Saturday, April 19, 2014
THE WEEK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
SATURDAY: DAY FOR DISCIPLES US TO LOOK BACK ... and AHEAD
- Remember What Happened that Friday -
When Jesus had cried out again with a loud voice, He bowed His head, and breathed His last. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth quaked; and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion, who stood opposite Jesus, saw what had happened, and that He cried out like this, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man." When the centurion, and those with him who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this Man was the Son of God."
- The Burial of Our Lord -
And after these things, when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that, the day before the Sabbath, behold, there came a rich man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews. He was a good and just man, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. He was a prominent council member, but he had not consented to their counsel and deed. This man took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, that he might take it away. And Pilate marveled that He was already dead, and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. And when he found out from the centurion, Pilate gave him permission and commanded the body to be given to Joseph.
On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, "Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise.' Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead.' So the last deception will be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how." So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.
- Remember What He Said About These Things -
When He was in Jerusalem at a Passover Festival, Jesus found people in the temple courts selling cattle, sheep and doves. He drove them all from the temple courts and scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He said, "Get these out of here! Stop turning My Father's house into a market!" The Jews then responded to Him, "What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
They replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple He had spoken of was His body.
After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
-- Selected and Adapted from Orville Daniel's "A Harmony of the Gospels" (NIV84)
