Happy Easter and Passover!

Happy Easter to all our readers.
Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.” Luke 18 ; 31-33
 
Happy Passover to all our Jewish readers also. Last week we had a presentation of the Passover Seder at our church titled 'Christ in the Passover' it was really interesting! When I was a youngster we had Jewish neighbors who always bought us a box of Matzo crackers at this time of year - they were huge but not very tasty! It was really interesting though to hear how the Matzo (which means "unleavened bread" in Hebrew) were used in the Passover Seder.

3 Matzo crackers were placed into a Matzo cover which is like a bag that had 3 separate compartments in it. One Matzo cracker went into each compartment. The top and bottom Matzo remained out of sight but the middle Matzo was taken out, broken and part of it was hidden out of sight until later in the Seder. Before the significance of this was mentioned, my mind had already jumped to the Incarnation, atoning death, burial and resurrection of Jesus!

I've been getting into apologetics recently and there are some excellent resources out there dealing with the evidence and the Historicity of the Resurrection. I would highly recommend that readers visit the Reasonable Faith website where you can find the resources of philosopher, theologian and apologist William Lane Craig. I had the privilege of hearing Dr Craig in a debate at Manchester University a couple of months ago. Great stuff!

The picture above is from our website where you can download sets of Bible pictures covering the Trial, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. The picture above is from our Passover set, (18 pictures), and shows the blood of the sacrificed lamb being applied to the doorposts and lintel with a branch of Hyssop. All our picture sets are available for immediate download!

May I wish you the peace of the risen Lord Jesus Christ this Easter.

Happy Easter!

I'd like to wish all readers of the Bible illustration blog a very Happy Easter!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.
Matthew 28:6

Also, Happy Passover to all our Jewish readers! Easter and Passover don't always fall at exactly the same time of year due to the fixed Lunar date of the feast of Unleavened Bread and the variable solar date of Easter. When they do coincide, It is fitting that as the Nation of Israel is celebrating being set free from bondage of the Egyptians, which came by the shedding of the blood of an innocent lamb, the Church is celebrating both the death and resurrection of Jesus, which set those who believe free from the bondage of sin by the shed blood of the sinless Lamb of God on the Cross as prophesied in Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 and elsewhere. This is also a time of year when both Jew and Christian traditionally look forward to the coming of the Messiah.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11