MONDAY July 3, 2023
Witnesses of Jesus’ Resurrection
“He [Jesus] was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’ ”
Acts 13:31-33
The Resurrection is the central theme of the Gospel in the New Testament! Imagine, over 500 of His disciples saw Jesus alive! 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 attests to that very fact. Listen to the Apostle Paul’s eloquent recount of the momentous event of Christ’s Resurrection:
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep [died]. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
What is our message to a spiritually lost and dying world? We need to share with them the message of the Gospel: Jesus died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day. Simple. A little child could understand the Gospel meaning. We may not have seen Jesus physically in His human nature, but He is fully revealed to us in the Scriptures. We can behold Him there.
Paul quoted Psalm 2:7, proving to Jews and Gentiles that God gave His Son, and showing that the Scriptures have been fulfilled: “I will declare the decree: the LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’ ”
Most Bibles have Jesus’ words written in red. Read His words in the Gospels, starting with the book of John. What words pierced your heart? What spoken words of Jesus do you need to obey?
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
~Matthew 17:5 RSV~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
