What Jesus Did

"But Jesus is not here. He has risen from death, like he said he would. Come and see the place where his body was. And go quickly and tell his followers. Tell them: 'Jesus has risen from death. He is going into Galilee. He will be there before you. You will see him there.'" Then the angel said, "Now I have told you." So the women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell his followers what happened.

—Matthew 28:6-8

Key Thought
"Go...

 

The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. At dawn on the first day, Mary Magdalene and the other woman named Mary went to look at the tomb. At that time there was a very strong earthquake. An angel of the Lord came from the sky. The angel went to the tomb and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then the angel sat on the stone. The angel was shining very bright like lightning. His clothes were white like snow. The soldiers guarding the tomb were very afraid of the...

 

That day was the day called Preparation day. The next day, the leading priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. They said, "Sir, we remember that while that liar was still alive he said, 'After three days I will rise from death.' So give the order for the tomb to be guarded well until after three days. His followers might come and try to steal the body. Then they could tell the people that he has risen from death. That lie will be even worse than what they said about him before." Pilate...

 

That evening a rich man named Joseph came to Jerusalem. Joseph was a follower of Jesus from the town of Arimathea. Joseph went to Pilate and asked to have Jesus' body. Pilate gave orders for the soldiers to give Jesus' body to Joseph. Then Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a new linen cloth. Joseph put Jesus' body in a new tomb (grave) that Joseph had dug in a wall of rock. Then he closed the tomb by rolling a very large stone to cover the entrance. After he did these things, Joseph...

 

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of James and John were there.

—Matthew 27:56

Key Thought
We can't know what it was like for God watching Jesus die. We can imagine it. We can put our words and emotions into it. But we can't know. He is God. He had the power to stop it, but didn't. He had to withhold what was rightfully his to use because our salvation was more important than his own pain. I can't know what that means.
However, God does give us a...

 

The army officer and the soldiers guarding Jesus saw this earthquake and everything that happened. They were very afraid and said, "He really was the Son of God!" Many women were standing away from the cross, watching. These were the women that followed Jesus from Galilee to care for him.

—Matthew 27:54-55

Key Thought
Notice two powerful realities at the foot of Jesus' cross:
First, admire the faithfulness of the women who stood at Jesus' side while his male disciples forsook him and...

 

When Jesus died, the curtain in the temple was torn into two pieces. The tear started at the top and tore all the way to the bottom. Also, the earth shook and rocks were broken. All the graves opened, and many of God's people that had died were raised from death. Those people came out of the graves. After Jesus was raised from death, those people went into the holy city (Jerusalem), and many people saw them.

—Matthew 27:51-53

Key Thought
There comes a time when God has to do...

 

At noon the whole country became dark. This darkness continued for three hours. At about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" This means, "My God, my God, why have you left me alone?" Some of the people standing there heard this. The people said, "He is calling Elijah." Quickly one of the people ran and got a sponge. That person filled the sponge with vinegar and tied the sponge to a stick. Then he used the stick to give the sponge to Jesus to drink from...

 

The leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the older Jewish leaders were also there. These men teased Jesus the same as the other people. They said, "He saved other people. But he can't save himself! People say he is the king of Israel (the Jews). If he is the king, then he should come down now from the cross. Then we will believe in him. He trusted God. So let God save him now, if God really wants him. He himself said, 'I am the Son of God.'" And in the same way, the robbers that...

 

Two robbers were nailed to crosses beside Jesus. One robber was put beside Jesus on the right and the other was put on the left. People walked by and said bad things to Jesus. People shook their heads and said, "You said you could destroy the temple and build it again in three days. So save yourself! Come down from that cross, if you are really the Son of God!"

—Matthew 27:38-40

Key Thought
It is truly hard for us to imagine the shame and indignity that crucifixion was for Jesus. The...