The Timing of Christ's Sacrifice

Sequence of Events From Christ's Resurrection to His Ascension

1. A mighty angel calls Jesus to life. The Roman soldiers are terrified. They go to report what they have seen. (Matthew 28:2-4)
2. Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb. She sees the stone rolled away, then runs to tell the disciples. (John 20:1)
3. The other women arrive at the empty tomb and meet two angels. They also go to find the disciples. (Luke 24:1-9)
4. Mary finds Peter and John. They come and find the tomb empty. (John 20:2-10)
5. Mary, who had followed them, remains at the tomb after Peter and John leave. She sees the two angels. Then Jesus appears to her. (John 20:11-16)
6. Jesus goes to heaven to receive His Father’s approval. (John 20:17)
7. Jesus returns and appears to Peter. (Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5)
8. Jesus appears to the two disciples on the walk to Emmaus. (Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13-32)
9. The two disciples return to Jerusalem to tell the disciples in the upper room. There Jesus appears to all of them, Thomas missing. (Mark 16:13; Luke 24:33-49; John 20:19-23)
10. Jesus appears one week later, Thomas being there. (Mark 16:14; John 20:24-29)
11. Jesus meets seven of the disciples by the Sea of Galilee. (John 21:1-23)
12. In the presence of about five hundred believers assembled on a mountain in Galilee, Jesus delivers the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:16-20; 1 Corinthians 15:6)
13. Jesus appears to James (1 Corinthians 15:7)
14. Jesus takes the disciples to the Mount of Olives, and from there ascends to heaven. (Luke 24:50, 51; Acts 1:9-11)

Countdown to the Cross

Events in the week leading up to the crucifixion.

Sabbath

• Simon's Feast (John 12:1-11)

Sunday

• Triumphal Entry (John 12:12-19)

Monday

• Fig Tree Cursed (Mark 11:12-14)
• Temple Cleansed (Mark 11:15-19)

Tuesday

• Withered Fig Tree Noticed (Mark 11:20-26)
• Confrontation in the Temple (Matthew 21:23–22:46)
• Woes on the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23)
• Widow's Mites (Mark 12:41-44)
• Visit of the Greeks (John 12:20-50)
• On the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24, 25)

Wednesday

• No Public Appearance

Thursday

• The Last Supper (Luke 22:7-38; John 13, 14)
• Instruction and Prayer for His Disciples (John 15–17)
• Gethsemane (Mark 14:26-42)
• Arrest (John 18:2-12)

Friday

• Trial (Matthew 26:57–27:31; Mark 14:53–15:20; Luke 22:54–23:25; John 18:13–19:16)
• Crucifixion (Matthew 27:32-56; Mark 15:21-41; Luke 23:26-49; John 19:17-37)
• Burial (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42)

Sabbath

• Soldiers Stationed at the Tomb (Matthew 27:62-66)

Sunday

• Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18)
• Walk to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32)
• Appearance in the Upper Room (Luke 24:33-49)

Jesus Knows

"Jesus knows the circumstances of every soul. You may say, I am sinful, very sinful. You may be; but the worse you are, the more you need Jesus. He turns no weeping, contrite one away. He does not tell to any all that He might reveal, but He bids every trembling soul take courage. Freely will He pardon all who come to Him for forgiveness and restoration.

"Christ might commission the angels of heaven to pour out the vials of His wrath on our world, to destroy those who are filled with hatred of God. He might wipe this dark spot from His universe. But He does not do this. He is today standing at the altar of incense, presenting before God the prayers of those who desire His help."

–The Desire of Ages, p. 568

Michael the Archangel

Michael is mentioned five times in the Bible. Here is an excellent summary of what we learn from those five references:

What the Bible Says About Michael

No created being could fit the Bible's description. The name Michael is an unmistakable reference to the divine Son of God.

Letter 51a

September 11, 1874

We are forming characters for heaven. No character can be complete without trial and suffering. We must be tested, we must be tried. Christ bore the test of character in our behalf that we might bear this test in our own behalf through the divine strength He has brought to us. Christ is our example in patience, in forbearance, in meekness and lowliness of mind. He was at variance and at war with the whole ungodly world, yet He did not give way to passion and violence manifested in words and actions, although receiving shameful abuse in return for good works. He was afflicted, He was rejected and despitefully treated, yet He retaliated not. He possessed self-control, dignity, and majesty. He suffered with calmness and for abuse gave only compassion, pity, and love. 

Imitate your Redeemer in these things. Do not get excited when things go wrong. Do not let self arise, and lose your self-control because you fancy things are not as they should be. Because others are wrong is no excuse for you to do wrong. Two wrongs will not make one right. You have victories to gain in order to overcome as Christ overcame.

Christ never murmured, never uttered discontent, displeasure, or resentment. He was never disheartened, discouraged, ruffled, or fretted. He was patient, calm, and self-possessed under the most exciting and trying circumstances. All His works were performed with a quiet dignity and ease, whatever commotion was around Him. Applause did not elate Him. He feared not the threats of His enemies. He moved amid the world of excitement, of violence and crime, as the sun moves above the clouds. Human passions and commotions and trials were beneath Him. He sailed like the sun above them all. Yet He was not indifferent to the woes of men. His heart was ever touched with the sufferings and necessities of His brethren, as though He Himself was the one afflicted. He had a calm inward joy, a peace which was serene. His will was ever swallowed up in the will of His Father. Not My will but Thine be done, was heard from His pale and quivering lips.

We long and pray that the grace of God may come into your hearts. We want you to make an entire surrender to God. . . . May God help you all to walk humbly and carefully is our prayer.

–Letter 51a, 1874, pp. 2, 3, 4.
(To "Dear Children, Edson and Emma White," September 11, 1874.)
3MR 427, 428 

Contemplating the Life of Jesus

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18.

"It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ." The Desire of Ages, p. 83.

You may have at one time seen in an old academy Bible textbook a summary of Jesus' character traits based on statements from The Desire of Ages. What a blessing that has been to me over the years! I'm now providing a link to that file so we can all think on these things:

The Character of Christ

Why Jesus Came to Earth

"He shall save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29

"He was manifested to take away our sins." 1 John 3:5

"Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus 2:14

"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." 1 Peter 2:24

"Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." Acts 3:26

"He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." 2 Corinthians 5:15

"For this is the will of God, even your sanctification." 1 Thessalonians 4:3

"That we might be partakers of his holiness." Hebrews 12:10

"The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the whole book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God." Ed 125

"The very essence of the gospel is restoration." GW 213

"Those who believe in Jesus Christ are changed from being rebels against the law of God into obedient servants and subjects of His kingdom." FE 332

"God has expended amazing sacrifices upon men, and mighty energies for the reclaiming of man from transgression and sin to loyalty and obedience." YSRP 168

"Christ came to mediate between God and man, to make man one with God by bringing him into allegiance to His law." 1SM 229

"Christ came in human form to show . . . that ample provision has been made to enable human beings to live in loyalty to their Creator." Signs of the Times, August 2, 1905

"God has made provision through the death of His beloved Son, that every soul may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work." YSRP 152

"God loved the world so dearly that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever would accept Him might have power to live His righteous life." 1SM 223

"Through the plan of salvation, Jesus is breaking Satan's hold upon the human family and rescuing souls from his power." PK 586

"The work of Christ was to take from the claims of Satan his control of man." MS 1, 1892

"Christ desires nothing so much as to redeem His heritage from the dominion of Satan." COL 174

"The Redeemer of the world came from heaven to help man in his weakness, that, in the power which Jesus came to bring him, he might become strong to overcome appetite and passion, and might be victor on every point." 3T 488

"Jesus came to bring moral power to combine with human effort." 1SM 262

"Jesus in the synagogue spoke of the kingdom He had come to establish, and of His mission to set free the captives of Satan." DA 255

"To restore in man the image of his Maker, to bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of body, mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in his creation might be realized - this was to be the work of redemption. This is the object of education, the great object of life." Ed 15, 16

"The burden of disease and wretchedness and sin He came to remove. It was His mission to bring to men complete restoration; He came to give them health and peace and perfection of character." MH 17

"'Be ye therefore perfect' (Matt. 5:48) is God's word to us. And in order that we might obey this word, He sent His only-begotten Son to this earth." IHP 166

"Christ came to make us 'partakers of the divine nature,' and His life declares that humanity, combined with divinity, does not commit sin." MH 180

"Jesus came to our world to bring divine power to man, that through His grace we might be transformed into His likeness." TMK 229

"Christ gave His own life that men and women might be lifted above the cheap, common, perishable things of this world, to the life which measures with the life of God." RH 11-6-1900

"He came to our world to give us an example of how we should work, and what spirit we should bring into our labor." COL 331

"It was in our behalf that Christ came to this world to make known the will of His Father, and to show human beings what they must become before they can stand before God in the heavenly courts." UL 341

The Essential Christian Confession of Faith

“What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He?” Matthew 22:42
“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” 1 John 4:15

Q. To what did John the Baptist bear record? John 1:34

A. “And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.”

Q. What did Nathanael confess? John 1:49

A. “Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”

Q. What was Peter's great confession? Matthew 16:16

A. “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Q. What did all the disciples assert? Matthew 14:33; John 6:69

A. “Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God."

A. “And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God."

Q. What was Martha's testimony? John 11:27

A. “She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”

Q. What did God Himself declare? 2 Peter 1:17

A. “For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Q. What truth did Satan challenge? Luke 4:3, 9

A. “And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.”

A. “And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence.”

Q. Why did the Jews condemn Jesus? John 19:7; John 10:36

A. “The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”

A. “Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?”

Q. What was the issue at His trial? Luke 22:70

A. “Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God?”

Q. What doubt was hurled at Christ on the cross? Matthew 27:40

A. “If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

Q. What did the Centurion confess? Matthew 27:54

A. “Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.”

Q. What does Christ's resurrection declare about Him? Romans 1:4

A. “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

Q. What truth did the Ethiopian eunuch believe? Acts 8:37

A. “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

Q. What was Paul's message? Acts 9:20

A. “And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.”

Q. What was the burden of John's gospel? John 20:31

A. “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

Q. Who can overcome the world? 1 John 5:5

A. “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Q. What question is left for us? John 9:35

A. “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?”

Christ In You

"Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 13:14

"Until Christ be formed in you." Galatians 4:19

"Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:27

"Christ liveth in me." Galatians 2:20

"We are made partakers of Christ." Hebrews 3:14

"And of his fulness have all we received." John 1:16

"That ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Ephesians 3:19

"Unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Ephesians 4:13

"For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Galatians 3:27

"That we might live through him." 1 John 4:9

"For to me to live is Christ." Philippians 1:21

"Abide in me, and I in you." John 15:4

"And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us." 1 John 3:24

"God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts." Galatians 4:6

"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Romans 8:9

"As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them and thou in me." John 17:21-23

"Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." 1 John 4:13

"Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world canot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." John 14:17

"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." John 14:18

"Because I live, ye shall live also." John 14:19

"At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." John 14:20