3-Day Bible Reading Plan: “Forgiveness Found, Freedom Won”
“Easter is Forgiveness and Freedom. Easter is not merely a religious holiday but a wartime triumph against the forces of darkness and a declaration of reconciliation with God. It celebrates forgiveness and freedom, serving as a testament to God's power to transform lives and break the chains that bind us.” - Pastor Paul Crandell, 4/20/25
Day 1
Featured Verse: Colossians 2:13-15 - “You, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him.”
How does the concept of being "made alive together with Christ" shape our understanding of the relationship between divine forgiveness and spiritual rebirth?
What does it mean for Christ to have "disarmed the rulers and authorities" in a theological sense, and how might this impact our understanding of spiritual warfare today?
How does the imagery of the cross as the place where legal demands were "nailed" deepen our appreciation of Christ’s atonement and its implications for salvation?
“You were dead in sin, and dead to God, and dead to all spiritual things; but God, in his infinite mercy, quickened you together with Christ, and made you to live in him. All your trespasses, though they were countless, though they were enough to sink a world to perdition, have been forgiven you; for Christ has put away the handwriting that was against you, he has taken it out of the way, and nailed it to his cross.” - Charles Spurgeon
Day 2
Featured Verse: John 20:11-15 - “Woman, why are you weeping?”
What does Mary Magdalene’s bold declaration to personally “take him away” reveal about the theological significance of her devotion to Jesus, and how might this inform our understanding of sacrificial love?
How does Mary Magdalene’s heartfelt willingness to carry Jesus’ body herself in John 20:15, despite her physical inability to do so, reflect the theological tension between her profound devotion and adoration for Christ and the human limitations in expressing that love in moments of grief?
How does the setting of the garden and Mary’s mistaking Jesus for the gardener evoke theological parallels to creation, redemption, or eschatological restoration?
“Mary Magdalene, standing weeping at the tomb, shows us love that will not quit the field. Her heart was broken because her Lord was gone, and she said, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.’ When she saw one she thought to be the gardener, her words, ‘Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away,’ were the language of a love that would attempt impossibilities for Christ’s sake. She, a lone woman, to carry away a body? Yet her heart was so full that she would try. Her love was stronger than her arm, but it was love that Christ saw and rewarded when He said, ‘Mary!’” - Charles Spurgeon
Day 3
Featured Verse: John 20:24-29 - “Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”
What does Jesus’ invitation to Thomas to touch His wounds reveal about the theological significance of the incarnation and the physical reality of the resurrection?
In what ways does Jesus’ statement, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” challenge or affirm theological perspectives on the nature of faith in the absence of empirical proof?
What are the theological implications of Thomas’ confession, “My Lord and my God,” and what factors might explain his transformation from vehement doubt about Christ’s resurrection to recognizing Jesus as God?
“Thomas was a doubter, and a sad doubter too, for he said, ‘Except I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.’ Hard words, and heavy with unbelief! Yet the Lord Jesus came to him, and said, ‘Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.’ Then Thomas, melted by such love, cried, ‘My Lord and my God.’ What a leap from doubting to adoring! The sight of the wounded Christ turned his heart, and he saw not only the risen Lord but the Godhead in Him. And Jesus said, ‘Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed,’ for faith without sight is the nobler faith.” - Charles Spurgeon