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The Passion and the Empty Tomb: The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus |
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The Resurrection of the Son of God--Softcover By N.T. Wright Winner of 2003 Theologos award, named both Book of the Year and Best Academic Book by the Association of Theological Booksellers. It has also won the 2004 Christianity Today Book Award in the category of Biblical Studies. Why did Christianity begin, and why did it take the shape it did? To answer this question-which any historian must face-renowned New Testament scholar N. T. Wright focuses on the key question: what precisely happened at Easter? What did the early Christians mean when they said that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from the dead? What can be said today about this belief? This book, third in Wright's series Christian Origins and the Question of God, sketches a map of ancient beliefs about life after death, in both the Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds. It then highlights the fact that the early Christians' belief about the afterlife belonged firmly on the Jewish spectrum, while introducing several new mutations and sharper definitions. This, together with other features of early Christianity, forces the historian to read the Easter narratives in the gospels, not simply as late rationalizations of early Christian spirituality, but as accounts of two actual events: the empty tomb of Jesus and his "appearances." How do we explain these phenomena? The early Christians' answer was that Jesus had indeed been bodily raised from the dead; that was why they hailed him as the messianic "son of God." No modern historian has come up with a more convincing explanation. Facing this question, we are confronted to this day with the most central issues of worldview and theology.
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Whatever is Pure, April - May (Easter) 2003
Rejoice!
If any be a devout lover of God,
let him partake with gladness from this fair and radiant feast.
If any be a faithful servant,
let him enter rejoicing into the joy of his Lord.
If any have wearied himself with fasting,
let him now enjoy his reward.
If any have laboured from the first hour,
let him receive today his rightful due.
If any have come after the third,
let him celebrate the feast with thankfulness.
If any have come after the sixth,
let him not be in doubt, for he will suffer no loss.
If any have delayed until the ninth,
let him not hesitate but draw near.
If any have arrived only at the eleventh,
let him not be afraid because he comes so late.
For the Master is generous and accepts the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him who comes at the eleventh hour
in the same was as him who has laboured from the first.
He accepts the deed, and commends the intention.
Enter then, all of you, into the joy of our Lord.
First and last, receive alike your reward.
Rich and poor, dance together.
You who fasted and you who have not fasted, rejoice together.
The table is fully laden: let all enjoy it.
The calf is fatted: let none go away hungry.
Let none lament his poverty;
for the universal Kingdom is revealed.
Let none bewail his transgressions;
for the light of forgiveness has risen from the tomb.
Let none fear death;
for death of the Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed death by undergoing death.
He has despoiled hell by descending into hell.
Hell was filled with bitterness when it met thee face to face below;
filled with bitterness, for it was brought to nothing;
filled with bitterness, for it was mocked;
filled with bitterness, for it was overthrown;
filled with bitterness, for it was put in chains
Hell received a body, and encountered God. It received earth, and confronted heaven.
O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
Christ is risen! And you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is risen! And the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is risen! And the angels rejoice!
Christ is risen! And life is liberated!
Christ is risen! And the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power, now and forever, and from all ages to all ages.
Amen!
An Easter Sermon by John Chrysostom (Pastor from the 5th Century)
Biography
Biblical Account of The Betrayal of Christ, his death and his ressurection
Upon Your head they placed a crown.
They nailed You to that awful tree,
Yet when they did, it was for me.
Your back was beaten, bruised and sore,
the human You could take no more. But as You lay upon that tree,
Your Spirit says You thought of me.
I hear the nails they hammered through,
My God, the pain I’ve caused for You.
And now You cause my eyes to see,
You did it all, in love, for me.
The soldier's spear, it pierced Your side,
For me You truly lived, and died.
What more could any lover give?
You died, and rose, that I might live
For me You suffered all that pain,
That I might Adam's state regain,
Become again God's favoured child,
As when on Adam He first smiled.
How can such love I understand,
Although Your Spirit holds my hand.
He teaches me to seek Your way,
And walk along it day by day.
I may not have the voice to sing,
And make the halls of heaven ring.
But I can sing within my heart,
My Lord, my God, how great Thou art.
© Ailsa Yates
Praise The Lord this Easter morning
For all that He has done.
Take the time to remember
How the battle for our soul was won.
God knew man would not be able
To save himself from sin.
Without God's redeeming plan
We would never win.
God sent His Son, Jesus,
To die upon the cross.
Calvary was the only way
For God to save the lost.
The day of crucifixion
Should burn clearly in our minds.
Oh! How the Saviour suffered
To redeem all of mankind.
He was badly beaten
In such a dreadful way.
His skin was laid wide open,
As they kept striking Him that day.
When they mocked and spat upon Him,
He never looked away.
He stood and said not a word
To save Himself that day.
They pressed a crown of thorns,
Deep into His head.
And made Him carry a heavy cross upon His back
They had ripped to shreds.
He was hung upon the cross
With nails through His hands and feet.
And even though death was near,
He showed His love, when He promised eternity to a thief.
They took a sword and pierced His side
To make sure that He was dead.
The pierced side
Fulfilling what the Scripture had said.
The blood that poured from His ripped flesh and pierced side,
Is the blood that redeems us in His Fathers eyes.
The stripes that laid open the skin on His back,
Allows for our healing ; Isaiah 53 states that.
Are we worthy of this Man's blood?
Are we worthy of God's only Son?
"No!" Not a one can say,
"Jesus need not have died for me in that way."
God's love for mankind
Showed clear on that day.
As He turned from His Son,
And the angels stayed away.
Jesus was laid in a tomb that was sealed,
And God's plan for man was later revealed.
For on the third day the stone rolled away,
Our Saviour resurrected, then is alive today.
Praise the Lord! He sits at the Father's right side,
Interceding for us, so with Him we'll abide.
Our salvation was paid for that day on the cross.
If we all turn to Jesus, not one will be lost.
Our sins are forgiven.
Praise God for His Son,
For on that Resurrection morning,
God's battle was won.
© Frances
praise@suite224.net
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