He is Risen!

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This is the final day of my 40 day Lenten Blog.

Jesus died on what became known as Good Friday. That was the first day. The second day He spent in the realm of the dead, which is sometimes referred to as Hell, but it does not refer to the Hell of punishment and torment, only the realm of the dead. There He preached the Gospel to the Old Testament saints so that they too could have eternity with Him in Heaven. Then, on the third day, He rose from the dead.

That day, Sunday, many of the women were going to anoint Jesus with spices because they had not had time to do so before the Sabbath began after Jesus died. You see, in ancient Jewish culture, the new day began when the sun went down. So the Sabbath started on what we would call Friday night. The people burying Jesus were rushing to get Jesus' body into the tomb before the Sabbath began which was Saturday the last day of the week. And of course they could not anoint His body on the Sabbath day, so they had to wait until the next day, Sunday, the first day of the week.

The women arrived early in the morning, and as they walked they discussed how they were going to move the enormous stone that was in front of the tomb. But when they arrived at the tomb they found the stone already rolled away and an angel sat on top of it.

"Who are you looking for?" the angel asked them

"Jesus," the women told him.

"Why do you seek the living among the dead?" the angel asked. "He is not here. He has risen as He said He would."

While the other women ran off in either fright or amazement, Mary Magdalene remained there weeping. She did not understand what had happened and thought someone had taken Jesus' body. She heard someone walking up and at first thought it was the gardener.

"Please, sir, if you have moved my Lord's body tell me where and I shall go and get Him," she said through tears. Then she heard her name.

"Mary," the man said and instantly Mary Magdalene realized that it was Jesus. Overjoyed, she fell at His feet and grabbed hold of His ankles so that He could not leave. "Mary you must not hold me for I have not yet ascended to my Father."

Then Mary ran off to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen. Peter and John rushed back to the tomb as quickly as they could and indeed found it empty. Jesus also appeared to two men on the road to Emmaus. He also appeared to the Eleven in the upper room, and later to Peter and the others while they were fishing. Jesus appeared to around five hundred men in all to prove that He had truly risen from the dead.

Then, after He had spent 40 days on earth, He finally ascended to His Father in Heaven. But He promised He would not leave them alone. He promised to send a friend and helper. This friend and helper is the Holy Spirit. And then His disciples watched as Jesus flew up into the sky and disappeared behind the clouds to sit at the right hand of the Father. The disciples continued to stare into the sky after Jesus had disappeared from view. And two angels came along and asked what they were doing. They said Jesus had gone, but He would return in the same way He had departed.

Ten days later, on Pentecost, when all of the disciples and Mary the mother of Jesus were praying in the Upper Room, a great wind roared through and the Holy Spirit appeared over each of them as small flames, and they began to speak in tongues. They went outside and Peter addressed the crowd in the streets and spoke to them. Though the men outside spoke different languages they all understood Peter in their native tongue. Peter explained how Jesus had risen from the dead and anyone who believed in Him would have eternal life. And 3,000 men were baptized that day.

The disciples went out into the whole world baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit just as Jesus had instructed. And it is the job of every Christian to try and bring others to Christ so that He might save their soul. For one day, He shall return and finally defeat Satan, and cast the devil and all of his demons into the pit of Hell for all of eternity. And those who have not accepted Jesus will be damned to eternal punishment with them.

We have hope in Christ. He is the only one Who can save us. But we must accept Him. we must turn to Him and live the way He wants us to live. And we must show others that Jesus truly is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and the only road to salvation is through Him.

R.C. VanLandingham is a Catholic homeschool dad just trying to make it through this life and into the next! He has written a Christian children's fantasy series about a boy named Peter Puckett!