4/19 Matthew 28:8
The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message.
JOY
When we can tell others about what has happened to us it should fill us with joy unless maybe we are not filled with the Holy Spirit. Make sure that you have met Jesus and believe in Him and you will share that word with the World. Declare the Good News. God has come for His children.
4/18 Matthew 28:7
And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”
FIRST
The women were the first to tell of the resurrection. They came, they saw and they obeyed as they ran to tell the disciples. Remember, we are called to receive the Good News and tell everyone about what has happened to us. Believe and tell.
4/17 Matthew 28:5
Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.
FEAR
All of us are fearful creatures because deep in our heart we know that we have a limited time in this world. The Angels knowing this told the women “Don’t be afraid.” Jesus tells us that when we come to Him we no longer have to fear. Our God and Father is in control.
4/16 Matthew 28:2-4
Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. 3 His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. 4 The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.
WRONG
The Jewish leadership and their guards were wrong. They were fighting against God now and they didn’t realize they had made a crucial error-they were not in control, God was.
4/15 Matthew 28:1
Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.
NEW
This visit, this event would change the understanding of all the world. God in the flesh had visited us and died for our sin. Now He has defeated death and risen from the grave. Praise God our savior has risen.
4/14 Matthew 27:62-66
The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. 63 They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ 64 So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.” 65Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.” 66 So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.
LIARS
The leadership, the guards all proven to be liars. They didn’t know what was happening. Jesus has risen from the grave.
4/13 Matthew 27:57-61
As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, 58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. 59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. 60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. 61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.
DONE
They loved Jesus. They were His friends. They thought it was over. They were wrong. It was just beginning. Jesus conquered death by the power of God and rose from the dead.
4/12 Matthew 27:51-56
At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, 52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. 54 The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” 55 And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee.
JESUS
He died to save us. He paid a price we could not pay. He gave a life we could not give. His death insured that we would have the opportunity of new birth into the family of God.
4/11 Matthew 27:32-50
Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 33 And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it. 35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. 36 Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. 37 A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. 40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!” 41 The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. 42 “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him! 43 He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way. 45 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 46 At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 48 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. 49 But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.” 50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.
DEATH
Death on the Cross. A cruel evil way to die and He did it for us.
4/10 Matthew 27:26-31
So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified. 27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.
TRADE
Jesus was traded for sin. He went to the Cross for me and for you. His death paid the price of our sin. I don’t understand it because it is more than anything I could do but I know it and I know that Jesus died for me and He died for you. While we were dead in our trespasses and sin Jesus paid the ultimate price-His life for my life, for your life. Jesus died on the Cross so that we can born again into the family of God and have a relationship with Him.
