Post by 4him on Mar 29, 2010 16:49:36 GMT -7
We had an interesting sermon on Sunday. The pastor who spoke was a visiting pastor, and the focus of his sermon was the Resurrection. He first brought up the point that whenever Christ had foretold his own death in the gospels, he also talked about his resurrection, at the same time. Then he explained that while unbelievers had 'no trouble' understanding that Christ had been foretelling his own death and resurrection, Christ's disciples were absolutely 'mystified' by it.
He then dispelled the notion that the disciples lack of understanding about the resurrection was tied to their bias against the possibility that their leader could ever be killed (ie They had looked to him as a conquering victor, who would deliver them from their oppressors, so therefore discounted anything that ran counter-current to this promising outcome ) The pastor argued that the wording of the scriptures pointed in a different direction- that God himself had blinded the eyes of the disciples to the truth of the Resurrection.
For example, in Luke 9:45 it says :
"But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement."
Next, the pastor asked the very bewildering question, 'Why?' Why had God done this ? His answer was one that I hadn't anticipated- but it made sense. God had prevented the disciples from understanding that Jesus was speaking of his death and resurrection, in order to preserve the integrity of the gospels- especially in connection with the accounts of the Resurrection. If the disciples had anticipated Christ's resurrection, then they might have been hanging around his tomb, which might have given people more reason to question whether the Resurrection had occurred. As it was, the disciples where nowhere to be seen. So while people could 'speculate' as to what might have happened, since no 'body' was ever produced, and no obvious, legitimate link could be forged between the missing body and the activities of the disciples, the possibility that Christ had, in fact, risen from the dead, was given greater credence.
In addition to this thought provoking point, the pastor also brought home a much wider application to his sermon in the way of, 'how this topic relates to us as individual believers'. He explained how just as the disciples and others, were completely dependent upon the illumination of the Holy Spirit, in their comprehension of the Resurrection, so too are we, in our understanding of all the Scriptures. So we should study the Scriptures, yes, but we should also pray to God, for a better understanding of them, since they are 'spiritually discerned'.
In Jesus,
John
