Sunday 20 April 2014

The Resurrection of Christ

The Resurrection
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.  
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,  but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  
While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  
In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  
 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  
‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”  
Then they remembered his words. 
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.  
It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.  
But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.”  
            Luke 24:1-11
The resurrection of Jesus is the one thing that separates Christianity from all other religions.
It is the cornerstone of our faith. Without the resurrection our faith has no meaning.
Jesus needed to overcome death and hell to truly be the Savior of the world.
Still when told about the resurrection the disciples who’d been with Jesus, who’d sat under his teachings for three years listened to the reports of the women and as Luke records “they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.”
Their attitudes however would soon change. They would go on to see the resurrected Christ and bear witness to it throughout the world.
Still however many in the world today do not believe. The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians,
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 
                                                    1 Corinthians 1:18.
While it may seem foolish it is the truth. If it were a lie it would be the biggest lie ever in the history of humanity.
The early Christians believed it.
Flavius Josephus, who lived until 98 A.D., was a romanized Jewish historian, NOT A CHRISTIAN.
He wrote books on Jewish history for the Roman people. In his book, Jewish Antiquities, he made references to Jesus. In one reference he wrote:
“About this time arose Jesus, a wise man, who did good deeds and whose virtues were recognized. And many Jews and people of other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. However, those who became his disciples preached his doctrine. They related that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Perhaps he was the Messiah in connection with whom the prophets foretold wonders. [Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, XVIII 3.2]
Think about it.

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