Resting In Grace Pavyzdys

Many find Christianity’s truth claims irrational, perhaps even morbid. At Christmastime, we celebrate the day the Holy Spirit impregnated a young woman with God’s Son. On Good Friday, our children color pictures of that God turned man, nailed to a cross, blood trickling down His face.

The following Sunday, we talk about how the crucified God Incarnate rose from the dead. 

How can anyone possibly believe such claims? 

Jesus’ disciples wondered the same thing. In fact, when a group of women shared eyewitness testimony of the risen Savior, “their words seemed to them like nonsense” (Luke 24:11). And when two of Jesus’ followers, presumably trustworthy men, told the others they’d personally encountered the resurrected Jesus, “they did not believe them either” (Mark 16:13). 

Later, when Jesus appeared to them inside a locked room, unable to process what they saw, their finite minds felt certain they’d seen a ghost!

I understand. I wonder how much evidence it’d take to convince me a dead person returned to life. I wouldn’t rely on one person’s testimony! 

Maybe that’s why the resurrected Jesus appeared to hundreds of people in various ways at different times, offering tangible proof of His resurrection. 

In our skeptical culture, it’s easy to discredit the miraculous, but God has given us ample evidence that proved He was who He said He was and did what He said He would do, namely take our sins upon Himself, die in our place, and rise from the dead victorious. 

From archaeological finds, eyewitness testimony preserved through the centuries, and scads of extant manuscripts, we have an abundance of evidence to verify the credibility of Scripture. But even more powerful is the evidence of transformation revealed in countless lives each day, each one a living testimony to God’s power and grace.

What do you find most challenging to believe regarding Jesus and His truth claims? How has God met you in places of doubt and strengthened your faith?

~Jennifer Slattery