Easter: Incredible Evidence

So we regard the words of the prophets as confirmed beyond all doubt. You’re doing well by paying attention to their words. Continue to pay attention as you would to a light that shines in a dark place…

2 Peter 1:19 GW

1. THE PROPHECY FULFILLED ON PALM SUNDAY.

So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!" 14 Then Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written: "Stop being afraid, people of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting upon a donkey's colt!"

John 12:13-15 ISV

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; cry out, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is able to save. He is humble, and is riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Zechariah 9:9 ISV

2. THE PROPHECY FULFILLED ON MAUNDY THURSDAY.

While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. “Take and eat it,” he said; “this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them. “Drink it, all of you,” he said; “this is my blood, which seals God's covenant, my blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Matthew 26:26, 28 GNT

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.

Matthew 26:14, 15 NLT

Even my own close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me [betraying me].

Psalm 41:9 AMP

3. THE PROPHECY FULFILLED ON CRUCIFIXION FRIDAY.

Then Pilate had Jesus taken away and whipped.

John 19:1 GW

But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

Isaiah 53:5 NLT

“Look, here’s the man!” When the chief priests and the guards saw Jesus, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

John 19:5c-6 GW

He was despised and rejected…

Isaiah 53:3a NLT

Even the criminals crucified with him were insulting him the same way. At noon darkness came over the whole land.... About three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

Matthew 27:44-46 GW

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?

Psalm 22:1 NIV

They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship.

Mark 15:17, 19 NLT

All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

Psalm 22:7, 8 NIV

..Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said, “I thirst.”

John 19:28 ESV

My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

Psalm 22:15 NIV

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

John 19:23, 24 NIV

They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

Psalm 22:18 NIV

As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left.

Matthew 27:57-60 NLT

He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.

Isaiah 53:9 NLT

4. THE EVIDENCE FOR RESURRECTION SUNDAY.

• The Eyewitness Testimony

He was placed in a tomb. He was brought back to life on the third day as the Scriptures predicted. He appeared to Cephas. Next he appeared to the twelve apostles. Then he appeared to more than 500 believers at one time. (Most of these people are still living, but some have died.) Next, he appeared to James. Then he appeared to all the apostles

1 Corinthians 15:4-7 GW

• The Missing Body

Pilate told them, “You have a military guard. Go and make the tomb as secure as you know how.”

Matthew 27:65 ISV

• The Changed Lives