Is the Belief in the Resurrection an Irrational, Blind Faith? Quite the opposite.

When we say, "He came back to life", we tend to conjure up images in our minds of Frankenstein's Monster or The Walking Dead. And rightfully so ... we've been flooded with these images from Hollywood for decades. We grew up on it. It's been engrained in our psyche and, as a result, we tend to discount the idea of reanimation as crazy, silly, impossible ... maybe even wishful thinking. I tend to agree. The idea of someone coming back to life by natural means - like Frankenstein or brain-eating zombies - is ludicrous. THAT is not possible. But here's the thing: it happened. So, if we know that it's silly to think that something that is fully dead could come back to life by natural means ... AND if we know that it did happen (more than once in the Bible, in fact), then we're left with the supernatural.

A step toward the supernatural, though, is a big leap for the skeptic. I know - I was one. I AM one. But what about all the other big leaps we take? The entire complex and ordered Universe came from nothing. No - thing. Lack of anything. Void. But naturalistic secular scientists take this leap as a presupposition every day. They also take the "life from no life" leap. As well as the"conscience and philosophical thought from none" leap. And DNA (the encyclopedia of life) from nothing. And the list goes on. That's a lot of leaping for a bunch of skeptics.

But when it comes to God raising Himself from death to life? Well, that's just nuts.

There is nothing irrational about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It would only be irrational if He were not, in fact, God. But He is.

• It was also confirmed that He was most certainly dead as a result of beating and crucifixion. 
• It was also confirmed that He was placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea (part of the Jewish Sanhedrin).
• It was also confirmed that the tomb was guarded because the Jews believed Jesus' followers may try to steal his body.
• It was also confirmed that two women found the empty tomb in a time when women's testimony was not considered at all credible.
• It was also confirmed that 100s of people saw the risen Christ, many of whom interacted with Him.
• These facts were confirmed by both Christians and non-Christians.
• The chief persecutor of Christians became it's most aggressive promotor (Paul).
• 11 of the 12 Apostles were killed brutally, given a chance to renounce what they said they knew for a fact, personally: That Jesus had risen and that they interacted with Him. The 12th was exiled to Patmos and wrote Revelation, etc. (he wasn't killed as the others were). Bottom line - liars make horrible martyrs.

For even more reasons why it's true, feel free to read, "10 Reasons to Accept the Resurrection of Jesus as an Historical Fact".

The bottom line is, it happened. What's really important, though, is what you do with this fact. God sent His son to live a sinless life (a miracle in and of itself), then serve as the final, perfect sacrifice for the sins of all men, both past, present and future, until He comes again. Free will gives us a choice to embrace this, making Jesus our Lord and Savior ... or rejecting it, and rejecting God ... for eternity.

• He will not force us to love Him back. 
• He will not force us to accept His free gift ... the ONLY way to be near him for eternity. 
• He waits patiently for us to get it, then choose. 
• He hopes we choose Him.

Lord, I pray for the lost. I pray for the skeptic, who refuses to step past his or her skepticism for a moment to sincerely seek the Truth. Father, only You can wake them from their sleep, God. Only you can remove their blindness. Only you.

Thank you for even making a way at all. You didn't have to ... but I suppose you did, as you are Love itself. You are good, even when we rebel against you. Amazing.

I pray all of this in Jesus' Holy and precious name. Amen.