The Gospel: The Message of First Importance
Tim Melton
John 2:18-22
Can you imagine what it must have been like for the followers of Jesus on Saturday, the day after Jesus had been crucified? All was lost. Jesus was dead. They had given up everything to follow Jesus. Everything in them had sensed that He was truly who He said He was. They believed with all of their hearts that He was the promised Messiah and Savior who had been prophesied about all the way back to the early chapters of Genesis.
Yes, they had run away when Jesus was arrested. Yes, they feared death as much as the next person, but they truly believed. Every verse of prophecy that had been foretold about the Messiah came true in the life of Jesus Christ.
For those who had ears to hear and eyes to see there was no mistaking that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah. Truly the Savior had come. . . and now He was dead. Even though Jesus had warned them, it was as if they never saw it coming. (John 2:18-22; Matthew 12:39-40; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 27:62-64)
They were familiar with the prophecies. They had heard Jesus' words about his upcoming death, burial and resurrection, but in the midst of the struggle and devastation they had ''forgotten'' the truth that they had built their lives upon.
So many times we do the same. Life has suddenly become so difficult that we focus our attention on the storm that rages around us and we forget about the rock on which our life is built (Matthew 7:24-27). We forget the promises of Christ and the character of God. We begin to worry and doubt like one who has no God, but that is not who we are. That is not whose we are.
The Saturday after the crucifixion must have been so difficult for Jesus' disciples but we must remember that we can never truly evaluate Saturday's situation until we can view it from Sunday's perspective. We can never know the truth about a situation until we have heard God's perspective.
In the book of Acts the primary r ...
Tim Melton
John 2:18-22
Can you imagine what it must have been like for the followers of Jesus on Saturday, the day after Jesus had been crucified? All was lost. Jesus was dead. They had given up everything to follow Jesus. Everything in them had sensed that He was truly who He said He was. They believed with all of their hearts that He was the promised Messiah and Savior who had been prophesied about all the way back to the early chapters of Genesis.
Yes, they had run away when Jesus was arrested. Yes, they feared death as much as the next person, but they truly believed. Every verse of prophecy that had been foretold about the Messiah came true in the life of Jesus Christ.
For those who had ears to hear and eyes to see there was no mistaking that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah. Truly the Savior had come. . . and now He was dead. Even though Jesus had warned them, it was as if they never saw it coming. (John 2:18-22; Matthew 12:39-40; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 27:62-64)
They were familiar with the prophecies. They had heard Jesus' words about his upcoming death, burial and resurrection, but in the midst of the struggle and devastation they had ''forgotten'' the truth that they had built their lives upon.
So many times we do the same. Life has suddenly become so difficult that we focus our attention on the storm that rages around us and we forget about the rock on which our life is built (Matthew 7:24-27). We forget the promises of Christ and the character of God. We begin to worry and doubt like one who has no God, but that is not who we are. That is not whose we are.
The Saturday after the crucifixion must have been so difficult for Jesus' disciples but we must remember that we can never truly evaluate Saturday's situation until we can view it from Sunday's perspective. We can never know the truth about a situation until we have heard God's perspective.
In the book of Acts the primary r ...
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