Thoughts From The Thicket
San Jacinto Newstimes - March 2008
By DR. DON SHANNON,
Pastor Coldspring
First Baptist Chruch

On the Mediterranean, to the southwest of the Sea of Galilee, is the ancient city of Caesarea. It was there that the apostle Paul was imprisoned for over two years, during which time he was brought to make his defense before Festus and Agrippa. In that defense, Paul told of his having come face to face with Christ as he journeyed on the road to Damascus. He asked the two leaders this pertinent question, Why do you people judge it to be incredible that God should raise the dead (Acts 26:8)? To this day there are those who view the resurrection to be incredible, if not impossible. But as the late theologian B. F. Westcott said, “Taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no single historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ.” Still, the skeptics want a full explanation of the resurrection. But as the scholar J. S. Whale has said, “The gospels do not explain the resurrection; the resurrection explains the gospels.

Belief in the resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith; it is the Christian faith.” When we read of the resurrection of Christ in the gospels, we see a pattern of experience that manifests itself first in those who came to the empty tomb and later in the experience of those like Paul, who met the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus. This same pattern of experience continues to this day to reveal itself in the lives of men, women, and children as they come to know the joy of Jesus. This pattern begins with the experience of communication.

That first Easter, after a divine display of earthly power, the resurrection and the opening of the tomb (Matthew 28:1-7), there was a heavenly message for the women who had come to anoint the body of Jesus. I know you are searching for Jesus who was crucified, they were told by the angel. He is not here; for he is risen just as he said he would. Come see the place where he lay. In our own day the pattern of experience with Jesus begins in this same way for every person, with heartfelt communication from God. It may come from the written or spoken word, but the message is always the same, Jesus is the Christ. He who died, and was buried, and rose again is the Son of God, the Savior of the world. The pattern continues today as it did then, first with communication from God, and then with contemplation of God’s Word. After God communicated with the women that morning, they contemplated His words. Mark 16:8 says, They went out, and fled from the tomb because trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to any one because they were afraid. There was great joy at the prospect of His resurrection, but it was almost too good to be true.

They, no doubt, feared that it was all impossible; that their sense of joy would be short lived. Communication brings contemplation. In other words, hearing God’s message makes a person think. Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Word of God is alive and active! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it touches the desires and thoughts of our hearts. Even the hardest of hearts, the most sinful of personalities, are brought to a place of fear and trembling contemplation by the communication of God’s Word that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. First there is communication from God, then contemplation of His Word, and then as the pattern continues, there is confrontation. As the women hurriedly left the tomb with fear and joy (Matthew 28:9) they suddenly were confronted by Jesus. Hearing His words of greeting, they knelt down and hugged His feet and worshiped Him. No one ever becomes a believer by hearing about the resurrected Jesus, or by thinking about what he has heard of Jesus’ resurrection. Many have allowed Christ to come into their minds through communication and contemplation but have never allowed Him entrance into their hearts. Such people never know the real joy of His presence.

The famed preacher of the gospel, Alexander McClaren, spoke of the insurmountable joy that comes only to those who, when confronted by Jesus, open their hearts to Him. “If our hearts welcome Him, and our faith is firm in His risen power and love,” he wrote,” then He gives us a deep and central gladness, which nothing that is at enmity with joy can utterly abolish or destroy.” Each Easter God communicates anew with us, saying, This Jesus, who was crucified and died, He is risen from the grave and because he lives, you too can have eternal life. This is that joy of the heart than can never be abolished nor destroyed.