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He is Risen!
Watercolour
7" x 10"
27 March 2016
40 minutes
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The past few weeks have been very busy, and honestly my spiritual walk has not been at its peak. I've been struggling with old sinful habits which I would have hoped to overcome by now. The sanctification process can be a demoralising and painful experience. Thank God for His great mercy in sending His son Jesus to die on the cross for us, enabling true and complete victory over sin evidenced by Christ's resurrection, which I am particularly thankful for this Easter.
There are many accounts on Jesus's resurrection in the Bible, but for this post I have decided to focus on John 20, which sets out as follows:
"The Empty Tomb
20 Early on the first day of
the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that
the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came
running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said,
“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have
put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple
started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other
disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent
over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then
Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the
strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had
been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place,
separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had
reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They
still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then
the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Jesus
Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb
crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and
saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and
the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are
you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,”
she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At
this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize
that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you
crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she
said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I
will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried
out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to
me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and
tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your
God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the
disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had
said these things to her.
Jesus
Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day
of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear
of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with
you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.
The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with
you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with
that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If
you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them,
they are not forgiven.”
Jesus
Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of
the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So
the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I
see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put
my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were
in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked,
Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then
he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and
put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and
my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you
have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet
have believed.”
The
Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs
in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But
these are written that you may believe that Jesus
is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his
name."
The miracle of Christ's resurrection is truly remarkable as it showcases God's amazing power (to overcome death), plans (which were quite unexpected) and grace (to save a nation of unworthy people and justify us to His presence).
- Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene even though she was a woman and would not be treated as a trustworthy witness in that generation. Yet He chose to use her to spread the good news of His resurrection to the disciples. This was because she waited for Him and sought Him with all her heart. As background, Jesus had to drive 7 demons out of Mary previously and she had thereafter chosen, with her free will, to follow and serve Jesus as a disciple. This event was, to me, a big encouragement that those who love God and choose to follow God will grow in understanding. It also illustrates that God will also continue to use women for His ministry and relates to them as they were created - as equal reflectors of His image. We should therefore seek to adopt a spirit like Mary, seeking God with all of our hearts, so that He will show Himself more to us and use us for His greater glory.
- Jesus appeared to His disciples to send them to continue His work and empower them with the Holy Spirit. There is life in the breath of God (as God breathed life into Adam in Genesis), and as the disciples were empowered with the Holy Ghost with the authority to share the gospel, so are we, from our conversion, given the tools of life-giving knowledge and love to carry out the Great Commission. Easter would be meaningless if we keep this joyful news to ourselves. Instead, we must always remember that we exist as peace-keepers to draw the world to God so that they too can have everlasting life and be justified in God's glorious and wonderful presence.
- Jesus appeared to Thomas, who was only able to believe after He saw Jesus and the proof of resurrection with his own eyes. While Jesus still graciously granted salvation to him, he said that "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed". This is because our faith is true not because of the brilliance of our minds, our eyes and/or our reasoning ability, but because of the innate quality of whom we trust in. Thus, those who do not rely on their own strength but are able to trust the truth of God's greatness and goodness are truly blessed. I remember a quiet time book which I read which talked about a woman greatly loving and trusting a cheating scum, and contrasting that with her subsequently loving and trusting a good and stable man after her initial failed relationship with the scum. Was the quality of her relationship dependent solely on her level of trust? No, it was in the inherent qualities of the guys whom she trusted. Similarly, our faith in God is only meaningful because of the inherent qualities and goodness of our great and glorious creator! How blessed are we if we are able to maintain strong and persistent faith in Him!
- Jesus' resurrection is key to our faith. Jesus is shown to be the true son of God as He was able to overcome death, and is worthy of our praise and glory. It also illustrates that God will keep all His promises and that we will be empowered to overcome death if we follow Jesus. With such power available to us, we can be assured that we will be able to overcome sin (and death) as long as we stay equipped with the full armour of God.
In addition to the above, have been reflecting a lot on my spiritual walk lately and wanted to share the following poem which I've written (based on some of the struggles I've been facing):
The Devil’s Lies
The Devil lies to me each day
In a very subtle worldly way
He tells me material things are
good
That they will help to boost
my mood
But these are things which fade
away
My God would rather that I pray
Why look to things that fade to
dust?
Seek heavenly gifts that will not
rust
The Devil suggests I compromise
To indulge in the sins of my eyes
To entertain that sinful thought
After all, I will not be caught
However, when I start to sway
I realised I have turned away
From God to enjoy worldly sin
My heart’s been corrupted from
within
The Devil tells me that I need
Worldly success to be complete
A slim body, power, popularity
Gifts and skills for security
But when I look to these not God
I detract from my spiritual walk
I end up with envy or with pride
And realise I’ve been taken for a
ride
The Devil suggests life is unfair
He tells me that God does not
care
He whispers a “better, happier” way
That God should have provided for
my day
I end up doubting God’s great
plans
I then complain and make demands
And afterwards realise I’ve been
a brat
And beg for God to take me back
The Devil suggests that I should
keep
What I have to provide for my
need
He causes me to worry and fear
That I have insufficient for life
here
When requests are made for some support
I do not give because I hoard
My worldly things I start to hide
Until I remember God does provide
The Devil tells me I have my own
story
My life is not solely for God’s
glory
He tells me to spend much of my
time
On things which are not worth a
dime
To make frivolous and worldly
choices
And partake in endless indulgences
I lose my time on things so fake
Until God shows me my mistake
Without the full armour of God
This battle just cannot be fought
The Devil speaks but he tells
lies
That are only clear with spiritual
eyes
When the Devil tells me to
disobey
I will not seek for things my way
But I will close my eyes and pray
And trust that God will show His way
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