(We are interrupting our trip through the Bible to tell the Easter story. We'll return with the story of Moses in the next issue of Beantown.)
Some people think that it was a terrible mistake that Jesus died on the cross, but that is not so. It was always the plan. It was why Jesus came.
Just before Jesus was crucified, He spent some time in a lovely garden called the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was talking to His Father in heaven. They were discussing the plan. Jesus was full of sorrow, knowing what was going to happen to Him, but He said to the Father, "Thy will be done."
After He was done praying, a mob of people came to get Him. The mob was led by Judas! Judas was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, but Judas became a traitor. He identified Jesus for the mob.
The crowd carried Jesus off to the house of the high priest, where He was blindfolded, beaten up, and made fun of. They pushed sharp thorns into His head. Jesus meekly put up with all this, because He knew it was going to help you and me in the long run. He endured this for us!
The priests decided that Jesus should be put to death, even though they didn't have any evidence. They sent Him to Pilate, the Roman leader. They told Pilate lies about Jesus. Pilate didn't really believe the lies, but he ordered Jesus to be put to death anyway, on a cross.
So Jesus was nailed to the cross, and He died.
But that's not the end of the story! His body was placed in a tomb, but three days later, three ladies went to visit the tomb. They wondered how they were going to move the boulder that sealed the tomb. To their amazement, when they arrived, the boulder had been moved aside! And even more amazing, when they entered the tomb, they found a young man in a white robe sitting where they expected to find Jesus' body. But this young man wasn't Jesus! It was an angel!
The angel said, "Don't be afraid!" [This is what angels always say!] "You're looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is risen! He's not here! See the place where His body was laid? Go tell the disciples (and Peter!). He's going to Galilee; you'll see Him there!"
Jesus arose from the dead! He is alive!
Click here for an explanation of what this means for us.
NEXT WEEK: Moses gets into some serious trouble
People have asked that we make past Bible stories available. We have begun doing this. So far all we have archived is [Story of Baby Moses]
