Theme: Life from death.This week’s lessons show us that God is greater than the grave.
SCRIPTUREMatthew 27:63
and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’
LESSON
If you want to secure yourself against Jesus, let me suggest what you can do. You can begin with activity. That should not be too difficult in our very hectic times. Our world seems to be preoccupied with activity and even rewards those who are busiest. If you are busy enough, you will not have time to think about Jesus. Fill up your time. Schedule your idle hours. Take a class in a foreign language or computers or aerobics or art or any one of a thousand other things, Then you will not have to go to a Bible study. When Christians invite you to church, you can say that you are too busy. Fill your evenings with television so you will not have time to read your Bible.
Here is something else you can do. You can fill your life with sin and sin’s pleasures. Jesus is the sinless Son of God; sin should keep you from him. Fill your life with the evil pleasures of the world. There are many of them. Make your life as secure as you can against Jesus.
I have one more suggestion: Become religious. But if you do, I suggest that you do not learn too much about Christianity. Instead, sink yourself in ceremony. Do things not because they are meaningful—you might have to think about their meaning—but for traditions sake or for mere aesthetics. Yes, that might help. Make your life as secure as you can with religion. Attach your seals! Post your guards! Erect your barricades!
Alas, I am afraid it will not be enough. Jesus has broken seals before. He has scattered countless guards. What will you do when the light bursts forth from heaven and Jesus confronts you in resurrection splendor? I will tell you what I would do. I would give up fighting altogether. I would lay down my seals and stones and guards and feverish activity. I would abandon my sins, and I would fall before him and confess him, as Thomas did. I would say, “My Lord and my God.” Then Jesus will make you his, and he will tell you what you are to be and do for his sake.1
1 The last section of this lesson is borrowed with changes from James Montgomery Boice, The Christ of the Empty Tomb (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985), pp. 35-41.
STUDY QUESTIONS
What are some common ways people busy themselves to avoid Jesus Christ?
In what way can becoming “religious” keep you from real Christianity?
APPLICATION
For a full week, keep track of how you spend every hour of “free” time. At the end of that week, compare how many hours you fill with prayer and Bible study to the hours you spend on worldly activities. Assess whether this is an accurate reflection of your growth in the Christian life.
