Thursday, September 25, 2014

Greater Proof

Once the chief priests and elders succeeded in getting Jesus killed, they still weren’t satisfied. They continued to live in fear.
 
Matthew 27:62-66      62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
 
Many of the religious leaders refused to believe the truth and seemed quite consumed by their fear.  They appeared to misunderstand Jesus while He was alive and twisted some of his words, but here they clearly remembered and understood some of Jesus’ words. I’m guessing they were recounting their conversation with Him back in Matthew 12:38-40 38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” 39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
 
What’s amazing is that God worked through the religious leaders' fear in order to give them (and everyone else) greater proof that Jesus was the Son of God! The seal around the stone and the guard would be no match for the resurrected Jesus!
 
Who do you know that lives in fear? 
Do they refuse to believe God’s words and His promises? 
Do they think they can suppress or stop God?
You and I can pray for God to work through their fears to help them eventually see greater proof of the truth.

Alice

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