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Read: Acts 4:32-35
Listen: Acts 4

“With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” Acts 4:33

The apostles continue to testify of Jesus’s resurrection. Crucifixion was a gruesome, humiliating death. Anyone hung on a pole was believed to be cursed (Galatians 3:13). Death on a cross was considered abandonment by God. Jesus’s crucifixion appears to be proof that God turned his back on him. But the resurrection changes that narrative. Jesus is alive. He is not a failed messiah. He is the risen king. Many saw Jesus’s resurrected body. They walked with him and shared meals. So, they courageously testify to what they have seen and know. Jesus was dead, but now he is alive.

The resurrection is still crucial for our faith. Jesus wasn’t simply a good teacher or a visionary. His resurrection is not a hum-drum old story we’ve heard a million times. Resurrected life walked out of a tomb. The crucified messiah rose as the victorious king. Jesus is alive and working today. This is worth reorienting our whole lives around. Because he is alive, we can have eternal life and that life starts today. His resurrection emboldens us to courageously testify to our faith in Jesus.

TODAY: Consider how Jesus’s resurrection affects how you live. Does it empower your conversations, your work, your life? Spend time journaling about whether you treat Jesus’s resurrection as a cool story or a reality that affects every area of your life. Ask God to help you to live a life powered by the reality of the resurrection of Jesus.