Or I think of Paul. He had been on the side of Christ’s enemies. He was one who had a vested interest in unbelief. He didn’t want to lose his traditions. He didn’t want to have to change his life. He didn’t want to have to turn his back on all that he had achieved in Judaism. Thus, in his supposed z
But now I want you to look at something else. I want you to turn from thinking about those enemies of Christ, who are exemplified by the soldiers and the priests on that first Easter Sunday, and instead I want you to focus on Christ’s friends, those who learned of the resurrection and who met with J
Here's a case, which like so many others, shows us a man who proposes a theory to explain away the reality of the resurrection. And instead of being rebuffed or forgotten, as Schofield and his book should have been, he is rewarded. It's a case of rewards instead of punishments.Let me give another ex
The soldiers had not left their post, and the tomb was empty. They must have been terrified, wondering what was going to happen to them. After the religious leaders met together, they did not seek to have the soldiers punished. Instead, the guards were told to lie about what had happened.The soldie
Each year at Easter time, when I turn to these stories of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I find myself wondering what I'm going to find new to preach on. When you've been doing this as many years as I have now, you begin to have the feeling that you have preached just about everything you can, gi
I wonder if you have been confronted by the power of that resurrection. The chief priests and Pharisees tried to secure their ecclesiastical world against Jesus. Saul tried to secure his religious traditions and life. Satan had been trying to secure his evil kingdom. Perhaps you too have been trying
There was another character who got into the act. In fact, he had been leading the battle against the Lord Jesus Christ for centuries. His name is Satan. We see him first in the Garden of Eden, where he tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and thus participates in the ruin of the race. We see him i
So in opposing Jesus the first thing Saul was trying to secure was his Judaism. But there was also a second item that he was desperately trying to secure, namely, himself. Later his situation during this period was described as trying to “kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14), like an animal fighting
Well if the Jewish leaders did not fear the disciples, what did they fear then? I am sure they would not have voiced this openly, but in my judgment what they actually feared was the resurrection. After all, they were not imperceptive, and they had been observing Jesus for the better part of three y
Usually the Bible is not a funny book. The issues with which it deals are too grave. But the Bible is an honest book, and when it reports situations in life which are naturally funny it reflects them honestly and therefore with an appropriate sense of humor.There is a situation like this in Matthew’
Yesterday, we looked at the first two events that occurred on the first day of the week. Today we mention the other ones.3. He appeared to the disciples for the first time on that first Easter Sunday and bequeathed to them His great benefit of peace. “Peace I leave with you,” He said. He gave them a
And then the religious leaders came to the point in time not far from Jesus’ arrest, and Christ did this stupendous miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus. It was the talk of the town and isn’t it true that somewhere in their thinking there was the idea that perhaps, although they would have liked t
Not only did they understand the teaching, but they feared the teacher. Oh, they wouldn't have said that. They were not afraid Jesus might rise from dead. Instead, they feared that Jesus’ disciples might come and steal the body and claim Jesus had risen from the dead. But deep down underneath, who w
Yesterday, we concluded by saying that during Jesus’ trial before the religious leaders, these men tried to find something they could accuse Jesus of. However, nothing they said could be established, even though many false witnesses were brought against Jesus.Two came forward and declared, “This fe
It’s a strange fact about Christianity, but one that we can easily observe, that the Gospel is sometimes better understood by those who are not Christians than by those who are. It’s not that those who are not Christians believe it. They probably disbelieve it, but at least they understand what it’s
Now what did Jesus teach these women? He taught that He is the resurrection and the life. The statement is in John 11:25, and it contains two thoughts. First, in Jesus the resurrection is present, for Jesus Himself is life. Martha was thinking in terms of a resurrection at the end of time, a bodily
The story continues with Christ's return to Bethany. Jesus does not go right into the city since the rulers of the Jews had determined to kill Him and He did not wish His presence known. Instead He waits outside. As He waits Martha hears that He has come and goes to meet Him. Mary waits in the home.
In yesterday’s study, we noted that Jesus returned to Bethany after a delay of two days. Upon arriving, He was told that Lazarus had been dead four days. This meant that Lazarus must have died before Jesus had even received the message that Lazarus was sick. And this means that Jesus knew of Lazarus
Now trouble came into the family of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, and Jesus was not there to help them. He had been there a few days previously, but He had gone away, telling them where he was going. While He was gone Lazarus took sick, and the sickness was serious enough for the sisters to send for Jes
During the first pre-Christian century a famous letter was written by Sulpicius Severus, a Roman, to Cicero, the great orator, on the occasion of the death of Cicero's beloved daughter Tullia. The letter expresses deep sympathy and reminds the orator that his daughter had only experienced the common
At the end of yesterday’s devotional, we said that one consequence of knowing that our Redeemer lives is that we, too, shall live. Jesus’s bodily resurrection is proof of our own future bodily resurrection.Then, too, we shall see God. This is the second consequence. We shall live again and in that l
There is a third point to Job's statement. Not only does Job declare that he has a Redeemer, not only does he affirm that He is a living Redeemer, but he adds, quite properly, that He is his Redeemer. "My" is the word he uses. "I know that my redeemer liveth!" Do you know that "my" in relation to Je
At the conclusion of yesterday’s study, we said that there is overwhelming evidence for Jesus’ resurrection.There is the evidence of the narratives themselves. These are quite evidently four separate and independent accounts, for if they were not, there would not be so many apparent discrepancies—th
Now I recognize that there are different ways of translating the phrase which says, “Yet in my flesh shall I see God” (v. 26). Some versions read, “Yet without my flesh.” But these fail to make full sense of the passage. What is redeemed if it is not Job’s body? Not the soul or spirit certainly, for
