As I thought during Good Friday and the events that took place almost 2000 years ago – the humiliation, scourging, crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, I also considered His resurrection three days later. I decided to read the Biblical recordings made at the time of the events to place myself in context. As I read over Matthew’s account, I read some verses I had read many times but seemed to have glanced over in the past. This time, the verses seem to reveal themselves to me in a new light.
Matthew 27:50-53 KJV
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Wait. What? Let me read that again. “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
I started wondering. Jesus Christ rose from death in such victory and power that other dead people came out of the grave and “appeared to many” as well. That is power.
Pontius Pilate, a bit concerned about one man rising from the dead, now had a whole gaggle of folks walking around. These weren’t zombies, these were friends and relatives of the towns people.
Imagine, sitting at breakfast sipping your Earl Grey and eating a wafer, when Uncle Harry decides to join you. Of course, you know Uncle Harry because you buried him yourself 10 years ago. And here he is eating and drinking with you. And maybe his wife MaryLou came too.
The Bible is not clear how many rose that day, but my guess, there were many. Christ doesn’t do things half-way. And the Bible says they appeared to many. Pilate had a real problem on his hands. Overnight, the size of the town could have easily doubled or tripled. Imagine how energized the living people must have been. FoxNews, CNN, MSNBC, and even Bloomberg would have been reporting “live from the epicenter of the rising.”
Ronaldo Rivera: “Harry, I understand you’re one of those dead people who is now alive. How do you explain that?”
Harry: “Well, Ronaldo. I can’t. I was sitting in Paradise waiting for the promised one, the one who would liberate us from death. The next thing I know, Jesus Christ comes by and says, ‘follow me. It’s time to go.’ And here I am, eating wafers and sucking down some Earl Grey with my nephew. That’s just crazy man, crazy.”
Ronaldo: “MaryLou, you were with Harry there in Paradise. Tell me, what did you experience?”
MaryLou: “This whole thing is surreal. Paradise wasn’t bad. We had 3 meals a day, didn’t have to work, perfect temperature, no laundry, nice house, but we knew it wasn’t God’s best for us. We knew we were in holding pattern until Christ rose from the dead. He did. We did. And this is just a lay-over before we take the final leg to the Promised Land – Heaven.”
Ronaldo: “Well, you heard here first, folks. Back to you Ginny in New York. This is Ronaldo Rivera reporting live from Jerusalem.”
Imagine being one of those people. I was dead and now alive. Wow. I lived. I died. I saw the other side. And now I’m here again. I chuckled and said to myself, “I hope this isn’t Ground Hog Day, all over again. I passed this way once and thought I had a one-way ticket out.” Apparently, and empirically proven and witnessed by many, there is life after death. And because the Bible says it is appointed to man to die once, and I already did that, I can’t die again. Go ahead, Pontius Pilot, take your best shot, but I’m not dying again.
Many seem to diminish the works of Christ because they didn’t see His miracles or resurrection. How do we know His tomb was empty? How do we know He actually rose from the dead? We know because of the historical accountings just as we believe Leif Erickson was the first known European to discover North America – through historical accountings. Or any other historical event. Christ showed Himself to many. Leif didn’t do that. It was simply recorded in some ancient manuscript he landed in North America. Christ was seen by many. And on top of that, to put the icing on the cake, He raised many more from the dead who showed themselves to many.
I always thought only Jesus Christ rose that day and that was enough for me to believe. But add the possibly of a few thousand more and the data speaks for itself. You can’t discount that. Unless, of course, you discount Leif Erickson ever lived, Alexander the Great conquered, etc.
Yes, Resurrection Day is the greatest day in all of history. There will never be another day like it. Only the Rapture of the Saints will come close to it, but if it were not for Resurrection Day, there would be no Rapture Day.
Jesus Christ – The Risen King – The Almighty God – My Lord and Savior.
I look forward to Your Return Lord.
#offeringthoughts
Copyright © 2017, David A. Zimmer, All Rights Reserved