"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said." This is the message an angel surprises a group of women with that came to a tomb outside of Jerusalem looking for a dead Messiah.
He invites them to come in and have a look around. Come and see — come and see the place where he lay. Come and see what God has done, come and see the proof of who God is. Come and see the message God has been delivering forever.
"Come and see that the Lord is good." Come and see the works of the Lord, (Psalm 66:5) they will come and see my glory, (Isaiah 66:18) Jesus said to them come and see, (John 1:39) and four times in Revelation 6 one of the four living creatures tells John to "come and see" as the seals were opened by the Lamb of God, Jesus.
Come and see is a command, an action that is required of those that it is directed to: Come and see where He lay — come and I will prove it to you.
In Malachi, God says, "Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
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God isn't afraid that we will discover something about Him. He has opened his life before us, through his word the Bible and through His living word, Jesus Christ. In John 1:1 it says, in the beginning was the word and the Word become flesh and dwelt among us."
God isn't worried when we have doubts, when we say we want to check it out first. God wants us to be persistent, to seek and to ask, to knock and to search. "Search for me and you will find me when you search with all your heart."
Come and see — a challenge to all of us. Do you or don't you believe this Jesus? Is He who he said he is — come and check it out.
That challenge was posed to a young man trying to fill a void in his life. He had tried church when he was younger, he had tried getting involved in school, getting on the honor roll, student counsel, and that left him empty, after that he tried the partying scene, but on Monday mornings he felt worse than ever.
He finally noticed a group of students engaged in a Bible study. And he became intrigued by the radiance of one of the young ladies. He asked her a reason for it. She looked him straight in the eye, smiled and said, "Jesus Christ." He was disgusted: "Don't give me that garbage about religion." She replied, "I didn't say religion, I said Jesus Christ."
The students invited him to intellectually examine the claims of Christ and the evidenced supporting Christianity. He accepted their challenge and after much study and research, he virtually traveled all over the world, he had to finally admit that he couldn't refute the body of proof supporting Christianity.
Josh McDowell received Christ as his Savior and his research become the background for his book "Evidence that Demands a Verdict." Josh was changed because he took the challenge to come and see — many skeptics have come to that same conclusion. C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel, and many others were challenged to disprove the Bible or the resurrection. Both have stood the test.
If you have doubts, if you don't know this Jesus, take the challenge: Come and see — Easter is in three weeks. There will be a lot of hype, including Easter bunnies, candy, and Easter eggs. Along with that, there will be invites to churches, with pictures of crosses and lilies.
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God isn't worried about what you think of Him. He will still be God regardless of how you view Him. Why not take the challenge this year? If you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, maybe it is time for you to "Come and See." Find a church to visit this Easter. There are many good ones in our community. Open the Bible that your mother gave you or the one you got at confirmation and check it out for yourself.
Come and see — it is never too late!
Colleen Hoeft is pastor of South Troy Wesleyan Church in Zumbro Falls. Pulpit is a weekly reflection on faith by an area pastor or religious leader. To contribute, contact Life Section Editor Jeff Pieters at 285-7748 or jpieters@postbuleltin.com.
