The resurrection of Jesus made the gospel credible
Lunminthang Haokip *
DETRACTORS OF JESUS LEFT NO TURN OF HIS UNSTONED: Human nature being what it is, it was natural for the religious leaders of Jerusalem to strongly resent the concept of 'another Jewish man' being raised from the dead. Ephesians 4:18 appropriately explains, "They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts."
They looked at Jesus from the fleshly point of view, someone who grew up from Nazareth, and could not come to terms with the Messiah's other-worldly statements like, "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 (Mark 9:31)."
Jesus left no stone unturned to prove that He was the Son of God sent on earth to save the world. But His embittered detractors left no turn of His unstoned. It did not affect God's plan in anyway. But hate-mongers brought judgment upon themselves. "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks (Acts 9:5)." Kicking the pricks hurts the leg, not the prick.
EGO EDGED GOD OUT: There was a personal reason on the part of the religious big wigs to have gone hammer and tong against the reported resurrection of the Lord who they 'condemned in the council.' It would prove them wrong.
Besides, the EGO - Edging God Out - in them rebelled that the news of the resurrection would go viral to confirm His deity at the expense of their 'belittled' mortality. So they did what they could to suppress the good news.
"When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole Him away while we were asleep (Matt. 28:12, 13)."
The blatant lie could not hold much water. It only reflected their frustration. If unbelievers could spend such a huge amount of money to hide the truth, as believers, it's incumbent upon us to spend ourselves and our resources to proclaim the truth.
Considering the redemption He purchased by shedding His own precious blood, no amount of money spent to spread the truth of salvation Christ taught to mankind will be too much.
CARE FROM WOMB TO TOMB: In 2013, we inducted IAS officers of 17 Indian States were sent to study the administrative good practices of Srilanka. Among others, we were taught about 'womb to tomb' care of the citizens of the island nation. But knowing through the Godpel how much heaven cared for the Son of God, nothing else could rival the 'womb to tomb' divine nurturing of Jesus.
The Almighty God took meticulous stock of His own Son. Everything was planned out to the minutest detail by Jehovah from 'womb to tomb' - the Lord's birth to His empty tomb. The pain that the crown of thorns inflicted upon our Lord flavoured His crowning on the day of the Resurrection. The crucifixion without the resurrection would have been half-baked.
Now that the Lord has risen, it is advantage Christianity, worldwide, to wax eloquent on the potent edge we have. The icing on the cake is that the Lord we worship is alive today to take up cudgels for the broken-hearted. Who else had such an authority to predict his death and rise?
Only Jesus had. "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take up again(John 1018)."
A SON ON WHOM HIS FATHER WAS WELL-PLEASED: Jesus Himself got baptised. "Then Jesus came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptised by John (Matthew 3:13)." John felt not worthy to baptise the Lord. Jesus insisted that John performed His baptism. John did. "Heaven was opened, The Spirit of God descended (Matt. 3:16)."
That Jesus was the Son of God and that heaven monitored His activities on earth was proved by 'A voice in heaven said, "This is My Son, whom I love; with him I am well-pleased (Matt. 3:17)." Baptism takes immersion under water and being pulled up again. This Christian ritual virtually symbolises the death of Jesus, His burial and resurrection.
Romans 6:5 tells us, "We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." The essence of the verse presupposes that a person must die in the flesh first to rise in the spirit with Christ. No sin should be left unconfessed before one gets baptised. It's a holy ritual that establishes our identity in Christ.
RESURRECTION: THE HIGH WATER MARK OF CHRISTIANITY: The doctrine of the resurrection had been made clear by Lord Jesus Himself in John 11:25, "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." No worldly figure could say so and proved himself right. The Saviour's resurrection was the high-water mark of Christianity.
Investing in LIC can only benefit someone other than the one who pays up the premiums through his nose. Believing in Jesus ensures LAF - Life After Death - to the 'investor:' To those who believe in His Lordship, teachings, divinity, and resurrection power, eternal life is made available after earthly existence. He indeed is 'the resurrection, and the life.'
It's much wiser to completely trust in the Lord's resurrection power than to desperately struggle to sell one's soul in order to be in the land of the living for a few more years. The power of the resurrection, if applied by faith in full measure, can resurrect a dead Church, a dead marriage, a dead career, a dead family, a dead system, a dead soul and a dead love.
GOD EMPOWERED HIS SON: Jesus commissioned His disciples, and all believers, later, to spread the message of peace, and love. "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you (John 20:21)." Verse 23 hits the nail on the head. "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
That's the divine power the resurrection of Jesus confers upon true servants of God. Every person who confesses his or her sins believes that all the guilt he or she suffers has been nailed to the cross. He who accepts Jesus as his personal Lord and Saviour, has the privilege to make good use of the resurrection power to taste victory over all the problems and situations.
Earthly sorrows are 'gone with the sin' of salvation. No other spiritual leader could claim to die and rise again within a given time. It's only the Son of God who could say and do so. In Mark 9:31, Jesus foretold the shape of things to come after His crucifixion, "The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; and after that He is killed, He shall rise the third day."
I HAVE NOT RESISTED SIN TO THE SHEDDING OF OF BLOOD: The resurrection power gave me the power to endure pain and hurt. In year 2000, as a part of my conscience cleansing, I sold my motor car and made do with riding a bicycle to Church. On my way back, at dusk time, when I cycled below a horizontally laid barbed wire that I didn't see, I cut four inches of my head. Blood oozed out profusely.
But the grace of the Lord helped me to pedal up to the hospital. With four stitches, I rested for a week. In the weaker moment, I indulged in self pity, "Why Lord, while I am serving you, why this bleeding should take place?" I was prompted to pray and seek the Lord's answer.
It shocked and amazed me when I opened my Bible at Hebrews 12:4, "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." My dad shed blood when he was preaching the Gospel in the early 1960s. I was reminded.
And the accident I met was chicken-feed compared to what my Lord suffered on the cross. Yes, I need to suffer more. I have not done enough. The Word written in Hebrews 12:4 made me humble myself and repent to dust and ashes.
* Lunminthang Haokip wrote this article for The Sangai Express
The writer is an IAS (Retd)
This article was webcasted on April 10 2023 .
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