Resurrection? Prove It to Me
That's how Thomas might have responded if he had lived in the year 2000. "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."(1) He'd seen dead people before. And Jesus was dead. He sounds like sophisticated rationalists of the Twentieth Century. "It isn't plausible," they would contend. "It didn't happen." But what if it did happen? Thomas was convinced when Jesus appeared to him, reached out his hands to Thomas, and said, "Put your finger here." Thomas dropped to his knees. "My Lord and my God!"(2) It was self-hypnosis, you counter. The disciples wanted to believe that their Lord was not dead, so they just invented it out of whole cloth. Really? Let's look at some of the evidence.
Jesus' resurrection means that death is not the end. That though my body may lie mouldering in the ground, Jesus, whom the Father raised from the dead, gives me eternal life. Ultimately, we Christians believe, our bodies, too, will be raised from the dead. And since Jesus is not dead, people can encounter Him today. You can know Him through a personal relationship. I could point to lots of people who can testify what Jesus has done in their lives to bring them from the brink of disaster to peace and meaning and joy. He changes people for good. If you're not sure, and can't really say you've met this risen Jesus, this Easter Sunday why don't you slip into a church to seek Him. And perhaps in the midst of our celebration, you'll find Him for yourself. I hope so -- for your sake! He's alive, you know. HE'S RISEN! That's what Easter is all about! Reference -- (1) John 20:25 (NIV), and (2) John 20:27-28 (NIV). |