The Best News Ever! (Part 5 of 5)

Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection were no surprise to Him.  He came to earth - "to seek and to save the lost."  His work on Calvary, His burial in a borrowed tomb, and His resurrection were all designed by His Father.  Without these well-planned events, we could have no salvation!

April 13, 2021

"And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen: remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."

Luke 24:5-7

Part 5

Yesterday:  Jesus’ Awful, Horrible, Dreadful, Shocking, but Exceptionally Beautiful Words
“Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men.”

Knowing what was coming, Jesus was obedient to His Father’s will all the way to the end.

 

Today:  More of those Shocking and Beautiful Words.  Jesus, Through Death to His Resurrection

Can you imagine this?  Some people think that Jesus had not planned on dying and that His death on the cross was an accident!  Seeing all of the scriptures that predict His death, burial, and resurrection, the “accidental theory” is ridiculous!  It has the devil’s fingerprints all over it!  Jesus knew why He came to earth,

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10).

And the process to win back fallen man must involve two things.

From God:  A blood sacrifice, with a sacrifice that is sinless.

From the sinner:  Faith to believe in Jesus’ person and work for him or her, on the cross.

“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The process of saving the lost had to involve “the shedding of blood.”  Jesus’ death was no accident!  And it was certainly no mistake that Jesus “got caught!”  His Passion is all a part of His Father’s eternal plan to redeem sinful man to Himself.  Jesus’ spilled blood is required for our salvation.

“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

 

“And be crucified.”
This is one of the most painful and cruel deaths.  No doubt, when Jesus mentioned the words “be crucified,” His followers shrank back in disgusted shock.

“Surely, this will never happen to our Master!”

They have seen criminals die like this at the hands of the Romans.
Jesus could never do anything wrong to deserve this kind of death! But He could voluntarily die in someone else’s place.

Jesus told His followers that after enduring abuse throughout the night, He will be hanged naked, on the cross for all to see and mock, as He suffers that agonizing death.  Crucifixion is reserved in the Roman way of punishment for the worst of sinners.  Jesus had never sinned, but He died for all sinners paying for the sin of the world (1 John 2:1-2).

These words have been ugly up to this point.  Now we will see the ugly story turn beautiful!  Praise God that Jesus’ story does not end with Him in Joseph of Arimathea’s borrowed tomb!

 

“And the third day rise again.”
In their grief, Jesus’ followers have totally forgotten His promise that He will “rise again.”  Just as Jesus “must be delivered,” and “be crucified,” He also must also “rise again!”  For His Father has ordained this.  Here is how Peter preached this truth at Pentecost,

“…this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:23-24, ESV).

Jesus must rise again from the dead because God said it’s impossible for death to hold Him in the grave!

“Remember how he spake unto you?”

Finally, the mist clears from the women’s memories,

And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest” (Luke 24:8-9).

The glorious Gospel message is complete!  And Jesus’ resurrection changes everything!  PTL!

 

Quote:  “The resurrection of Jesus changes the face of death for all His people.  Death is no longer a prison but a passage into God’s presence.  Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there”[1] (Clarence W. Hall).

 

 

 

[1] Hall’s quote Downloaded: Friday, April 2, 2021.  From: https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/quotes-about-the-resurrection-23-good-sayings/.