Becoming Still: There Is No Telling What Could Happen

Becoming Still: There Is No Telling What Could Happen: "Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control." Proverbs 25:28 I don't know about you, but if I ow...

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Passion Week - The Resurrection

Passion Week

Day Eight - Resurrection Sunday
Scripture Passage – Matthew 28:1-10
Parallel Passages in other Gospels for further reading: Mark 116:1-8, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-10

The Resurrection

“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Thoughts from Rob Wetzel:

I can’t imagine what the Mary’s were thinking and feeling when they saw with their own eyes that Jesus was not laying dead in a tomb, but rather standing alive. Sure, Jesus said He would rise again, but do you think they really believed it? Or yet, do you think they even understood the reasons why? It says in Matthew that “They hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy”. They were probably in a state of shock and awe to see His body gone and to receive instructions from a bolt of lightning. Then while in a dead sprint to tell the others what had happened, Jesus pops out from behind a rock. Wow! Their anxiety was immediately turned to joy and worship when they saw the one they loved, now alive again.

The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, then His life and death would have been in vain. It is the resurrection that sets Him a part from all other people, prophets, and religious leaders. It is the resurrection that proved everything ever said about Him in the bible and by Him on earth to be true. It is the resurrection that gave Him victory over sin, death, and the grave. It is because of the resurrection of Jesus, that we can know He “is” God and know that we will experience the same resurrection.

When someone puts their faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior from sin and eternal death, they are born again and receive the Holy Spirit of God. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was raised from death and brought back to life. Anyone who has the Spirit has life and has the hope of a future resurrection.

Some questions to think about:

What do I believe about the resurrection of Jesus? What difference does the resurrection of Jesus make in my faith? How does the resurrection of Jesus give me hope? Why is the resurrection of Jesus necessary for our eternal life?

Suggested direction for prayer:

Thank you Jesus for coming to this earth to rescue me from eternal death. I believe that you are who you said you were…the Son of God. And I believe that when you rose again from the dead, you made it possible for me to rise again as well. Thank you for being the sacrifice for my sin. Jesus, help me to trust in you more and more each day. Help me to walk as you walked and to live as you lived. Jesus, I ask for you to give me hope in the midst of death. I believe that because I am Your follower, I will one day rise again with you as well.

Passion Week - The Burial

Passion Week

Day Seven – Saturday
Scripture Passage – John 19: 38-42
Parallel Passages in other Gospels for further reading: Matthew 27: 57-61,

Mark 15: 42-47, Luke 23: 50-56

The Burial of Jesus

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with the Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Thoughts from Mark Harvey:
Burial – the ritual of placing a corpse in a grave. Funeral – the ceremony at which an individual is buried. I don’t like going to funerals! Of all of the things that I sometimes must do, this is the thing that I dislike doing the most. We attend funerals out of respect and love for the individual. Funerals are usually sad! There is a feeling of finality at a funeral, but the hope that we have, if we have accepted Christ as our Savior, is that we will one day see the individual who has passed (if they also accepted Christ). I have been a participant in two funerals, as I was a pall-bearer for two of my wife’s grandparents. I remember both of these services very clearly and I took my role in both of these services very seriously as I wanted to show my love to and respect to my wife and my respect for her family through my act of service.

In today’s text, we read about Joseph of Arimathea, who is burying our Savior! As it is with our customs, it was and remains very important for the Jews to give their family or friends a proper burial. As the scripture states, Joseph of Arimathea had to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus, so that he could bury it. Ordinarily if a Jew was crucified for a crime, the Jew would remain on the cross until the body completely decayed and/or eaten by the birds. For Joseph, who was a Jew, to enter into the court of a Gentile to ask for Jesus’ body, actually made Joseph ceremoniously unclean to partake in the Passover. It was nothing short of a miracle that Pilate granted Joseph’s request to give him the body of Jesus to bury.

Jesus died just a few hours before the beginning of the Passover, and because of that, Joseph knew that it was very important that he bury Jesus before the beginning of the Passover - this type of activity was not allowed during the Passover. Joseph prepared the body of Jesus for burial and placed him in a tomb which had not been used. Due to the fact that Joseph prepared Jesus body for burial, he would have again been considered unclean to partake in the Passover.

Joseph’s total disregard for the actual Passover, and his concentration on obtaining Jesus’ body for burial showed Joseph’s great love for Jesus! You see Joseph understood that Jesus was the Messiah, the real Passover Lamb, who was sent to be our Savior!

Some questions to think about:
Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. How would you have felt, being a Jew and going to Pilate, who had just presided over Jesus’ death (even though he washed his hands of the procedure) and asking him for the body of Jesus so that you could bury it? How would you have felt about being the one to bury Jesus? Do you love Jesus in the same manner that Joseph did? Do you know Jesus as your Savior?

Suggested Direction for Prayer:
God, thank you for sending Jesus to be born in human form, to die for my sins, to be buried in a tomb, and to rise from the tomb on the third day! Thanks for your love of all sinners such as me!