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Humble Hero
But there were witnesses whom they could not silence. Many
had heard of the soldiers’ testimony about Christ’s resurrection.
And certain ones of the dead who came from the tombs with Christ
appeared to many and declared that He had risen. The priests and
rulers were in continual dread that in walking the streets or within
the privacy of their own homes they would come face to face with
Christ. Bolts and bars were poor protection against the Son of God.
By day and by night that awful scene was before them when they
had cried, “His blood be on us and on our children.”
Matthew 27:25
.
The Guarantee of Our Resurrection
When the mighty angel spoke at Christ’s tomb, saying, “Your
Father is calling You,” the Savior came out from the grave by the life
that was in Himself. Christ had proclaimed in triumph, “I am the
resurrection and the life.” Only the Deity could speak these words.
All created beings are dependent on God, receiving life from Him.
Only He who is one with God could say, “I have power to lay down
My life, and I have power to take it up again.” See
John 10:18
.
Christ rose from the dead as the first fruits of those who slept,
and His resurrection took place on the very day when the wave sheaf
was to be presented before the Lord. For more than a thousand years
[361]
when the people went up to Jerusalem to the Passover, the sheaf
of first fruits, the first heads of ripened grain, was waved before
the Lord as a thank offering. The grain harvest could not continue
until this was presented. The sheaf dedicated to God represented
the harvest. So Christ’s resurrection is the representation and pledge
of the resurrection of all the righteous dead. “For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those
who sleep in Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 4:14
.
Many Resurrected With Jesus
As Christ arose, He brought from the grave a multitude of cap-
tives. See
Matthew 27:52
. They were those who had borne their
testimony to the truth at the cost of their lives. Now they were to be
witnesses for Him who had raised them from the dead.