"They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." (John 20:2b)
Of course they didn't. Simply stated, they just had not been paying attention.
It just did not register with any of them the continual promise of our Lord Jesus, "....they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again....The Son of Man must suffer...and after three days rise again...They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again....I am the resurrection and the life." These passages are from each of the four Gospels. It should be enough that Jesus says something to us once, but alas, so much of the time we are just not listening.
The heading of the NIV says, "The Empty Tomb." Enough said. Man "goes" to find one thing; The Blessed Trinity always has a "surprise." Our expectations are basically based in unbelief, which is code for disobedience. Man only "expects" what his mind can comprehend, what we think we can figure out, and/or what is scientifically put forth by the know-it-alls, which really know nothing at all. Mankind continually asks the question of Nicodemus, "How can these things be?" The Great Universal Truth is that The Living Triune God, manifest, revealed as to Who He Is in Jesus Christ, is Lord/King/Master of the Universe and history. If I don't believe it, accept it, Jesus still keeps working His purposes; the Mighty River of God just keeps flowing throughout history.
As Followers of Jesus came to the tomb that early Sunday, there was a reminder that the Satanic Forces have conspired for millennia to attempt the thwarting of the purpose of God, to destroy the People of God. We're still here. Israel is still here. Jerusalem is still here, "As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His People from this time forth and forever." At the Cross, Satan and his forces thought, "This is the end, the end." The great "conflict of the ages" and the victory of, "Our Lord and of His Christ," however, is described in Revelation 12. "And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as He was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne." And never forget: This awaits us.
Father, in Jesus' Name, my repentance today is of too much just not listening. Amen.
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October 31, 2017: Five Hundredth Anniversary of the posting of the "95 Thesis" in Wittenberg. Some of you are making it possible for us to be there. Thank you.
Of course they didn't. Simply stated, they just had not been paying attention.
It just did not register with any of them the continual promise of our Lord Jesus, "....they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again....The Son of Man must suffer...and after three days rise again...They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again....I am the resurrection and the life." These passages are from each of the four Gospels. It should be enough that Jesus says something to us once, but alas, so much of the time we are just not listening.
The heading of the NIV says, "The Empty Tomb." Enough said. Man "goes" to find one thing; The Blessed Trinity always has a "surprise." Our expectations are basically based in unbelief, which is code for disobedience. Man only "expects" what his mind can comprehend, what we think we can figure out, and/or what is scientifically put forth by the know-it-alls, which really know nothing at all. Mankind continually asks the question of Nicodemus, "How can these things be?" The Great Universal Truth is that The Living Triune God, manifest, revealed as to Who He Is in Jesus Christ, is Lord/King/Master of the Universe and history. If I don't believe it, accept it, Jesus still keeps working His purposes; the Mighty River of God just keeps flowing throughout history.
As Followers of Jesus came to the tomb that early Sunday, there was a reminder that the Satanic Forces have conspired for millennia to attempt the thwarting of the purpose of God, to destroy the People of God. We're still here. Israel is still here. Jerusalem is still here, "As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His People from this time forth and forever." At the Cross, Satan and his forces thought, "This is the end, the end." The great "conflict of the ages" and the victory of, "Our Lord and of His Christ," however, is described in Revelation 12. "And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as He was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne." And never forget: This awaits us.
Father, in Jesus' Name, my repentance today is of too much just not listening. Amen.
**************************
October 31, 2017: Five Hundredth Anniversary of the posting of the "95 Thesis" in Wittenberg. Some of you are making it possible for us to be there. Thank you.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
