He is risen, He is alive!

John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

A lot has happened this past week as Jesus and His disciples made the journey to Jerusalem for the Passover Celebration. Jesus had many teachings this past week. On Thursday He had His last supper with His disciples. Amongst all this chaos going on in Jerusalem, Jesus knew his days were limited. He threw the money changers out of the Temple – He wanted to make sure everything was in order before he left.

The things He taught angered the religious leaders: the Priests, Sadducees, Pharisees. We have those same angry people today: government officials, college professors, teachers from K to 12. All of them willingly and openly defying the Word of God.  Today the President declared Easter Sunday to be a day to celebrate transgenderism. If you don’t see that as throwing a rock at our Savior, then you are missing something!

Everyone is looking for a way to kill Jesus this week. The tensions were high with His disciples; they were afraid, they didn’t know where Jesus was going. With all the chaos and conflict going on, Jesus was in the upper room calmly washing His disciples’ feet.  He was trying to teach them (and us) the most important thing in world, then and today.  What really matters is His command to love one another as He loves us. That’s all that really matters.

There is a lot of tension and violence going on in the world today. Not too often do we see something good or pleasant. But through this, we need to remember Jesus on His hands and knees washing His disciples’ feet teaching His disciples, and us. to love one another. When we see troubled and disturbing news, disagreements, challenges, and people lying about us, how should we respond? The way Jesus did – to love one another.

John was the only apostle that died at an old age.  When he was up in his years, he was still asked to minister to various congregations. His message was simple. He got up, said “children love one another,” and then sat down.

John walked with Jesus every day, He wrote the Gospel and Epistles that are part of the bible, but the main thing that stuck out for John was to love one another.

Today we should celebrate two of the greatest miracles in our lives: first, giving your life to Jesus, and second, His resurrection from the dead. On that day He was resurrected He finished being a human. But he has not finished being God!

Remember the love of God that Jesus embodies. He tells us that just as He loves us, we should love one another.

Jesus was beaten close to death, nailed to a cross. At any moment during this He could have called down ten thousand angels to take them all out! But He didn’t do it.  His enemies didn’t need nails, His love would have held him to the cross.

A lot of questions are raised about the days surrounding the resurrection: Was he raised on Sunday or Monday? What is the “paradise” He spoke of to the thief on the cross next to Him? Where did He go when He died? People will argue about these things forever. But don’t let these questions make you lose sight of the most important thing – His last words: It is finished.

Once a year the appointed high priest was able to go behind the temple curtain to be in God’s presence. Just in case God deemed him “unclean” causing him to fall down dead in God’s presence, a rope was tied to his leg so he could be pulled out from behind the veil.  When Jesus spoke His last words, “It is finished” the veil was torn from top to bottom. The barrier between us and God was removed so we can now enter into His presence at any time, any place, and for any reason. Our sin won’t kill us the way it was believed it could kill the high priest.

Another thing people argue about is whether Jesus actually descended to hell, and if satan actually had the keys.

Epheians 4:8-9 tells us Jesus ascended on high—He went up. To ascend you have to first descend. The Bible says He descended to lower regions of the earth. Is that hell? The Bible then talks about satan having keys. Theologians will argue about this all day long, for years and years. Put it this way—don’t get caught up on the small pictures and miss the big picture of His resurrection. What is important is not where He was, but what is most important is where He went.

I believe he went to hell, kicked the gates of hell open. They were having a party there because they killed Jesus. He walks over to satan and yelled, “GIVE ME THE KEYS, NOW!!” I can’t prove this is how it happened, but if you read the Scripture, that could be what happened. But the important part is how it all ended. He rose from the dead.

One truth universal among all believers … Jesus is the victor over death, hell, and the grave. The most important thing is He made a way for us to be saved from sin and have a relationship with Father God.

Read 1 John 4:16 God is love, and whoever lives in God lives in love, and God lives in him.

I pray you get a new revelation of the love of God in your life.

The veil is torn, you can go to Him at any time. He loves us, and we have to spread that love.