Did He really came back from the dead? Some react with a: “Complete nonsense, that story of the resurrection! The dead never come back to life.” Others who want to be more polite say: “It was the way of the apostles to keep courage, because only so would the three-and-a-halve years with Jesus not have been in vain.” Many modern, liberal theologians think that Jesus actually had not really been but almost dead.
A new life
after death as Jesus demonstrated it according to the Gospels is beyond
our
comprehension and certainly cannot scientifically be explained. He was
after
some days suddenly in good health apparently, though he had the scars
of the
inflictions of the crucifixion. He appeared suddenly in a room while
the doors
were shut and disappeared without leaving a trace behind him. He
ascended to heaven;
the law of gravity did not hold him to the ground.
The apostle
Paul addressed the wise philosophers of his days and they listened with
great
interest. When he however came on the subject of the resurrection of
Jesus
Christ, we read in Acts 17:32, their patience came to end and they
began to
ridicule him. The patience of Paul was however seemingly also exhausted
for he
walked to Corinth, a city with a seaport where the word of his
preaching fell
into fertile ground. That that fertile ground was the hearts of
laborers in the
town and harbor, common people, was an indication for him that God had
chosen
the poor and weak to be saved too. (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
Many have
admitted that the historical fast growth of Christianity would not have
been
possible without the phenomenon of the resurrection. How impossible it
may seem
to some: Jesus must indeed have been raised from the death. If he was
not raised
the Christian faith would not have made a chance to survive the first
century.
A thorough, honest study of the New Testament and early Christian
literature
points very, very clearly in the direction of the truth of the
resurrection;
there can absolutely be no doubt about. The conclusion that the
resurrection of
Christ is an historical fact has led even antagonistic atheists to
faith in
Christ. The apostles gave testimony with great power to the
resurrection (Acts
4:33). That power of their testimony and preaching came into action
from the
moment that the Holy Spirit fell upon them. Before that moment that had
kept quiet.
though Christ was risen and ascended to heaven. But after the power of
the Holy
Spirit had fallen upon them they spoke about Jesus with great
fearlessness and
power.
If you are
a Christian it is also your privilege to speak about the risen Christ,
as the
God appointed Savior and Lord. The Holy Spirit wants to give you too an
untamable energy and a drive that must be obeyed to testify about
Jesus. You do
not need to wait for Him till the feast of Pentecost as we celebrate
this every
year for the Holy Spirit has came and everybody who allows Him to fill
him with
His presence and power, will receive. Receive the Spirit and speak
about Christ
and the great things He is doing, even today. For Christ is risen
indeed and
lives today!
Pastor T.
J. de Ruiter in The Netherlands, 28 March 2009
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T. J. de Ruiter