Matthew 28
by Philip Layton
The resurrection
Discussion Questions
- What does the Resurrection teach about Jesus’ authority to make promises?
- Without the Resurrection, would the disciples have been willing to endure persecution? Would Jesus’ death have had such an impact for so long?
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Going Deeper – from 'Words of Life'
I n the final, momentous year of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the first four Jewish feasts found their fulfilment in his life: He was crucified on Passover, buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits and he sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Explaining away these marked parallels as coincidence would be absurd. By divine design the festivals explain and illustrate the foundational truths of the gospel.
The world has not yet witnessed the consummate fulfilment of the fifth feast, the Feast of Trumpets, when Christ returns for his Church. We remain under the principle of Pentecost, that is, continuing ‘the summer cultivation’ under the direction and power of the Holy Spirit. During this long period of harvest, we must continually remember Jesus’ admonition:
‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’ (Matthew 9:37, 38).
The experience of Pentecost continues to be the great need of the Church today. With the prophetic discernment of a modern patriarch, Billy Graham laments:
We must continue diligently to witness and work through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, patiently awaiting the fulfilment of the next feast ‘when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more’
(SASB 907 v 1).
Beverly Ivany
Additional credits: Revival in our Time, Billy Graham 1950, Van Kampen Press, Wheaton, IL, USA
Photo courtesy of FreeBibleImages.org