“He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’”
Luke 24:6-7
Ready to go back to grammar class?
Here goes: What is an oxymoron?
Well, an oxymoron is typically two contradictory, or opposite, words or statements partnered together. We use these often in conversation.
For example:
This candy is ‘bittersweet.’
That radio station is ‘the only choice.’
You are ‘seriously funny.’
Most oxymorons are just lighthearted expressions. But there are still many who believe contradictory claims about Jesus, a far more serious matter.
One of the most famous C.S. Lewis quotes comes from his book Mere Christianity. Lewis addresses the often-contradictory mindset a person can have about Jesus. Lewis writes, “You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher (Page 52).”
Similarly, many religions, like Islam, respect Jesus as a great prophet. But Islam always teaches that He is not God’s Son. That He didn’t really die on the cross. And He certainly didn’t rise from the dead. Even many secularists have similar views.
You can state two contradictory claims about Jesus, but they cannot both be true.
One is going to be false, the other true. Or they can both be false. But they cannot both be true. A person can not really believe with intelligence that Jesus is a great man if He has lied about the fact that He would rise from the dead.
The empty tomb is the dividing moment.
Christ was preaching the gospel over and over again when He talked about what was going to happen to Him when He went up to Jerusalem and died on the cross for our sins – that He would rise from the dead on the third day.
The question remains for every person, do you really believe Jesus went from death to life? This is the line in the sand moment. The statement “He is not here, He is risen” is the most important statement that has ever been made because all of Christianity rises and falls on this statement, on the resurrection of Christ. Without it, Jesus is a fraud. He is a liar. And you do not want to follow Him.
But if Jesus did rise, then entrust your future, your life, all of your being to Him because He is unlike anyone who has ever lived.
No one compares.
Which truth statement will you believe?
Taken from a sermon by Bryant Wright, Founder, RFTH
DIG DEEPER
Read “Jesus was Clear on Who He Was. Are You?” also by Bryant Wright
