Risen Without A Doubt

The unexpected happened and there is plenty of evidence to prove it.

John 20:1-9 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put Him!"

3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn't go in.

6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings.

8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed-- 9 for until then they still hadn't understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.

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Most authors end a biography pretty soon after the death of the person that is being written about. There usually isn't much to say about a person after they are dead, they quit doing things and saying things for anybody to write about, but that is not so with Jesus.

Jesus story starts to get really interesting after his death. The favorite part of the Bible for a lot of people is probably the New Testament from Acts through Revelation. The story of Jesus is really exciting as you about the amazing changes that happened in our relationship with God as a result of the fact that Jesus came out of the tomb.

None of the stuff that Jesus told us about heaven matters if he didn't rise from the dead, we would be foolish to put all of our hope in a dead man, if he didn't leave his grave then we have no hope of leaving ours. Thankfully the evidence that Jesus did rise from his grave is huge and it gives us plenty of reason to expect that we will experience his resurrection power in our lives as well. (John 6:37-40, 1 Corinthians 15:14-19)

Consider the evidence:

• The open tomb

A sealed tomb with Roman soldiers that "slept" through the noise of the large boulder being moved and now it is wide open for us to see that it is empty. Jesus proved when he came into a room without opening a door that the stone was moved for our benefit, it wasn't moved to let him out, it was moved to let us in. (John 20:19, 26; Luke 24:15, 31)

• The scared disciples

These guys were too afraid to make a plan to pretend that the resurrection had happened. They didn't even comprehend that Jesus was coming back in three days. Why would they go through so much work and expense to give Jesus a proper burial if they believed that he was coming back so soon?

• The religious leaders

If these guys had any information about the location of Jesus body they would certainly have been quick to let everybody know, they would have done whatever they could to stop the resurrection stories. Their story about the guards at the tomb taking a nap and missing the thief is rather lame.

• The empty grave clothes

What grave robber would leave behind the clothing that was on Jesus and carry his bloody body away to a new location. His body was a mess that nobody would have wanted to see or touch.

• The crowd of witnesses

Post-resurrection appearances of Jesus include the first to Mary Magdalene, then to the disciples on several occasions and to a crowd of over 500 people at once. The varied circumstances of the appearances and the different people that were involved help to validate the truth.

• The disciples preaching

The powerful preaching of the disciples would have been easy to stop if somebody came forward with a dead Jesus. The disciples accused the Jews of crucifying the Son of God, wouldn't they stop at nothing to find Jesus body in order to stop such serious allegations?

• The unexpected happened

It is amazing that nobody expected Jesus to be back in their midst after three days. God's word and the prophets had said that it would happen, just days before he was crucified Jesus said he would be crucified but he would be right back, yet nobody expected it would happen. (Luke 24:25-26)

From tears to joy, from fear to courage and from doubt to belief, they were all convinced. Even the Apostle Paul went from being a zealot to protect the traditions of Judaism to embracing the life and teaching of Jesus. 

The Apostle Paul saw Jesus and was convinced:

Romans 1:4 and He was shown to be the Son of God when He was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 4:24-25 for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in Him, the One who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and He was raised to life to make us right with God. Romans 5:11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 6:10 When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. Romans 8:34 Who then will condemn us? No one--for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us.

Everyone that experienced the risen Savior was never the same and that is still true today. My relationship with Jesus is so awesome because it is the reason that I can have a peaceful, loving and friendly relationship with God while I am here on earth and there is no fear of meeting him when this life is over.

Thank you God that you revealed your plan to raise your Son Jesus from the dead and then you followed through and kept your promise.

I Found You

I have found hope, love and strength to rise above.

"I Found You" - Anthony Evans

You never know what could open up your eyes

Sometimes the truth comes in disguise

So close what you need most

Is hard for you to see

Unexpected but if you let it

Itʼs everything you need

I found hope I found love

I found strength to rise above

A beautiful a fire that burned though

Everything I thought I knew

When I found you

Beauty rises from the dust

Heartache can teach us how to love

In the dark night a trace of light

Shines so easily

When you broke though like a bright blue sky

You changed the way I sing

Anytime my heart gives into doubt

Iʼll remember when

Iʼll remember how I Found You

Doubt is one of the leading causes of blindness, we can easily forget the truth that God has already revealed and proven to us, that's right where Satan wants us to be. My pastor Ken Whitten says: "Never doubt in the dark what God has showed you in the light."

This song is a reminder to me to celebrate the fact that I have hope, I have love and I have the strength to rise above my circumstances. If I look around in my dark places I can find Jesus right there with me.

Thank you Lord for giving me hope and love that this world desperately needs.

The Rabbi And The Seeker

Don't be afraid to bring your questions to Jesus.

 

John 3:1-10  There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.  2  After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus.

"Rabbi," he said, "we all know that God has sent You to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with You."  3  Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God."

4  "What do You mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus. "How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?"

5  Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.  6  Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.  7  So don't be surprised when I say, 'You must be born again.'  8  The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit."

9  "How are these things possible?" Nicodemus asked.  10  Jesus replied, "You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand these things?

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It didn't take long for Jesus to stir up the religious crowd, when you do something that affects somebodies wallet, they are going to notice. The Passover celebration was a huge money making event for the religious leaders but Jesus cleaned out the temple and messed up their commerce.

I wonder what the people thought when the next Passover came, were they looking for Jesus to come back into the temple and clean house? We know that the money changers and the salesmen come back by the time Jesus ministry is ending, were they nervous about going back in the first year? (Matthew 21:12-15)

There is no doubt that Nicodemus would have been at the temple that day and he probably saw what Jesus did. Jesus actions raised some questions in Nicodemus and he was bold enough to approach him to get some answers. Many pastors have preached that Nicodemus came at night because he was afraid of the other religious leaders but perhaps he came then so that he could have a deeper, intimate conversation with Jesus.

"Rabbi, we all know that God has sent You to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with You."

Nicodemus had already formed an opinion about Jesus and he gives him partial credit for who he is. Actually he says that "we all know" it seems that all of the Pharisees knew that Jesus was sent from God for some purpose, but they aren't sure why he was sent.

Nicodemus didn't know that all the attention that he was placing on works was soon going to be unnecessary. I imagine that Nicodemus was about to ask Jesus how he could know that he was going to enter the Kingdom of God when Jesus interrupted. Jesus already knew the question before it was asked so he decides to answer it, wouldn't that help validate Jesus credentials?

"I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God."

As a Pharisee, Nicodemus was deep into the teaching that the law was the way to make God happy with you and therefore gain access to Heaven. Now there is a new Rabbi in town and he is talking about being born again, this doctrine sounds absurd to him, of course Nicodemus knows that he cannot physically be born again but Jesus teaching is quite difficult for him to get after a lifetime of being taught that works is the way to heaven.

"What do you mean? How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?"

How would you feel if everything that you have been taught about how to get to heaven or how to please God was completely cast aside for a new teaching? 
Of all the people that came to Jesus so far, Nicodemus struggled the most, the fisherman were very open to Jesus and each of them followed Jesus right away but for a student that studied under a Rabbi it was much more difficult to accept.

Titus 3:5 He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus doesn't mind skeptics, he doesn't mind our questions and it doesn't bother him if it takes some time to be enlightened about his ways. God already told us that our ways were not the same as his ways and so therefore we do struggle to understand. (Isaiah 55:8)

Jesus kept the conversation going by explaining to Nicodemus that having a second physical birth wouldn't improve his standing with God. This new birth comes through the Holy Spirit and cannot be accomplished by any of our impure works.

As long as you ask in the same spirit as Nicodemus you should not be afraid to bring your questions to Jesus. Nicodemus did not ask his questions the same way as the rest of the religious leaders. (John 2:18, 6:30, 10:24, 11:46-48, 18:19) It seems that Nicodemus came honestly looking for answers that would help him understand this new teaching.

Matthew 11:28-29 Then Jesus said, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Jesus asked us to allow him to teach us, he is humble and gentle to those who are eager to learn from him, he will not refuse to allow you into his classroom. He is willing to teach us and help us learn the way to an eternity with him and he wants to continue teaching us how to become more like him. (John 6:37) He is an awesome teacher and we will understand a lot but there will always be more that we cannot comprehend and we will have to accept by faith.

Thank you Lord for allowing us to come with our unbelief, our questions and our doubts. Please increase our faith to trust what we cannot understand. (Luke 17:5)

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