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| "Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen." Mark 16:14 NRSV |
That is the reason for many not believing it today, either. What they cannot see with their own eyes; what they cannot touch with their own hands, they refuse to accept as truth. In their stubbornness they will not accept what they have not witnessed themselves. Even then, some will continue in the bullheadedness. A man walking on the moon is still a fabricated myth to some. Sadly, some even deem the Holocaust during World War II as a fabrication.
How hard-headed are those who refuse to believe the testimony of those who have seen Jesus! How hard-hearted are they who would follow in their own selfish ways rather than the Way that Jesus prepared for us; for all people, into the Kingdom of God. Their bullheadedness will harm only themselves in the end when before the throne of God every knee will bow.
One of my often used scriptures lately has been from the book of Job. After suffering so much and then being verbally assaulted by his friends, Job makes this statement.
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me! (Job 19:25-27)
Job suffered much. He had not seen God with his own eyes, yet. But, he was convinced that he would. He was convinced that he would see him with his own eyes and not just through the testimony of others. Job, too, was in a sense very bullheaded. Although, he suffered much; he never gave up hope in his Redeemer.
May God help us to trust the testimony of the saints before us, as found in the Holy Scriptures, so that we might have hope in the one who died and yet lives for us.
God's Peace - Pr. J
