Leading Up to Victory Over Death - Monday through Sunday - 4/16/17

John 19:31-37 ... Monday: High day, especially holy since it fell on the Passover. Blood & water indicate the reality of Jesus' humanity & perhaps the new covenant & baptism. Jesus fulfills the passover.


I John 5:6-12 ... Tuesday: The Spirit's witness to the water (Jesus' baptism) & to the blood (the cross). Eternal life is in (living union with) Jesus, God's Son, & nowhere else.


Psalm/Tehillim 34:15-20 ... Wednesday: The Lord Breaks No Bones (None of Jesus Bones was Broken)


John 19:23-25 ... Thursday: A Roman Custom. Providence controlled even the soliders' behavior.


John 19:26-27 ... Friday: Indicates Jesus' real humanity & concern for human values.


Luke 24:1-12 ... The first Resurrection ... Saturday: Suggests that Jesus' disciples as a group often included others than those of the inner circle.


John 20:1-10 ... Sunday: Resurrection Day - The first day, Sunday. The empty tomb indicates actual resurrection, not mere immortality. The other disciples was younger. Peter shows characteristic boldness. Jesus body escaped without the linen cloths being unwound. The napkin which had been wrapped about his head, lay apart, still rolled up. Believed, faith grasped the evidence that Jesus had not been resuscitated from a swoon, or stolen; he had been transformed without corruption into his resurrection body. The title, Teacher, & Mary's effort to hold (cling to) him, were to be abandoned for the new relation with him as the ascended Lord.


Monday - Jesus' Side is Pierced - John 19:31-37 - 4/10/17

Tuesday - The Spirit, Water, & Blood Agree - I John 5:6-12 - 4/11/17

Wednesday - The Lord Breaks No Bones - Psalm/Tehillim 34:15-20 -4/12/17

Thursday - Soliders Casts Lots for Jesus' Clothing - John 19:23-25 -4/13/17

Friday - Jesus' Final Words to His Mother - John 19:26-27 -4/14/17

Saturday - The Women & Peter were Amazed - Luke 24:1-12 - 4/15/17

Sunday - God's Love as Victory Over Death - John 20:1-10

Reference summary used from The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha Expanded Edition, An Ecumenical Study Bible, RSV

Monday - Walk in Newness of Life - Romans 6:1-11 - 2/20/17

This section deals with sanctification - the change God makes in our lives when we become Christians. Chapter 6 discusses the continuing struggle believers have with sin.


God forgiveness does not make sin less serious. The availability of God's mercy must not become an excuse for careless living & moral laxness.


In the church in the apostle Paul's day, immersion was the usual form of baptism - that is, new Christians were completely "buried" in water. They understood this form of baptism to symbolize the death & burial of the old way of life. Coming up out of the water symbolized resurrection to new life with Christ.


We can enjoy our new life in Christ because we are united ("planted") with him in his death & resurrection.


The power & penalty of sin died with Christ on the cross. Our "old man," our sinful nature, died once & for all, so we are freed from its power. The "body of sin" is not the human body, but our rebellious sin-loving nature inherited from Adam. The apostle Paul has already stated that through faith in Christ we stand acquitted, "not guilty" before God.


Because of Christ's death & resurrection, his followers need never fear death. This will affect all our activities - work & worship, play & Bible study, quiet times & times caring for others.


We are fully fenced off (because of our union & identification with Christ) from all the old ways of believing & behaving. We have a new start & the Holy Spirit will help us become in our daily experience what Christ has declared us to be.

Reference summary used from the Life Application Bible, KJV, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois