Whom God Hath Raised Up

Life of Christ 173

  

        For 173 blog posts we have followed the earthly career of Jesus Christ. We have seen in His birth the fulfillment of prophecy. We have seen in His youth the acceptance of His mission. We have seen in His maturity His moral perfection. We have seen in Him the most powerful preaching ever delivered. We have seen His deep knowledge of the Scriptures. We have seen His life of prayer. We have seen His miracles testify of His credentials. We have seen His leadership, His compassion, His purity, His faith, and His obedience.

We have also seen the response to all of these. We have seen doubt and fear and greed and anger and malice. We have seen insult and attack. We have seen lies and rebellion. With awful finality we have seen violence, conspiracy, betrayal and murder.

          The Sanhedrin, secure in their ritual cleanliness, goes home to their Passover meal. Caiaphas and Annas have triumphed again. The Pharisees will feast and sleep well tonight. The Sadducees will remain in their leadership positions. The Herodians are content that a great threat to Rome has been removed. And the demons of hell run riot through the streets of Jerusalem howling with glee.

But the greatest travesty of justice ever produced from the foul heart of hell will not, cannot stand. Peter explained it well fifty days later in his great sermon at Pentecost.

Acts 2.22-27

22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:

26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:

27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Up from the grave He arose. And Christianity was furnished with its great proof. And Christianity was furnished with its great peace. And Christianity was furnished with its great power.

The same Jesus that walked the hills of Judea and the towns of Galilee two thousand years ago is still alive today. And He is coming back. Someday, I shall go to Him, and ask Him to walk with me to the mount where He delivered the greatest sermon ever preached. I shall ask Him to show me where He started the first church in the mountains above Caesarea Philippi. I shall ask Him to walk with me and share His life again with me. But most of all, I will ask Him to walk with me to Calvary so that I may fall at His feet and thank Him for coming, and living, and dying, and rising again for me.