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Crossroads Community Church


Sunday April 5th, 2015
This Sunday was a celebration in honor of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We came to praise and worship the Risen King, the conqueror of death! Pastor Don shared announcements, prayer requests and prayed,” Dear Father God we thank you for your Son's life, death and above all His resurrection by which he brings us grace, forgiveness and hope of a New life spending eternity with you, guide our hearts this morning to vanquish any doubt we may have concerning Jesus, in His precious name Amen.”
The resurrection of Jesus is the pivotal truth of our faith, without it our faith is empty and useless, (I Corinthians 15:13-18). The central focus of our faith is that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy about himself, he spoke plainly to his disciples about his arrest, humiliation and eventual death but they did not grasp what He was saying, (Luke 18:31-33). Many skeptics of his true death and resurrection have adopted the swoon theory; that Jesus somehow took some drug that made him appear dead and that the cool air of the tomb revived him. This theory just doesn't hold water; let us examine what actually happened to Jesus.
We know by written accounts that Jesus in fact was flogged by a whip with iron ball spiked tips, this embedded into his skin and tore flesh away, his flogging was so severe and lost such an excessive amount of blood he could not even carry the cross, the soldiers asked a man named Simon to carry it for Him, (John 19:1, Matthew 27:32). Romans were expert executioners and determining when someone was dead, crucifixion was death by asphyxiation. They nailed Jesus through his feet and his arms stretched out nailed through his wrists which would hasten the blood loss, not through his hands for it would not have held him up on the cross. In this position death was usually pretty quick as in order to breathe Jesus would have had to push up on his feet which would rub his raw back against the wood of the cross causing more blood loss. There simply is no way Jesus or any man could survive this method of execution. Normally to speed up death, the Romans would break the legs and since Sabbath was eminent, the bodies needed to be taken down promptly but when the soldier came to Jesus he did not break his legs as Jesus was already dead. Furthermore to certify that Jesus was dead the eyewitness soldier pierced Jesus on His side into his heart with a spear and water and blood flowed out, thus confirming that he was indeed dead, “The soldiers did this in fulfillment of the Scripture that says, “Not one of his bones shall be broken,” and, “They shall look on him whom they pierced.” John 19:33-36.
Let us now observe his burial, Pilate ordered that the tomb in which Jesus was placed would be guarded, if any soldier failed at guarding a tomb they could be executed so it was vital that they stay alert, (Matthew 27:65-66). So we know for a fact that he was dead and buried with the customary Jewish ritual with herbs, incense, myrrh and cloths wrapped his body, “Together they wrapped Jesus' body in a long linen cloth saturated with the spices, as is the Jewish custom of burial,” John 19:40. We also know the tomb was guarded and there is no possible way that someone on their own could remove the stone without being seen by a soldier. Jesus said he would rise after three days and as believers we believe He truly did as no body was ever found and many written accounts confirm seeing him after his crucifixion.
On the third day Mary Magdalene went to the tomb to complete the burial for Jesus but when she arrived, the stone was rolled away, and Jesus was not there, the tomb was empty. An Angel was present and told Mary that Jesus had Risen from the dead! He then urged her to go tell the disciples and that Jesus was going ahead of her, (Matthew 28:1-7). Mary was the first eyewitness of the resurrection but there were many more accounts recorded during 40 days before He returned to his Father, the apostles all saw Him, then 500 hundred others and Paul, (Acts 1:3, 1 Corinthians).
Beloved Jesus is God in the Flesh, He is the Messiah, He is the only way to our Father in Heaven. It isn't the easiest way but the most secure, Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” John 14:6.He forgives us when we humbly ask Him, (John 1:9). He knew the cost, He knew we were the cause but he couldn't bear to spend eternity without us so He chose the nails, He took our penalty for our sins upon himself so that we could come to Him and He will not turn us away when we do. If we have ever had any doubts of His resurrection, we know the tomb is empty. If we've felt lonely and rejected, Jesus truly cares for us. If we feel helpless and too weak to change, He can give us the grace we need to do all things. If we feel the weight of guilt and shame, God has accepted the sacrifice of Jesus as payment for our sins and if we have ever questioned where we are headed after our life is over, Jesus has conquered death so we can have the assurance of forever living with Him. With Jesus all is made new, we can have a fresh start with Him right now if we believe in Him and receive Him in our hearts! Because He lives we can face tomorrow! Asherey Shalom
Post date: 2015-04-08 19:27:54
Post date GMT: 2015-04-08 23:27:54
Post modified date: 2015-04-15 19:37:46
Post modified date GMT: 2015-04-15 23:37:46
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