马太福音 17:22-23 他们还住在加利利的时候，耶稣对门徒说：“人子将要被交在人手里。 他们要杀害他，第三日他要复活。”门徒就大大地忧愁。
这是马太第三次还是第四次提到关于耶稣将要去耶路撒受死并且复活的话。可是，令我吃惊的是，耶稣经常跟他的门徒们提到这些事，然而门徒们却没有真正的把这话听进去。为什么复活会让他们这样吃惊呢? 当然，这对我们来说容易理解，因为我们从圣经中知道他确实已经复活了。毕竟，我们每年都庆祝它! 可是，要知道门徒们还没有庆祝过他们的第一个复活节!
我们毫不怀疑耶稣在复活节的星期天从死里复活了。但我们是否总能把这点和对我们的意义联系起来呢？就连马丁路德也曾为此而挣扎。有一次他因为宗教改革不顺利而非常沮丧。他在大白天蜷缩在自己的办公室里，脸上没有一丝笑容。最后，他的妻子凯蒂穿上丧服，为他端上晚餐。“谁死了？”马丁问。“耶稣死了”她回答说。“他当然死了，”路德说，“但第三天他又复活了！“我就是这么想的，”她责怪他，“但你的行为，就好像耶稣从来没有从死里复活一样。”
你有时表现得好像耶稣从来没有从死里复活过一样吗? 你还是紧紧抓住自己的罪不放吗? 你是否会悲伤，好像在最后一天主耶稣没有复活一样? 即使神的慈爱每天早晨对我们来说都是新的，你依然失落的面对新的一天吗?你别忘了，耶稣活着!
祷告：主耶稣，我从不怀疑你从死里复活。但有时，我很难把这与我自己联系起来，并把你的复活的真理应用到我的生活中。求你每天提醒我，你已经从死里复活，因你活着，所以我也活着！奉主耶稣基督的名求。阿门！
Matthew 17:22-23: 22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.
Is this the third or the fourth time that Matthew mentions Jesus’ words about going down to Jerusalem to die and rise again? It always amazes me how often Jesus mentioned it, and how little the disciples seemed to absorb. Why did the resurrection take them by surprise? Of course, that’s easy for us to say because we cannot help but hear Jesus’ words in context of the resurrection. After all, we celebrate it every year! The disciples had yet to celebrate their first Easter!
We do not doubt that Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. But do we always connect the dots regarding what this means for us? Even Martin Luther struggled with that. Once he was in such a depression because things weren’t going well with the Reformation. He hunkered down in his office and barely smiled at the light of day. Finally, his wife, Katie, put on her mourning clothes and served him dinner. “Who died?” Martin asked. “Jesus did,” she replied. “Of course he died,” Luther said, “but he rose again on the third day!” “That’s what I thought,” she chided him, “but the way you’ve been acting, it’s as if Jesus never rose from the dead.”
Do you sometimes act as if Jesus never rose from the dead? Do you cling to the guilt of your sins? Do you mourn as if there will be no resurrection on the last day? Do you get up without hope, even though God’s mercies are new to us every morning? Jesus lives!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I do not doubt your resurrection from the dead. But sometimes, I have a hard time connecting the dots and applying your resurrection truth to the circumstances of my life. Remind me daily that you have risen from the dead, and that because you live, I live also! Amen.