Just as surely as people design crosses to fit around their necks and make God in their own image, they also shape a user-friendly Jesus.
Some people would design their crosses to be light, smooth and easy. Others would fashion God as a benevolent, bearded heavenly grandfather who merely winks at sin. Still others would craft Jesus into a great man, but lesser than God Himself.
But Jesus is the God man. As God, He cannot die but as Man he did. Risen from the dead He forgave our sins and defeated death. Taking a first look into the empty tomb there is no body there. The bones of Jesus will never be found for He has risen just as He said He would.
In John 20 verses 6 to 8 when Peter went into the tomb and saw the linen clothes, he went with the other disciple. He saw and believed. What does that mean? The napkin that was folded about His head was not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Like a cocoon the wrappings were wound around the body of the Lord. The spices would harden and could only be removed by cutting the linens from one end to the other. It looked as though the body of Christ passed right through them.
What do you see when you look into the empty tomb? The cynic sees nothing when thinking of the empty tomb. The skeptic calls it nonsense. Dead people stay dead. If a seeking mind and humble heart investigates the evidence, it is overwhelming.
But God must first remove the stone from our hearts and then and only then can we believe.
Take that second look and keep on looking to the empty tomb. See He is risen and then go tell others. This same Jesus will forgive anyone’s sins if they repent and confess their sins to Jesus, the resurrected Lord.
Pastor Gary
