July 3, 2023

John 20: 1, 19 Early on the first day of the week . . . Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. . . . On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked . . . Jesus came and stood among them . . . (NIV)

Every action of heaven has one aim: that you know God.*

If Jesus could make an appearance in a locked room without crashing through the door, he could have found his way out of the tomb without moving the stone. If Jesus ever did anything that was without purpose, I doubt if the gospel writers would have recorded it. So, what was his point? Evidence. The stone was removed to prove that the tomb was empty. And when he magically appeared in the room where his followers were cowering in terror, he confirmed his identity and calmed their fears.

Christians are people of faith, but our faith is not baseless. We don’t believe in a risen Savior just because the Bible tells me so. Between the physical evidence and the testimony of eye-witnesses, there is no doubt that Jesus was dead and then he wasn’t. If we can trust that he overcame death, why can’t we have faith that he will keep his promise to make overcomers of us?

Meanwhile, like the disciples in the locked room, he appears to us personally. We know he lives, not just because somebody else saw him, but because we see him for ourselves. 

All that Christianity asks of men . . . is, that they would be consistent with themselves; that they would treat its evidence as they treat the evidence of other things; and that they would try and judge its actors and witnesses, as they deal with their fellow men, when testifying to human affairs and actions, in human tribunals.*