Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

Wednesday, April 17, 2013          My Burial     

Page 309      Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47, 16:1; Luke 23:50-56;

John 19:38-42

Joseph of Arimathea, after receiving permission from Pilate to bury Jesus, had to hurry as it was already late in the evening on Friday. The Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday, and continues through sundown on Saturday. He had to purchase a burial shroud and place Jesus in a tomb before sundown.

“On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation” (Genesis 2:3-4).

Jesus had completed his work as the Messiah of God, so on the seventh day he rested from all of his work.

The entirety of the Christian faith rests on one and only one event: the Resurrection. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless” (1 Cor. 15:14). By the time the Gospels were written various stories had been put forth by the religious leaders to try and discredit the Resurrection. Some would say Jesus never died. Some would say his body was stolen from the grave. In the reading today, all those stories are put to rest. If you are going to doubt the Resurrection, then you must doubt whether God could, or would, raise the Messiah from the dead, not whether Jesus was actually dead and buried. Before the Gospels could announce the Resurrection, they first had to establish Jesus was dead and buried. Thus, the text for today became the basis for the Apostles’ Creed to affirm: “(Jesus) suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead.”

Jesus was laid in a tomb so that he could spend the seventh day in a Sabbath rest; but Jesus isn’t through. The first day of the new week is coming. Sunday promises to be the first day of God’s New Creation.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  In addition to this BLOG they are distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

The second edition of my book, First Think – Then Pray has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BGQL5JC

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

Thursday, April 18, 2013    My Tomb was Sealed / My Tomb was Empty   

Page 313-321         Matthew 27:62-66, 28:1-15; Mark 16:2-8b, 9-11;

Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18