Death comes to us all
It is not often that you read about someone who has died being able to do anything significant or substantial.
Many people die in very strange ways. For example, a Brazilian woman was killed by her husband's coffin on the way to the cemetery to bury him. Marciana Silva Barcelos, 67, was in the front passenger seat of the hearse when the coffin slammed into her neck during a traffic accident. Sadly, she died instantly.
Can you come back from the dead?
Death is always sad, but there was one death that was unlike any other. The Bible tells the momentous news that Jesus died, and yet, is still active. How? Simple! He didn’t stay dead.
Jesus really died for us, for our sin. And Jesus really jumped back to life again, just like he predicted (Jesus refers to himself as 'the son of man' in this passage):
“He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.” (Mark 8:31. Also check out Mark 9:31 & Mark 10:33-34).
Not surprisingly, no “religious” leader in the history of the world has ever sought to prove his claims to be from God on the basis that if you kill him he will return from the grave – none except Jesus that is! It’s a pretty decisive method.
Why Jesus' resurrection changes everything
Jesus is the Risen Lord. Death couldn’t handle him. The grave couldn’t hold him.
- He defeated the power of death (Acts 2:24).
- He destroyed the power of sin (1 Corinthians 15:56-57).
- He disarmed Satan (Colossians 2:15).
Talk about significant and substantial! The resurrection of Jesus is God’s great marker in history that declares that Jesus will have the last word in history. Acts 17:31 says;
“For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
So, even though Jesus died, he is alive and kicking and He will judge the world. Jesus really is God. Jesus really is the Risen Lord. You can really know Him and have a real relationship with Him. You could even talk to Him right now.
Not bad for a man who was once dead.