Short Article - Nisan 14 The Passover

(1 Cor. 5:7) For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  The events on day Nisan 14 in chronical order are as follows:

 

1.       In the evening the Lord and His twelve disciples had the Last Supper

 

2.     At midnight the Lord was betrayed, was arrested, and was deserted in Gethsemane

 

3.     From midnight to the following early morning Jesus was accused six times, judged and sentenced to die on the cross

 

4.     At nine o’clock in the morning Jesus started to walk the “Way of Sorrow” (via Dolorosa) to His crucifixion

 

5.     At three o’clock in the afternoon when the priests slaughtered animals for sin offerings in the Temple, Jesus breathed His last.

 

6.     As the end of Nisan 14 approached in the evening hours, a man from Arimathea, named Joseph, and Nicodemus prepared Jesus’ body in accordance with Jewish burial customs.  They rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the new tomb.  Jesus was laid in peace there

 

7.     It was a special Sabbath when Nisan 15 was soon to start.  Several women faithfully followed Jesus the entire time during His crucifixion and saw clearly how He was buried, then they went home. 

 

The moment Jesus died, darkness came over the whole land for the sun stopped shining.  The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.  They came out of the tombs.  Since then calmness had gradually been restored in Jerusalem.  The following few days, Jesus was raised from the death on the third day, within three days, or after three days just as Jesus predicted when He was alive.  Resurrect?  Is there really hope for this to happen after a person is dead?  At the time no body would think so…. You and me, let’s see God’s great power!

 

Jesus’ seven last words on the cross

 

1.       “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

 

2.     “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

 

3.     “Dear woman, here is your son…. Here is your mother.” (John 19:26-27)

 

4.     “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46)

 

5.     “I am thirsty.”  (John 19:28)

 

6.     “It is finished.” (John 19:30)

 

7.     “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

 

(Jesus’ seven last words could only be heard clearly by the group of women who stood close to the cross.  They memorized these words.  Each heart-broken word penetrated their souls.  His twelve disciples were among those who betrayed Him, deserted Him, and denied Him.  Shamefully, they all had forsaken Him because when He was forsaken by God, His Heavenly Father, they were not there with Him.  Where were you and I when Our Lord, Jesus, was hanged on the cross?)

 

We are thankful to our Lord that the Chinese people could enter God’s Kingdom starting from the Passover in the year of His Crucifixion.  You and I are blessed to be chosen by the Grace of our Lord.  Had you or I been born as the Emperor Qin Shi Huang or had you or I been born as Confucius…..we will not know how to face Jesus’ judgement of the world when He returns as He said in the Parable of the Ten Virgins, the Parable of the Talents, and the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.  If we only understand then that there are two places for eternality: eternal life or eternal damnation, the two extreme outcomes.  The blessed will have the joy with the presence of Lord Jesus and the condemned will be terrified with their trembled feet and with their paralyzed bodies.  It will be their turn to be the leading actors and actresses in the horror movies to be watched by humans and angels since the creation of the universe.

 

Tomorrow’s fate depends on today’s decision.  The door to salvation is still open today.  You and I have the burden and the responsibility to proclaim Jesus and His salvation to each of our acquaintance.

 

Nisan 14 - Hymn for Meditation: 

Were you there when they crucified my Lord

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLJ0IjLAmOA