Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Acts2:22-24
These three verses give a powerful word-picture of Jesus Christ:
They describes His Incarnation (Word made Flesh), His ministry, His Deity, His death and His Resurrection.
Peter was transformed by Christ's Resurrection and the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. In first sermon he preached, great emphasis is placed on the resurrection. We see this in the rest of Acts too...
Peter spends a significant portion of his Pentecost sermon (which converted 3000 people!) talking about Jesus' Resurrection.
Peter's points here are striking and succinct:
1. He was put to agonising death by wicked people (includes you & me)
2. GOD raised Him from that agonising death
3. It was impossible that death should hold Him.
People talk of suicide-by-cop: when people, who feel guilty but do not have the courage to end their lives, will act in a threatening way and the police will be forced to shoot them. Jesus didn't do that. He was innocent, we were guilty.
God raised Jesus - this is an indication that God was satisfied that the price had been fully paid. Jesus experienced the FULL extent of the wrath that our sin had accumulated and there was nothing more to be paid, so God raised Him. (I shudder at the enormity of the agony that was compacted into His death.)
It was Jesus' beautiful deity and sinlessness that made it impossible and inconceivable that ugly death could hold Him. Death is a grim pretender that was not part of God's original creation. Death is the product of sin and disobedience and Jesus' resurrection speaks to us of the supremacy of love, purity and sacrifice. The resurrection tells us that "death and taxes" are not the final reality, but God, goodness, sacrifice and love are what it is all about.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
