Easter is a celebration of hope! God's great love for us was displayed on the Cross, and His power was demonstrated through the empty tomb. The Easter season provides an opportunity to reflect on the great hope we have because of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.
As you prepare your heart for Easter, perhaps during the season of Lent, we pray that these short devotionals centered on Christ's death and resurrection will remind you anew of the true, living hope we have in this world: Jesus Christ!
Believe Me When I Say
So will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matthew 12:40
A little boy walked up to a lady sitting under an umbrella on the beach: “Are you a Christian?” “Yes, I am,” she replied. “Do you read your Bible every day?” “Yes, I do.” “Do you pray often?” Yes, again. “Well,” the lad concluded, “will you hold my quarter while I go swimming?”
Trustworthiness is developed by telling the truth and, more importantly, never failing to do what has been promised. It only takes one unkept promise or one lie to destroy credibility and become an untrustworthy person. Take the resurrection of Jesus, for instance. Many times during His three-year ministry on earth He foretold that He would be killed but would rise from the dead after three days. And that’s exactly what happened! That may be the most astounding self-fulfilling prediction ever made. The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead exactly as He foretold gives us confidence in everything else He said. If there is anything Jesus said that you are tempted to question, remember the Resurrection. He proved His word is good.
A. M Hunter said it this way: “Christ either deceived mankind by conscious fraud, or He was himself deluded, or He was divine. There is no getting away from this trilemma.”
Matthew 12:40
A little boy walked up to a lady sitting under an umbrella on the beach: “Are you a Christian?” “Yes, I am,” she replied. “Do you read your Bible every day?” “Yes, I do.” “Do you pray often?” Yes, again. “Well,” the lad concluded, “will you hold my quarter while I go swimming?”
Trustworthiness is developed by telling the truth and, more importantly, never failing to do what has been promised. It only takes one unkept promise or one lie to destroy credibility and become an untrustworthy person. Take the resurrection of Jesus, for instance. Many times during His three-year ministry on earth He foretold that He would be killed but would rise from the dead after three days. And that’s exactly what happened! That may be the most astounding self-fulfilling prediction ever made. The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead exactly as He foretold gives us confidence in everything else He said. If there is anything Jesus said that you are tempted to question, remember the Resurrection. He proved His word is good.
A. M Hunter said it this way: “Christ either deceived mankind by conscious fraud, or He was himself deluded, or He was divine. There is no getting away from this trilemma.”
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The Loyal Disciple
Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.
John 13:23
The Greek word agape is one of the most important words in the New Testament. It means “unconditional love”—the no-strings attached love with which God loves us. Agape’s Hebrew parallel in the Old Testament, hesed, is less familiar but no less important. It means “loyal love” and describes God’s everlasting love for His people Israel (and Israel’s spiritual descendants, the Church).
Loyalty is almost a lost value in today’s world. Everything seems to be for sale including friendship, affection, and devotion—the things which make up loyalty. Even Jesus’ disciples found themselves lacking in loyalty on the day Jesus was crucified—all the disciples except one, that is. The disciple named John seems to have had a devotion to Jesus which the others lacked prior to His resurrection. John was the only one of the original band of disciples who stood at the foot of the cross in Jesus’ final hours. John was loyal to the very end. Every Christian should ask himself, “Would I have been there with John? Will I be loyal to Jesus regardless of the price?”
The deeper our understanding of God’s agape, the deeper the manifestation of our hesed.
John 13:23
The Greek word agape is one of the most important words in the New Testament. It means “unconditional love”—the no-strings attached love with which God loves us. Agape’s Hebrew parallel in the Old Testament, hesed, is less familiar but no less important. It means “loyal love” and describes God’s everlasting love for His people Israel (and Israel’s spiritual descendants, the Church).
Loyalty is almost a lost value in today’s world. Everything seems to be for sale including friendship, affection, and devotion—the things which make up loyalty. Even Jesus’ disciples found themselves lacking in loyalty on the day Jesus was crucified—all the disciples except one, that is. The disciple named John seems to have had a devotion to Jesus which the others lacked prior to His resurrection. John was the only one of the original band of disciples who stood at the foot of the cross in Jesus’ final hours. John was loyal to the very end. Every Christian should ask himself, “Would I have been there with John? Will I be loyal to Jesus regardless of the price?”
The deeper our understanding of God’s agape, the deeper the manifestation of our hesed.
Failed, But Not Finished
And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
Luke 22:61-62
It doesn’t happen often, thankfully, but it does happen: An employee makes a serious mistake that costs the company a large amount of money—and the employee is let go from his job. Whatever the reason for the mistake—negligence, poor judgment, or an honest error—the employer can’t risk it happening again.
Aren’t you thankful God has a different perspective on our failures? Granted, most of our failures may be small. But the principle of holiness is that to fail in one thing is like to fail in everything (James 2:10). If God judged us on our works, none of us could be saved. Before he came to understand grace, the apostle Peter probably thought he was finished when he denied knowing Christ three times. Yet Jesus, after the Resurrection, reached out to Peter and embraced him, recommissioning Peter in His service (John 21).
Never forget: We are saved by grace through faith, not by works. Our salvation, and our ministry, is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8–10).
Luke 22:61-62
It doesn’t happen often, thankfully, but it does happen: An employee makes a serious mistake that costs the company a large amount of money—and the employee is let go from his job. Whatever the reason for the mistake—negligence, poor judgment, or an honest error—the employer can’t risk it happening again.
Aren’t you thankful God has a different perspective on our failures? Granted, most of our failures may be small. But the principle of holiness is that to fail in one thing is like to fail in everything (James 2:10). If God judged us on our works, none of us could be saved. Before he came to understand grace, the apostle Peter probably thought he was finished when he denied knowing Christ three times. Yet Jesus, after the Resurrection, reached out to Peter and embraced him, recommissioning Peter in His service (John 21).
Never forget: We are saved by grace through faith, not by works. Our salvation, and our ministry, is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8–10).
It Is Finished!
So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
John 19:30
Imagine all the different “finish” points in sending men to the moon and back in the late 1960s. The design was finished; the training was finished; the launch was finished; the moonwalk was finished; the return was finished—it took many “finishes” for the whole project to be “finished.”
And so it was with the work of Christ when He came to secure mankind’s redemption. Let’s look at three: the Cross, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. On the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished,” referring to His death for our sins. He had said earlier that His mission was “to finish [the Father’s] work” (John 4:34). But His death would have been incomplete without the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17). And the final “finish” in Christ’s work came when He ascended to heaven forty days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:9–11). He came to earth, completed the Father’s work, and returned to the Father in heaven.
Nothing remains to be done to secure our redemption for eternity. “It is finished.” We just need to believe and embrace this gift.
John 19:30
Imagine all the different “finish” points in sending men to the moon and back in the late 1960s. The design was finished; the training was finished; the launch was finished; the moonwalk was finished; the return was finished—it took many “finishes” for the whole project to be “finished.”
And so it was with the work of Christ when He came to secure mankind’s redemption. Let’s look at three: the Cross, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. On the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished,” referring to His death for our sins. He had said earlier that His mission was “to finish [the Father’s] work” (John 4:34). But His death would have been incomplete without the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17). And the final “finish” in Christ’s work came when He ascended to heaven forty days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:9–11). He came to earth, completed the Father’s work, and returned to the Father in heaven.
Nothing remains to be done to secure our redemption for eternity. “It is finished.” We just need to believe and embrace this gift.
The Benchmark of Our Faith
And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
1 Corinthians 15:14
The Christian apologist and author C.S. Lewis made an interesting observation about Jesus’ practice of saying to people, “I forgive you.” It is natural for us to forgive people for things they have done to us. But what do we say if someone cheats you out of ten dollars and I say, “That’s all right; I forgive him.”
When a person goes around forgiving people who haven’t done anything to harm that person, something seems amiss. The Pharisees caught the problem immediately when they said to Jesus, “Why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7) Exactly. So Jesus was saying He was God. Now anyone could make that claim, and many have. What’s needed is something to back up those claims. Jesus did many such things, all of which led up to the greatest proof of all: His resurrection from the dead. There are some things only God can do—like forgiving sin and conquering death. And Jesus did them all. The Resurrection is the ultimate, historical benchmark for your faith. Jesus is God—the Resurrection proves it.
Your faith can remain full because Jesus’ grave remains empty—that is the best news imaginable.
1 Corinthians 15:14
The Christian apologist and author C.S. Lewis made an interesting observation about Jesus’ practice of saying to people, “I forgive you.” It is natural for us to forgive people for things they have done to us. But what do we say if someone cheats you out of ten dollars and I say, “That’s all right; I forgive him.”
When a person goes around forgiving people who haven’t done anything to harm that person, something seems amiss. The Pharisees caught the problem immediately when they said to Jesus, “Why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7) Exactly. So Jesus was saying He was God. Now anyone could make that claim, and many have. What’s needed is something to back up those claims. Jesus did many such things, all of which led up to the greatest proof of all: His resurrection from the dead. There are some things only God can do—like forgiving sin and conquering death. And Jesus did them all. The Resurrection is the ultimate, historical benchmark for your faith. Jesus is God—the Resurrection proves it.
Your faith can remain full because Jesus’ grave remains empty—that is the best news imaginable.
What If?
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:20
What if…?
What if the body of Jesus were still moldering somewhere in a Middle Eastern grave? The apostle Paul envisions that scenario and shows us the dire consequences: “If Christ is not risen,” he wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, “your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished” (verses 17–18). All is lost, he said, and all hope is gone. “If in this life only we have hope in Christ,” we are pitiable indeed (verse 19).
“But,” Paul quickly added in verse 20, “now Christ is risen from the dead!”
Without the Resurrection, we’re like the Swiss philosopher Henri-Frederic Amiel who wrote, “Melancholy is at the bottom of everything, just as at the end of all rivers is the sea. Can it be otherwise in a world where nothing lasts, where all that we have loved or shall love must die?”
With the Resurrection, we can say with full hearts, “He is risen, He is risen indeed!”
1 Corinthians 15:20
What if…?
What if the body of Jesus were still moldering somewhere in a Middle Eastern grave? The apostle Paul envisions that scenario and shows us the dire consequences: “If Christ is not risen,” he wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, “your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished” (verses 17–18). All is lost, he said, and all hope is gone. “If in this life only we have hope in Christ,” we are pitiable indeed (verse 19).
“But,” Paul quickly added in verse 20, “now Christ is risen from the dead!”
Without the Resurrection, we’re like the Swiss philosopher Henri-Frederic Amiel who wrote, “Melancholy is at the bottom of everything, just as at the end of all rivers is the sea. Can it be otherwise in a world where nothing lasts, where all that we have loved or shall love must die?”
With the Resurrection, we can say with full hearts, “He is risen, He is risen indeed!”
Raised Incorruptible
We shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Something remarkable happened to the crucified body of Jesus Christ early on Easter Sunday. In a flash of glory, His body was totally transformed. It wasn’t simply resuscitated. Some kind of electrical glory supercharged it, and when Jesus opened His eyes, He had an incorruptible body. It was the same body, but now it was glorified and eternalized. No more pain. No more aging. No more decay or corruption. It was equipped for life on both earth and in heaven.
According to Philippians 3, God will transform our earthly bodies to be like the glorified body of Jesus. The resurrection is more than a resuscitation. It’s a supernatural transformation of our bodies. We will be raised incorruptible. We’ll be equipped to live on earth or in heaven. Our bodies will be mature but not old, responsive but not sick, natural and yet supernatural.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ provides the proof, the provision, and the pattern for our own resurrection. We will share the glory of Easter with Him!
Rejoice! Our best days are ahead of us!
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Something remarkable happened to the crucified body of Jesus Christ early on Easter Sunday. In a flash of glory, His body was totally transformed. It wasn’t simply resuscitated. Some kind of electrical glory supercharged it, and when Jesus opened His eyes, He had an incorruptible body. It was the same body, but now it was glorified and eternalized. No more pain. No more aging. No more decay or corruption. It was equipped for life on both earth and in heaven.
According to Philippians 3, God will transform our earthly bodies to be like the glorified body of Jesus. The resurrection is more than a resuscitation. It’s a supernatural transformation of our bodies. We will be raised incorruptible. We’ll be equipped to live on earth or in heaven. Our bodies will be mature but not old, responsive but not sick, natural and yet supernatural.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ provides the proof, the provision, and the pattern for our own resurrection. We will share the glory of Easter with Him!
Rejoice! Our best days are ahead of us!
Prepare your heart for Easter this year and for years to come with David Jeremiah’s book, Season of Hope.