Scripture Reading:

Matthew 28

Please comment below with your conversation with God and/or insights from today’s Scriptures.

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1. What are your overall thoughts about the chapter?

2. What part of this chapter did you most resonate with?

3. What is your prayer to God brought on by this chapter?

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Chapter Notables:

1. Jesus rises from the dead - verses 1-10

2. Guards paid off not to tell about the angels - verses 11-15

3. The commission of the church - verses 16-20

Don’t Call It A Comeback | Lemuel Ayudtud

It can be unequivocally said that the resurrection of Jesus is the greatest event known to man. It changed the landscape of the whole entire world. History as we know it is written in light of the resurrection. Time was split because of the resurrection. A.D. versus B.C. No other event in history has shifted the trajectory of mankind than the resurrection. Why? Because there’s nothing like a good comeback story. And, if there’s ever one, the resurrection of Jesus is it.

If Jesus had lived and died without the resurrection, we wouldn’t be speaking about Him like we do today. The fact of the matter is we exalt Jesus because He resurrected from the dead. Every story told about the disciples or the Apostles from the book of Acts would not be as impactful had there not been the resurrection. In fact, we can probably say, there would be no Christian movement as we have it without the resurrection. Paul stated that if the resurrection never happened our faith would be in vain. It would not be worth talking about. “We would die in our sins,” he said. Jesus would have lived and died and only His teachings would have remained.

Of course the teachings of Jesus are the best in all of history. Jesus would probably still be talked about or known simply because of His teachings. There are people whose teachings are still with us who lived during ancient history. People like Socrates, Aristotle, even Moses, and Solomon, their teachings are still with us. And they all had never resurrected. Even the Buddha is venerated today by Near East religions and he is still in his grave (probably as dust). Mohamed with the Koran is in his grave today and a billion or so people follow him. So most likely we probably would’ve known about Jesus by His teachings. The difference between Jesus and the rest of the people we mentioned is the resurrection.

The resurrection emphasizes the greatness of Jesus’ teachings. We know it to be so because even in these other religions, Jesus is celebrated, adored, admired, even venerated. The Muslims, the Jews, the Hindus even put Jesus in their faith conversations. There’s a place for Jesus in their religion. It’s not the same for Christians. Christianity does not have any other room for any other teacher or any other faith leader apart from Jesus. In fact we know that Jesus declared there’s no other way to the Father except through Him. All these different religions had to deal with Jesus because of the resurrection. Why is that?

Because the resurrection speaks of our hope after death. It deals with the natural circumstance called death. Now, when you study other religions, you know that a form of resurrection is spoken of in one way or another. For instance the Hindus believe in the incarnation. The Eastern religions speak of ancestors being a part of every day life. Almost every faith confession has some form of afterlife experiences. But the Christian faith is the only one that speaks of a resurrection with power and might for believers. Our faith declares that we will all change from mortal to immortal. Our bodies will take on new forms. Much like Jesus, every believer in Him will experience the resurrection. And it’s not a resurrection to go and talk to our old family members, or come back as a roach, or elephant, or something like that. This resurrection is after the worlds are destroyed by the wrath of God. This is not a resurrection for vanity sake. This is a resurrection for salvation sake.

The beautiful thing about the story of the resurrection of Jesus is that we can apply it to our lives. His power to resurrect is the result of His overcoming of death, hell and the grave.

When Jesus rose from the dead, the sting and the pain of death was crushed. The grave’s power was put to question. Nothing can hold down what God wants to lift up. So it is with our lives. No matter what situation we may face, no matter the issues that we may face, no matter the issues we may struggle with, no matter the failure we experience; in the resurrection of Jesus we have hope for a comeback.

Nothing is as powerful as beating death. Whether it be health situations, financial situations, relationships, or any other life event; the resurrection of Jesus gives us the power not only for resurrection from the first death, but it’s a resurrection for every single day of our lives. The resurrection of Jesus doesn’t only give us power in death; it is power for our lives right now.

Lord, I thank You for the resurrection. Thank You for the power of the comeback. Thank You that You are not in the grave. You have risen; and You live! Because of this, I know nothing can bring me down. Because you’re alive and well today, I know I can face the challenges of every day and not be afraid of tomorrow or overwhelmed but yesterday. You are my God and my King. Continue to lead me in my hope in You. Help me to fix my heart on Your power. Help my faith to believe that no matter what may come our way, as long as You’re by my side, I can overcome. In Your Name, Jesus, I pray, amen.