Today, like millions around the world, I celebrate the culmination of the events of Holy Week: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Romans 1 states that Jesus’ resurrection declares that He is exactly who He claimed to be, the Son of God, God in human flesh. Jesus had the divine power to rise again from the dead. But before I get into that, let me back up.
On Friday – commonly referred
to as Good Friday – we celebrate the fact that Jesus died on a cross. Have you ever stopped to consider why we do
that? Why celebrate an excruciating and
violent death? I submit that it’s not how He died, but why He died. In Isaiah we
read, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our
iniquities…We all, like sheep, have turned astray, each of us has turned to his
own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” “You can’t atone for your sin,” C.J. Mahaney
writes, in his marvelous book “Living the
cross centered life”, “That’s why Jesus did it for you.”
However, the disciples didn’t
understand that Jesus had to die, to pay the penalty of their sin, as well as
yours and mine. They were plunged into
grief, uncertainty, and pain that Friday.
If you’ve ever lost a loved one unexpectedly to death, like I have with
my father 10 years ago, then you have a gripping illustration as to how they
were feeling. Their friend, teacher, and
rabbi, the one that had left everything to follow, unexpectedly died – even
though He repeatedly told them He was going to die and raise to life again.
Jesus’ disciples went to that
borrowed tomb of their fallen Messiah on that Easter morning, completely
unaware of how their sadness was about to turn to joy. They found angels there, who said these
glorious words: “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said” (Matthew 28:6). Some doubted the resurrection. In fact, Matthew 28 even goes on to state
that the soldiers were bribed to say that the disciples stole Jesus’ body at
night, while they slept. OK, if you were
asleep, how do you know this? Ridiculous
theories like this, attempting to disprove the resurrection of Christ, persist
even to this day. It is so much easier
to believe the truth: Jesus conquered death itself.
The 2011 game “Spider-Man: Edge of Time” surprisingly
provides an emotional illustration for these events. This game’s story sees Walker Sloan (voiced
by Val Kilmer) use time travel to manipulate events in the past for his own
purposes; this included the impending death of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of the year
2099, knew about this and managed to warn Peter of the danger he was in. Ever the hero, Peter chose to face off
against the behemoth killer, rather than let the beast hurt innocent people. I couldn’t help but think of Jesus when I saw
Spider-Man die, to save others. To
subsequently witness Spider-Man 2099 carry the limp, lifeless body of the
heroic Peter/Spider-Man was a striking picture of Jesus’ body off the cross. It was a sad, somber moment. Thankfully, that was not the end of the
story.
Miguel O’Hara had one final,
desperate attempt to revive Peter. He put
his fallen friend in a machine from 2099 called a “cellular regenerator.” While it took some time, the machine worked. Like the disciples, Miguel had trouble
believing the news at first, but Peter was very much alive again! Parker even states, “Thanks for bringing me
back from the dead. Now I know how
Captain America feels, and Jean Grey, and Colossus, and…” “Just don’t die
again,” Miguel interrupts, “And we’ll call it even.” This is a type, a shadow, a picture of Jesus’
death, burial, and resurrection from the dead.
He didn’t even need a fictitious cellular regenerator from the future to
do it.
In conclusion, someone wants
to ask ‘so what?’ Some know me as a
writer, others know me as a Chick-fil-A employee, still others as an avid
superhero fan, but ultimately I am a man who had his life forever changed by
Jesus Christ. Essentially, I have
nothing to say of any lasting value aside from my faith in Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus Christ changes
everything. Because He lives, we know
Christianity is true; we know Christ spoke the truth – in fact, He is the
truth, just as He declared (John 14:6).
This same Jesus can change your life.
If you’ve never taken advantage of His offer of a life of forgiven sin
and intimacy with Him, today is a great day to do so.
God bless,
Kevin
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