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Resurrection Day from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

This is Resurrection Day, the final day of Holy Week, which began on Palm Sunday around 33 AD. Jesus Christ would have been in his early thirties. The numbers coincide because BC and AD were created to date the birth of Jesus Christ, so he was 33 years old, and it was about 33 AD, though historical date discrepancies may put his birth a few years earlier. 

Let's review some of the events in the life of Jesus that week. 

Palm Sunday: Jesus Christ rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. He had recently raised Lazarus from the dead, who had lain in the grave for four days. Word had gotten out, and crowds of people were waiting to greet Him, waving palm branches and shouting "Hosanna!" Jesus wept over Jerusalem, then went to the temple, looked around, and, because of the late hour, left and spent the night in Bethany. 

(Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, John 12:12-19).

Holy Monday: Jesus and the twelve Apostles leave Bethany and return to Jerusalem, about two miles away. It was morning, and He was hungry. When He saw a fig tree with green leaves, they went over to it, hoping for something to eat, but found nothing, so He cursed it. Basically, the fig tree was false advertising. It had green leaves, so it should have, at the very least, edible buds. It had nothing. The fig tree was symbolic of the state of Israel, which had all the outward appearances of a God-fearing people but no fruit. 

Jesus came to the temple, which was meant to be a "House of Prayer" but was now a "Den of Thieves." The temple practices were riddled with greed, corruption, and exploitation of the faithful who came to worship God. It is said that the high priest auctioned merchant stalls to the highest bidder when there should have been none there, to begin with. 

The temple only accepted Jewish currencies, so the money changers would exchange foreign currencies for an exorbitant rate. If you brought a sheep to offer, there would be "sheep inspectors" who may reject your sheep but then sell you an acceptable "overpriced" one. These were extortionists, who took advantage of unprepared travelers. Jesus proceeded to drive the money changers and animal sellers out of the temple area and overturned their tables. The apostles must have stared with open mouths, watching their Master at work. When evening came, He went out of the city.

(Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-18, Luke 19:45-48).

Holy Tuesday: Jesus and the twelve return to Jerusalem and spend the day with intensive teaching. Tuesday spans several chapters. The chief priests, scribes, and elders come to question His authority to do "these things." They were probably referring to Him chasing merchants around with a whip the day before. Jesus said He would tell them if they told Him if the baptism of John was from God or man. They would not answer Him, so He did not answer them. 

After the disciples pointed out the temple buildings, Jesus prophesied about their coming destruction in 70 AD. Jesus taught in the temple and then left the city for the Mount of Olives, where He taught His disciples privately what is called the "Olivet Discourse," covering the destruction of the temple, signs of the end times, the abomination of desolation, and the need for watchfulness.  

(Matthew 21:23-26:5, Mark 11:27-13:37, Luke 20:1-21:36).

Holy (Spy) Wednesday: While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the Leper, a woman poured a very expensive flask of Spikenard over Jesus' head. One of the apostles, Judas Iscariot, complained that this was worth a year's wages and should have been sold and given to the poor. But the Apostle John wrote that Judas said this only because he was a thief and used to help himself to their money bag (John 12:4-6). 

After Jesus rebuked him, satan entered Judas, and he went and met with the chief priests. He agreed to lead them to Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. This is also called "Spy Wednesday" because Judas Iscariot was spying on Jesus, intending to betray Him. 

(Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11, Luke 22:3-6).

Maundy Thursday: In the Bible, a day begins at sunset and lasts until the following sunset (Genesis 1:5), so if Passover was on a Friday, then it began on Thursday evening that year. So Jesus and the twelve Apostles gathered in the upper room for their last supper together, a Passover meal. The Apostles had been arguing about which of them was the greatest and didn't know that Jesus would be crucified in less than twenty-four hours. 

Because the servant was missing, Jesus washed the feet of the Apostles one by one. Then Jesus institutes the Eucharist, saying, "Do this in remembrance of Me." After supper, they sang a hymn together and went out to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. 

Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him and prayed for an hour, going back and praying the same words three times until His sweat was as great drops of blood falling to the ground. An angel appeared to Jesus to strengthen Him. 

Immediately after praying, a great multitude with swords and clubs led by Judas Iscariot showed up to arrest Jesus. Judas had told the mob that He would kiss Jesus on the cheek, and he betrayed Jesus Christ with a kiss. Peters pulls a sword and chops off the high priest servant's ear, but Jesus says that is enough and heals him. Jesus agrees to go with them if they allow His disciples to leave in peace. 

(Matthew 26:17-75, Mark 14:12-72, Luke 22:7-65, John 13:1-18:27).

Good Friday: Jesus is rushed through a mock trial because His fate was already decided before He was arrested. They first took Jesus to the house of the high priest's father-in-law, Annas, for illegal questioning during the night. The guards mock Jesus and beat Him, and then they take Him to the Sanhedrin (Jewish Court), where He is questioned by the high priest Caiaphas. Meanwhile, Judas Iscariot hangs himself, and Peter denies knowing Jesus three times. 

The Sanhedrin court quickly condemns Jesus, so he is taken to the local Roman authority, Pontius Pilate, for sentencing. But he is confused and doesn't know what to do about their mysterious charges, so he sends Jesus to Herod Antipas, the current "king of the Jews," or, more accurately, "Roman puppet."  

Herod questions Jesus but gets no answers, so he mocks Him, dresses Him in a royal robe, and sends Jesus back to Pilate, who wants nothing to do with this case. Jesus is like a hot potato. Pilate offers to release Jesus to the crowd that has gathered, but they request the murderer, Barabas, to be released instead.

It was as if a legion of demons were attacking Jesus through the people. They spit on Him and beat Him with rods and whips, dressed Him in mockup clothes, and put a crown of thorns on His head. The crowd shouts, "Crucify Him," tears their clothes, and throws dust into the air. Finally, Pilate gives the insane mob what they want and hands Jesus over to be crucified. The Roman soldiers scourge Jesus, place a crown of thorns on Him, and drag Him out of town to Golgotha.

At about 9 AM (the third hour counting from 6 AM), Jesus is crucified, and at 3 PM, He dies. A sign above His head reads, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." There was a great earthquake, the sun grew dark, the veil in the temple was torn, and some dead people in the tombs came back to life. 

Between 3 and 6 PM, Joseph of Arimathea requested the body of Jesus, and after Pilate had checked that Jesus was certainly dead, he granted his request. Joseph, probably with the help of others, took the body of Jesus down from the cross, wrapped it in fine linen, and placed it in his own tomb. Nicodemus brought myrrh and aloes for the burial. Then, they rolled a large stone in front of the doorway. 

(Matthew 27:1-60, Mark 15:1-47, Luke 23:1-56, John 18:28-19:42).

Holy Saturday: Jesus' beaten, cut, and pierced body lies lifeless, entombed in a cold cave. This was the Sabbath day, and no one traveled or did any work. Yet, the chief priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate and asked him to set a guard over the tomb. A watch of at least four Roman soldiers placed a seal on the stone in the doorway and stood guard over it. Breaking the Roman seal was a sentence of death, and the guards would also be executed if they allowed anyone inside. Apparently, during this time, Jesus was still preaching the Gospel to some (1 Peter 3:18-20). (Matthew 27:61-66, Mark 16:1, Luke 23:56).

Resurrection Sunday (Easter): Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, dawn on Sunday, an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled back the stone from the tomb, and sat on it. The hardened Roman legionnaires looked up at him and fainted straight away. Later, the religious leaders bribe the guards to lie about what happened and say that the disciples had stolen the body.

Some women, including Mary Magdalene, came to the tomb to bring spices they had prepared and saw that the stone had been rolled away. The angel told them that Jesus had risen and the tomb was empty. So the women ran to tell the Apostles, but they thought it sounded like a fairy tale. Peter and John came running to the tomb to check it and also found it empty. The Apostle John noted that he outran Peter. So who's the greatest now? (John 20:4).

On that first Easter Sunday, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene and then to the "other" Mary. That same day, Jesus appeared to Cleophas and another disciple walking along the road to Emmaus and broke bread with them in the evening. On the evening of that first Easter Sunday, Jesus appeared to ten of the Apostles in a locked room in Jerusalem and showed them His hands and side (John 20:19-23; Luke 24:36-43). Judas was dead, and Thomas was absent.

After this, Jesus appeared to seven disciples, fishing on the Sea of Galilee, giving them a miraculous catch of fish, and having breakfast with them. Then, Jesus appeared to the eleven Apostles on a mountain in Galilee with Thomas present. Paul mentioned that Jesus appeared to more than five hundred brethren at once (1 Corinthians 15:6).

(Matthew 28:1-20, Mark 16:1-20, Luke 24:1-53, John 20:1-21:25).

When Jesus was on the cross and said, "It is finished," the veil in the temple that separated humans from the presence of God was torn from top to bottom, making a way for us to come into the very presence of God, into the Holy of Holies. Jesus Christ was sinless, but He went to the cross because of our sins that had separated us from God.

Jesus Christ washed away our sins with His own blood, and when God looks at you now, He sees the work of Jesus. That is how you get in the right standing with God, accepting what Jesus Christ has already done and allowing Him to change you from the inside out. Anything you can do now is trivial to what Christ has already done. 

Thank God for Resurrection Day.

You can pray this with me if you like: 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You so much for giving us Your Son and for caring so much for someone as insignificant as me. You are so good, and though I don't understand everything, I do understand that. I love You with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. May Your perfect will be done in my life. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!