Today’s devotion highlights the significance of the Gospel: the death, burial, and resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ, a truth uniquely associated with His claim. This event was foretold by over 40 writers across different periods over 1600 years. Despite the span of time, their writings display remarkable harmony, making it distinctive in its logical consistency and empirical and experiential significance.

Bible Reading of the Day

AM – Ezra 1,2

PM- John 19:23-42

𝕿𝖎𝖙𝖑𝖊: 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕯𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍 𝖔𝖋 𝕵𝖊𝖘𝖚𝖘 𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙

𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝟏𝟗:𝟑𝟎,𝟒𝟎-𝟒𝟐 𝐊𝐉𝐕

𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒓, 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅: 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕. ⁴⁰ 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑱𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒚. ⁴¹ 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒅. ⁴² 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑱𝒆𝒘𝒔’ 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒚 ; 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅.

All four Gospels detail Jesus Christ’s burial (𝕸𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖜 𝟐𝟕:𝟓𝟕-𝟔𝟔; 𝕸𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝟏𝟓:𝟒𝟐-𝟒𝟕; 𝕷𝖚𝖐𝖊 𝟐𝟑:𝟓𝟎-𝟓𝟔; 𝕵𝖔𝖍𝖓 𝟏𝟗:𝟑𝟖-𝟒𝟐). The Gospel, as defined in 𝟏 𝕮𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖆𝖓𝖘 𝟏𝟓:𝟏-𝟒, includes Jesus’ burial as a significant part, comprising one-third of the message. Despite this, it is sometimes seen as a minor detail because it is often overshadowed by His death on the cross and His resurrection. Nonetheless, Jesus’ burial remains a vital element of the Gospel.

The burial of the Lord Jesus Christ confirms both His death and resurrection! How do we verify that Jesus truly died? Because He was buried! And how can we be sure He was resurrected? Because His tomb is empty! Two-thirds of the Gospel — that Jesus died and was buried — highlight these facts. Despite the word “Gospel” meaning “Good News,” from the disciples’ perspective, the circumstances seemed bleak.

They initially struggled to understand the significance of Christ’s death (𝕸𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖜 𝟏𝟔:𝟐𝟏-𝟐𝟑; 𝕷𝖚𝖐𝖊 𝟏𝟖:𝟑𝟏-𝟑𝟒). All they perceived was the one they had devoted their lives to, now dead and buried. It was only through His resurrection that His death and burial transformed into “good news” (𝟏 𝕮𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖆𝖓𝖘 𝟏𝟓:𝟏𝟕-𝟏𝟗; 𝕽𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖘 𝟏:𝟒). God understood what the disciples could not—Jesus had paid the price for our sins! Though Satan, the scribes, and the Pharisees intended harm, God worked through those events to bring salvation to all who trust in Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

This truth has important practical implications for us. While the disciples faced a bleak situation, it eventually led to their salvation. Sometimes, challenging circumstances in our lives may seem hopeless, but God will turn them for our good if we love Him (𝕽𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖘 𝟖:𝟐𝟖).

🅽🅴🆅🅴🆁 🅳🅾🆄🅱🆃 🅶🅾🅳’🆂 🆆🅸🆂🅳🅾🅼 🅰🅽🅳

🆆🅾🆁🅺🅸🅽🅶🆂 🅸🅽 🆈🅾🆄🆁 🅻🅸🅵🅴!