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After Peter identifies himself, addresses the pilgrims, and bestows a blessing of grace and peace, he enters into worship. Have you ever wondered at the phrase “Bless God?” I have. When I read it in the Psalms or heard a preacher say it, I was puzzled. How do you bless an infinite being? And here it is again. Peter begins “Blessed be the God.” Peter worships God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ our living hope.

Worship God the Father

Worshipping God the Father was a big part of how Jesus lived. His entire life was an act of worship to God the Father. He honored His Father’s house. He spoke of His Father’s kingdom, not His own. He acknowledges that He was sent from God as a gift to the world because of God’s love for it. Jesus knew who He was and His role, but He always worshipped God as the Father. Peter reminds his readers to worship God the Father.

Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Peter writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” His abundant mercy provided us with a Savior. Now we have a relationship with the Great and Merciful Creator and His Son who offered Himself as a ransom for many.

Our Living Hope

God has brought us to life again. He did it by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We don’t have a flimsy I hope so but a solid, living hope attached to a resurrected living Savior and ministered to us daily by His precious Spirit. Peter begins “Blessed be the God.” Peter worships God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ our living hope.

Bless God. We have reason for worship today.

After seeing inside the tomb, that it was empty, Peter and John went on their way to their own homes. Mary, however, remained. The things not understood, that left her weeping outside of the tomb, would soon not matter. Mary Magdalene sees not through her eyes, filled with tears, but rather through her ears when the voice of Jesus calls her name. In John 20, the apostle John writes how Mary encounters angels, sees the risen Jesus, and tells the news.

Encounters Angels

With tears falling, Mary looks into the tomb. There she sees two angels dressed in white sitting, one at the place his head was and another at the place where His feet had been. They ask her “Why are you weeping? She tells them Jesus has been taken away and she doesn’t know where He has been taken.

Sees the Risen Lord

Then she turned around. In front of her stood the risen Lord. There was no revelation of Jesus. She thought He was the gardener. This gardener was asking her not only why she was weeping but also whom she was seeking? Again she uttered the concern of her heart. Then in that instant, the lamb heard the voice of the Shepherd call her name, “Mary.” She recognized His voice. It was the voice of He who had delivered her from seven demons. Mary answered and called Him, teacher. She must have tried to hug him for He stopped her by giving her a directive. “Go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and to your Father, and to My God and your God.”

Tells the News

Following the instruction of the teacher, Mary went and found the disciples just as Jesus had told her. Then she tells them about seeing Jesus and the things He had told her. Mary, a woman, weeping at the empty tomb becomes the first witness to the risen Lord. She went from weeping to joy in the blink of an eye. In John 20, the apostle John writes how Mary encountered angels, saw the risen Jesus, and told the news.

After the staring, gawking crowd had left to prepare for the celebration of Passover, there was still unfinished business. God already worked it out and revealed to Isaiah that though He died with the wicked, He would be with the rich in His death. A man named Joseph and a man named Nicodemus cared for the lifeless body of Jesus of Nazareth.

Joseph of Arimathea

The scriptures tell us Joseph was a rich man. He came from Arimathea which was a city of Jews. We also learn that he was a prominent council member who was waiting for the Kingdom of God. Luke tells us he was a good and just man who had not consented to the counsel or the deed. He was also a secret disciple. The Jews had much power over who could attend the synagogue. He understood the synagogue as a place of worship, and did not want to be put out. He overcame his fear. Mark writes that he took courage and asked Pilate.

Nicodemus

Nicodemus was also a secret disciple. We read about him in John 3, the man who came to Jesus by night. Matthew, Mark and Luke do not mention Nicodemus but John does. He writes that this man brought about 100 pounds of spices, a mixture of myrrh and aloes. John states how these two men took the body of Jesus.

The Lifeless Body of Jesus

Pilate was surprised when he heard Jesus was already dead. Once confirmed, he gave the body to Joseph. Joseph and Nicodemus took such care of the lifeless body of Jesus. As Jewish men they knew the rituals of Jewish burial and the importance of its burial because of preparation day. I imagine them tenderly binding it with strips of linen along with the spices, carefully laying His body in a new tomb then placing the stone in front of it. It wasn’t the disciples, it was two men away from the crowd, with hearts open to God, while the women looked on.

A man named Joseph and a man named Nicodemus cared for the lifeless body of Jesus of Nazareth.

The events of the crucifixion of Jesus were written in eternity. There were entered there by the Word of God, through His prophets. It stands a monument, yet much more beyond our frail understanding. The location of His crucifixion, the manner of His death, and the handling of His garments were among the details foretold by the prophets and Jesus Himself.

Location

The location of His death was prepared for in the book of Numbers. Golgotha became the destination as Jesus took up His cross. He knew that according to the law, anything cursed was sent outside the camp, away from the people. Golgotha was beyond the city gates. Jesus knew He was taking on the curse for all mankind. The writer of Hebrews clarifies, “Therefore Jesus also, that He might set apart the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.”

Manner of His Death

The manner of His death was prophesied by both King David and Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah writes that He was despised and rejected of men. This man carried our sorrows and bore our griefs. It was for our transgression, and our sins that He died. Isaiah further writes, “He was numbered with the transgressors.” Indeed Jesus, was nailed to the cross, the Son of God between two thieves. Jesus also predicted His betrayal, condemnation, crucifixion and resurrection. Matthew records, “Behold we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. and the third day He will rise again.”

Handling of Garments

Even the handling of His garments was foretold. In Psalm 22, the words of King David give a vivid picture of the crucifixion of Jesus. He predicted many details. These details included the seemingly unimportant matter of what happened to His clothes. “They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots,” he wrote.

God used prophecy as a means of adding validity to events when they happened. The location of His crucifixion, the manner of His death, and the handling of His garments were among the details foretold by the prophets and Jesus Himself.

Jesus completed His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane by praying for me. When He pleaded into the dark of that night saying, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their words,” He looked down and watched as from generation to generation His words ministered from one heart to another until one thirteen- year- old girl heard once again of His love for her at a camp meeting and believed. How about you?

When He prayed for us what was on His mind? What where the concerns that fastened Him to the Father on our behalf, amid His own dark night? Jesus prayed first for oneness as a testimony to the world, second, that we would be together with Him and finally that the love which His Father loved Him would be in us, and He would be in us.

Oneness

He pleaded first for Oneness with the Father and the Son. Oneness was of utmost importance! Who Jesus was, the word of life, “that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled,” shared all that He was so they could be one with Him. “I in them and You in Me, that that they may be perfect in one.” Their unity, their love and united focus on God the Father and the Christ would be the witness to the world. They would know God sent Jesus and He loved them just as God had loved the Son. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!” The oneness became the picture.

Together

Secondly, He prayed that they will be with Him where He is. Separation pains us. We long for loved ones. Jesus felt it too. “I want them to experience all that we have shared since before the world even began. for You loved me even before then.” Jesus was making it possible, under the direction of His Father for His children to be together forever in His kingdom.

I in Them

Finally, as He utters, “O righteous Father” He prayed “I have declared Your name and I will declare it.” Why? He wanted the love with which the Father had loved Him to be in them. He Himself, to be in them.”

John recorded these words of Jesus, and they are sent on down through history, living words beyond time, into eternity for me and you. Jesus prayed first for oneness as a testimony to the world, second, that we would be together with Him and finally that the love which His Father loved Him would be in us, and He would be in us. May it be so, amen and amen!

Jesus proved faithful in revealing God the Father to those the Father gave Him. He not only spoke, but was, the Word of God. These men, the twelve God gave to Him, received God’s words and ultimately believed that God the Father sent Jesus. As Jesus finished His earthly sojourn, He petitioned the Father to keep them One as They were, to keep them from the evil one and to sanctify them by His truth.

One As We Are

His petition is not for the world. He is praying for the ones His Father gave Him from within the world. These men were God’s and God gave them to Jesus. Jesus is glorified in them. He asked the Father to keep them through His name. It was important that they be one, just as Jesus and the Father were and are, one. Jesus kept them, all but Judas who was lost in fulfillment of the scripture. Now however, He was leaving and prayed in this manner while on the earth, so they would have His joy fulfilled in them. He wanted these men united as one with Himself and the Father.

Kept From the Evil One

Jesus did not petition the Father to take them out of the world. Yes, the world would hate them just as it hated Jesus, and they would have lots of trouble. He had taught them to turn to Himself when in trouble because He had overcome the world. Therefore, instead, He prays to the Father, in the agony of His soul, “keep them from the evil one.”

Sanctify Them

He finally asks the Father to sanctify His disciples. It is God’s truth which will set them apart as God’s children, for His purposes. His word is the truth. As the Father sent Jesus into the world, Jesus was sending His disciples into the world. Jesus kept Himself separated unto God, in order for the disciples to be able also to be set apart by the truth. It is for their sakes that He has sanctified Himself. Jesus, ending His earthly sojourn, petitioned the Father to keep the disciples in Oneness with Them, to keep them from the evil one and to sanctify them by His truth.