Devotions this week are based on Week 7 Temptation to Triumph: Triumph: Death Defeated! (WATCH HERE)
Matthew 28:5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
Before an athletic contest, there can be pundits who give predictions of the outcome and players that boast of a future victory. None of this is meaningless until the contest is over. Only victory will validate the truth of the claim.
At the resurrection of Jesus, the angel adds an important phrase. “Just as He said.” It is easy to slip by this little phrase and focus on the big point, Jesus was alive!. However, do not underestimate this reality: The resurrection is not just a miracle. It is a fulfilled promise.
The reality of the resurrection gives trustworthiness to all of Jesus’ claims and promises. He predicted this outcome in John 2.
18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
When Jesus spoke these words, they did not make sense. But after the resurrection, everything clicked. The disciples remembered. They believed.
This is how trust works. When someone keeps their word in something big, it changes how you hear everything else they say. If Jesus was right about His resurrection, then He can be trusted in every promise He makes.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” That is not just a statement about the future. It is a statement about who He is right now. The resurrection proves He was telling the truth.
It’s no wonder that the Apostle Paul wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).
If Joseph’s tomb held the body of Christ, the Christian faith crumbles. But since Jesus’ is alive, JUST as he said, ALL of Jesus’ and the Bible’s teaching about him are true and trust worthy. Jesus wasn’t just trash talking, he was promising. Jesus predicted His death and resurrection and then delivered on it. Victory validates truth!
Today, if you struggle to believe what God says, come back to the empty tomb. It is the ultimate evidence that His word is trustworthy.
Reflect: What promise of God do you find hardest to believe right now? How does the resurrection strengthen your confidence in that promise?
Prayer: Lord, thank you that you keep your promises. When I struggle to trust, bring me back to the truth of the resurrection. Help me to believe not just with my mind but with my life that your word is reliable and true. Amen.