John 20:1-17
Resurrection morning, Mary Magdalene, was up and out
the door before dawn, headed to the tomb. She who has been forgiven much, loves
much.
A woman had no credibility as a witness according to
the customs of that day, yet Mary from Magdala, the hamlet known for harlots,
from whom Jesus cast out seven demons, is the one, Jesus chose as the first
eyewitness to the Resurrection.
The Resurrection is for everyone, from the least to
the greatest.
Happy Easter.
Easter, that’s the
English word.
It was the fourth century Church’s way of using the
Light of the world to extinguish the darkness of a pagan world
holiday, associated with the false goddess of fertility, Eostre.
That is the great
commission of the Church. To take the Light of the world into all
the world. Without becoming of the world.
To do that, we must always remember our Source.
Our Source is the Word.
The Source of the Resurrection is the Word became
flesh.
In the beginning was the Word and the Word
was with God and the Word was God... The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (John
1:1, 14).
Until we rejected Him, spit on Him, whipped and ripped
His flesh to ribbons. We cast Him out and nailed Him up on an old wooden cross,
where He bled and said things like, Father forgive them...Today you will be
with Me in Paradise... My God My God why have You forsaken Me?!?... Tetelestai!
It is finished... Into Thy hands I commit My Spirit.
The Word bowed His head, and His flesh, died.
But the Word never died.
The moment His flesh breathed its last, the Word
exploded to Life.
The earth shook, the rocks broke, the veil in the
temple, that wretched divorce decree between God and man, ripped asunder from
top to bottom, opening the door to whosoever will enter the Holy of Holies and
become a blessed, forgiven, child of God.
Within a matter of weeks on the Feast of Weeks,
(Pentecost) folks in Jerusalem from every tribe and tongue and nation heard, by
way of the Holy Spirit, the wonderous Word of God, preached in their own
dialect and language.
The Word still echoes around the world from
that day to this.
Easter, was the
springboard. Resurrection Day, the most awesome day in human HIStory.
So far.
The best is yet to come, but that’s a story for
another day.
The modern Hebrew word for Easter is, Pascha.
It’s the Greek name for Passover. Which makes sense, since it’s tied to
Passover.
Friday. Feast of Passover.
We call it Good Friday.
Saturday. Feast of
Unleavened Bread. Today, it’s called Holy Saturday. I call it
Sadder Day, since there’s never been a sadder day.
Sunday. Feast of
Firstfruits. The day we call, Easter.
Our words are feeble reminders.
God’s Word tells the Truth of HIStory.
Feast of Passover.
Jesus died. Death passes over, those under, the blood of the
Passover Lamb, from the doorpost on that first Passover in Egypt, to the cross
post on Calvary when Jesus became the Perfect Passover Lamb.
Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus’
sinless body lay in the tomb. Leavenless bread lay in the
home. Leaven represents sin. All leaven (yeast) was completely removed from
every home.
Feast of Firstfruits. Easter’s
real name. The firstfruit was offered to the Lord. The firstfruit
was a sign of the harvest to follow. Lev. 23:9-14.
1
Corinthians 15:20
“But now Christ
is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who
have fallen asleep.”
Because Christ is risen, those in Christ
shall also rise.
Only God could’ve established those feasts 1,500 years in advance to land exactly on the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
GOD’S SEVEN FEASTS REFLECT THE TIMELINE OF
HUMANITY:
FULFILLED:
1. Passover: Christ’s death as the Lamb of God.
2. Unleavened Bread: Burial of Jesus' sinless flesh.
3. First Fruits: Resurrection of Christ.
4. Pentecost (Weeks): Coming of the Holy Spirit.
TO BE FULFILLED:
5. Trumpets: Rapture of the Church.
6. Atonement (Yom Kippur): Second Coming of
Christ.
7. Tabernacles (Sukkot): The 1,000-year
Millennial Kingdom
Only God could
tell us, 173,880 days in advance, the exact day, the Messiah, Jesus, would ride
a donkey into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. Daniel 9:25.
Only God could
tell us hundreds of years in advance that He would come, and suffer, and die, but
not for Himself. Psalm 22, 34:20, Isaiah 53, Daniel 9:26, Zechariah 12:10.
Only God could
preserve for us thousands of undeniable, documentable proofs of His
death, burial and resurrection, and provide and ever growing mountain of
archeological evidence verifying the Truth of His Word.
Investigative journalist, atheist, Lee Strobel, spared
no expense in his quest to disprove the Bible.
Today he’s a world renown minister of the Gospel.
Okay Doug, that’s amazingly hard to believe but even if all that stuff happened it doesn’t make any sense.
Why would God do it if He
knew we were going to screw everything up?
Even bigger question. How does His death, burial and
resurrection, fix anything? Especially me?
Great Questions.
Why would God do it?
Short answer: Love.
In the beginning, knowing everything that would
happen, He still said, “Let us make man in Our image...” (Gen. 1:26).
That same love from that day to this, flows from the
whispering lips of couples in love saying, “Let’s make a baby.”
Even though, they know that baby’s gonna poop and pee
and cry and be a brat and talk back and break the rules and their hearts and
screw everything up.
Yet, love says, it’ll be worth it. We’ll be a family.
God is love.
Love wins.
How does His death burial and resurrection
fix anything? Especially, me?
Once again. In the beginning everything was awesome. It
is good, it is good... it is very good.
Then, man got a dirty diaper. He messed up. Broke the
rules. Well, the rule. There was only one.
Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, the day that you do, you shall surely die. Genesis 2:17.
There are things one should not know, places you
should not go, things you ought not see, or hear, once that line of regret is
crossed there’s no going back to that innocence lost.
However, hope is not lost.
God does restore.
But sin is not ignored.
God is just. God is love.
Consequences come.
God doesn’t go back on His Word.
He said to Adam and Eve, the day you disobey you shall
surely die.
They did. In that moment they were separated from God.
They felt in a small way what Jesus felt in a great
way, when He cried from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken
Me?”
According to the Divine Justice of God, for the first
time in forever, Jesus was separated from His Father as the sins of humanity
were placed on Him.
Originally, Adam and Eve were clothed from the inside
out with the Purity and Presence of God.
The moment they disobeyed, as Light cannot dwell with
darkness, the Presence of God left, and they were naked and ashamed and dead.
God is Life. Separation from God is death.
But God is Love and Love doesn’t quit, never gives up,
never fails.
God showed up with a new wardrobe, an eviction notice,
and a plan.
From now on, making a living or birthing a life, will
be painful, hard, labor.
However, one day, from the Seed of the woman, will
come One, to crush, the serpent’s head that tempted you to cross that
line. Genesis 3:15.
Then, to cover their nakedness, which represents their
sin, God gave them animal skins.
Thus, setting the precedent that the shedding of blood
could cover sin. Eventually that precedent was codified into the Law.
Then, for thousands of years, rivers of animal blood
flowed to temporarily cover sin.
But, like the clothes, it was only temporary. For the
blood of bulls and goats and animals could never wash away the sin of mankind,
God’s crown of creation. (Heb. 10:4).
Only a Perfect Sacrifice could meet the Divine Justice
of God.
Galatians 4:4-7
So,
in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under
the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7
Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ.
That’s why Jesus came.
To be the Perfect Passover Lamb.
John
3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, thank You for coming
willingly, living sinlessly, dying blamelessly, rising victoriously, so we
could be, one big, noisy, messy, happy, family.
Thank You.
We love You, forever.
Amen.
Prayer Requests:
Call or text: 612-554-2522
Email: pray4measap@aol.com
Facebook: Church at WPV
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Resurrection
This was feed for you to read. Now it’s
Seed for you to sow.
Thank you for sharing.
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