The World’s Brightest Day
It is hard for us to understand fully the confusion and despair which must have been felt by the followers of the Lord Jesus when He died. Although He had told them repeatedly, and in detail, about His forthcoming death and His rising from the dead on the third day, when it actually happened they were devastated. Their world had fallen apart. They mourned and they wept. Why was this? It was simply because they could not believe that He would rise again. John tells us in chapter 20 of his gospel, “they believed not the Scripture that He must rise again from the dead”.
Even Thomas, whom we call ‘doubting Thomas’, refused to believe his fellow disciples who had seen the Lord after His resurrection unless he could see and touch the risen Jesus himself. To us, knowing about the resurrection as we do, this may seem difficult to understand, but then nothing like the resurrection of Jesus had ever happened before.
To His followers, the three days between the crucifixion and the resurrection must have seemed the blackest days in history. Had they been mistaken about Jesus? Was He really the long awaited Saviour? Had they been mistaken in leaving everything to follow Him? Had His enemies succeeded? To the disciples it must have appeared that way. They were utterly bewildered and in fear of their lives. Jesus was dead and could this be the end?
Paul tells us in Acts 13:29, “When they had carried out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree”. His enemies must have rejoiced. But then we read this lovely statement that turned earth’s blackest day into the world’s brightest day. It simply says, “But God raised Him from the dead”. Jesus was alive. God had turned gloom into gladness and what a wealth of hope and blessing is in these words.
First, salvation is assured for all believers. Romans 4:25 tells us that Jesus “was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification”. Romans 10:9 assures us that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raise Him from the dead, you will be saved”. Forgiveness is available for all. Paul assured his hearers in Acts 13:38,39 “…I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through Him, everyone that believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the Law of Moses”. Jesus is alive and He offers forgiveness and eternal life to all believers. He told His followers, “Because I live, you shall live also”.
Yes, the good news is that Jesus is alive and we can say with the patriarch Job, “I know that my redeemer lives”.
This article was written by Pastor Geoffrey Davies. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, where he Pastored a church for over twenty-five years. Since 1983 he has travelled widely, continuing his ministry of encouragement and Bible teaching.
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