As Christians, the Resurrection of Jesus is one of our most important celebrations. We rejoice for our King did not stay dead. He rose on the third day. Now, when He rose, His disciples, including Peter and John, didn’t know. In fact, no one knew. They all had to be told.
Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James (The mother of Jesus), and Salome (the mother of the sons of Zebedee, James and John) went out early the morning of the Resurrection (Resurrection Sunday) to the tomb of Jesus to anoint Him with oils. But when they got there, the stone was rolled away, and Jesus wasn’t in the tomb.
Instead, an angel, who was there, told them to go tell Jesus’ disciples and Peter that Jesus has risen and will meet them at Galilee as He had prophesied. Which begs the question, why did this angel call Peter by name? Why did he single Peter out? Join ArieRashelle as she searches through Scripture to find the answer to this question in our latest video, ‘Why Did The Angel Call Peter By Name?’
Mark 16:5-7 Matthew 26:31-32 Matthew 26:33 Proverbs 8:3 Proverbs 16:20 Proverbs 16:18 Matthew 16:21-23 Luke 22:31-34 Luke 22:61-62 Mark 16:7 Isaiah 43:1 Colossians 2:13-15 John 20:1-9 2 Corinthians 10:5-6 John 21:19b
More on Peter and The Resurrection of Jesus
The Angel Singles Out Peter
1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.”
Mark 16:1-7
Jesus Asks Peter, ‘Do You Love Me?’
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to Him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to Him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
Today we celebrate the Resurrection of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. And just as the early Church was mocked because of their faith in the Resurrection, so are we today. Look at what the world says about Easter. It’s the Easter Bunny. Eggs. Candy. Family Time, but no Resurrection. In fact, they say it’s foolish to even believe in the Resurrection. They say Christ didn’t arise and shine before men and women because He is dead.
The world will tell us that there was and is no resurrection. They’ll try to convince us that Jesus was just a man like everyone else; there was and is nothing miraculous about Him or His story. Yet, so many willingly laid down their lives as they declared that Jesus was dead and then rose again on the third day. As Christians, this is our core belief; why? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he touches our hearts with his powerful Easter Sunday message, ‘Arise and Shine.’
Mark 16:1–7 John 19:31 Matthew 27:55–56 John 19:25 Matthew 6:27 1 Corinthians 15:12–19 Acts 12:1-2 2 Corinthians 11:23–28 Isaiah 60:1
Verses on The Resurrection of Christ
The Gospels’ Account of the Resurrection
1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place whereHe lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Matthew 28:1-10
1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.
5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Mark 16:1-8
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
8 And they remembered His words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
Luke 24:1-12
1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.
John 20:1-10
Importance of The Resurrection
4 We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Romans 6:4-6
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:20-22
Summary
Christ had to first arise (The Resurrection) and shine (show them His glory) before His disciples and the people of His time so that one day we might be able to arise from the ashes of our old self and shine before the people of our time. Look what the Scripture says about how we are to arise and shine:
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16-17
This is why we celebrate Easter. This is why we worship and gather together, especially on Easter Sunday. Because on Saturday night, our God was dead in the grave, but on Easter Sunday, our God rose again, defeating death and the grave. This Resurrection Sunday, remember all that our God went through for us. All that He gave so that we could live. So, that one day, we could follow in His footsteps and arise and shine as well.
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, ~ Hebrews 10:11-12
Jesus came to earth for one purpose and one purpose only, to redeem ALL of mankind from their sins. He came to give the one and only sacrifice that could cleanse mankind of our sins and reconcile us to God. After His sacrifice, He was buried in a tomb, and a huge stone sealed Him in. But, on the third day, Jesus rose again.
We don’t serve a dead God. Our God is alive and well. His life wasn’t taken from Him. He freely gave it. It was His call to redeem us from our sins. No longer is even on this earth, but now He is physically seated at the right hand of God. And because He lives through us, and He is now our High Priest, we have been given the right to enter into the presence of Almighty God. We have now been redeemed, restored, and adopted as Children of God.
So be encouraged today; our Savior is alive and well. He goes before us. He clears the way for us to walk. Jesus has torn the curtain separating man and God. Because our Savior not only lives but is seated in Glory, we can now enter into those places of Glory. We are no longer separated from God.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Enter Into His Places of Glory.
7 Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. ~ Exodus 12:7
Without the sacrifice of the perfect lamb and the blood covering the doorposts and the lintel of the houses, the LORD could not stop the destroyer from entering the home and taking the life of the firstborn. This is the same with us today. Without the sacrifice of the perfect lamb, we cannot be freed from our sins, and we are bound for Hell. For the soul that sins must die. But don’t be discouraged; our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Our perfect lamb has been slain.
Jesus died for our sins 2000 years ago. He took our punishment on Himself, but even though He died for us, that doesn’t mean that we will all be saved. We have to now do an action. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you can make it in without applying the blood. Likewise, don’t be lulled into apathy, thinking that all is good because you believe in God. You believe in God, good! Even the demons believe that there is a God and shutter.
Listen. Not everyone that says Lord, Lord, will be accepted. You have to apply the blood. How do you apply the blood?
By accepting Jesus’ sacrifice and obeying His commands
Read your Bible
Become familiar with what Jesus said and what His Apostles revealed about Him
26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for His own sins and then for those of the people, since He did this once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. ~ Hebrews 7:26-28
We needed Jesus’ blood because His blood was and is untainted by sin. Just as the writer of Hebrews tells us that it was impossible for someone tainted by sin to redeem us from our sins, it always will be impossible for anyone other than Jesus to redeem us from our sins. Why? Because Jesus was our perfect, untainted, innocent final sacrifice. This act was not and is not God’s accepting nor condoning human sacrifice. This was Jesus saying Father, they’ve sinned, they can’t pay their debt; they can’t take their punishment, let me take their place. Jesus took our place on the cross. He took our punishment by sacrificing Himself so that we might be saved.
So, what does this blood do for us? According to Hebrews 9:13-14, the blood of Jesus did what the blood of animals could not do; it cleansed us from our sins and all unrighteousness. Unlike the animals’ blood, Jesus’ blood purified us from our sin and purified our minds from the guilt of our sins. He not only cleansed us physically but spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. He freed us in every aspect we can think of, with His Holy and precious blood.
Now because the Blood of Jesus cleansed us of our sins, it also brought us closer to God. The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 10:19-20 that we are now able to enter the Holy places, that we couldn’t enter before the cleansing Blood of Jesus. We have been given, through the new way of Jesus, a path into the Holy places. We can now go before the Throne of God with confidence.
“16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” ~ Hebrews 4:16
Before we couldn’t do that, we couldn’t enter into the presence of God, or we would die because of our sin and filth, but now we have that privilege because of the cleansing power of the Blood of Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for taking our place and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Thank Him For His Sacrifice.
Every year we celebrate Easter and/or Passover, but do we truly understand the purpose of these two significant Holidays? How is an ancient feast connected with a more recent celebration? How are Easter and Passover connected? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he explains the connection between the two in his message, Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread: Part Two.
1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.”
14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 18 In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”
Each year we celebrate Palm Sunday, but why? What’s the significance of this revered Christian Holiday? Could it be rooted in the Old Testament feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread, if so how are they connected? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens your eyes to the true purpose of Palm Sunday in his message Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread: Part One.
Exodus 12:1-6 John 12:12-13 Mark 11:1-14:38 John 13:1-5 John 18:28 Mark 14:39-42 Matthew 21:12-13 Hebrews 3:15
Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread
1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.
4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.”
God got off of His throne, came to Earth, was beaten and whipped, He was nailed to a cross, and then He died. But His story didn’t end there. His body didn’t stay in the grave because on the third day; He rose again! Hallelujah! Jesus is alive! God’s not dead! Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he delivers his fiery message, He Is Risen, explaining everything Jesus accomplished on the cross. Oh, Death, where is your sting? Oh, Grave, where is your victory?
Matthew 21:1-11 Mark 10:32 Zechariah 9:9 Mark 15:22 John 1:11 Hebrews 4:15
He Is Risen!
1But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
Luke 24:1-7
Our God is not dead. He is alive and well. Jesus is alive. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. We serve the Living God.
We know we need the Blood of Jesus, but what does that mean exactly? Why do we need the blood? What does the blood do for us? Can we be saved without the blood? Join ArieRashelle as she dissects the Bible to find the answers to all of these questions in our video, The Blood of Jesus.
7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:7
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
There was a large crowd laying down their cloaks and palm branches before Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. But what was Jesus doing there? Why was there such a large crowd going to Jerusalem? What does this have to do with us today? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he shed some light on Palm Sunday in his message Here Comes The King.
Matthew 21:1-11 Matthew 12:38-40 Leviticus 23:4-8 Leviticus 23:9-14 1 Corinthians 15:20 Leviticus 23:15-22 Leviticus 23:42
Here Comes The King
12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him.
