Finding God by believing in Jesus

"No man comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6

According to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus told his followers on numerous occasions that he was God's son, the only way to heaven, and that he would die and come back to life.

Many people saw him die on a cross just outside Jerusalem's walls. Three days later the tomb where he'd been buried was no longer occupied. Probably a lot of Jerusalem's citizens went to see the empty grave.

So Jesus either came back to life, or his body was stolen. Who would have taken it? The disciples -- if they'd had the power, guts or reason.

Jesus' grave was guarded by tough, trained, well-armed Roman soldiers. They wouldn't have slept through a stone-rolling or body-snatching, or run from a fight against a handful of country peasants.

But there was no fight. According to Matthew chapter 11, the soldiers were paid to say they fell asleep while the body was stolen. The disciples, fearful of being considered insurrectionists against Rome and crucified with Jesus, had run off on the night Jesus was taken prisoner. Only John had the courage to be seen the next day at the cross. In fact, the 11 disciples were so afraid of Roman execution that they were still in hiding on the day Jesus came back to life.

However, instead of walking back to their families to live long, easy lives in Galilee, those same cowardly disciples preached in Jerusalem, Israel and other lands. They said they'd seen the risen Lord. Some were beaten and imprisoned, and each one except John died a painful martyr's death. (John was boiled in a pot of oil but didn't die.)

All of them could have saved their lives by confessing to telling a lie. None did. What happened to turn fearful turncoats into fearless martyrs? They saw Jesus after his resurrection, talked with him, touched him and ate with him. They were certain he was the Son of God.

Jerusalem's citizens had an empty grave on their hands, people who'd been miraculously healed in the three years of Jesus' ministry, and at least 500 excited people who claimed to have seen the risen Lord. Many chose to believe, and Christianity was birthed.

You can choose to believe that Jesus was whom he claimed to be -- God's son sent to earth to die for our sins -- or that he was a liar. You can believe that simple, honest, uneducated, cowardly men had the guts and brains to hatch a plot to attack armed Roman soldiers, deceive everyone including their own families and concoct a new religion. Or you can believe that they were so sure that Jesus was God that they were willing to sacrifice themselves and their families.

If you haven't been a Christian, I'd like you to believe that Jesus is the son of God who died on the cross, came out of the grave and ascended into heaven where he reigns with the Father.

Please pray: Father, I believe Jesus is your son who died for my sins. I accept Jesus as my savior, and I want to live for you as a member of your family. I ask you to forgive me. Thank you for making me one of your children, writing my name in your Book of Life, and forgiving me.

If you've sincerely spoken that prayer, you need to tell someone, develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ by talking and spending time with him in prayer, join a church, read the Bible and become an active member of God's family. If you're already a Christian, please share this column with someone who's not. On that person's and God's behalf, thank you.

June Seabaugh is a member of Christ Church of the Heartland in Cape Girardeau.