March 31, 2024 • He is Risen! “I know my Redeemer liveth”
The Book of Job, 19:25-26: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold.”
Composer George Frederick Handel quoted Job chapter 19 in his masterpiece Messiah, 1742: “I know that my Redeemer liveth.”
George Washington Carver made comments on divine inspiration, after which he was criticized by a New York Times editorial, November 20, 1924. Rev. Lyman Ward sent him an encouraging letter, to which Carver replied, January 15, 1925:
“My dear Bro. Ward, Many, many thanks for your letter of Jan. 4th. How it lifted up my very soul, and made me to feel that after all God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform. I did indeed feel very badly for a while, not that the cynical criticism was directed at me, but rather at the religion of Jesus Christ. Dear Bro. I know that my Redeemer liveth.”
A Proclamation of Congress, 1778, quoted by Thomas Jefferson, as Governor of Virginia, and George Washington, as Commander of the Continental Army, stated: “Above all, that he hath diffused the glorious light of the Gospel, whereby, through the merits of our gracious Redeemer, we may become the heirs of his eternal glory.”
In an Easter address in St. Peter’s Square, April 1, 1956, Pope Pius XII stated: “This year’s celebration of Easter should be primarily a recall to faith in Christ, addressed to people who, through no fault of their own, are still unaware of the saving work of the Redeemer; to those who, on the contrary, would wish to have His name wiped out of the minds and hearts of nations; and finally, in a special manner, to those souls of little faith who, seduced by deceptive enticements, are on the point of exchanging the priceless Christian values for those of a false earthly progress.”
James Logan was Secretary for William Penn, and Chief Justice of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court, 1731-39. He stated: “Remember thou art called after the immaculate Lamb of God, who, by offering Himself a sacrifice for thee, atoned for thy sins … Borrowing one hour from the sleep of sluggards, spend it in thy chamber in dressing thy soul with prayer and meditation, reading the Scriptures … Remember that the same enemy that caused thy first parents to forfeit their blessed condition, notwithstanding the gate is now open for restoration, is perpetually using his whole endeavors to prevent thee from attaining this, and frustrate to thee the passion of thy Redeemer.”
Elias Boudinot was President of the Continental Congress, 1782-83, a U.S. Representative, 1789-95, where he helped frame the Bill of Rights, and Director of the U.S. Mint under Washington and Adams, 1795-97. He became a genuine Christian during the Great Awakening, and was baptized by Rev. George Whitfield.
Boudinot helped found the American Bible Society, stating in New Jersey, July 4, 1783: “No sooner had the great Creator of the heavens and the earth finished His almighty work, and pronounced all very good, but He set apart … one day in seven for the commemoration of His inimitable power in producing all things out of nothing … The deliverance of the children of Israel from a state of bondage to an unreasonable tyrant was perpetuated by the Paschal (Passover) Lamb, and enjoining it on their posterity as an annual festival forever … The resurrection of the Savior of mankind is commemorated by keeping the first day of the week … Let us then, my friends and fellow citizens, unite all our endeavors this day to remember, with reverential gratitude to our Supreme Benefactor, all the wonderful things He has done for us, in our miraculous deliverance from a second Egypt–another house of bondage.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon stated in his sermon “The Leafless Tree,” March 8, 1857, New Park Street Chapel: “If we read the Scripture’s aright the Jews have a great deal to do with this world’s history. They shall be gathered in; Messiah shall come, the Messiah they are looking for, the same Messiah who came once shall come again, shall come as they expected him to come the first time. They then thought he would come a Prince to reign over them, and so he will when he comes again. He will come to be king of the Jews, and to reign over his people most gloriously; for when he comes Jew and Gentile shall have equal privileges, though there shall yet be some distinction afforded to that royal family from whose loins Jesus came; for he shall sit upon the throne of his father David, and unto him shall be gathered all nations.”
William Jennings Bryan, who was the Democrat Presidential candidate in 1896, 1900, and 1908, gave over 600 public speeches during his campaigns. His statue is in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall.
Bryan’s most famous being “The Prince of Peace,” printed in the New York Times, September 7, 1913, stating: “The world had known love before … but Jesus gave a new definition of love. His love was as wide as the sea; its limits were so far-flung that even an enemy could not travel beyond its bounds. Other teachers sought to regulate the lives of their followers by rule and formula, but Christ’s plan was to purify the heart and then to leave love to direct the footsteps …”
Bryan continued: “What conclusion is to be drawn from the life, the teachings and the death of this historic figure? Reared in a carpenter shop; with no knowledge of literature, save Bible literature; with no acquaintance with philosophers living or with the writings of sages dead, when only about thirty years old He gathered disciples about Him, promulgated a higher code of morals than the world had ever known before, and proclaimed Himself the Messiah. He taught and performed miracles for a few brief months and then was crucified; His disciples were scattered and many of them put to death; His claims were disputed, His resurrection denied and His followers persecuted; and yet from this beginning His religion spread until hundreds of millions have taken His name with reverence upon their lips and millions have been willing to die rather than surrender the faith which He put into their hearts …”
William Jennings Bryan concluded: “How shall we account for Him? Here is the greatest fact of history; here is One who has with increasing power, for nineteen hundred years, molded the hearts, the thoughts and the lives of men, and He exerts more influence to-day than ever before. ‘What think ye of Christ?’ It is easier to believe Him divine than to explain in any other way what he said and did and was. And I have greater faith, even than before.”
In his Easter Message, April 2015, British Prime Minister David Cameron stated: “The values of the Bible, the values of Christianity are the values that we need – values of compassion, of respect, of responsibility, of tolerance. Now … you don’t have to be a Christian … to have strong values … but the point I always make is that it helps. We’re always trying to tell our children not to be selfish, but is there a better way of putting it than ‘love thy neighbor …'”
Cameron continued: “We’re always telling our children to be tolerant … but is there a better way of explaining tolerance than saying, ‘do to others as you would be done by’? It’s the simplest encapsulation of an absolutely vital value and the Christian church and the teaching of the Bible has put it so clearly. We’re always telling our children that they must make the most of what they have; they must not waste what they have been given, and is there a better way of putting that than ‘don’t hide your light under a bushel, make the most of your talents.'”
Spanish King Felipe VI stated December 13, 2016: “Europe needs … to be honest and respectful to both our common Judeo-Christian values and origins.”
Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl wrote in the foreword of the Hungarian translation of his book Out of Concern for Europe: An Appeal: “Europe cannot be the new home for millions of people in need … (as many refugees come) from different cultural backgrounds. They follow in significant part, faiths other than Judeo-Christianity, which is one of the foundations of our values and social order.”
British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge wrote in his 1975: “As man alone, Jesus could not have saved us; as God alone, he would not; Incarnate, he could and did.”
President Donald Trump stated March 31, 2018: “During the sacred holiday of Passover, Jewish families around the world give thanks to God for liberating the Jewish people from bondage in Egypt and for delivering them to the Promised Land of Israel. … For Christians, we remember the suffering and death of God’s only Son and his glorious resurrection on the third day. On Easter Sunday, we proclaim with joy … Christ is Risen!“
Martin Luther declared: “Our Lord has written the promise of the Resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf in the springtime.”
George Washington’s tomb is engraved with the Scripture, John 11:25, where Jesus told Martha: “I am the Resurrection and the Life; sayeth the Lord. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.”