It was nine in the morning when they crucified Jesus. The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews. On the cross, Jesus hung. On His left and on His right were also two criminals hanging on their crosses.
Although sinless, righteous, and faultless, the full penalty for every sin and every curse was placed upon Him.
Soldiers, rulers, and the people mocked Him and ridiculed Him and sneered at Him. From the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.
About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
“It is finished.”
And with His last breath:
“Father, into Your hands, I commit My spirit.”
The earth shook, rocks split and tombs broke open. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. No longer was there any separation between God and man!
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself a disciple of Jesus, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.
The chief priests and the Pharisees also went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
Now, we all know what happened next. However, imagine being a disciple of Jesus between the death and resurrection of Jesus. Imagine what that day must have been like. The crowds that ushered you into Jerusalem shouting, “Hosanna!” just shouted, “Crucify!” They would recognize you as a follower of Jesus whom they just murdered. What would they do to you?
I’m certain that fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and confusion tried to steal away their hope, peace, confidence, and faith.
At least three times, Jesus warned His disciples that this was going to happen. In fact, as they walked together to Jerusalem just before this all took place, He reminded them again:
Matthew 20:18-19
“We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
Did they remember this? Would they put their trust in Jesus’ word and promise? Would they choose to stand on this promise, or be pulled astray by their racing thoughts and emotions?
How do we respond throughout our own waiting seasons?
Are we praising and worshipping and serving and praying and reading and seeking and gathering with other believers? Are we at peace confidently certain that God will fulfill His word and take care of us?
Or are we worrying sick and afraid and frustrated and doing everything that we can to figure things out and to make things work out on our own?
Tragically, Judas couldn’t handle the guilt of what he had done and took his own life. He didn’t stick around long enough to see Jesus again and to seek forgiveness…
Thankfully for the other followers of Jesus, they didn’t have to wait very long!
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.”
The bodies of many holy people who had died were also raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
The women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell His disciples. When they met up with the other disciples, two of them shared how Jesus had also met them on the road to Emmaus.
While they were sharing with one another, Jesus stood there among them.
He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
Afraid, and yet filled with joy! They were seeing the resurrected Jesus face-to-face and yet they still were frightened and startled and doubted what they were experiencing. They had already seen Lazarus walk out of the grave and met with him several times after as well. Jesus told them at that time that He not only had the power to resurrect the dead, but that He was the resurrection!
However, they thought they were seeing a ghost! He told them to touch His hands and feet to prove that He was indeed physically risen from the dead. He even ate some fish right there with them. Perhaps it was just too good to be true to them?
Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus is alive! He reigns eternally forevermore! King of kings and Lord of lords! ALL power and ALL authority over ALL things has been placed into His hands! Not even sin or curses or Satan or even death, itself could stop Him! Jesus is alive!
In fact, Jesus didn’t only appear to the disciples on these few occasions, either. He met with them many times over the course of forty days and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He didn’t only appear to His disciples, either! Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 15:1-8
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all He appeared to me also.
Jesus is alive! This changes everything for us!
None of us are ever too far gone for God to forgive us and reconcile us to Himself and restore us and fulfill His plans and purposes for which we were created!
We have hope because it’s not over yet!
We don’t put our faith in some religion made up by people. We put our faith in the One, True, Living God! We have a great, high priest who lived life in this flesh just like you and I. He was tested and tried and tempted just like we are and yet never once sinned. He can completely relate to us!
He has also gone ahead of us in victory. He is calling us all TO a victory FROM a victory! He not only knows the way, He is the way. He not only knows the truth, He is the truth. He not only knows how to live this life, He is our life!
His resurrection is an assurance for us.
Romans 8:11 (TPT)
Yes, God raised Jesus to life! And since God’s Spirit of Resurrection lives in you, He will also raise your dying body to life by the same Spirit that breathes life into you!
We have received a deposit of the Holy Spirit guaranteeing what is to come for us no matter what we face in life. We will win! We will walk through this life, face all of its challenges and troubles and discouragements and we will win! We will leave behind the current order of things and enter into a new order of things where every wrong is made right; where there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain!
Because He lives, we will also live eternally with Him!
This eternal life doesn’t begin when we are either raptured or die, either. It begins the very moment that we put our faith in Jesus and decide to live the rest of our lives by that faith!
We are a new creation, the old self is gone and the new self is here! We are being resurrected even now into our new life found in Jesus! The same Holy Spirit who rose Jesus from the grave lives in us! We have been empowered by the ever-abundant grace of God to be more than overcomers in this life!
Like the day between the crucifixion and resurrection, it may look like we are losing right now. It may look like things are over. It may seem hopeless. However, in Jesus, there is always hope and it’s not over for us until Jesus says that it is! Jesus has the final say in our lives!