JUDEO / CHRISTIAN HOLIDAYS:
Passover Week: April 12-April 20
Palm Sunday: April 13
Holy Week: April 13-April 20
Ressurection Sunday: April 20
Pentecost Sunday: June 8
Easter is the most holy day on the Christian calendar, because we dare to believe that God Himself, in the Person of Jesus Christ, came to live with His creation, and then provided Himself as the only sacrifice capable of redeeming sinful mankind. He died on the cross, yet rose from the grave, to prove once and for all that He was God incarnate.
Luke chapter 23, verses 32 through 34, reads: “There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do’.” (NKJV)
Jesus, totally innocent, totally sinless, found guilty in a phony trial, and being executed in the most horrific method, says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Here is the supreme example of perfect love! They didn’t know He was really God, and He had to die in order to rise from the grave to provide forgiveness for our sins.
As I was reading this I thought, “Father, forgive me, for I do know what I am doing.” Yes, on this side of the cross, I do know better, yet I do worse! The more I try not to sin, the worse I sin!
We are all sinners, fallen short of the glory of God. We pray in the Lord’s Prayer to “...forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us...” That is a commandment from Jesus Himself; He will not forgive us, unless we forgive each other! I realize this is a hard message for Easter, but Jesus died a brutal death to pay the price. Yet, He did not leave us without hope, because He did rise from the grave, and lives today, and forevermore!
Happy Easter! God Is Good; All The Time; Amen!
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