Resurrection Sunday Special
Out of deference to the day, allow me to digress from our pursuit of "Nuggets" from the Psalms and spend a few sentences reflecting upon the resurrection of our Lord, focusing particularly on the phrase, "as He s aid." If there is a peg upon which all of God's word hangs, it is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Without it, nothing in the scriptures can be assured. With it, nothing can can be effectively questioned. And in this day and age, when men are insisting that everything is relative, and there is no such thing as absolute truth, the Christian needs as never before, just such assurance.
Perhaps we can begin by noting the fact that the resurrection of Christ is anticipated in scripture. No Old Testament text more effectively indicates that than Isaiah 53:8-10
"He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand."
Cut off out of the land of the living and put in the grave, the prophet anticipates, "He shall prolong His days." That is nothing less than life after death. Near the climax of His earthly ministry the Savior made this remarkable statement: "And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee [Mark 14:27]." He did not say "If I am risen," but "After… I am risen." To be sure, the disciples missed it; but the statement stands as His personal prophecy of His death and subsequent resurrection from the dead.
Someone said of Jesus that He is either a liar, a lunatic or Lord of all. If He made such a claim with no authority to do so, He was a liar; if He entertained it as a fantasy, with no ground to assure it, He was mentally deranged. If, in fact, He could pass through the veil of death and return again, His Lordship stands assured, and His every word is justified "as He said." If in this momentous declaration He proves true, there is no ground for doubting anything He said.
The angel said, "Jesus… was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said." Later the apostle Paul, persuaded and transformed by the testimony of the risen Christ, declared that "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures: And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures," subsequently to be seen of more than five hundred witnesses, many of whom had also witnessed His crucifixion. The importance of this fact Paul observed when he said, "If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain… But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." (See I Corinthians 15!)
Reflect upon the truths that hang on this remarkable "peg." God is; Sin is; The resurrection of the dead is an established fact (I Cor. 15:22); Judgment is inevitable; and Jesus is coming again! (I Cor. 15:23.) This just to name a few. Indeed, given the resurrection of Jesus Christ, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no god [Psalm 51:1a]."
Take heart, Christian, and hold fast the faithful Word. There is a great day coming," Because He lives," and all shall be "even as He said!!"
Have a BLESSED Easter!!
Yours for HIS glory,
"Pastor" Frasier
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