death was indicated by the spear thrust up under the ribs to the heart, with blood and “water” or (or suspended red cell clusters, or clots, and plasma, separately) coming forth.
Considering this death and its meaning to Christians is done more at this time of year than at any other. In our culture, Easter has taken on its secular holiday aspect, but the sacred meaning is also present for Christians. Over the years some cults have inveighed against the celebration of Easter. In the Herbert W. Armstrong years of the Worldwide Church of God, the group condemned Easter as a pagan fertility festival and insisted it should not be celebrated. Growing up 2X2
I was taught that Easter celebrations were worldly customs, not pleasing to God. We should not be involved in such things. Yet my sister and I did hard boil some eggs (we purchased white ones if all our hens provided were brown), dissolved little PAAS tablets in cups of boiling water, wrote and drew eggs on the eggs with candles or crayons for “wax hold out,” dunked the eggs, and sometimes added little transfers. We did not take these to school or join in the school Easter parties, though. And we didn’t let some of our 2X2 relatives and friends, or the workers, know about out having dyed eggs and put them into little Easter baskets. My mother wasn’t B&R, so she would have remembered some of that sort of fun from her childhood, and she let us have our little home “celebration.” She did not relate it to the Easter Bunny or with new life or with the resurrection.
School was dismissed between noon and 3 p.m. on Good Friday so staff and students could attend Good Friday services. But we 2X2s stayed at school, along with a few “heathen” children who never went to church. Sometimes the principal stayed there to supervise us, while all the teachers were excused.
By Martha Knight
I distinctly remember in Sunday morning meeting that people would speak about how we did NOT celebrate Easter like the world.
My experience as well. It is a bit ironic in view of the intense loyalty the 2x2's have to the KJV which, to my knowledge, is the only translation which has the word "Easter" in it. 4/97
While growing up in the 2x2 system, I never heard anything mentioned by the workers about Easter that I can think of. It was just understood that in meeting Easter Sunday was no different than any other Sunday morning meeting. When I was growing up in the 50's Oregon had Special Meetings in Portland on Easter for several years.
Our family always celebrated Easter as a family holiday. We would color eggs and hide them and have a nice Easter dinner. However, it was not celebrated as the day of Christ's resurrection as such. We were taught that we were to be thankful for Christ's resurrection every day and not to just pick one day of the year out like the FALSE RELIGIONS do at Easter. I thought of Easter as a family time and not a religious time just like we did at Christmas. 4/97
Like said, I can never remember a worker ever speaking about Easter. I knew as a child that Easter was the same as any other Sunday, that it was the celebration of when Jesus rose from the dead, but that we remembered that every Sunday morning with the bread and wine. Singing "Calvary" was one of my favorite hymns.
Again, as mentioned, in Oregon in the 50's and a little in the 60's, Special Meetings was on Easter Sunday, Portland was anyway.
I was privileged to have lots of friends my age at meeting. As a family we did things with about 10 other families that had kids the same ages. Often there would be an Easter Egg Hunt as someone's house/yard. Our family didn't get as involved with it as other families did, but it was still fun.
I remember getting a new dress especially for Special Meetings, all my girlfriends did also. Some girls even had Easter Bonnets to go with their new dresses, but my Mom wouldn't let me. Going to school after Easter I was able to tell the other girls about my Easter dress, in fact Mom would let me wear it on a special occasion. I never had to feel strange or left out, except for the kids at school always had fancier dresses then I did. I understood that though, we weren't to go all out like the world did. :-) :-)
We even got Easter baskets with candy in them from the Easter Bunny. Interesting enough, it seems like all those holidays, Christmas, Halloween, and Easter, we celebrated the fun parts. 4/97
There was never an "Easter Message" on Easter unless it was to point to the "false churches" for celebrating it! 6/97
In this area many times there were special meetings at Easter time. I remember how my family hated that. When there wasn't Special Meeting we'd go to my family for dinner or I'd have my husband's or my family here. I always fixed baskets for the kids and do for the granddaughters. I guess that the workers were never in our home at that time so nothing was said, and nothing preached about it in meetings. 6/97
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Part 1 - By John McArthur
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Part 2 - By John McArthur
Jesus' final week of His Earthly Ministry began with Him riding a donkey colt into the City and thus His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Thus fulfilling this Prophecy of Zechariah, REJOICE GREATLY,O DAUGHTER OF ZION! SHOUT O DAUGHTER OF JERUSALEM! BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU; HE IS JUST AND HAVING SALVATION, LOWLY AND RIDING A DONKEY, A COLT THE FOLD OF A DONKEY. (ZECHARIAH 9:9)
Remember, this was Sunday of the same week that Jesus would be crucified, and the great Passover Festival was about to begin! Jews came to Jerusalem from all over the Roman Empire during this week-long celebration, to worship and remember the great Exodus from Egypt.
EXODUS 12:37-51 The same people who cried out "HOSANNA! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD," changed their cries to "CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM!" before the week was over.
So on this Palm Sunday we reflect on Christ's last few days in human form, and what a great price HE paid for our sins! FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHO-EVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. FOR GOD DID NOT SEND HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO CONDEMN THE WORLD, BUT THAT THE WORLD THROUGH HIM MIGHT BE SAVED. JOHN 3:16-17
What a tremendous price and sacrifice that was! This is a true demonstration of how very much our Heavenly Father loves each one of us!
Pause for a moment or two and Thank our Savior for what HE did for you, and me, and the rest of HIS Children as well.
Apostle Paul Ministries, P O Box 55996, Hayward, CA 94545
The Cross
From His Name is Jesus
by Max Lucado
The cross. Can you turn any direction without seeing one? Perched atop a chapel. Carved into a graveyard headstone. Engraved in a ring or suspended on a chain. The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity. An odd choice, don’t you think? Strange that a tool of torture would come to embody a movement of hope. The symbols of other faiths are more upbeat: the six-pointed star of David, the crescent moon of Islam, a lotus blossom for Buddhism. Yet a cross for Christianity? An instrument of execution?
Would you wear a tiny electric chair around your neck? Suspend a gold-plated hangman’s noose on the wall? Would you print a picture of a firing squad on a business card? Yet we do so with the cross. Many even make the sign of the cross as they pray. Would we make the sign of, say, a guillotine? Instead of the triangular touch on the forehead and shoulders, how about a karate chop on the palm? Doesn’t quite have the same feel, does it?
Why is the cross the symbol of our faith? To find the answer look no farther than the cross itself. Its design couldn’t be simpler. One beam horizontal—the other vertical. One reaches out—like God’s love. The other reaches up—as does God’s holiness. One represents the width of his love; the other reflects the height of his holiness. The cross is the intersection. The cross is where God forgave his children without lowering his standards.
How could he do this? In a sentence: God put our sin on his Son and punished it there.
“God put on him the wrong who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God”
Great House of God
From His Name is Jesus
© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009) Max Lucado
He Bore It All by Max Lucado
From He Chose the Nails
Then the soldiers bowed before Jesus and made fun of him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
They spat on Jesus.
The soldiers assignment was simple: Take the Nazarene to the hill and kill him. But they had another idea. They wanted to have some fun first. Strong, rested, armed soldiers encircled an exhausted, nearly dead, Galilean carpenter and beat up on him. The scourging was commanded. The crucifixion was ordered. But who would draw pleasure out of spitting on a half-dead man? Spitting isn’t intended to hurt the body, it can’t.
Spitting is intended to degrade the soul, and it does.
What were the soldiers doing?
Were they not elevating themselves at the expense of another?
They felt big by making Christ look small. Ever done that?
Maybe you’ve never spit on anyone, but have you gossiped?
Slandered?
Have you ever raised your hand in anger or rolled your eyes in arrogance?
Have you ever blasted your high beams in someone’s rearview mirror?
Ever made someone feel bad so you would feel good?
That’s what the soldiers did to Jesus. When you and I do the same, we do it to Jesus too. I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me! (Matthew 25:40 NLT). How we treat others is how we treat Jesus. Oh, Max, I don’t like to hear that, you protest. Believe me, I don’t like to say it. But we must face the fact that there is something beastly within each and every one of us. Something beastly that makes us do things that surprise even us. Haven’t you surprised yourself? Haven’t you reflected on an act and wondered, What got into me?
He Chose the Nails. The Bible has a three-letter answer for that question: S-I-N. Allow the spit of the soldiers to symbolize the filth in our hearts. And then observe what Jesus does with our filth. He carries it to the cross. Through the prophet he said, I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.
Mingled with his blood and sweat was the essence of our sin. God could have deemed otherwise. In God’s plan, Jesus was offered wine for his throat, so why not a towel for his face? Simon carried the cross of Jesus, but he didn’t mop the cheek of Jesus. Angels were a prayer away. Couldn’t they have taken the spittle away? They could have, but Jesus never commanded them to. For some reason, the One who chose the nails also chose the saliva. Along with the spear and the sponge of man, he bore the spit of man.
From He Choose the Nails Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2001) Max Lucado
Question: Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ important?
Answer: The resurrection of Jesus is important for several reasons. First, it witnesses to the immense power of God Himself. To believe in the resurrection is to believe in God. If God exists, and if He created the universe and has power over it, He has power to raise the dead. If He does not have such power, He is not a God worthy of our faith and worship. Only He who created life can resurrect it after death, only He can reverse the hideousness that is death itself, and only He can remove the sting that is death and the victory that is the grave’s. In resurrecting Jesus from the grave, God reminds us of His absolute sovereignty over life and death.
Second, the resurrection of Jesus is a testimony to the resurrection of human beings, which is a basic tenet of the Christian faith. Unlike all other religions, Christianity alone possesses a founder who transcends death and who promises that His followers will do the same. All other (false) religions were founded by men and prophets whose end was the grave. As Christians, we take comfort in the fact that our God became man, died for our sins, was killed, and was resurrected the third day. The grave could not hold Him. He lives and He sits today at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. The living church has a living Head.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul explains in detail the importance of the resurrection of Christ. Some in Corinth did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and in this chapter Paul gives six disastrous consequences if there were no resurrection:
(1) preaching Christ would be senseless (v. 14);
(2) faith in Christ would be useless (v. 14);
(3) all the witnesses and preachers of the resurrection would be liars (v. 15);
(4) no one would be redeemed from sin (v. 17);
(5) all former believers would have perished (v.18); and
(6) Christians would be the most pitiable people on the earth (v. 19). But Christ indeed has risen from the dead and “has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen sleep” (v. 20), assuring that we will follow Him in resurrection.
The inspired Word of God guarantees the believer's resurrection at the coming of Jesus Christ for His Body (the Church) at the Rapture. Such hope and assurance issues in a great song of triumph as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:55, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?" How do these concluding verses relate to the importance of the Resurrection? Paul answers, "...you know that your labor is not in vain" (v. 58). He reminds us that because we know we will be resurrected to new life, we can suffer persecution and danger for Christ’s sake (vv. 29-31), just as He did, and just as the thousands of martyrs through history who gladly traded their earthly lives for everlasting life via the resurrection.
The Resurrection is the triumphant and glorious victory for every believer in Jesus Christ who died, was buried, and rose the third day according to the Scripture. And, He is coming again! The dead in Christ will be raised up, and those who remain and are alive at His coming will be changed and receive new, glorified bodies1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ important? It demonstrated that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. It proves that God has the power to raise us from the dead. It guarantees that those who believe in Christ will not remain dead, but will be resurrected unto eternal life. That is our blessed hope!
WITH HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED.
Isaiah 53:5
Pilate delivered our Lord to be scourged. The Roman scourge was a most dreadful instrument of torture. It was made of the sinews of oxen, and sharp bones were intertwined among the sinews, so that every time the lash came down, these pieces of bone inflicted fearful laceration and tore off the flesh from the bone. The Savior was, no doubt, bound to the column, and thus beaten. He had been beaten before; but this from the Roman soldiers was probably the most severe of His flagellations. My soul, stand here and weep over His poor, stricken body.
Believer in Jesus, can you gaze upon Him without tears as He stands before you, the mirror of agonizing love? He is at once fair as the lily for innocence and red as the rose with the crimson of His own blood. As we feel the sure and blessed healing that His stripes have wrought in us, does not our heart melt at once with love and grief? If ever we have loved our Lord Jesus, surely we must feel that affection glowing now within our hearts.
See how the patient Jesus stands,
Insulted in His lowest case!
Sinners have bound the Almighty's hands,
And spit in their Creator's face.
With thorns His temples gor'd and gash'd
Send streams of blood from every part;
His back's with knotted scourges lash'd.
But sharper scourges tear His heart.
We may long to go to our bedrooms and weep; but since our business calls us away, we will first ask the Lord Jesus to print the image of His bleeding self upon the tablets of our hearts all the day, and at nightfall we will return to commune with Him and sorrow that our sin should have cost Him so dearly.
EASTER: The Risen Savior
No Hope Without the Resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:12-14
In today's passage, we see the apostle Paul challenging people in the Corinthian church who denied a foundational truth of the faith. Some Christians there rejected the idea that believers would one day experience a bodily resurrection. Because they assumed there was no life beyond this earthly one, they sought as much pleasure as possible with no thought about eternity. "Death is the end, so live it up while you can" was their thinking.
Throughout the centuries, many individuals have embraced this shortsighted philosophy. Paul's rebuke rings as true today as it did then: to deny the truth of resurrection means that one's faith is worthless 1 Corinthians 15:12-14 If the renewal of a body were impossible for God, then Jesus would be a dead man, not the living Lord. Furthermore, His continued state of death would indicate He lacked sufficient power to conquer sin and evil - and we could never be certain that God wields the strength necessary to bring us eternal life. Like the followers of other religions, we would journey through life, hoping our deity's words about eternity were true, but dreading that death might in fact be a meaningless end.
If Christ had remained in the grave 2,000 years ago, then He would have been nothing more than an itinerant preacher. This religion we call Christianity would have died with Him because believers would have nothing in which to place their hope.
But He did triumph over the grave - we have eyewitnesses' testimonies and the assurance of the Holy Spirit to confirm it. Our motto should be "Live for the glory of the risen Lord!"
The Resurrection Body
1 Corinthians 15:35-42
Believers throughout history have raised many questions about the Resurrection. In today's passage, Paul answers queries about how the dead are raised and what kind of body they will have (v. 35).
Paul begins with an agricultural analogy. If a farmer places a corn seed in the ground, it dies and sends up a green stalk rather than a giant seed. In the same way, the resurrection body is an outgrowth of a dead earthly body. The two are linked: the child of God doesn't become an entirely new being after death, but is renewed with a perfected eternal body.
Old friends and loved ones will recognize one another because each Christian retains his or her individuality, just as one star is different from another. But the personality and likeness that distinguishes a person will be perfected in heaven. The bodily resurrection is not a makeover to correct "faults" we might find bothersome - like an image in a mirror, our visible looks will have little importance. The renewed self is meant to uniquely reflect God's glory and His perfection.
Our rejuvenated body will be adapted to the task of glorification. On earth we see that living creatures are designed for their environment. Human flesh cannot withstand cold like animal hide, and small lungs are ineffective underwater where gills function well. Likewise, our heavenly body will be transformed to be perfectly suited for an eternal home.
God lovingly created us as unique and beautiful individuals. Paul says that originality will remain intact, even as God renews us to be perfect reflections of Him.
Some Thoughts on Jesus Feeding the 5,000
by Aimee Herd-Commentary : Apr 11, 2009 : BCN
What He offered then, He offers to us today—to be filled with the Bread of Life.
(Suggested Reading: John 6:1-40)
As I looked over some notes I'd made on chapter 6 of the Gospel of John, I was struck again by what God might be speaking to me—and each of us—through this important passage of the Bible…especially as we mark Good Friday and Resurrection Day this year. Below are 12 thoughts that came out of that reading.
(1.) The setting for a good portion of John chapter 6 is near the time of the Jewish Passover feast. As this passage deals with the subject of "food"—both spiritual and physical—the calendar reference being Passover becomes even more significant since it's a time when Jews ponder God's deliverance from bondage and sustenance on the journey to the Promised Land.
(2.) This miracle (the feeding of the 5,000) is the only one, besides Jesus' resurrection, that is recorded in all four Gospels. Why? What is so important about this account that all four writers of the Gospels were led by the Holy Spirit to include the telling of it? More on that later…
(3.) Verse 5 notes that there was a "multitude" that was seeking Jesus after seeing Him heal those who were sick. As they approached, Jesus turns to His disciples and brings up the subject of food. He asks them, "Where shall we buy bread that these may eat?" He asked them this, but in the next verse John points out that Jesus was only testing them, because He knew what He was going to do. While the Bible emphatically states that God doesn't "tempt" people, He may "test" our hearts and our motives at times.
(4.) Phillip, in verse 7 we see, is quick to point out the obstacles involved in feeding such a vast number of people. But, in the next couple verses, Andrew offers a possible solution, though he is aware of the shortcomings. What kind of approach do we have when we encounter challenges in life? Are we spending all our energy examining the problem, with nothing left to seek out the solution?
(5.) Even mentioning the little boy's lunch (in verse 9) may have seemed futile, but Andrew did mention it. And, that tiny contribution was exactly what Jesus used in performing this miracle to feed the 5,000. It may feel very small to you—what you have to offer to God, or a seemingly inept solution—but God can, and often will use just that to accomplish what He wants. Plus, He can multiply it many times over!
(6.) In verses 10-12, John records that each person was given not just a bite, but each could eat as much as they wanted. They ate until they were filled. I think many times as we endeavor to follow God's lead, we worry "will it be enough?" But we would do well to remember that when God feeds us, we are filled, and walking in God's purpose for your life will fill like nothing else.
(7.) The miracle continues in verses 12-13 as Jesus has the disciples "gather up the fragments that remain so that nothing is lost." In reading this, I felt the Lord might be saying, "Take stock." The disciples gathered up what was left over and there was much that God had blessed them with—12 baskets full. Take stock and gather up in your heart and your mind all of what God is doing in your life. Take care that nothing is lost! Every little thing God does is important. As you take stock, you may be amazed at all the things that contain the fingerprints of God on them. Write them down; they can encourage you later.
(8.) The people who witnessed this miracle saw that Jesus was a "prophet" and they wanted to make Him a King "by force," right then. So, Jesus left for the mountain by Himself—alone. How easy it is for us to love the praise of men. The "position" we can have in this world. Was Jesus tempted by this? It doesn't state here, but regardless if He was or not, He chose God's way. He left the scene and went up the mountain; probably to pray. A great example for us.
(9.) The people wanted to make Jesus a king—an earthly king with limited earthly power. Jesus rejected that. But, later He proved to His disciples that He had unlimited, supernatural power, by walking on water to their boat.
(10.) The multitude is back the next day (verses 26-27) and they are seeking Jesus again, but here Jesus confronts them concerning their motives, which are temporal—looking for another sign. Jesus' purpose in His demonstration of supernatural power by feeding the 5,000 went much deeper; to a symbolic meaning. He is our bread—our sustenance—all we need.
(11.) When confronted (in verses 27-28), the multitude asks Jesus what they can do to do the "work of God." He replies, "This is the work of God; that you believe in the One whom He sent." The people could've been asking 'what can they do to be able to perform miracles like Jesus,' or they could've been asking what they should do to work their way to God. In either case, Jesus answers their question about works with a statement about relationship. It's not what we can do to get to God—it's what He's already done; sent His Son. All we can do is believe, and let that belief then bring action.
(12.) I think this may be why this particular miracle is included in all four Gospels. It is very strong and tangible symbolism that goes to the very heart of the matter. It deals with our need; with who Jesus really is; and with our relationship with God through Him. What He offered then, He offers to us today—to be filled with the Bread of Life.
