29.2 BSF Matthew Week 29, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

My Daily Journal:

When I was growing up I would take trips with my Grandmother to visit her relatives that still lived in the farming community where she grew up.  One of the people we would always stop and visit with was Aunt Lea.  Aunt Lea would often start a story by asking my grandmother if she remembered a certain person from far back in the years.  “You know, Red,” the story would start.  “He lived down the tracks from Mary Jo.  Mary Jo had the brother who drove the red pickup.  He was the one who was injured in the war.”  On and on it would go, stretching into several minutes of tracing between houses and neighborhoods and years and events until my grandmother would finally say, “oh, sure, I remember Red.  What about him.”  To which, Aunt Lea would always reply, “him died.”  And that was the end of the story.

Except for the story of Jesus.  This is the pivotal event of Christianity:  That Jesus Christ, of His own divine power, without outside intervention, raised back to life after 3 days dead.  Without the resurrection, there is no risen Lord, there is no ascent into Heaven, there is no authority, there is no judgment day.  There is only life that ends in death.  Death wins.  But the power of the resurrection changes everything.  In science, a theory needs only be proven false once for it to be forever invalid.  Death was believed to be the end.  Death is not the end, therefore, there is more.

That more is the glory that we get to experience for all eternity.  This is the story we must tell because it is the truth.  Holding to a theory after it has been proven false is foolishness. “YOLO and then you die” is not the whole story, because, death is not the end.

I loved the last question about “how would you answer…”.  I think the best approach is to simply ask what they believe about the resurrection and on what facts do they base their belief.  There are only 2 paths: either you believe it did happen or you believe it did not.  Either path requires basis of fact to support the belief and “doubt” is not a basis of fact.

My Answers

3.
a.
3rd day – Sunday

b.
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary

c.
A violent earthquake, an angel came from heaven, the angel rolled the stone away, the guards were shocked like dead

4.
a.
They had just had a conversation with angels, things were not as they were expecting them to be

b.
clasped his feet and worshiped him

c.
“Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

d.
He provides peace.  I can rely on His strength and power

5.
a.
friends: afraid yet filled with joy, ran to tell others, clasped Jesus and worshiped him
guards:shook became like dead, reported to chief priests, took bribe to lie and save self
leaders: colluded to bribe guards and deceive jews and roman leaders
people: did not understand, were confused, accepted the lie

b.
He appeared to many.  If they were inventing a story, they would make themselves heroes not slow-witted group who didn’t understand  and were rebuked for lack of faith and stubbornness