Hebrews 11:24-29
Verse 28 By faith he (Moses) kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
We have reached the awaited day, the day which every Passover was pointing to, Easter. Our passage today gives us the key to Christianity. It was by faith Moses obeyed the God he had met in the fiery bush. It was by faith the man – born into slavery, raised in the palace, who ran away for 40 years and became a shepherd – was willing to obey God and go up against the leader of Egypt with the help of his brother, Aaron. It was faith which helped the people do just as Moses told them so their sons would be saved in the final plague. And it was by faith they followed Moses out of the country.
Faith is a word we use a lot in the Christian community but do we really know what that means? And do we realize just how important it is in our life? That first Easter morning faith was a bit shaky for Jesus’ followers. They had followed Jesus and believed Him to be the Messiah and yet He had allowed Himself to be killed. It wasn’t faith in what He had said about rising again which had the women going to the grave that morning to add spices to the body. It wasn’t in faith that Peter and John ran to the tomb to see if the women were right in what they were saying.
Hebrews 1:1 defines faith as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Thomas was struggling with the possibility of Jesus being alive again even after hearing the others talking about seeing Him alive because he hadn’t seen Jesus Himself. We are often like Thomas wanting to see before we will believe but faith is of utmost importance if we are going to live for Christ and faith doesn’t require seeing.
If we don’t believe in Jesus and His resurrection because we don’t see Him, we are not really His followers. Jesus told Thomas those who believe without seeing are going to be blessed (John 20:29). Moses and the disciples had seen many things the Lord had done, miracles they knew had to come from God. That was the basis of their faith, knowing God – not just knowing about Him – allowed them to believe in Him when they saw the things He was doing around them. It is knowing Him personally which can grow our faith too. If we have faith that He will do all He has said He will do, we can know what His resurrection really means for all His true followers. He lives! And that means we can live too.
Making It Personal
Do you know God personally or just know about Him? What does your level of faith say about how much you know Him? How are you going to celebrate His resurrection?
Making It Personal Kids
Do you know Jesus in a personal way or do you just know a lot about Him? What does it mean to have faith in Jesus? Do you believe He died and came back to life?
Closing Prayer
Father, we praise You for the life we have because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Give us understanding of what a life of faith looks like and give us the courage to live out that life. In Jesus’ precious name, amen.