RESURRECTION AND THE ASSURANCE OF ETERNAL LIFE
Greg and Nanette Robinson
Today's Scripture: “And he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him’” (Mark 16:6, ESV).
Theme: Jesus went from death to life. He offers the same Resurrection to us.
SEE THE PLACE WHERE THEY LAID HIM
In the Fall of 2014, my wife Nanette and I visited the Holy City of Jerusalem. Our guide took us on a life-changing journey through the places where Jesus spent His final days on earth. We prayed together in the Garden of Gethsemane and sat together in a jail where Caiaphas held Jesus during the inquisition. We walked the uneven streets of Jerusalem where Jesus was beaten and forced to carry His cross to a lonely hill on the outside of town to be crucified.
Finally, we entered a beautiful cemetery that was once a vineyard and waited in a long line for our chance to view what could have been the gravesite of Jesus. As we entered the tomb, it was dark and musty. There was a symbol of Christ on the wall just behind a cold, gray slab of stone where Jesus’ body would have been laid. Exiting the tomb, we made our way to a predetermined place where our group would share communion. Experiencing the tomb of Christ left Nanette and I unsettled. Looking back at the line of people who had come from all over the world to view the tomb of Christ, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why?”
HE IS RISEN. HE IS NOT HERE
Our communion ritual began with the breaking of bread, which represented the broken body of Christ. Eating it, I remembered Jesus and His suffering, the humiliation He endured, His crucifixion, and the death that He willingly accepted as reparation for my sin. In the context of all we had just experienced, the bread was bitter on my tongue. But then the pastor shared the Good News! Lifting his cup in celebration, he read, “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him” (Mark 16:6b, ESV).
We then drank from our cups of wine, which represented the blood of Christ shed for each of us, the empty tomb, the Resurrection of Jesus, and His victory over death. The bitterness in my mouth was replaced with the sweet promise of Jesus; the promise that those who believe in Him will have eternal life and drink a new wine with Him in His Father’s Kingdom. Gazing back at the line of people who had traveled from all over the world to view an empty tomb, I had an epiphany. It was not the tomb of Christ that they had come to encounter, but the hope of the Resurrection power of Christ, and His assurance of eternal life!
Make it Personal: Nanette and I are at the stage in our lives where, unfortunately, the deaths of those we have come to know and love are becoming more frequent. This past year, we lost my father and a very dear friend of ours. One evening not long ago, I was walking outside staring up to heaven, praying and thinking about my dad and the friend that we recently lost, when God gave me the following words, which since have become a song written in honor of our passing friend:
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t give
To see you standing with
Jesus on that crystal shore.
A world made new,
The perfect you,
Doing all the things that you’ve wanted to.”
As I speak these words and reflect on the promises of God’s Word, I have a much greater appreciation of what the Resurrection and the assurance of life eternal afford to all of us who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
PRAY: Thank You, Father, for the Good News illustrated for us in the Resurrection of Your precious Son, Jesus. You love me and I have confidence that You will never leave or forsake me, and that an eternal home has been prepared for me in heaven. Until the time comes for me to stand in Your presence, Father, provide me opportunities to sacrificially serve others here on earth as the hands and feet of Christ. Strengthen my resolve to share the Good News of Jesus’s victory over death, His promise of an abundant life here on earth, and the assurance of eternal life for all those who acknowledge Him as their Lord and Savior. Amen!
Read: Mathew 26:29; John 14:1-4; Psalm 71:20; John 3:16; Mathew 28:4-7
Weekly Memory Verse: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4, ESV