Woman's Info Articles

Resurrection Sunday is a day of rejoicing. Christ came to
fulfill all the prophesy of His life, His death, His burial and
His resurrection in order to make us free! When we don't
understand why He had to go through all this, we see it as
an unfortuneate event in history and may not understand
how a loving God let this happen? But, when you are
securely rooted and grounded in Christ, these events were
all foreordained by a loving God who loves us enough to
fulfill this prophesy.

If you care to take a trip with me through the scriptures you
will see what I mean. Each and every event from Jesus'
triumphant arrival into Jerusalem to the time He rose from
the dead, was all a master piece of God in which to set us
all free from our sins.

Read Mt. 21:1-9 for the account of the donkey. This was no
mistake. This was foretold in Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah
9:9. The donkey was the key element to proclaim the person
of Jesus. It symbolized a meek and lowly entrance. Jesus
was all about peace and love of His Father. Everyone loved
Him and cried Hosanna and waved palm fronds in front of
Him. But, when the Pharisees saw this, things began to
change. People grew afraid for their own safety and they
pulled away from Him. The lesson for us is that we should
not be afraid of what others say or think. We need to believe
in Christ no matter what.

Read Mt. 26-27 about His betrayal by Judas Iscariot. This
was an event also foretold. Since the Pharisees saw Jesus
as a threat to expose them for who they really were, they
needed to be rid of him. Judas who was used by Satan was
the man for the job. He accepted the 30 pieces of silver
which were worth approximately $21.60 and handed Jesus
over. The Pharisees believed that if this Christ was really
God He would've chosen something more noble to ride on,
such as a horse. But, in reality they didn't get it. A horse
symbolized war, and Jesus was all about peace. The
lesson we are to learn from this is, when we repent, unlike
Judas, it must be to God not to men. Judas realized his sins
but never took them to the Lord and so he died going to hell.

Read the Passover Supper in Mt. 26. Jesus fulfilled this
prophesy when He broke the bread and told His disciples to
remember His body which is broken for them and His blood
as they drank wine as it was shed for them. This is the
covenant that God made with Moses in their exodus from
Egypt. It's called the Passover because when God saw the
blood on the doors, the Angel of Death passed over them.
Read in Ex. 12:23. Our lesson is when we are covered in the
blood, God will passover us and give us our freedom.

Read Mk. 14:32-42 when Christ entered the garden to pray.
It was here that He was full of dread for what was to come.
He asked a few of His disciples to pray with Him. But all they
could do was sleep. Since Christ was fully man as well as
fully God, He was afraid of what was to come. He asked His
Father to take this cup from Him but He remained obedient
and said He would do His Father's will, not His own. The
lesson we are to learn here is that just as Christ needed to
pray for strength, so do we.

Read Jn.19:1-5 and Mt. 27:26-31.Time to face His deepest
fears and anxieties came when the Roman soldiers
approached Him. This can be read in Is. 50:6 as He was
scourged. "I gave My back to the smiters and My cheeks to
those who plucked off the hair; I hid not My face from shame
and spitting." Is. 53 also gives a detailed description of
these events. The lesson from this is that He gave Himself
as the sacrificial Lamb. God loved us so much He gave His
only Son for us. (Jn. 3:16) This is pure love!

Read Mt. 27:29-31 about the crown of thorns. The soldiers
of Rome made a mockery of Him. They thought if He was
the Son of God then why didn't He save Himself. They
couldn't understand that this was an act of obedience. He
was rejected, are you rejecting Him today? They made a
mockery of Him and punished Him. All He ever wanted was
for us to love Him because all He gave us was love. Our
lesson to remember is to love others as we want to be
loved. If you're not sure if Christ and God are One in the
same read these Scriptures that are accurate, Titus 2:13;
Rom. 9:5; Phil. 2:5-6; 1 Tim. 3:16. Christ is part of the Diety
of God. Many people have a hard time understanding this. I
pray you're not one of them.

Read Jn. 19:16-22 and Lk. 22:37. This describes how He
was nailed to the cross like a common criminal. Again in Is.
53:12, this was prophesied. It had to be in order to save us
from our sins. The only price God would accept was the
crucifixion of His perfect Son on the Cross. We just can't pay
for sin on our own. God put this plan into play back when He
cursed Satan for deceiving Adam and Eve. But as Christ
hung on that Cross, it was His love and obedience that kept
Him there. Our lesson, we need to be obedient with our love
to God by accepting Christ and what He did for us.

Read Jn. 19:23-25 about the dice the soldiers rolled as they
gambled for Jesus' clothes. Even they had no idea what they
were doing, but this event was foretold back in Ps. 22:18.
"They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing
they cast lots." God knew! As they were doing this, Jesus
cried to His Father from the cross, "Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do." (Lk. 23:34) Our lesson from this
is to forgive others, no matter how much they may have hurt
us. God says if we don't, He won't forgive us. This is the
hardest lesson of all for us to learn. When we can pray for
those who have hurt us, God will elevate us and bless us.
This is freedom!

Read Jn. 19:31-37 to read the prophesy that was fulfilled in
Ex. 12:46, Num. 9:12 and again in Ps. 34:20. God said that
the passover lamb would not have one broken bone. And
the piercing of His side was described in Zech. 12:10, "I will
pour out upon the city of David and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and unmerited favor and
supplication. And they shall look upon Me Whom they have
pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourns for
his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him as one who
is in bitterness for his firstborn." It's also mentioned in Rev.
1:7, that this must be. His body was pierced for our
transgressions. Our lesson is to realize that Jesus died for
our sins. It was the only price that God would accept.

Read Mt. 27:57-61 about Joseph of Aramathiah. Even his
part of the burial was foretold in Is. 53:9. At first he was
afraid to proclaim Christ for fear of what would be done to
him. But, he bravely came foreward and took Christ's body to
have a proper burial. He was no longer ashamed of his
belief in Christ. Our lesson is the same, we should not be
ashamed of who we are in Christ. God tells us that we are
not ashamed when we are one in Christ. We need to be like
Joseph and risk everything for the love of Christ.

Read Mt. 27:64-66 and 28:1-3 to learn about the stone that
was rolled away. Guards were paid to make sure that no
one came by to rob the body. But, in spite of this, the stone
which weighed about as much as a car was moved and the
tomb was empty. The guards were very afraid because it
could be their lives. As Mary Magdalene and Jesus' mother
Mary came by, they saw this and couldn't understand what
had happened. Jesus had told them ahead of time that He
would be back. Did they forget His promise? Our lesson in
this is we can't forget His promises either.

Finally, read Mt. 28:5-8. As the two women stood in
complete amazement, an angle of the Lord told them that no
one stole His body. He was alive! Can you imagine their
excitement? Then Jesus appeared to them first and told
them to go and tell the others. When you read on, you will
see how the Pharisees tried to pay the guards to cover up
this news, like no one would ever know! Their selfish plan
backfired! Jesus appeared to over 500 during the course of
His stay on earth. People touched Him, saw Him and talked
with Him. He had definitely overcome death, sin and hell
just as God had promised from the very beginning! Because
He did this, we are no longer held captive to death. You can
read more about these accounts in 1 Cor. 15:3-7 and Jn.
20:27-28. This really happened. Our lesson is this, it's our
job to go and tell everyone the good news today that Jesus
is alive! If your heart is empty like the tomb, you need to ask
Christ to come live in it today!

This Resurrection Sunday as you look at the Cross, see it in
a whole new way. It's the CROSSroads to heaven...or hell.
How are you going to cross it?