Blog

Feb 06, 2024 18:30pm
You’ll See
227 Views

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen or heard of? Like, when you finish telling the story, someone looks at you like you’re crazy.

“There’s no way that could happen.”

“How can that be true?”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I have to see it with my own eyes.”

And you know they’re right, you almost don’t believe it yourself. But you saw it. And it’s real.

One of the craziest things I’ve ever seen is a two-headed snake. It was found in Arkansas and taken to where my husband worked at the time, the Crowley’s Ridge Nature Center.

He told me about what happened and I just couldn’t believe it. I thought, surely it was dead but it wasn’t. It was alive. He said, “It’s true, you’ll see.”

He opened his phone and showed me the picture.

Crazy! Questions flooded my mind. How long will it live? Can it survive like this? Do both heads eat? Has one survived like this in the past? How did this happen?

It ended up with the biologists at Arkansas State University, who were better equipped to deal with such a thing.

People traveled from all over the world to try to see this snake. They too just couldn’t believe it.

Luke 24:8-12

“And they remembered his words, And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.”

Idle tales. Nonsense. That’s what the disciples thought about the women’s declaration. They couldn’t believe the tomb was empty and that Jesus was gone.

Peter had to find out for himself. He went to the tomb and saw the stone rolled away, the burial cloths that remained and the questions began to flood his mind.

The women had remembered what Jesus said to them about His death and resurrection when the angels reminded them. They were there. They saw the empty tomb. The evidence was all around them and they knew it was true.

But for Peter and the others, it sounded absurd. It was crazy to think Jesus had just disappeared. His mind was racing with questions and scenarios about what could have happened.

While all of this is taking place, the all-knowing risen Savior was preparing to reveal Himself. He knew their doubts and what it would take for them to believe.

He appeared to two travelers and walked with them sharing all the prophecies about Himself from the scriptures. He sat with them, ate with them and then vanished. The men knew in their hearts it was Jesus and they joined the women as the witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus.

They had to tell the others.

They found the 11 gathered together, probably still contemplating what the women had told them, and began sharing their encounter with Jesus.

And that’s when it happened.

Jesus was there.

“And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” – Luke 24:36

He was right there in the room. And yet, some still didn’t believe. Jesus said, look at my hands and feet. And still, some had unbelief that Jesus could be alive. So He took food and ate to show them yet again, He was alive.

“And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.” -Luke 24:44-48

This is what it took for these men to become His witnesses. Hearing it wasn’t enough, seeing Him wasn’t enough, but when they understood the scriptures, the very Word of God, they believed and became His witnesses.

What did it take for you to believe and become His witness?

Was just hearing that Jesus loved you and died for you enough? Or did you see the work of His hand in someone’s life and that’s what convinced you? That too may not have been enough. But, when the Holy Spirit opened your understanding of the scriptures, that’s when it all falls into place and becomes real. That’s when you truly know who Jesus is. That’s how you know why it was so important for Him to die. That’s how we know history and the future of what’s to come.

The Word of God.

Study it for yourself. Don’t just believe what I’ve told you, go to the Word and search the scriptures. Pray for understanding. And God will reveal Himself to you in a mighty way. These words on the page will become more than just a story.

You’ll see.

And then, you’ll become His witness. You won’t want to hold it in. You’ll NEED to tell others about what you’ve discovered.

You’ll see.

Copyright © 2023 by Yalanda Merrell Lifeword.org. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from Lifeword.org