The Prophesies about Jesus

 

Article by Victor S E Moubarak - LINK HERE 

Did you know that there are more than 300 prophesies about Jesus in the Old Testament that He fulfilled in His life?

Some prophesies He had no personal control over. 

 

Prophesies about where He would be born. The manner of His death and suffering, where He would be buried. The fact that on His death the Romans would not break His legs as they did to the other two crucified with Him. The fact that the Roman soldiers would divide His clothes amongst themselves and gamble for His robe whilst He hung from the Cross. And so on. 

 

The prophet Micah a contemporary of Isaiah, wrote some seven hundred years before Jesus was born (Micah 5:2): Bethlehem you are one of the smallest towns of Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times.

 

Isaiah 7:14 says: a young woman, (meaning virgin in the Greek translation), who is pregnant will have a son and will name Him Emmanuel.

 

Isaiah 9:6 reads: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

 

Psalm 41:9 (written by King David) predicts that Judas will betray Jesus in the words, "Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me."

 

The Psalms by King David were written some thousand years before the birth of Jesus. In fact King David predicted in details the crucifixion of Jesus one thousand years before His birth and six hundred years before the Persians invented this horrific method of execution.

 

Psalm 22 depicts aspects of crucifixion well before this method of execution was devised and used by the Romans.

 

In Psalm 22:16-17, it says: "Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me ... They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment."

In Psalm 22:8 King David says: "He trusts in the Lord, they say, let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."

In Psalm 22 Verses 3-5 describe the man on the cross as more than a man. It address him as Israel’s God:

"Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; In you our ancestors put their trust ... ... ... "

The Psalm describes many physiological effects associated with death by crucifixion—asphyxiation and heart failure, along with extreme dehydration. 

See verses 14–15, 19):

"I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth ... ... ... All my bones are on display."

The fact that these effects of execution by crucifixion were predicted long before crucifixion was invented or employed makes the predictions all the more remarkable. 

Note also in verses 17–18:

"People stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment."

And in verses 7–8:

"All who see me mock me; They hurl insults, shaking their heads. 'He trusts in the Lord,' they say, 'let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him. ' "

Here's another significant detail often missed. The Psalm identifies the executioners as Gentiles. The Jewish leaders had no authority to kill Jesus. Only the Romans (Pilate) had that authority. It is he who condemned Him to death. Note the word "dogs" in Verse 16. This was the term used by the Jews when referring to the Gentiles.  

Verse 16: "Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet."

Note also that the psalmist declares the means of execution: the piercing of the victim’s hands and feet.

Like so many of David’s psalms, this one turns from sorrow to joy. Verses 27–31 declare that people from all over the world will hear about the crucifixion and Resurrection. 

"All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before Him. Posterity will serve Him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!"

Isaiah too, seven hundred years before Christ, predicted: 

 ISAIAH 53 Verse 3 onwards (abridged) 

He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.

Like one from whom men hide their faces,

He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

Surely He took on our infirmities

and carried our sorrows;

yet we considered Him stricken by God,

struck down and afflicted.

But He was pierced for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,

and by His stripes we are healed.

We all like sheep have gone astray,

each one has turned to his own way;

and the LORD has laid upon Him

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet He did not open His mouth.

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,

so He did not open His mouth.

... ... ... 

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with a rich man in His death,

although He had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Consider the mathematical odds or probabilities that Someone born many years after the predictions have been made would fulfill so many of them.

 

The probabilities must be millions to one. Unless this Man is truly the Son of God, as predicted, and the predictions were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Who is the greatest?

 

.

 

Who is the greatest?

by

Victor S E Moubarak

 

Link HERE 

Me and my friend Jesus

 

Jesus praying

Sermon by Father Jonathan E Moore - LINK HERE

7th Sunday of Easter 2026

The seventh Sunday of Easter, consecration in the truth. We've heard a part of the 17th chapter of Saint John's Gospel, the priestly prayer of our blessed Lord. Saint John locates this long prayer within his account of the Last Supper.

Jesus is praying for His disciples, all of them, present and future. Jesus is praying not just for Simon Peter and his companions, He's praying for you and me. Jesus prays that we may be true to the Father, that we may be united and that we may be consecrated in the truth.

Saint John's Gospel is very carefully put together. Nothing is there without a purpose and nothing is where it is without purpose either. John deliberately situated this prayer of Jesus, our high priest, in between two scenes in which we meet a very different high priest, Caiphas by name.

He tells how Caiphas railroaded the Sanhedrin into deciding that Jesus should die, it being his opinion better for one man to die, which John includes twice in his narrative, once before Jesus is arrested and again afterwards. There is no question of justice here, simply expediency. The priestly prayer of Jesus is followed by Saint John's passion narrative, where Jesus receives a mockery of a trial and, encouraged by Caiphas and his gang, even the Roman governor is railroaded by the Jerusalem mob into passing the death sentence on a man in whom he can find no fault.

Jesus lovingly prays for His followers. Caiphas manipulates and abuses his own people. There's a world of difference between the two, isn't there? Caiphas the high priest was a political appointment in the first place.

The Romans, doubtful of his loyalty, had deposed the high priest Annas in AD 15. They appointed Caiphas in his place. The change didn't really achieve much because many of the Jewish people continued to believe that Annas was the high priest, so Caiphas had to keep Annas on side all the time, which Saint John highlights by revealing that Jesus was taken as a prisoner first to be interrogated by Annas alone and only afterwards to Caiphas and the Sanhedrin, His condemnation already a done deal.

At the same time, however, Caiphas had to try and do the job the Romans had put him there to do. Poor Caiphas, in many ways a pitiable character, situated between a rock and a hard place. Having removed one high priest, the governor could just as easily sack another.

There's a story of the Russian tyrant Stalin warning Lenin's widow Krupskaya, who was protesting at his behaviour, be very careful, if necessary I can always find another Lenin's widow. John contrasts Jesus, the true high priest, with Caiphas, the politician, the phoney high priest. Caiphas is both manipulated and manipulative, a man whose ends justify whatever means are needed to achieve them.

His masters demand of him compliance and he in turn demands the same of those he leads. Sir Winston Churchill famously remarked, a lie can be halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on, and I rather suspect that with Caiphas the truth hadn't even got boots to put on. Jesus, the true high priest, cares for His followers, He wants them to know the truth, to live the truth, to be set free by the truth, to be sanctified in the truth.

What a world of difference between our Lord and Caiphas. John was the last of the apostles to die and may well have lived into the second century AD. He had plenty of time to see the consequences of living the truth and he knew just how bitter those consequences could be.

He recalled Jesus telling His followers that they would be hated just as He had been. A follower of Jesus can neither own the world nor be owned by it. A follower of Jesus can neither be a lover of the world or its beloved.

God is reality, God is all truth, the only truth in which we are ever truly sanctified. Faith in Jesus Christ frees us to live in relationship with the blessed Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God can neither deceive or be deceived.

God knows you and me better than we know our own selves. So our journey of faith will reveal to us unwelcome truths about our own selves and temptation is never far away either. In the Old Testament story of Cain and Abel, God warns the angry, jealous Cain, sin crouches like a lion at your door.

This is all part of the reality in which we need to be grounded. It is the surest defence against perhaps the greatest of all temptations, pride. Be grateful when you are made to feel small because in truth we all are.

Jesus asked the Father, consecrate them in the truth, Your word is truth. We need to recognise the falsehood of living as though we belonged to the world. None of us is resident here for very long.

The temptation to materialism, to the pursuit of success, wealth and celebrity will crouch at our door as long as we live. We need also to see that the worst lies we ever tell are the ones we tell ourselves. The prejudices, false judgements and self-justification to which we can fall prey.

As Easter tide draws to its close, can we pray especially that God's word will be a lamp for our feet, a light for our eyes and that knowing the truth about God and about our own selves, we will enjoy the glorious liberty of the children of God, sanctified in truth. Amen.

Love one another as I have loved you

 

Article by Father Francis Maple - LINK HERE

 LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU

In today’s Gospel from Gospel of John, we find ourselves at a very tender and solemn moment.  It is the Last Supper.  Judas has just gone out into the night to betray Jesus. And what does Jesus do?  He speaks… not of fear, not of anger, not even of betrayal.  He speaks of love.  “I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also must love one another.”

Now we might say, “But Lord, love is not new.  The Old Testament already told us to love our neighbour.” Yes, that is true.  But what is new is this: “As I have loved you.”  That is the difference. That is the challenge.

 What kind of love is this?  Jesus is not speaking about a comfortable love, or a polite kindness.  He is speaking about a love that: washes feet, forgives enemies, bears suffering and gives even life itself.  Within hours, He will go to the Cross.

So when He says, “Love as I have loved.”  He means: love when it costs you something, love when you are not appreciated and love when it hurts.  This is not easy love.  This is Christ-like love.

A woman once cared for her elderly husband who no longer recognised her.  Day after day, she fed him, washed him, and sat beside him.  Someone asked her, “Why do you keep doing this when he doesn’t even know who you are?”  She replied quietly, “Because I know who he is.”  That is love “as Christ loves.”

It is not based on what we receive.  It is based on who we are called to be.

Jesus says something very striking: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Notice—He does not say: “They will know you by your knowledge,” or “by your success,” or even “by your prayers.”  No.  They will know you by your love.  This is the mark of a Christian.  Not the cross we wear… but the love we live. 

Let us be honest.  It is easy to love those who are kind to us.  But what about: the difficult neighbour?  The family member who has hurt us?  The person who misunderstands us?  This is where the Gospel becomes real.  This is where holiness begins.

Perhaps today, the Lord is asking each of us: is there someone I need to forgive?  Is there someone I have neglected?  Is there someone I find hard to love?  That is where this Gospel must be lived.

The beautiful thing is this: Jesus never asks us to do something without giving us the grace to do it.  We are not loving alone.  We are loving with His love in us.

As St. Augustine once said: “Love, and do what you will.”  Because when we truly love as Christ loves, everything else falls into place.

The world today is hungry, not just for words, not just for ideas, but for real love.  Let us be that love.  In our homes.  In our parish and in our daily encounters.  So that others, seeing us, may say: “They belong to Christ.”

Lord Jesus, You have loved us with a perfect and self-giving love.
Teach us to love one another as You have loved us.  Give us patience in trials, forgiveness in hurt, and generosity in service. May our lives reflect Your love, so that the world may come to know You.  Amen.

Followers of the Way

 

 

 

Article by Father Francis Maple - LINK HERE 

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

 

FOLLOWERS OF THE WAY

 

I once had a priest friend who spoke very bluntly.  If a person wasn’t talking sense he would say, “You’re on the wrong bus, Mate!”

 

Buses, of course, usually display a destination board at the front.  What should be written on the destination board of your and my life?  I hope our destination board reads “Jesus” - if not, then we are definitely “on the wrong bus”!

 

St. Luke tells us in his Acts of the Apostles: “It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians” (11:26).  Interestingly, he doesn't say “The disciples called themselves Christians”; no, it was what other people called them.  In the Church’s very early years, followers of Jesus Christ did not call themselves “Christian”, they defined themselves as “Followers of the Way”. 

 

In our Gospel today, Jesus says “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”.  In this statement, Jesus takes three of the great principles of the Old Testament, and declares that He is the fulfilment of all three.  Today I would like to concentrate on just two words: “THE WAY”. 

 

We are all on a journey through life.  Every single human person at this moment is somewhere along that short passage between birth and death.  The big question is: “Where are we going?”  It's something every one of us should be asking ourselves every single day - just where does the road we are travelling lead?

 

Jesus left His disciples in no doubt at all where He was going: “I go to Him who sent Me.” (John 7:33). Again and again He told them “I am going to the Father”, but they found this hard to understand.  It became even harder for them when Jesus started telling them that His path home to the Father involved dying on a cross.  This left them bewildered.  Peter could not accept this.  He was not going to let this happen.  But Jesus swiftly rebuked him, “Get behind Me Satan.”  (Mt. 16:23)  That must have left the others rather afraid to question Him any further.

 

There was, however, one of them who had both the honesty and the courage to own up to his own doubts.  That, of course, was our dear friend Thomas.  He spoke of his doubts and inability to understand.  This question brought from Jesus the beautiful words, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”  That should encourage us never to be ashamed of our doubts before God.  To feel doubts does not betray a lack of faith, but rather a faith which wants to grow deeper.

 

To a Jew at the time of Jesus, the words, ‘I am the Way’ were both powerful and awesome.

 

We see in the Old Testament countless references to the way people needed to live if they were to walk in the ways of the Lord. 

In Deuteronomy (5:32) we read: "You shall not turn aside to the right or to the left, but shall walk in ways which the Lord God has commanded you."  The Prophet Isaiah told the people: "Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying “This is the way, walk in it" (30:21). He also spoke of “The Way of Holiness" in which no person, even the simplest, would be lost (35:8).

 

Psalm 27 prays "Lord, teach me Your Way, so that I may walk in the Truth (v.11)

 

So the image of a Way that led to God was very familiar to them.  Imagine, then, the impact of Jesus saying: "I am that Way".

 

So the Road to God is not a "concept", but a person. Follow Jesus, and you too will find your way leads, not to death and non-existence, but to eternal life with God.

 

All the saints followed Jesus.  Let us take one saint, Teresa of Avila.  She wrote a wonderful book of spirituality entitled "The Way of Perfection".  For her Jesus the Lord is most definitely THE Way, and she admits no other spiritual path than a close and faithful adherence to Him.  She speaks of this beautifully when writing about the Eucharist.  She says, "If, while Jesus lived in the world, the mere touch of His garments healed the sick, who can doubt that when He is dwelling in the very centre of our being He will work miracles on us if we have a living faith in Him?" (208).

 

She also encourages us to have a firm and faithful perseverance in following The Way, that everything depends on people having a great and resolute determination never to halt until they reach their journey's end." She is strongly encouraging us to persevere on our journey to the bitter end.

 

What all of us must all ask ourselves every day when we examine our conscience is Where am I going?  If we are not following Jesus, the Way, then we are definitely travelling the wrong road.  Reach out for Jesus.  Let Him take hold of you and show you the way. 

 

Yes, at the end of each day, we would do well to ask ourselves: “Which bus am I on today? On the destination board is the word Jesus displayed?”

Hearing the Shepherd's Voice

 

Article by Father Jonathan E Moore - LINK HERE 

4th Sunday of Easter          Hearing the Shepherd’s Voice. 

Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd. It is a familiar and appealing image, even though few of us ever see a shepherd with his sheep any longer. Our Lord’s image is not drawn from modern sheep farming, with scores of animals herded by a man on a quad bike. The shepherd Jesus had in mind belongs to an earlier age, an individual minding a fairly small flock, knowing each one of them, and every sheep knowing, trusting and heeding his voice. The Gospel we heard today speaks of a shepherd who is “the gate of the sheepfold”, who sleeps across the opening in the doorway to guard his flock from danger. 

We also heard of the intimacy of the relationship between shepherd and sheep:

“The sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out”

When Our Lord looks at today’s world, with its billions of people, He does not see a vast, faceless, anonymous crowd, but individual people - every  one of them known by name, and every one of them loved as though they were the only person in all creation. A very good way to begin a time of prayer is to be mindful of that. Jesus is looking at you. He is not looking at you as a judge or critic, neither is He looking out for any slips or falls: no, He looks at you all the time because He loves you so much that He simply can't take His eyes off you! The essence of prayer is to make that a mutual feeling, ourselves loving the Lord in and above all things.

I would like to spend these few minutes with you today thinking about our own response to the Lord’s loving gaze. The sheep, Jesus says, are attentive to the shepherd’s voice, and follow him when he calls.

It is necessary to listen in order to hear. It is also necessary to listen if we truly wish to communicate with another person. It is surprising how many people, when asked how they pray, begin by saying: “Well, I just talk to God.” Prayer which involves no more than that never gets one very far - it will always remain shallow and dissatisfying. The great Benedictine spiritual writer, Dom Hubert Van Zeller, described the sound of a human voice echoing around in the vast emptiness of the self-absorbed soul. A person who talks incessantly about himself is very boring - even to himself!

Let's just cast our minds back to last Sunday’s Gospel, the story of the Disciples on the Emmaus Road. What happened? Well, of course, they recognised Jesus in the Breaking of Bread, but their encounter up to that point is important too. Jesus joined Clophas and his companion and walked with them, even though they did not know it. He asked what was on their minds, and they told Him in no uncertain terms, pouring out their disappointment, shattered hopes and failing faith. There is no doubt that they had a lot to say, but the encounter didn't end there, did it? Jesus then began to speak to them, and lead them to an understanding of the true meaning of that first Easter. They stopped talking and started listening, and their hearts burned within them. This is true prayer - not talking to Jesus, but conversing with Jesus. All conversation demands both speaking and listening. Listening is how we hear.

We live in such a noisy, busy world that is is very hard indeed to “tune in” to the voice of Jesus alone. All around us is a turbulent ocean of voices, all saying different things. We can choose to take refuge in noise, it stops one thinking too deeply. Your radio or TV can be on from morning till night, when out in the car there is the radio or CD player, on the bike or walking, there's always the IPod or a phone glued to your ear! If we are not careful, even our prayer time can be about speech and music. True prayer flourishes in silence, and begins to grow when we learn how to “turn on the silence” around us - which generally involves finding the “off switch” for the tumult of noise that mostly surrounds us. Listening to His voice begins with listening for His voice and learning how to block out the interference. Shakespeare, no less, makes it clear that the “sound and fury” of life “signify nothing”; just like the Prophet Elijah, we must learn that God is not encountered in the crashing earthquake or howling wind, but in the still small voice of calm (1 Kings 19:12). 

Finding that “still small voice” is no easy task though, and as soon as we try to we find out how very hard it is, because the unrest and clamour outside are nothing compared with we encounter within our own selves. Don't be discouraged, and remember that with God quality always wins out over quantity. If you can only find two minutes in a day to be alone and silently mindful of God, make them very quiet and very attentive minutes. Make the best of what you have. Learning to listen to God in silence may very well take all your life, but what matters is not learning quickly, just learning it.

Let the last word go to the author Nicholas Sparks:

”We sit silently and watch the world around us. This has taken a lifetime to learn. It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure. Silence is holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking.” (“The Notebook”)

NOTE: Please pray for Father Jonathan Moore, a regular contributor to The Christian Lounge, who is not well currently. May God protect and heal him. Thank you. 

Why can't I hear God?

 

Article by Victor S E Moubarak - LINK HERE 

Why can't we hear God speaking clearly to us so we know what He wants?

It's a fair question. But imagine for a moment this happened to you. Imagine that one day whilst you're alone you hear clearly a voice announcing that God, your Creator, is addressing you personally. How would you react? Be honest, would you not be totally frightened out of your mind? Would you not wonder whether it is all real? Whether you just imagined it? Or perhaps that someone had hidden a loudspeaker somewhere and was playing a trick on you? Would you really believe it was God really speaking?  

God is real. He is a living Spirit inhabiting a spiritual world around us. We imagine Him to be human-like because this is what our mind can understand. 

Christ, the Son of God, appeared on earth as a vulnerable human baby so that we can relate to Him. So that we can listen and learn from Him, and witness His love and compassion for us.

God, the omnipotent loving Creator, descended to our level by visiting our world in human form; sharing with us our humanity.   

Had He appeared as a Spirit, as a bright light, or some hazy form like a "ghost"; our relationship with Him would have been totally different. It would have been based on our fear and bewilderment of Him; and not on His love and compassion for us.  

The Old Testament records that God did speak to the prophets and to people like Abraham, Moses and others like Noah and Jonah. We presume that they heard a voice out of nowhere and knew it was God. 

He spoke clearly to Moses many times when He told him to get the Jews out of Egypt, and throughout their 40 years travels in the desert when He gave him the Ten Commandments. 

So why does He not speak to us clearly today? 

Perhaps our answer is found in the Book of Deuteronomy. This book is a series of addresses given by Moses to the people of Israel in the land of Moab, before they entered the promised land of Canaan.

"The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. And when you heard the voice out of the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me, and you said, “Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him. But now, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us, and we will die, if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer. For who of all flesh has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire, as we have, and survived? Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then you can tell us everything the LORD our God tells you; we will listen and obey.”

And the LORD heard the words you spoke to me, and He said to me, “I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever. Go and tell them: ‘Return to your tents.’ But you stand here with Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and statutes and ordinances you are to teach them to follow in the land that I am giving them to possess.” (Deuteronomy 5:23 onwards ...)

In summary; the Israelites heard the voice of God clearly and were frightened that they would die, so they asked Moses to go and listen to God and relay His messages to the people. They asked God to stop talking; and God agreed.

Maybe this is why God does not speak to humanity in a loud voice as reported in the Bible. 

However, since then and up to now, God continues to speak to people softly in their souls. It may not be a loud voice as in the times of Moses, but He does speak to us - you and me - if only we are willing to listen.

And before you ask ... when God is speaking to you He makes sure you know it is Him speaking to you.

Easter - Lies and Realities

 

 ARTICLE BY VICTOR S E MOUBARAK - LINK HERE

As we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord let us remember that this particular event gave rise to many speculations and rumours all those years ago, and indeed over the years since then.

Let’s consider the facts as we know them.

A man claiming to be the Son of God was crucified and died a most horrible death.

After His death, His followers claimed that He rose from the dead as He had said He would.

Now let’s look at the rumours and the conspiracy theories.

It is possible that Christ’s disciples and followers stole and hid the body of Jesus to perpetuate the story that He is the Son of God and that His Father raised Him from the dead.

But if that were the case; what benefit is there to them to disseminate this story knowing full well that it is a lie? Why suffer persecution, imprisonment, torture and death for something you know to be false? Would you do that?

The other theory is that the Jews, the Sadducees or Pharisees, removed the body in order to stop any beliefs that Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God.

But if that were the case; then why not produce the body once the disciples said that Jesus rose from the dead and invalidate the story of the Resurrection right from the start? Isn't that what one would expect in such circumstances?

Another hypothesis is that Christ never died at all. He just lost consciousness or was in a coma, and He woke up once again and walked out of the tomb.

But the Romans were very thorough people. They made sure that those crucified were indeed dead by breaking their legs whilst hanging there. They did not do so to Jesus because when they checked He was already dead. Even so, they did pierce His side with a spear just to make sure.

And then; there is of course the fact:

Christ died on the Cross and rose from the dead. 

NOTES: At the crucifixion, there was only one person who knew for certain that Jesus is the Son of God. Mary His mother. She knew for sure how He was conceived. If Jesus was not the Son of God, if He was just a fantasist or a fraud, she would have said so in order to save Him; as any good mother would. She kept silent because she knew for certain it was the truth - He IS the Son of God.  

Isaiah 53:9 says "They intended to bury him with criminals, but he ended up in a rich man's tomb, because he had committed no violent deeds, nor had he spoken deceitfully."

Matthew 27:57-60 says "As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away."

This prophesy by Isaiah written roughly 700 years before Jesus' birth is very significant. In Roman times criminals were buried in mass graves. This was the original intention for Jesus, but they buried Him in a rich man's grave. Had He been buried in a mass grave it would have been very difficult and impossible to prove that He had been raised from the dead, bearing in mind the number of bodies there. Thus, as predicted, He was buried in a private rich man's grave which was sealed and guarded by the Romans. Thus identifying that the body which had been buried there was indeed resurrected from the dead.

Tips For Developing the Character of Jesus

 

Article by Barbara Mims - LINK HERE

Tips For Developing the Character of Jesus

 From the celebrated entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on a donkey to the somber last supper with His disciples, followed by His intense hours of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, His betrayal by those closest to Him,  and His crucifixion , Jesus modeled godliness and wisdom under pressure. 

The purpose of Jesus’ time on earth was to reveal the love of God the Father to us, to exemplify how to live the God-centered life, to pay the death price for the sins of all humanity, and then to demonstrate the ultimate power of God with His resurrection.

 As followers of Christ we need to know how to handle the challenges of life and relationships in ways that honor our Lord and also influence others to follow Him as their Savior. Consider these observations:

 -     Jesus knew people can be fickle (changeable, unstable), as observed in the attitude changes of the townspeople from the triumphal entry on a donkey to the demands for the death of Jesus in the place of the criminal Barabas

-     Jesus knew the hidden thoughts and motives of His accusers but maintained His mission on their behalf

-     Jesus dreaded the physical pain, humiliation, and alienation  from both God and mankind 

-     Jesus was honest with God the Father about His feelings yet submissive to what was in the best interest for humanity – their salvation

-     Jesus prayed for those attacking Him, asking God to forgive them because they did not understand what they were really doing

-     Jesus did not argue with His accusers nor retaliate

-     Jesus used His words sparingly, speaking only what needed to be said

-     Jesus did nothing according to human devices to numb the pain but experienced fully what we deserve

-     Jesus felt God’s absence as He bore our sins

-     Jesus offered salvation to the thief on the cross beside Him while approaching hell Himself

-     Jesus endured betrayal, false accusations, ridicule, intense physical abuse, separation from God and a horrible death to pay for the sins of humanity.

We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to respond to life’s assaults, in whatever form they appear, with the character of Christ. May we humble ourselves to follow His example for us. 

What's so Good About Good Friday?

ARTICLE BY MARTHA JANE ORLANDO - LINK HERE

At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.  And at three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" (which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?")  When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."  Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink.  "Now leave him alone.  Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.  With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.  The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!" ~Mark 15:33-39

What's so good about Good Friday?  This is a question I have pondered in my heart over these many years.  After all, this is the day our Lord and Savior, Jesus, suffered an excruciatingly painful and ignominious death on a cross.  Shouldn't we be calling Good Friday the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Friday?

Bishop Justin Holcomb of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida offers some insight as to why this holy day is called "good."

Still, why call the day of Jesus' death "Good Friday" instead of "Bad Friday" or something similar?  Some Christian traditions do take this approach.  In German, for example, the day is called Karfreitag, or "Sorrowful Friday."  In English, in fact, the origin of the term "Good" is debated; some believe it developed from an older name, "God's Friday."  Regardless of the origin, the name Good Friday is entirely appropriate because the suffering and death of Jesus, as terrible as it was, marked the dramatic culmination of God's plan to save his people from their sins.

Good for us.  No, wait!  Grand and glorious for us!

Because of Jesus' willingness to obey His Father's plan, we are forgiven our sins, once and for all.  And we can look forward to the coming Easter celebration with hope and joy, and the promise of a renewed relationship with our Father in heaven.

But on Good Friday, let us all take time to see ourselves sitting at the foot of that cross.  Let us become Mary and the disciple whom Jesus loved, who witnessed His immeasurable suffering.

Let us be fully present for our Lord as He gives His all for us.

Let us weep and mourn and pray.

And let us give thanks always for God's undeserved gifts of forgiveness and grace because Jesus took the cross of sin upon Himself for our salvation.

Amen!