The chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’” Matthew 27:62-63
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus’ enemies remembered that Jesus said—I will rise again, but his disciples didn’t. Jesus said this clearly enough for the Pharisees to know and understand what he meant by rising from the dead. His disciples either didn’t remember or couldn’t believe it, even though they saw him bring others back to life. Yet I know when I find myself in situations that haven’t turn out the way I thought they should, I too forget what Jesus has told me.
I find there are three things I tend to forget or begin to doubt: God is good, God loves me and God is powerful.
The remedy to all these doubts is to think about the cross. There God demonstrated that he is a good God. He voluntarily gave up his only Son on a cross to restore a relationship with us. This says his motives are good. The cross also tells us that God loves us and always has our best interests at heart. And the cross tells us that God is powerful. It was there he defeated the devil. Paul explains that Christ “having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15). He is well able to handle all of my calamities as well as the disasters in the world.
When we take time to reflect on Jesus and all he has done for us through the cross, let it reinforce to us these three things: God is intrinsically good, God loves us enormously and God is immensely powerful.
