On August 3, 1492 Christopher Columbus and his men set sail for the West not knowing what they would find, they hoped to establish a new trade route to the Far East, instead they discovered the new world! This new world would give birth to dozens of new nations, one of them the united states of America would become the promised land for persecuted and oppressed people from all over the planet including millions of Jews.

Often, when life seems bleak and hopeless something happens that puts things in a new perspective, it happened with Jews and it happened at the death of Jesus of Nazareth. Imagine what must have been going through the disciples minds as they witnessed the crucifixion of their Master, all their hopes and expectations (lifeless as the corpse) that Joseph of Arimathea took away and laid in his tomb. Dead! Broken and crushed ………. Along with the dreams of the twelve and many others who had truly believed that Jesus was the Messiah who would lead Israel to freedom, and now he lay rotting in a tomb.

If that were the end of the story you would never have heard of Jesus or Christianity, Jesus’ followers would have disappeared like the followers of dozens of other would-be Messiah, if that were the end you wouldn’t be reading this post.

But Jesus’ death was not the end it was only the beginning, your probably are familiar with the story of the resurrection, the bare facts are that Jesus was put to death by crucifixion that his body was placed in a borrowed tomb, that Jesus’ followers were scattered and dejected but as bible tells us Jesus didn’t stay dead ON the Sunday morning following his death some strange events took place around his grave. THE STRANGEST OF ALL is that Jesus rose from the dead! We have a tendency to take the resurrection story for granted after all, we may have heard it dozens or even hundreds of time, but we need to remember that people didn’t vacate their graveyards 2000 years ago in Palestine any more than they do today. Dead people stayed dead back then just like they do now with one major exception and that exception the resurrection of Jesus, has made all the difference in eternity for countless Christians. When they early Christians including the disciples were called upon to defend their faith in Jesus as Messiah they didn’t point to his great moral teachings and ethical principles, they didn’t even refer to his miracles, they pointed to one rock solid proof: his death and resurrection.

If anyone had ever shown that it was science fiction perhaps by getting one of the disciples to confess that it was a lie or going to the tomb and showing that Jesus’ body was still there.

Christianity would have fizzled out on the spot, it hasn’t fizzled out yet and it never will for the same reason: Jesus Christ rose from dead.

Because Jesus really came back from death, it stands to reason that the rest of what he told us is true: that he is the way to the father that anyone who puts his or her faith in Christ can live forever with him in heaven; and that no matter how dark it looks right now he will conduct us safely to the promised land.