Daily Devotional For Sunday, March 31, 2024 (Easter)

Today is Easter — Resurrection Sunday! Hallelujah for this day. We have been looking at the seven last statements Jesus made from the cross. Today, I want to finish up with the last 3. The fifth statement Jesus made from the cross is found in John 19:28, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), `I thirst’” (ESV). Which scripture? Psalm 22:15, “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death” (ESV). 

Jesus hung on the cross roughly six hours and each hour increased His suffering. Medically and physically, a fever would have plagued His body due to the scourging and nails going through His hands and feet. Dehydration from blood loss and hanging the sun with nothing to drink would have made his mouth and tongue so dry He could barely speak. He would have felt as if His body was on fire.

Jesus said this in John 7:37, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (ESV). The same Jesus Who said this said, “I thirst.” This is the only time that Jesus refers to His own suffering on the cross. His other words were spoken to forgive others, to open paradise, to provide for His mother, to reveal the anguish of hell, to announce the atonement, and to trust His spirit to the Father in death. But in these words, He speaks out of His physical suffering. The Bible tells us that someone lifted up a hyssop branch dipped in sour wine to His mouth.

Just like Jesus, there are times we suffer, not the scale He did, with suffering. We will have suffering that will push us and test our commitment to Jesus Christ. Because Jesus suffered, He is able to help you with your suffering. As Jesus suffered, after His fifth statement from the cross, He said a sixth statement found in John 19:30, When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished” (ESV). What was finished?

First, His suffering. He would die in the next few minutes. Second, His perfect obedience to the Father. Third, His battle against the devil was over and He had won. Fourth, His mission — Jesus had completely paid God’s price for our sin. Jesus said, “It is finished!” The Greek New Testament word is [Τετέλεσται, tetelestai] and it means “ it is accomplished, it is finished, and it is paid for.” Chuck Swindoll writes this:

Archeologists have found papyrus tax receipts with Tetelestai written across them, meaning “paid in full.” With Jesus’ last breath on the cross, He declared the debt of sin canceled, completely satisfied. Then—as John declares emphatically—Jesus willingly gave over His spirit in death. No one took Jesus’ life. He freely gave it. Look at John 19-17-18, “The Father loves Me because I sacrifice My life so I may take it back again. (18) No one can take My life from Me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what My Father has commanded” (NLT) — (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “John,” p. 371).

Having paid God’s price for sin, then Jesus said His seventh and last statement from the cross. We find this in Luke 23:46, “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit!” And having said this He breathed His last” (ESV). Jesus quotes from Psalm 31:5 to fulfill this passage: “Into Your hand I commit My spirit; You have redeemed Me, O Lord, faithful God” (ESV). 

Some people misinterpret what happened here. Jesus was not overcome nor overwhelmed by death. Look at  John 10:18, “No one takes My life from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father” (ESV). Meaning — Jesus’ life was not taken, it was given. 

With Jesus’ crucifixion and death He fulfilled another prophecy in Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on Me, on Him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over Him, as one weeps over a firstborn” (ESV). 

You probably have never heard of J. Warner Wallace. He is one of the top CSI Forensic Detectives in the world. As an atheist, he wanted to disprove the Resurrection of Jesus because it went against everything in science, medicine and common sense knows as truth. So, read below a summary of what he discovered:

“What happens when a CSI-style forensic detective goes to Calvary to investigate what transpired after Jesus' crucifixion? J. Warner Wallace is a forensic detective specializing in cold-case investigations. As an atheist Wallace became intrigued with the Gospels and their account of Jesus' resurrection because “the most important question I could ask about Christianity just so happened to fall within my area of expertise. Did Jesus really rise from the dead?” It would prove to be the ultimate cold-case forensic investigation because eyewitnesses and material evidence that could be used to prove or disprove what happened have been gone for nearly 2000 years. 

Wallace came away utterly convinced that it was true. As an atheist, Wallace had always assumed that the resurrection was a lie, believing that the twelve apostles “concocted, executed, and maintained the most elaborate and influential conspiracy of all time.” When Wallace looked at the evidence and as an “unbeliever: he found four minimal facts to be substantiated “by both friends and foes” of Christianity:

1. 1. Jesus died on the cross and was buried.
   2. Jesus’ tomb was empty and no one ever produced His body.
   3. Jesus’ disciples believed that they saw Jesus resurrected from the dead.
   4. Jesus’ disciples were transformed following their alleged resurrection observations.

Wallace tells how he then used the kind of deductive reasoning he would use at a crime scene “inferring the most reasonable explanation” and came up with several hypotheses:

• • One: The disciples were mistaken about Jesus’s death. Jesus survived his crucifixion and appeared to disciples after he recovered. This theory fails to explain what the disciples saw when they brought Jesus down from the cross. Didn’t they check if he was breathing, if his body was cold, or if rigor mortis had set in? Is it reasonable to believe they would have not noticed any of these conditions common to dead bodies?
  • Two: The disciples stole the body and fabricated the story of the resurrection. While this explanation accounts for the empty tomb, it fails to account for the transformed lives of the apostles. The apostles, who had been cowards, were now suddenly as bold as a battleship because of the lies they themselves had concocted.
  • Three: The disciples were delusional. This fails to account for the empty tomb. More importantly, Wallace argues that he has never encountered large groups having identical hallucinations.
  • Four: An imposter tricked the disciples, convincing them that Jesus was alive. This theory fails to account for the empty tomb and requires an impersonator. The disciples were highly skeptical and the impersonator would have had to be adept at copying Jesus’ mannerisms. Above all, he would have needed to possess miraculous powers since the disciples’ report Jesus working miracles after the resurrection.
  • Five: The resurrection is a wildly exaggerated legend that grew exponentially over time. This theory clashes with the record of witnesses making claims about the resurrection from the earliest days of the Christian movement.

Wallace concludes: “The resurrection is reasonable. The answers are available; you don’t have to turn off your brain to be a believer.” Wallace joins a long line of intellectuals who are part of the “resurrection genre” of writers--sceptics who started out to disprove the resurrection and ended up believing that it is true” (Source: George Conger, “CSI Calvary – the compelling case for the Resurrection,” Anglican.Ink (4-2-18); J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels, (David C. Cook, 2013).

I would like to share some closing words by pastor/author Chuck Swindoll:

“Such an extreme price for our salvation calls for extreme obedience out of gratitude to God. Some people today continue to play the religious part. Perhaps you are one of them. You have played church most of your life. Jesus is a name you’ve heard since you were born. You saw pictures of Him in Sunday school. You learned stories about Him and about the cross as you grew up. 

You can’t imagine life without the church and Jesus. But as a result, the edge has been taken off of your faith. Being overexposed, your faith has been dulled by indifference. Whatever your denominational background, when you come to a scene like this, as narrated by Luke, it becomes clear what it took to make the payment, the ransom for sins. 

And this is just the physical part of it. We can’t fathom what it meant for Jesus to have the Father’s back turned on Him. When you come to a point like this, recognizing the extreme price that was paid for our salvation, you may realize that such an act calls for extreme obedience. This obedience is not simply a nice option. We must obey. And it is a commitment for life, this following Christ.

I urge you, don’t underestimate the gift of eternal life. Although it cost you and me nothing, it cost Him everything—untold suffering in that span of time when the sins of the world were poured out on Him. If you genuinely understand what the Lord has done for you, then you have but one response, and it must be obedience” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Luke,” pp. 570-571).

Having read this today, celebrate the words found in Matthew 28:6, "He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said would happen” (NLT).

Questions To Consider

1. If you believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, would you say there is enough empirical evidence to prove you are a devout, obedient follower of Jesus Christ? Why or why not?
2. Through history, there have been many skeptics of the Resurrection who sought to disprove it, only to be converted to salvation in Christ. C.S. Lewis and the Apostle Paul are two of the them like J. Warner Wallace above. Having been so adamant against the Resurrection, what do you think it was like for these atheists to go back and say they were wrong? Have you ever had the wrong idea about Jesus Christ? If so, what was it? Did it ever change to the correct biblical view of Jesus?
3. Today is Easter — Resurrection Sunday. Besides possibly going to a church service, how else will you celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection so that others see this is more to you than just another worship service you are attending?
4. When Jesus shouted from the cross — “tetelestai” — “it is finished, it has been paid for.” He had paid for a debt you could never repay to God. How does your every day life demonstrate your gratitude and service to God for this?
5. If you are not a committed, obedient, and serving disciple of Jesus Christ, why not? What should be your next step to become one?

Scripture To Meditate On: John 19:30, “It is finished” (ESV). 

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, thank You for coming out of the grave for me. Thank You for willingly going to the cross to pay my debt to God. I cannot even imagine the suffering You endured for me on the cross. Thank You for shouting “tetelestai” from the cross. I want You to hear me shouting this to You, `Lord, Your kingdom and reign come in my life. You will and purpose be done in my life.’ I surrender to You completely as You did to the Father’s will on the cross. I want to personalize what You said in Luke 9:23 in this statement: “For Easter 2024, I will deny myself of what I want. I will take up my own cross daily and crucify anything that is contrary to Your will so that I can follow You.’ In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside — Pastor Kelly