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BACKGROUND FOR THIS EPISODE

(In Order of Appearance)

NEW TESTAMENT OF THE BIBLE:
  • Matthew 27:19 – While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent a message to him. It said, “Have nothing to do with that innocent man! Last night in a dream, I suffered many things because of him!”
  • Matthew 27:62-63 – That day was called Preparation Day.f The next day,g the most important priests and the Pharisees had a meeting with Pilate. 63They said, “Sir, we remember what that liar said while he was still alive: ‘After three days, I will rise from death.’ 
  • Matthew 12:40 – Jonah was in the belly of the big fish for three days and three nights. In the same way, I will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 
  • According to early Bible accounts in 1 Chronicles 9:22-30, there were 212 temple guards originally set up by King David 1000 years prior to Jesus’ time.  They were armed, and guarded each entrance to the Temple.  They also guarded the Temple treasuries. Apparently, there was a check-out system, and whenever priests needed gold or brass implements to carry out worship, the guards were in charge of that.  They also guarded the food storerooms of the priests, and the donations of worshippers.  At night they locked the doors, guarded the building all night, then unlocked them each morning.  They were all Levites, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, set aside for occupations strictly in service to God.
  • Matthew 27:64-66 – So, give an order to make the grave secure until the third day. Otherwise, his followers might come, steal him, and tell the people: ‘Jesus came back to life!’ Then this last lie will be even worse than the first lie.” 65Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go and make it as secure as you know how.” 66So, they went and protected the grave. They put a seal on the stone and they stationed a guard.
  • Revelation 20:14 – I looked, and there was a white cloud. There was one sitting on the cloud. He looked like the Son of Man.c He had a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 
  • Luke 2:10-14 – The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, because, listen, I am telling you some good news. It will make all the people very happy. 11This day, your Savior—who is the Messiah,d the Lord—was born in David’s town! 12This is how you will know him: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a box where livestock are fed.” 13Suddenly, a very large group of angels from heaven joined the first angel. They were all praising God: 14“Give glory to God in heaven, and, on earth, let there be peace among those who please God.”
  • Hebrews 1:6 –  Again, when God brought the Supreme One into the world, He says: “All God’s angels must worship him!” (Psalms 97:7)
  • Hebrews 2:9 – We see Jesus. He was made “a little lower than angels.” But when Jesus suffered and died, he was “crowned with glory and honor.” By God’s gracious love, he did this to taste death for every person.
  • Revelation 1:18 – I am the one who is alive. I was dead, but, look, I am alive forever and ever! I have the keys to death and Hades.d 
  • John 4:14 – …but if anyone drinks the water which I will give him, he will never be thirsty again. The water which I give him will become a spring inside him, welling up to eternal life.”
  • Revelation 1:5 – Gracious love and peace from Jesus Christ, too. He is the Faithful Witness, the first one to rise from death, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. 
  • Ephesians 1:19-20 – You will know God’s great, superior power which is available to us who believe. It is the exercising of His mighty strength, 20which He applied in Christ when He raised Christ from death and put him at His own right side in the heavenly world. 
  • I Corinthians 6:14 – God raised the Lord Jesus from death. With the same power, He will also raise us.
  • Ephesians 3:16-19 – I pray that God will use His Spirit to give you power from the riches of His glory to make your inner person strong. 17Then, through believing in Christ, he will live in your hearts. You will have your roots and foundation in love. 18-19Then, you and all of the holy people will be able to completely understand the meaning of Christ’s love—how wide it is, how long it is, how high it is, and how deep it is. Even though it goes beyond knowing, you will know it! Then you will be filled with the totality of God.
  • John 3:19-21 – This is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness more than they loved the Light, because the things which they were doing were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the Light. He does not come toward the Light. He does not want his evil deeds to be exposed. 21But the person who is living the truth comes toward the Light. He wants his actions to become clear, because he did them for God.
  • John 11:25-26 – Jesus answered her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life! The person who commits himself to me will live, even though he may die. 26Every person who lives and commits himself to me will never die! Do you believe this?”
  • John 8:32 – You will find out the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
  • John 17:17 – Your message is the truth. May the truth make them holy! 18I sent them into the world, just as You sent me into the world.
  • Revelation 9:1, 11 – The fifth angel sounded his trumpet. I saw a star which had fallen to the ground from the sky. The star was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit…11They had a king over them. He was an angel from the bottomless pit. In Hebrew, his name is Abaddon.a In Greek, he has the name of Apollyon.b
  • John 10:7-9 – Therefore, Jesus spoke again, “I am telling you the truth: I am the Gate for the sheep. 8All those who came before me were either robbers or bandits, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9I am the Gate. If anyone will go in through me, he will be saved. He may come in and go out as he pleases and find plenty to eat. 
  • Revelation 1:18 – I am the one who is alive. I was dead, but, look, I am alive forever and ever! I have the keys to death and Hades.d 
  • Romans 6:23 – The pay you get for sinning is death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
  • Romans 5:20-21 – The law came in to increase sin. But, where sin increased, God’s gracious love overflowed much more. 21Sin used death to dominate. In the same way, God’s gracious love dominates through righteousness through our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.
  • Romans 8:37-39 – Nevertheless, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through the one who loved us. 38-39I am sure that nothing will be able to separate us from God’s love which is found in Christ Jesus, our Lord. None of these things—death, life, angels, demons, the present time, the future, powers, heights, depths, or anything else in the world.
  • I Corinthians 15:55-58 – “Where is your victory, O Death? Where is your power to hurt, O death?” (Hosea 13:14) 56Sin is death’s power to hurt. Sin gets its strength from its relationship with the law of God. 57But, thank God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, God gives us the victory! 58So, my dear brothers, be firm and don’t be moved. Always be doing something for the Lord. You must realize that your hard work for the Lord will not be without meaning.
  • Romans 6:5-6 – Because, since we have been planted with Christ, dying as he died, we will also be raised to life with him. 6You know that our sinful selvesb were nailed to the cross with Christ, so that the body of sin would lose its power; no longer will we be slaves to sin
  • Matthew 26:2-4 – “You know that the day after tomorrow is the Passover Festival.a I will be handed over to be nailed to a cross.” 3Then the most important priests and the Jewish elders of the people gathered together at the high priest’s house. His name was Caiaphas. 4They planned to use a trick to arrest Jesus and kill him
  • John 20:1 – It was very early on Sunday morning. It was still dark. Mary (the one from Magdala) came to the tomb. She saw the stone moved away from the tomb.
  • Matthew 28:11-15 – While the women were going, look, some of the guards went into Jerusalem. They told the most important priests everything which had happened. 12The priests had a meeting with the Jewish elders. They decided to give the soldiers some money to lie. 13They said to the soldiers, “Say this: ‘While we were sleeping, the followers of Jesus came at night and stole his body.’ 14If the governor hears about this, then we will make him believe us. We will fix it; don’t worry!” 15So, the soldiers took the money and did as they were told. This rumor has spread among Jewish people until this very day.
OLD TESTAMENT OF THE BIBLE:
  • Leviticus 23:3-5, 27-32 – “ ‘There are six days for you to work, but the seventh day will be a sabbath of rest. It is a day for a holy summoning. You must not do any work. It is a sabbath to the Always-Present One in all your homes. “ ‘These are the Always-Present One’s appointed feasts. You will announce the holy summonings at the times set for them.’ ” 5“ ‘The Always-Present One’s Passover is on the 14th day of the 1st month. It begins at twilight. 
  • Sabbath technically means “day of rest” so that, in addition to the seventh day of each week, all sacred assemblies to be held on certain dates, regardless of which day of the week they fell on, were considered sabbaths.
  • I Chronicles 9:22-30 – In all, 212 menm were chosen to guard the gates. Their names were written in their family histories in their villages. David and Samuel the seern had chosen these men because they were dependable.o 23The gatekeepers and their descendants had the responsibility of guarding the gates of the temple of Yahweh in shifts. (The temple took the place of the Holy Tent.)p 24There were gatekeepers on all four sides of the temple: east, west, north, and south. 25The relatives of the gatekeepers who lived in the villages had to come and help them at certain times. Each time they came, they helped the gatekeepers for seven days. 26Because they were dependable, the four gatekeepers were appointed as the leaders of all the gatekeepers.q (They were Levites.) They were responsible for the rooms and treasuries in the temple of the one true God. 27They stayed up all night guarding the temple of the one true God. And, they opened it every morning. 28Some of the gatekeepers were responsible for the tools and dishes used in the temple services.r They counted these tools and dishes when people took them out. And, they counted them when people brought them back.s 29Other gatekeepers were appointed to take care of the utensils, even all the holy objects in the Sanctuary. They also took care of the flour, the wine, the oil, the incense, and the spices. 30But some of the sons of the priests took care of mixing the spices.t 
  • Exodus 12:3-14 – Speak to the whole community of Israel. Say this: ‘On the 10th day of this month, every person must get a lambc for himself and his family—one lamb per home. 4If one lamb is too much meat for that home, then he and his next-door neighbor should share a lamb, taking into account how many people there are. You should calculate how many people can be fed with the lamb’s meat. 5Your animal must be a one year-old male that has no defects. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6Keep it until the 14th day of the same month. Then the whole gathering of the community of Israel must kill each animal just before twilight.d 7They must take some of the bloode and put it above and on both sides of their doors, on the houses where they will eat the animal. 8It must be roasted and served with bread which contains no yeast.f They must eat the meat during that night.g And, they must eat it with bitter herbs.h 9It must be all roasted—head, legs, and internal parts—not eaten raw or boiled in water. 10You must not allow any of it to remain until morning. If there is anything left in the morning, then you must burn it. 11Also, this is the way you must eat it: Have your robe tucked in your belt,i have your shoes on your feet, and have your staffs in your hands. You must eat the meal in a hurry. It is My Passover. 12I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night. I will strike down all the firstborn ones in the land of Egypt—human and animal. I will carry out judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh! 13The blood on the houses where you are will be a sign for you. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. There will be no disaster among you to destroy you when I strike down the land of Egypt. 14This day will be one for you to remember. You must celebrate it as a festival to Me. You must celebrate it throughout your generations. This is a permanent command. ’ ”
  • Psalm 36:9 – You are the Giver of all life.e Your lightf lets us enjoy life.
  • Exodus 33:18 – Then Moses said, “I beg You, show me Your glory!”
  • Exodus 34:6-7 – Then Yahweh passed by in front of Moses and proclaimed: “Yahweh! Yahweh! I am a merciful, loving God who does not get angry easily. I abound in love and truth. 7I am loyal to thousands. Although I will forgive evil, rebellion, and sin, I will certainly not let the guilty ones go unpunished. I will cause the children and grandchildren to suffer for the sins of their ancestors to the third and fourth generation.”b
  • Isaiah 5:19-20 – They say: “Let us see God hurry.cc Let us see Him quickendd His work. We want to see it!ee Let’s see the plan of the Holy One of Israel happen soon.Then we would know what it really is.” 20How horrible it will be for people who call evil things “good,” and good things “evil.”ff They think that darkness is light, and light is darkness. They think that sour is sweet, and sweet is sour.

 

SPECIAL CHARACTERS APPEARING IN OTHER EPISODES

Season 8, Star Song, “Two Fathers, One Son”

Season 8, Star Song, “Walking Tall”

Season 8, Star Song, “Lost in Wonder”

Season 4, Flood Gates, “Portals of Paradise”

OTHER JESUS QUOTES IN THIS EPISODE