April 23 – LD
17, Day 1: Christ
Arose
by Rev J. Kortering
Luke 24:34, “Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.”
From the point of view of the disciples, tragedy overwhelmed them on
every side.
The soldiers came late at night and took the bound Jesus to Caiaphas the
High Priest. As if that was not bad enough, He did not resist them! To add
insult to injury, one of their very own, Judas, played the betrayer role, for
they all saw him kiss Jesus. Moments later, another one denied Him with
swearing. None of them raised a finger to help Him, rather, they all forsook
Him and fled. All of this led to the crucifixion, the public display of
rejection by God and man. It was obvious from the words He uttered from the
cross that His sufferings were indescribable. Then He died, amazingly soon,
within a few hours, something unheard of. They took note that He was buried
quickly in the unused grave of Joseph of Arimathea.
Now what?
Fear and doubt overwhelmed them. They took refuge in an upper room
behind locked doors. No one seemed to remember that Jesus warned them ahead of
time that this would all take place. Their hopes were
directed to Jesus whom they
anticipated would establish some sort of earthly kingdom and triumph over
Gradually this changed.
They began to realize that Jesus AROSE! Unheard of, beyond human
reasoning, the message of the resurrection reached them as they huddled behind
those locked doors. The women reported that they saw Him as they returned from
the grave early that morning. Later, the travelers to Emmaus brought the same
message, Jesus arose from the dead, and they had seen Him. They in turn were
greeted by the disciples shouting, “The Lord is risen
indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.” That was convincing. Later that day, Jesus
appeared to all the disciples in the upper room and greeted them with the
precious words, “Peace be unto you.” Only Thomas was
absent.
Never before and never after did one arise from the dead. Some were
RAISED, but none AROSE.
Therein lies the gospel of the resurrection.
He gave Himself to death that He might arise victoriously.
It was “INDEED” for the disciples for it was verified by many witnesses.
The church of all ages confesses, “I believe that Jesus arose from the
dead”. Do you?
Faith in this Jesus is secure.