90. HE OVERCAME DEATH!Do you need a miracle? You have one!
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There are very few moments in life that are truly unforgettable. As we age, memories of great business deals, high test scores, parties, and fun weekends with friends all seem to pass away. But, occasionally, there are shocking events that are etched into our memories forever. They are what we call miracle moments, times when sadness and joy meet head-on and tragedy becomes triumph. They are the moments when tears of joy ow because a person knows,
“I have been touched by an angel. God has visited me.”
Like a jolt from an electric line, these events shock us, wake us, and unexpectedly change our life course. In this lesson we will witness such an event. We will see that Jesus changed not just one life, but also the whole course of human history.
Anise was just 16 when she started to suffer from crippling stomach pains and developed lumps on her ankles.61 Concerned, her parents took her to a hospital. They were told that Anise had a rare form of leukemia and needed chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She also desperately needed a bone marrow transplant, to replenish the red blood cells that her disease and treatment would kill. Without a transplant, Anise would die. 61 This true story appears on the cover of the June 1990 Time magazine, and the November 1994 and June 2009 issues of People magazine. For ease of reading the names have been given their Turkish equivalents. The family’s given names in English are Abraham and Mary Ayala and their two daughters Anissa and Marissa Eve.
Anise's parents, brother, and extended family were all tested to de- termine if they could be marrow donors. But none of them were a match. Eventually, a donor was found. But unfortunately he backed out, leaving Anise’s parents with a crisis.
“We were devastated,” remembers Anise’s mother Meryem. The only thing they could do was pray. Meryem recollects,
"Then I had a dream. In this dream I saw a child."
Immediately, she and her husband, Ibrahim, put all of their hope into a baby that wasn’t even conceived. Could this baby save their daughters life? When they asked the doctor, he said there was only a 23% chance that a new sibling would have the same bone mar- row. But they were determined to save their daughter’s life and were willing to take the chance.
It wasn’t an easy decision, or a simple 1 in 4 chance. Ibrahim had had a vasectomy and would need to have the operation reversed, which is not always successful. Meryem was already 42, with just a 40% chance of a successful pregnancy. Moreover, there was no guarantee the bone marrow would be received by Anise’s body. The family knelt and prayed,
“Dear Father in heaven, we need a miracle. If it be your will, let it be. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.”
Now it would take great patience to wait for the plan to perfectly unfold. Ibrahim had his surgery; it was a success. Then a baby was conceived. The excitement of family and friends grew. The baby was healthy and growing normally. However, Anise’s condition was worsening.
Seven months into the pregnancy, Meryem and Ibrahim were told the unforgettable news that the baby would be a bone marrow match!
With that grand hope now burning in their hearts the next several months passed by quickly. When the precious baby was born they named her Melis Havva and loved her immensely. She was not an ordinary baby because she had been born to save her sisters life! Then came an even bigger test of patience. The family had to wait 14 months before Melis was old enough to make the bone marrow transfer to Anise. Would Anise live to see that day? The clock was ticking.
Then the day came in August 1991. Doctors removed bone marrow with a long needle from little Melis’ hip and gave it to Anise intra- venously. Anise's condition began to improve dramatically. A short time later she was pronounced cancer free. The family was ecstatic.
“We felt like God had done miracle after miracle for us.”
Not only had God rescued one child but now they had a baby “hero” to love and adore.
Twenty years later, the two girls laugh and joke with one another. Their love for one another is stronger than we can ever imagine. Anise feels like a mother to her little sister. Melis has grown up with more love than anyone could ever hope for. Their home is lled with constant gratitude. For in a very real way Anise wouldn’t be alive today if her sister hadn’t been born. And truthfully, Melis wouldn’t be alive if Anise hadn’t had cancer!
If tragedy sets the stage for miracles, could there be one for the tragedy of humanity’s moral degradation? We are most certainly a long way from the perfect plan that God established in Eden. What could God do to counter the greatest tragedy of all, our disposition towards sin? Allegorically speaking, would the world ever receive its bone marrow transfusion? To answer this question let's now turn to the scripture portion of our study. We left off last lesson with Jesus' tragic death.
The shocking events surrounding the cruci xion of Christ sickened his mother, disciples, and other followers. They stared with disbelief
and horror at Jesus' lifeless body. The meek miracle worker who had stunned crowds with his powerful healing, creative teaching, and mastery over demons now hung nailed to a Roman cross between earth and sky! What had gone wrong? They felt the darkness of loss overcoming their hearts like the unexpected darkness that descends on our homes when the electricity suddenly goes out during a storm. They had lost their light!
The earthquake that shook Jerusalem when Jesus died had ended. The sun, which had turned black while Jesus was in his last hours on the cross, was now coloring the earth again in gold as it hung low on the western horizon. But life would never be the same. Those who saw the torture and death of Jesus were unable to erase from their minds the look of Jesus’ bleeding face and pierced hands.
They had witnessed something unusual, cruel, and devilish. Yet, again and again, they saw in this tortured man a calmness, reassurance, and dignity that they had never witnessed in another person. The light of the world had gone out and the crowds went home hopeless and confused.
With Sabbath quickly approaching, the Jewish leaders did not want the criminals and Jesus to remain on their crosses. In spite of the fact that they had just killed an innocent man, they were worried that their bodies would desecrate the Sabbath’s holiness. Let's see what they did in John chapter 19 verses 31-40:
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness--his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth--that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken." 37 And again another Scripture says, "They will look on him whom they have pierced." 38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy- five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
Joseph of Arimathea62 and Nicodemus63 were wealthy and in u- ential men, both on the Jewish religious counsel. Despite personal danger from the radical Jewish opposition, they boldly stepped for- ward to show Jesus’ body the honor it deserved. Even though they were risking their reputations, their deed revealed that he had won their hearts and they would forever side with Christ.
Let’s see what Joseph and Nicodemus did in Matthew chapter 27 verses 59 and 60:
59 And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.
Perhaps you have seen some of these ancient graves carved into a mountainside. Similar ones are found in Myra and other places throughout Turkey. Inside the graves there is a stone bed to lay the corpse on. Did you notice Joseph gave his own tomb? The dead Messiah was laid in the very spot that Joseph had recently prepared for himself! Perhaps we too should consider laying Jesus in the tomb prepared for us.
Like an overcrowded government hospital lobby, Jerusalem was packed with people who had come to Jerusalem seeking Jesus' heal-
ing touch. Now news traveled quickly that he was dead. A wave of sorrow and anger swept through Jerusalem. The violent revenge that the Pharisees had thought would be so sweet had already become bitter. Most assuredly the people were shocked at what had transpired. The only man who had ever healed blind men and lepers, the one who had restored the cripples' health and the deaf men’s’ hear- ing, that joyous happy teacher who held the children on his lap was now dead and buried. What had they done?
We can only wonder what the Pharisees, the Jewish religious lead- ers, must have felt that Friday evening. They had rehearsed in their minds over and over the shameful, treacherous acts they had just committed. Some of the priests had stood by the grave of Lazarus and had seen the dead man brought back to life. Likely, they trembled with fear that Christ would himself rise from the dead and again appear before them. They certainly had heard Him declare that He had power to lay down His life and to take it again.64 They remembered that he had said,
"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."65
Perhaps Judas told them what Jesus said to the disciples on their last journey to Jerusalem. Let’s read those words in Matthew chapter 20 verses 18 and 19:
18 "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, 19 and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify Him: and the third day He shall rise again."
When they first heard Jesus speak these words, they ridiculed them. But they were suddenly shocked to realize that up until this point, all of Christ's predictions had been ful lled exactly! Now those words, “and the third day He shall rise again,” haunted them. Could this
also really happen? They wished they could shut out these thoughts, but they couldn’t.
It is easy to imagine that the frenzy of excitement surrounding Jesus' torture appeared like snapshots in their minds. They remembered him calmly standing there without complaint, suffering their abuse silently. All the events of his trial and crucifixion came back to them with an overpowering conviction that he was the Son of God. If they were anything like us they must have had the haunting thought that he might at any time stand before them exercising the authority that God had given him, demanding justice for the sins they had committed.
In the midst of these fearful thoughts, they hatched a plan. Let’s read about it in Matthew chapter 27 verses 62-66:
62 “The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise.' 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the rst." 65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can." 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
A Roman guard typically consisted of sixteen men. These men were stationed around the tomb to prevent it from being tampered with. The priests did all they could to keep Christ's body where it had been laid. He was sealed securely in his tomb as if he were to remain there through all time. Which of course for any ordinary person is exactly where dead men stay. But Jesus was no ordinary man!
Little did these murderers realize the uselessness of their effort. In the end, God was glori ed by their actions because the very thing they did to prevent Christ's resurrection is the most convincing argument of its proof. The greater the number of soldiers placed around the tomb, the stronger the testimony that he had risen from the grave. By involving Rome, and a Roman seal, the Pharisees had in essence made a government document proving that Christ had died and been buried. If that seal were broken and Jesus appeared to others alive, it would also prove Jesus’ resurrection and power over death. As can be guessed, Roman guards and Roman armies were powerless to con ne the Lord of life within that tomb. The hour of His release was near.
Saturday night had slowly turned toward Sunday morning, the first day of the week. Christ was still a prisoner in his dark tomb. The great stone was in its place; the Roman seal was unbroken; the Roman guards were keeping their watch. Most certainly, evil angels, strongly interested in keeping Jesus dead, had to have been gathered about the place. Didn't Jesus say he had prepared eternal re for them?66 If it were possible, Satan, the prince of darkness with his rebellious army of evil angels, would have kept the Messiah sealed in that tomb forever.
But as God so often did through the ministry of Jesus, He was again about to interrupt Satan’s plans. Let’s continue reading by looking at Matthew chapter 28 verses 2-4:
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his cloth- ing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
All it took was one mighty, holy angel to move that stone. Perhaps it was Gabriel, who had announced Jesus’ birth. Imagine him ying from the heavenly courts preceded by the bright beams of God's glory. His face was so bright that the soldiers became as dead men.
We ask,
"Priests and rulers, where is the power of your guards now?"
Brave soldiers that have never been afraid of sword or spear are now bowing in shame before the God of heaven! The earth trembles at the angel's approach, and the hosts of darkness flee. Can you imagine the helpless soldiers watching the angel toss aside that great stone covering the front of the tomb like it were a pebble?
Three days earlier an earthquake marked the hour when the Messiah breathed his last breath, and another earthquake marked the moment he began to breath again. The soldiers saw Jesus come out of the grave. Here was the one who had spoken to Lazarus and who had proclaimed,
"I am the resurrection, and the life."
As he came out in majesty and glory, the angel host had to have bowed in adoration before the Redeemer, and welcome him with songs of praise.
As Christ came out from the tomb glori ed, the Roman guard must have stared in amazement at him. Their eyes would have been riv- eted upon the face of the man whom they had so recently mocked. With fear they would have remembered how they had made him suffer. They would have remembered the crown of thorns and his lacerated back from the cruel scourging of their whips. As soldiers they had escorted him between Pilate and King Herod’s halls, all the while taunting and spitting on him. This was the man they had nailed to the cross! They had heard the Pharisees sneering,
“He saved others, but himself he cannot save.”
They had also heard Jesus say from the cross,
“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Standing before them now, in power and vigor, was the very one who had died on the cross and been stabbed with a spear. So too in the last day when Jesus comes on the clouds of glory, many of those around us who rejected Jesus will tremble as they think at how casually they tossed aside his appeals to follow him.
In order to seal and secure the tomb the soldiers had officially observed his cold dead body wrapped in linen. Now they saw him alive!
Mountains piled upon mountains over his sepulcher could not have prevented him from coming out!
The Bible tells us that others came to the tomb early that morning and witnessed the scene. It was the women who were up early and were faithful to their deceased friend. We can read about it in Mark chapter 16 verses 1-7:
1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the rst day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back--it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."
The record of Luke describes in fuller detail the same scene. Let’s read from Luke chapter 24 verses 4-8:
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be cruci ed and on the third day rise." 8 And they remembered his words.
Their minds were racing with excitement. This was news too good to be true! News never to be forgotten.
Just like Anise, Ibrahim, and Meryem would never forget the joy they felt when they heard that the baby to be born was a bone mar- row match, so too, the resurrection was a fact too good to be true.
Some have scorned the cross and resurrection story, attempting to discredit its validity. But the evidence and the witnesses speak for themselves. Four women and a guard of soldiers saw the empty tomb and the angels. The broken Roman seal testi ed that a miracle had taken place. The events were astounding and supernatural. Yet the evidence was right there in front of them. No matter what happened they could never forget it, erase it, or change it.
Matthew continues to describe the events of that Sunday morning in chapter 28 verses 8-11:
8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." 11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.
Can you imagine the joy of the ladies who had come to the tomb to anoint his dead body? Now they embrace him and see his smile and the glimmer of his eyes. Can you imagine the soldiers running on trembling legs from the empty tomb? On the way it seems they pass the women and see Jesus a second time! With fear and amazement they race toward the city!
Where do you think they were going? Let’s nd out in Matthew chapter 28 verses 11- 15:
11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a suf cient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
What an unusual scene. Trembling with fear, these brawny men’s faces are pale with shock. Their eyes bore the testimony that they had witnessed something beyond human reason. The truth poured out from their lips like water from a pipe. The soldiers explained everything, just as they had seen it. Their rst excited and breathless words may have been:
“It was the Son of God who was crucified! We, we... we heard an angel declaring Him to be the M.. Majesty of heaven, the King of glory.”
Could the chief priests have been anything but stunned? Caiaphas was the high priest who had said,
"It is better that one man die for the people."67
Now he must have been speechless. Can you see the anxiety on this man's face? If it were a movie, the music has stopped, and a foreboding silence hangs in the air of the great assembly chamber. Then there is the sound of the shuf ing of the soldier’s feet on the stone pavement as they turn toward the door. We can almost hear the voice echoing in the council room stopping them,
“Wait, wait, don’t tell anyone the things you have seen.”
The priests then gave the soldiers a false alibi.
"Say, ‘his disciples came by night, and stole him away while we were asleep.”
Obviously, the priest’s fear trumped their reason. How could the soldiers say that the disciples had stolen the body while they were asleep? If they were asleep, how could they know? Moreover, if they fell asleep while on duty they would be executed. And if the disciples had been found guilty of stealing Christ's body, would not the priests have been the first to condemn them?
Through the centuries men have attempted to discount in various ways the amazing life of Jesus Christ. The resurrection comes as an exclamation point that some men do not want to hear. Why? The death of Jesus is offensive and nonsensical to those who have not studied the Old Testament. And the resurrection seems impossible to those who only talk of the prophets but never read them. But as you yourself have seen through careful study, Jesus' death and resurrection are a marvelous culmination to everything God had foretold since Adam and Eve rst sinned. We saw this in Abraham’s sacri ce of his son, the wilderness sanctuary given to Moses, the prophecies of David in the Psalms, and Daniel’s prophecies of world history and the Messiah’s ministry. Actually, the prophets’ main purpose was to supply a road map to the empty tomb of Christ, the place where humanity’s fate was forever altered.
But why do men ght the truth of Jesus’ resurrection? Here is the reason: even the rebellious and those absorbed in their own philoso- phies or religious ideas understand that there can’t be two truths. If Jesus rose from the dead, then all that he said about himself must be true. The resurrection of Jesus Christ verifies that every belief system claiming to be a road to heaven without Jesus as its centerpiece is a false road.
Before raising Lazarus to life Jesus said in John chapter 11 verses 25 and 26:
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believes thou this?
Isn’t that your goal, to live again for eternity? Jesus, who brought Lazarus back to life and conquered his own death, invites us to believe and live! It is that simple. Why is believing in Jesus so important? Why is believing in Jesus strong enough to alter a person’s eternal destiny? We will answer this question in full in the next lesson.
To the one who believes, that which has been lost through sin is restored. Just as through the medium of doubt Eve lost her place in paradise, it is through belief that we can regain it! The one who believes gains the right to eat of the tree of life. And where is life? Do you remember Jesus invited his disciples to “eat of his body”? Yes, life is in him. In symbol, we eat his body, with its resurrection power, when we believe what he said and who he is. He gives the life that he laid down to humanity so they can live. Jesus said,
“I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.”68
He also said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life”.69
And in John chapter 6 and verse 54 he said,
“Whoever eats my esh and drinks My blood, has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jesus has life in himself and has authority to give immortality.
He says it is granted to those that believe in him.
When Jesus was laid in the grave Satan triumphed. He hoped that the Savior of the world would never live again. But when Satan saw Christ stand up victorious, he knew with certainty that his reign of world terror had an end and that one day he would die an eternal death. If we side with Christ, we too can know for certain that the sin and evil in our lives will end and paradise will be our home forever.
Let’s continue with a few more events of that royal day when Jesus conquered death.
The women who had come to the tomb early to see Jesus had gone to tell the disciples what they had seen. Here is the story in Luke chapter 24 verses 9-12:
9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
We all want to see evidence for ourselves. When Anise was told one year after the bone marrow transplant that her body had become cancer free, she was elated. But do you think she still wanted to see the blood tests herself? Absolutely! Even good news begs for evidence. So the disciples wanted to see Jesus for themselves. That evening they were given the opportunity. Let’s read about their encounter with the risen Christ in Luke chapter 24 verses 36-49:
36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!" 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have esh and bones as you see that I have." 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" 42 They gave him a piece of broiled sh, 43 and he took it and ate before them. 44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be ful lled." 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."
It was an unforgettable moment. A jolt of surprise so strong the disciples would carry that memory the rest of their lives. In fact, per- haps the greatest evidence of the death and resurrection of Jesus is the willingness of all of these men to spend the rest of their lives proclaiming what they had seen and touched. They were tortured and suffered painful deaths, martyred for their peaceful convictions of what they knew to be true.
Jesus appeared again and again to his disciples over the next 40 days. In fact at one time he appeared to over 500 people.70 For more details about Christ’s time on earth after his resurrection, read John chapter 20 and 21.
One of the greatest stories of our modern history is that of Seyit Ali Çabuk (1889-1939), usually called Seyit Onbaşı. After serving in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, he was transferred to the forts defending the Mediterranean entrance to the Dardanelles. Following the heavy naval bombardment of the forts guarding the Narrows on March 18, 1915, the gun he was serving in the Mecidiye fort remained operational but its shell crane had been damaged.
Here is where he performed a feat of superhuman proportions. Seyit, with eyes on his duty to save Turkey, attempted the impos- sible. Seyit had his sights set on one deadly enemy, the HMS Ocean battleship. At 130 meters in length, armed with four 305 mm guns, and twelve 152 mm guns, as well as four 450 mm and an additional sixteen large guns, this ship was a deadly enemy. Seyit, seeing the need for action, but knowing the shell crane was broken, took mat- ters into his own hands.
Seyit placed the 260 kg artillery shells on his back and hoisted them into place. To put this into perspective, consider Naim Süleymanoğlu, the world’s strongest man for his size. The most weight that he has ever lifted is 152.2 kg in the snatch, and 190 kg in the clean and jerk! Yes, Seyit Onbaşı had performed the impossible. Whether he did it with his own strength, or with God's help we don't know; what matters is he did it!
One of the three shells Seyit loaded and red, reputedly hit the British battleship HMS Ocean leaving it to limp to it’s demise, later being fully sunk by a Turkish mine.
What Jesus did at the resurrection was also something no human had done before or since. Jesus broke the power of death. The weight of death was greater than any human could lift. Jesus in one brilliant moment defeated the enemy.
Today, if you put all your hopes in Jesus, you will no longer need to fear death. Death doesn’t have to paralyze us with fear. Jesus has carried the load and hit the enemy target squarely. The life hidden in Christ, though he dies, will live again. To the believer and follower of Jesus, death is nothing more than sleep, a moment of silence and rest. The scriptures tell us that when Christ, who is our life, appears the second time in the clouds, the graves will open and we will be together forever.
Do you remember when Jesus was on the cross and cried out, "It is finished"? His voice was heard among the dead! It pierced the walls of sepulchers, and summoned the sleepers (dead righteous people) to arise. Let’s read those verses in Matthew chapter 27 verses 50-53:
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
It will be like this when the voice of Christ is heard from the sky. His voice will penetrate the graves and unlock the tombs, and the dead who have believed in him will arise. At the Savior’s resurrection a few graves were opened, but at his second coming a great multitude will come back to life. In fact, all the dead who have believed God's words will hear Christ's voice, and will come out to glorious immortal life. Just as Jesus said,
“My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”71
The same power that raised Christ from the dead will raise his people and give them a perfect body that will never die. The old will become young, and the lame will walk. Every trace of sin and its power over us will be gone!72 It is for this reason God has set Jesus above all principalities, above all powers, above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world to come. Jesus is the fate changer.
Discussion Questions
1. The real life names of Anise’s parents were Ibrahim and Meryem. Re ecting on their Biblical counterparts, how are those two names well suited to birth a “miracle child?”
2. Why were the Jewish leaders so intent on guarding the tomb?
3. Why did the disciples want to touch Jesus' hands and side?
4. What hope ought you to have for the future? What gives you the “right” to hope in such a way?
5. Is there anything keeping you from believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection?
6. How was Jesus’ death part of God’s plan?
62 Luke 23:50, 51
63 John 3 and Fate Changer Book 4 lesson 7
64 John 10:17, 18
65 John 2:19
66 Isaiah 33:14; Matthew 25:41
67 John 11:49, 50
68 John 10:10
69 John 4:14
70 1 Corinthians 15
71 John 10:27, 28
72 1 Corinthians 15
“I have been touched by an angel. God has visited me.”
Like a jolt from an electric line, these events shock us, wake us, and unexpectedly change our life course. In this lesson we will witness such an event. We will see that Jesus changed not just one life, but also the whole course of human history.
Anise was just 16 when she started to suffer from crippling stomach pains and developed lumps on her ankles.61 Concerned, her parents took her to a hospital. They were told that Anise had a rare form of leukemia and needed chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She also desperately needed a bone marrow transplant, to replenish the red blood cells that her disease and treatment would kill. Without a transplant, Anise would die. 61 This true story appears on the cover of the June 1990 Time magazine, and the November 1994 and June 2009 issues of People magazine. For ease of reading the names have been given their Turkish equivalents. The family’s given names in English are Abraham and Mary Ayala and their two daughters Anissa and Marissa Eve.
Anise's parents, brother, and extended family were all tested to de- termine if they could be marrow donors. But none of them were a match. Eventually, a donor was found. But unfortunately he backed out, leaving Anise’s parents with a crisis.
“We were devastated,” remembers Anise’s mother Meryem. The only thing they could do was pray. Meryem recollects,
"Then I had a dream. In this dream I saw a child."
Immediately, she and her husband, Ibrahim, put all of their hope into a baby that wasn’t even conceived. Could this baby save their daughters life? When they asked the doctor, he said there was only a 23% chance that a new sibling would have the same bone mar- row. But they were determined to save their daughter’s life and were willing to take the chance.
It wasn’t an easy decision, or a simple 1 in 4 chance. Ibrahim had had a vasectomy and would need to have the operation reversed, which is not always successful. Meryem was already 42, with just a 40% chance of a successful pregnancy. Moreover, there was no guarantee the bone marrow would be received by Anise’s body. The family knelt and prayed,
“Dear Father in heaven, we need a miracle. If it be your will, let it be. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.”
Now it would take great patience to wait for the plan to perfectly unfold. Ibrahim had his surgery; it was a success. Then a baby was conceived. The excitement of family and friends grew. The baby was healthy and growing normally. However, Anise’s condition was worsening.
Seven months into the pregnancy, Meryem and Ibrahim were told the unforgettable news that the baby would be a bone marrow match!
With that grand hope now burning in their hearts the next several months passed by quickly. When the precious baby was born they named her Melis Havva and loved her immensely. She was not an ordinary baby because she had been born to save her sisters life! Then came an even bigger test of patience. The family had to wait 14 months before Melis was old enough to make the bone marrow transfer to Anise. Would Anise live to see that day? The clock was ticking.
Then the day came in August 1991. Doctors removed bone marrow with a long needle from little Melis’ hip and gave it to Anise intra- venously. Anise's condition began to improve dramatically. A short time later she was pronounced cancer free. The family was ecstatic.
“We felt like God had done miracle after miracle for us.”
Not only had God rescued one child but now they had a baby “hero” to love and adore.
Twenty years later, the two girls laugh and joke with one another. Their love for one another is stronger than we can ever imagine. Anise feels like a mother to her little sister. Melis has grown up with more love than anyone could ever hope for. Their home is lled with constant gratitude. For in a very real way Anise wouldn’t be alive today if her sister hadn’t been born. And truthfully, Melis wouldn’t be alive if Anise hadn’t had cancer!
If tragedy sets the stage for miracles, could there be one for the tragedy of humanity’s moral degradation? We are most certainly a long way from the perfect plan that God established in Eden. What could God do to counter the greatest tragedy of all, our disposition towards sin? Allegorically speaking, would the world ever receive its bone marrow transfusion? To answer this question let's now turn to the scripture portion of our study. We left off last lesson with Jesus' tragic death.
The shocking events surrounding the cruci xion of Christ sickened his mother, disciples, and other followers. They stared with disbelief
and horror at Jesus' lifeless body. The meek miracle worker who had stunned crowds with his powerful healing, creative teaching, and mastery over demons now hung nailed to a Roman cross between earth and sky! What had gone wrong? They felt the darkness of loss overcoming their hearts like the unexpected darkness that descends on our homes when the electricity suddenly goes out during a storm. They had lost their light!
The earthquake that shook Jerusalem when Jesus died had ended. The sun, which had turned black while Jesus was in his last hours on the cross, was now coloring the earth again in gold as it hung low on the western horizon. But life would never be the same. Those who saw the torture and death of Jesus were unable to erase from their minds the look of Jesus’ bleeding face and pierced hands.
They had witnessed something unusual, cruel, and devilish. Yet, again and again, they saw in this tortured man a calmness, reassurance, and dignity that they had never witnessed in another person. The light of the world had gone out and the crowds went home hopeless and confused.
With Sabbath quickly approaching, the Jewish leaders did not want the criminals and Jesus to remain on their crosses. In spite of the fact that they had just killed an innocent man, they were worried that their bodies would desecrate the Sabbath’s holiness. Let's see what they did in John chapter 19 verses 31-40:
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness--his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth--that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken." 37 And again another Scripture says, "They will look on him whom they have pierced." 38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy- five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
Joseph of Arimathea62 and Nicodemus63 were wealthy and in u- ential men, both on the Jewish religious counsel. Despite personal danger from the radical Jewish opposition, they boldly stepped for- ward to show Jesus’ body the honor it deserved. Even though they were risking their reputations, their deed revealed that he had won their hearts and they would forever side with Christ.
Let’s see what Joseph and Nicodemus did in Matthew chapter 27 verses 59 and 60:
59 And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.
Perhaps you have seen some of these ancient graves carved into a mountainside. Similar ones are found in Myra and other places throughout Turkey. Inside the graves there is a stone bed to lay the corpse on. Did you notice Joseph gave his own tomb? The dead Messiah was laid in the very spot that Joseph had recently prepared for himself! Perhaps we too should consider laying Jesus in the tomb prepared for us.
Like an overcrowded government hospital lobby, Jerusalem was packed with people who had come to Jerusalem seeking Jesus' heal-
ing touch. Now news traveled quickly that he was dead. A wave of sorrow and anger swept through Jerusalem. The violent revenge that the Pharisees had thought would be so sweet had already become bitter. Most assuredly the people were shocked at what had transpired. The only man who had ever healed blind men and lepers, the one who had restored the cripples' health and the deaf men’s’ hear- ing, that joyous happy teacher who held the children on his lap was now dead and buried. What had they done?
We can only wonder what the Pharisees, the Jewish religious lead- ers, must have felt that Friday evening. They had rehearsed in their minds over and over the shameful, treacherous acts they had just committed. Some of the priests had stood by the grave of Lazarus and had seen the dead man brought back to life. Likely, they trembled with fear that Christ would himself rise from the dead and again appear before them. They certainly had heard Him declare that He had power to lay down His life and to take it again.64 They remembered that he had said,
"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."65
Perhaps Judas told them what Jesus said to the disciples on their last journey to Jerusalem. Let’s read those words in Matthew chapter 20 verses 18 and 19:
18 "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, 19 and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify Him: and the third day He shall rise again."
When they first heard Jesus speak these words, they ridiculed them. But they were suddenly shocked to realize that up until this point, all of Christ's predictions had been ful lled exactly! Now those words, “and the third day He shall rise again,” haunted them. Could this
also really happen? They wished they could shut out these thoughts, but they couldn’t.
It is easy to imagine that the frenzy of excitement surrounding Jesus' torture appeared like snapshots in their minds. They remembered him calmly standing there without complaint, suffering their abuse silently. All the events of his trial and crucifixion came back to them with an overpowering conviction that he was the Son of God. If they were anything like us they must have had the haunting thought that he might at any time stand before them exercising the authority that God had given him, demanding justice for the sins they had committed.
In the midst of these fearful thoughts, they hatched a plan. Let’s read about it in Matthew chapter 27 verses 62-66:
62 “The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise.' 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the rst." 65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can." 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
A Roman guard typically consisted of sixteen men. These men were stationed around the tomb to prevent it from being tampered with. The priests did all they could to keep Christ's body where it had been laid. He was sealed securely in his tomb as if he were to remain there through all time. Which of course for any ordinary person is exactly where dead men stay. But Jesus was no ordinary man!
Little did these murderers realize the uselessness of their effort. In the end, God was glori ed by their actions because the very thing they did to prevent Christ's resurrection is the most convincing argument of its proof. The greater the number of soldiers placed around the tomb, the stronger the testimony that he had risen from the grave. By involving Rome, and a Roman seal, the Pharisees had in essence made a government document proving that Christ had died and been buried. If that seal were broken and Jesus appeared to others alive, it would also prove Jesus’ resurrection and power over death. As can be guessed, Roman guards and Roman armies were powerless to con ne the Lord of life within that tomb. The hour of His release was near.
Saturday night had slowly turned toward Sunday morning, the first day of the week. Christ was still a prisoner in his dark tomb. The great stone was in its place; the Roman seal was unbroken; the Roman guards were keeping their watch. Most certainly, evil angels, strongly interested in keeping Jesus dead, had to have been gathered about the place. Didn't Jesus say he had prepared eternal re for them?66 If it were possible, Satan, the prince of darkness with his rebellious army of evil angels, would have kept the Messiah sealed in that tomb forever.
But as God so often did through the ministry of Jesus, He was again about to interrupt Satan’s plans. Let’s continue reading by looking at Matthew chapter 28 verses 2-4:
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his cloth- ing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
All it took was one mighty, holy angel to move that stone. Perhaps it was Gabriel, who had announced Jesus’ birth. Imagine him ying from the heavenly courts preceded by the bright beams of God's glory. His face was so bright that the soldiers became as dead men.
We ask,
"Priests and rulers, where is the power of your guards now?"
Brave soldiers that have never been afraid of sword or spear are now bowing in shame before the God of heaven! The earth trembles at the angel's approach, and the hosts of darkness flee. Can you imagine the helpless soldiers watching the angel toss aside that great stone covering the front of the tomb like it were a pebble?
Three days earlier an earthquake marked the hour when the Messiah breathed his last breath, and another earthquake marked the moment he began to breath again. The soldiers saw Jesus come out of the grave. Here was the one who had spoken to Lazarus and who had proclaimed,
"I am the resurrection, and the life."
As he came out in majesty and glory, the angel host had to have bowed in adoration before the Redeemer, and welcome him with songs of praise.
As Christ came out from the tomb glori ed, the Roman guard must have stared in amazement at him. Their eyes would have been riv- eted upon the face of the man whom they had so recently mocked. With fear they would have remembered how they had made him suffer. They would have remembered the crown of thorns and his lacerated back from the cruel scourging of their whips. As soldiers they had escorted him between Pilate and King Herod’s halls, all the while taunting and spitting on him. This was the man they had nailed to the cross! They had heard the Pharisees sneering,
“He saved others, but himself he cannot save.”
They had also heard Jesus say from the cross,
“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Standing before them now, in power and vigor, was the very one who had died on the cross and been stabbed with a spear. So too in the last day when Jesus comes on the clouds of glory, many of those around us who rejected Jesus will tremble as they think at how casually they tossed aside his appeals to follow him.
In order to seal and secure the tomb the soldiers had officially observed his cold dead body wrapped in linen. Now they saw him alive!
Mountains piled upon mountains over his sepulcher could not have prevented him from coming out!
The Bible tells us that others came to the tomb early that morning and witnessed the scene. It was the women who were up early and were faithful to their deceased friend. We can read about it in Mark chapter 16 verses 1-7:
1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the rst day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back--it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."
The record of Luke describes in fuller detail the same scene. Let’s read from Luke chapter 24 verses 4-8:
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be cruci ed and on the third day rise." 8 And they remembered his words.
Their minds were racing with excitement. This was news too good to be true! News never to be forgotten.
Just like Anise, Ibrahim, and Meryem would never forget the joy they felt when they heard that the baby to be born was a bone mar- row match, so too, the resurrection was a fact too good to be true.
Some have scorned the cross and resurrection story, attempting to discredit its validity. But the evidence and the witnesses speak for themselves. Four women and a guard of soldiers saw the empty tomb and the angels. The broken Roman seal testi ed that a miracle had taken place. The events were astounding and supernatural. Yet the evidence was right there in front of them. No matter what happened they could never forget it, erase it, or change it.
Matthew continues to describe the events of that Sunday morning in chapter 28 verses 8-11:
8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." 11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.
Can you imagine the joy of the ladies who had come to the tomb to anoint his dead body? Now they embrace him and see his smile and the glimmer of his eyes. Can you imagine the soldiers running on trembling legs from the empty tomb? On the way it seems they pass the women and see Jesus a second time! With fear and amazement they race toward the city!
Where do you think they were going? Let’s nd out in Matthew chapter 28 verses 11- 15:
11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a suf cient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
What an unusual scene. Trembling with fear, these brawny men’s faces are pale with shock. Their eyes bore the testimony that they had witnessed something beyond human reason. The truth poured out from their lips like water from a pipe. The soldiers explained everything, just as they had seen it. Their rst excited and breathless words may have been:
“It was the Son of God who was crucified! We, we... we heard an angel declaring Him to be the M.. Majesty of heaven, the King of glory.”
Could the chief priests have been anything but stunned? Caiaphas was the high priest who had said,
"It is better that one man die for the people."67
Now he must have been speechless. Can you see the anxiety on this man's face? If it were a movie, the music has stopped, and a foreboding silence hangs in the air of the great assembly chamber. Then there is the sound of the shuf ing of the soldier’s feet on the stone pavement as they turn toward the door. We can almost hear the voice echoing in the council room stopping them,
“Wait, wait, don’t tell anyone the things you have seen.”
The priests then gave the soldiers a false alibi.
"Say, ‘his disciples came by night, and stole him away while we were asleep.”
Obviously, the priest’s fear trumped their reason. How could the soldiers say that the disciples had stolen the body while they were asleep? If they were asleep, how could they know? Moreover, if they fell asleep while on duty they would be executed. And if the disciples had been found guilty of stealing Christ's body, would not the priests have been the first to condemn them?
Through the centuries men have attempted to discount in various ways the amazing life of Jesus Christ. The resurrection comes as an exclamation point that some men do not want to hear. Why? The death of Jesus is offensive and nonsensical to those who have not studied the Old Testament. And the resurrection seems impossible to those who only talk of the prophets but never read them. But as you yourself have seen through careful study, Jesus' death and resurrection are a marvelous culmination to everything God had foretold since Adam and Eve rst sinned. We saw this in Abraham’s sacri ce of his son, the wilderness sanctuary given to Moses, the prophecies of David in the Psalms, and Daniel’s prophecies of world history and the Messiah’s ministry. Actually, the prophets’ main purpose was to supply a road map to the empty tomb of Christ, the place where humanity’s fate was forever altered.
But why do men ght the truth of Jesus’ resurrection? Here is the reason: even the rebellious and those absorbed in their own philoso- phies or religious ideas understand that there can’t be two truths. If Jesus rose from the dead, then all that he said about himself must be true. The resurrection of Jesus Christ verifies that every belief system claiming to be a road to heaven without Jesus as its centerpiece is a false road.
Before raising Lazarus to life Jesus said in John chapter 11 verses 25 and 26:
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believes thou this?
Isn’t that your goal, to live again for eternity? Jesus, who brought Lazarus back to life and conquered his own death, invites us to believe and live! It is that simple. Why is believing in Jesus so important? Why is believing in Jesus strong enough to alter a person’s eternal destiny? We will answer this question in full in the next lesson.
To the one who believes, that which has been lost through sin is restored. Just as through the medium of doubt Eve lost her place in paradise, it is through belief that we can regain it! The one who believes gains the right to eat of the tree of life. And where is life? Do you remember Jesus invited his disciples to “eat of his body”? Yes, life is in him. In symbol, we eat his body, with its resurrection power, when we believe what he said and who he is. He gives the life that he laid down to humanity so they can live. Jesus said,
“I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.”68
He also said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life”.69
And in John chapter 6 and verse 54 he said,
“Whoever eats my esh and drinks My blood, has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jesus has life in himself and has authority to give immortality.
He says it is granted to those that believe in him.
When Jesus was laid in the grave Satan triumphed. He hoped that the Savior of the world would never live again. But when Satan saw Christ stand up victorious, he knew with certainty that his reign of world terror had an end and that one day he would die an eternal death. If we side with Christ, we too can know for certain that the sin and evil in our lives will end and paradise will be our home forever.
Let’s continue with a few more events of that royal day when Jesus conquered death.
The women who had come to the tomb early to see Jesus had gone to tell the disciples what they had seen. Here is the story in Luke chapter 24 verses 9-12:
9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
We all want to see evidence for ourselves. When Anise was told one year after the bone marrow transplant that her body had become cancer free, she was elated. But do you think she still wanted to see the blood tests herself? Absolutely! Even good news begs for evidence. So the disciples wanted to see Jesus for themselves. That evening they were given the opportunity. Let’s read about their encounter with the risen Christ in Luke chapter 24 verses 36-49:
36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!" 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have esh and bones as you see that I have." 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" 42 They gave him a piece of broiled sh, 43 and he took it and ate before them. 44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be ful lled." 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."
It was an unforgettable moment. A jolt of surprise so strong the disciples would carry that memory the rest of their lives. In fact, per- haps the greatest evidence of the death and resurrection of Jesus is the willingness of all of these men to spend the rest of their lives proclaiming what they had seen and touched. They were tortured and suffered painful deaths, martyred for their peaceful convictions of what they knew to be true.
Jesus appeared again and again to his disciples over the next 40 days. In fact at one time he appeared to over 500 people.70 For more details about Christ’s time on earth after his resurrection, read John chapter 20 and 21.
One of the greatest stories of our modern history is that of Seyit Ali Çabuk (1889-1939), usually called Seyit Onbaşı. After serving in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, he was transferred to the forts defending the Mediterranean entrance to the Dardanelles. Following the heavy naval bombardment of the forts guarding the Narrows on March 18, 1915, the gun he was serving in the Mecidiye fort remained operational but its shell crane had been damaged.
Here is where he performed a feat of superhuman proportions. Seyit, with eyes on his duty to save Turkey, attempted the impos- sible. Seyit had his sights set on one deadly enemy, the HMS Ocean battleship. At 130 meters in length, armed with four 305 mm guns, and twelve 152 mm guns, as well as four 450 mm and an additional sixteen large guns, this ship was a deadly enemy. Seyit, seeing the need for action, but knowing the shell crane was broken, took mat- ters into his own hands.
Seyit placed the 260 kg artillery shells on his back and hoisted them into place. To put this into perspective, consider Naim Süleymanoğlu, the world’s strongest man for his size. The most weight that he has ever lifted is 152.2 kg in the snatch, and 190 kg in the clean and jerk! Yes, Seyit Onbaşı had performed the impossible. Whether he did it with his own strength, or with God's help we don't know; what matters is he did it!
One of the three shells Seyit loaded and red, reputedly hit the British battleship HMS Ocean leaving it to limp to it’s demise, later being fully sunk by a Turkish mine.
What Jesus did at the resurrection was also something no human had done before or since. Jesus broke the power of death. The weight of death was greater than any human could lift. Jesus in one brilliant moment defeated the enemy.
Today, if you put all your hopes in Jesus, you will no longer need to fear death. Death doesn’t have to paralyze us with fear. Jesus has carried the load and hit the enemy target squarely. The life hidden in Christ, though he dies, will live again. To the believer and follower of Jesus, death is nothing more than sleep, a moment of silence and rest. The scriptures tell us that when Christ, who is our life, appears the second time in the clouds, the graves will open and we will be together forever.
Do you remember when Jesus was on the cross and cried out, "It is finished"? His voice was heard among the dead! It pierced the walls of sepulchers, and summoned the sleepers (dead righteous people) to arise. Let’s read those verses in Matthew chapter 27 verses 50-53:
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
It will be like this when the voice of Christ is heard from the sky. His voice will penetrate the graves and unlock the tombs, and the dead who have believed in him will arise. At the Savior’s resurrection a few graves were opened, but at his second coming a great multitude will come back to life. In fact, all the dead who have believed God's words will hear Christ's voice, and will come out to glorious immortal life. Just as Jesus said,
“My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”71
The same power that raised Christ from the dead will raise his people and give them a perfect body that will never die. The old will become young, and the lame will walk. Every trace of sin and its power over us will be gone!72 It is for this reason God has set Jesus above all principalities, above all powers, above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world to come. Jesus is the fate changer.
Discussion Questions
1. The real life names of Anise’s parents were Ibrahim and Meryem. Re ecting on their Biblical counterparts, how are those two names well suited to birth a “miracle child?”
2. Why were the Jewish leaders so intent on guarding the tomb?
3. Why did the disciples want to touch Jesus' hands and side?
4. What hope ought you to have for the future? What gives you the “right” to hope in such a way?
5. Is there anything keeping you from believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection?
6. How was Jesus’ death part of God’s plan?
62 Luke 23:50, 51
63 John 3 and Fate Changer Book 4 lesson 7
64 John 10:17, 18
65 John 2:19
66 Isaiah 33:14; Matthew 25:41
67 John 11:49, 50
68 John 10:10
69 John 4:14
70 1 Corinthians 15
71 John 10:27, 28
72 1 Corinthians 15