Have you thought about your funeral lately? What if your funeral wasn’t the end of your story? What if you knew there was life to be lived afterward, and that you’d get a new body someday? Would it make a difference in how you lived today?

In this episode, Erika VanHaitsma and I talk about the morning the women rose early to bring the spices they had prepared to Jesus’s tomb—only to find it was empty. Listen as we talk about the most astonishing story in the Bible, and what difference it would make to live like the story is true.

Guest: Erika VanHaitsma

Bible Passage: Mark 16:1-8

Get your Freebie: The Live Like It’s True Workbook

Mentioned Resources:

• • Context and Color of the Bible
  • Conversation about the Passover with Erin Davis
  • Conversation with Kristen Wetherell, where we talked about, “Not YOLO” but you’ll live twice.

Music: Cade Popkin Music 

Erika VanHaitsma

Erika is a happily married homeschooling mother of 5 from Michigan. She has a BA from Moody Bible Institute and Masters in Historical Geography and Archeology from Jerusalem University College. Her passion is to add color to the black and white pages of Scripture by adding context and culture.

Find Erika:

• ErikaVanHaitsma.com
• Context and Color of the Bible Podcast
• Instagram    @contextandcolorofthebible
• Facebook Group

 

The True Story:

Here are some of the things Erika and I talked about:

• When the women went to the tomb, where were the men? (Her answer was really interesting, and not something I knew before!)
• What was not astonishing or out of the ordinary for the women, about this death? What was?
• Why did the women not know that Jesus would rise from the dead?
• Why did Jesus send word that he would meet the disciples in Galilee?
• Why was Peter mentioned, specifically?
• What significance was there to this occurring on the Festival of the First Fruits?
• Why did the women say nothing, after they saw the angel?

LIVE the Story

How can we live like this story is true? Here are several ways:

• Death is horrible. Death is the enemy. But death doesn’t have the last word. There’s life after death because of Jesus.
• Physically, it seems crazy to think of dead bodies rising from the ground to new life. Yet, because this crazy, jaw-dropping story is true, we don’t have to fear death!
• If we’re not afraid of death, we get to embrace life.
• There will be a new earth. You’ll have a new body. You’ll have no more sickness. No more pain. You can have a future with real life.
• On this day of “first fruits”, we can look at Jesus’s risen body and trust that this is just the beginning of the fruit that will come to life in the future.