God is in the Details (Matthew 27:63-63)
"They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ (Matthew 27:63 NLT)
It never really occurred to me in the account of Jesus burial some of the details surrounding the Pharisees' request for guards to be posted by the tomb. In their own words they said, "we remember that He said 'After three days I will rise from the dead.'" (vs. 63).
How is it that the Pharisees remembered Jesus' own teaching better than His disciples? The disciples themselves almost seemed to have forgotten that He had ever even mentioned coming back from the dead (which you gotta admit is a pretty huge detail to overlook).
While all the disciples are hiding out depressed and hopeless, not even Joseph of Arimathea seemed to have any recollection of Jesus' resurrection prediction. Instead, he went through a lot of time and money to see that He had a proper burial. But again, why go through all the trouble if there was a real possibility that Jesus' death would only be temporary?
Jesus almost seemed to overdo His resurrection promise by publicly repeating it to His disciples so much that anybody who was paying attention wouldn't have missed such a bold prediction. (Matthew 16:24; 17:23; 20:17-19; 26:32).
And yet for some reason, the very ones who should have got it ended up missing it. But why?
Let's not forget that every one of Jesus' disciples were blindsided by His arrest and execution. Although they should have been prepared, they simply weren't, and when their world blew up, so did their memory.
Of course hindsight is always 20/20 and it's easy sometimes to miss the forrest for the trees when life blows up unexpectedly. It's during difficult times when our own understanding fails us that we can still rely on a resurrected Lord who knows exactly what it's like to have your entire world to come crashing down all around you as you wonder where is God when you need Him most? (vs. 46).
There will be times when we just don't get it and God appears to be absent from the chaos all around us. But in the same way the resurrected Jesus knew where to find the first disciples in their fear and unbelief, He knows where to find us.
Although it took them several appearances over many weeks, eventually they began to believe and they finally got it; not because they were that bright (they weren't), but because God is patient and fully committed to helping people like us know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is alive and well and available to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
It never really occurred to me in the account of Jesus burial some of the details surrounding the Pharisees' request for guards to be posted by the tomb. In their own words they said, "we remember that He said 'After three days I will rise from the dead.'" (vs. 63).
How is it that the Pharisees remembered Jesus' own teaching better than His disciples? The disciples themselves almost seemed to have forgotten that He had ever even mentioned coming back from the dead (which you gotta admit is a pretty huge detail to overlook).
While all the disciples are hiding out depressed and hopeless, not even Joseph of Arimathea seemed to have any recollection of Jesus' resurrection prediction. Instead, he went through a lot of time and money to see that He had a proper burial. But again, why go through all the trouble if there was a real possibility that Jesus' death would only be temporary?
Jesus almost seemed to overdo His resurrection promise by publicly repeating it to His disciples so much that anybody who was paying attention wouldn't have missed such a bold prediction. (Matthew 16:24; 17:23; 20:17-19; 26:32).
And yet for some reason, the very ones who should have got it ended up missing it. But why?
Let's not forget that every one of Jesus' disciples were blindsided by His arrest and execution. Although they should have been prepared, they simply weren't, and when their world blew up, so did their memory.
Of course hindsight is always 20/20 and it's easy sometimes to miss the forrest for the trees when life blows up unexpectedly. It's during difficult times when our own understanding fails us that we can still rely on a resurrected Lord who knows exactly what it's like to have your entire world to come crashing down all around you as you wonder where is God when you need Him most? (vs. 46).
There will be times when we just don't get it and God appears to be absent from the chaos all around us. But in the same way the resurrected Jesus knew where to find the first disciples in their fear and unbelief, He knows where to find us.
Although it took them several appearances over many weeks, eventually they began to believe and they finally got it; not because they were that bright (they weren't), but because God is patient and fully committed to helping people like us know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is alive and well and available to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
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