MANY OF OUR LEADERS were unprepared for the challenges when the pandemic broke out.
Only a few weeks before, we could do some things without a second thought—like touch our faces and hug people. But now, the mundane has become a dilemma.
However, we can have the science and the truth-telling but not without faith—because, without faith, it's impossible to please God.
The Narrative
UNLIKE OUR LEADERS, Jesus did everything to prepare his disciples for the future. He shared his thoughts with them, and they had amazing times together.
At the last supper, he hinted them of his death.
Then, Jesus led them to Gethsemane to pray. He took Peter, James and John a little farther.
My soul is overwhelmed with grief, to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me. (Matthew 26:38)
Then, he went to a secluded place to pray.
Not My Will
THERE WAS A PAUSE between the present and the future—the promise and the expectation, and he was deeply sorrowful.
He was facing the greatest struggle of his life—not only the death on the cross, but he would become sin. (1 Corinthians 5:21)
Jesus respected the difficulty of this task, and the beauty of the result—he became sin that we may become the righteousness of God.
Father, if there is no other way for this cup to pass without My drinking it—then not My will, but Yours be done. (Matthew 26:42)
But when he returned to his disciples, he found them sleeping.
As they got up to go, soldiers walked in. They arrested Jesus and took him away.
They tried him and condemned him to death. Later, they brought him to Golgotha, where they nailed Him to the cross.
A wealthy man named Joseph approached Pilate for the custody of His body. Pilate consented and ordered that they give him the body.
There was a pause between the moment and the future
My Expectation
AT DAWN of the first day of the week, Mary, Joana and Mary Magdalene came to the tomb.
They expected a stench, so they came with spices to put on his body, but they found the stone rolled away.
"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" Said an angel. (Luke 24:1-6)
At the tomb, Peter found the cloth covering Jesus' head lying there. And when John went inside, he believed.
Suddenly the things Jesus said to them about his resurrection made a meaning.
Their uncertainty changed to guarantee—and their despair to living hope. (1 Peter 1:3)
My Doubts
THAT SAME NIGHT, the disciples huddled together behind closed doors, hoping to avoid arrests. But Thomas wasn't there.
When Jesus appeared to them, he showed them his scars, and they were happy.
But when they told Thomas that they had seen Jesus, he did not believe. And he left the place a skeptic. (John 20:25 TPT)
Just Believe
EIGHT DAYS later, they were behind closed doors when Jesus walked in.
Put your finger into my side and hands, Jesus said to him. Don't get into your doubts any more, just believe.
And Thomas believed.
Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:26-29)
Many of us belong to the second group—we have not seen Him, yet we believe—and that's faith.
BRINGING IT TOGETHER
YOU MAY BE A SKEPTIC, but you cannot remain there.
God wants you to move from confusion to conviction and from fear to faith.
Jesus Christ has risen. Have a great Easter!
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