Sunday, April 8, 2012

Easter

He is risen!  Jesus Lives!

Wow!  What happened? 

The people of Liberty Church are mostly gone to the hereafter, but a few stalwarts still attend every Sunday, still reassured by the Easter sermon and songs that He is risen.  

Low in the Grave He Lay and Christ the Lord is Risen Today are lines that still echo through the hearts, minds and souls of Liberty Church "alumni".  I can still hear special voices singing those words in Liberty Church and in others across many decades of Easter Joy.  I hope you hear them, too.

Here's a nice outline of the last section of the book of Matthew from Holman Bible Dictionary Outlines:

  1. Jesus Conquered Death (26:57-28:20)
    1. The innocent Jesus was convicted on His testimony to His messiahship and to His role as Judge in the last days (26:57-68)
    2. Peter's denial showed Jesus' prophetic powers (26:69-75)
    3. Judas' guilt drove him to suicide and fulfilled Scripture (27:1-10)
    4. Government authority found no guilt in Jesus, but religious authorities accepted full responsibility for His death (27:11-26)
    5. Roman mocking pointed to the truth of Jesus' divine kingship (27:27-44)
    6. Spectacular events pointed to the saving significance of Jesus' death as God's Son (27:45-56)
    7. Jesus' dead body was entombed and could not be stolen (27:57-66)
    8. Jesus was raised from the dead (28:1-10)
    9. Religious leaders bribed people to disprove the resurrection (28:11-15)
    10. The authoritative Jesus gives His disciples a worldwide evangelistic mission (28:16-20)  
The last line is a message for us about our mission.   Are we ready?

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