Don’t let this Easter season pass you by without some reflection on what it means and why it matters. Here are some resources to help you do this:
Bible: What Happened?
- Greg’s interview with Justin Taylor on The Final Days of Jesus (starts at 2:00:11)
- The Crucifixion—Greg’s outline of the Gospels’ accounts of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion.
- The Resurrection—Greg’s outline of Jesus’ burial, resurrection, and appearances.
Theology: Why Did It Happen?
- Three Passions—Greg explains, “[T]he Passion actually consists of three passions. The passionate intensity of God’s anger at us for our sins collides with the passionate intensity of God’s love for us, causing the passionate intensity of the agony of the cross to be shouldered by God Himself in human form: Jesus.”
- The Christ of “The Passion”: What the Movie Couldn’t Show—An extended version of the above post, including two moving illustrations to help us understand what happened on the cross: “Hidden to all but the Father is another certificate nailed to that cross. In the darkness that shrouds Calvary from the sixth to the ninth hour, a divine transaction is taking place; Jesus makes a trade with the Father. The crimes of all of humanity, every murder, every theft, every lustful glance; every hidden act of vice, every modest moment of pride, and every monstrous deed of evil; every crime of every man who ever lived, these Jesus takes upon Himself as if guilty of all.”
- Our Certificates of Debt—Melinda explains the concept of a “certificate of debt”: “In Roman times, this certificate was a list of crimes committed against the state that required ‘payment,’ much like an indictment in our legal system today. The Romans gave Jesus a certificate of debt when He was sentenced to die; it was nailed to the cross: ‘Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews’ (John 19:19). When the crimes were paid for, the certificate was canceled and was stamped with the word tetelestai, meaning ‘paid in full.’ Paul says [in Colossians 2:14] that Jesus ‘canceled out’ (paid) our certificate of debt.”
- What Does Christ’s Resurrection Mean for Us?—I respond to the question “Why is the resurrection so celebrated if our sins were paid for on the cross?”: “While there are a variety of responses to this (Jesus’ victory over death, an affirmation of His deity, a taste of the coming redemption of our bodies, etc.), in this post I’ll focus on what we learn about the work of Christ in Hebrews 7–10.... Not only was it necessary for Christ to enter heaven with the blood of His covenant on our behalf, but He also continues to intercede on our behalf.... Christ’s intercession for us in heaven before the Father is necessary for our eternal salvation. Only Christ’s death could serve as our needed sacrifice, but only Christ’s resurrection could make Him our living priest.”
Apologetics: Reasons to Think It Happened
- Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?—Brett gives arguments for the resurrection: “If the bones of Jesus were found tomorrow, would you walk away from Christianity? You should. Why? Because faith in a dead Jesus is worthless. Even the Apostle Paul says so.”
- Two Miracles—A video of Greg speaking about Jesus’ miraculous death and resurrection: “The first miracle no one saw, because it couldn’t be seen except by God Himself. The second miracle only a few saw, but multitudes actually experienced.”
- Two Miracles—A written version of the ideas in Greg’s talk linked above.
He is risen!