“Three days-and on the third day, the women came at dawn. His tomb, they said, was empty, his broken body gone. Who could believe their story? The dead do not arise,”
The lyrics to the hymnal song “Three days our world was broken” hit me this morning like a ton of bricks. The Lord spoke to me, His words convicting my heart, “how many times must I convince you before you believe?”
The disciples were locked in the room, hiding in fear behind locked doors when Mary came running. Out of breath, “Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.” John 20:18. They didn’t believe her eye witness account of what she saw and what Jesus said. “But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb” Luke 24:11-12
Wow! Jesus had told them how many times of these events to prepare them? “Who could believe their story? The dead do not arise.” As I heard these words, I could feel for these men. They had gone through a horrible past 4 or 5 days. They must have been emotionally drained by Sunday morning. But, how could they not believe? How could they think, “The dead do not arise”?
The events just a week earlier speaks the lie of this doubt. John 11:40-44 convicts them of their doubt.
“Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
“The dead do not arise”? Jesus seeing this moment on Easter morning even speaks to their future doubts as He says to the Father, “so that they may believe.” How quickly they forgot!
This is where I was convicted. This is the moment you need to look in the mirror. How many times has God done wonderful things in your life? How many times has He touched your life in a manner you could not doubt? How many great things has God done that you saw and gave Him praise for?
Read my book, “I knew His Voice”, for the evidence against me. In the past decade alone, God has made His presence known by physically coming to my daughter, speaking audibly to me, and by His great healing and mercy poured into my soul. So many times over this decade and the past two decades in which I knew God’s presence and watched His power made manifest. But, like the apostles that morning, even though God has left many ‘no doubt’ moments for me to witness first-hand, I still wonder in my heart, “after all, the dead do not rise.”
But, God doesn’t leave me this day in a moment of guilt and sorrow for my doubts. No, as always, the Holy Spirit moves me forward past the moments of doubt, reminding me of my faith, as He did the Apostles. He gave them His booster shot of faith that overcame all fear and doubt. It was through His presence and truth their doubt was washed away. After that morning and afternoon (they still huddled in the locked room despite seeing the empty tomb), Jesus came and took away their fears. He rebuilt their faith.
Let God breath His Spirit into your soul, despite moments of doubt or fear. Then, get up and move forward knowing the dead CAN rise!