CHALLENGE 1: ALL-IN

Part D - Living Proof

A Paraprosdokian Story 

A paraprosdokian is a rhetorical or literary device in which the second part of a statement or story contains a surprise that changes the meaning of the first part, often in humorous ways that make us smile or laugh. Here are a few examples: 

• Where there’s a will, I want to be part of it. 

• I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car. 

• The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it is still on my list. 

• You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice. 

• I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure. 

• If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of payments. 

• There are a bunch of different crunches that affect the abs. My favorite is Nestle. 

Imagine a paraprosdokian statement that the women who went to Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning could have written in their journals. “We went to the cemetery to grieve for our dead friend, and he told us say ‘hi’ to you.” Or “We went to Jesus’ tomb and wept tears of joy.” Or perhaps, “We were terrified when we reached Jesus’ grave, but he told us not to be afraid.” 

The resurrection is the climax of God’s great paraprosdokian plan, his joyful and unexpected twist in the story. The first part of the story was Jesus’ tragic death by crucifixion. Everything his disciples had lived for appeared lost. They had gone all-in for him, believing he was the Messiah. When Jesus received a hero’s welcome as he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, their minds were fixed on glory not crucifixion. His death broke their hearts and crushed their hopes. As the sun rose on (Easter) Sunday morning, the disciples struggled behind locked doors to reconcile their expectations of glory with the ugly facts of his execution. The cross mocked who and what they valued above all else. They tried but failed to put the puzzle pieces together in a way that made sense of the facts. Nothing made sense on that first Easter morning until, unexpectedly, they were filled with irrepressible joy and indestructible, life-changing faith. Jesus had risen! His resurrection was God’s great paraprosdokian surprise. But an authentic paraprosdokian ending requires the final twist in the story to change the meaning of what preceded it. 

Deaf to the Truth 

Before his crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus had repeatedly told his followers that he would be killed and then be raised to life three days later. However, his disciples were not able to grasp his clear messages about his imminent death and resurrection. (These verses follow Peter’s declaration that Jesus was “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” at Caesarea Phillipi, six months before his crucifixion.) 

²¹ From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead. ²² But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!” ²³ Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
Matthew 16:21-23 

(On their last and climactic journey to Jerusalem) ³² They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear. Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to him. ³³ “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. ³⁴ They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again.”
Mark 10:32-34 

Jesus repeatedly sought to prepare his disciples for his death and resurrection until he was arrested on Thursday night. But his warnings were unintelligible to them, as if he had spoken to them in an unknown language. Every single disciple was astonished by his resurrection. No one saw it coming. All of his followers, both men and women, were overwhelmed with grief and shock after the crucifixion. Initially, even the empty tomb on Sunday morning did not trigger memories of what Jesus had continued to teach them until hours before his arrest (Jn 14:18-20). To them, Jesus’ death was the last word, and the unavoidable exclamation point on his life. God’s paraprosdokian plan remained inconceivable to them. Like Peter at Caesarea Philippi, they were “seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s” (Matt 16:23). They were spiritually deaf to the truth. They could not or would not hear his promise of resurrection.  

Did the Resurrection Really Happen? 

The evidence for Jesus’ resurrection is strong. There were many creditable witnesses who saw, touched, and conversed with the risen Jesus. True, on the first Easter morning most of the original twelve disciples cowered behind locked doors. But after meeting the risen Lord later that day, they boldly and publicly testified Jesus had risen, even when facing harsh persecution from the opposition. Most of the twelve eventually chose execution over retracting their testimony that Jesus had risen. The fearful followers had become courageous witnesses. 

If Jesus had not risen from the dead, the religious leaders would have stopped at nothing until they found Jesus’ corpse to prove Jesus was still dead. If anyone’s testimony should be challenged, it is that of the guards. After accepting a bribe, they claimed, “Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body” (Matt 28:13). How could the guards have known what happened if they had been sleeping? Denying the resurrection of Jesus may require a larger leap of faith than believing he rose. 

Perhaps our basic assumptions about life influence how we weigh the evidence. If you believe there is no supernatural (a faith statement), you will automatically reject the resurrection and assume there is another explanation. But if you have not ruled out the possibility of the supernatural, the evidence for the resurrection is substantial. I struggled for almost a year with this faith issue before affirming that “Christ has risen!” 

As we approach the end of Challenge #1, we will briefly consider the significance and meaning of Jesus’ paraprosdokian resurrection. If there was no resurrection, you would not be reading these words or the Biblical accounts they rely on. You would never have heard of Jesus. He would be one more anonymous victim, one of the thousands who died on Roman crosses. His story would have remained buried with his body, except for the glorious paraprosdokian news that has echoed through the centuries up to this moment: “Christ has risen!” He is not dead. He’s alive. The resurrection can change our lives and world in this day and age just as it did in the first century. This too is gospel truth. “Christ has risen!” He is not dead. He’s alive. This message has been called the hinge of history. The resurrection can change our lives and world in this day and age just as it did in the first century. 

The Facts 

According to Matthew’s account, early on Sunday morning the two women, “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, went out visit the tomb” (Matt 28:1). As they approached the tomb in the pre-dawn light, the earth began to shake. Their minds, perhaps dulled by grief, were confused and they barely perceived the earth shaking below their feet. Arriving at the grave site, their confusion deepened when they realized the stone sealing the tomb had been rolled back. An angel sat on it, “his face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow.” They were terrified. It was not what they had expected. 

But there were other people there too. The soldiers guarding the tomb were as confused and terrified as the women. Their orders were unusual; they were to prevent anyone from stealing Jesus’ body. Matthew described what happened next with his own paraprosdokian exclamation: The guards “shook and became like dead men” (NIV). The living soldiers became like dead men while the dead man they guarded was alive. What a humorous reversal of events. 

The angel declared, “He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen” (Matt 28:6). The news of the resurrection quickly spread to the apostles, to the rest of Jesus’ followers, and through the crowded streets of Jerusalem filled with tens of thousands of pilgrims there for the Passover Celebration. Later that afternoon, two of Jesus’ followers were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus (Lu 24:13-54) when a stranger joined them and asked what they were discussing (v 17). Cleopas, not recognizing the stranger was the risen Jesus, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things than have happened there the last few days” (v 18), referring to Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection. The news of the resurrection had spread so quickly that by late afternoon the entire city seemed to be talking about it. 

The Significance 

Without the crucifixion and the bodily resurrection, there is no gospel, no good news that can transform individuals and civilizations. The Apostles and the early Church clearly understood that without the resurrection there would be no Christianity. The entire Christian faith stands or falls on the glorious news of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. If it were simply a vision or a mysterious spiritual encounter, then the Christian religion is absurd. Paul explicitly argued that the resurrection is a fact, which is either true or false. 

¹² But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. ¹⁵ And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. ¹⁶ And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. ¹⁸ In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! ¹⁹ And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 

Appropriately, the life story of the man who wrote this passage, Saul who became the Apostle Paul, also had a paraprosdokian twist to it. Saul had dedicated his life to eliminating the Christian faith by persecuting all who dared to follow the Jesus Way. Until one day, while he was on the road to Damascus to persecute more believers, he met the risen Jesus (Acts 9:1-30). Everything changed for him, including his name. The chief enemy of the early Christians, Saul, was transformed into one of the greatest champions of the very faith he had previously sought to discredit and destroy. In the passage from 1 Corinthians (above), the transformed Paul, argued the resurrection is the litmus test for the Christian faith: if Jesus remained dead, “your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins” (v 17). 

The Bible is not embarrassed by the resurrection. Rather than apologizing for or minimizing such a ridiculous claim, it is celebrated as the glue holding the entire Christian faith together. Without the resurrection there would be no Christian faith. Period. The physical resurrection of Jesus’ crucified and lifeless body is the ultimate confirmation that the Christian faith is true in the fullest sense of the word. We interpret other truths in light of this central truth.  

Who Is Jesus? 

The resurrection answers the most pressing question that people ask about Jesus. In his trial before the religious leaders, the high priest interrogated him saying, “I demand in the name of the living God—tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God” (Matt 26:63). Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven” (v 64). “The high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, ‘Blasphemy!’” Jesus claimed divine authority and status, meaning he was divine. The council quickly convicted him of blasphemy, a capital offense for the Jews. 

But only the Romans had legal authority to execute criminals. Because of this, the religious leaders took him to Pontus Pilate, the Roman governor. Since Rome didn’t consider blasphemy a crime, the religious leaders told Pilate he claimed to be King of the Jews. The Romans interpreted such a statement to be treason, which was a capital offense. Pilate interrogated Jesus on this charge (Matt 27:11) and sentenced Jesus to die by crucifixion. He also ordered soldiers to attach a sign to his cross that explained his crime, “This is Jesus, King of the Jews” (v 37). Jesus had claimed to be the Son of God before the Jewish council and a King before Pilate. Those claims cost him his life, but the underlying question is whether Jesus lied or spoke the truth. That question was answered conclusively three days later through Jesus’ resurrection. That “YES!” was so emphatic and forceful that it literally shook the ground as the women made their way to the empty tomb. The resurrection confirmed multiple truths about Jesus’ identity, including he is: 

• Son of God 

• A King 

• Savior 

• Messiah 

• Son of Man 

• Suffering Servant 

• Good Shepherd 

• Judge, and 

• God incarnate (God in human flesh). 

What Did Jesus Accomplish? 

In a similar manner, Jesus’ resurrection confirms Jesus’ God-given mission was a success, which is also is a paraprosdokian twist. Those who sought Jesus’ death wanted to discredit him, ensuring his mission would fail. Yet the paraprosdokian truth is, their attempt to sabotage his mission by crucifixion contributed to its success, because Isaiah prophesied (Isa 52:13-53:13) his death would be by crucifixion. The resurrection confirmed Jesus accomplished his mission by defeating sin, Satan, and death. Jesus was not a victim, but the ultimate Victor. 

Is Jesus’ Teaching Reliable? 

The disciples of Jesus did not understand Jesus’ clear teaching that he would be rejected, mocked, killed, and on the third day raised to life. They appeared to be spiritually deaf and incapable of comprehending this message. After the resurrection, their impaired hearing no longer plagued them. The resurrection functioned like a light illuminating their minds and hearts. They began to grasp the deeper meaning of Jesus’ teaching that formerly had eluded them. 

• Love is stronger than hatred. 

• Disciples are to love each other as Jesus loves us. 

• Disciples love their enemies. 

• The Jesus Way requires disciples to deny themselves, carry a cross, and follow Jesus. 

• Disciples must lose their lives in order to find their lives.

How Does the Resurrection Directly Impact Disciples?

Jesus’ resurrection confirmed many truths that impact the lives of every disciple. Choosing to go all-in for Jesus is an act of faith with many important implications. We follow the Jesus Way to personalize and confirm these truths. 

• I am forgiven and justified.

• From now on, I am on the Jesus Way. Jesus leads and I follow.

• Salvation is a gift of grace, not the product of my efforts or accomplishments.

• I am a child of God and part of God’s family.

• The promises of Jesus are for me. 

• Jesus will keep all of his promises to me.

• Jesus will return in glory and set everything right (consummate his Kingdom).

• I was raised with Jesus (Eph 2:6) and will receive a new resurrected body and share in his glory when he returns.

Concluding Reflection on the Resurrection 

God displayed his unlimited power through the resurrection, making it the glorious climax of Jesus’ life and ministry. Only resurrection power could make the cross glorious. Resurrection power can transform anything, including the hearts and minds of those who believe. The power of the resurrection brings such radical change to believers that it is described as being born again into a new way of living. The resurrection is a snapshot of what life in the kingdom will ultimately look like. We live in anticipation of that day and prepare for it by following the Jesus Way. 

The cross and resurrection make Christianity unique. Mohammad died. The Buddha died. Moses died. Confucius died. And, yes, Jesus also died. But only Jesus rose triumphantly to immortality and eternal glory. The risen Lord is what makes Christianity unique, distinct, and life-changing. Yet to receive and experience the life-changing power of his resurrection requires faith. We rely on God to do what we cannot accomplish without him. Salvation is a gift which we receive by faith. We believe in order to receive God’s promised gifts. This pattern repeats itself again and again as we follow Jesus. God helps us as we rely on him through faith, which is expressed through words and actions. 

Every step in our spiritual journey is a step of faith, believing his promises, and trusting in the sufficiency of his grace. Following the Jesus Way with all of its challenges will test, stretch, and deepen our faith. As our faith grows, our relationship with Jesus also grows. 

The resurrection is the climactic event in the gospel story. Yet it is simultaneously the starting point and gateway into Kingdom living. Our response is to believe in order to receive God’s promises of forgiveness and justification. Jesus paid the price for our sin. On the cross, Jesus declared, “It is finished” and “Paid in full” But after his resurrection he said to Thomas, “Stop doubting and believe!” (Jn 20:27). Thomas did and exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (v 28). Jesus replied, “Because you [Thomas] have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (NIV). Responding in faith brings blessings. Faith is the gate through which we must pass to begin our journey on the Jesus Way. This faith is called saving faith and is the prerequisite for the next challenge in our faith journey described in Challenge #2, “Spirit Filled.” 

THINKING IT THROUGH

"We walk before the Lord in the land of the living." Psalm 116:9  

THE TRUTH: Jesus went all-in for me on the cross. 

YOUR CHALLENGE: Will I go all-in for Jesus?

Each part of every four-part challenge concludes with a “Thinking it Through” segment which consists of a list of Scriptures related to the topic being considered, questions for group discussion and personal reflection, and notes. Each of the twelve challenges will end with an exercise to guide you through the process of naming lies, believing the truth, and clarifying the personal implications and applications of the truth to your life. Truth, if believed, must be lived, and living the truth brings personal transformation (Kingdom living). Please consider this section as a tool to help you to understand the truth, not as a test or as busy work. 

Related Scriptures 

The four passages below are foundational texts on the resurrection, but are too lengthy to print here. Please take time to read as many of them as you are able. 

Matthew 28:1-20

Luke 24:1-49

John 20:1-29

1 Corinthians 15:1-58 

1 Timothy 1:9-10 ⁹ For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. ¹⁰ And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.

John 14:18-21 ¹⁸ No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. ¹⁹ Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. ²⁰ When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” 

Acts 2:25-33 (Excerpt from Peter’s sermon on Pentecost) ²⁵ King David said this about him: ‘I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. ²⁶ No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. ²⁷ For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. ²⁸ You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’ ²⁹ Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. ³⁰ But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. ³¹ David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave. ³² God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. ³³ Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. 

Acts 4:2, 33

² These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead.

³³ The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. 

Acts 17:32 ³² When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ¹³ And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. ¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. ¹⁵ We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷ Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ So encourage each other with these words. 

Psalm 49:15 ¹⁵ But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave. 

Job 19:25-26 ²⁵ “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. ²⁶ And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! 

Philippians 3:20-21 ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. 

1 Thessalonians 5:10 ¹⁰ Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. 

John 5:25-29 ²⁵ And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. ²⁶ The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, ²⁹ and they will rise again. 

Matthew 22:29-32 ²⁹ Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. ³⁰ For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹ But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the dead.” 

Colossians 2:15 ¹⁵ In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. 

John 11:25-26 ²⁵ Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. ²⁶ Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die." 

Romans 6:5-9 ⁵ Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life [immortality] as he was. ⁶ We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. ⁷ For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. ⁸ And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. ⁹ We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 

1 Peter 1:21 ²¹ Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. 

Acts 3:14-15 ¹⁴ You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. ¹⁵ You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact! 

Acts 17:31 ³¹ For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead. 

Acts 5:29-30 ²⁹ But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross." 

Isaiah 26:19 ¹⁹ But those who die in the Lord will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! For your life-giving light will fall like dew on your people in the place of the dead!

Questions 

You are encouraged to use these questions for group discussion or personal reflection. Respond to the questions that are most relevant or interesting to you (I urge you to write your responses in a journal or notebook). 

Before answering these questions, let's review the definition of a paraprosdokian: a rhetorical or literary device in which the second part of a statement or story contains a surprise that changes the meaning of the first part, often in humorous ways that make us smile or laugh. 

1. Imagine you accompanied the women to the tomb on Easter morning. Write your own paraprosdokian statement of what happened. Or imagine you were the unnamed disciple walking on the road to Emmaus with Cleopas on Sunday afternoon (Luke 24:13-34). Write your own paraprosdokian statement in a way that is faithful to that passage. 

2. Tell your own personal paraprosdokian story about a time that began with a perceived disaster, which God turned into something good with a surprise ending. 

3. Dallas Willard has written a paraprosdokian comment that is relevant to our discussion of the resurrection. He said, “Christians are people who are better off dead.” If he was still alive today and said that to you in a conversation, how would you have responded? 

4. Thomas, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, is often referred to as “doubting Thomas” (See Jn 20:24-28). Do you think Thomas’ faith was weaker than his eleven peers? Why? 

5. Thomas believed after seeing and perhaps touching the risen Jesus. He exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus then told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me” (Jn 20:29). How do you understand Jesus’ words and intent? And why do you imagine it was included in the Scriptures?

6. Can you be a disciple of Jesus without believing in his resurrection? 

7. Paul wrote, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God…. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Cor 15:13-19). Apparently, the apostle Paul would agree the resurrection is “living proof” (name of Part D). What role does the living proof play in your decision whether or not to go all-in for Jesus? 

8. Reflect on, ²¹ “So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. ²² Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.” (1 Cor 15:21-22) Who did death come through? And what is the new life we will be given? Is v 22 a paraprosdokian statement? 

9. The Bible repeatedly teaches that God is the Creator of life, the source of life, and giver of life. Without God there is no life. “The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son” (Jn 5:26). Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6). Reflect on these truths and Jesus’ resurrection. What do you think is the relationship between the Jesus Way and life?

Notes 

There is a difference between resurrection and resuscitation. Technically, Jesus was resurrected, not resuscitated. Lazarus (Jn 11:1-44), however, was resuscitated, not resurrected. Both died, and their lifeless corpses were buried in tombs and both of their bodies came back to life again. But Lazarus’ raised body remained mortal, meaning he would inevitably die again, like all mortal beings. But Jesus’ dead body was raised an immortal body, a body that would never die again—eternal life. Scripture (above) emphatically teaches our resurrected bodies will be like Jesus’ resurrected body, not like Lazarus’ resuscitated body. 

The New Testament is comprised of texts that the early church considered to be written by the apostles or written under apostolic oversight. The apostles were the final authority in all matters of faith and how faith was to be practiced (the Jesus Way). Thus, when we read the NT, we are reading the authoritative writing which comprises what is known as the apostolic teaching.

Thomas’ Prayer

It’s never too late to go all-in for Jesus. Apparently, Thomas had been indecisive, a bit of a skeptic, and perhaps a mugwump. The risen Lord challenged Thomas, “Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe” (Jn 20:27). In reply, Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” I picture him falling on his knees before Jesus as he spoke those words. He had been following Jesus for three years before declaring his heart-felt commitment. A five-word response to Jesus was more than enough. It was simple, sincere, and personal (notice the pronouns). It is never too late to declare your allegiance to Jesus, your faith in Jesus, and your desire to go all-in for Jesus.

Loving God, I still have questions and doubts, but I don’t want to say “no” to your love any longer. Please forgive my self-centeredness and attempts to run my own life. I believe your way is best, not mine. Thank you for your “all-in” love for me which seems too good to be true. Yet I need and crave your love, even though I don’t deserve it. I surrender to you unconditionally, without consciously holding back anything or any part of my life from you. I give you my life, my strengths and weaknesses, my successes and failures, my joy and pain, my limitations and dreams, my needs and wants, and all of my relationships. I am “all-in” for Jesus. From this moment on, Jesus leads, and I will do my best to follow. Thank you Lord for your loving guidance. Amen.

Completing the Challenge

1. UNDERSTAND.

Prayerfully process (reflect, reread, discuss, question, write, and review your journal entries) until you understand the most important truth you have learned from the four parts of the first challenge. You are encouraged to consult your mentor, other disciples, or use other resources. But do not move onto #2 (below) until you have articulated the chief truth revealed to you in this challenge by completing this sentence: “The chief truth revealed in this challenge is ... 

2. BELIEVE.

Embracing the truth requires you to “change your mind” by ceasing to believe one thing (a lie) in order to believe the truth. To follow Jesus means you must continually repent (literally: “change your mind”— your mental map of reality) to personally embrace the truth he embodied and taught. The goal is to internalize the truth in your heart until it becomes like DNA—at the core of your being. 

Write the thing you no longer believe (the lie) by completing this sentence, “I no longer believe... 

Rewrite the new truth (part 1 above) you now believe by completing this sentence, “I now believe... 

3. DO.

Jesus expects the truth you now believe to change the way you live. What you believe determines what you do and how you live. Commit to doing something differently (be specific) because of your new and/or deepening faith. Write it by finishing this sentence, “I believe Jesus is leading me to ... 

Then pray, asking the Lord to help you do whatever you have determined he is asking you to do. 

4. SHARE.

Finally, share in your small group, or tell your mentor or your study partner the specifics of how you completed this challenge (the sentences you have written above) and ask for feedback. 

NOTE: It is best to write your statements at the end of each challenge in a journal/notebook. If you get stuck on this last exercise, skip it for the time being, and complete it at a later date. As you make progress on the Jesus Way, you may want to modify and improve these concluding statements. Feel free to do so at any time. Whenever you receive new insights, it may change what you have previously written. Your journal/notebook is intended to document your growing faith. It may become a useful tool to help and mentor others.

Copyright © 2024 Don Waite

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