16 Essential Scriptures for Easter 

John 1:29 – The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Matthew 20:17-19 – Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”

Luke 23:1-2 – Then the whole multitude of them arose and led Him to Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.”

Luke 23:4 – So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no fault in this Man.”

Luke 23:24 – But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed. So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.

Mark 15:25 – Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. And the inscription of His accusation was written above:

THE KING OF THE JEWS

Luke 23:34 – Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

John 19:28-30 – After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Mark 15:43 – Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

Mark 15:46 – Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.

Mark  16:2-4 – Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.

Luke 24:2-3 – But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

Luke 24:6-7 – He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 – So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O Death, where is your sting?

O Hades, where is your victory?

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 1:17-18 – And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

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Whereas we hope for His return, Jesus in this passage tells us that we should celebrate His departure. Look at the entire passage and you will see two reasons for celebration. Jesus has gone to be with the Father, who, in Jesus’s words, is greater than He, and the arrival of the Holy Spirit, bringing peace to the hearts of believers. Herein is the hope for this life. 

You see, being a Christian is more than victory over death, more than eternal life. It is victory over sin in this life. Being a Christian is an inexplicable relationship that involves the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit and the surrender of the believer. That is just the beginning, though. Salvation is just the first step in a wondrous relationship between the Father and His child. 

The Christian life is a life of peace. It is a life of comfort. It is a life that can be free of fear. 

Fear Not, for the Father sends the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. 

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In 1 Chronicles 22, David turns over the construction of the temple to Solomon, his son, and tells him to have no fear. David has gathered the materials for its construction. He has received the plans for the temple from God. 

That’s the easy part, though. God, we learn, has denied David the opportunity to build the Holy Temple because David is a man of war. He is, in fact, too rebellious. 

Although David is later called a Man after God’s heart, he has spent most of his life following his own paths, walking wide-eyed into desperate situations, and remaining in dire straights until he hits rock bottom. Only when he hits rock bottom does he ever repent and fall on his face, asking God’s forgiveness. It is a circuitous pattern. 

By the time David commissions Solomon to construct of the temple, he had reigned over Israel for forty years. He was full of days and full of wisdom. He assures his son…

“Courage! Take charge! Don’t be timid; don’t hold back. Look at this—I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to stockpile materials for the sanctuary of God: a hundred thousand talents (3,775 tons) of gold, a million talents (37,750 tons) of silver, tons of bronze and iron—too much to weigh—and all this timber and stone. And you’re free to add more. And workers both plentiful and prepared: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, artisans in gold and silver, bronze and iron. You’re all set—get to work!” 

– 1 Chronicles 22:13-16 MSG

Back up a few verses, though, and one sees the foundation upon which David based that entire conversation. It is the same foundation upon which, by that time, he had learned to base his life. 

Verse 12 NKJV: Only may the Lord give you wisdom and understanding, and give you charge concerning Israel, that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. 

The Message makes the verse a little easier to understand. “And may God also give you discernment and understanding when he puts you in charge of Israel so that you will rule in reverent obedience under God’s Revelation.” 

Like David, I struggle to give God control of my life. Like him, I must sometimes hit rock bottom before I do. Like him, it has taken me forty years to begin to mature in my spiritual life. Readers, take this lesson to heart: surrender and study God’s Word. Seek the knowledge that builds godly wisdom. For only God’s wisdom protects you from the slavery of sin, and allows you to keep God’s Law. 

Fear Not, for God will give you wisdom and understanding and keep you free from the slavery of sin. 

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Take a look at the context of this verse, Matthew 10:31. Three times within a few breaths, Christ tells believers that we should not fear. The last two times, he sandwiches those comforting words with warnings of death and hell. In the end, he exhorts us to openly confess Jesus as Lord. 

Several times I have heard people quote Bible promises with no concept of the recipient of the promise. Christ, in this section, is speaking to those who will remain true to their faith in the face of opposition, persecution, torture and death. He’s not speaking to those who will fall away when the going gets tough.  

Like the sparrow, true Christians will face a stormy day. We sometimes fly against the wind. Often we are tossed by updrafts of the storm. Like the sparrow, we are often pursued by predators. In the end, we will fall to the ground like sparrows. 

The point Christ makes here is that, to man, the sparrow is practically worthless. One could buy two sparrows to offer as sacrifice at the Temple for a farthing. That would equate to about four birds for a penny. No matter how little value man sees in the sparrow, they are of great value to God. He knows when one dies.

But, sparrows are not made in the image of God. We are. Sparrows are not made with body, soul, and spirit. We are. They have no free will to follow God or reject Him. We do. Sparrows will not be resurrected. We will. 

Sparrows cannot become the children of God. As much as God cares for the sparrows, He ultimately loves us much, much more. We are His children…

… If we confess Christ before men. If we fear Him. If we love Him. 

Those who confess Christ publicly, before men, Fear Not, for you are worth so much more than a bunch of sparrows. 

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I sing because I’m happy

I sing because I’m free

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know he watches

…He watches me

– His Eye Is On The Sparrow  

Written by C. D. Martin and Charles Gabriel. 

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If you know the story of Abraham, you might be inclined to think that he had the advantage over us in the faith department, that it would be easy to have faith if we could hear or clearly see visiting angels. In reality, we have the advantage over Abraham, in that we have God’s Word and we have the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

So, when God promised Abraham that He would be his shield and his exceedingly great reward, think how much more that promise means to us as children of God.

Don’t be like Abraham and ask how God can deliver such great reward given the circumstances. After all, this verse does not read, “I  am your shield. I will give you great reward. It reads, “I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” God is our reward. God is The Shield that protects us throughout our life.  God is our Reward now and forever. Fear Not.

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