Thoughts, Friday, December 7, 2012

"And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which ws crucified.  He is not here: for He is risen, as He said.  Come and see the place where the Lord lay."  Matthew 28:5,6

There are many now who insist that all religions are good and needful and equal and that it is not politically correct to suggest that the Gospel is other than just one among many.  There is something unique about the Gospel that no religion has or ever will, duplicate, and it is the empty tomb.

Paul wrote, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Romans 5:12)  All men, all the founders of philosophies, teachings and religions, met death and went to their graves and, "death reigned"  (Romans 5:17) until the day death met a man that it did not reign over and could not keep in the grave.

It is this fact of the empty tomb that is the divider of the Gospel from all other religions and beliefs.  Someone said it this way, "The empty tomb says to Science and Philosophy; 'Explain this event.'  It says to History; 'Reproduce a like event.'  It says to time, 'Blot out this event.' It says to faith;  'Receive this event.'"

Our faith is in a Savior Who rose from the dead, "as He said" and left an empty tomb for the world to consider.  Neither the religious officials, nor the Roman guards made an attempt to deny that the tomb was empty.  They concocted various explanations as to why and how the tomb had become empty but they never denied that it was.

They also fabricated numerous stories as to what happened to Jesus but within 40 days over six hundred people would be able to say, "Jesus is alive, like He said, and I saw Him."  There are still those who attempt to explain the empty tomb but faith just believes the obvious that the tomb is empty because it had contained a man that it could not hold.

Pilate told the guards to make the tomb as secure as they could (Matthew 27:65) but the security has never been invented that could keep Jesus in a tomb.  Later He would say to John on Patmos, "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore...."  (Revelation 1:18).  It is this truth that sets Christianity apart from all other beliefs.

  (Pastor Bill Cummins, Sheridan, WY, drbc@bresnan.net)