Category Archives: Resurrection

Disciples, Faith, Messiah, Miracles, Resurrection

Coming to Jesus Step By Step

Posted by admin on March 20, 2010 at 10:35 pm.

 

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him (John 11:45).

                Whatever happened to these Jews who believed in Jesus following the raising of Lazarus? We don’t know and won’t know for sure until we get to heaven, but there are some likely scenarios for these people.

                Undoubtedly, many of these formed the throngs that lined the road at Jesus’ Triumphal Entry. They would have waved palm branches and laid out their cloaks before Him as He rode into Jerusalem. They probably WEREN’T among the crowds that were incited by the religious leadership to call for Him to be crucified.

                Acts 6:7 records that the disciples increased greatly after the Day of Pentecost, and that even a number of priests became Christians. We are not told that the Jews who believed following Lazarus’ resurrection were priests, but some may have been and certainly many of the people who came to Christ in the early chapters of Acts were likely ones who witnessed the miracles of Jesus – including this significant event.

                Most of us forget that those who came to Christ in the book of Acts were not hearing about Jesus for the first time. It is likely that many had been among the crowds that followed Jesus, that ate the bread that He miraculously provided, that knew someone who knew someone who had been healed. Finally the news of the Resurrection of Jesus reached them and convinced them the He really was Messiah.

                People in our day don’t usually come to know Christ the first time they hear the Gospel message either. The vast majority of people need to hear, think about the claims of Christ and finally become convinced that He really is God before they will trust Him. This reality should make us re-think what real evangelism is, and help us to recognize that when we stand for Christ in our neighborhoods or work places, someone may be there who will later recall that testimony as a step toward his decision for Christ.

Christ, Eternal Son of God, Gentiles, Hearts, Messiah, Restoration, Resurrection, conversion

Receive or Reject

Posted by admin on March 10, 2010 at 12:01 pm.

He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:11-12).

                This passage is one of the many “sad and glad” couplets in Scripture. It combines one of the most tragic phrases in all of literature with one of the most hopeful.

                There are many reasons why “His own” did not receive Him. Some can be attributed to misunderstanding. He didn’t fit the mold that they had come to expect. He didn’t follow all their rules and regulations; He didn’t throw off the yoke of the Roman government; He didn’t stroke the religious establishment in the right way; indeed, on that point, He stirred them up and pointed out their hypocrisy.

                Some of those who misunderstood Him at first came around later and broke up mold of their expectations so that they could see Him for Who He really was.

But others didn’t. These stubbornly held fast to their expectations and required Him to conform to their ways of thinking. The irony (or perhaps hypocrisy) was that these apparently religious people had put God in a box and refused to let Him out. Their ways were all that mattered. They would be recognized and honored when they forced God to do what they determined was the best policy for their people. Many of those that refused to receive Him tried to use their personal or political influence to make Him conform to their ways. Ultimately they would “win the battle” but “lose the war.” Jesus would be crucified at their hands, but He would rise again to life.

But how much happier were those who are described in the “glad” portion of this couplet. They received Him, acknowledging ultimately His glory. They didn’t necessarily understand all that He was doing or all that would happen to Him, but they understood, with John, that this One – the Messiah – was not their puppet, but was the One they needed to obey. They were willing to be the servants rather than the Master.

It seems to me that we see the same contrast among people today in Western society. We can argue about whether “His own” only refers to Jewish people, but it would be immaterial. Whether we are Jews or Gentiles, the human heart still is rebellious against our Creator. We still want to pull His strings rather than submit to His will. We still have the same choice: receive Him or reject Him. In the end there is no other option.

Bread of Life, Christ, Church Today, Resurrection, Scripture, Walk with Jesus

Their Hearts Burned

Posted by admin on March 9, 2010 at 11:31 am.

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32

                On the evening of the Resurrection of Jesus, as the word was beginning to circulate that something had happened to the body of Jesus, two men were walking along a road toward the town of Emmaus when they were joined by a stranger. It was Jesus, but they couldn’t recognize Him.

                They were amazed that this Man seemed to not know the news that Jesus had been crucified, much less that He was reported to have been seen alive again. So Jesus explained to the men all that the Scriptures had to say about Himself “beginning with Moses and the Prophets” (Luke 24:27). Later, after He became known to them, they realized how His discourse had affected them.

                The hearts of these men “burned” within them because they were searching for the Truth, and the Truth was being revealed to them. They didn’t have a flippant, fatalistic attitude that found expression in a phrase like “Oh well, it must not have been God’s will!” They were earnestly trying to make sense of the things that had happened and to see these events within the grander scheme of God’s redemptive plan. They were looking to know Truth. They would find it within the revelation of Scripture, explained by the One who embodied the Truth. What a privilege was theirs that makes many of us envious!

Having known Christ in this culture for the past 35 years, I confess that I am cynical about how many people today are really searching for Truth. Many SAY they are, but the cares and comforts of this life are usually more important. It is unusual – but supremely joyful – these days to find a brother or sister whose greatest concern is simply to know Jesus and His Truth.

                But though I tend to be cynical today, I am confident that this tribe will increase in the next few years (if Jesus tarries). As the prosperity of our Western culture wanes, as people become disillusioned with the emptiness of materialism, there will be a hunger for the Word again in the hearts of men, because, as Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” Solomon’s statement in Ecclesiastes that God has placed “eternity in our hearts” implies that the things of this world will never truly satisfy. It may take some time for us to try “everything,” but once we do, the hunger in us for eternal Truth will burn. The junk food spiritual diet many today live on just won’t satisfy.

AB Simpson, Heaven, Miracles, Resurrection, Scripture, Suffering

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Posted by admin on March 1, 2010 at 3:33 pm.

“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” (Luke 16:27-31)

The text here comes from the story about the rich man and Lazarus. (Traditionally, the rich man’s name has been “Divies” because it is the term used in the Vulgate, the Latin Bible, for the rich man, but the name is not in Scripture.) Lazarus was a poor beggar who often would sit at the gate of the rich man’s home and beg. But he believed (apparently) and was rewarded with heaven while the rich man suffered in Hades. Jewish legend suggested that when a believer died he would go to Abraham’s bosom, so Jesus was using this idea to make His point, not necessarily condoning any truth to the legend.

The rich man, while in agony, called upon Father Abraham to soothe his agony by sending Lazarus and when that was not possible, he asked him to send Lazarus back to his family that was still living so that they could be warned. Abraham explained that they had the Scriptures, but the rich man thought that someone coming back to life would more clearly convince them. But Jesus put the main point of His story in the words of Abraham, “If they don’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they won’t be convinced if someone rises from the dead.”

There is a specific and a general application to this. The specific application is that the skeptical religious leaders would not be convinced when Jesus Himself rose from the dead. This is, at least in part, because to believe in Him would likely doom their careers within the Jewish Sanhedrin. These positions were acquired at great cost of time and effort. We might compare them to political careers in our day. Very few men are willing to risk their careers to believe in Jesus – then or now. Truth just isn’t that important to most men in our day.

The general application is that no matter how many or how stupendous the miracles, they will not convince the skeptic, unless they are convinced by the Scriptures. If a person will believe it will be because he chooses to listen to “Moses and the Prophets” (aka, the Scripture).

This principle is really a major factor in the decline of the Church in our day. People have things backward – they want the miracles rather than the Scripture. It’s too hard and time-consuming for many to dig into the Scripture; we’d rather just have a quick, easy miracle, or some other “feel-good” entertainment. And there are always churches that will try to accommodate them. But Dr. A.B. Simpson had it right when he penned the verse, “Once it was the blessing, Now it is the Lord; Once it was the feeling, Now it is His Word; Once the gift I wanted, Now the Giver own; Once I sought for healing, Now Himself alone.”