Through no fault of their own, by being born into a polytheistic culture, and adopting its perspectives, the soldiers had no mental or spiritual capacity to fathom Christ’s bodily resurrection. A quarter century later offered no further capacity Acts 26:8. And where is that capability in culture today, world-wide? Where people don’t think they have sinned, let alone need forgiveness?
Once recovered from the shock of:
Which means that all of them had too much STUFF in their minds to consider the spiritual ramifications of the Master’s bodily resurrection! What of Americans vis à vis Jesus Christ Alive From the Dead? They’re already running ragged with daily:
All that they have allowed daily life to become naturally:
Let alone take time to let the Holy Spirit’s still-small voice develop their spiritual instincts. All because we enjoy the good things we have as a result of Christ’s life, death and resurrection without exciting us to love, worship and obey the Benefactor! End Part III
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NOTE: Computer problems made this blog a day later. VH
I’ll omit details that Christian novelists would certainly include in Christ’s resurrection appearances. Let’s instead consider the strict authenticity of the Living Christ’s garden rendezvous with Roman soldiers. Remember that they entered the Private Reserve at the behest of the Roman Governor, to satisfy religious authorities determined to prove Jesus an imposter by not rising from the dead. The duty seemed a 48 hour “milk run” in the cemetery. What could be easier, quieter and less demanding? They didn’t expect, desire or prepare for a spiritual encounter with Jesus. We understand the women walking in darkness that Sunday morning to anoint the body of Jesus Luke 24:1. They expected it to be there. We understand John and Peter running to the tomb when Mary Magdalene reported the body GONE. They couldn’t find it, but John believed Jesus LIVED John 20:1-9. The relevant point: both ladies and men involved had a personal interest in Jesus lacking in the soldiers. That interest gave the believers a quantum advantage over the guards. Which proves that Christianity has unquestioned evidence of Christ’s bodily resurrection: Jesus appeared to the very people who KNEW him PERSONALLY. Simon Peter addressed that issue to Cornelius in Acts 10:39-41. Prepared to KNOW Jesus Lived Again by living with him for 3 ½ years before he died, they couldn’t be deceived. Some may wonder if that didn’t weaken proof of Christ’s resurrection. Absolutely not. Had he appeared to strangers:
Jesus confronted many unbelievers in HIM, but not without their religious or spiritual preparation. For example, Saul of Tarsus hated the very NAME of Jesus of Nazareth, due to his zeal for Moses. But acquaintance with the NAME prepared him to know who the Person he called “Lord” was when looking up from his prone position Acts 9:3-5. Therefore, you had to have:
It’s very interesting: the very men first to see the Risen Christ and:
Their initial panic at the angelic visitor to the tomb shook them into stupefied silence:
Perhaps glancing at them as he moved away from the tomb towards them, it would have been characteristic of Jesus to look benevolently at them, offering forgiveness, the first fruits of his forgiveness, only to see they couldn’t translate the look into the peace he offered them. So away he went. Recovering their senses and mobility they at once fled en masse …not to Pilate who ordered them to duty, but to the Jewish priests who sought their services. In that decision the first men to KNOW Jesus Christ Lived lost their chance to change life from unbelief to faith, skepticism to devotion and hard traditionalism to GOD’s Great Grace. Indeed, by seeking self-preservation over TRUTH and hardening their minds to spiritual freedom, both soldiers and leadership lost their chance at eternal life. Which has lessons for us. End Part I When friends importuned 16-18 year old Mustafa Kemal—Ataturk—on his ambitions, he replied, “I am going to be somebody.” Biography, 18. A Christian simply says, “I am somebody” by association with SOMEONE who gives me worth, identity and purpose.
While SO MANY PEOPLE seek meaning in their careers, Christians fulfill their purpose by serving others in Christ’s name. We have no identity crisis afflicting so many: “Who am I? What am I supposed to do with my life? How should I act in this or that situation?” Believing in Jesus reduces all that nonsense by the simple expedient of living in his will, under his tutelage, for the express purpose of SERVING him. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God has invited the world of people into his Presence by giving his Son to die for sinners John 3:16. Everyone can enter Heaven, then, if they accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Preachers may be reluctant to preach that condition, but God recognizes no other way. They may be afraid to preach God’s truth in Ephesians 2:10 to Christians. But sinners saved from spiritual death by accepting Christ MUST rise to the spiritual discipleship forgiveness of sin grants. Thank God for the privilege of strongly preaching God’s STRONG Word. Thank God we don’t equivocate when warning sinners of their fate outside Christ; and when we boldly declare the new life incumbent on every church member. Jesus assured fruitful disciples that God would prune/clean them for even more fruitful production John 15:1-2. While the pruning meant cutting, and that meant discipline/pain, the disciple could wonder whether he suffered mere discipline or severance. How do we know we remain in Christ’s VINE when experiencing adversity?
First, from what Jesus said in John 15, we can distinguish the two actions. And our response to the challenging circumstance(s) may well determine pruning from severance. The eleven disciples remined clean by adhering to Christ’s word. Judas had been severed by rejecting that word. Second, in that sense Hebrews 12:1-13 tutors us. If we remain faithful to Christ throughout the trial:
Only if we experience the above can we be sure God seeks greater service, fruit, Christ-likeness from us. The alternative…well, NO ONE wants to go there! A few animal stories to precede a few remarks.
Prague zookeepers announced the birth of a Pangolin pup—the first captive-born in Europe. Pangolin are nearly toothless creatures from the same family as sloths, anteaters and armadillos. All have large, horny scales. Merriam Webster, Tenth Edition Dictionary, p. 839. A five-foot long female American alligator rescued from a lake in New York City had swallowed a 4-inch wide bathtub stopper. Weighing only 15 pounds, it is being fed through a tube, treated with anti-biotics, vitamins and other medication. Flaco the Owl, an Eurasian eagle-owl, in the New York’s Central Park Zoo, escaped when vandals cut the stainless steel meshing of its cage. Flaco has proven an adept predator, its large talons and nearly 7 foot wingspan swooping on the bounty of rats in the Park. And then we have the hatching of three endangered African penguin chicks. Officials at the Scottsdale, Arizona aquarium posted videos of them February 17, 2023. All from San Diego U-T, 2/26/23. Now the remarks. First, can this intense concern for creatures be an indication that people really believe we came from lower life forms, and therefore need to protect every specie when members of it have a problem? Do we think we’re protecting some long-lost grandpa Joe or uncle Al? As if we ascended from them by an exertion of effort that gradually changed from THEM to US? Is there anyone other than a confirmed evolutionist who believes that baseless nonsense? Second, do we think we’re Hindus, who consider all but human life sacred? Who can see a person kicked to death by a bull while protecting the beast from death? While we ignore the dead mortal, because they believe he’ll be back again, in another form, perhaps better? Good old transmigration of the soul, the deadly lie Satan tells and religionists actually embrace. Third, are we so simple to believe that the disappearance of a creature family endangers mortals? A colossal lie Satan tells spiritually darkened minds—and those supposedly spiritually enlightened believe! Humanity should fear ONLY the loss of our relationship with God in Christ. No other loss affects us at all, but that loss sends us to Hell—where NO creatures will be, but only those who reject GOD in Christ. What kind of condemnation from God awaits people and societies who spend billions on animals yearly while supporting or tolerating the murder of human babies aborted in their mother’s womb? |
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