The powerful, miraculous Easter message
Jesus lived among the Jews and the gentiles showing us his
Gospel of love, telling us how to live in peace and care for each other.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
(Matthew 22: 37 – 39)
The suffering He endured illustrates how imperfect and cruel
the world can be.
“Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve
disciples aside and said to them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of
Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They
will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and
flogged and crucified…’”
(Matthew 20: 17 -18)
His crucifixion shows us God’s unconditional love.
“In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law
and the elders mocked him, ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save
himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we
will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him,
for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ In the same way the robbers who were
crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
“From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over
all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi,
Eloi, lama sabachtham?’ –which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?”
“When some of those standing there heard this, they said,
“He’s calling Elijah.”
“Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it
with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The
rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave
up his spirit.”
(Matthew 27: 45 – 50)
His resurrection proclaims there’s nothing, not even death,
God can’t overcome.
“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
“There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord
came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on
it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The
guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know
that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has
risen…”
(Matthew 28: 1- 5)
“Where, O death, is your
victory?
Where, O death, if your
sting?
I Co. 15: 55
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