The Resurrection of Jesus

 

Commemoration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

30-31 March 2021 / 18 Nisan 5781 / 3rd Day of the Omer

Today is the anniversary of the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of God, making intercession for the saints! And He is so worthy of our love, adoration, and praise! All honor and glory to the One who sits upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever. Amen!

Most people celebrate Easter, as ordained by the Roman Catholic Church, in accordance with “the first Sunday following the first ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox,” rather than associating it with when Jesus was actually crucified. They say Jesus died on “Good Friday,” but that view totally contradicts the Holy Scriptures.

The Biblical Holy Days that God commanded for His people to remember have great eternal significance. They all center around the Messiah–Jesus, the Christ, who is the “True Light” God sent into this dark and dying world to save the souls of men. Satan knows this, which is why the Wicked One has tried so hard to devalue, defile, or diminish God’s Word altogether.

Matthew 12:38-40 “Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from Thee. But He answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

“The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” shed His precious blood during Passover, and He rose from the dead three days later in fulfillment of the Scriptures. The body of Jesus was in the grave Thursday evening (16 Nisan), Friday evening (17 Nisan), Saturday evening (18 Nisan), and rose on Sunday morning (18 Nisan), the first day of the week.

Passover is when Judas betrayed the LORD in the garden after they finished the Passover meal. Passover is when the High Priest and Pharisees held Jesus’ trial that evening. The next morning, still being Passover, Jesus was arrested and taken before Pilate, who ordered that He be crucified.

Consider what God’s Word says about the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Leviticus 23:5 “In the fourteenth day of the first month (Nisan) at even is the LORD’S Passover.”

Exodus 12:18 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.”

Hebrew days are from the “evening and the morning,” just like in Genesis when God “created the heavens and the earth.” Moreover, God rested on the seventh day (Saturday) from all His work, which is the Biblical Sabbath, that the Catholic Church also altered.

Genesis 2:3   “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.”

Ironically, in the year 2020, the Catholic Easter and the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus linked to the Passover fell on the same day, but churches were shut down. There were a few who dared to gather together, and they celebrated the resurrection three days after Passover, according to the Scriptures, whether they understood it or not!

Mark 16:9-20 is central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the publishers of most of the “modern versions” of the Bible cast doubt upon this crucial passage due to their use, or I should say, misuse of footnotes. Most publishers are not so bold as to remove this foundational passage of Christianity, but the footnotes certainly can cause unsuspecting people to question the authenticity of these verses. Consider a few examples of the footnotes used in some of the popular versions for the end of Mark:

New International Version (NIV): “The most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20.”

New American Standard Bible (NASB): “Later mss (manuscripts) add vv 9-20”

New King James Version (NKJV): “Verses 9–20 are bracketed in NU-Text as not original. They are lacking in Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, although nearly all other manuscripts of Mark contain them.”

The Complete Jewish Bible (CJB): “Verses 16:9-20 are found in many ancient Greek manuscripts but not in the two oldest ones.”

New English Translation (NET): “The Gospel of Mark ends at this point in some witnesses…, including two of the most respected mss…” [Emphasis mine.]

The Vaticanus and Sinaiticus Codices, are touted as the “most respected, most reliable, and oldest  manuscripts,” by modern scholars and publishers. The “Sinaiticus Codex” was found on Mount Sinai, in St. Catherine’s Monastery, by Constantine Tischendorf in 1844. Some of these severely mutilated “leaves” were in a waste basket ready to be burned. The “Codex Vaticanus” supposedly appeared in the Vatican Library catalogue one day, and was in pristine unused condition. By boasting it is one of the “earliest manuscripts” only confirms that Satan started tainting the Holy Scriptures very early on.

Satan was attempting to destroy “the unfeigned faith” which is in Christ Jesus, while the Apostles were still on this earth, and no doubt the Wicked One will continue his evil deeds until he is finally cast into the Lake of Fire!

Acts 20:27-30 “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”

Some have suggested that overzealous scribes took it upon themselves to add this passage to the text, but that is an outrageous claim! If the publishers really believe Mark 16:9-20 is so spurious why include it in their version at all? Please take the time to read this important passage from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

Mark 16:9-20 (KJV)

“Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils.

And she went and told them that had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And they when they had heard that He was alive and had been seen of her believed not.

After that He appeared in another form unto two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.

Afterward He appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen.

And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My Name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

So then after the LORD had spoken unto them He was received up into Heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

And they went forth and preached everywhere the LORD working with them and confirming the Word with signs following. Amen.”

It is important to note that the Apostle Paul met the LORD after Jesus had resumed His place at the right hand of God; and because of that glorious encounter, Paul subsequently became a zealous defender of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He even pronounced a very serious admonition against anyone who would “preach any other gospel.”

Galatians 1:6-9 “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

But though we, or an angel from Heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

The corruption of God’s Holy Word, due to the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus codices, is the cause of much sickness and even death in the churches. And I ask, for defenders of the “modern versions” of the Bible interlaced with the manuscript of Westcott and Hort, which is based on these spurious codices, how much poison are you willing to take, or share with others?

I am certain that Mary, and the others, who had personally encountered the risen Saviour were disappointed that Jesus’ disciples did not believe their account. And if the ministers of Satan had their way we would not have their testimony contained in the final passage of Mark.

I have such a burning desire within my soul to share the “Testimony of Jesus,” but many times I feel like Mary when she tried to tell the disciples she had seen the LORD after He was risen. My testimony is often dismissed and outright rejected, but I AM here to testify that Jesus has indeed “come in the flesh,” and He revealed Himself to me in a mighty and supernatural way on the evening of 28 February 1993, as recorded in “Walking With the Enemy.”

It is so important to have proper discernment and to be very guarded, especially about spiritual things, but all I ask, if you truly love God, please read my testimony with a sincere desire to know more about Him. If you are a biblical scholar or learned individual, please listen from your heart and don’t let your knowledge get in the way. If you are a skeptic, please hear me out, and give me the benefit of the doubt for this moment in time. And if you are a man who will not listen to a woman, I pray you will set aside your pride, and seek to hear the truth of what God has revealed to me.

But “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.

They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” 1 John 4:1-6

I leave you with one final passage that sums up the “work of God” that the publishers of the “modern versions” also distorted. May God’s love be with you, and I pray His pure Word will bless your heart, and cause you to love and adore God even more!

“And without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness:

God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit,

seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles,

believed on in the world,

received up into glory.”

1 Timothy 3:16

KJV

“Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. Amen!” Blessed are they who are called to HIS Supper! And may we be among that number on that great Resurrection Day! Amen!