He is Risen

He is Risen Indeed!




Somewhere in time, this week, I have been thinking about my blog.  Palm Sunday is this Sunday and that must have been a joyous event. I thought about it, but all that occupied my mind was the death and resurrection of Jesus. So instead of remembering why we celebrate Palm Sunday, I’m going to remember why we celebrate Jesus. 


In this Easter season, we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  There is no tomb we can visit to honor our God, the tomb is empty.  I have heard it said that Jesus didn’t really die, he was just injured.  If you think about it, that's not possible. Jesus was whipped with a cat of nine tails.  This is a special whip that has several endings.  Each tip has pieces of glass and pottery imbedded. The purpose is not to cut the skin, but it was meant to grab the flesh and rip it off.  When Pilate said, “Behold the man”, it could be because he was surprised that Jesus survived the beatings.


This is not the end.
The Roman soldiers put a robe on his beaten and bloody back and a crown of thorns on his head and then they mocked him.  Pulling the robe off after the blood started to congeal into the fabric, they would replace the robe with a cross.  He didn’t have the strength to carry the cross, so a man was pulled from the crowd and required to carry the cross for Jesus. Once at the location, they nailed spikes into his hands and heals.  They left him hanging in a position that made it difficult to breathe, and the pain was unbearable. If he had been removed from the cross at this point, he would have been alive.  If he was walking around in three days completely well, then that would be a miracle in and of itself, but the day wasn’t over.


The sky turned dark.
Matthew 27:50-56 (The Message Bible) “ But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.  At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom.  There was an earthquake and the rocks split in pieces. What’s more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus’ resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many). The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, “This has to be the Son of God.””


The curtain in the temple was torn right down the middle.
After all of this, a centurion, someone experienced with death, used a spear to pierce Jesus through the side and into the heart.  From Jesus’s side, blood and water flowed.  This is a sure sign of death.


An earthquake shattered the rocks.
On Sunday morning, the followers of Jesus were hiding out in fear for their lives.  A couple of women went to the tomb to finish preparing Jesus’s body for his continued burial, but the tomb was empty.


The tomb was empty!
The wages of sin is death.  God knew the only way to make provision for us is to have a perfect sacrifice.  Christ is the sacrifice for our redemption and for our salvation.  As we celebrate Easter, let’s remember the sacrifice behind the holiday.  

 

Casting Crowns - "Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)" - Live from casting-crowns on GodTube.