rizen1
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The Resurrection
Student Devotional NLT.
Think about a time when you felt at your lowest point. Got that fixed in your mind? Then you can imagine what must have been going through the disciples’ minds as they witnessed (or heard about) the crucifixion of their Master. They had hoped that Jesus was the Messiah who would lead Israel to freedom from the Romans. But now he was dead. All of their hopes and expectations died with him.
If that were the end of the story, you would never have heard of Jesus or Christianity. Jesus’ followers would have disappeared like the followers of dozens of other would-be Messiahs. Also, you wouldn’t be holding this book in your hands, reading it as countless millions of others have, basing your life on its principles.
But Jesus’ death was not the end. It was only the beginning. As Mark 16 tells us, Jesus didn’t stay dead. On an otherwise ordinary Sunday morning, he rose from the dead!
Some of us have a tendency to take the Resurrection for granted, especially after hearing the story 50 times. But we need to remember that people didn’t vacate their graveyards 2,000 years ago in Palestine any more than they do today. Dead people stayed dead—with one major exception. And that exception, the resurrection of Jesus, has made all the difference in eternity for countless Christians.
When the first-century Christians, including the disciples, were called upon to defend their faith in Jesus as Messiah, they didn’t point to his great moral teachings or his miracles. They pointed to one rock-solid proof: his death and resurrection. Because Jesus really came back from death, it stands to reason that the rest of what he told us is true: he is the way to the Father; anyone who puts his or her faith in Christ can live forever with him in heaven
Student Devotional NLT.
Think about a time when you felt at your lowest point. Got that fixed in your mind? Then you can imagine what must have been going through the disciples’ minds as they witnessed (or heard about) the crucifixion of their Master. They had hoped that Jesus was the Messiah who would lead Israel to freedom from the Romans. But now he was dead. All of their hopes and expectations died with him.
If that were the end of the story, you would never have heard of Jesus or Christianity. Jesus’ followers would have disappeared like the followers of dozens of other would-be Messiahs. Also, you wouldn’t be holding this book in your hands, reading it as countless millions of others have, basing your life on its principles.
But Jesus’ death was not the end. It was only the beginning. As Mark 16 tells us, Jesus didn’t stay dead. On an otherwise ordinary Sunday morning, he rose from the dead!
Some of us have a tendency to take the Resurrection for granted, especially after hearing the story 50 times. But we need to remember that people didn’t vacate their graveyards 2,000 years ago in Palestine any more than they do today. Dead people stayed dead—with one major exception. And that exception, the resurrection of Jesus, has made all the difference in eternity for countless Christians.
When the first-century Christians, including the disciples, were called upon to defend their faith in Jesus as Messiah, they didn’t point to his great moral teachings or his miracles. They pointed to one rock-solid proof: his death and resurrection. Because Jesus really came back from death, it stands to reason that the rest of what he told us is true: he is the way to the Father; anyone who puts his or her faith in Christ can live forever with him in heaven
