"The Resurrection of Jesus Christ"
- A You-Tube Video By Randall Niles
"The Resurrection of Jesus Christ"
- Brennan Manning
Easter MusingsThat Jesus’ death would be by crucifixion was well understood by all who realized the Romans would execute him. Judas’ intention in handing him over to the high priests and Jewish high court may have been to get him disciplined by them—not killed by the Romans. Or it may have been his idea that Jesus should get together with Caiaphas and his crew and resolve the serious contretemps caused by Jesus’ having driven out the money changers and merchants from the Gentile Court of the temple. We simply can not know those dynamics fully. He certainly placed himself in conflict with Jesus’ mission and intention. Discipline by the Sanhedrin might have been something other than death; the Roman occupation did not allow Jews to inflict the death penalty, but likely they did sometimes when the Romans weren’t looking. If the Jewish high priests wanted to make an example of Jesus and wanted him to be executed, they would have to get the Romans to do it.
School was dismissed between noon and 3 p.m. on Good Friday so staff and students could attend Good Friday services. But we 2X2s stayed at school, along with a few “heathen” children who never went to church. Sometimes the principal stayed there to supervise us, while all the teachers were excused.
I distinctly remember in Sunday morning meeting that people would speak about how we did NOT celebrate Easter like the world.
My experience as well. It is a bit ironic in view of the intense loyalty the 2x2's have to the KJV which, to my knowledge, is the only translation which has the word "Easter" in it. 4/97
While growing up in the 2x2 system, I never heard anything mentioned by the workers about Easter that I can think of. It was just understood that in meeting Easter Sunday was no different than any other Sunday morning meeting. When I was growing up in the 50's Oregon had Special Meetings in Portland on Easter for several years.
Our family always celebrated Easter as a family holiday. We would color eggs and hide them and have a nice Easter dinner. However, it was not celebrated as the day of Christ's resurrection as such. We were taught that we were to be thankful for Christ's resurrection every day and not to just pick one day of the year out like the FALSE RELIGIONS do at Easter. I thought of Easter as a family time and not a religious time just like we did at Christmas. 4/97
Like ____ said, I can never remember a worker ever speaking about Easter. I knew as a child that Easter was the same as any other Sunday, that it was the celebration of when Jesus rose from the dead, but that we remembered that every Sunday morning with the bread and wine. Singing "Calvary" was one of my favorite hymns.
Again, as ____ mentioned, in Oregon in the 50's and a little in the 60's, Special Meetings was on Easter Sunday, Portland was anyway.
I was privileged to have lots of friends my age at meeting. As a family we did things with about 10 other families that had kids the same ages. Often there would be an Easter Egg Hunt as someone's house/yard. Our family didn't get as involved with it as other families did, but it was still fun.
I remember getting a new dress especially for Special Meetings, all my girlfriends did also. Some girls even had Easter Bonnets to go with their new dresses, but my Mom wouldn't let me. Going to school after Easter I was able to tell the other girls about my Easter dress, in fact Mom would let me wear it on a special occasion. I never had to feel strange or left out, except for the kids at school always had fancier dresses then I did. I understood that though, we weren't to go all out like the world did. :-) :-)
We even got Easter baskets with candy in them from the Easter Bunny. Interesting enough, it seems like all those holidays, Christmas, Halloween, and Easter, we celebrated the fun parts. 4/97
There was never an "Easter Message" on Easter unless it was to point to the "false churches" for celebrating it! 6/97
In this area many times there were special meetings at Easter time. I remember how my family hated that. When there wasn't Special Meeting we'd go to my family for dinner or I'd have my husband's or my family here. I always fixed baskets for the kids and do for the granddaughters. I guess that the workers were never in our home at that time so nothing was said, and nothing preached about it in meetings. 6/97
"The Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Part 1" - By John McArthur
"The Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Part 2" - By John McArthur
Jesus' final week of His Earthly Ministry began with Him riding a donkey colt into the City and thus His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Thus fulfilling this Prophecy of Zechariah, REJOICE GREATLY,O DAUGHTER OF ZION! SHOUT O DAUGHTER OF JERUSALEM! BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU; HE IS JUST AND HAVING SALVATION, LOWLY AND RIDING A DONKEY, A COLT THE FOLD OF A DONKEY. (ZECHARIAH 9:9)
Remember, this was Sunday of the same week that Jesus would be crucified, and the great Passover Festival was about to begin! Jews came to Jerusalem from all over the Roman Empire during this week-long celebration, to worship and remember the great Exodus from Egypt.
(EXODUS 12:37-51) The same people who cried out "HOSANNA! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD," changed their cries to "CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM!" before the week was over.
So on this Palm Sunday we reflect on Christ's last few days in human form, and what a great price HE paid for our sins! FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHO-EVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. FOR GOD DID NOT SEND HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO CONDEMN THE WORLD, BUT THAT THE WORLD THROUGH HIM MIGHT BE SAVED. ( JOHN 3:16-17 )
What a tremendous price and sacrifice that was! This is a true demonstration of how very much our Heavenly Father loves each one of us!
Pause for a moment or two and Thank our Savior for what HE did for you, and me, and the rest of HIS Children as well.
Apostle Paul Ministries, P O Box 55996, Hayward, CA 94545
He Bore It All by Max Lucado
Then the soldiers bowed before Jesus and made fun of him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
They spat on Jesus.
The soldiers assignment was simple: Take the Nazarene to the hill and kill him. But they had another idea. They wanted to have some fun first. Strong, rested, armed soldiers encircled an exhausted, nearly dead, Galilean carpenter and beat up on him. The scourging was commanded. The crucifixion was ordered. But who would draw pleasure out of spitting on a half-dead man? Spitting isn’t intended to hurt the body, it can’t.
Spitting is intended to degrade the soul, and it does.
What were the soldiers doing?
Were they not elevating themselves at the expense of another?
They felt big by making Christ look small. Ever done that?
Maybe you’ve never spit on anyone, but have you gossiped?
Slandered?
Have you ever raised your hand in anger or rolled your eyes in arrogance?
Have you ever blasted your high beams in someone’s rearview mirror?
Ever made someone feel bad so you would feel good?
That’s what the soldiers did to Jesus. When you and I do the same, we do it to Jesus too. I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me! (Matthew 25:40 NLT). How we treat others is how we treat Jesus. Oh, Max, I don’t like to hear that, you protest. Believe me, I don’t like to say it. But we must face the fact that there is something beastly within each and every one of us. Something beastly that makes us do things that surprise even us. Haven’t you surprised yourself? Haven’t you reflected on an act and wondered, What got into me?
He Chose the Nails. The Bible has a three-letter answer for that question: S-I-N. Allow the spit of the soldiers to symbolize the filth in our hearts. And then observe what Jesus does with our filth. He carries it to the cross. Through the prophet he said, I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting Isaiah. 50:6 NIV. Mingled with his blood and sweat was the essence of our sin. God could have deemed otherwise. In God’s plan, Jesus was offered wine for his throat, so why not a towel for his face? Simon carried the cross of Jesus, but he didn’t mop the cheek of Jesus. Angels were a prayer away. Couldn’t they have taken the spittle away? They could have, but Jesus never commanded them to. For some reason, the One who chose the nails also chose the saliva. Along with the spear and the sponge of man, he bore the spit of man.
From He Choose the Nails Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2001) Max Lucado
Question: "Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ important?"
Answer: The resurrection of Jesus is important for several reasons. First, it witnesses to the immense power of God Himself. To believe in the resurrection is to believe in God. If God exists, and if He created the universe and has power over it, He has power to raise the dead. If He does not have such power, He is not a God worthy of our faith and worship. Only He who created life can resurrect it after death, only He can reverse the hideousness that is death itself, and only He can remove the sting that is death and the victory that is the grave’s. In resurrecting Jesus from the grave, God reminds us of His absolute sovereignty over life and death.
Second, the resurrection of Jesus is a testimony to the resurrection of human beings, which is a basic tenet of the Christian faith. Unlike all other religions, Christianity alone possesses a founder who transcends death and who promises that His followers will do the same. All other (false) religions were founded by men and prophets whose end was the grave. As Christians, we take comfort in the fact that our God became man, died for our sins, was killed, and was resurrected the third day. The grave could not hold Him. He lives and He sits today at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. The living church has a living Head.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul explains in detail the importance of the resurrection of Christ. Some in Corinth did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and in this chapter Paul gives six disastrous consequences if there were no resurrection:
(1) preaching Christ would be senseless (v. 14);
(2) faith in Christ would be useless (v. 14);
(3) all the witnesses and preachers of the resurrection would be liars (v. 15);
(4) no one would be redeemed from sin (v. 17);
(5) all former believers would have perished (v.18); and
(6) Christians would be the most pitiable people on the earth (v. 19). But Christ indeed has risen from the dead and “has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen sleep” (v. 20), assuring that we will follow Him in resurrection.
The inspired Word of God guarantees the believer's resurrection at the coming of Jesus Christ for His Body (the Church) at the Rapture. Such hope and assurance issues in a great song of triumph as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:55, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?" How do these concluding verses relate to the importance of the Resurrection? Paul answers, "...you know that your labor is not in vain" (v. 58). He reminds us that because we know we will be resurrected to new life, we can suffer persecution and danger for Christ’s sake (vv. 29-31), just as He did, and just as the thousands of martyrs through history who gladly traded their earthly lives for everlasting life via the resurrection.
The Resurrection is the triumphant and glorious victory for every believer in Jesus Christ who died, was buried, and rose the third day according to the Scripture. And, He is coming again! The dead in Christ will be raised up, and those who remain and are alive at His coming will be changed and receive new, glorified bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ important? It demonstrated that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. It proves that God has the power to raise us from the dead. It guarantees that those who believe in Christ will not remain dead, but will be resurrected unto eternal life. That is our blessed hope!
“WITH HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED.”
Isaiah 53:5
Pilate delivered our Lord to be scourged. The Roman scourge was a most dreadful instrument of torture. It was made of the sinews of oxen, and sharp bones were intertwined among the sinews, so that every time the lash came down, these pieces of bone inflicted fearful laceration and tore off the flesh from the bone. The Savior was, no doubt, bound to the column, and thus beaten. He had been beaten before; but this from the Roman soldiers was probably the most severe of His flagellations. My soul, stand here and weep over His poor, stricken body.
Believer in Jesus, can you gaze upon Him without tears as He stands before you, the mirror of agonizing love? He is at once fair as the lily for innocence and red as the rose with the crimson of His own blood. As we feel the sure and blessed healing that His stripes have wrought in us, does not our heart melt at once with love and grief? If ever we have loved our Lord Jesus, surely we must feel that affection glowing now within our hearts.
See how the patient Jesus stands,
Insulted in His lowest case!
Sinners have bound the Almighty's hands,
And spit in their Creator's face.
With thorns His temples gor'd and gash'd
Send streams of blood from every part;
His back's with knotted scourges lash'd.
But sharper scourges tear His heart.
We may long to go to our bedrooms and weep; but since our business calls us away, we will first ask the Lord Jesus to print the image of His bleeding self upon the tablets of our hearts all the day, and at nightfall we will return to commune with Him and sorrow that our sin should have cost Him so dearly.
EASTER: "The Risen Savior "
No Hope Without the Resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:12-14
In today's passage, we see the apostle Paul challenging people in the Corinthian church who denied a foundational truth of the faith. Some Christians there rejected the idea that believers would one day experience a bodily resurrection. Because they assumed there was no life beyond this earthly one, they sought as much pleasure as possible with no thought about eternity. "Death is the end, so live it up while you can" was their thinking.
Throughout the centuries, many individuals have embraced this shortsighted philosophy. Paul's rebuke rings as true today as it did then: to deny the truth of resurrection means that one's faith is worthless (1 Corinthians 15:12-14 If the renewal of a body were impossible for God, then Jesus would be a dead man, not the living Lord. Furthermore, His continued state of death would indicate He lacked sufficient power to conquer sin and evil - and we could never be certain that God wields the strength necessary to bring us eternal life. Like the followers of other religions, we would journey through life, hoping our deity's words about eternity were true, but dreading that death might in fact be a meaningless end.
If Christ had remained in the grave 2,000 years ago, then He would have been nothing more than an itinerant preacher. This religion we call Christianity would have died with Him because believers would have nothing in which to place their hope.
But He did triumph over the grave - we have eyewitnesses' testimonies and the assurance of the Holy Spirit to confirm it. Our motto should be "Live for the glory of the risen Lord!"
The Resurrection Body
1 Corinthians 15:35-42
Believers throughout history have raised many questions about the Resurrection. In today's passage, Paul answers queries about how the dead are raised and what kind of body they will have (v. 35).
Paul begins with an agricultural analogy. If a farmer places a corn seed in the ground, it dies and sends up a green stalk rather than a giant seed. In the same way, the resurrection body is an outgrowth of a dead earthly body. The two are linked: the child of God doesn't become an entirely new being after death, but is renewed with a perfected eternal body.
Old friends and loved ones will recognize one another because each Christian retains his or her individuality, just as one star is different from another. But the personality and likeness that distinguishes a person will be perfected in heaven. The bodily resurrection is not a makeover to correct "faults" we might find bothersome - like an image in a mirror, our visible looks will have little importance. The renewed self is meant to uniquely reflect God's glory and His perfection.
Our rejuvenated body will be adapted to the task of glorification. On earth we see that living creatures are designed for their environment. Human flesh cannot withstand cold like animal hide, and small lungs are ineffective underwater where gills function well. Likewise, our heavenly body will be transformed to be perfectly suited for an eternal home.
God lovingly created us as unique and beautiful individuals. Paul says that originality will remain intact, even as God renews us to be perfect reflections of Him.
