#99 / He Is Risen

When I was in Jerusalem, I visited two locations which were said to be the place where Jesus' body was laid after his crucifixion. One of these locations had a church built on top of it, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The other was the "Garden Tomb," pictured here (with a line of students from Germany waiting to enter). This place seemed to me to meet the specifications outlined in the Bible (See John 19: 38; 41). Whether or not Jesus was in fact buried here, however, will never be known, and even less could it ever be proven that Jesus rose from the dead. That assertion, clearly, is not demonstrated by the fact that there is a location that corresponds to what the New Testament says about Jesus' burial. Even assuming that the burial could be conclusively shown, the Resurrection remains a matter of faith.

Today, those with faith assert that "He is Risen," and that the nature of our world is different from what it seems to be. We are, if such faith be justified, created beings, children of a loving God, with access to eternity. If such faith be justified, "Death Shall Have No Dominion."