Gospel.com Blog

Easter is fast approaching, which means church services will soon be filled with songs about the cross and the resurrection. This is one of my favorite times of the year for worship, when the church around the world cracks open its hymnals to sing classics like “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”, “Hallelujah, What a Savior” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”

What’s your favorite Easter Hymn or Song?

Share your thoughts!

We’re well into Lent, but Easter remains several weeks away. Does it ever feel like Easter approaches at a glacial pace?

At A Slice of Infinity, Margaret Manning observes that Easter certainly does “take its time” in arriving—and that God tends to unveil his plans and purposes at a measured pace very much at odds with that of our frantic, always-busy modern lives. She contrasts our frenzied schedules with the pace of God’s revelation in the Bible:

The lives depicted in the Bible couldn’t be more different from our hurried lives. More importantly, and perhaps to our great frustration, the God revealed in the biblical stories is rarely in a hurry. Abraham and Sarah, for example, received the promise of an heir twenty-five years before they actually laid eyes on Isaac. Joseph had a dream as a seventeen year old young man that his brothers would one day bow down to him. Yet it was countless years and many difficulties later that his brothers would come and kneel before him, asking for food. Moses was eighty years old—long past his prime of life—when God appeared to him in the burning bush and called him to deliver the children of Israel. David was anointed king by Samuel as a young boy tending his father’s flocks, long before he finally ascended to the throne. And Jesus spent thirty years in relative obscurity, not involved in public ministry, and only three years announcing the kingdom and God’s rule in his life and ministry.

From our perspective, it is difficult to understand why God wasn’t more in a hurry rushing to accomplish the plans and purposes, not only in these individuals’ lives, but also in the plan of redemption. The Messiah was prophesied hundreds of years before he actually arrived on the scene. We cannot help but ask why God seems to move so slowly?

Read the full devotional at A Slice of Infinity.

“Why does God move so slowly?” “How long, oh Lord?” They’re familiar cries, uttered by people waiting for an answer to a desperate prayer or wishing that God would resolve a problem sooner rather than later. But the Bible—and the long slow march to Easter—can help us to understand God’s deliberate timing, and the value of patience and contentment. The promise of Easter may be a long time coming—but it will arrive!

What does the classic Christmas film It’s a Wonderful Life have to do with Lent and Easter? The movie (which ends happily) illustrates the despair that sets in when dreams are lost—when the harsh reality of life dashes our hopes for the future. According to this Slice of Infinity devotional, the journey toward Easter presents Christians with a similar dose of cold, hard reality:

“It’s a Wonderful Life” offers all who enter into its narrative a chance to look into the chasm between many cherished ideals and the often sober reality of our lives. This glimpse into what is often a gaping chasm of lost hopes and abandoned dreams offers a frightening opportunity to let go. Indeed, facing the death of ones’ dreams head on forces a moment of decision. Will we become bitter by fixating on what has been lost, or will we walk forward in hope on a path of yet unseen possibility?

For Christians, the journey through Lent offers a visible and living reminder of the fact that life entails death; it cannot be circumnavigated or avoided. Those who follow the path of Lent are presented with a similar decision: will the giving up of aspects we believe essential to our vision of a wonderful life lead us to bitterness or to hope? The discipline of Lent often reveals hands grasped tightly and tenaciously around ideals that must give way to new realities. Author M. Craig Barnes suggests that the journey away from our own sense of what makes for a wonderful life is actually the process of conversion. “It is impossible to follow Jesus and not be led away from something. That journey away from the former places and toward the new place is what converts us. Conversion is not simply the acceptance of a theological formula for eternal salvation. Of course it is that, but it is so much more. It is the discovery of God’s painful, beautiful, ongoing creativity along the way in our lives.”

Read the full devotional at Slice of Infinity.

What should we do when we’re confronted by the hard truth of sin and its terrible consequences? Easter offers us a choice: we can wallow in despair, or we can put our hope and trust in the message of Jesus Christ. Which of those two roads are you traveling along this Easter season?

As Easter approaches, many churches and individuals are revisiting the Gospel accounts of the suffering and death that preceded Jesus’ glorious resurrection. Is the torture Jesus experienced just part of the story, a historical event along the route to Easter? Does Jesus’ suffering mean something for us today?

Margaret Manning writes at Slice of Infinity about what the atonement means for us today, finding a parallel with the efforts of some Native Americans to make sense of the suffering their ancestors experienced:

A chance meeting at a church gathering introduced me to a ministry in my local area that works with urban-dwelling Native Americans. Most are homeless and many struggle with alcohol and drug addiction. Like me, these individuals are far removed from the Trail of Tears. But like me, this organization wonders what meaning to assign to a tragic past. Clearly, we carry the events of our past into our present lives. In some cases, painful hurts and histories have ongoing repercussions. Cycles of violence, addiction, and despair are shaped, in part, by the meaning assigned to these past events. Therefore, this ministry seeks to reassign new meaning to difficult pasts through reconciliation and forgiveness.

In the same way, as we look at the atonement of Jesus, we can either view it as an event that happened in the past that primarily impacted our individual, vertical relationship with God, or we can see that the justice of God on our behalf enjoins us to do justice on behalf of others. We can live the atonement as a way to give meaning to the past that is redemptive for the present. Recognizing both our need for forgiveness and the need to offer forgiveness, we give meaning to those who need atonement today. Not simply an act of injustice perpetrated against Jesus, the atonement brings life, as surely as it binds us to give life to others.

Read the full devotional at Slice of Infinity.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Many Christians mark the season by making a spiritual commitment that helps them focus more on Jesus Christ: giving up a habit or luxury; reading a daily devotional; or doing volunteer work.

One simple but powerful way to prepare for Easter is to spend time in the Scriptures. Our sister site BibleGateway.com has just put a Lent daily Bible reading plan online to help—it walks through all four of the Gospels between today and Easter, so by the time Easter arrives you’ll have read the entire account of Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection.

If you’ve not made a Lent pledge before, daily Scripture reading like this is a great place to start (and involves a relatively light time commitment). Take a look at the Lent reading plan and see it helps you focus your thoughts on Jesus as Easter approaches!

The liturgical season of Lent begins next week on Ash Wednesday. Lent commemorates the final weeks leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, and many Christians mark the season with a spiritual commitment or by giving up a habit or behavior for the duration of Lent.

Examples of Lent commitments I’ve seen include giving up television, reading through a particular part of the Bible, volunteering at a local food kitchen, and many others. Whether it’s trivial or epic in scale, the point of such a commitment is to focus attention on the person of Jesus Christ.

Are you doing anything to commemorate Lent this year?

Share your thoughts!

Today’s devotional fits well with yesterday’s post about funerals and the Gospel. It’s from InterVarsity Press’ The Online Pulpit, and it looks at a short scene from Jesus’ crucifixion with symbolic significance:

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,
“They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.” (Jn 19:23-24 NIV)

I have always wondered why Jesus wore something so fine the Roman soldiers did not want to rip it up. I like imagining Jesus as the funky itinerant teacher dressed in something from the Salvation Army. But under it all he wore a fine tunic of the sort the high priest wore into the holy of holies. In the case of Christ though, it was stripped from him that he might take our sin, shame and nakedness on the cross. We in turn are clothed in his righteousness. Only he could stand before God naked and unashamed. He became unclothed so that we could become clothed with the finest wedding garments.

In this life we still feel a bit naked and exposed. Death is one of the things that can do this. Death reminds us just how feeble and frail we are no matter what we might be wearing. We cannot dress up death. Our own sense of nakedness moves us to find the greatest seamstress, our Father, who gives us the festal garments of salvation.

God has created us for this very purpose, for this wedding feast. And it is with confidence that we look forward to this feast, for in Christ we will not be found naked but clothed in the white garments of righteousness.

Read the complete message at The Online Pulpit.

Matthew 27:32-61

Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.

Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

“ They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.”

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.

Today is Maundy Thursday, the day of the Last Supper before Christ’s betrayal. While the most dramatic events of Easter—Christ’s arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection—are understandably where we focus most of our attention, the Last Supper is key to setting up the events to follow. Among other things, the Last Supper was Jesus’ last opportunity to directly minister to his disciples before his death and resurrection. So what did Jesus teach at this final gathering?

The Gospel of John goes into the most detail about the Last Supper, spending five chapters recounting Jesus’ words and actions that evening (more than he does describing the rest of the Easter story!). If it’s been a while since you read the entire story of the Last Supper, take a few minutes to read John 13-17.

What stands out the most in that story? For many readers, Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet is the most striking event in the entire account. What was the point of this display of humility? Blogger Mitch Lewis wrote an excellent reflection on feet-washing and its significance on Maundy Thursday that is well worth reading.

And over at Ravi Zacharias ministry site, Jill Carattini sums up the impact of this scene:

It was Oswald Chambers who once observed that drudgery is the truest test of genuine character. Foot washing was a lowly job, an oft-recurring job due to sandals and dusty streets—a job for a servant. But here, the menial task was instead performed by the master, their teacher—the Son of God.

And the influential truth of Christ’s identity is that He still does what is analogous to washing soiled feet: our deepest sorrows He feels, our sorriest actions He accepts, our smallest prayers He hears—our every transgression He forgives, our dusty, tired hearts He washes.

Also useful is this lengthier analysis of Jesus’ unusual action from a commentary at the Bible Gateway.

Was the timing of Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion significant?

The crucifixion took place during the Jewish celebration of the Passover feast, which commemorated God’s sparing of Israel’s firstborn sons during their captivity in Egypt, and their subsequent rescue from slavery. It’s not too difficult to see the thematic connection between Christ’s sacrifice and the events of the first Passover.

But Mart De Haan, writing at the Been Thinking About blog, observes that the timing of Easter holds even more connections to the Old Testament calendar if you dig deeper into the story. He sees a strong tie between Easter and the Jewish spring feasts:

In addition to fulfilling the mysterious predictions of prophets, Jesus showed how deeply his life was rooted in the annual celebrations of Israel.

…the fulfillment of [feast and holiday] patterns like this combine with the mysterious prophecies that predicted Messiah’s death (i.e Isa 53; Dan 9:26) to give us a compelling and convincing statement that the Passover Lamb was all that Jesus claimed to be– and far more.

It’s an interesting exploration of Easter from a fresh angle, and a reminder that there’s a lot of depth to the Easter account that isn’t obvious to a modern reader, but which would’ve been quite apparent to a contemporary audience. If this sort of Bible trivia fascinates you, RBC Ministries has an online booklet that goes into more detail about the annual cycle of feasts in the Old Testament.