Posted on 03/24/2016 5:18:22 AM PDT by Gamecock
Sometimes I think we forget that Jesus died. Not cognitively, that’s easy enough to acknowledge. But we forgot that He was dead. “Jesus died on the cross for our sins” is so much a part of Christian nomenclature that it has lost its shock value. Dead is a big deal and it’s not just a theological point of salvation. Jesus was without a heartbeat. No CPR and no defibrillator could bring him back. He was buried in the ground for days. His body began to decay. It was final. Just because we know the end of the story doesn’t mean we can downplay the finality of death. His friends certainly knew it.
They mourned. They wept. They prepared His body for burial. They feared the same fate would befall them. They were at a total loss as to what would happen next since their Messiah was gone. Gone forever. Dead.
At some point, whether through rote repetition of the story or through a culture that does its best to keep death at bay, we forgot what it means that Jesus was dead. We need to get into the story, to remember. We need to engage our imaginations of what it would have been like to be there, to see Him cry out and breathe His last in agony before slumping lifeless, pulling against the spikes in His hands and feet. We need to see His mangled body wrapped gently by Joseph and dressed with preserving and fragrant ointments and spices. Then we need to imagine how hard it would have been to lay Him on a cold slab of rock and walk away, for the last time. Ever.
Except that it wasn’t ever. Jesus was dead, and then He wasn’t. And this is unbelievable—truly not something to be believed, except that it’s Jesus. Death conquers everyone and everything. It conquers the flowers I give to my wife and it has conquered both my grandfathers. It is working on each of us even now. And when it gets us it doesn’t let go. Death is permanent and unalterable. But Jesus altered it and conquered it. He went from profoundly dead to magnificently alive.
Without death Easter celebrates a comeback, not a miracle. Without a realization of Jesus’ death Easter celebrates the unexpected rather than the impossible. Without a real death there isn’t a real resurrection. Without a real resurrection there isn’t a real point in being a Christian—no hope, no future, no perfect new creation. So Jesus’ death matters. It cannot be underplayed and can scarcely be overplayed. He spend three days breathless, brain-dead, heart-beatless, and decaying. Then He was alive. And, yes, He died for our sins, to give us life. To give us life after death—like Him.
**Without a real resurrection there isn’t a real point in being a Christian—no hope, no future, no perfect new creation.**
“It is working on each of us even now. And when it gets us it doesn’t let go. Death is permanent and unalterable.”
Bears repeating about a million times because most people don’t grasp the fact that they will DIE one day soon.
We make plans, we work tirelessly for our “dreams” and “goals”, but then POOF....death knocks and you don’t have a choice.
Only Jesus Saves!
John 6:29
John 14:6
Romans 10:9-10
Acts 16:31
He is risen does set Christianity apart from all other religions but Christianity is more a way of life than a religion.
Would the message of love lessen if Jesus died of old age? I don’t belief God put me here to spend my life trying to get to God. I carry God inside me to bring him here, not to take me there.
I don’t belief God put me here to spend my life trying to get to God.
Of course not! We can't do that anyway. He came down to us.
I carry God inside me to bring him here, not to take me there.
Not sure what you mean by that. But ultimately He will carry us home. Which I guess qualifies as "there."
Oh. Cute video.
Wasn’t the Body of Christ INCORRUPTIBLE?
Scripture doesn’t teach that concept.
He was fully God, Fully man.
I think the fully man part makes it probable that His earthly body was subject to the normal process of death.
But then, this really is missing the larger point of the entire message.
Agreed.
His body began to decay.
Oops! Not according to Acts 2:24-28 (NASB):
“ But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
“For David says of Him, ‘I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN.
‘THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE;
BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.
‘YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’
I believe the article is more than a little misleading.
How did His body digest food?
Correction:
>> Bears repeating about a million times because most people don’t grasp the fact that their bodies will DIE one day soon but their souls will not. <<
Mentions not Him being incorruptible.
He did arise again. We will have a new body. Is it safe to say His was new as well?
GC,
I hope I am not making a mountain out of a molehill.
In Acts, Peter is quoting the Psalms when he said that the Holy One will not decay, which appears to be at odds with the writer of the article says.
He did rise again, and His body after the resurrection still bore the scars of the crucifixion.
How this works out, I’m not sure. But 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 (NASB) says,
“So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”
When the transformation of the Lord’s body occurred, I do not know.
Grace and Peace,
K51
I’ll have to take a closer look at that when I get home, or maybe even tomorrow.
Peace
Born once... Die twice
Born twice....Die once
Good point!
Born once... Die twice
Born twice....Die once
Truth is sometimes so simple.
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