Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.
Read Acts 2:32, 36; 17:6; Mark 16:12–13
“This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses....Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:32, 36 NASB1995)
Imagine what it must have been like for Jesus’ disciples and followers, who had just seen His bruised and broken dead body taken from the cross and buried.
Read Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:3
Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. (Matthew 28:1)
Resurrection comes from resurge or resurgence, in the sense of “coming back” or “renewing” or “rising up.” In other words, Jesus Christ, who was once down, dead, laid aside, crucified, later stood up miraculously and bodily. He “resurged.” He came back to life, never to die again.
Read John 20:1
Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. (John 20:1 NASB1995)
Imagine yourself a member of the jury in a courtroom, preparing to decide one of the oldest cases in history: The People vs. Jesus of Nazareth.
The case regards Jesus’ claim that He died and was miraculously and bodily raised from the dead. For centuries, people have disputed this claim, basing their prosecution on one of three theories.
Read Hebrews 4:15, 5:2
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15 NASB)
Do you know how Jesus learned obedience? Through lessons taught severely.
Read Luke 23:48
And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. (Luke 23:48)
Our Lord has modelled the art of dying.
Read John 10:18, Psalm 31:5
“No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again.” (John 10:18)
Read Luke 23:45
The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. (Luke 23:45)
Read 2 Corinthians 5:21
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Jesus’ sixth statement on the cross was not a cry of anguish; it was a declaration of victory. He had reached the goal and was able to say, “It is finished. Mission accomplished. It’s over.”
Read John 19:28; Psalm 69:20–21
Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” (John 19:28)
Though Jesus became a man, He never was anything less than God. Yet He voluntarily gave up His own rights as God the Son. He submitted Himself to God the Father, so that every word He spoke was as God had Him speak it, and every act was done precisely as God would have Him do it.
Read Matthew 27:45–46; Mark 15:33
At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock....Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:45–46)
Jesus barely clung to life. He was still pushing Himself up against the raw wooden beam to breathe, and then he would slump back down, hanging from the iron nails in His hands. Up and down...up and down. The pain must have been maddening by now.
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