Blessed Good Friday to you who believe

 

1. Blessed are those who believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God.

2. Blessed are those who believe that Jesus was sent to us by God to save us from our sins.

3. Blessed are those who believe that Jesus was crucified for us on the Cross for our atonement and redemption from sin, death and the grave.

4. Blessed are those who value the precious blood of Jesus that was shed for sinners on Calvary.

5. Blessed are those who repent of all sin when they hear the Word of God.

6. Blessed are those who don’t take part in vile pleasures nor love money and neither desire evil companionship because they prefer the friendship of Jesus who suffered for them on the Cross.

7. Blessed are those who carry their cross daily and look up to Jesus Christ to sustain them in the walk of faith daily.

 

 

 Isaiah 53:1-9 :-

53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
    And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
    and no beauty that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by men,
    a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.  

 

 

 Matthew 27: 11-54 :-

¹¹ Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” ¹² But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. ¹³ Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” ¹⁴ But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

¹⁵ Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. ¹⁶ And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. ¹⁹ Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” ²⁰ Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. ²¹ The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” ²² Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” ²³ And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

²⁴ So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” ²⁵ And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” ²⁶ Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

²⁷ Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. ²⁸ And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. ³⁶ Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” ³⁸ Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ⁴² “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. ⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ⁴⁷ And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” ⁴⁸ And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. ⁴⁹ But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” ⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

⁵¹ And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. ⁵² The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, ⁵³ and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. ⁵⁴ When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

 

Jesus foretold his death and resurrection (Poem)

Jesus foretold his death and resurrection,
Which put his Apostles in much reflection.
He said this all more than twice,
The disciples found it tough not nice.

Peter didn’t want Jesus Christ our Lord to be crucified,
Yet that was how God in his Son would be glorified.
Spoke the Savior before his solemn sacrifice,
That Peter the future saint would deny him thrice.

When Peter eventually our Lord Jesus for fact deny,
He went out later and truly did bitterly cry.
Only Jesus the eternal king of the Jewish nation,
Could later give repentant Peter spiritual restoration.

Christ the Redeemer at the last supper spoke of his betrayer,
The vile Judas Iscariot who from the true path became a strayer.
Yet this apostate didn’t of his evil heart at all repent,
And by giving up on Jesus ensured where his own afterlife be spent.

And yet didn’t the Son of Man speak of his resurrection?
For God gave him the power to rise up again in divine affection.
Christ Jesus he had to pay everyone’s sin’s full price,
So that those who believe in him get forgiveness and paradise.

Can a person not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and still be saved?

If anyone believes that Jesus Christ exists that person’s faith is still incomplete, if he or she does not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This will be a great hindrance to that person receiving salvation.

Those who say he was never crucified by citing any reason or religious authority, are not saved either. For the resurrection to happen there would need to be a death. Not any type of death but that by crucifixion. Again, there is no resurrection of Jesus Christ without the crucifixion. Jesus himself spoke of his death and resurrection as mentioned in the below verses:

• And Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. (Mark 8:31)
• saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:22)

The crucifixion was foretold in Psalm 22, of which here are the specific verses:

¹⁶ For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— ¹⁷ I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me;¹⁸ they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. (Psalm 22:16-18)

This prophecy about Jesus was fulfilled and mention in the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 19:23-24)

²³ When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, ²⁴ so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,“They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

The following verses show that one must confess and believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, to receive salvation:

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Romans 10:5-10)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (1 Peter 1:3)

 

Conclusion:

¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)

Jesus said “repent and believe in the Gospel”. One needs to repent of sin, because it’s the command of Jesus. Now, believing in the Gospel includes believing in the atoning death of Jesus Christ and also his glorious resurrection. Those who don’t believe in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus will not be saved, unless they repent of their unbelief and believe in the Gospel completely. And by this I mean they believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.

 

Related Articles:

• God’s Plan of Salvation

• Can salvation be lost?

• Grace does not allow you to disobey

• The Word of God does not depend on the majority

• Effects and dangers of preaching an incomplete Gospel

• He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

Twenty-eight Prophecies Fulfilled On the Crucifixion Day

End of Days Prophesy

On the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, all the prophecies concerning His suffering were fulfilled in every detail-a lasting testimony that Jesus truly is the Messiah.

The first prophecy, the oldest of all, had been given by God at the time of Adam and Eve’s sin: 1) The serpent would bruise the seed of the woman.

Prophesied: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15).

Fulfilled: ” `Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself.’ But He said this to signify by what death He was about to die” (John 12:31-33).

2) The Messiah would be cut off, but not for Himself, as prophesied by…

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