09/07/2026
The Ultimate Comeback
We like stories about an underdog. We are inspired when someone who has been counted out makes a comeback. Perhaps it’s a player who has a bad start or a team that comes from behind at the last minute to win. We like to see someone succeed after they have been discounted.
It would be hard to pick a better comeback story than Jesus. In his “hometown” of Nazareth, the people who knew Jesus cast Him out of town and tried to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:28-30). The Jews tried to seize Him, stone Him and/or kill Him multiple times (John 5:18; 7:30, 44; 8:59; 10:31, 39). When His time finally came to be killed, He was insulted, spit upon, slapped, whipped, beaten and then nailed to a cross. Immediately after His death, the Jews made Jesus’ tomb as secure as they could. They even got Pilate involved, who told them to “make it as secure as you know how” (Matt. 27:65). A guard was even positioned at the tomb. How could anyone be more down than what Jesus was!?
Yet, as we know, this wasn’t the end of Jesus. Not even close! He arose on the third day and appeared as the victor over sin and death. Death is swallowed up in victory. That victory is through Jesus (I Cor. 15:54-57). Christ was raised, never to die again (Rom. 6:9). He came to take away sins (I John 3:5). Through His death, He was able to “render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).
Think about all that Jesus went through. Consider how hard so many people worked to put an end to Him. Yet, Jesus was the one victorious! It ultimately is not just His victory, as we are all able to succeed because of His sacrifice. Salvation is found “in Christ” (II Tim. 2:10). Have you put Him on in your life (Gal. 3:26-27)?
-- Shane Williams
(Published last week in the Mayfield Messenger, The Paducah Sun, The Times Leader (Princeton), The Herald Ledger and The Marshall County Tribune-Courier)
