We are only about 2 ½ weeks before Passion Week begins, the week that leads to the crucifixion and the resurrection. Pastor Paul Chappell offers a great message of preparation for that week. I believe we need the message now in order to implement this preparation. Please read this carefully and allow the Lord to speak to you through his words.
I love the week leading into Easter Sunday for many reasons, not the least of which is that I know how the story ends! Truly, it is a joy to serve a risen Savior and to celebrate His resurrection.
New Testament churches celebrate the resurrection of Jesus every Sunday as they gather to worship, but there’s something special about Easter Sunday when we give added focus to Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the grave.
The first disciples didn’t know this joy until after they had experienced the events that led up to Christ’s resurrection. Can you imagine what it would be like to watch Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, and burial not knowing of the triumph that was just three days away?
The disciples didn’t grasp the gospel or the power of it until after that first Easter Sunday. This explains their reactions in the week prior. Not knowing the power of the resurrection, they spent the week before jockeying for position (Luke 22:24), sleeping when they should be praying (Matthew 26:40), fearful of suffering (Mark 14:50), and sorrowing in loss (John 20:2).
Too often, the disciples reactions before the resurrection is how Christians today live after the resurrection—pridefully seeking position among other Christians, spiritually neglectful, fearful of the world, or hopeless for the future.
We … can take a page from the disciples’ post-resurrection playbook as we prepare for this coming Sunday. 
“Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:16–20)
… as familiar as this passage is, sometimes we miss the context. This took place shortly after the resurrection. The disciples’ response and Jesus’ instructions should shape our response to Jesus’ resurrection as well.
- Worship
“And when they saw him, they worshipped him….” The disciples’ first response to the resurrected Savior was not to work for Him, but to worship Him.
Could I encourage you as you approach Easter Sunday to set aside some time to worship Christ?
Sometimes in all the efforts leading into Easter, Christians become so busy that they miss engaging in wonder of worship.
Perhaps during this coming week, you would want to center your daily Bible reading on Christ’s final week before the crucifixion all the way through the resurrection. Here is a suggested schedule. (This schedule does not perfectly align with the daily events of the week leading into the resurrection, but it includes these events and focuses on reading the account of the betrayal to the resurrection in all four Gospels.)
- Palm Sunday: Matthew 21:1–11, Mark 11:1–10
- Monday: Matthew 26:1–35, Mark 14:1–33
- Tuesday: Luke 22:1–38, John 13–17
- Wednesday: Matthew 26:36–27:65
- Thursday: Mark 14:32–15:47
- Friday: Luke 22:39–23:54
- Saturday: John 18–19
- Easter Sunday: Matthew 28:1–8, Mark 16:1–8, Luke 24:1–12, John 20
It’s too easy for us to lose the awe and the wonder of the power and majesty of Christ and of the greatness of His love and sacrifice for us. Spend time this week near the cross. Draw near to your Savior, and worship Him for His sacrifice for you.
Three Ways Christians Should Prepare for Resurrection Sunday
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