December 18 – Jesus’ Resurrection – John 20-21
It was necessary for Jesus to rise from the grave to complete our pathway to Heaven. If Jesus had not risen from the grave, then He couldn’t have been the Son of God. Jesus did rise from the grave, and He is the Son of God. Thomas, one of His own disciples had difficulty believing that Jesus rose from the grave. Thomas struggled with his faith. In John 20:27, Thomas saw Jesus, but still had trouble believing. Jesus asked Thomas to touch His hands and side where the scars were quite visible. It was then that Thomas truly believed Jesus had risen. It was when Thomas experienced Jesus, that he believed. An experience taps in to your senses of sight, hearing, touching, and emotions. In this example, Thomas experienced which led to him believing. Have you experienced Jesus? Do you have any emotions connected with Jesus? One of the reasons Thomas doubted was because he saw what kind of shape Jesus was after being tortured and crucified. He thought, surely no one can put the pieces back together and rise from the grave. Thomas had experienced Jesus’ death, but had trouble experiencing His resurrections which prevented Thomas from believing to the point of keeping him from having a relationship with Jesus. Many Christians have experienced Jesus’ death and accepted Christ as their Saviour, but have difficulty experiencing Jesus’ resurrection which keeps them from having a meaningful relationship with Christ.
