Easter & Resurrection Sunday 24th April 2011

Jesus Dies
Luke 9v44 – 46
44.  Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

45. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.

46. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.

Why Jesus had to die
Jesus’ death is absolutely central to the Christian message.  The message of Christianity is that Jesus came and died in our place, to take the penalty of our sins that we ourselves could not pay.  God is a perfect God, and He demands perfect holiness from the people whom He has created.  As we have all sinned and “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3v23), we have all got a big price to pay to be reconciled to a perfect God. God’s holiness demands blood, from a perfect sacrifice. None of us could pay this price.  Even the most excellent person could not save even themselves by their own blood.

Jesus’ death is the only perfect sacrifice that could have been acceptable to a perfectly holy God.  The Bible teaches that Jesus as a Man was the only perfect, sinless human being that ever lived. Because Jesus died, we do not have to carry our punishment ourselves.  We are saved from going to hell, if we put our trust in Him.  The flip side of this is also true:  if we do not put our trust in Him, and in His sacrifice, then there is no other way we can escape; we have to bear ourselves the punishment for our sin, we have to go to hell.

 

He’s Alive!
John 20v11
11. But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.

12. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

13. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

14. Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.

15. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?  Whom are you seeking?”  She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

16.Jesus said to her “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher)

17. Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father, but go to My brethren and say to them, “I am ascending  to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”

18. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

Jesus is Risen!
Fortunately, the story does not end there – Jesus did not stay dead, He rose again.  Hallelujah, Jesus is alive!  He arose from the dead on that Resurrection Sunday all those centuries ago, and He is still alive today.

Because He has conquered death, then all His followers also have a hope of conquering death.  It is because Jesus arose that the Christian faith was born.  It is because Jesus arose that the early Christians were willing to endure persecution to spread this radical and new message.  It is because Jesus arose that I am writing this post, and I have written all my other posts.

I am not inviting you to admire a great but fallen hero, a good man, with radical teaching.  I am inviting you to surrender your lives to the risen King, the God who died to save His creation, but who arose from the dead and reigns in glorious majesty today.

Come worship Him today, Jesus the King of Majesty!