Scripture Reading: Luke 24:1-12
The important question in all that refers to Christianity is, “did Jesus truly rise again?” Paul says that if He did not rise, our faith is vain, we are yet in our sins, we have no Redeemer (see 1 Cor. 15:14). Until that morning Death had been an unchallenged conqueror. All the generations of men had been taken captive by him, and not one person had ever returned. True, a few persons had been recalled from his power, but only for a little time, to be reclaimed again after a brief respite. Death never had been really overcome.
Someone has said, “No philosophy will ever satisfy men which cannot throw a plank across a grave.” To our natural eyes the grave is a dark chasm over which we cannot pass. Has Christ bridged this chasm for us?
He came to be the world’s Redeemer and Deliverer. He conquered every form of evil — sickness, human infirmities, and demons. Now He had met the last enemy and apparently had been defeated by him. Death had carried Him down into the prison of darkness and had shut the door upon Him. If He had not risen, that would have been the end. If He were not able to overcome death, He would not be the world’s Redeemer. All our hopes, all the hopes of the world, waited outside that sealed door to see if Jesus would come again. Did He rise?
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