He had the power of choice and was all-powerful so that He could have stopped it all. We truly believe that despite our many visible failings and sins we, too, through the gift of God’s great mercy, can be healed, forgiven, transformed. We know Jesus came to show us the way. It was not until Jesus called her name that she realised that her friend and teacher had been restored to new life. Jesus Christ taught his followers that everyone should love one another in humble ways. (Philippians 2:5-9). I must take my emotional opinions and intellectual beliefs and be willing to turn them into a moral verdict against the nature of sin; that is, against any claim I have to my right to myself. But He went beyond the cross in His declaration of His objective and work. The actions of that day led to Jesus’ death, and ultimately to Judas’ suicide, clear reminders that life and love are not clean and easy. This was the prophecy which anxious the religious leaders. There is no limit here placed upon God’s provision, it will meet all your needs; whether they be financial, spiritual, physical, or emotional. They wanted Him to stay in the tomb. He did not say, “I have made a determination to imitate Jesus Christ”, or, “I will really make an effort to follow Him” -but- “I have been identified with Him in His death”. We wonder how life can be contained in a twig that looks completely dead and has gone through the cold and snow of winter. Our faith does not even require that we understand fully the message of Holy Week, and I mean the FULL week: controversy, betrayal, pain, death and resurrection. The attractive butterfly that springs out of that cocoon represents the resurrection of Jesus. On the cross He paid the penalty for our sins, but the assurance of that transaction is the resurrection.
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“We are double-minded, speaking the Word of God one moment and the enemy’s fear-laced lies the next”. He appeared to Peter. “And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time”. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. He also appeared to Paul himself.
For many, this is also the time to unload the burden of follies and hatred for others that they carry, feels businessman Manish Swami.
Friends, Jesus is Risen! As to the resurrection of Jesus, the message is that the goodness of life conquers the evil of death.
I am a foreign student here, but I do not come from a Christian country. This is the good news. We need to remember, not just at a head level but down deep in our gut. That’s why we preach him passionately, without compromise, and with hearts on fire with hope.
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“It will do us good”, he continued, “to think of the silence of Our Lady – “the Believer” – who in silence was awaiting the Resurrection”. Your word of forgiveness, Lord, is very hard for me because it makes me face my own lack of forgiveness toward others.
