“Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” (Mark 15:6-7)
On that first Resurrection morning, the followers of Jesus must have felt bewildered and confused about what they had heard. After all, no one had never heard of anyone rising from the dead. Sure, Jesus had raised others, but how could anyone raise himself? His disciples had no idea that Jesus was going to do what He did. Even after the appearance of the risen Savior they still had doubts.
Most of us know what it feels like to be bewildered and confused like those disciples. Perhaps we have felt this way in the light of the events of the last year with the pandemic and the increasing rise of violence, terrorism, religious persecution, corruption in government as well as the acceptance of immorality and sin as normal and acceptable. We may feel overwhelmed by these trends and events for we feel have little or no power to correct, influence or change them. .
Our trials and tribulations fuel our doubts so that we wind up thinking that maybe God is not who He says He is, that He has forgotten us or is not really in control of what is going on. Maybe we think that life would be much easier if Christianity were not so radical. Certainly the message we bring is hard for people to accept since it labels all other religions as false and vain. To come to faith, people also have to admit that they are sinners with no power over their sin. Most people do not want to admit they are guilty of any wrongdoing, let alone apologize for their behavior or ask forgivness. More people would like us, we would have more friends, if we only told them things that they wanted to hear, things that would not make them feel so wicked or useless.
But the gospel of Jesus we preach has changed the world and continues to do so. Therefore we cannot water it down; we cannot change it to make it more acceptable to our neighbors for the reality of sin and our inability to please God on our own is at the core of the gospel. So is the truth that salvation is by faith in Christ Jesus alone. So we must hold fast to our faith. Jesus is the one true God the only Lord and Savior of all mankind. He has proven this by rising from the dead. Sinners need to hear this message and repent. They need us to tell them.