“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” Psalm 42:8 ESV
Ancient Words
---¨Consider the words of Isaiah the prophet, hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, as Isaiah tells about the coming Messiah: "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5 ESV)
---When it is said that the Messiah will bear our griefs and our sorrows it is a description of the Spiritual pain that Christ endured while on the cross. The literal griefs and sorrows of all people were felt by Jesus and it is because of this sacrifice that happened once that all people can be saved.
---¨The more important piece to the cross is this: three days after being laid in the tomb, dead, Jesus Christ comes out and defeats death. This is the one event that separates Christianity from every other religion; we worship a savior that not only died so that we could be saved, we serve a savior that brought himself back from the dead and now lives in Heaven with God Almighty!
---¨If Jesus Christ did not come alive from the grave than there is no reason to have a Christian church. "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." (I Corinthians 15:13-14 ESV)
---When it is said that the Messiah will bear our griefs and our sorrows it is a description of the Spiritual pain that Christ endured while on the cross. The literal griefs and sorrows of all people were felt by Jesus and it is because of this sacrifice that happened once that all people can be saved.
---¨The more important piece to the cross is this: three days after being laid in the tomb, dead, Jesus Christ comes out and defeats death. This is the one event that separates Christianity from every other religion; we worship a savior that not only died so that we could be saved, we serve a savior that brought himself back from the dead and now lives in Heaven with God Almighty!
---¨If Jesus Christ did not come alive from the grave than there is no reason to have a Christian church. "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." (I Corinthians 15:13-14 ESV)
On Saturday
---¨Matthew tells us that the Jewish leaders were trying to prevent people from believing that Jesus could be raised from the dead. They asked Pilate if some guards could be posted at the tomb so that the disciples would not come in the middle of the night and then spread the "lie" that Jesus had risen from the dead. (Remember this, it comes into play later)
---¨Not only were there soldiers standing guard, they sealed the tomb with a very large rock. The idea of sealing a tomb would have been to keep out grave robbers (or disciples like the Jewish leaders were afraid of)- they probably weren't worried about keeping a dead man sealed in; hey he's dead after all, isn't he?
---¨Not only were there soldiers standing guard, they sealed the tomb with a very large rock. The idea of sealing a tomb would have been to keep out grave robbers (or disciples like the Jewish leaders were afraid of)- they probably weren't worried about keeping a dead man sealed in; hey he's dead after all, isn't he?
Resurrection Morning
---Here it is, Sunday morning, still dark out- sun just peeking over the horizon. You watched your teacher (your son and your friend) be severely beaten by the religious establishment and the government. He was spit on, kicked, punched, and swore at. Before he was even nailed to the cross the life was nearly out of him because he needed someone else to carry the cross that he was going to be nailed to.
---Then for three long agonizing hours you watched him nailed to the cross in the dark and then he gave his spirit up and died. For you there was no hope, for to you he was dead and locked into his grave.---A group of women bought spices so that they could anoint Jesus' (dead) body. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome were among some of these women but an extensive list is not given. On their way they thought about the stone that would be covering the tomb and asked each other how they would get in to get to Jesus. (Mark 16:3)
---They arrive at the tomb to find that the stone is rolled away, and then they look in and see an angel sitting there who tells them to go tell the disciples. The women (although we are unsure of how many were in this group or if there were two groups even) leave the tomb and Matthew tells us that when they are on their way to give their report they see Jesus and worship him. (Matthew 28:9)
---Then for three long agonizing hours you watched him nailed to the cross in the dark and then he gave his spirit up and died. For you there was no hope, for to you he was dead and locked into his grave.---A group of women bought spices so that they could anoint Jesus' (dead) body. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome were among some of these women but an extensive list is not given. On their way they thought about the stone that would be covering the tomb and asked each other how they would get in to get to Jesus. (Mark 16:3)
---They arrive at the tomb to find that the stone is rolled away, and then they look in and see an angel sitting there who tells them to go tell the disciples. The women (although we are unsure of how many were in this group or if there were two groups even) leave the tomb and Matthew tells us that when they are on their way to give their report they see Jesus and worship him. (Matthew 28:9)
The Guards
---Remember those guards Matthew told us about? (you know, the ones I said to remember) The whole purpose of them being put on watch duty was to keep everyone on the outside from getting into the tomb, but they never thought of the Holy Son of God deciding that it was time to come out from the inside!
---When Jesus is gone these guards have no idea what happened because the one task they were stationed to do is a failure! The Jewish leaders give them a lot of money to start a lie about the disciples breaking in in the middle of the night- while the guards were asleep- so they could steal him.
---Ridiculous alert! Admit to everyone that you not only failed at your job, but admitting that you sleep on the job too?
---I believe that this verse is very telling, “And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.” (Matthew 28:15 ESV) I've heard modern day people (not just Jews but all kinds of people) try to explain away the miracle of Resurrection by convincing themselves of this lie.
---When Jesus is gone these guards have no idea what happened because the one task they were stationed to do is a failure! The Jewish leaders give them a lot of money to start a lie about the disciples breaking in in the middle of the night- while the guards were asleep- so they could steal him.
---Ridiculous alert! Admit to everyone that you not only failed at your job, but admitting that you sleep on the job too?
---I believe that this verse is very telling, “And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.” (Matthew 28:15 ESV) I've heard modern day people (not just Jews but all kinds of people) try to explain away the miracle of Resurrection by convincing themselves of this lie.
Spreading the News
---Mary Magdalene seems to be the one that makes it back to the disciples first to tell them that the stone was missing and they don't seem to believe her at first, but Peter and John decide to go and see for themselves.
---When they get to the tomb John runs up and looks but doesn't enter. Peter runs right on in and sees that the cloths that Jesus was buried in were laying there, but that the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head was off by itself, folded up neatly. Why would the face cloth have been folded up off by itself for any other reason than Jesus Christ took it off and folded it before he left? ---Mary Magdelene after seeing the empty tomb and going to see the disciples comes back and stands outside the tomb to cry. Jesus appears to her and she thinks he's the gardener.
---She suddenly realized who he is and is comforted. Jesus tells her that she shouldn't get too clingy because his ultimate mission is not complete- he has not yet returned to Heaven.
---When they get to the tomb John runs up and looks but doesn't enter. Peter runs right on in and sees that the cloths that Jesus was buried in were laying there, but that the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head was off by itself, folded up neatly. Why would the face cloth have been folded up off by itself for any other reason than Jesus Christ took it off and folded it before he left? ---Mary Magdelene after seeing the empty tomb and going to see the disciples comes back and stands outside the tomb to cry. Jesus appears to her and she thinks he's the gardener.
---She suddenly realized who he is and is comforted. Jesus tells her that she shouldn't get too clingy because his ultimate mission is not complete- he has not yet returned to Heaven.
Emmaus
---In In Luke 24:13-35 Jesus joins up with two disciples that are walking down the road. They were unable to recognize who he was but Jesus took them through the whole Old Testament to show them that the whole Bible points to Jesus.
<===The Road to Emmaus
<===The Road to Emmaus
Great Commission
---Finally, in Matthew 28:16-20 Jesus meets the disciples at a predetermined location and gives them the Great Commission.
Summary
---In summary, even though studying Jesus’ death and burial are very important they are not the central piece of Christianity. Every other religious adherent goes to the tomb of their religious figure but in Christianity we remember the empty cross and the empty tomb because Jesus lives! Here is some excellent logic taken straight from Scripture: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (I Corinthians 1:18 ESV)