Sunday April 1 2018

Resurrection Sunday
        The Easter Message 
Of all the words that have been said
Throughout recorded time
The angel’s news: “He is not dead!”
Is, doubtless, most sublime.
It underscores Christ’s work and worth;
It proves His promise true
And offers hope to all on earth
Like nothing else can do
Apostles bowed by loss and grief,
By shaken faith and fear,
Sought evidence before belief
Like many now and here.
He gave them proof—-the proof we heed
On every Easter Day—-
The proof Christ lives and is, indeed,
The Truth, the Life, the Way.Margaret Rorke 

Mark 15: 1-47 NLT
 Jesus’ Trial before Pilate

1 Very early in the morning the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law—the entire high council^[a]—met to discuss their next step. They bound Jesus, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

² Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus replied, “You have said it.”
³ Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, ⁴ and Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” ⁵ But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise.
⁶ Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner—anyone the people requested. ⁷ One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, a revolutionary who had committed murder in an uprising. ⁸ The crowd went to Pilate and asked him to release a prisoner as usual.
⁹ “Would you like me to release to you this ‘King of the Jews’?” Pilate asked. ¹⁰ (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.) ¹¹ But at this point the leading priests stirred up the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. ¹² Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”
¹³ They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
¹⁴ “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”
But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
¹⁵ So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

¹⁶ The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. ¹⁷ They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. ¹⁸ Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. ²⁰ When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

²¹ A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene,^[b] was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) ²² And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). ²³ They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it.

²⁴ Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice^[c] to decide who would get each piece. ²⁵ It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ A sign announced the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” ²⁷ Two revolutionaries^[d] were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.^[e]
29 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. ³⁰ Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
³¹ The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! ³² Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.

The Death of Jesus

³³ At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. ³⁴ Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”^[f]

³⁵ Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. ³⁶ One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!”
³⁷ Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. ³⁸ And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
³⁹ When the Roman officer^[g] who stood facing him^[h] saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
⁴⁰ Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph^[i]), and Salome. ⁴¹ They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.

The Burial of Jesus

⁴² This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation,^[j] the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) ⁴⁴ Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. ⁴⁵ The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. ⁴⁶ Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance. ⁴⁷ Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.

Footnotes

a. Mark 15:1 Greek the Sanhedrin; also in Mark 15:43.

b. Mark 15:21 Cyrene was a city in northern Africa.

c. Mark 15:24 Greek cast lots. See Psalm 22:18.

d. Mark 15:27a Or Two criminals.

e. Mark 15:27b Some manuscripts add verse 28, And the Scripture was fulfilled that said, “He was counted among those who were rebels.” See Isaiah 53:12; also compare Luke 22:37.

f. Mark 15:34 Psalm 22:1

g. Mark 15:39a Greek the centurion; similarly in Mark 15:44; 15:45.

h. Mark 15:39b Some manuscripts add heard his cry and.

i. Mark 15:40 Greek Joses; also in Mark 15:47; See Matthew 27:56.

j. Mark 15:42 Greek It was the day of preparation.

 We have all sinned and deserve God's judgment. GOD, the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him. Jesus, the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was buried, and rose from the dead according to the Bible. If you truly believe and trust this in your heart, receiving Jesus alone as your Savior declaring, "Jesus is Lord," you will be saved from judgment and spend eternity with God in heaven.

 

 Are you following Jesus?? 

 

Today's Verse
Matthew 16:21-23
From that time Jesus began to
show his disciples that he
must go to Jerusalem and suffer
many things from the elders
and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and on
the third day be raised. And
Peter took him aside and began
to rebuke him, saying,
"Far be it from you, Lord!
This shall never happen to
you." But he turned and said
to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan!
You are a hindrance to
me. For you are not setting
your mind on the things of
God, but on the things of
man.

 The Worship is over. Let the Service Begin!