Lessons from Matthew 28: Tragedy to Triumph

When was the last time you received unbelievable news? News that seemed to be to good to be true?

I remember a time when I received such news. It was when my father was getting ready to have hernia surgery and it was on a Friday afternoon. My mom called and said, “Sis, Dad wants you to get here ASAP before he goes into surgery.”

Now, my dad was at Kaiser Fontana, it was a Friday afternoon, and I lived in Covina just a few miles up from the West Covina Mall. My car had been stolen and I had 2 small kids, and the only thing holding up the surgery was the anesthesiologist who had yet to arrive.

This seemed impossible, yet we know that nothing is impossible when God is in it.

And so I was able to borrow a car and get my girls together and head out on the 10 freeway on a Friday afternoon. I arrived at the hospital just as the anesthesiologist was walking out of my dad’s room while waiting for surgery.

As I walked in, my dad, prepped for surgery, had no teeth in but somehow was able to ask first if I had any money in my fanny pack. I told him not to worry, I was ok. I had a checkbook and could go across the street to Alpha Beta and cash a check if need be. And then he instructed me to tell my mom to give me some cash if I needed it.

I know my dad had not called me all the way out there to ask how much money I had in my possession, so I stood there trying to process what was really going on.

Then my dad said the words my heart had prayed for, for years. He said, “Sis, I want you to know that if anything happens to me, I’m going to be ok. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior!”

And because this news was more than I could think or imagine, I asked, “What did you say?”

And he repeated, “I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and if anything happens to me I want you to know, I’ll be ok!”

It was a most amazing moment, and I didn’t know for sure if he knew what he was talking about.

But I left the room and found out that one of my grandfather’s brothers was there visiting from South Carolina. He went with my grandfather to visit my dad and presented the gospel to him. My dad, who had been an abusive alcoholic for almost all his life, had apparently heard the gospel and received it.

I had my doubts, but no sooner had my dad come out of surgery than he was telling everyone he had a new heart. After being asked if he had had heart surgery, he joyfully replied, “No, I had hernia surgery, but I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior right before and now I’m a new man.”

God proved my dad’s words true as he lived his last 3 years a transformed man.

Though not all believed it, and some were skeptics, I and others witnessed my dad’s transformation as he began to live a resurrected life, a sanctified life.

God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ raised my dad to new life and evidence that the Holy Spirit lived and dwelled within him became apparent to all who would look and listen!

Well, an even greater event occurred after our Lord Jesus Christ took on the sins of the world as he hung on the cross after willingly giving up His Spirit to God the Father.

He was raised to life again, proving God has the power over life and death, sin and Satan.

And without the truth of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, there would be no gospel, no faith, no reason to pray and worship. Therefore, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are essential to your salvation.

The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead proves the triumphant power of God over all.

From Tragedy to Triumph

Our Lord Jesus was raised from death and appeared to many witnesses. But not all those witnesses would tell the truth of what they saw and heard.

And so in Matthew 28:1-10 we will hear the amazing proofs of His resurrection. Then we will be confronted with the deceitful plans of the religious leaders and the Roman soldiers in Matthew 28:11-15. Lastly, in Matthew 28:16-20, we will look at the obedient proclamation of Jesus’s disciples!

Terri Hamman

Faith & Fitness Coach