I AM: Discovering the Nature of Jesus!
Saturday, March 6, 2004
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your truth—truth that comes in the form of Your written word—the Bible, in Your communication with us through prayer, and also in Your confirmation of Your presence in our lives through circumstances and the challenges and encouragements of other believers. I pray that You will speak to me today, and that by Your Holy Spirit I will listen! Use me to glorify Yourself in all that I think, say and do. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God's Word Today
John 8:12
12Jesus said to the people, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
Thoughts... Is Jesus Really the "I AM," The Light of the World, God?
Next question: Was the tomb really empty on Easter morning, and did it really contain Jesus in the first place? While our answer’s come mainly from the Bible, we can rely on their accuracy for a couple of reasons. The accounts of Jesus’ being taken from the cross and placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimethea are found in all four gospels. Why would such accounts affirm anything about a Pharisee? After all, the gospel accounts are definitely not predisposed to seeing Pharisees in a good light. Quite the contrary! Therefore, such an account can be relied on by virtue of its common occurrence in all four gospels, and by extra biblical sources that give an account of Jesus death, burial in a tomb and “purported resurrection.”
Was the tomb empty on Easter morning? Lee Stroebel in his recently released book, The Case for Easter claims that there is little doubt that the tomb was empty on Easter day. The account in Matthew’s Gospel says that when the women came to finish the burial preparations of Jesus body Sunday morning, which had been cut short by the Sabbath, that the stone was rolled away, and Jesus was gone. It also tells us that the Roman guards were “petrified.” The account tells us that the soldiers later went to the Jews and told them what had happened and that the Jews urged the soldiers to say that the disciples had come and taken the body. For the moment, all we are seeking to do is demonstrate that the tomb was empty. The Jews didn’t deny that! They simply stated that the disciples had taken the body. Otherwise, they could have refuted the story by producing Jesus’ body.
Let’s move on to the final question, “How could Jesus have had such a great impact on His disciples after He died?” There is only one reasonable answer—He rose from the dead. Many liberal, Christian scholars (if one can truly be a liberal and a Christian!), have proposed that Jesus never really rose from the dead, but that the apostles all had a common “vision” of Jesus, and out of that they created the Christian movement. How realistic is that? Remember, the night Jesus was arrested, Judas was the betrayer (and ultimately hanged himself), Peter denied three times ever knowing Jesus and the other ten ran away. They locked themselves in the place they were staying for the next couple days—until the women came and told them that Jesus was alive!
How could any group of people be so transformed that they willingly stood before religious leaders, political leaders, and gave their lives rather than deny that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God and that He had risen from the dead? If Jesus had died on the cross and that was the end of it, the apostles’ lives would have ended with his—at least from a faith standpoint. How would such a group gather themselves to form a story about a resurrected “Lord,” if in fact, He was still dead. Would people die for such a lie? Would Peter have ever recovered from denying Jesus three times, let alone in a little more than a month—when He delivered His amazing Pentecost message that saw 3,000 people come to Jesus as Savior and Lord?
We must admit that we cannot produce absolute, “scientific” evidence that Jesus rose from the dead, appeared to the disciples and “500 others” as Paul tells us at the end of his first letter to the Corinthians, but the dramatic transformation of the apostles, of people such as Paul, and thousands and thousands of others down through the centuries, adds a credibility to the claim that Jesus rose from the dead, which has not been made and substantiated by any other major, religious group.
That brings us to one key practical application of this discussion: the way we live shows others the reality (or total lack thereof) of Jesus’ resurrection in our lives! Jesus’ resurrection and His ensuing gift of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles transformed their lives. Their lives produced a groundswell of believers from Jerusalem to the borders of the known world of their day! The same reality stands before us in 2004. If we believe that Jesus died, rose again, ascended to heaven, sent the Holy Spirit to empower the church, and promises to return to claim His own one day, then how do our lives demonstrate that? Do our words encourage others, and challenge them to faithfulness? Do we speak the truth in love, and point folks to the one who is the Way, the Truth and the Life? Are our lights shining brightly as we go about our daily lives? Does it seem to our family members and those around us at school or work that we are being transformed from the inside out by Jesus?
If Jesus IS who He says He is, if Jesus is the “I Am,” if He is the Light of the World, if He is God, then nothing else remains the same for us. That one fact transforms our thoughts, words and actions. That one fact brings meaning and purpose to our lives. It orders the way we invest our time, our talents and our money. It reorders all of our priorities. Several of you who have seen the Passion of the Christ have told me how much more it has made you love Jesus, and to want to serve Him more. Praise God for that! Anything that moves us to a deeper relationship with Jesus and a deeper desire to serve Him is a blessing—not only to us but to everyone around us. May we live our lives, fully and faithfully, so that others will KNOW that Jesus IS the I Am!
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