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| INSIGHTS INTO SCRIPTURE: In looking for proof that Jesus rose from the dead, we note the following: • Women were the first eyewitnesses. If the disciples were lying about the resurrection, they sure wouldn’t have women be eyewitnesses, since women’s testimony wasn’t considered valid anyway. • The tomb was tightly sealed and guarded. See Matthew 27:62-66 and 28:11-15. • The additional appearances of Jesus: to the two people walking to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35 and Mark 16:12-13); to Peter in Jerusalem (Luke 24:34); to the ten disciples in the upper room (Luke 24:36-43 and John 20:19-25); to the eleven disciples in the upper room (Mark 16:14 and John 20:26-31); to seven disciples fishing (John 21:1-23); to the eleven disciples on the mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20 and Mark 16:15-18); to more than 500 people (Acts 15:6) to James (Acts 15:7); and at the Ascension (Luke 24:44-51 and Acts 1:3-8) The phrase “Nothing is certain but death and taxes” may not have been known to the people who knew Jesus, but it was certainly their reality. Taxes from the Roman government were heavy, and death was.…well… death. Final. The end of life. So, to have Jesus’ body disappear from the tomb, to be reminded that Jesus told them he would die and rise again was, to say the least, an awesome surprise for Jesus’ followers. If Jesus had actually conquered death, what did that mean for their lives? It meant that their lives, and the world, would never be the same. A resurrected Jesus had given them a new way to look at life, and death. The Jesus who cared about those who felt the least amount of hope would now be available to everyone through the gift of the Holy Spirit; and eternal life would be theirs because he took the place of the sacrificial lamb on the cross. |
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