I know Easter is past, but the resurrection is so integral to Christianity, I believe it should be discussed all year long. And it has been on my mind a lot lately. I just can't get over what Christ did for me. The sacrifice he made so that I could have eternal life is more than anyone else in my world has done. It is such an unbelievable concept that many question whether it happened.
Doubting who Jesus was and what he did, is not a new concept. They were doubting and mocking him as he hung on the cross. Even those who followed him thought that his time on Earth was over, that his mission had failed. The two from Emmaus had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. (Luke 24:21). But by the time they were walking home they had given up on Jesus.
Likewise, today people doubt what they can't prove by science. They don't trust the witnesses of the first century. To believe in the resurrection would require another look at the Bible, at the other things Jesus did and said, if that is true what about the rest of scripture? Many things that have been glossed over would need to be re-examined.
Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross. (Matthew 27:40b) Oh, if you only knew, he could have jumped down from the cross. He had the option; he could have chosen to run…Jonah did. When his life was threatened, he could have headed for the hills…Elijah did. When they came to arrest him, he could have denied who he was…Peter did.
You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. (Matthew 27:40). He didn't destroy the Temple, it was not about the building they revered, it was never about the building. The people did when they sentenced him to death...they destroyed the Temple. But it was Jesus who raised it up three days later. He didn't lie, you just didn't understand.
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
“He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! (Mark 15:31). Oh, if you only knew, he was still saving others. Even you who are mocking him now. He could save himself, but then we would be lost forever. Had he saved himself, the curtain wouldn't have ripped giving us direct access to the Lord. We wouldn’t know the joy of the Holy Spirit, the hope of life eternal, and the love of the Father.
Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34). Oh if you only knew, as what he said to the Father. He hung on the cross having been whipped and beaten, feeling the pain of nails hammered into his arms and legs. He was exhausted, yet needed to hold himself up to prevent suffocation. He was mocked by those he came to save, and was separated from God as he took on our sins. He and the Father had been one since before time began. It was the first time he experienced total aloneness, the first time he had to live without the compassion and love of the Father. He, alone, felt a loneliness we will never experience. Separated from God so we could be joined to him.
There is nothing I can do to deserve what Christ did for me. My eternal life is solely a result of what Christ did for me on the cross. He did it for you, too. You don't deserve it either, but that doesn't matter to Christ. He has done what he needed to do, now will you accept his sacrifice and offer your life to him?