Do you believe that Easter is a celebration of life like no other?
Lots of talk about resurrection; some even call it ‘Resurrection Day.’
‘So What’ skeptics of Christ’s Resurrection
As a kids we easily turned a phrase for things of which we were skeptical. My quick answer to a parent or someone in authority: “So what?”
What answer quickly rolls off my tongue? What reactive thought tumbles around in my head about things I choose not to think about?
“So what?”
As one finally bowed down before Almighty God who calls Christ Jesus my Lord, I contrinued to be a little surprised by the ‘so what’ look of so many wandering souls I encounter in my everyday mortal life.
Their non-consideration of Easter and frequent rebellion at even a mention of the name of Jesus affirms their ‘so what,’ as common era reaction to faint hope that the resurrection of Jesus is real.
These with hearts hardened to God will always turn against any hope that Christ’s cross and the resurrection are most real and relevant answers to sin. Judgment for sin and punishment of a second death are the furthest thoughts removed from the flesh of self-worshiping humanists.
Jesus was rejected and crucified by a religious establishment that made up their own rules about God. Jesus came to a world that did not seek God. Jesus came to save sinners. Jesus came as a sacrifice for our sin. And Jesus is resurrected from the grave, because He IS the LORD God! He came to man to show us the mercy required to save us from death with the grace of reward for eternal life we do not deserve.
for Church members:
The photo to the left & cover photo have been added to the original post along with some minor edits, including this question below from our earlier series on Doctrine of the Church.
SO WHAT if we do NOT insist that JESUS is the ONLY way of eternal life because of the Cross?
Gentle believer, fellow saint of Christ’s own body,
Our own sacrifice is small and our reward great for our touching of hearts with the healing love of Christ Jesus. Sure, the world says of the resurrection, ‘so what?’
Yet even in these last days of evil we have hope in the resurrection to share with others who also never believed that Jesus would die for them.
As long ago as the first century and first generation of witness of the gospel, men were still evil. Yet the letters of the Apostles spoke to the Jew and the nations alike, all who would listen about the Messiah Jesus.
Paul lived in Corinth for a time and wrote of the resurrection to the church, encouraging us in Christ. HERE is his answer to the so what skeptics and listeners in the public arenas of hostile crowds:
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
Mention Jesus Christ and you get a tough crowd, don’t you? And most with their face against God show you that ‘so what’ look.
It was no different in Corinth when Paul taught the gospel to the church there in person or by letter.
Even by the pagan standards of its own culture, Corinth became so morally corrupt that its very name became synonymous with debauchery and moral depravity. To “corinthianize” came to represent gross immorality and drunken debauchery… Like most ancient Greek cities, Corinth had an acropolis (literally. “a high city”), which rose 2,000 feet and was used both for defense and for worship. The most prominent edifice on the acropolis was a temple to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Some 1,000 priestesses, who were “religious” prostitutes, lived and worked there and came down into the city in the evening to offer their services to male citizens and foreign visitors.
CAN YOU THINK OF A 21ST Century of the Common Era CITY LIKE THAT?
CAN YOU THINK OF A TEMPLE TO GLORIFY US & our gods?
ARE THE CITIZENS AND VISITORS OF OUR BEST CITIES LIKE CORINTH?
Yet Paul preached to the church in Corinth (and all the other believers) about the resurrection:
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
Are you like those without hope in the resurrection?
Does your earth-friendly, Christian-persecuting community “corinthianize” the pulpits of truth with compromises of false faith?
Roger@TalkofJESUS.com +
Guard against it, as Paul warned.
For we have Christ crucified, died and resurrected. We hold to certain hope of eternal life in worship of God our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of the new heavens and the new earth without sin.
Christ has been raised from the dead!
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep..
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death…
The only ‘so what’ question
Are you looking to your own resurrection?
Do you share the Good News of Christ’s resurrection with others?
Do you even Talk of JESUS to anyone — even others in your gatherings ‘at church?’
“Who was Jesus?” they may ask; for the world hears little of our Lord in these last days.
This might be the only ‘so what’ question you ever get from your unbelieving friend or loved one. Jesus rose from the dead! Over five hundred witnesses. Furthermore, Jesus promised He will return for you and me, if you would like to have him as your Lord too.
Here's how Paul continued with the Good News of Jesus' resurrection to Corinthians of the 1st century:
35 But someone will ask,
“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”
36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body…
42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable;
what is raised is imperishable.
43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
I know resurrection is a lot to think about. Has a lot more to do with your body and soul than bunnies and eggs. Jesus has a lot to say about it. You should read one of the gospels about Jesus.
(John, for instance, tells us a lot about why God sent Jesus to the world.)
50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. – Proverbs 20:11 KJV
The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Proverbs 23:24 KJV
Before we look at the role of children and a rather well-known interruption of Jesus, I would like for us to briefly consider the role of Jesus as Son of God.
GOD, the LORD Jehovah, is Creator of all men, Father of all mankind and Ruler of all creation.
I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. – Isaiah 43:15 KJV
In a sense we are all sons and daughters of God; yet Jesus IS God Incarnate, a begotten Son of God the Father by a woman born to man.
It hadn’t been so many years since Jesus as a young man had became known to the rulers of the Temple.
40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.
Just a couple of quick questions for you as a 21st century parent:
Do you spend time in the Bible with your children so that they will become strong in the Lord and filled with wisdom?
Do you regularly observe the teaching traditions of the church with your children?
The Boy Jesus in the Temple
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it…
Joseph and Mary trained up Jesus in the way He should go, that when the time came for a young man to seek the favor of God that their young adult would obey the Lord.
46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers…
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
The leaders would be older men with years of understanding from scripture and from life. Jesus is now just thirty years old, a relatively young teacher at the beginning of His ministry, who though not married is of age most other men have sons of their own. This iterate Rabbi is not the stately grandfather who sits in the Temple or Synagogues only to share their wisdom of age.
The Apostle John tells a story of how Jesus uses the faith of a young boy to bring many to faith.
Jesus is teaching the crowds. The Apostles are serving Him and ministering to the crowds. It has been centuries since the Kingdom of Israel. It has been centuries since the miracles of the Prophets.
Which generation will see the restoration of the Kingdom, the people ask? Which generation after all these will see the coming of the Christ?
The people followed Jesus to hear the Lord teach and to witness His righteousness and power and healing.
3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples… 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”
Imagine that your son comes to you and says, “I want to go with the neighbors who are going to see Jesus of Nazareth teach on the mountainside.”
“Just a moment young man,” says the good Jewish mother. “Not without some food and water you don’t.” And the mom packs her son a lunch and sends him out with it and skin of cold water from their well for the long day ahead.
“Now off with you” the mother encourages her son, “and be back by dark.”
Returning to John’s Gospel:
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”10
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.
It is no small role this young man who wanted to see Jesus played in the faith of the five thousand.
Another interruption: a father coming to Jesus for the sake of his young son:
38 And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child…
How many parents would willingly press through the crowds surrounding this Jesus Christ, a superstar descended from the mountain, just to have an uncontrollable child healed?
“… Bring your son here.”42 While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.43 And all were astonished at the majesty of God.
How every loving parent would love to have the Lord give your suffering child back to you. Jesus is not here only to feed the five thousand on the mountaintop. Jesus is present for even a child in need. Jesus IS here even for you.
Jesus’ Disciples often thought of Him as a leader of men, here only to restore Israel and heal the faithful. How often we are wrong about the Messiah.
13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
First century families and the religious establishment often thought the teaching of Rabbis was important only to men, especially men of learning; certainly not to women (let her husband instruct her) or to children (who were only to obey without understanding).
Jesus most often used the relationship of God as Father, a loving Father; therefore our Lord showed children the kindness of a loving Father in Heaven.
Is it not important for us to lead our children by the example of our compassion?
Jesus welcomed children to hear scripture, to receive healing, even to receive life. Children have so much value for a time that will last beyond a generation of our own.
Christ Jesus welcomes woman and men to God’s Kingdom with joy. He teaches us to have a simple faith. Let Jesus be your Lord, as a loving father would be your parent.
Men now relegate religion to the attention of the woman of the house ‘for the instruction of the children.’ Christianity is for children and moms, not working dads who know better than to bow down before anyone (let alone God). How sad for our broken homes that we would send children to Jesus and not hear the very Word of God for ourselves.
We are a hard-hearted and sinful generation in a way more lost than those to whom Jesus first came on the mountainsides of Galilee and in the hills of Jerusalem.
When was the last time you interrupted GOD with a childlike praise?
When will your week finally conclude with your reverent worship of our loving Father?
When will we humbly bow down to GOD our Father and have the pure joy of Jesus as our Lord?
How long, O man, will you count your days as if they are your own?
Mark 10:24
And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God!
Let’s get something straight: There was NO Israel in the Roman Empire. (Just take a look at the map).
Call it Israel or call it Palestine; you will see that to the Romans, Judeans and Samaritans, Israel does not exist except as part of a long-gone past.
A certain hatred existed in the days of Christ Jesus as it does today. Mention the name ‘Israel’ and it means different things to different people. Observant Jews look back to a Kingdom united by David and Solomon, a Kingdom and alliance of the twelve tribes of Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel). After the United Kingdom was divided, ten tribes lived in Israel to the north. Judah was just two of the tribes. Samaria had been purchased in 925 B.C. and became the capital of Israel (after the division of the United Kingdom of Israel).
You might say that most people of Hebrew heritage in Galilee, Samaria and Judea were ancestral cousins.
Residents of these northern Roman provinces of Samaria and Galilee were perceived as black sheep of the family of Abraham, not quite so pure as the Judeans of Jerusalem. Samaritans refused to worship the LORD in Jerusalem. Look to post-Davidic history and stories of the Gospels and you will discover that Samaritans are treated no better than contemptible foreigners by faithful Jews, even though Samaria lies only about 30 miles from Jerusalem.
Christians and non-Christians alike probably know the story of ‘the good Samaritan‘ told by Jesus. In it he tells of a man who encounters robbers in his travels on a journey such as those Jesus and His Disciples made frequently through the mountain trade routes. The point of the parable is that it is not the religious men who showed a man mercy, but a resented Samaritan.
Jesus’ mission to Israel (the remnant of faithful Jews of Judah, Galilee and beyond) would seem to include redemption of even the lost sheep in the hills of Samaria.
On their way back to Galilee from Jerusalem, Jesus sends the Disciples ahead for some lunch ‘to go.’ When they return to Jesus with the food they discover how our Lord has dealt with an interruption of the lowest of those Samaritans, a woman living with a man not her husband.
It all started out with Jesus asking for a drink of water. Christ Jesus was thirsty, as any man would be after walking to this well. Jesus interrupts this Samaritan woman as He waits for His Disciples to return with lunch.
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” 10 Jesus answered her,“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”
13 Jesus said to her,“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
[What’s going on here? Why doesn’t this Samaritan woman just give the man, Jesus, a drink?]
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’;18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
[Jesus had never met her. How could He possibly know that? How this woman must have been astonished at His unveiling of hidden truth of her sinful situation.]
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her,“I who speak to you am he.”
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”
28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
… 39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.41 And many more believed because of his word.42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
43 After the two days he departed for Galilee.44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.)45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.
When did you ever set out on a journey or send out for lunch and instead pause to minister to a needy soul? When have you ever interrupted your daily life for two days to tell the Good News of Christ Jesus to some soul in a place off your route?
A lowly Samaritan woman may have been the first Jew to hear from His own mortal lips, ‘I AM the Christ, the Messiah, the Promised One.’ Jesus had time for her and for the misled people of her town who had continued in the sins of their ancestors.
Do you have a minute to ask someone for a drink of water? Is your compassion for saving souls of the lost sufficient to minister to their friends and family for a couple of days?
Do interruptions of your day demonstrate a Christ-like love of a Good Samaritan?
Does your journey treasure time for the people you encounter?
Cookie Consent
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies.
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
