Believing the Unbelievable
By Jennifer Slattery
“After His suffering, He presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” Acts 1:3
Many find Christianity’s truth claims irrational, perhaps even morbid. At Christmastime, we celebrate the day the Holy Spirit impregnated a young woman with God’s Son. On Good Friday, our children color pictures of that God turned man, nailed to a cross, blood trickling down His face.
The following Sunday, we talk about how the crucified God Incarnate rose from the dead.
How can anyone possibly believe such claims?
Jesus’ disciples wondered the same thing. In fact, when a group of women shared eyewitness testimony of the risen Savior, “their words seemed to them like nonsense” (Luke 24:11). And when two of Jesus’ followers, presumably trustworthy men, told the others they’d personally encountered the resurrected Jesus, “they did not believe them either” (Mark 16:13).
Later, when Jesus appeared to them inside a locked room, unable to process what they saw, their finite minds felt certain they’d seen a ghost!
I understand. I wonder how much evidence it’d take to convince me a dead person returned to life. I wouldn’t rely on one person’s testimony!
Maybe that’s why the resurrected Jesus appeared to hundreds of people in various ways at different times, offering tangible proof of His resurrection.
In our skeptical culture, it’s easy to discredit the miraculous, but God has given us ample evidence that proved He was who He said He was and did what He said He would do, namely take our sins upon Himself, die in our place, and rise from the dead victorious. From archaeological evidence, eyewitness testimony preserved through the centuries, and scads of extent manuscripts verify the credibility of Scripture. But even more powerful is the evidence of life change revealed in countless lives each day, each one a living testimony to His power and grace.
Jennifer Slattery is a writer, editor, speaker, and the founder of Wholly Loved Ministries. She writes for Crosswalk, is the author of eight contemporary novels, and helped write Wholly Loved’s Bible study based on the life of Sarai (Gen. 12-23) titled Becoming His Princess, releasing in the spring/summer of 2019. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall outings with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband. Visit her online at jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com.
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Originally published Monday, 12 February 2024.
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