Short Article - God’s Wrath against Man

(PS 76:10) Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

The death of Jesus did not in any way appease the chief priest’s and elders’ intense hatred toward Him. These sworn enemies were hellbent on destroying His immaculacy. With undisputed evidence, they plotted to prove once for all that Jesus was a fraud: While Jesus was alive, on numerous occasions He foretold that He would die on the cross and resurrect in three days. All they had to do then was to produce His body after three days for public viewing, and this hoax of Jesus’s resurrection, would render all He previously said, taught, or even miracles performed into total disrepute. They wasted no time in carrying out their well-thought scheme. On the early morning of Nisan 15, in blatant violation of the Sabbath, they came to Pilate to appeal for sealing the tomb entrance and sending soldiers to guard the tomb for those three critical days. With permission granted, they hurriedly led the guards to where Jesus’ s tomb was and personally had the tomb sealed, confident then that this sealed and guarded tomb would by no means be accessed or disturbed during those three days. Praise be to God! Man’s wrath brought forth the glory of God! Satan’s plot became self-destructive, but contributive to God’s three-fold work of wonder: 1) To proclaim world-wide the precise timing of Jesus’s resurrection. Jesus was buried on Nisan 14; after Nisan 15 and Nisan 16 (first day and second day), Jesus was to be raised from the dead by the end of Nisan 17 (the third day) to prove Himself GOD. 2) The soldiers dutifully guarded the tomb to prevent any access or disturbance during those three days. 3) On the morning of Nisan 15, Pilate dispatched the soldiers for guard duty at the tomb. The soldiers were vigilant and dutiful throughout the three days until the end of their duty on the morning of Nisan 18, when, these same soldiers witnessed the descending of an angel and the pushing away of the tomb stone to reveal an EMPTY tomb. Before then, the seal was unbroken and the stone was untouched. One conclusion: Jesus was no longer in the tomb. He was risen!

(PS 76:5) The valiant lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep; not one of the warriors can lift his hands. Though wide-eyed and fully alert, the guards-on-duty were unable to capture or witness the resurrection moment. They were caught totally unaware! The tomb was vacated! The grave guards became the most convincing witnesses. Based on what they reported to the chief priest, elders, Pilate and his entire company, many of the guards became Christians. The tax collector, Matthew who had always rubbed elbows with those soldiers, was the only gospel writer who recorded in his book, details on the permission Pilate granted to send tomb guards, sealing of the tomb, revealing of the EMPTY tomb, hush money and more.

Death puts a period on any great man. Better a live dog than a dead lion. Upon death, gone with all talents, knowledge, vigor, appearance, beauty, accomplishment… But the death of Jesus demonstrated his triumph over Death and the beginning of His redemption of His followers. May you and I bury ourselves with Him in death and rise with Him in life, and as long as we live, let us live and grow to be more and more like Jesus.

Nisan 15 (the first day of Unleavened Bread) a yearly Sabbath

The thick black line at the end of Nisan 17 marks the upper time limit of Jesus’ resurrection.

Nisan 15- Hymn for Meditation

O sacred head now wounded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5hjdz4xZF4