As I prepared to teach at the Milk 2 Meat Bible study this resurrection morn (March 31, 2024), leveraging my background and interests in programming, I generated a short snippet of code in a C# if-then construct for my techie friends.
May this be a blessing to all…
Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who defeated death and the grave’s grip on man’s soul?
On a eventful day, satan declared – Jesus is dead and defeated.
Three days later, God declared and demonstrated – Death is dead and defeated and Jesus is Alive.
Resurrection is the hinge on which the door of our faith pivots.
If Christ is not raised to life from death, we remain in death in our sins, and my preaching of the Gospel that snatches people from the road of darkness, destruction and death to light, liberty and life is futile.
What I believe is that Jesus the Christ (Messiah) died and Christ rose from the dead, for a God who cannot save himself from death cannot save others, and thus we remain in our sins.
Hence my faith and my preaching is NOT IN VAIN (NIV); and we are not men and women most miserable.
Points to Ponder
I beLIeVE; Do you? Are you aLIVE?
1 Cor 15:14-19
14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain
15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
After the resurrected Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and commissions her to go tell his brothers of his impending ascension, he appears to his disciples, behind closed doors (John 20:19). He shows his disciples his hands and his pierced side, which dispelled their fears and brought gladness to them (John 20:20). Careful scrutiny of this pericope reveals that the display of his resurrected body is sandwiched between two expressions of “Peace” (John 20:19,21).
The first word from the resurrected Lord Jesus to His disciples is “Shalom” when he said, “Peace be unto you”. In addition to its literal context of dispelling the fear of the disciples (John 20:19), from other portions of Scripture, we can surface the hidden truth that Jesus is the sole means of “True” Peace – a state of Shalom – as the world was pre-fall in its unbroken state, in the Garden of Eden when and where all was good (Genesis 1, Genesis 2). After He shows the disciples His hands and his side, Jesus again tells his disciples, “Peace be unto you” and commissions them to be his apostles, for he says unto them “as my Father had sent me, even so I send you.”
Pre-birth of the Savior Jesus, the prophets of God prophesied of the Christ, the Prince of Peace who is to come (Isaiah 9:6). At his birth, the angelic choir sang, “Peace on earth” (Luke 2:13-14). During His earthly pilgrimage, Jesus declared, that He will leave with and give to His disciples – peace (John 14:27). After his resurrection, his first word is peace (Shalom) as he commissions them (John 20:19-21) to be the ambassadors of his redemptive and reconciling peace (2 Corinthians 5:20-21) – a peace that only he can give, unlike what the world gives – a peace that transcends all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
The message of Easter is “Peace”; peace on earth made possible because of the acceptable death and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:10-14) which appeased the wrath of a just and Holy God (Romans 3:21-26), against all unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). The mission from Easter is to go into the world as commissioned by the resurrected Lord (John 20:21); to tell others that the chastisement of our peace was upon Jesus Christ, who was pierced on his side for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5-8), and proclaim that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and only in him can anyone find true peace which is to be reconciled with God i.e., peace with the One and Only just, Holy God of peace (Hebrews 13:20).
Points to ponder:
Is there anything that is robbing you of peace today? What are you afraid of? What are you anxious about? What are you ashamed of? Turn to Jesus and believe in him, who comes with the greeting “Shalom (peace) be unto you.” When Jesus is in your midst, as he was with his disciples (John 20:19), fear is turned to gladness. Anxiety and worries wane for whoever comes to Jesus, despite their weariness and heavy laden life will find rest (peace amidst the storms of life) (Matthew 11:28-29). And if you have the peace of God because you have believed in Jesus, as I have, are we heeding the words of our resurrected Lord Jesus who has sent us to proclaim this gospel of peace – peace on earth and goodwill unto all mankind, to the glory of God the Father, the God of peace in heaven above?
John 20:19-21 (KJV)
19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
We celebrated Easter last Sunday, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death, whereby he victoriously defeated the devil who had the power of death, delivering those who through fear of death were subject to bondage all their lifetime (Hebrews 2:14-15). Easter is therefore a declaration that “Jesus is alive.”
Jesus is alive, so what? is a question that many seek to answer. The answer is given in the Bible and it is recorded in the book to the Romans in chapter 8 verse 11. Romans 8:11 reads “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
Points to ponder:
Jesus is alive, so what? you ask and here is my response.
I am alive, because he is alive.
Let the Spirit of God in us live his purpose, in our lives, and through our lives, so that when God gives his testimony of us, he does not have to say what he declared of the church of Sardis, that they had a reputation for being alive, but are dead (Revelation 3:1; NLT).
Are you dead or alive? Jesus is alive, so must we be!
Romans 8:11 (KJV)
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Hebrews 2:14-15 (KJV)
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
When visiting the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, I took a picture of what was recreated as the tomb in which Jesus was laid, and what was interesting is that within this tomb, there was a plaque which read “He is not here, He is risen.” We just celebrated Easter in the year of the Lord 2010, and remembered his power over death and the grave (1 Corinthians 15:55-57), and his resurrection from the dead according to the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), but did you realize that on the first Easter, there was a question that was posed, right in the tomb where Jesus was laid.
The first question that was asked in the tomb where Jesus Christ was laid after his resurrection by angels of God (Luke 24:23) was “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5-6). They further went on to affirm that “He (Jesus) is not here (in the tomb), but is risen”.
The answer to this question is of paramount significance. Within a tomb is dead men’s bones and uncleanliness (Matthew 23:27). When Jesus arose, He arose in His physical body (bones and flesh). This He affirms when He tells the disciples “that a spirit has neither bones nor flesh, as you see me have” (Luke 24:39). Acts 2:27,32 refers to Christ Jesus as the Holy One who was raised by God and He who is Holy is not unclean.
Jesus proclaimed verily that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6); He is the Resurrection and he that believes in Him shall have eternal life, even though he was dead (John 11:25). Jesus is Life!
“Why seek ye the living among the dead?” is akin to asking “What communion can Light have with darkness?” Think about it, when you shine a light in a dark room, that room is no longer dark. The shining light takes over the darkness. So is the case, when Life encounters death, death is consumed. The sting of death is vanquished by the victory of Jesus’ resurrection ( 1 Corinthians 15:55-57) . Just as light and darkness cannot co-exist, Life and death cannot co-exist. You are either dead (not knowing Jesus Christ and God the Father who sent Him) or you are alive (knowing Jesus Christ and God the Father who sent Him) (John 17:3)
And of this we are to be witnesses (Luke 24:48), proclaiming that we don’t have to seek the living (Resurrected Jesus) among the dead (in the tomb), because Jesus is the Holy One of God, resurrected in his body (bones and flesh) and those who believe in Him; the Resurrection; shall have eternal life, i.e., be themselves resurrected from death unto life; unto newness of life. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Revelation 20:6 (KJV)
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
For a related article, see “Living among the dead“
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