He is risen. He is risen, indeed.
John 20 is the discovery of the empty tomb. This is the central event for all of Christendom. Without the resurrection, our faith is in vain. There were stories that were circulated of the disciples stealing the body of Jesus. In fact, the Jewish leaders first placed guards to prevent this from happening and then said that they fell asleep on the job. I've always wondered how the guards could have slept through the moving of the large stone and the taking of the body. Not only does it seem unlikely that they would have fallen asleep, it seems even more unlikely that they would have stayed asleep.
The other gospels tell of many other accounts of Jesus appearing to His followers. Years later Paul tells that because of so many living eyewitnesses that saw the resurrected Jesus, it was impossible to dispute that Jesus had actually risen from the tomb.
Something important that I've learned:
Once again I'm at a loss to say that I've found something here that strikes me as a new lesson. It is always amazing to me that God has loved me so much to take on the guilt of my sin and to take on the judgment for my sin. (Yours too!)
The verse I liked best:
Verse 29--Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
A question to consider:
Have you believed?
John
Hey, it's Sunday. Where's 21? God gets to rest, not you.
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