The Resurrection
If there was one thing that pointed to Jesus and His power, what would it be? Some might say it was the miraculous birth Jesus had. Others might say it was the miracles He performed. And while these things would do, I believe it is something else. It is the resurrection of Jesus after He had been crucified and buried.
The resurrection is such a powerful moment in the life of Christ. He had lived, and Luke said He “went about doing good.” (Acts 10:38) He cared for people. He healed many who were sick with various diseases and even raised the dead to life again. He had great compassion for the souls of mankind, and we find the reason He came into our world was to “seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10).
But now His life is over. The Jews did not like His teaching and did everything they could to destroy Him. Actually, Satan was working as hard as he could to destroy the Savior of the world. And finally, Jesus would be put to death in one of the most painful and excruciating ways possible at that time. He was beaten, nailed to a cross and died on that cross.
After His death, some disciples requested His body. They took him from the cross and wrapped His body, as was the burial custom of the Jews, and spices were used. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, members of the Council, did this along with other disciples. After this, His body was placed in the tomb. Jesus is dead. He who was the hope of the world has had His life extinguished.
If we could see Satan at this time, we would see him very excited and shouting, “I won! I won!” (At least I believe we would).
But then something wonderful happened. On the third day, Jesus rose from the grave, and the tomb was empty, except for the burial clothes. And Jesus has overcome the power of the devil.
That one act that we see happening was the thing that separates Jesus from every other religious leader there has ever been. For all of the others are still in their tombs, and Jesus’ is empty. Jesus had said He would die and then be raised the third day, and it happened.
Paul makes reference to this event taking place, and in the book of 1 Corinthians, devoted one whole chapter to this. Go there sometime and read the 15th chapter. For those who may not believe this, I encourage you to honestly examine the evidence. And when you do, there is only one result that one can come up with: Jesus rose from the dead and lives today as the Savior of all mankind who will obey His word.
Many at this time of the year are thinking of Christ and His resurrection. If you have never received Jesus, won’t you?