“A Methodist missionary was visiting the Ryukyu Islands in Japan, and he came across a huge grave on the island of Amakusa, and it was marked with a very interesting headstone. It said, in Japanese, "This grave contains the heads of 11,111 Christians." The date of the grave is 1637. That was the very year the Japanese government ordered all Christians exterminated...Further insight found that this grave contained only 11,111 heads. The bodies were taken and buried somewhere far away and unmarked. This was done to prevent the Christians...from rising from the grave, because God wouldn't know which head went with which Christian...The silliness of paganism...The folly of such thought. We will rise, because we have already risen in Christ to newness of life; and someday we'll know the fullness of that in Heaven with Him.” (John Macarthur) The resurrection continues to be an enigma and riddle for most of the world. Many liberals and skeptics would rather mock at such an idiotic notion. They proudly strut their intellectual vitriol at the religious freaks that can even imagine such a ridiculous notion. But, is it? Is the resurrection just a conjured-up silly fantasy of a minority of religious blustering fools? Well, it seems to me that the weight of evidence lies on the skeptic to discover a reasonable defense against it. If the silliness of the Japanese government long ago to even think that severing the heads of thousands of Christians in order to fool or deceive God is really plausible, then it makes them even the sillier!! Ironically, the gesture only makes them all the more culpable of unbelief for even suggesting, that just in case there is a God, let’s fool him. The resurrection continues to bewilder the minds of the unbelievers because it simply defies our human understanding. Simply put, it is an impossible notion to an unbelieving world but a possible reality to a believing flock! To the Christian, this event is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. To the crowded streets and intellectual halls of modern society, the bedlam of the resurrection will never die because this is one of the daggers stabbed deeply into the hearts of disbelief. The resurrection, nonetheless, will remain orthodox and the very light beam that pierces through the clouds of every believer. We behold the miraculous! We forever contemplate what man deems impossible yet God accomplished as truth everlasting. Today, take a moment and peer through the wonder of the resurrection: gaze at it, muse at its splendor, reflect upon its glory, mull over its majesty, pore over its power, ponder its grandeur, and stare at its endless edifice. Never tire of its powerful hold on your life as a believer! Stand firm on this great pillar of the faith. Today let us celebrate, consecrate, commemorate, and extol the grand historical event of all times-the resurrection of Jesus!
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