Jesus Christ’s final day on Earth was the most challenging of His life. He endured the worst suffering imaginable. Yet for mankind, it was the best possible day because it opened the door to eternal life.
The more we know God and grow in our love for Him, the more we love life and want to live forever. Jesus Christ went through so much to make that possible. We need to be reminded of the tremendous price He paid as we approach the spring holy days.
During the Passover, instead of thinking about our trials and our difficulties, we need to focus on the price that was paid. It was the most difficult thing Christ ever had to do. God wants us to focus on His Son’s trials and difficulties, because He suffered for us.
If we can learn to suffer for others, that is love! It gets to the heart and core of what love is all about.
Christ’s crucifixion was a grisly scene. Humanly we can push that gruesome reality aside, but God wants us to remember it. We must learn God’s expectations for us during the Passover, and keep this sacred ceremony in the right spirit.
Foot-washing Humility
“Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end” (John 13:1).
How did Jesus Christ endure this trial? With love—love to the end. You can do a lot for others if you love them. With the love of God, you achieve unbelievable exploits. We need to love others the way Christ does.
When supper had ended, Jesus initiated a new ceremony: the foot washing (verses 2-5). Foot washing is humbling. Humanly, nobody wants to go around washing feet. But God says we must humble ourselves.
Christ had perfect humility. He said, “I can of mine own self do nothing …” (John 5:30). Man’s big problem is his vanity and pride. God cannot work with us until we are humbled and willing to listen to Him. The Laodiceans talk back to God and will not listen.
God puts foot washing first in the Passover service to humble us. You cannot take the bread and the wine—you cannot receive Jesus Christ into you—if you are not humble.
“Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?” (John 13:6). Carnally you cannot really understand this ordinance. It takes the Spirit of God.
“Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet …” (verses 7-8). Peter was not in one accord with Christ—not yet. You’ll never wash my feet! What a brash statement!
Spiritually Clean
“… Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me” (John 13:8). Strong words! The stakes here are enormous.
In the Old Testament Passover, God required every family of Israel to kill an unblemished lamb, picturing their future Savior. Anybody who decided not to keep the Passover was cut off (Numbers 9:13). That was a strong consequence in those days, but today it’s much stronger. God says to us, as He said to Peter, If you don’t let me wash you, you have no part with me. If you don’t keep this solemn occasion as I’ve ordained, you won’t receive eternal life!
“Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head” (John 13:9). He turned his attitude around quickly!
When we come to Passover, God doesn’t want us the least bit rebellious or in a bad attitude. We can only come to Christ if we want to be clean. That doesn’t mean we’re faultless; we’re all sinners. But we must have the right attitude. We cannot presumptuously try
to present ourselves as righteous even though we’re unclean.
We must be working and striving to walk the narrow path. We want to be clean spiritually. We want to be like God. We want God to live in us.
1 Corinthians 11:27-29 warn us against taking the Passover “unworthily,” or in an unworthy manner. This means having repented of our sins and having a proper attitude of reverence, respect and gratitude for the sacrifice that made forgiveness of our sins possible. None of us is worthy to take the Passover. If we wait until we’re worthy, we will never take it. But God does want us to be in a repentant attitude—and the way God looks at it, that makes us clean.
Happiness
“So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:12-14). We do this ritual at Passover because Christ commanded it.
“For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (verses 15-17). That is a phenomenal truth. Jesus Christ says foot washing and keeping the Passover will make you happy!
Try to tell somebody in the world that—they cannot comprehend it. You mean to tell me that the pursuit of happiness begins by washing people’s feet? It really is a formula for making us happy! There is no other way.
Man has sought happiness from time immemorial, but he cannot find it because he is too proud, vain and rebellious toward God. He doesn’t like authority and government; he doesn’t want God to rule over him. God says, OK, go ahead and try to work it out, but you’re going to be miserable.
People in this world will be miserable until they repent, finally surrender, and turn their lives over to God.
Don’t Take Sin Lightly
During dinner, Christ took bread, blessed it and broke it, and told His disciples, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then He gave them some wine and said, “Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28).
This was a rough time for Jesus Christ. He endured anguish, suffering and sorrow. And God wants us to relate to it. Why? Because you and I caused that anguish and suffering—He died for our sins. God wants us to take this very personally and realize how horrible sin is.
Maybe we don’t think a sin we are committing is that serious. The world certainly has that attitude; they take sin lightly. That is because they don’t see the price that was paid for it. They don’t see that the Son of God gave His life so He could give them eternal life if they choose to obey Him!
We must not take sin lightly. Our sins have caused the worst suffering anyone has ever had to endure!
“But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (verse 29). I love this statement: “when I drink it … with you.” He doesn’t say He hopes, or maybe it will happen. He says when. God is very positive! He believes you are going to be there. He has great hope in that. Of course, God gives us all free moral agency, but Christ is not pessimistic about your future! He believes He’s going to be drinking this with you in the Kingdom of God.
That is a very positive attitude that you and I need as we approach Passover.
‘Thy Will Be Done’
As Christ endured the crucifixion, He was “full of heaviness” (Psalm 69:20). Sometimes you may think you have tough trials, but you need to familiarize yourself with what Christ went through! We certainly are tried and tested, but compared to Jesus Christ, we don’t have serious trials at all.
God will never give us more than we can handle. Christ was full of heaviness; He was at His limit! And He endured that for you, personally. Even if you were the only person on Earth, He still would have done it.
“And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:41-42). Have you prayed that prayer? So often we can desire to get out of a trial, but do we also express that we want God’s will? If it is God’s will to keep us in that trial, then we must endure and accept His will.
Christ, too, wanted to be delivered, but He submitted to God’s will. Had He not endured and said, “Thy will be done,” we would not be here! If Jesus Christ had rejected the narrow path and chosen the broad way, we would have no access to eternal life. We would live out our physical life and then die with no hope for the future.
We do need to realize that this all happened for us and have proper respect for what Christ did. We must enter the Passover in a state of awe. It truly was an unfathomable sacrifice! A great God, who is greater than all of us, had to die for our sins. Otherwise, we would have no Savior. If we had to pay the death penalty ourselves, we would have no future. Christ’s sacrifice was the price that had to be paid. We must never forget that.
How to Endure
“And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:43-44).
This is how you endure a difficult trial: Get into your prayer with intensity and energy, and break through to God! Even if you’re in agony—and sometimes you will be—get through to God! God says no matter what you’re facing, He will get you through.
This kind of a prayer is the key to spiritual success! I truly mean that. It all revolves around deep, earnest, heartfelt, energetic prayer!
At this time, Christ was thinking about the flesh being torn from His body. He knew His blood would come gushing out on the stake. He had prophesied all those things thousands of years before, and it was about to happen. He didn’t want to go through it, but He told His Father, I’ll do it if that’s what you want. And He endured by sweating blood in prayer! That’s how intensely He prayed!
That is how intensely you and I need to pray if the problem is of that magnitude! That is the kind of prayer we need to solve our problems and win our battles.
We have some very talented people in God’s Church. You might think such people never really have any problems or spiritual difficulties. But spiritual endurance has nothing to do with physical talent. That’s why God can take clods like you and me, if we yield to Him, and do everything through us! But if we rely on our talent or what little ability we have, we will fail every time.
Christ’s approach to this trial gives us the key to success.
But what were the disciples doing while He was praying? “And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow” (verse 45). That’s easy to do in difficult times. We’ve all probably taken a nap a time or two when we should have been up praying, but you cannot endure a difficult problem if that is your approach!
Jesus Christ wasn’t relying on His ability. He was relying on God the Father. He needed strength from the Father to endure, and God gave Him that strength. There was no other way for you and me to enter into God’s Kingdom.
I don’t believe we can properly take the Passover unless we’ve contemplated some of these scriptures. It is truly the most supreme and marvelous sacrifice of all time, by far, and there never will be anything else even close to it.
‘I Am’
“Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?” (John 18:3-4). For Jesus Christ’s whole life, this terrible trial hung over His head, and now it was upon Him. Yet even to the very moment of the crucifixion, He was still inspiring and motivating other people!
“They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am [he]. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am [he], they went backward, and fell to the ground” (verses 5-6). Christ was using the name of the God of the Old Testament—the great and powerful Creator of the universe—“I Am”! (Exodus 3:14). The King James translators tried to water that down, so they added a “he,” but it should just be I Am!
Hearing that title, these men went backward and fell! They had heard a lot about the “I Am,” and this caused them to fall over! They suddenly realized they were dealing with the great powerful God who plagues nations and brings down the whole world! That terrified them!
Humanly, we don’t want to be ruled by this omnipotent, all-powerful God who tells us how to live. Carnal humans don’t like being told what to do, and they want a little baby in a manger as God! We have to reverse that and get to the point where we want this great omnipotent God directing every step of our life, every thought in our mind! We must come to where we love that and wouldn’t have it any other way!
Accept the Truth
Those soldiers managed to recover, and they went on to crucify Christ. That’s the way it is with carnal-minded people. As Winston Churchill said, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”
Most of God’s people are stumbling over the truth during this Laodicean era. They may get an inkling at times that the work of the Philadelphia Church of God is not a mere human endeavor. But too often when people are hit with the truth, they just pick themselves up and shut their mind to it.
We cannot afford to reason around the great powerful God, who wants us to unconditionally surrender ourselves to Him.
When you enter the Passover, that is what you are telling God you want in your life! When you take the bread and the wine, you’re saying you want Jesus Christ to live in you! You want to live as He did. You want God’s will in your life, and not your own, even if it means the worst trial you’ve ever endured. You tell God, No matter how hard it gets, I just want your will. I want to be like your Son, God! And you pray that prayer to the very end. That’s not an easy life, but that is the one that makes us happy.
Motivated by Love
“Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am …: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none” (John 18:7-9). Christ was trying to protect His disciples. That is the love of God!
“Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus” (verse 10). Carnally, you might think Malchus got what was coming to him. That is probably how we have thought from time to time, but then we catch ourselves and ask God for forgiveness. That’s not the way to handle such a situation. We must watch our thinking!
“Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” (verse 11). This is the attitude we need. We may find ourselves in a difficulty we don’t want to face; we’d rather God just take it away. But if God gives it to us, we need to accept it!
Jesus Christ was quite a man. Why didn’t He just run? He already had eternal life! What kept Him going was love. He, like the Father, wants billions and billions of people to be in His Family. He wanted you. He wanted to give you the opportunity to be in His Family and to live for eternity! That is what motivated Him. He got His mind off Himself, and He faced this trial for you. Love endured to the very end.
As you endure your trials and tests, keep that in mind. Realize the suffering that was endured for you. Don’t give in to self-pity. Get your mind on Jesus Christ and what He gave. That changes the way you approach everything! It is certainly a battle, but if you keep your mind on Christ and what He did, then you can endure!
‘I Can Do Nothing’
This mob took Jesus and led Him away. John 18:14 tells us that the high priest, Caiaphas, had decided “that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.” What satanic reasoning! You can reason anything carnally. He thought it “expedient” for the sake of the nation to kill Jesus Christ! This was the Son of God!
John then tells us how Simon Peter followed behind this mob and stood outside. When a woman asked him if he was one of Jesus’s disciples, he said no (verses 15-17). He had just cut off someone’s ear in defense of Christ—but now he brazenly lied like a coward! What a change.
Peter had to learn that human ability can do nothing for us. We too must see that without God, we are no different from Peter. If Jesus Christ doesn’t live in us, we are just as weak and will make the same mistake!
Mark 14:50 says of the disciples: “And they all forsook him, and fled.” The disciples just ran away!
This gets to the heart and core of what the Philadelphia Church of God is about. We are striving with all of our being to stick with Jesus Christ and not to flee! The Laodiceans have turned away, but we are all about sticking with Christ. If they want to forsake Him, that is their choice. But one day, God says, they’re going to be ashamed of what they’ve done. You can count on that.
Realize: There is no way we will endure what is coming without the power of God! We must get to the point where we push human ability aside and say, “Of my own self, I can do nothing! Jesus Christ is going to have to do it.” Follow Christ’s example, or you will not spiritually survive the trials ahead!
False Witness
The high priest questioned Jesus, and He answered boldly: “I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said” (John 18:20-21). Nothing I have said has been in secret! There was no great conspiracy, no secret organization. Anyone who heard Christ talk could tell those leaders what He said.
Those leaders didn’t like that answer. One of the officers struck Jesus (verse 22); one translation says it was with his fist, which is probably accurate.
“Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death” (Matthew 26:59). The leaders themselves were so corrupt they were trying to get someone to lie about Christ.
“And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none” (Mark 14:55). They couldn’t find anything to accuse Him of. “For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together” (verse 56). They couldn’t get their lying witnesses to agree.
This world is full of deceit. When people start telling lies and rejecting the Word of God, it leads to terrible results! These lies led to these people killing the Son of God! We must put a high value on truth and never even start in that direction!
It is so important that we study these scriptures every year. I do, and each time I do, I hate my human nature a little more. The spring holy day season is a time for us to hate the old man that causes us so many problems.
Holding His Peace
Finally, a couple of false witnesses came and accused Jesus of blasphemy. The high priest asked Him about it, and He responded by talking about “the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:60-64). The priest declared that blasphemy, and the leaders decreed that He must die (verses 65-66).
Christ held His peace. They were totally biased, looking to convict Him. What good would answering do?
We often face biased and false accusations, people attacking us with a bad attitude. They are only trying to draw you into a fight and trip you up. In such cases, words serve little purpose (e.g. Proverbs 26:4).
These Jews had no evidence against Christ. When they brought Him to Pilate, he knew that and admitted it. “And when he [Jesus] was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly” (Matthew 27:12-14). He could scarcely believe that Jesus wouldn’t answer against their terrible lies. But He knew there was no point.
I imagine Christ was working hard to keep His mind on the future—and on being an example for you. He wasn’t going to let these men sidetrack Him into carnal reasoning that might cause Him to lose His salvation. He was focused on eternal life and getting you into eternity!
Murderous Malice
Pilate had agreed to release a prisoner, and he asked the crowd whether it should be Jesus or a notorious criminal named Barabbas. Matthew 27:18 says, “For he [Pilate] knew that for envy [it should read malice] they had delivered him [Jesus].” These evil-minded men were full of malice! That is human nature.
Remember: It wasn’t just those men who put Jesus to death. We have too! Have you ever had malice? I’m sure we could all agree that we have harbored malice from time to time. We must get rid of it! If we find ourselves getting resentful or upset about something—perhaps the real problem is that we’re mad at God. We must repent of that.
“When he [Pilate] was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him” (verse 19). Pilate’s wife gives us perhaps a little insight into what is going to happen to people who fight God and fight the pcg. They are going to begin to have dreams and nightmares. Anyone who fights God is going to have problems they have never had before!
We cannot fight God and win. That is one lesson we must learn forever!
The Jewish leaders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas rather than Jesus. When Pilate pressed them about Jesus, they cried out, “Let him be crucified”! (verses 20-23).
“When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it” (verse 24). He could see that Christ was a just man being falsely accused. He wanted nothing to do with it.
But was he absolved of all guilt? Of course not. He committed one of the blackest, darkest, most grotesque crimes of all history! God held him guilty.
Pilate fantasized that he wasn’t guilty. That is easy for the human mind to do. Human nature believes it can be wicked in one area but good in another. That is delusional! Believing we’re righteous in one area doesn’t absolve us of sin!
Suffering for Righteousness
“Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified” (Matthew 27:26).
The whip these soldiers would have used had shards of lead, glass and stone intertwined on six thongs with metal balls on the end. The whip wrapped around an individual’s body and tore chunks of flesh as it was pulled back. These perverted soldiers loved to do this to Jesus Christ!
Christ endured this because God wants us to be healed! It is by these stripes that we are healed (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). That scourging tore chunks of flesh out of Jesus’s body so we could be healed. God is serious about healing! And He wants us in His Kingdom. He wants us to have faith. He wants us to trust Him.
Men who endured the beating Christ endured often died before they were crucified. Christ was still alive.
These rough, rugged soldiers then stripped Him, put a red robe on Him, smashed the crown of thorns into His skull, gave Him a reed like a scepter, and mockingly bowed before Him saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spit on Him and hit Him on the head with that reed. Then they dragged Him off to be crucified with His open flesh filled with dirt and flies, no doubt (Matthew 27:27-31).
This all happened because Jesus Christ was so righteous. He never once sinned. The only reason they did this was because He obeyed God! This is what happens in this world. So often, when you obey God, you will get into trouble; you will face persecution. Look at what Christ faced for refusing to compromise one iota with God’s Word.
The Crucifixion
“And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross” (Matthew 27:32). Christ couldn’t even carry His own stake because He had been so brutally beaten.
“And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots” (verses 33-35).
Before crucifying Christ, the soldiers nailed His hands and feet to the stake with huge nails so He wouldn’t fall off or be ripped off. Typically, they had a small piece of wood to support the crucified individual’s weight when they dropped the stake into the hole. When they heaved a man up there, he would scream in pain.
“Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him” (verses 38-42). They were taunting, mocking and jeering the Son of God!
“He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth” (verses 43-44). These religious Jews just couldn’t handle that He said He was the Son of God!
“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour” (verse 45). He hung on that stake for three hours as they abused and mocked Him and did every kind of evil they could imagine.
This is the kind of brutality Christ was put through to pay for our sins. We must realize that He gave all of this for us; He held back nothing. That is our Savior.
Forgiveness
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Jesus Christ became sin. And God forsakes sinners.
Yet when we repent, He is so willing to forgive! Consider that some of the first words Jesus Christ spoke after being crucified were: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
We are going to face persecution before this is all over. Most of those who persecute us honestly won’t know what they are really doing! We are going to have to forgive them. When we go into the Passover, I hope we all can say that there is nobody we cannot forgive—because look how much God has forgiven all of us.
That is what Passover shows us. God has forgiven us of everything. Look at all the sins you and I have committed, and He just forgives them all and buries them! When we repent, God says, That’s it. I don’t even think about it anymore. They’re buried. That’s in the past; let’s go on now.
So we must forgive one another! It is an insult to God if we can’t forgive. If Christ is in us, we are going to be able to forgive.
We must condemn sin and not people. We love God’s Family, even the 95 percent who have turned from God.
The Price of Sin
“Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost” (Matthew 27:47-50).
Translators leave out “And another took a spear and pierced his side, and out came water and blood” from verse 49. Christ did not die because of a broken heart but because of massive hemorrhaging inside His body. He was about to drown in His own blood because of the terrible beating that He’d gone through. That is why He died. That is why blood and water came out. The Son of God was murdered!
When God the Father looks at sin, this is what He sees. He sees the supreme sacrifice of His only Son who had to pay the price for those horrible sins. We cannot use this world’s evaluation of sin. Study the Passover to understand how horrible sin really is! This is what we need to grasp as we take the Passover.
You can see why God hates sin. The Apostle Peter wrote that we “were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold” (1 Peter 1:18). We were redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ (verse 19).
Each of us must consider these scriptures deeply. God figures if He gives Himself so completely and totally to you like that, then He expects us to be limitless in our dedication to Him! He paid a great price so we can be a part of His Family. He doesn’t like a lukewarm attitude in response. He’s the great Creator God, and He doesn’t like when people stand up and talk back to Him like the Laodiceans do. No wonder Christ gets upset and spews them out of His mouth! (Revelation 3:16). I believe He has a right to ask more of all of us. Yet He never asks of us more than we can handle.
What do you suppose Christ thinks when you have a problem that you believe you just can’t overcome? Perhaps you decide you’ll just live with it. If Jesus Christ thought that way, we would have no Savior! We must face our problems and deal with them!
God has called us to become God, to enter into the very God Family! And He says, I will make you my very elite if you learn how to follow me and take a stand for me.
Passover season is a serious time of year, but it’s also a glorious time because of what it pictures.
‘This Was the Son of God’
“And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent” (Matthew 27:51). Look at all these phenomena. People couldn’t believe it.
“And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God” (verses 52-54). After the earthquakes, people rising from the dead, and other spectacular miracles, then people admitted that Christ was God!
After people go through the soon-coming nuclear holocaust, they will say the same thing about this Work. They’re going to realize this was really the Work of the great Creator God who raises people from the dead! What a tragedy they have to suffer so much to reach that point. But God will do whatever it takes to bring them there.
It’s so important to study these scriptures every year as we prepare for the Passover. God wants us to remember His suffering and His death and have faith in those symbols of the bread and the wine as we take Jesus Christ into us on Passover. When we take that bread and that wine, we are saying that we want to live exactly the way God lived, the way Christ lived—the way God wants us to live.
He says when we do these things, we will drink of the fruit of the vine and share many wonderful experiences with Him in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 26:29).