For all those out there still speculating “how could a man who was crucified in the prime of His life be called successful?”
He traded our shamefulness by hanging naked on the cross. As the world jeered Him, He was fighting the most crucial battle for mankind. Why, who would understand that? His own people thought he was being punished by God.
Why do you stand afar and salute Him for his ‘famous last words’ if you really can’t make out who He is? This man lived out the gospel He preached. Don’t pay attention to His ‘dying’ words if you are not interested in what he said when He lived among us.
In case you are wondering: He said, ‘bless those who curse you. Bless and don’t curse. Pray for those who persecute you’
If a man could live by what he preached until his dying breath, if that isn’t success, then I think you got to hear more:
The first recorded martyrdom for the faith in Jesus Christ is Stephen’s. His last words were the same as those spoken by the one He acknowledged as Lord and Saviour: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” Almost all of His disciples who were with Him, endured torture and gave their lives
for their faith in Him. If that isn’t heroism what is? They had enough faith to trust their master who proved to them that He always keeps His word. How could they believe otherwise when they had witnessed what half the men of their religious authority couldn’t themselves come to believe? For them resurrection wasn’t a myth. It was the grand and greatest reality. That is why they could believe easily that their eternity was in safe hands. He who said “I go to prepare a place for you,” wasn’t making up stories. They saw Him face to face as they supped with Him- “The Resurrection and The Life.”
You could go on making arguments and mock my faith, or raise questions about His deity, indulge in speculations and provide counter arguments. But like that blind man who got his sight told his religious interrogators, “Whether He is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I know: that though I was blind now I see,” I won’t pretend to know it all, but I do know that He touched my life and His liberating love is totally free for anyone who is willing to receive.
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