City Life Starter

1 Corinthians 15:17-20 (NIV)

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.

Matthew 16:21 (NIV)

Jesus Predicts His Death

21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Matthew 17:22-23 (NIV)

Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time

22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.

Matthew 20:17-19 (NIV)

Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time

17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”

By Stefan Johnsson

My first question is, would a crazy Jewish rabbi predict his own death three times and not back it up? Have you ever heard of a person do this and follow through? Jesus did not come to this Earth to share God’s word and plan without knowing what the end result would be. He knew the prophecies and he knew his mission. Jesus would not pronounce himself as God and foretell his death and resurrection without backing that it up. The resurrection was a miracle that only God could accomplish, but foretelling this is another miracle in itself. This is evidence enough that the Son of God was no lunatic or liar.

The Bible is a complete book and inspired by the Holy Spirit. As 2 Peter 1:20-21 says, “20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  Once we see how interconnected the biblical prophecies are, it makes itself reliable and trustworthy.

Our faith would indeed be futile if Christ never rose from the grave. Jesus knew this and by raising from the dead, his disciples and followers believed who he was wholehearted. They ended up witnessing to others about the power of the Holy Spirit with no fear of death.

Jesus lived a perfect life on this Earth and died for our sins. But the story did not end there for “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead”. So let us live our own lives without fear. Let us live as those who carry the hope of life to the world around us.