Easter is the time of year when many people will remember the sacrifice of Christ dying on the cross for the sins of the world.
The Bible contains 4 books known as the Gospels to give us an account of the week leading up to the betrayal, trials and death of Jesus. There are also other Bible verses to remind us that we need to remember what His death on the cross means for us, how it affects us and what we should do with that knowledge.
We’ve pulled together Easter Bible verses to remind you of Christ, the cross and the Great Commission. You will find more Bible verses about anything and everything to help you forget not the Lord.
The Bible is a love story of God and His creation. So the first place to begin researching Easter Bible verses is in the beginning.
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created* the heaven and the earth.
Genesis’ account of creation begins with “In the beginning”. We learn that God created the heavens and the earth by speaking each part into existence. The first part of creation was “light”.
After light on day 1, God would then create an area and then 2 days later fill that area.
For instance, He created the heavens and the earth and two days later filled it with the sun, moon and stars. He divided the water in the sky from the water on the earth and two days later filled them both with fish and fowl.
Isn’t that amazing?
God has always been a Creator of details.
There was light before there was the sun.
God created a garden and then two days later, filled it with animals and man.
Then on day 6, He formed man from the dust of the ground in His image and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. That is intimate. God not only created man, He created relationship.
God wanted a relationship with His creation.
Interestingly, there is another book in the Bible that begins with, “In the beginning” and also talks about light and the creation of God’s people, John 1.
John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
When we read those verses together we discover that all things were made through Jesus and that He is the “Light of all men”. He came down from heaven to earth in the verses of John 1, and His creation did not know Him, believe Him or receive Him.
What happened that would cause God’s creation to not know Him or receive Jesus?
Disobedience!
Sometime after the creation of man and woman, (how long we do not know) there would be an enemy encounter that would alter God’s creation.
Man and woman, Adam and Eve, were told to tend the garden.
They had one job. Just tend the garden.
But they were also told to NOT eat of the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Did they obey this? NO.
They disobeyed God. The two naked as a jaybird people realized they were naked so they made clothing out of fig leaves to cover themselves.
When God can looking for them later to walk in the Garden, they hid in the bushes trying to look like trees rather than the amazing people He had created in His image.
There would be consequence to their disobedience. God would give man, woman and the enemy, Satan, each their own punishments that would affect not only the three of them, but also future generations.
Adam and Eve would be cast out of the Garden of Eden, and their nakedness was covered by God.
The serpent would come “head to heel” with a different force.
Genesis 3:
The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
This section of Scripture will give us our beginning sequence to the Easter Bible verses. Without understanding this point in time, it’s hard to fully understand why Jesus would die on a cross for the world.
You see the enmity in that section of Bible verses means, “to be an enemy”. That enmity to the serpent, Satan, would be Jesus.
This is where the death of Jesus on the cross will come full circle with the serpent.
After being cast from the Garden, Adam and Eve would build a family, a community and then generations of descendants who would eventually cover the entire world with sin.
God would destroy His creation by bringing a flood, killing all life except for Noah and His wife, their 3 sons and their 3 wives, along with the animals God would send to the Ark.
God gave Noah the plans for the ark and then God filled the Ark.
A year later, Noah and his family would leave the Ark to begin living on dry ground and filling the earth once again with people.
Those descendants would bring us famous men and women who would devote their lives to God. People such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Caleb, Joshua, the Judges, King David, Nehemiah, Ezra and all the prophets that form the Old Testament.
Then we open the New Testament with the genealogy of those people and many more who would show the lineage of Jesus Christ from Adam.
You see, God likes to bring a story He is writing full circle.
Jesus is the long awaited Messiah that would save His people and be their King. God’s people were waiting and looking for the One who would be King of His people once again. They thought the King would be like they had known before or similar to the kings in other nations, a man on a throne in their land.
But God had other plans. He was giving them a King who would reign forever in eternity. They were looking for a King who would fulfill all the words from the prophets. They did not SEE Jesus who was the One they were seeking.
Jesus would fulfill all the prophecies passed down from generations.
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel*.
Years later, in a little town, a young Mary would receive the blessing of Jesus even though He would not be received by the world.
Luke 1:49-50
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
Jesus would grow into a man who would walk on His creation earth, live among His creation of people and then be crucified by the ones and for the ones He came to earth to save.
He would perform miracles. Tell parables. Heal the sick. Feed the hungry. Raise the dead.
Then after a few years of ministry, Jesus would ruffle the feathers of the religious leaders by doing those things which were foretold in Isaiah.
Isaiah 61:1-3
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted*, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
This is where the Easter story picks up tragic speed with the Messiah riding on a donkey into Jerusalem as King. Rather than a crown of gold, Jesus would wear a crown of thorns.
The events leading up to Christ on the cross are told within the first 4 books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each writer tells words inspired by God and told through their perspectives. These 4 men bring details to the events leading up to Jesus dying.
Reading their words in chronological order of events brings to light the triumph over darkness, and the selfless love of Jesus for His people
In John 3, Jesus is telling His disciples important information concerning the events about to happen. They were not understanding what Jesus was talking about because they believed He was to be their King, yet He was telling them He would be killed.
John 3:16-19
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Jesus would be falsely tried, beaten beyond recognition and nailed to a cross and then He was lifted up high for all to see.
Isaiah 53:3-9
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Jesus would give His life for the world because He loved it.
He died for our sins so that we could live with Him in eternity.
Remember that word “enmity” from the punishment to the serpent? We are about to witness this enmity in a garden once again.
Jesus went to a garden to pray with His disciples. They kept falling asleep and He kept waking them up. He was praying to God the Father because this would be the moment that true love would be demonstrated for the world to see.
Sign up to become a ReMEMBERer where we have created printables of the Easter Bible Verses.
26:47- 27:61
14:43- 15:47
22:47- 23:54
18:1- 19:42
28:1-20
16:1-20
24:1-52
20:1-25
Saturday was a dark quiet day. Jesus was dead.
The long awaited Messiah and King was gone. God’s people had witnessed His death and His body was laid in the empty tomb.
Guards were placed outside the tomb because the ruling leaders were worried that God’s people would take the body.
The tomb was provided and God filled it with His Son.
Saturday was dark, but Sunday came with light as the Son rose from the dead.
He defeated death and Satan just as God had said in the Garden of Eden.
The big heavy stone was rolled away as the Easter story in a garden had come full circle.
The tomb was empty.
26:47- 27:61
14:43- 15:47
22:47- 23:54
18:1- 19:42
28:1-20
16:1-20
24:1-52
20:1-25
Jesus walked from the tomb in the garden as Mary and the other women were on their way to bring fragrance for His body.
Mary, full of fear over Jesus’ body not being in the tomb, went to the gardner in the garden… Jesus. She mistook the Creator of the world and all that is in it as a gardener.
Actually He is the Master Gardener.
Jesus tells Mary that He is risen and to go and tell the disciples. He has plans for them that will change their lives.
For 40 days, Jesus, the Risen Savior, would walk among the people, eat and teach them all that He wanted them to do.
Matthew 28:16-20
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Then Jesus would depart the earth no longer living with His people by ascending into heaven. He returned to God the Father to prepare the way for His people who love Him to have a home with Him in eternity.
His departing the world would allow for His Spirit to live WITHIN His people.
Acts 1:6-9
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord*, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them,It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
God would fill His people.
We talked about how God the Creator amazingly filled the creation He created.
That included you.
Man would be made in the image of God and through Jesus, man would be filled with His Holy Spirit.
That beautiful Spirit guides, counsels and convicts us so that we remember what God has commanded us to do.
Christ desires a relationship with you because He loves you. So much so that He gave His life for you. Your love for Him is shown by obeying Him.
That is how Christ, the cross and the Great Commission connect and how the story of Easter connects to you.
You can read more Bible verses for how to follow Jesus and your part in the great commission God has given those who love Him.
This Easter, remember a Sunday long ago when the “Son” rose that morning so you can live each day for Him.
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