Acts 17.32 When
they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others
said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” – St. Luke
Drive past any cemetery today and look to see which
graves are empty; how many of them have been abandoned by their inhabitants.
You won’t find many. I’m betting you won’t find any. Resurrection is a very odd occurrence. What makes it more odd is someone who would
die the death deserved for you and then rise from the dead to make a way so you
could become God’s child.
No wonder the Athenians sneered – how could such a thing
happen?
I know throughout Christendom and throughout the ages,
ones have been raised from the dead. My own dad fell, dead, from a heart-attack,
and was ‘revived’ medically that day; he succumbed to final death a few days later. There is, at least, one account of coming back from death…
The difference is, my dad didn’t give his life for
anyone. (Now, I need to be careful lest I dishonor the fact that my dad gave
his life in other ways for his family and for us as a nation.) But my dad didn’t
die for my sins. He lived to help me live a good life, but he didn’t die for my
sins. And though he was brought back from the dead for 6 days, he remained in a
coma and ultimately passed away.
There are many accounts in Scripture of resurrections,
but none, other than the Lord, died for the sins of others and came back from
the dead to make a way for them to come to God. I think that is why the sneers – who could/would do a thing like
that!? (Short answer: only God). Resurrection
is not uncommon, but atonement is;
there is only one Atonement fit for all mankind ever; and only God did it.
Here is where the rub comes: mankind is so arrogant in
his sin that he cannot accept God’s One-of-a-kind atonement. Mankind wants to
deal with his own sins in his own way and leave God out of the process. That, my friends is why people really sneer: they can’t accept what only God can do for them; they insist
they can make themselves good enough and bypass what only God can do. Such is
the magnitude of human sin and pride. And sneers.
Not everybody sneers though; some actually accept the truth. What is more marvelous
is some actually accept the truth in these enlightened
days in which we live. Go figure. The truth is often a hard pill to swallow,
but that just means, the bigger the pill, the harder we work to swallow it. Life
is like that too, the tougher the days, the harder we work to overcome them.
One thing we cannot do is atone for ourselves; that is limited
exclusively for God’s wheelhouse. Can we, will we accept that?
Lord, help me to
remember who the sinner is, and Who the Atoner is. Your life, death, and
resurrection, were all part of the process for me to come to know You in spirit
and truth (forever) and may I live, like Paul of old, to help others see that
atonement is what we need, and a risen Savior guarantees that. Jesus, You are
infinitely more than a good man, or a great teacher, You are the One who died
for us all that we might come to God as a result. And find life more abundant than
all of this earth has to offer. Use me to share that truth – amen.
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