Matthew has reported in his Gospel account, chapt. 28.5-6, "Fear not...He is not here; He is risen, as He said!" The serpent had only bruised the heel of the Christ, as prophesied in Genesis 3.15. Oh, he had intended a fatal strike, which had only resulted in the telltale wounds upon the hands, feet and side of Jesus' now-resurrected body.
But was He really resurrected, or as some have alleged, merely resuscitated? Well we really do need to look more deeply into the evidence of scripture, as the Gospel record provides...as we've already seen, a fair number of reports of appearances to His disciples, and others, between His resurrection from His grave, and His ascension to glory. Do take the time to consult the following references, in order to prepare yourself, should you ever be challenged by a skeptic!
The first witness appears to have been Mary Magdelene, alone, as recorded by John in chapt. 20.14. The second was Peter, as reported in Luke 24.34, or perhaps the two Marys of Matthew 28.9-10. But we also have Peter, apparently alone, being the first of the disciples to see Jesus, as reported by two others, to the eleven, recorded by Luke in chapt. 24.34. Next, He appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaeus...Luke 24.13. Then, to ten of the disciples, in the upper room, John 20.19, as well as to the eleven, now including Thomas, in John 20.26. In John 21.1-2 we read that He appeared to seven disciples as they were preparing to go fishing. And the last record in the Gospels, to the eleven at the occasion of His ascension, is recorded in Matt. 28.16.
Over in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul states that Jesus had been seen by as many as 500 people at one occasion before His ascension. Then he records that following that, He had been seen by His brother(?) James, along with the eleven. Finally, there are three post-ascension appearances following His return to the Father, the first being to Stephen, in Acts 7; then Paul reports having spoken with the Lord, along the road to Damascus, Acts 9; and finally, to John on the Isle of Patmos, in Revelation 1. So when will His next, much anticipated appearance be, to His blood-bought saints, as He descends, and they ascend to meet Him in the clouds, to be with Him forevermore?!
Well it's with the vss. 14-15 and possibily the vs. 19 appearances that we are concerned with just now. And it's here that we see just how great our Lord's love is...for womankind! As we've seen already, it was to Mary Magdeline that He first revealed His glorified body...one of very few, other than His mother, who had shown Him such loyalty and love. She, no doubt owed Him her very life; who knows what her end might have been, if He had not cast out those seven demons! And notice from vs. 17, that it was to her, that He revealed Himself to truly be, the true Son of God. He didn't appear to His disciples (those who had spent the previous three years under His teaching) until that evening, as they were gathered in the upper room, stewing in their own juices!
But as we read in vs. 11, Mary "stood without, at the sepulcher, weeping". This was following her breathless run to tell the disciples of the missing body; and their breathless run to confirm her story...risen, or stolen! None of them knew for certain until Mary had returned, first. And little did she know, the miracle that had taken place there!
Do you know, today...that if we say that we love, when our faith is so weak and so fickle, is to cast a shadow over your level of commitment to the Lord? Mary loved Jesus...that's for sure, but her faith was short-sighted. She hadn't trusted in "things hoped-for", or "the evidence of things not seen", as Hebrews 11 states. This is a good lesson about the unnecessary fear and doubt that Believers so often burden themselves with! Jesus said that, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light", so there's no need for the Believer to go through life burdened down by the things of this world, the flesh and the devil. Jesus died to carry just that burden as well, for you and for me!
Just consider how often we, like Mary, get the downers over even the simplest events of life, eventually to become just a memory. I have sometimes pointed out to others, that most mountains are really just molehills in disguise! We must grow to the point where our faith in Jesus to keep us, actually does keep us! And what a relief to know that, as the Psalmist has recorded, joy really will "come in the morning".
We're living today, in a time when the hearts of men are "failing them for fear", as Luke 21.26 states, "...in expectation of those things that are coming." But rather than staking our future on our Lord's eventual (soon?) return, we are almost overwhelmed by the things of this world, and the evil that is so rampant in it...and too often, our faith is the victim. Jesus' best advice, as found in the 28th verse of Luke 21, is that now is the day to "lift up our heads...for our redemption draweth nigh"!
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