Paul knew that he could provide the information they were missing and help them be at peace with the passing of fellow followers of Jesus Christ. He said, “I don’t want you to lack knowledge about the coming of Christ, ‘lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.’” Paul was about to drop some knowledge that would give them hope concerning the deceased Christians. In verse 14, he said, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus."
These people could not control Jesus, and they could not corrupt Jesus, so they decided that they had to kill Jesus. They were suffering from JDS, commonly known as Jesus Derangement Syndrome, and they were triggered by His presence and His speech. To carry out their nefarious plan of murder they bribed Judas with thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus. They would do whatever was necessary to end the ministry and even the life of Jesus.
I’ve prayed the impossible prayer in my own life, and I’ve seen God move in situations where there seemed to be no hope. I believe that when we are walking in God’s will and serving God in His kingdom, we can ask for the impossible and expect the impossible when it aligns with His plans and purposes.
Paul said that not only is death defeated, but it will also be destroyed. There will come a time (in a place where there is no time) when death will no longer exist. Death came into existence through the sin of Adam, but through Jesus Christ, life has been given as a gift to all who believe in Him and in the power of His sacrifice on the cross.
We call the Friday following Thanksgiving “Black Friday” because retailers open their doors with big sales intended to lure in Christmas shoppers. These sales are a major source of annual income for retailers, and can be the difference between getting their finances in the black (meaning they made a profit for the year), or ending the year in the red (having a net loss). However, the first black Friday was when Jesus died on the cross at noon and the sun refused to shine. God’s gift was our gain, and because of the red that Jesus bled on that Friday, we can end our lives in the black, in the positive rather than the negative. Jesus paid our debt with His own blood and ransomed us from sin.
If Christ is not risen then all our self-denial of carnal pleasures was for nothing. If Christ is not risen then all our prayers were pointless. If Christ is not risen then there is no blessed hope, no heaven, no eternal healing, no restoration of all things, no point, no purpose, and no promise … if … Christ is not risen.
THE GREAT MISTAKE By Mark E. Hardgrove, PhD, DMin Mark 12:18-27, NKJV 18 Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife...
The good news of Resurrection Sunday is that regardless of how low we feel, or how down we get, God is able to pick us up when we’re ready to look up and cry out to Him. But it will require us to lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us. It means that we have to call out to Jesus and be ready and willing to repent.
In short, when Jesus told Jairus “Do not fear; only believe,” Jesus was saying a mouthful: Don’t despair, only believe. Don’t give up, only believe. Don’t quit, don’t stop, don’t worry, don’t throw in the towel … ONLY BELIEVE because Jesus is on the way with authority over death, hell, and the grave! Only believe, because all things are possible in the name of Jesus!
And with that, sometime between 3 and 4 p.m. on a Friday, Jesus won the victory over sin. He was the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God without spot or blemish who takes away the sins of the world. But Jesus did not come only to defeat sin, He also came to defeat death. To do this, Jesus had to fully experience death, so the spirit of Jesus descended into Hades, and into the realm of the righteous dead to lead captivity captive.
