Grains of Sand

Pixabay Back when the space program was something of wonder and worth one astronaut, Yuri Gagarin, made the astounding statement that he hadn’t found God while he was up there. I suppose that was imagined by some to be proof that God didn’t exist. Odd to be surrounded by the proof and not to see it. Job 22:12 says: “ Is not God in the heights of heavens? And see how lofty are the highest stars! ” Silly boy! You didn’t go far enough. In your arrogance and ignorance you assumed that you had reached those heights. You assumed that you could see the One Who fills the heavens. He was all around you and you didn’t see Him, wouldn’t have seen Him, couldn’t have seen Him, didn’t want to see Him. That poor space traveler is not the only one to ignore the obvious, something so obvious that a trip on a shuttle isn’t even necessary to observe it. Psalm 19 tells us: “ The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night afte...

salvationarmy.org (Google Images) I  just spent part of this afternoon reading A Carpenter's Cloth by Sigmund Brouwer. It chronicles the last week of Jesus' life before His death and resurrection. The following is Brouwer's last entry. Last Thursday friends and I were talking about why the linen in Jesus' tomb was folded. Brouwer has an explanation that I love! Here it is. During Jesus' time there was one way a carpenter let the contractor know a job was finished. A signature, so to speak. Imagine a hot afternoon in Galilee. Jesus has completed the final pieces of a job he has worked on for several days. The hair of his strong forearms is matted with sawdust and sweat. His face is shiny with heat. He takes a final—and welcome—drink of cool water from a leather bag. Then, standing to the side of his work, he pours water over his face and chest, splashing it over his arms to clean himself before the journey home. With a nearby towel, he pats his face and...

Google Images This was one time when seeing was necessary to cementing belief. The Lord was gone. His lifeless body had been removed from the tomb and lovingly laid in a borrowed tomb. His enemies rejoiced and His followers mourned. Everyone thought He was gone. Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb on that first day of the week. The stone was not in its place. She thought someone had stolen the body and raced back to tell the disciples. When Peter and John arrived, John looked into the tomb, saw that the body was not there. But he did not go in. He waited for the slower Peter to catch up and let him go in first. And an interesting statement is recorded for us: “ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed ” (John 20:8). John 20 records several appearances that Jesus made after His death. The disciples needed to know in a tangible way that Jesus was alive. John  20:9 tells us that they still didn’t understand what the Script...

Google Images It was a payoff. Whether or not the lie the guards told helped them to keep their jobs, certainly the truth about what happened at the tomb would have caused a few of their superiors’ heads to roll. The angel appeared at the tomb and: “ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men ” (Matthew 28:4). Once recovered from their shock the guards reported in. Angels had appeared, rolled the stone away and the body they were so carefully guarding was gone. If you had heard this story and didn’t believe it, what would your reaction be? If you fired the guards for negligence claiming that they had fallen asleep and the disciples had stolen the body to make it look like Jesus had come back from the dead, the guards would have told the truth and made you look like a fool. So you pay the guards to keep their mouths shut and spread the story that the disciples stole the body while they slept, and make them look incompetent. For the right amount of mon...