Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. Luke 24:6b-7

Jesus just can't win.

Really.

For the last century or so, skeptical scholars have said the resurrection thing was a myth.
Some have said it wasn't talked about in the Old Testament and that the disciples made it up. Others said it simply was too far fetched for anybody to take seriously.

Now a three-foot-high tablet, which probably comes from the time immediately before Jesus' birth, may talk about the Messiah being raised after being dead for three days. I know that last statement has a lot of qualifiers, but in recent years many of these "findings" have proven to be hoaxes. Along with that, the translation of the tablet isn't entirely without interpretation.

So what are scholars saying now?

They're saying, "The disciples stole from established Jewish traditions when they said Jesus had risen from the dead." They're saying, "The faith of Christians should be shaken because this tablet shows their faith is not real or factual." They're saying, "The reality of the Christian resurrection is based on its uniqueness, and this stone says it's not original."

So, if I get this right, the resurrection isn't real because it's too original, and it isn't real because it's not original enough?

I have only five things to say about this attitude, which takes pot shots at the Bible and the resurrection account no matter what I say: balderdash and bunkum, hogwash, hokum, and hooey.

The resurrection reality is based on the fact that Jesus' prophecy of resurrection in three days happened.

It is based on the fact that a Man who had been whipped, beaten, crowned with thorns, nailed to a cross, and stabbed in the heart with a Roman spear was repeatedly seen alive by hundreds of people.

It is based on the fact that those people who saw a risen Savior were willing to die - - some in terrible ways - - rather than deny what they had seen.

It's as simple as that.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, for Your personal prophecy fulfilled on the cross and at the empty tomb, my deepest thanks. Because of what You have done, I am saved. Now I pray the faith of others is not be shaken by the words and actions of those who wish to push You back into the tomb. In Your Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: 2 Kings 17-18    Galatians 4

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