He Is Risen

 

The stone was rolled away from the tomb and His body was gone. Where is His body? Someone must have stolen Him! Where could He be? These must have been the thoughts running through the minds of the women who went to care for Jesus' dead body. Luke 24:4 tells us that the women pondered this.

Angels appeared to them and asked, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” (Luke 24:5-7)

There is the importance of Jesus rising on the third day. Firstly, the Talmud or Jewish burial practice required that a dead body be checked on the third day to ensure the person was truly dead. Putrefaction, or decay, of the body would have begun. This is why Jesus lingered when Lazarus died. After four days, Jesus knew Lazarus would truly be dead. Mary questions Jesus when He asks for the tomb to be opened because she knew that after four days of death there would be an awful stench coming from the tomb. Jesus had waited to ensure no one could deny His raising of Lazarus was a miracle.

Jesus predicts His third day Resurrection twenty-one times in the New Testament. Do you think He felt it was important for us to understand? I do! God was creating new life and covenant (eternal life through the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus and His subsequent Resurrection) with those who believe and confess their sins. 

Jesus already did the hard work! Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Silent Saturday, and Resurrection Sunday are all about Jesus. I choose Jesus! Do you choose Jesus? He is my hope, my joy, my Savior! He gave me the greatest gift. One I didn't earn nor can I buy it. Simply, it is a gift of unfathomable, endless, unyielding grace, mercy, and love. He gave my all for me when I had nothing. How can I give Him any less than my all? 

Trial of Jesus

 

It was on the evening of Maundy Thursday that Jesus retreated to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He asked Peter, John, and James (John's brother) to join him. According to the Greek Lexicon, Gethsemane means oil-press. The garden was filled with olive trees. Merriam Webster refers to Gethsemane as a place of great agony and mental or spiritual anguish. When we think of Gethsemane, we often associate it with prayer. However, Jesus was anguished. In Matthew 26: 37-38, "he (Jesus) began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them (the disciples), 'My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.'" Luke 22:43-44 gives us another vivid picture of Jesus' torment: "An angel from heaven appeared to him (Jesus) and strengthened him. And, being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." 

You may be saying, "Jesus was tormented, anguished, sorrowful? He was Jesus!" Yes, He was and is and always will be Jesus. He willingly came to earth in human form. He knows the degradation and pain he's about to face. He asks God the Father to release him from this trial. Yet, he also said, not my will but Yours be done. When you think about Gethsemane, being an oil press for olives you can picture the immense pressure needed to squeeze the oil out of the olives. Now, return to Luke 22:44. Jesus' sweat was being pressed by anguish to the point that drops of blood were falling to the ground. Think of the pressure he had to be feeling. He knew that He was about to face a very agonizing death because He loved us so much that there wasn't any other choice for Him.

Later that evening, when he was arrested "Jesus answered, 'I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men (the disciples) go.' This happened so that the words he had spoken (in His prayer in Gethsemane) would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.'” (John 18:8-9) We've always believed that Jesus was all alone during His trial because the disciples abandoned Him. In Matthew 26:58 and Luke 22:54 we read that Peter followed Jesus at a distance, right up to the high priest's house while John 18:15 states that Peter and another disciple (John) were following Jesus. Because John was known to the high priest, he was permitted to enter and gained Peter entrance as well. John was also present at the crucifixion as noted in John 19:26-27, "When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved (John) standing nearby, he said to her, 'Woman,here is your son,' and to the disciple, 'Here is your mother.' From that time on, this disciple took her into his home." 

Final ponderance about Jesus' trial: the High Priests took Jesus to the Roman government to be put to death because it was against their religion. Wouldn't them asking the government still leave Jesus' blood on their hands. Yes, it would. They are the ones who still shouted crucify Him. The Roman government could find nothing wrong in Jesus' actions. Pilate didn't want to crucify Jesus. He was stunned that the people would rather let Barnabas, a known murderer, go free than Jesus. The pressure of the people won out and Jesus died a violent death as it had been prophesied.