The gospel is not good news without the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It was a horrifying weekend for followers of Jesus. Their hopes and dreams were shattered by a cross on Friday afternoon. Jesus was the one they thought would restore the kingdom to Israel, their expected messiah; whom they did not expect would die; neither they expected him to rise from the dead. They thought everything ended with the death of Jesus.
Everyone believes in something or someone; our beliefs are the foundation in our lives, for what we do is driven by what we believe; in fact our values flow from those things we believe. We believe consciously (intentionally) or unconsciously (mechanically). However, you must understand that something is not true, just because you believe it to be true.
People respond to Christmas differently; some choose to celebrate it, others don’t. For some it could be a time of celebration and family time. For others, they would love if this holiday didn’t exist. Some tend to hate this holiday because of how commercialized it has become. Regardless of the commercialization of Christmas, some try really hard to focus on the birth of Jesus. Regardless of what people do in Christmas, some people try their best to remind themselves of the time when God sent them a Savior. This is how they choose to respond to what Christmas has become these days
A young girl was planning a wedding; she was so excited, but one day she had an unexpected visitor who brought to her some disturbing news. She may need to put the wedding on hold.
Can you imagine if you have been planning something for a while, and someone shows up and says to you. You have to put your plans on hold; your plans will be delayed, there is something you have to do first. This truly would make you uncomfortable.
This young girl was Mary. God sent his angel Gabriel to deliver the news to her.
It must have been an awful weekend for the apostles and followers of Jesus; their leaders got arrested on Thursday evening and then nailed to a cross on Friday afternoon. This was a horrifying weekend for followers of Jesus. Their hopes and dreams were shattered by a cross. Jesus was the one they thought would restore the kingdom to Israel, their expected messiah. Jesus had told his followers that they would fall away because of him. “Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered” (Matt. 26:31; Mk.14:27; Zech.13:7). This is exactly what happened when Jesus was apprehended; his followers abandoned him. Fear and insecurity had gripped them. They chose to hide and they would lock the doors for they were afraid, they would be hunted down for being followers of Jesus. The death of Jesus was a shocker to them; they didn’t expect it nor did they want it. The news of the resurrection was also a shocker for Jesus’s followers. They didn’t expect Jesus to rise from the dead either. If they had expected it, they would have gone home thinking “ok Jesus, see you in three days.” They had forgotten Jesus’s words to them about the resurrection. Every time Jesus spoke of his death, he also emphasized raising up on the third day.
