Steven Malcolm - The Overflow DevoSample

Can’t Take My Dream

What is a dream? Not the kind you have when you’re asleep, but the kind you have when you catch a glimpse of a future reality and it burns in your heart until you see it come true. A theologian once said, “a dream is something you would sacrifice for, to the utmost extent, to see it become reality”. The disciples of Jesus had a dream that no one, not even death could take away.

Beyond strictly Christian references, there is an overwhelming amount of historical data that provides convincing arguments for the validity of the Christian faith. Part of this history is the story of the disciples of Jesus Christ. Before the death of Jesus on the cross, the disciples were a ragtag group of 12 blue-collar workers, drop-outs, and swindlers. At the arrest of Jesus, the true colors of the disciples came forth. Every disciple abandoned Jesus, and one even blasphemed Jesus to avoid being arrested with Him.

After the death of Jesus, these cowardly, half-hearted disciples became heroes of the faith who would literally give their lives rather than deny who they believed Jesus to be. Sometimes you may see one or two people experience coinciding, and radical, life change. But with the disciples of Jesus, we see 11 men changed into courage-filled, unrelenting, martyrs for the name and fame of Jesus. So what caused this undeniable change? Not the death of Jesus, but the fact that Jesus didn’t stay dead.

The Bible teaches that on the third day, Jesus Christ rose from the grave, alive and glorified, in order to defeat the curse of death to offer His followers the same victory.

1 Corinthians 15:3-6: “[3]...Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [4]...he was buried, ...he was raised on the third day... [5] and he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. [6] Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time…” (ESV).

This reality made all the difference. This was the historical event that changed these men and the world forever. The disciples saw the dead and almost unrecognizable body of Jesus hanging from the Roman cross. Some of them even touched His dead body and helped prepare it for proper burial. But that wasn’t the end of the story for Jesus, for the disciples, or for us. Over 500 people, including the disciples of Jesus saw Him alive and in perfect health after His horrific death. They touched Him, ate with Him, laughed with Him, probably cried with Him, and received commands from Him that were carried out with sacrificial ferocity.

500 people don’t have group hallucinations over a period of 40 days nor construct a story of a risen Rabbi, and then stick to it to the point that they would die horrific deaths rather than deny Jesus. When Jesus was dead, Peter denied Jesus to a peasant girl to avoid possibly being arrested. After Peter saw Jesus alive, He would never deny Jesus again and would be killed for what He believed. The resurrection of Jesus changes everything for those who believe.

Jesus is alive, His grave is empty, and eternal life after death has been earned by Jesus for all who will believe Him. The disciples of Jesus had a dream to make the real, living Jesus known to all the world. And because of His resurrection, nothing could stop them!

What is your dream? Does it line up with seeing the real Jesus known by more people? If so, swing away and remember how the resurrection changes everything!