It is a great day to be a Christian, is it not? Let's begin where we left off. But before we do that, let's take a small Jesus Resurrection Bible story detour ... Where did the word Easter come from? Well, the word
itself comes from a prehistoric (times preceding written history) West
Germanic name of a pagan (country dweller, heathen, or irreligious
person) spring festival akin to the Old English word eastre, a form of
the word east. The Latin meaning of the word east is aurora or dawn,
which is a fitting description of spring.
Tsk tsk ... They are always trying to conceal the
TRUTH of Jesus. They have even hidden the Resurrection of Jesus behind
a rabbit that delivers eggs and hides them about. Just as they did
with the birth of Jesus by hiding the TRUTH behind a fat man in a red
suit that delivers toys. It too was a myth that sprung forth from
Germany.
Now, here’s a little Biblical Resurrection Bible study footnote to go along with that.
Easter is always observed on the first Sunday after the full moon, on
or next after the vernal (spring) equinox. What is equinox? Either of
the two times each year (spring and fall) when the sun crosses the
equator and day and night are everywhere of equal length. So, in case
you ever wondered why Easter is sometimes in March and sometimes in
April, now you know.
It would be next to impossible to figure out exactly when Easter really is because of how many times the calendar
has changed since then, as well as converting the dates from the 360
day Hebrew year to the 365 day Gregorian year, etc., etc., etc. Not
only that, but Passover and Easter aren’t at the same time each year
in our modern time, so that should give you a pretty good idea of how
far off things really are.
Now, you’ll find some extremists who’ll want to
nudge your conscience and try to make you feel like you’re doing wrong
by celebrating Easter at all because, after all, it is the name of a
pagan holiday, many are celebrating the arrival of a silly rabbit and
we really don't even know the TRUE date of the Resurrection of our
Lord with all the changes.
This is Satan's intent. To get us to lose sight of the TRUTH of this most AWESOME Jesus Resurrection Bible story. Just remember that our Father judges the HEART of a matter. It is not WHAT you do but WHY
you do. So Celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus in your heart
... EVERY DAY. This act will spoil the intent of
the enemy, while honoring our Lord.
Okay, let’s get on with the Biblical Resurrection Bible study. We ended with our
Lord being crucified and committing His spirit into the hands of God
with His last dying breath. There was a man named Joseph who was of
Arimathea, which was a city of the Jewish people. He was a rich
man, an honorable counselor, who didn’t agree with the counsel of
those who persecuted Jesus.
Secretly, for fear of the Jewish people, because he was a disciple of Jesus and he believed and waited for the Kingdom
of God. When evening came, Joseph came to Pilate and asked if he could
take away the body of Jesus to prepare for the tomb. Pilate wondered
if Jesus was already dead, and called the centurion to ask him. When
he found out, he gave Joseph permission and Joseph took the body of
Jesus down from the Cross.
Joseph bought fine linen for Jesus' burial and
Nicodemus (the ruler who at first came to Jesus by night and Jesus
told him about being born again) also came and brought a mixture of
myrrh and aloes. In the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a
garden with a new sepulchre of stone, where no man had ever been laid
to rest. It is written in Isaiah 53:9
that Jesus would be buried among the rich. Because the Sabbath
was drawing close, and the tomb was nearby, they buried Jesus there,
wrapped in the linen, with the spices, according to the custom of the
Jewish people. Then they rolled a great stone over the cave opening,
creating a seal for the tomb.
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses, sat
nearby and witnessed where Jesus was buried. Then they left and
prepared spices and ointments, and rested on the Sabbath according to
the commandment.
Imagine the confusion, concern and condemnation just before the Jesus Resurrection Bible story Spirit started turning around. The next day, the chief priests and Pharisees went
to Pilate and said, Sir, we remember what that deceiver said, while He
was still alive, After three days I will rise again. Order that the
sepulchre be guarded until the third day, in case His disciples come
at night and steal Him away, and tell the people, He’s risen from the
dead, so the last error shall be worse than the first. (What
they were saying was that if Jesus arose from the dead it would be
worse than the blasphemy they accused Him of.) Pilate allowed them,
saying, Go your way, make it as secure as you can. So they went and
made the sepulchre secure, sealing the stone, and setting guards to
watch.
The Biblical Resurrection Bible study reveals that before dawn, on the morning of the first day of the
week, there was a great earthquake, and the Angel of the Lord
descended from Heaven, and rolled back the stone from the door of
Jesus’ tomb and sat on top of it. His appearance was like lightning,
and His clothes as white as snow. For fear of him, the guards were
shaken, and became as dead men.
Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, with
certain other women, brought the sweet spices that they prepared so
they might anoint Jesus. At dawn they neared the tomb asking among
themselves, Who will roll away the stone from the door of the
sepulchre? When they looked, they saw that the stone had already been
rolled away. Mary Magdalene ran and came to Peter and John, and said,
They’ve taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we don’t know
where they’ve taken Him!
In our Jesus Resurrection Bible study, Peter and John ran together and John came first to
the sepulchre. He stooped down and looking in, he saw the linen
clothes, but he didn’t enter the tomb. Then Peter came following and
went inside, and saw the linen clothes, and the napkin that was around
Jesus’ head wasn’t with the other linen, but wrapped up in a separate
place. Then John went in, and he saw and believed, but still, they
didn’t understand the scripture, that He must rise again from the
dead.
Peter and John left and went back to their home, but
Mary Magdalene stood outside the sepulchre crying, and as she wept,
she stooped down, and looked into the tomb and saw two angels in
white, one sitting at the head and the other at the feet of where the
body of Jesus had been. They said to her, Woman, why are you crying?
Mary answered, Because they’ve taken away my Lord, and I don’t know
where they’ve taken Him.
The Angels said, I know that you’re looking for
Jesus, who was crucified. Why do you look for the living among the
dead? See, the place where they laid Him, He’s not here, but is risen. VERY cool part of the Jesus Resurrection Bible story.
Psalms 16:10
For thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see
corruption. |
Psalms 49:15
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall
receive me. Selah |
Jesus had risen from the dead just as He had
predicted to his Apostles.
Back to the Biblical Resurrection Bible study ...
Then Mary turned around and
saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus. He said to
her, Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for? Mary,
thinking that He was the gardener, said to Him, Sir, if you’ve taken
Him from here, tell me where you’ve laid Him and I’ll take Him away.
Jesus said to her, Mary. She then realized that it
was Jesus and said to Him, Master! Jesus said, Don’t touch me, because
I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren, and tell
them, I ascend to my Father and your Father and to my God and your
God. Mary Magdalene left quickly with the others in fear and great
joy, and ran to tell the disciples.
The Jesus Resurrection Bible story tells us that as the women went to tell the disciples that Jesus
was risen from the dead, He met them saying, All hail. And they came
and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said, Don’t be
afraid, go tell my brethren to go into Galilee and they’ll see me
there.
While they were on their way, the guards of the tomb
came into the city and told the chief priests what had happened. They
met with the elders, and decided to pay the solder’s much money to say
that Jesus’ disciples came in the middle of the night and stole Him
away while they slept. They told the guards that if the governor heard
about it, they’d convince him of their story and they’d be safe. So
they took the money and did what they were told,
and this lie is still told among the Jewish
people to this very day.
So on this mighty Jesus Resurrection Bible day, Mary Magdalene, the woman who Jesus cast seven
devils out of, was the first person Jesus appeared to after His
resurrection, and she went and told the Apostles that she had seen the
Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her. Imagine the joy of
that day!
I want to take this time to remind you that when a
story is told by many different sources, such as this Jesus Resurrection Bible story that you may find a few
differences. This is the case with the Gospels. Each Gospel is a
little different from the other but ALL confirm the TRUTH ...
Jesus came to knowingly and willingly die for our sins. God used the Jewish tradition of Passover as prophecy so that the people would know. Jesus was brought in as the Sacrificial Lamb, just as it was with the Jewish tradition. Jesus was slaughtered just as the Passover Lamb was to be and after 3 days and 3 nights. Jesus rose from the dead.
The Biblical Resurrection Bible study has clearly revealed to us by sharing the Jesus Resurrection Bible story details that the Passover prophecy shows us the undeniable truth that Jesus is Lord. Be sure to check out the Passover Study.