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The Bible, in the Gospels of the New
Testament, gives us the story of the birth,
life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is said to be the Messiah or the
Savior who was promised to the Jews by God
himself as the one who would redeem or deliver
them from sin and death.
How was this promise to be fulfilled ?
The only way that God's promise could be
fulfilled was by Jesus' death (Jesus offering
Himself as a sacrificial Lamb). The scriptures
prophesied the death and the resurrection of
this Messiah, and thus Jesus Christ's death and
Resurrection was a fulfillment of God's promise
and the end of the bondage of mankind. It was
also the beginning of the commemoration of this
fulfillment at Easter.
Accordingly, the redeemer was born, and he was
named Jesus. That's what Christians all over the
world celebrate at Christmas. Jesus lived and
grew up in the small town of Nazareth, just as
normally as any child of the time.
He knew all along why he had been sent from God,
and when He was ready to begin, he went to
receive his Baptism by John the Baptist in the
river Jordan. Full of the Holy Spirit he went
into the wilderness. Here he spent 40 days of
fasting and prayer to prepare himself for his
mission.
He returned to Galilee and then went to Nazareth
and from there to all of Palestine preaching his
message to all, healing people, and even raising
the dead to life.
Many followed his teachings, but there were
those who denounced him, finally giving him up
to the Romans who tortured and executed him, the
most common and horrifying punishment for
thieves and criminals at the time was
'crucifixion'. The day of Jesus' death is
commemorated by Christians as Good Friday.
Good Friday is a day of mourning, and a day for
fasting and prayer. A Friday which witnessed the
passing away of our Lord and Savior Christ, can
have no reason to be called "Good". However,
it's called "Good" probably because the greatest
good came out of Jesus' sacrifice; and it is
good, because it is an assurance-a profession of
Hope-that no tragedy-not even death-can
overwhelm God's love.
But Jesus' suffering and death was only a
foretaste of the glory that was to come. On the
third day after he died, the tomb was found to
be empty. His disciples knew Jesus had risen
from the dead. This 'rising' is what the
Christians celebrate at Easter.
Jesus returned to live among his friends and
disciples, and it was not until 40 days had
passed that He was taken up into heaven, the
feast that Christians celebrate as the
'Ascension of Christ'.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is commemorated
by Christians all over the world on the feast of
Easter. This is the day that marks the end of
the Lenten season, the forty-six-day period
(excluding the Sundays) that begins on Ash
Wednesday and ends with Easter, the period of
penitence, of sacrifice and repentance, in
preparation for the highest festival of the
church year.
The origin of the commemoration of the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ dates back to early
Christian times and Easter is perhaps the oldest
(next to the Sabbath) Christian observance. The
early Christians were Jewish, and since Jesus
was crucified during the Passover feast that
they celebrated, they looked upon Easter as a
new feature in the Passover celebrations.
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