But God raised Him from the dead!

But God raised Him from the dead.
Acts 13:30

What preceded the “But God” at the beginning of verse 30?  Sinners sought to kill the only begotten Son of God, Jesus. 

I say sought to kill Jesus.  They sought to kill Jesus, but they did not succeed.  Before Jesus went to the cross, He clearly stated, “ No one takes [My life] from Me, but I lay it down of Myself” (John 10:18).  The Son of God was never a victim.  Let us never forget that!

“But,” the evil attempts by sinful men to kill Jesus, resulted in the supreme fact that “God raised Him from the dead.”  Hallelujah!

Not only was Jesus no victim, neither was He a martyr who died for a cause.  His followers cannot go to His tomb to remember or revere Him.  Why?  Because His tomb is empty!  Because God raised His lifeless body from the dead—never to die again but to live and reign victorious for those He came to save.

Paul later wrote to the Corinthians:

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead…  1 Corinthians 15:19-20

Hallelujah!