Here are few good posts focused on the cross, resurrection, and our salvation for your weekend reading:
Jared Wilson considers the many things Jesus accomplished on the cross for us.
Steve Dewitt writes about Jesus’ resurrection body – which points to what our resurrection bodies will one day be like.
Tullian Tchividjian reminds us that because of Christ we are already righteous – and that changes everything.
Have a great Resurrection Sunday celebrating our Risen Savior!
Last week I posted some daily Passion Week reflections. Below are some reflections for Easter and the following week to help us ponder what Christ’s resurrection means to us:
Sunday – Rejoice: Celebrate His Resurrection
Monday – Received – Embrace the Gospel
Tuesday – Raised: Live Your New Life
Wednesday – Reigns: Submit to Your King
Thursday – Resurrected: Victory Over Death
Friday – Returning – With the Lord
Saturday – Reborn – Hope in Your Inheritance
Sunday – Ransomed: Praise to the Lamb
And let us learn from the story of the passion always to hate sin with a great hatred. Sin was the cause of all our Savior’s sufferings. Our sins twisted the crown of thorns; our sins drove the nails into his hands and feet; on account of our sins his blood was shed. Surely the thought of Christ crucified should make us loathe all sin.
– J. C. Ryle
Was he flogged?
It was done so that “by his wounds we are healed” (Isa. 53:5).
Was he condemned though innocent?
It was done so that we might be acquitted, though guilty.
Did he wear a crown of thorns?
It was done so that we might wear the crown of glory.
Was he stripped of his clothes?
It was done so that we might be clothed in everlasting righteousness.
Was he mocked and reviled?
It was done so that we might be honored and blessed.
Was he reckoned a criminal, and counted among those who have done wrong?
It was done so that we might be reckoned innocent, and declared free from all sin.
Was he declared unable to save himself?
It was so that he might be able to save others to the uttermost.
Did he die at last, and that the most painful and disgraceful death?
It was done so that we might live forevermore, and be exalted to the highest glory.
– J. C. Ryle
How can we direct our conversations this Easter time toward Jesus and what he did for us? Whether you are talking to a co-worker, classmate, neighbor, friend, or family member, how can you lead your discussions toward the cross and empty tomb? Donald Whitney suggests several questions to guide our conversations toward Jesus:
What was your favorite Easter tradition as a child?
Why do you think people celebrate the resurrection of Jesus?
What makes this day different from all others?
See all 10 questions on his website.
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
– Matthew 26:39
What is this cup? It is clearly a reference to the wrath of God for your sins and mine….
That’s why there’s shuddering terror and deep distress for him at this moment. In the crucible of human weakness he’s brought face to face with the abhorrent reality of bearing our iniquity and becoming the object of God’s full and furious wrath….
This is what bearing our sins means to him – utter distress of soul as he confronts total abandonment and absolute wrath from his Father on the cross, a distress and an abandonment and a rejection we cannot begin to grasp.
In this, our Savior’s darkest hour…do you recognize his love for you?
– C. J. Mahaney
In what order did the events of Passion Week occur, and where? Here are some interesting attempts to visualize the answers to those questions.
First, Bible Gateway has created a Holy Week Timeline. You can get a glimpse of it below. For more information and to see details, visit here. 
Meanwhile Crossway has put together a google map with possible locations of the various events of Jesus’ last week. You can see a glimpse below. See here to access the actual map and descriptions of each location.
Thanks to Justin Taylor for noting these visual resources on his blog. Of course there is disagreement on the order and exact location of some events, but these still give us helpful visuals of when and where these events may have occured. For a more detailed discussion of the order of events for Good Friday and Easter, I recommend John Wenham’s excellent book Easter Enigma.
Easter bunnies, easter eggs, easter baskets, candy, gifts, and so much more. Nothing wrong with these things in and of themselves. But they can be a distraction from the true meaning of Easter. In the midst of all these things, how can we help our children focus on what Easter is really all about? Thriving Family magazine offers daily crafts and activities to do together as a family during Passion Week to help your family focus on Christ. Check it out here.
I have a book with a couple hundred hymns by Isaac Watts, and I found this one that goes along with Palm Sunday. We are planning to sing it this Sunday using the familiar tune to O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing (both hymns share the same meter and the music fits well). Read the words and notice their theological depth in reference to the person of Christ that leads to the call to praise him.
Hosannah To Christ
Isaac Watts
Hosannah to the royal Son
Of David’s ancient line!
His natures two, his person one,
Mysterious and divine.
The root of David here, we find,
And offspring is the same:
Eternity and time are join’d
In our Immanuel’s name
Bless’d he that comes to wretched men
With peaceful news from heav’n!
Hosannahs of the highest strain
To Christ the Lord be giv’n!
Let mortals ne’er refuse to take
The hosannah on their tongues,
Lest rocks and stones should rise and break
Their silence into songs.
Passion Week is quickly approaching. A couple years ago I wrote some daily reflections to help me retrace the steps of Jesus from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday. You can make use of them by clicking on the appropriate links below:
Palm Sunday: Praise – Rejoice in the Messiah
Monday: Preaching – Give All To Him
Tuesday: Predictions – Take Up Your Cross
Wednesday: Prophecy – Be Alert
Good Friday: Plot – The Plans of God and Men
Pardon – In My Place
Passion – Remember the Cross
Saturday: Pain of Loss and Failure – Struggling Without Hope
