Christ’s mission seemed to have ended (and even failed) with His death on the cross. Satan succeeded in instigating Judas to betray the Saviour (Luke 22:3-4; John 13:26-27) and the chief priests and elders to demand His death (Matthew 26:59, Matthew 27:20). After Jesus was arrested, “all the disciples forsook Him and fled” (Matthew 26:56, NKJV), and Peter denied Him three times (Matthew 26:69-75). Now Jesus was lying in a tomb hewed out of a rock, closed with a large and sealed stone, protected by Roman guards (Matthew 27:57-66), and watched by invisible demonic powers. “If he could, he [Satan] would have held Christ locked in the tomb.” — Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 12, p. 412.

Image © Philippians McKay at Goodsalt.com

During His earthly ministry, Christ had foretold not only His death on the cross but also His resurrection. Using the Eastern inclusive language — in which a fraction of a day stands for a whole day — Jesus mentioned that “as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:39-40, , NKJV). On other occasions Jesus underscored that He would be killed but on the third day He would rise again (Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:22-23; Matthew 20:17-19). The chief priests and the Pharisees were aware of those statements and took measures that they hoped would prevent His resurrection.

Read Matthew 27:62-66. How did these actions only help provide the world later with more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus?

All security measures taken to keep Jesus locked in the tomb only made His victory over death and the hosts of evil even more noticeable because of all the precautions and measures that they took to try to make sure it would never happen.

Also, these men surely had heard of the miracles of Jesus; they had seen some of them, too. And yet, they think that a guard over the tomb could stop Him, the one who was able to do so many miracles, from being resurrected?

Also, to put a guard around the tomb in case of — what? The disciples might steal the body and then claim that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead? When the people would ask, Where is the risen Jesus? They could say: Just take our word for it.

If nothing else, their actions revealed just how afraid the chief priests were of Jesus, even after He died. Perhaps, deep down, did they fear that He just might be resurrected, after all.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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The post Sunday: A Sealed Tomb first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sunday-sealed-tomb/

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Read for This Week’s Study: Matthew 27:62-66; John 10:17-18; Matthew 27:51-53; John 20:11-29; 1 Corinthians 15:5-8.

Memory Text: “When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He put his right hand on me and said, ’Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the One who lives; I was dead, but look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys to death and to the place of the dead’” (Revelation 1:17-18, , NCV).

Central to the Christian faith is the resurrection of Jesus. Paul made this point very powerfully when he wrote: “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished” (1 Corinthians 15:16-18, NKJV). We will look at this in more detail next week.

Thus, no matter all the emphasis Paul put on Christ’s death, and how important it was — “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2, NKJV) — it really does us no good apart from His resurrection. That’s how crucial the resurrection of Jesus is to the entire Christian faith and the plan of salvation.

However, it’s hard to understand why the resurrection of Christ and with it our resurrection are so important if, as many believe, the dead in Christ are already enjoying the bliss of heaven as they have “gone home to be with the Lord.”

All that aside, this week we will look at Christ’s resurrection and all the convincing evidence He gave us to believe in it.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, November 12.

Sunday–>

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The post Sabbath: Christ’s Victory Over Death first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sabbath-christs-victory-over-death/