Against A Thief
The chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders came after Jesus as against a thief. Jesus said, “But ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves”. They wanted to kill him. And they succeeded. He was crucified with two thieves.
His death was absolutely essential. He shed his blood for the New Testament and for the propitiation and for the remission of sins.
But he didn’t stay dead. He rose from the dead. If he had stayed in the grave, according to 1 Cor 15:14-17, our preaching would be vain, your faith would be vain, you would be yet in your sins, and we would be found false witnesses of God.
But he didn’t stay in the grave. There’s an empty tomb to prove it. By his resurrection, it turns out that he really is a thief and was justly crucified with thieves. What did he take?
He took the power away from the grave. The grave held him, but for only 3 days and nights. That’s why Paul proclaimed, “O grave, where is thy victory”! When you go to the cemetery and bury one who’s saved, that grave is just a temporary resting place. In due time, when Jesus returns for us, that grave is going to give up the body it now holds.
He took the captives out of Abraham’s Bosom. Lazarus and. Abraham were down there in Lk 16. The thief that believed Jesus went down there when he died. That was paradise at the time. But when Jesus went down there for three days and nights, he came up out of there. And when he did, he just stole all those souls out of there. He left the ones in hell, but took the others.
He took the power away from death. Paul told us that death reigned from Adam to Moses. But then a strange thing happened. Michael came and got the body of Moses, Jude 9. And later he appeared with Jesus on the Mt of Transfiguration. We now know something. Death is powerful, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ is more powerful than death. When saved, we keep living and at the rapture we live forever in glorified bodies. That’s why Paul wrote, “O death, where is thy sting”!
He takes sinners away from sin. Jesus is not through taking things. Today he takes sinners away from the bondage of sin. And he takes sin away from sinners. We’re free from bondage, Jn 8:36. You don’t have to keep going back to that cage and to those cords of sin. You’re free to go. Live in liberty, 2 Cor 3:17.
He’s coming back to take over the world. He’s coming back as a thief in the night. He’s going to rob the devil. The god of this world is going to lose his grip on the world. Jesus is going to seize and destroy that old devil, Heb 2:14. And he’s going to take over.
Conclusion: One of these days, the graves are going to deliver up their dead, death is going to deliver up it’s dead, hell is going to deliver up it’s dead, and they’re all going to be thrown in a lake of fire for eternity. If you don’t want to go there with them, then you need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and let him take you away from sin, death, the grave, and the devil. Let him ransom your soul and give you eternal life.