Good day beautiful people,
I hope you’re well? Today’s post will be centred around the resurrection. For me the resurrection is one of the most important events in history, it is the foundation of the Christian faith as it brings hope and proves Christ sovereignty and divinity (Christ is God in flesh appearing). In this current season of my life I intend to delve more into scripture to understand how history proves Christ’s miraculous life and existence, so that I am better able to defend the faith.
4 important points to remember
1)The witness account of a woman
Mary was one of the first people to witness Christ’s empty grave! Previously in history a woman’s testimony/account wasn’t seen as credible as that of a man! So logically it would make more sense to omit this from the gospels, but this wasn’t the case. In reality why would someone make up a story which would decrease the likelihood of people believing what they had to say?
John 20:11-18 ~ “Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.”
2) James’s conversion
Jesus own family (brothes) didn’t believe in Him including His brother James (John 7:5). But later in scripture post Christ’s death and resurrection one can note that James now believed! The most logical reason for this turn around is the fact that Jesus did rise from the dead! In Acts 15:13-21 we see that James was one of the leaders of the early church! What an amesome conversion. He was also Known to be an apostle of Christ.
John 7:5 ~ “For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.”
Galatians 1:19 ~ “The only other apostle I met at that time was James, the Lord’s brother.”
3) Dying for truth
The disciples DIED for what they believed! Which was truth! If they stole Christ’s body as some claim would they really die for such a cause which they would have known to be a lie? This theory doesn’t make sense at all!
They must have found comfort in the fact that they saw their Lord alive and risen from the dead. This would give them hope that they too in Christ would have life everlasting because of Christ’s resurrecting POWER.
Acts 12:1-2 ~ “About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword.”
^^^James brother of John killed by the sword
John 21:18-19 ~ “I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.” Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.”
^^^Peter crucified upside down
Speaking about crucifixion would have been such a taboo topic (crucifixions were gruesome and bloody). Even the Bible states that anyone who is hung on a tree is cursed. The reason why the disciples were emboldened to share such a message is because they knew that Jesus crucifixion wasn’t the end of Him. Christ’s grave was empty because He rose from the dead. As believers we should have hope in Christ, and have hope in God’s resurrecting power, hallelujah.
Deuteronomy 21:23 ~ “the body must not remain hanging from the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone who is hung is cursed in the sight of God. In this way, you will prevent the defilement of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.”
4) Paul’s conversion
Why give up such a prestigious title/status within society to follow a lie! Paul saw the light and knew that to have Christ is great gain! It was worth more than treasure. To the world it may have looked like a loss simply because Paul was no longer part of a group of ‘elite’ religious leaders. Paul chose to follow truth. This is because Paul knew without a shadow of doubt that Jesus rose from the dead and is GOD. Paul was once an enemy of the gospel and spent a lot of time persecuting Christian’s but Jesus turned his life around.
Galatians 1:1 ~ “This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.”
^^^Paul an apostle bears witness to Christ’s death and resurrection.
Galatians 1:13 ~ You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it.
Well I hope you enjoyed today’s read. I want to encourage us all as believers to keep shining for Christ. Pray to God to give you boldness to share your faith with enthusiasm, authority and accuracy. Don’t let timidity or fear hold you back.
God bless
Love from
Christian Lady After God’s Own Heart 💜