Easter - How Will You Respond? (Part 5 of 5)

…“Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,  saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”   Luke 24:5-7

Many people are still looking for Jesus among the dead.  I think of scholars who study the words of Jesus and the gospel manuscripts but do not believe in Christ’s resurrection.  I think of the archaeologists who two thousand years later are still trying to find Jesus’ body and bones in the tomb but keep coming up empty.  I think of people who finger the body of Christ on their crucifixes but do not know the reality of the living Christ.  I think of those who attend church on Christmas and Easter (C.E.O’s).  These people all have one thing in common.  They are all looking for Jesus among the dead. And if you are looking for Jesus among the dead, you will not find him. He is not there.

Frank Morison was a man who went looking for Jesus among the dead.  Morison was a British journalist who lived early in the twentieth century.  He was not a Christian. Although he admired the figure of Jesus, Morison was a skeptic at heart who felt that these stories about Jesus were nothing more than myth or legend, especially the story of the resurrection.

So, Morison had a brilliant idea.  Why not prove that the resurrection never happened? Why not use his research skills as a journalist to dig into history and prove that Jesus never rose from the dead?  He would do his research and then write a book presenting the historical facts about Christ and the events surrounding his death.  So Frank Morison went looking for Jesus among the dead.

Guess what? He never found him. What he did find is exactly what Luke said in verses 2-3: He found the stone rolled away, but he did not find the body of Jesus. Instead he found the risen Christ and put his faith in him as Lord and savior.

Frank Morison set out to write a book disproving the resurrection of Christ. Instead, he ended up writing what has become a Christian classic presenting the evidence for the resurrection of Christ  (Who Moved the Stone?).  Morison went looking for Jesus among the dead.  But he did not find him there. You will not find him there either.  If you want to find Jesus this morning, you must look among the living. And that brings us to the good news of Easter.

Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death and the grave. He rose from the dead on Easter morning. He is alive and well today.  You will not find him among the dead, for he is among the living. And he offers new life to you.  The Bible tells us that those who trust in Christ will share in his resurrection.  The fear of death and judgment is taken away. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

That is the good news of Easter.  Only one question remains.  

 How will you respond?

Previous Post Easter - The Final Hours of Christ (part 4 of 5)  

Easter - The Blood Moon (part 2 of 5)

“And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.  The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.  And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.   Joel 2:30-32

 

The verses above were written 800 years prior to the birth and death of Jesus; it would seem that regardless of how hard you press the bible it stands up.  Science thousands of years later brings us a chicken skin moment when science proves the verses above to be a true and accurate description of what was to happen at the crucifixion of Christ.   Which explains how Peter on the day of Pentecost could and did proclaim to all of those present “as you yourselves also know” everyone there had seen and witnessed that first horrible Good Friday.  It also makes it much easier to understand why the Roman Centurions quickly came to understand and admit that “truly this Man was the Son of God!” Boy did they choose the wrong side that day. 

A blood moon, watch the video and if it doesn’t open your eyes to the truth, to God’s pure love for you, that God would write the story in the sky above for those of use two thousand years later to find, so that we might believe.  How we could use a blood moon this Good Friday. God left no doubt to the truth, and He left us markers that point back to Him.  But if it doesn’t change your heart, your own self love, and your love for the things of God instead of God, then you are as lost as the Roman centurions 2,000 years ago.

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[c] lema sabachthani?”… And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit….When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” Matthew 27:45-46, 50,54

Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.  And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?... And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.  Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”  Mark 15:33-34,37-39

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.  For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.  But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: …“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— , Acts 2:14-16, 22

Next Post - Easter Betrayal and a Broken Heart (part 3 of 5)

Previous Post - Easter The Truth (Part 1 of 5)