Celebrating the Victory of Jesus
Most Christians and churches celebrate the season of Easter, which on many church calendars starts on Easter Sunday (Resurrection Sunday) and lasts fifty days to Pentecost. Some call this season Eastertide.
During this time, we remember Jesus’s resurrection from the grave (Easter Sunday); forty days later, his return to heaven (Ascension Day); and ten days after that, the Holy Spirit filling Jesus’s followers (Pentecost). In this devotional, we’ll celebrate all three as we look at the biblical story that spans these fifty days.
Some people praise Jesus as the suffering Savior and others applaud him as the risen Savior. He is, of course, both our suffering Savior and our risen Savior.
Jesus suffered and died for all the wrong things we have done—and will do. In doing so, he serves as the ultimate sin sacrifice to end all sin sacrifices.
When Jesus rises from the grave, he proves he has mastery over death. He no longer needs to die, and we no longer need any more sin sacrifices. He died once to save all people, throughout all time, for all their shortcomings. In doing so, he makes us right with Father God.
His resurrection confirms the finality of what he did.
His resurrection also marks a new covenant between God and us. It replaces the prior covenant instituted in the Old Testament. By dying and rising from the dead, Jesus is victorious. He changes everything.
This book celebrates his glorious victory. It begins with him rising from the dead, then his return to heaven to intercede for us, and later the arrival of the Holy Spirit to guide us and remind us of all Jesus said and did.
We’ll open our remembrance with a recap of his sacrificial death on the cross for our sins (Prologue) and move directly into his resurrection on Easter Sunday (Day 1).
Yet much happens between his death and resurrection, so we’ll spend six days looking back at these events (Day 2 through Day 7). Then, starting on Day 8, we’ll cover what happens after he rises from the dead, marking his return to heaven on Day 40 and the Holy Spirit’s arrival on Day 50.
Along the way, we’ll incorporate Old Testament prophecy to expand our understanding of what Jesus did. As we do, we’ll also tap our imagination to better see things from the perspective of Jesus and his followers.
The Bible records this in the four biographies of Jesus—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—as well as in the book of Acts. Since the apostle John gives us the most content for these events in his narrative, we’ll focus on his account and weave in the other authors’ passages as needed. After that, we’ll switch our attention to the book of Acts to complete our exploration.
May God speak to you during this Easter season.
