April 2026 – Page 3 – What Does This Mean?

The Day of Resurrection

Encore Post: He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

In the silence of a cold, dark tomb, the world changed forever. Just as he promised, Jesus rose from his rest in the grave, breaking the seal of the tomb forever. And no one noticed.

The Romans were really good at torturing people to death. Crucifixion was a slow death, designed to kill with the maximum amount of pain and humiliation possible. If the Romans killed you, you were dead. Jesus, in fact, was already dead when the soldiers moved to hurry the process to get the bodies into a grave before sunset and the beginning of the Sabbath.

Once they laid Jesus in the tomb, no one expected him to go anywhere. Pilate ordered the tomb sealed by the authority of Rome, setting its seal on the stone that shut it off from the world. Had he not risen from death, the women would have completed his embalming, and they would have mourned him for seven days. After a year, they would have gathered his bones into a stone box. In fact, this is what Caiaphas’ family did. Archaeologists have found the high priest’s box. Had he not risen, likely no one today would even know the name of Jesus.

But Jesus did rise from the dead. The seal of our graves is broken. When we die now, our spirits live with him until the last day. When Jesus returns. On that day, he will call our bodies from the grave, and a new creation will occur. We will finally be whole — our bodies — like his resurrected body, will be fit for eternal life. Death no longer has a sting. The grave will have no victory. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

That is why Easter strikes such a chord with Christians. It is why we greet each other with joy… Christ is risen…

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Christ’s Sabbath Rest in the Tomb

Encore Post: Jesus died late in the afternoon on Good Friday, just before the Sabbath began at sunset. Two of his secret disciples asked Pilate for his body — Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. They gave him a hasty but rich man’s burial. Several of the women closest to Jesus followed them to the tomb. Joseph rolled a large stone in front of the entrance, and they left him there. Later, at the priests’ request, Pilate set a guard and sealed it to prevent the body’s theft. As the second day Jesus was dead began, he was finally at rest.

As God rested on the seventh day of creation, so now Jesus rested on the first Sabbath of the new creation. By his sacrifice on the cross, he destroyed sin and the power of the devil. Soon, when the Sabbath ended, he would break the power of death as well.

As Christians prepare for a joyful Easter celebration, we often miss this moment of quiet and peace. Soon, when sunset comes, the third day will begin. Sometime between that sunset and dawn, Jesus rose from the dead, descended to Hell to complete his victory over Satan, and became the first to rise into eternal life. The Church will begin its Vigil of Easter at sunset and sing the songs of Resurrection again.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2018-2024 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

My God, My God Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Encore Post: Good Friday is the most somber day in the Church Year. On this day, the price of our sin is paid out in full — by God Himself. The ancient plan for our salvation had been unfolding for thousands of years. The descendant of Eve, of Noah, of Abraham, and of David was born to the Virgin Mary. The Son of God, the Author of Life himself, became one of us. At the Jordan River, he made holy the waters of Baptism and took on himself the sins of the world. On Mt. Zion, ancient Mt. Moriah, where the Angel of the Lord stayed the hand of Abraham, God’s Son, His only Son, whom he loves, was condemned to die as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Sentenced by Pilate, he began his final suffering and was nailed to the cross. Even as he began to die, the forgiving began — first of those who killed him and then of a thief on a nearby cross.

The greatest mystery of all came at the height of his suffering. The Eternal Son of God cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) in the language of his boyhood. We should not be surprised that we cannot understand this profound moment. Yet we know a few things for sure. We know this very moment was revealed in detail in the Scripture itself. Jesus’ words are a quotation from his father, David, in Psalm 22, written a thousand years earlier. We know Jesus felt abandoned by God. His prayers unanswered and his loneliness show that he shares fully in our humanity. He is like us in every way, which is why his sacrifice on our behalf is possible. We know that it is our sin he paid for on the cross, and that price is unimaginably high. We are moved as we extinguish one light after another, remembering the depth of his suffering.

Yet this is not the last word we hear from the suffering of our Lord. As he died, he said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) Sin was atoned for, the power of the Devil defeated, and the seal of the grave soon to be broken. Jesus knew the Father had not abandoned him. He once again quoted his father, David, in Psalm 31, “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46), and entered his three-day rest in the tomb.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Lamb of God, Pure and Holy

Encore Post: The night God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt, the Hebrews selected perfect lambs from their flocks. They had no injuries, blemishes, or birth defects. These lambs were slaughtered, their blood smeared on their doors, their meat roasted for a feast. That night, the Angel of Death passed over their houses as the firstborn of all Egypt perished.

On the evening God delivered us all from sin, death, and the power of the devil, the disciples arranged a Passover meal for them and for Jesus. John the Baptist had called him the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. He took bread and said, “This is my body given for you,” and wine and said, “This cup is the New Testament in my blood.” St. Paul calls him “our Passover, who is sacrificed for us.”

The Lord’s Supper, then, is our New Passover. In it, God gives us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The Angel of Death passes over us. In baptism, we are united with him in his death on the cross. We enter the Red Sea of death with him and rise to new life when he breaks the seal of our graves.

Once again in Holy Week, we follow the Lamb of God as he goes to his death willingly. We pray as he takes each step,

Lamb of God, pure and holy,
Who on the cross did suffer…
Have mercy on us, O Jesus.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Three Days and Three Nights

Encore Post: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday have been remembered by the Church since ancient times as the days on which our salvation was won through the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord. She accomplishes this with a single service that lasts three days. The Maundy Thursday divine service begins with an invocation but does not conclude with a benediction. Good Friday services have neither an invocation nor a benediction. The Vigil of Easter on Saturday evening does not begin with an invocation, but ends with a benediction.

The name Maundy Thursday comes from the Latin word mandatum — the first word in the Latin translation of Jesus’ command: “a new commandment I give to you: love one another.” (John 13:34) Jesus gave this command at the Last Supper, the night we also remember because he also instituted the Lord’s Supper during that Passover meal. The Maundy Thursday service ends with the stripping of the altar, the lectern, and the pulpit, and the removal of the pastor’s vestments. Often, the account of the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus’ arrest is read during this time. We depart in silence, noting that the disciples abandoned Jesus.

The day that begins at sunset on Maundy Thursday witnessed the whole of Jesus’ passion and death. We call it Good Friday because it is the day we were redeemed. It is also the first day of Christ’s rest in the tomb. This second day, Jesus was in the grave, which began at sunset on Friday. On Holy Saturday after sunset, the third day starts. The Church holds a vigil, a service that marks the beginning of Easter. Often, Christians are baptized during the vigil.

On these three days, Christ fulfilled his promise that he would take our sins to the cross, die to pay their due, make holy our graves by resting in death, defeat Satan and death, and rise again to shatter the grave forever. Three days to remember and to thank God for his mercy.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana