On a Saturday much like this one, eleven men sat broken and disappointed by circumstances beyond their control. All their hopes disappeared with the last breath of beaten and crushed man. The man they thought had come to save the world, did not even save himself. The future they were sure was ahead was no impossible. Except, they were about to learn that impossible is where God begins.
From the inaugural pronouncement of the impending birth of Jesus to a virgin teenager to the shocking twist of Easter morning, God gave the key to both hope and faith: “For nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37
In God’s world it is not impossible for death to be the key to life; for weakness to be strength; for the poor, the hungry, and the persecuted to be most blessed, or the last to be first. It is not impossible for mankind, separated from God by his own self-will and self-effort to become friends of the Most High and coheirs in eternity with Jesus Christ.
“What is impossible from a human perspective is possible for God.” Luke 18:27
Christianity is the faith of the impossible placed into the hands of God. Only in looking to the realm of the impossible can desperate and broken people find the God of all possibilities. Never had anything seemed more impossible than death being swallowed up in a grave.
“Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to see the tomb (where Jesus lifeless body had been laid). Suddenly there was a great earthquake, because an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. ‘Don't be afraid!’ he said. ‘I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He has been raised from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come see where his body was lying.
“ ‘And now, go quickly and tell his disciples he has been raised from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.’ The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to find the disciples to give them the angel's message . . .Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. (Matthew 28 NLT)
“That evening, on the first day of the week, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! ‘Peace be with you,’ he said. As he spoke, he held out his hands for them to see, and he showed them his side. They were filled with joy when they saw their Lord! He spoke to them again and said, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ Then he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’ . . .
“One of the disciples, Thomas, was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he replied, ‘I won't believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.’ (In other words, Thomas was saying, “I won’t believe it until I see the impossible.”) (John 20NLT)
“Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, (and just as impossible) Jesus was standing among them. He said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don't be faithless any longer. Believe!’”
“‘My Lord and my God!’ Thomas exclaimed.
“Then Jesus told him, ‘You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen me and believe anyway.’” (John 20 NLT)
To walk with God is to long for more than mere man can achieve. The possible has always been within our grasp; it is the impossible that bends in the hands of Christ. The impossible reality of death surrendering to Life is only the beginning.