April 12, 2025, 10:30am MDT
In the 2025 Easter Message, the first presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ for Latter-day Saints wrote that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was “a gift to all the children of the Heavenly Father who lived on this earth.”
Church President Russell M. Nelson invited Latter-day Saints to do more than simply celebrate this sacred event. They can remember the greater love that made it possible. The church has also placed Easter messages online at Easter.churchofjesuschrist.org.
At this time of the year, Richard Nezel Holzaple, professor emeritus at Brigham Young University, often thinks about New Testament scholar NT Wright.
“This is our biggest festival. We take Christmas, and in the biblical words we lose two chapters in front of Matthew and Luke. Take Easter away, there is no New Testament. There is no Christianity.
Holzapfel attends the Hebrew Federal University as a graduate student, taught at the BYU Center for Near East Studies of Jerusalem and wrote many books on the history and life of Jesus Christ. He is also a former mission president and is 70 people in the area. During his conversation with Church News, he shared some insights about Holy Week and the Holy Week of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Eyewitnesses (both ancient and modern).
The beginning of Holy Week
Holy Week begins with Jesus Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem, which is called Palm Sunday. Holzapfel said New Testament scholars Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg suggested that Pilate likely came to Jerusalem in Palm on Sunday.
Pilate would have had to travel to Jerusalem, as the capital of the Jewish province was on the coast of Caesaria Marichima.
Coming from the coast, Pilate entered Jerusalem from the west, threatening and suggesting the power of the Imperial and theology of the Imperials with a procession filled with soldiers, spears, horses, tanks and trumpets.
Meanwhile, Jesus Christ came from the east of Mount Olive to enter the sacred city.
“However, unlike Pilate, Jesus was on a low donkey, and instead of a weapon, his followers carried branches containing cuts from nearby palm trees,” Holzapfel said. “Instead of the deafening sound of the horse’s hooves, soldiers stomped at once, military drums pounding, trumpets roaring, Jesus’ disciples walked happily, dancing the songs of Jerusalem towards “Hosanna.” ”
This was not an entry for victory in the Roman Empire. It was the entry of God’s Messianic Son and the fulfillment of prophecy.
“It really gave me the lens of thinking that Jesus came to peace and declared peace rather than as a warrior king,” Holzapfel said.
Passion is a term often used to describe the suffering, death, and burial of Jesus Christ. The story of passion is the longest detailed explanation in the New Testament of any event, Holzapfel said. Readers can follow Jesus Christ every day. It’s helpful to see some of the sites where these events may have occurred.
Friday
Jerusalem was destroyed in 66 and 70 AD after the Jewish rebellion. Later, after the Baakhovba rebellion in 133 AD, the Romans destroyed the city and rebuilt a new Roman colony there. Therefore, the artefacts and places originally discovered were not the first century when Jesus Christ was supposed to be there.
But as people continue to dig, more have been discovered, and scholars now believe they know exactly where Jesus was on Good Friday, when the hearing took place before Pilate.
“Today you can go to the west side of Modern Jerusalem, just south of the Jaffa Gate. There are some original first century staircases,” Holzapfel said. “Even near the wall, there is still part of the original floor. And I think this is where Jesus met Pilate, where the crowd stood and where he was condemned.”
From there, Holzapfer walked north by the gate of Joppa before heading to Golgotha, where Jesus Christ had been crucified at 3pm on Friday. Jesus Christ was buried in the tomb by the evening when Shabbat began.
Saturday and Sunday
Saturdays are called “Silent Saturday.” The four Gospels of the New Testament don’t say much about this day, but the Restoration Bible reveals what the Savior was doing on the other side of the veil.
On Sunday, the grave was empty.
“One of the thoughts I keep thinking when I visit is the fact that the tomb was empty. “With him, we can feel bound by him, and he can feel that he cares for us. And while the tomb is empty, our lives don’t have to be empty. It’s not that we don’t have a moment of sadness when our loved one dies, but in the end, life is full and Easter is a truly enjoyable opportunity.”
In a social media post on March 16th, President Nelson invited individuals to remember that the tone sin of Jesus Christ and his death was incomplete without the “crown crown of his glorious resurrection.”
According to President Nelson’s post, the work of Jesus Christ’s a-oxygen has been fully realized and his victory over sin and death has truly become perfect, according to President Nelson’s post.
“When I speak to each of us about the greater love of Jesus Christ, I testify that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the ultimate expression of that love,” writes President Nelson.
Witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The New Testament lists many witnesses and evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. President Darryn H. Oaks, the first counselor of the first presidency, listed the following in a social media post on March 16:
The Savior’s appearance in the empty tomb was the first to witness the Resurrected Lord (see John 20:11-18). Another disciples walking along the path to Emmaus with Cleopus and the Resurrected Christ (later he eats with him (see Luke 24:13-35). Honeycomb (see Luke 24:42-43). The apostle Thomas feels wounds on the hands, feet and sides of the Savior (see John 20:27). Corinthians 15:20 and 1 Corinthians 15:22.
Add to the 2,500 people of the Book of Mormon who saw the risen Jesus Christ and felt the prints with his hands and feet.
Christianity is based on the story of witnesses, Holzapfel said.
“Thank you and praise God. We have a witness at this incredibly important, defining moment. “The resurrection of Christ will not only be opened with the door for eternity, but will not be closed again.”
Get witnesses and live apostles
Holzapfel said that he can get a living spiritual witness today, as he wants to know Jesus Christ through the Bible.
To explain, Holzapfel shared the story of a trip to Jerusalem with a friend as a university student. At the end of the trip, they went to the tomb in the garden. They are another place where they believe that Jesus Christ was buried and resurrected after being crucified. This is located in a peaceful place near the gates of Damascus outside the walls of Jerusalem, away from the road with beautiful lush gardens.
While he was there, a lot of people came and lined up in front of the entrance for photos, he heard one of them say, “Isn’t it great to be here to feel the presence of Jesus?”
But Holzapfel looked up at the door and recalled the words, “He is not here; he is rising” (see Luke 24:6).
“And it hit me. I don’t need to come to Jerusalem to feel him. I don’t need to be here,” Holzapfel said. “If I spend time praying, meditating and reading the words of a story, I can have the same experience as feeling Jesus’ presence: an event in which the spirit testifies, not a place.”
Holzapfel recommended that it be possible to read accounts from the four Gospels daily, beginning on the first Sunday of Holy Week. So, when Easter Sunday arrives, the spirit can touch the heart, just as when the disciples say, “The heart was not burning within us.”
President Henry B. Eyring, the second counselor for the first presidency, said in a social media post on March 9th:
Holzapfel has learned Greek and Hebrew, visited places of visit to sacred sites, photographed ranks, and wrote books and articles. All of his colleagues attacked him with knowing about Jesus Christ through the writings of the dead apostle. But the living apostles are walking the earth today.
“We have Paul, we have Peter, we have Matthew today,” Holzapfel said. “We are grateful for God’s constant love by continuing to send apostles and prophets on our own day to testify to Christ. This first presidency is incredible.
