April 20th 2025
Today Be In Prayer For All Those People Who Have Not Come To Believe This Wonderful Easter Story!
Luke 9:21-22 (NIV)
Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."
Jesus knew what suffering He faced, and He tried to share it with His disciples, but He also knew it was not yet time to share this knowledge with other people, even with His current followers. Since this commentary is being shared on Good Friday, I plan to keep the beginning directed to a rehash of the events that happened leading up to that original Good Friday.
Matthew wrote about what transpired between Pilate and the religious leaders of the Hebrews to arrive at the decision to crucify Jesus on that fateful day. "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!" "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man’s blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. (Matthew 27:21-26).
Everyone reading this knows the rest of this story, so I’m going to switch to our current time and hopefully get us to think about how this Biblical account effects our lives today, now that we are in the Easter season and once again reliving this terrible, yet wonderful story of the Perfect Sacrifice that was made for ME! Yes, it was made for all of mankind, BUT you (we) must believe it, else it is just an old story, and it has little to no effect on your life in this cursed world! And that is the saddest story of all time! As Paul wrote, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
What do you believe about the accounts written in our Scriptures describing how Jesus Christ was crucified, and He died, and He was buried, and then in three days He rose from the dead. Paul wrote about how the Scriptures give us the details about this amazing series of events. Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:1-5).
Paul also wrote to the church in Rome about the salvation plan that it requires believers to profess their belief that Jesus Christ did in fact die, be buried, then rise from the dead, and return to this earth for a short time. If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10).
Now, let us review what Paul wrote for us about these amazing events, and how we can have our immortal soul saved and end up in heaven, when we leave this earth. Paul wrote, “I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Then that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
What a great message for us as we are now amid this Easter season, and we once again relive our Scriptures about how Jesus died for you, and rose from the dead, allowing you to claim your free gift of salvation through God’s grace granted through Jesus Christ’s perfect sacrifice. Salvation is always a gift, because without the perfect sacrifice to free us, our immortal soul will end up in hell when we die!
Do we have to make any sacrifices to gain our immortal freedom? Yes, we may be required to do some soul searching and if we truly believe we will desire the fellowship of like-minded believers, thus we will sacrifice our time by regularly attending a Christian church of our choice. Jesus was asked about how we need to spend our time with worldly requirements, and if our busy lifestyle is justification for skipping out on serving God in some form on this earth. Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? (Luke 9:23-25).
Every human being is created in the image and likeness of God! Your immortal soul is a creation of Godliness and thus, it is meant to be returned to heaven from which it came! However, you also inherited a sinful nature from the original sin. Jesus thus requires us to follow Him on that narrow path which will lead us to heaven, but we must carry a cross, lose our mortal life, and overcome our sinful nature! As Jesus says, “whoever loses his life for me will save it.” What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
We have been taught we need to work on becoming more Christ-like in an effort to also be able to overcome the alures of this cursed world! Jesus did overcome this world as an example for us to follow. Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). Followers of Jesus now get to once again review the perfect sacrifice Jesus made for us on that first Good Friday! We also know that the grave could hold Jesus, and He Arose on that first Easter Sunday!
Today be in prayer for all those people who have not come to believe this wonderful Easter story, as reported for us in God’s Scriptures. Then on Easter Sunday, go to the church of your choice and join in fellowship with all the people who have believed the Greatest Story Ever Told! Tell someone that you believe it “He Has Arisen!” AMEN!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Luke 9:21-22 (NIV)
Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."
Jesus knew what suffering He faced, and He tried to share it with His disciples, but He also knew it was not yet time to share this knowledge with other people, even with His current followers. Since this commentary is being shared on Good Friday, I plan to keep the beginning directed to a rehash of the events that happened leading up to that original Good Friday.
Matthew wrote about what transpired between Pilate and the religious leaders of the Hebrews to arrive at the decision to crucify Jesus on that fateful day. "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!" "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man’s blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. (Matthew 27:21-26).
Everyone reading this knows the rest of this story, so I’m going to switch to our current time and hopefully get us to think about how this Biblical account effects our lives today, now that we are in the Easter season and once again reliving this terrible, yet wonderful story of the Perfect Sacrifice that was made for ME! Yes, it was made for all of mankind, BUT you (we) must believe it, else it is just an old story, and it has little to no effect on your life in this cursed world! And that is the saddest story of all time! As Paul wrote, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
What do you believe about the accounts written in our Scriptures describing how Jesus Christ was crucified, and He died, and He was buried, and then in three days He rose from the dead. Paul wrote about how the Scriptures give us the details about this amazing series of events. Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:1-5).
Paul also wrote to the church in Rome about the salvation plan that it requires believers to profess their belief that Jesus Christ did in fact die, be buried, then rise from the dead, and return to this earth for a short time. If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10).
Now, let us review what Paul wrote for us about these amazing events, and how we can have our immortal soul saved and end up in heaven, when we leave this earth. Paul wrote, “I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Then that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
What a great message for us as we are now amid this Easter season, and we once again relive our Scriptures about how Jesus died for you, and rose from the dead, allowing you to claim your free gift of salvation through God’s grace granted through Jesus Christ’s perfect sacrifice. Salvation is always a gift, because without the perfect sacrifice to free us, our immortal soul will end up in hell when we die!
Do we have to make any sacrifices to gain our immortal freedom? Yes, we may be required to do some soul searching and if we truly believe we will desire the fellowship of like-minded believers, thus we will sacrifice our time by regularly attending a Christian church of our choice. Jesus was asked about how we need to spend our time with worldly requirements, and if our busy lifestyle is justification for skipping out on serving God in some form on this earth. Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? (Luke 9:23-25).
Every human being is created in the image and likeness of God! Your immortal soul is a creation of Godliness and thus, it is meant to be returned to heaven from which it came! However, you also inherited a sinful nature from the original sin. Jesus thus requires us to follow Him on that narrow path which will lead us to heaven, but we must carry a cross, lose our mortal life, and overcome our sinful nature! As Jesus says, “whoever loses his life for me will save it.” What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
We have been taught we need to work on becoming more Christ-like in an effort to also be able to overcome the alures of this cursed world! Jesus did overcome this world as an example for us to follow. Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). Followers of Jesus now get to once again review the perfect sacrifice Jesus made for us on that first Good Friday! We also know that the grave could hold Jesus, and He Arose on that first Easter Sunday!
Today be in prayer for all those people who have not come to believe this wonderful Easter story, as reported for us in God’s Scriptures. Then on Easter Sunday, go to the church of your choice and join in fellowship with all the people who have believed the Greatest Story Ever Told! Tell someone that you believe it “He Has Arisen!” AMEN!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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