"Capturing the Meaning of Easter"
How An Empty Tomb Can Fill Our Lives
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
WHAT EASTER REALLY MEANS..........JESUS DOES WHAT HE SAYS HE’LL DO.
Mt.28:6 - "He is not here, for He is risen, as He said."
John 2.22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
John 19.33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: v34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
The coroner of the day, the centurion who was assigned a detail of men to guarantee that the three men hanging on crosses did die….. as their sentences demanded, twice we are told the fact that Jesus was, officially, dead. Once, when Pilate wondered if Jesus was really already dead, when Joseph of Arimathea came and asked for Jesus’ body, and the second time when he actually authorized Joseph of Arimathea to take the body away from Calvary.
If Jesus was not dead, the centurion, a witness to many crucifixions and an "expert" on if someone was really dead, would have been killed for his wrong information…..The soldiers, coming around to break the legs of those who were on the cross so that the victims would no longer be able to lift themselves and gasp for air, determined that Jesus was already dead, so they didn’t need to break His legs.
Just to be sure, or perhaps out of spite, however, one of the soldiers plunged a spear/sword up into Jesus’ chest cavity, puncturing His heart.
The fact that blood AND water (the clear fluid in the pericardial sac around Jesus’ heart) came gushing out is significant, because the clear fluid would only be present (if the pericardium) If the person had already died………….. Jesus really died.
He Was Placed In Joseph’s Tomb.
Matthew 27.59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, . v60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.
The "wrong tomb" theory is laughable.
1) The ladies who arrived at the tomb on Sunday morning had been there around 6pm on Friday evening, too short a time to "forget" where the tomb was.
2) The guards’ lives were at stake if anything happened to the body inside the tomb they were to guard. Don’t you think they would have checked to make sure they were at the right tomb before they placed the Roman Empire’s official "seal" on the tomb?
3) Joseph of Arimathea owned the tomb. Joseph of Arimathea had personally hand-hewn the tomb out of the side of a cliff. That feat would have taken him at least weeks if not months of every day hard labour.
4) And, Joseph of Arimathea had personally laid Jesus in Joseph’s own tomb on Friday night. Don’t you think Joseph knew where his own tomb was?
5) And, to believe this "wrong tomb" theory, you would have to believe that the angel of the Lord also was in error and went to the wrong tomb. However, what he told the ladies who arrived was NOT, "He is not here...he’s over there!," pointing to the correct tomb. Instead, what he told them was, "He is not here, he is RISEN!"
But He Definitely Rose Again.
Matthew 28.5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
v6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
The only plausible, logical conclusion is simple. If Jesus really did die, no one stole the body, and the resurrection account occurred at the right tomb, there is no other explanation other than HE DID IT!
However, there are two other additional proofs of His resurrection that we need to remember...
Hundreds Saw Him Alive.
1Cor.15:5-6 - "...He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time¡"
In Jesus’ case there were at least 500 eye-witnesses to the fact that He was alive after He had died.
The Disciples Became Bold.
Acts. 4.19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. v20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
Again, the cowards of the county became so bold as to speak the gospel even at risk of their lives, to stand in front of thousands and publicly declare their allegiance to Jesus.
There has to be some explanation for their change in behaviour from Friday’s failure of leaving Jesus in the time of His need...and there is: Jesus rose again, and the disciples saw Him, which turned
them from the cowards of the county into bold believers.
One of the meanings of Easter is that Jesus always does what He says He’ll do, so it’s important for us to look at some of the things Jesus promises US as believers today...
News from the Church New dates
15th April…. Knit and natter is a time to finish old projects or learn new skills
if you just want to talk well that’s OK too
6th May..…..Friendship Group, (this covers all ages and the lonely people)
ANSWERS TO 15th March QUESTIONS
1) Animal life was created in the sea and air 2) Animal life was created on the land and man was made in God’s image 3) God restedand called it the Sabbath 4) Adam and Eve 5) in the Garden of Eden
6) The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil 7) Adam 8) They ate of the forbidden fruit
9) By making aprons of fig leaves 10) They were afraid because they were naked 11) a deliverer to rescue us from Satan 12) Genesis 3 v 1513) It would bring forth thorns and thistles 14) Man would eat by the sweat of his face 15) He made them clothes of animal skins 16) Cain and Abel
Bible Quiz this week’s Quiz is about Genesis
1 What was Abel’s occupation?
2 What was Cain’s occupation?
3 Who was the first murderer?
4 When God asked Cain where is your brother, what was his reply?
5 Where did Cain live?
6 Who is Lamech?
7 Who were Lamech’s wives?
8 Who were Adah’s sons?
9 What was Jabal’s occupation?
10 What was Jubal’s occupation?
11 Who was Zillah’s son?
12 Who was Adam’s third son?
13 How long did Adam live.?
14 How long did Enoch live?
15 Who was Enoch’s famous son?
16 Who was Noah’s father?
God Bless