Holy Week 2017 | The Final Days of Jesus – Resurrection Sunday: Story and Verses Part 8 of 8

 

Holy Week 2017 "Final Days of Jesus" Reflections | Resurrection Sunday

Recent posts on our website that share some introductions, details, verses, and songs related to this week are:

Holy Week 2017 Will Be Here Soon Worcester, Massachusetts

Holy Week 2017 | The Final Days of Jesus – Palm Sunday

Holy Week 2017 | The Final Days of Jesus – Monday

Holy Week 2017 | The Final Days of Jesus – Tuesday
Holy Week 2017 | The Final Days of Jesus – Wednesday
Holy Week 2017 | The Final Days of Jesus – Maundy Thursday
Holy Week 2017 | The Final Days of Jesus – Good Friday
Holy Week 2017 | The Final Days of Jesus – Holy Saturday

Also, the publishing group Crossway has not only released the book, The Final Days of Jesus: The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived , they have produced a thorough collection of beautiful images and thoughtful videos to help reflect on what was going in Jesus' life during this crucial week in history. The following posts will feature the manuscripts for each video they produced in correspondence with each day of Holy Week. Enjoy.

The Final Days of Jesus | Day 8: Resurrection Sunday

Some Women Discover the Empty Tomb

Matthew 28:1-7 | Mark 16:1-7 | Luke 24:1-7 | John 20:1

The Women Leave the Garden and Tell the Disciples

Matthew 28:9-10 | Luke 24:8-11 | John 20:2

Peter and John Rush to the Tomb and Discover It Empty

Luke 24:12 | John 20:3-10

Mary Returns to the Tomb and Encounters Jesus

John 20:11-18

Jesus Appears to Cleopas and a Friend on the Road to Emmaus

Luke 24:13-35

The Evening Jesus Appears to the Eleven (Minus Thomas) in a House in Jerusalem

Luke 24:36-43 | John 20:19-23

Finally, we arrive at Easter Sunday.

Jesus gloriously, triumphantly rises from the dead. Not only on the first day of the week, but really on the first day of the new creation. 

As we read the gospel accounts, we see that it's the women followers of Jesus who discover the empty tomb that run to tell the rest of the disciples. 

What is the significance of this that it was women who were the first to discover the tomb and to be eyewitnesses of the resurrection?

As this week draws to a close, it's worth stepping back and asking, "What can we learn about God's sovereign and eternal plan as we watch him not only orchestrating this week, but all of our eternity for our good and for his glory?"  

The Gospel Writers Unanimously Affirm the Women as the First Witnesses

The women who observed the location of the tomb, according to the Gospels, planned to return to the tomb on Sunday to finish the preparation of Jesus' body. 

This is interesting historically because the testimony of women during that time was not usually considered a firm basis for legal charge at that time.

So the fact that our gospels are unanimous in including the women as primary witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus strongly suggests the historicity of that particular moment.

If the gospel writers had wanted to commend Jesus' resurrection after the fact, they would have made some Roman officials, perhaps, the ones who had discovered the empty tomb. Or they would have at least had the male disciples be the ones who were the witnesses. 

The fact that our gospels talk about the women as the witnesses is one of those many little items that suggests that what we have in our gospels is not something fabricated after the fact to explain the empty tomb. It's actually the way things happened on that original Easter morning.     

Jesus Death and Resurrection was Planned and Accomplished for Us

Many scholars have argued that Jesus was just a Jewish prophet, an apocalyptic prophet who was deluded about his own greatness and was ambushed by one of his followers, Judas. And then he ended up crucified.

There is probably nowhere clearer than in the gospel of John, who goes to great lengths to show that everything that happened to Jesus, especially in the final week, happened both according to God's plan, and with the full knowledge and anticipation of Jesus himself. 

It's important, ultimately for our salvation, that he was buried and then rose for us according to the Scriptures. It's the culmination point of God's history with his people and it's also the heart of the gospel. 

The Gospels show that the crucifixion and resurrection were very much not Plan B, but God's way of providing redemption for humanity.

Next post: Eastertide 2017 | Resting and Rejoicing in Resurrection with Jesus in Light of the Cross, the World, and Me

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