Peter Paul Rubens painted Descent from the Cross many times. It was a theme he returned to over and over. This painting is c. 1617. Jesus Christ is supported in silent grief by Joseph of Arimathaea, Nicodemus and the young John the Evangelist. Mary, gently holding her son for the last time, symbolises the Christian virtues of love and hope. Mary Magdalene has fallen to her knees, the personification of repentance.Matthew 27:49-54 (American Standard Version)
And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him.
And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit.
And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake; and the rocks were rent; and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised; and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared unto many.
Now the centurion, and they that were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
Front page, Houston Chronicle online:
1 Corinthians 15: 12-20
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead
Article by Kurt Wise
The central tenet of Christianity is that by His resurrection from the dead Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God (Rom. 1:4). In 1 Corinthians 15 stated that if Christ is not risen then Christian's are without hope. He recognized that Christianity stands or falls on whether Jesus was actually raised from the dead. No other religion is founded on this kind of an historically grounded miraculous event. In his defense of the fact of the resurrection, Christian scholar Gary Habermas points to several generally accepted historical facts surrounding the Christ's crucifixion and the birth of Christianity that indicate that Jesus was truly raised from the dead.
These facts include: 1) Jesus died due to the rigors of crucifixion and 2) was buried. 3) A Praetorian Guard, which consisted of four hardened soldiers was left at Jesus tomb. 4) Sanhedrin Council documents record the trial and death, as well as discussion of Jesus while alive. 5) The historian Josephus records Jesus, the facts of His death, the continuation of his disciples, conversion of his brothers and acknowledges His followers grew into a church after His death. 6) Jesus’ death caused the disciples to despair and lose hope. 7) Many scholars hold that Jesus was buried in a tomb that was discovered to be empty just a few days later. 8) Critical scholars even agree that at this time the disciples had real experiences that they believed were literal appearances of the risen Jesus. 9) Because of these experiences, the disciples were transformed from doubters who were afraid to identify themselves with Jesus to bold proclaimers of his death and resurrection, even being willing to die for this belief.
10) This message was central in the early church preaching and 11) was especially proclaimed in Jerusalem, where Jesus had died shortly before. 12) As a result of this message, the church was born and grew, with Sunday as the primary day of worship. 13) James, the brother of Jesus and a skeptic, was converted to the faith when he also believed he saw the resurrected Jesus. 14) A few years later Paul the persecutor of Christians was also converted by an experience that he, similarly, believed to be an appearance of the risen Jesus. (Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? The Resurrection Debate, Terry L. Miethe, Ed.; Harper and Row: San Francisco, 1987, pp 19-20)
The significance of these facts rests in the transformation that took place in a group of Jewish disciples made up of fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, and even women (a negative in that culture). The impact of these events in their lives was such that they were willing to give their lives to proclaim a message that could have been disproved by the simple evidence of a rotting corpse. But it was not only the disciples who were impacted by encounters with a resurrected Christ, it was also skeptics and even enemies of the faith.
While there is much more evidence to be examined regarding the resurrection, the facts listed above serve as a foundation for the veracity of the Christian claim that Christ is risen!
~ In the 8th century BC, the prophet Isaiah, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, told us of God’s plan for us to become children of God. To be cleansed and made holy by giving us His Son.
Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied ;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
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