Acts 2:24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for Him to be held by it. John 10:17-18 For this reason, the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back up again. This charge I have received from my Father. I think one of the most important things mentioned here is, Jesus telling the people, you aren’t taking my life, I’m laying it down for my people. You have no authority over me, it is by the power given to me by my Father that I am even able to do such a thing. Jesus is making it clear that they can do nothing without His consent. They cannot take the life of the one who gave it in the first place. He is laying it down for His people. They thought they were doing Jesus harm when they killed Him, they thought they were winning when they nailed Him to the cross. They thought they were on top when He refused to come down off the cross. But little did they know, it was all part of the plan. They can’t do what God won’t allow. It was predestined that Jesus would die for humanity, but also be raised in three days. Moving on to the book of Acts where Paul says it was impossible for Jesus to be held by death. Jesus is greater than death, and He defeated it when He died. He cannot be held by it. He is too mighty and too powerful. Jesus defeated the power of death when He took on the sins of humanity and died with them. It looked like death had won the battle but at the end of the day, Jesus was the only one to rise from the grave. He was the only one released from the grave. Death belonged there, life didn’t. When Jesus walked out of that tomb, death wasn’t with Him, He walked out with all life in his hands. It was impossible for Him to be defeated. Here’s the thing about this amazing story, Jesus defeated death for us. The same way He took our sin away from us, He defeated death for us. What I’m saying is, we alone cannot defeat the power or pangs of death. We alone cannot do it. Jesus came and took on our invisible battles, He came and fought a fight that one, we could not win, and two, a fight that we could not see we were losing. When Jesus came, humanity was dying in sin. Humanity was not doing too hot, we weren’t really upstanding citizens. Humanity needed a savior or we would die in our sin, never really knowing what it was like to have a relationship with God. Death was on our heels and we didn’t know it. Jesus came as a person who could not be defeated or swayed by the enemy, but He came to defeat the enemy. He came to fight an enemy that we weren’t equipped to go into battle with just yet. Jesus fills that gap for us, What the people didn’t understand is that Jesus was fighting for them. Jesus was standing in the gap for the people, He was saving them, protecting them from something much bigger than what they could see. They were worried about Him sitting with sinners, and healing on the day of Sabbath, but they were blind to the work He was doing to fix our corrupted souls. They were blind the things He was doing to make sure we were not consumed by death. They didn’t see what was really going on. This is why I believe with every ounce of my being that we are in constant need of a Savior, we cannot walk through this life alone it will beat us up and down every which way possible. It was impossible for death to hold Jesus, that’s why He took a death that belonged to us. Jesus completes us, we cannot be held down by death or sin because He has already defeated them on our behalf. He has given us a way to eternity, by being the way. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Response/Prayer Time Take the time to read through the scriptures and just think about how Jesus has filled in the gaps for us. Meditate on His word, and thank Him. Talk to Him about whatever stood out to you. Just take the time to pray and spend time with Him today. I love you and I hope you have an amazing Day or evening, Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 167!