April.13.01: Light For The Day - "Jesus' Death & Resurrection"

-- John 3:16 
"For God so loved the world that He gave His 
only Son, that whoever believes in Him should 
not perish but have eternal life."

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His Death & Resurrection:

As soon as a child is born, it commences the journey 
to the grave, for all come into the world under the 
sentence of death. Death is an appointment which 
every person must keep. "It is appointed unto men 
once to die" (Heb 9:27). 

But at the birth of a baby we never think of it as 
being born to die, but born to live. But with Jesus 
who came to give His life as a ransom for sinners, 
it was different. He is the only one who came into 
the world for the purpose of dying. 
Jesus was born crucified. 
"The son of man came ... to give his life as a ransom 
for many" (Mat 20:28).

Is it any wonder then that the four Gospels give such 
space to His death? One-third of the material in the 
Gospels has to do with the events in last week of Jesus, 
who, when He spoke of His death, linked into His 
resurrection. It is point out that two of the Gospels 
do not relate the birth of Jesus - Mark and John; 
two do not relate His sermon on the Mount in full - 
Mark and John; but all four narratives record with 
fullness of detail the fact of His death and resurrection. 
One-third of Matthew, one-third of Mark, one-fourth 
of Luke and one-half of John are devoted to the last 
hours of Jesus. Thus about one-third of the material 
making up the four Gospels relates to the last week 
of Jesus.

In the three years of His public ministry, Jesus 
constantly predicted, not only His death and His 
resurrection, but also the manner and purpose of it.

-- Herbert Lockyer

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-- John 2:18-22 :
"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up ... 
He spoke of the temple of His body" 

-- Matthew 12:40 :
"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in 
the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three 
days and three nights in the heart of the earth" 

-- John 3:14-17 :
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
so must the Son of man be lifted up,
15 that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life."
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, 
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have 
eternal life.
17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn 
the world, but that the world might be saved through Him" 

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GOOD FRIDAY:

Is the Friday before Easter. The day that we remember 
the cruel death of Jesus Christ. Jesus showed how 
much He loved His Father God, and us by willingly 
giving His life as a sacrificial Lamb. 

Why was Jesus called the Lamb of God?

In the old testament, the Jewish people would kill a 
lamb and offer it to God as part of their worship. 
The lamb was sacrificed to God so that God would 
forgive their sins. 

In the Bible (John 1: 29), John the Baptist saw Jesus 
coming. John told the people, "Look, the Lamb of God, 
who takes away the sin of the world!" 

The Bible teaches us that Jesus was without sin. 
He was pure and Holy like none before or after Him. 
He was acceptable unto God to take on all the sins
of the world. Not only was Jesus acceptable, but He 
was willing to die a very cruel death so that Christians, 
(those that believe and follow Jesus), can be acceptable 
to God as His children. It is through Jesus' blood as 
the sacrificial lamb of God that we are forgive. 

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The Cross 

Today the cross is perhaps the world's most famous 
symbol. It can be seen on flags and badges, in churches, 
Christian schools, art galleries,T-shirts, earrings, 
necklaces and even of bumper stickers on tha back of cars. 

To many people today the cross is a symbol of hope
and comfort. In the time that Jesus lived and died (AD30) 
the cross meant one of the cruellest forms of death ever 
devised by human beings. Each of the four
gospels record the cruel death of Jesus.
(Matthew 27:45-56; Mark 15:33-41; Luke 23:44-49; 
John 19:28-30; Isaiah 53: 5-12 )

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Easter - Resurrection Sunday

is the day Christians celebrate the resurrection of 
Jesus the Christ from the dead. Even before 
theologians explained the death of Jesus in terms 
of various atonement theories, the early church 
saw his resurrection as the central witness to a 
new act of God in history and the victory of 
God in vindicating Jesus as the Messiah. 
This event marks the central faith confession of 
the early church and was the focal point for 
Christian worship. It is the heart of the 
Good News and hope of renewal and new 
life, both present and future.

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An Easter Prayer 

O God, who for our redemption gave your only 
begotten Son to death on the Cross, and by His 
glorious resurrection has delivered us from the 
power of our enemy: Grant that we who celebrate 
with joy the day of our Lord’s resurrection, 
may be raised from the death of sin by Your 
life-giving Spirit. Grant us so to die daily to sin, 
that we may evermore live with Him in the joy 
of His resurrection, empowered and transformed 
by your grace in and among us.

O Lord, so stir up in Your church, indeed in each 
of us, that Spirit of adoption and reconciliation 
that is made possible by Your grace revealed in 
Jesus the Christ, that we being renewed in both 
body and mind, may worship and serve You in 
sincerity and truth. We pray this in the name of 
the same Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and 
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, 
now and forever. Amen.

"Now open your Bible
Open your heart
It's clear we are in the last days
And He said I'll comequickly
So don't be surprised
When He comes back to take us away
feeble excuses won't get very far
When you find yourself there at His throne
you know Jesus and He is your Lord
Hallelujah, you won't be alone ...."

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-- Hebrews 9:27 
"And just as it is appointed for men to die once, 
and after that comes judgment."