Today's reading is from Mark 16:1-20. We read about Jesus rising from the dead. And that is the core of our beliefs as Christians.
I recently read a book called The Chosen by Chaim Potok. It's an excellent book, well written and instantly moving. I couldn't put it down. Throughout the book, you learn about Jewish culture in New York in the early part of the 20th century. It's fascinating. But one thing that kept coming to mind while I was reading was how often they said they were still waiting for the Messiah.
I recently read a book called The Chosen by Chaim Potok. It's an excellent book, well written and instantly moving. I couldn't put it down. Throughout the book, you learn about Jewish culture in New York in the early part of the 20th century. It's fascinating. But one thing that kept coming to mind while I was reading was how often they said they were still waiting for the Messiah.
I kept saying to the book, "Why are you waiting for the Messiah when He's already come?" But of course, being Jews and not Christians, they don't accept Jesus as the Messiah. And I wondered to myself, "Well, why not?" And after thinking about it, I realized that it all came down to one thing: they don't believe He rose from the dead.
Because, being historians, most traditional Jews know about the life of Jesus and believe He really did live. (While some radical atheists today even deny that Jesus ever existed.) And they know that He claimed to be the Messiah, and that He was put to death. So far they believe what Christians believe. But those who remained Jews and didn't become Christians didn't accept that Jesus rose from the dead.
This makes some of the verses in the New Testament make even more sense. "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Because that's the first step. You can't get past that first step. If you believe He rose from the dead, then it changes everything. It brings eternal life to the whole world. If you don't believe He rose from the dead, then in your mind, He's just a failed Messiah like all those before Him.
And it makes all the difference in our lives, too, right? If we truly believe He rose from the dead, then there's no reason to lose hope when our loved ones die. We will see them again. We don't need to fear death ourselves, because it's not the end. It's only the beginning.
God, thank You for teaching us how crucial is the resurrection of Jesus.
1 comment:
Amen
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