When I think about the disciples, and how they might have felt after the death of Jesus, I can somehow feel their pain. They had given up everything to follow Jesus. They believed Him to be their King. They believed that He was going to rescue them from their oppression. They didn't really think He was going to die, even though He told them it was going to happen.
The day came.... Jesus was taken away from them. They were powerless to help Him. They were terrified and denied Him. They scattered and hid away as Jesus was dying on the cross. And then came Saturday.... What now? Their King just died on a cross, in a most shameful way. How was He going to save them now? Jesus had told them He was coming back, but they didn't understand. People don't just die on a cross and then come back to life. How were they to know for sure that He was coming back? All hope was lost! Everything they had staked their life on was gone. What were they to do now? Go back to their old lives?....
How often do you feel like this? Here we are 2000 years later, waiting for Jesus to come back. He has told us He is coming. Do you believe He is coming again? Do you lose hope? Do you wonder if all this is real? Deep in ours hearts, are we afraid He might not come back? How long, oh Lord? What do we do with these fears? What do I do with that fear? I push on! I trust in Him because He has proven Himself faithful. I trust in Him, because I have seen Him move in my live and the lives of those around me. I trust in Him, because I believe the Word of God to be true. I trust in Him, because I know He lives in my heart. He speaks to me and makes my heart come alive.
DEAR FRIENDS, Sunday is coming! Jesus is alive, and He is coming again. John 20:1-10 says...
"Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes."
I love this image! Peter and John heard that Jesus was alive and they ran to the tomb. I imagine them taking off on a dead sprint. Jesus is alive! They go in and see only his linen clothes. All of a sudden, it hits them. Jesus said He is coming back, and they believe it. Hope has been restored! They still don't fully understand, but that will come soon as Jesus appears to them.
Check out this video by the skit guys. It's powerful!
As for us dear friends, I know I don't fully understand what is going to happen. I have to believe He is coming, and when He comes all hope will be restored. Let us live like He is coming, and not put our hope in this World. ONE DAY there will be no more struggles, no more pain, no more death, no more loneliness... Jesus is coming!
Pauls says in 1 Corinthians 15:19, "If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied." If we don't believe Jesus rose from the dead and He is coming again, they what do we have left to hope in?
Romans 15:13: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."
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