The victory of Christ over Satan and his evil powers was secured on the cross and confirmed by the empty tomb. “When Jesus was laid in the grave, Satan triumphed. He dared to hope that the Saviour would not take up His life again. He claimed the Lord’s body, and set his guard about the tomb, seeking to hold Christ a prisoner. He was bitterly angry when his angels fled at the approach of the heavenly messenger. When he saw Christ come forth in triumph, he knew that his kingdom would have an end, and that he must finally die.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 782. And though Christ’s humanity died, His divinity did not die. In His divinity, Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death.

Read Matthew 28:1-6; John 10:17-18; and Romans 8:11. Who was directly involved in the resurrection of Jesus?

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

During His ministry in Samaria-Peraea, Jesus stated that He Himself had power to lay down His life and to take it again (John 10:17-18). To Martha He said, “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25). Other passages speak of His resurrection as an act of God (Acts 2:24, Romans 8:11, Galatians 1:1, Hebrews 13:20). Even a mighty angel of the Lord was involved in that glorious event (Matthew 28:1-2).

Meanwhile, Matthew 28:11-15 reveals the futile and foolish efforts of the leaders to continue fighting against Jesus. The Roman guard told the leaders “all the things that had happened” (Matthew 28:11, NKJV). Implicit in this account is the idea that the guards saw the resurrection. If not, what would their words mean? An angel came down from heaven, moved the stone, sat on it, and the guards fainted? The next thing that they know the tomb is empty? Maybe, while the Romans were unconscious, the angel took away the body of Jesus? Maybe the disciples did? Or someone else stole it? Whatever happened, the body of Jesus was, obviously, gone.

An angel from heaven coming down, the men fainting from fear, and the tomb being empty would have been disconcerting enough to the religious leaders. But that they “gave a large sum of money to the soldiers” (Matthew 28:12, NKJV) to keep these men quiet implied that whatever the soldiers told them disturbed them deeply. And what they told of, of course, was the resurrection of Jesus.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

Amen!(0)

The post Monday: “He is Risen” first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

The post Monday: “He is Risen” appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/monday-he-is-risen/

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–>

Amen!(0)

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

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

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

Image © Pacific Press

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–>

Amen!(0)

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

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

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

Support for the mission activities of the Seventh-day Adventist church has always been part of the Sabbath School program. This video is Mission Spotlight for this week.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnvdeXWLtS0&w=560&h=315]

Amen!(0)

The post Mission Spotlight for November 5 first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

The post Mission Spotlight for November 5 appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-november-5/

Turning the Other Cheek

By Rick McEdward

Omar, a university student in the Middle East, desperately needed a job, but he wasn’t ready to do anything to get hired. During a job interview, he openly told the company representative that he could not work on Saturdays because that was his holy day. The company representative did not blink.

Image © Pacific Press

“That’s fine,” he replied. “We don’t need you.”

It was true. National unemployment was so high that the company really didn’t need Omar. Many people were looking for work, and it would be easy to find someone willing to work on Saturdays.

Sadly, Omar left the company’s office. Omar was a new believer who, just days earlier, had given his life to Christ. He had mingled with believers for six years and searched the Bible before making his decision. After the job rejection, he bought a three-wheeled cart with a plan to make money by selling simit, a circular bread covered with sesame seeds.

Omar’s Sabbath-keeping friends were touched by his faithful stand for Jesus and began to pray for him.

A few days later, Omar announced excitedly that the company had called him back and offered him the job with Saturdays off. He was so excited that he decided to find at least one person a day to tell about Christ.

Sipping a drink at a local café a few days later, he and an elderly man began to talk about religion. Omar shared his journey from his family’s traditional holy book to the Bible and the incredible peace that he had found.

As Omar left the café, a man who had overheard the conversation from a nearby table followed him. “I can’t believe that you could say such things!” the man yelled. “Are you not ashamed? You grew up in our country and know better!” The man began to beat Omar with his fists.

Later that day, when a Sabbath-keeping friend video-called Omar, he was greeted by a large, swollen eye and an even larger smile of joy. “You could have called the police!” the friend said. “Yes,” Omar said. “But I remembered that Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek.”

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matthew 5:38-39, NKJV).

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

Amen!(0)

The post Inside Story: Turning the Other Cheek first appeared on Sabbath School Net.

The post Inside Story: Turning the Other Cheek appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/inside-story-turning-other-cheek/