Easter 4 Sunshine Comes in the Morning. (366)

Based on an eight-day devotional series freely offered by Lifeway. It was for use by anyone who wanted to use it during the covid lockdown during Easter in 2021. Talking points in the episode and show notes are my own. Additional questions are from the devotion series. Each of these installments combines 2 of the daily sessions.

DAY SEVEN

THE DAY BETWEEN THE DAYS:

Mark 15:43 CSB

“Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, came and boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body.”

In a difficult day and a grueling night. The Savior had died, a fact confirmed by the Roman centurion.

Jesus’ followers, distraught and scattered, had no plan, no focus, and no unity. Yet one unlikely man would be bold enough to take the lead. Joseph of Arimathea, a man who Mark called “a prominent member of the Sanhedrin,” courageously asked for the body of Jesus for His burial. Pilate granted his request.

Roman soldiers sealed the entrance and then guarded it against intruders. There was no doubt that Jesus was dead and in the tomb. This was the day between the days. It was a day of silence, a day of waiting between the first and the third days. For the disciples, it was likely the longest day of their lives But God was still in control, His power ready to be miraculously displayed the next day.

The best was yet to come.

QUESTIONS

1. Take a time period (maybe an hour) and spend it in complete silence. Shut off your electronic device and anything else that may distract you and spend it in prayer, meditating on the death, burial, and resurrection.
2. Why was it important to have Roman guards at the tomb to protect it from intruders?
3. What do the cross, burial, and resurrection mean for the Christian?

Romans 6:3-5 NASB

3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

4. How does God get a greater glory through the death and burial of Jesus?

DAY EIGHT

ALIVE:

Mark 16:4-6 CSB

“Looking up, they noticed that the stone—which was very large— had been rolled away. When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side; they were alarmed. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he told them. ‘You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him.’”

Grief and chaos had overtaken them. Yet, as we can see, these women were simply doing the right thing for their Lord. They were going to anoint the body of Jesus with the appropriate burial spices. They were simply being obedient in a mundane but significant way.

But it was very clear that something had changed.

The stone, sealed and guarded, was rolled away! What’s more, a stranger told them marvelous, unthinkable news: He has risen!

These women were trembling, overwhelmed with astonishment, afraid, but their obedience continued. Luke tells us that they “reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest” (Luke 24:9). John 20:18 and Matthew 28:8 confirm this.

This Jesus, whom they had followed for three years, the One who was crucified, who was buried, was now risen as He had predicted. He was alive!

QUESTIONS

1. How does what Paul wrote match up with the events shared in the gospels?

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NASB

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;
7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

2. Why was it spiritually significant that the tomb of Jesus was empty?
3. Why is it important for the world that they know that Jesus is alive?