HE HAS RISEN!

“I am the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
John 11:25-26

“For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!”
Job 19:25-27 ESV

Jesus Is Buried Matthew 27:57-61 ESV

“When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.”

The death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God Matthew 27:45-54 ESV

Now from the sixth hour[a] there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

The Scriptures, the Cross and the Power of God
Reflections for Holy Week by N. T. Wright, chapter 2, page 17, paragraph 3

“…at the end of John’s story of the woman caught in adultery. How easy it is for us to gloss over the last line. What we want is the word of forgiveness: ‘No more do I condemn you.’ What we would rather not hear is the necessary word that follows: ‘Go and do not sin again.’ As in the Sermon on the Mount, the great blessings to all and sundry at the beginning are match by the stark warnings at the end: some will say, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but the Lord will not recognize them. As in the parables of Matthew 13, the good and bad are kept together for the moment, but ultimately separated out. Because, of course, without the warnings, grace is subverted into mere tolerance. One of the great moral and spiritual fault lines of our times lies just here. Paul puts his finger on it in Romans 6:1: If God acts in lavish grace to utter sinners, wouldn’t it be best to go on being utter sinners so that we can get more grace? Paul’s answer—Matthew’s answer—Jesus’ answer—is quite simple. Let it not be. Many are called; few are chosen.”

Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness by John Donne (Excerpt)

We think that Paradise and Calvary,
Christ’s cross, and Adam’s tree, stood in one place;
Look, Lord, and find both Adams met in me;
As the first Adam’s sweat surrounds my face,
May the last Adam’s blood my soul embrace.

So, in his purple wrapp’d, receive me, Lord;
By these his thorns, give me his other crown;
And as to others’ souls I preach’d thy word,
Be this my text, my sermon to mine own:
“Therefore, that he may raise, the Lord throws down.”

Paul’s address to the Athenians.
Acts 17:24-31 New International Version (NIV)
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man (Adam) He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’
“Therefore, since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man (Jesus) He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

Excerpted from John Donne’s Meditation XVII–year, 1624

“Now this bell tolling softly for another, says to me, Thou must die.”
“No man is an island entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the maine;
if a Clod be washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse,
as well as if a Promontorie were,
as well as if a Manor of thy friends or of thine own were.
Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls.
It tolls for thee.”

“Donne is approaching death. Hearing a church bell signifying a funeral, he observes that every death diminishes the large fabric of humanity. We are all in this world together, and we ought to use the suffering of others to learn how to live better so that we are better prepared for our own death, which is merely a translation to another world.” https://www.gradesaver.com/donne-poems/study-guide/summary-meditation-17

If you are so inclined, look up the whole Meditation XVII by John Donne.. It is worth the read and prescient for our present time, indeed, any time in history.

On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time riding on a donkey.
“A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Just five days later many from that same crowd gathered in front of Pontius Pilate and cried,
“Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
Forty days later on the day of Pentecost after Peter preached a powerful sermon to many of that same crowd, the Scripture records—
“Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Let us begin Holy Week with praises to Him with hearts intent on repentance.

Last week our pastor showed a brief video of his son and grandchildren singing a song I sang often with children when I was teaching Good News Clubs for Child Evangelism Fellowship. It is simple and true. And like most simple, sometimes obvious truth, it is also profound. Many will know this song.

My God is so great, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do.
My God is so great, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do.
The mountains are His.
The valleys are His.
The stars are His handiwork, too.
My God is so great, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do.