Because He said so

The Son rose on Sunday morning.

My daughter once asked me if we will meet all the characters from the Bible in heaven one day. Well, yes, the good ones of course. I would like to ask Mary Magdalene what went through her head that Sunday morning when she arrived at the empty tomb. Why was she so upset? Was she not there when He said He will rise again? Did no one tell her? Did she forget? Or, could she simply not believe that He would actually rise for real? Maybe she thought it was some kind of metaphor or another parable.

Doubt.

Did Jesus really say: “You may ask me for anything in My name and I will do it?” Maybe He didn’t quite mean it in that way.

The empty tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem

“And, whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Faith? Really? Is that all?

“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” For real?

People have a problem with miracles and Christians have the biggest problem. They pray for the sick but already decided in their hearts that this sickness will go onto death. And if the sick person is miraculously healed, it was a good doctor or actually not such a serious case as they thought it was. They watch evangelists on T.V. preaching and praying to thousands of people and shake their heads skeptically at the wheelchairs and crutches being lifted up in victorious praises. Isaiah didn’t mean it to be taken literally when he said “by His wounds we are healed,” they say.

This is not a new problem. The Christians from Acts 12 were pretty shocked and surprised when Peter showed up at their door, while they were in fact busy praying for his release from prison.

At the tomb of Jesus

I have been praying for a miracle for fifteen years. But maybe God knows that I’m not quite ready for it yet. Not that I have a problem with believing in miracles. But maybe I’m not strong enough to face the skeptics and the critics. The mockers and the unbelievers. Not yet. His working on me.

He said He will rise on the third day and He did.

Believe all His promises.