By Joneil Alcock
Jesus Christ, when He came to Earth, said and also did some fantastic things. Two of them which I reflected on recently were his feeding of the five thousand and the raising of Lazarus from the dead. However despite these miraculous works, his thoughts and reasoning behind why He did them are probably even more noteworthy.
The feeding of the five thousand was done by multiplying a small boy’s meal of five barley loaves and two fishes to supply lunch to many. What is even more interesting is that after everyone had eaten and had their fill, some twelve baskets of left-over food was there. Later on, after crossing the sea to Capernaum the people seek Him out and Jesus perceive that they were following Him not because of who He was but because He had done an evident miracle to provide them with food.
“I say unto you, ye seek me, not because ye saw he miracles; but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled.” (St John 6:26)
Jesus then went into a long diatribe describing Himself as the “bread of life” after the people asked what sign He would show them similar to how their fathers ate manna in the desert. He made analogies to Himself being food to eat that will cause people to have eternal life. “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up a the last day.”
(St John 6:54)
This was too hard a saying for the people and it is said that after these words, “many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.” (St. John 6:66) Of course, they were Jews and averse to any sort of “eating” which might cause them to be unclean according to Moses’ Laws but they entirely missed the point.
Jesus also raised Lazarus of Bethany from the dead after deliberately waiting two more days in the place He was staying upon hearing that Lazarus was sick. When He eventually arrived Martha told Him that if He had been there her brother would not have died. Jesus responded by saying, “I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
Jesus then asked them to take the stone away from the grave and called out to Lazarus to “come forth.” After these things many people believed on Him but some others consulted with the Pharisees who took council, not for the first time, to have Him killed.
Caiaphas, the high priest at the time, said something which though negative John would take as prophetic. “Ye know nothing at all; nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” (St. John 11:49-50)
Jesus, of course had a ministry to die for the sins of the people, not only the Jewish nation but the entire world
So what do we say of these things? Isn’t it interesting that at two points in His ministry when Jesus performed fantastic miracles, people either contest with Him or disbelieve Him? But He used them as signs of why He was really here and the eternal life that can be attained once one believed on Him.
Jesus Himself mentioned that, “this is an evil generation, they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it but the sign of Jonas the prophet.” (Luke 11:29) He was speaking here of Jonah preaching to the Ninevites to repent and they were eventually saved. In another gospel/ chapter, He even makes reference to how Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three (3) days and that He would imitate that by being in a grave but rising again. (1)
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is that final authoritative “sign” that people should look to as the authenticity of who He is. As the Apostle Paul would later write; if the resurrection ws false thn all our faith would be in vain. (2)
Jesus conquered sin and death; took that burden of the problem of sin from our lives and gave us access to eternal life. His body was never found, even though the Pharisees/Sanhedrin tried to purport that it was Jesus’ disciples themselves who had stolen His body away. (3)
But what is even more fantastic is that He was seen bodily for up to forty (40) days by up to five hundred (500) people. (4) Could so many people decide to put forward a tale to suit their beliefs? Many of these later faced persecution and even death because of their faith. Who would willingly go through torture and the fear of death for someone who never did raise from the dead?
Jesus’ resurrection puts a final stamp and undeniable truth to who He was and who He claimed to be. As the writer C.S. Lewis put it; given the things that Jesus said and did, he could be either a liar, lunatic or the Lord of Lords. (5) It’s up to all of us to choose wisely.
FOOTNOTES
- St Matthew 12:40
- 1 Corinthians 15:14-18
- St. Matthew 28:11-15
- 1 Corinthians 15:3-9; Acts 1:1-3
- Lewis’ Trilemma
