Pastor's Column 4/4/21

PASTOR’S COLUMN

“The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what He told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that He would rise again on the third day.” Then they remembered that He had said this. So they rushed back from the tomb to tell His eleven disciples – and everyone else - what happened…But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.” Luke 24:5-9; 11, NLT

“But tell me this – since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? And if Christ has not been raised then all of our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless…But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead...” I Corinthians 15:12; 14; 20a, NLT

1st Sunday (Resurrection Sunday) - “No Hoax!”

The validity of our faith is in the truth of the Resurrection. On the third day Jesus was awakened from death and raised from the grave. The scriptures recognize this event as an irrefutable fact. It is the fulfillment of nearly a thousand years of prophecy. The knowledge and truth of the Resurrection has transformed the lives of over 2.5 billion people throughout the world. Notwithstanding, with similarities to the first Resurrection Sunday, we live in a cynical and doubting world. There is a spirit of denial when it comes to the truth. Strange, on the first Resurrection Sunday, the disciples were not convinced initially that Jesus had risen from the dead. Even Jesus admitted, the disciples wouldn’t grasp the truth until He was ascended into the heavens. The greatest event in human history was met with uncertainty. But the women knew it was no hoax! Their compelling testimony of an empty grave and Paul’s defense of the Resurrection, have preserved the truth of our great faith! The women were bewildered, not doubtful. Jesus was not in the tomb, a fact they proclaimed as real proof of the Resurrection!