Hosanna to the King!Sample

Jesus was murdered, but He has conquered

Jesus Christ was rejected by the majority of the people and crucified. This was a huge disappointment for his followers: “Our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel….” (Luke 24:20-21). It is totally understandable that these men did not grasp how Jesus’ death could contribute to Israel’s redemption. But this is exactly what happened! By shedding His blood, Jesus redeemed His children from the curse of sin, “thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). And by breaking the curse of sin, He also broke the power of Satan over people. For this purpose, He had come into the world!

For the people around Jesus, this larger picture was virtually invisible. They saw what happened but could not grasp the deeper meaning. The book of Revelation gives us a view from ‘behind the scenes’. It portrays Jesus as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David” who has conquered. Through His death, He has destroyed the one who had the power of death, that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14).

This is the paradox of the Gospel: Jesus Christ conquered His enemy by being killed…then rising from the dead, thus breaking its power over us.