The Greatest Day!

This is the greatest day in the history of creation! No other day can compare! This day is crucial! It is the day that God delivered His desperate people.

What if today didn’t happen? There would be no victory over sin. There would be no freedom from the bondage of death. There would be no hope in Christ’s return.  Instead, there would be an unfathomable fear and dread.

But he rose from the dead just as he promised and is the Savior of his elect! Here’s the truth about this great day:

1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” [Matthew 28:1-10]

My favorite verse is 2 Corinthians 1:19-20:

19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you…was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

All of God’s promises were made “Yes” on this day! Everything about our faith is founded upon this day and the Lord’s resurrection. Without the resurrection, all of God’s promises would have been “No!” Without the resurrection, we would be a people with serious problems:

16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.  [1 Cor 15:16-19]

But he said, “Yes!” He said, “Jesus Christ!” And it is through him that we say our “yes” to God for his glory.

Jesus rose from the dead! Which makes for the greatest day in history!

The Longest Day

Think about the day between Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. It had to have been a grueling day for his followers. The previous afternoon they had witnessed the horrible events of his death on the cross. Their last moment with Christ was his brutal death on a God-forsaken hill! The last words they heard their Lord say was, “It is finished.” [John 19:30] Was that it? They believed he was the Christ of God, [Luke 9:20] but what happened?

What was that day like for the disciples? We know they were in hiding with the doors locked. [John 20:19] What were their prayers like? Did they pray? Did they feel foolish for believing up to that point in Jesus? Did they argue with one another? I imagine they were mostly speechless. It’s hard to speak when you’re grieving.  It’s even harder to speak when you are grieving with no hope.

That day was the Sabbath. Normally a day of rest…but not this time. This time it was a day of shock, fear, trembling…and disbelief. Scripture specifically tells us the disciples had a belief problem.  When the disciples were told that Jesus had risen, they responded with unbelief:

11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. [Mark 16:11]

11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. [Luke 24:11]

8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. [John 20:8-9]

The disciples must have been devastated because of their unbelief! Why didn’t they understand the Scripture? Jesus spoke specifically about his death and resurrection…three times!  Mark was inspired to record:

31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. [Mark 8:31-32]

31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him.  And when he is killed, after three days he will rise. 32 But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask hiim. [Mark 9:31-32]

32 And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him.  And after three days he will rise.” [Mark 10:32-34]

Why didn’t they believe? Why weren’t they excited about the incredible day that tomorrow would be? Why weren’t they worshiping and preparing for the fulfillment of the promises?

THE SILENCE WAS DEAFENING!

God chose to be silent for the duration of that day. There was no Jesus (yet), no Holy Spirit (yet), no angels, no burning bushes, no communication at all. Silence.

The silence of God tests a man’s faith like nothing else. I can identify with the disciples so clearly. I, too, struggle with unbelief when God is silent. My faith (like the disciple’s faith) is too often influenced by my momentary circumstances. I allow my circumstances to block my vision of the promises of God that he revealed to me in the Scriptures.

The Silence of God
By Andrew Peterson

It’ll drive a man crazy, it’ll break a man’s faith
It’s enough to make him wonder if he’s ever been sane
When he’s bleeting for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod
and the heaven’s only answer is the silence of God

Are you living in a time of God’s silence? How is it impacting your faith? Your prayer life? Your peace? Let us never forget that He is faithful to fulfill all His promises to their fullest! Tomorrow is coming…believe!

Tomorrow’s post: The Greatest Day!

The Darkest Day

The day Jesus was sacrificed for our sins was a dark day. Luke tells us that it was literally and physically dark:

44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun’s light failed. [Luke 23:44-45]

But the physical darkness only pointed to the spiritual darkness that enveloped the cross of Christ and the Lamb of God:

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him… [Isaiah 53:5-10]

Stop and consider the words of this passage: wounded, crushed, chastisement, stripes, iniquity, oppressed, afflicted, slaughter, judgment, cut off, stricken, grave, death. These are strong words.  These are horrifying words.  If you embrace them as they are fully intended, you can only tremble.

These are all words that speak of what we deserved to receive from God for our sins against Him.  Instead, God laid the truth of these words on the body of his only Son so that we could be reconciled to Him.

At the end of Jesus’ endurance of the wrath of God, Scripture tells us:

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” [Mark 15:34]

The term “forsaken” expresses the following ideas:  abandon, desert, leave in straits, leave helpless, totally abandoned.  Imagine being forsaken by God!  While Jesus hung on the cross, the Father had fully forsaken him.  Jesus knew it.  This is the ultimate suffering he endured.

Why did the Father forsake the Son?  Scripture tells us because “the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” [Isaiah 53:6] Because God is holy and cannot be associated with sin, he abandoned him as he punished the sins of the world.

The Son was bearing the sins of his people and therefore enduring God’s ultimate wrath.  He did this for you; in your place he died!  If you believe in his substitution for you, you will not be forsaken by God.  Jesus paid the ransom to set you free from the wrath of God.  This is the greatest news of all time!

This truth inspires songs such as this:

The Power of the Cross
By Keith Getty

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:
This, the pow’r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev’ry bitter thought,
Ev’ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
“Finished!” the vict’ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:
This, the pow’r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

What if Jesus’ death was the end of the story? What if there was no Resurrection Day? Then we would still be living in this darkest of days! Then we would be forsaken by God.  Praise Him for the resurrection that was foretold and fulfilled!

Heavenly Father, thank you for this truth! Dear Jesus, let us never forget! Holy Spirit, keep us from growing complacent!

Tomorrow’s post:  The Longest Day