Easter Viewed Through the Lens of Love - Never Fails

SUNDAY – Love never fails…1 Corinthians 13:8

16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. John 19:16 (NIV)

30 Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30 (NIV)

41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. John 19:41-42 (NIV)

Three days later……….

James Steidle – Fotolia.com

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 20: 1-21 (NIV)

“It is finished!”

It is impossible to plumb the depths of those words.

“It” – a tiny word that carries incredible nuance. “It” could have meant Jesus life on earth, or perhaps His bodily suffering. “It” might have meant the preaching of the gospel of salvation to all who had ears to hear. “It” probably meant the work of salvation, the job Jesus was sent by the Father to accomplish.

“is” – Not ‘was’ or ‘will be’, but is. Even on the cross, Jesus was completely in the moment, faithfully doing what He had been sent to do. His deity did not spare Him the ‘is’ portion of His mission. (click to tweet)

“finished” – The Greek word is teleo and it means ‘accomplished, conclude, finished, to discharge a debt’.

Jesus discharged or paid a debt He did not owe because I owed a debt I could not pay. (click to tweet) My sin and my rebellion separated me from God. Never would I be good enough to gain entrance into heaven on my own merit. You either. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross and my willingness to allow His blood to pay what I owed, my debt is marked ‘PAID IN FULL’.

Because God raised Jesus up from the dead on the third day…on Easter…on Resurrection Day…..I will live forever with God in heaven.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (NKJV)

This, I am dogmatic about. Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven. There is no other way. You can’t be good enough. If BEING good enough got you into heaven, then the question would be, “how good is good enough? Is it more good works than bad? Is it 60% good? 90% good?” You will never BE good enough to make it to heaven.

Muhammad doesn’t get you to heaven. Buddha doesn’t get you to heaven. Joseph Smith doesn’t get you to heaven. Praying five times a day doesn’t get you to heaven. You cannot wish or work or whine your way into heaven. (click to tweet) Only by putting your faith in Jesus’ free gift of salvation will you be assured admission to heaven. He gives you His perfect standing before God in exchange for your sin and rebellion. That is your ticket to heaven.

Are you absolutely, 100% certain that if you died today, you would go to heaven?

You can be. It would be my privilege and joy to help you be sure. Please leave a comment here or email me at [email protected]. I would love to talk with you about Easter and Jesus.