Easter is the center of the Christian year: Jesus, crucified on Good Friday, was raised on the third day. The angel’s words at the empty tomb were its first announcement: “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said” (Matthew 28:6). Here are verses for Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday.
A verse for you
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
The first Easter announcement: do not be afraid; He is not here, for He is risen, as He said.
KJVAnd the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
The first Easter announcement: do not be afraid; He is not here, for He is risen, as He said.
And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
The women came looking for a body and heard: why seek the living among the dead?
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
One of the oldest written summaries of the gospel: Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose on the third day.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
Said to a grieving sister on the way to her brother’s grave: in Jesus, death is not the end of the story.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Because Jesus rose from the dead, God gives a living hope, a new birth into a hope that is alive.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
God did not wait for us to be lovable: Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
The risen Christ: I was dead, and see, I am alive for ever, and I hold the keys of death.
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.
Isaiah’s suffering servant, fulfilled in Jesus: His wounds bring peace with God and healing at the root, first from sin (1 Peter 2:24), and in the end from every wound.
And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
Palm Sunday: the crowds welcome Jesus into Jerusalem with hosannas, blessing the One who comes in the Lord’s name.
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Holy Thursday: at the Last Supper Jesus gives the bread and the cup, His body and blood given for you.
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Jesus’ new command: love one another as He loved you.
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
From the cross, Jesus prays for the people crucifying Him.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Good Friday: Jesus’ last word in John’s Gospel, It is finished. What He came to do is complete.
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Jesus dies praying a psalm, entrusting His spirit into the Father’s hands.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Death has lost its sting, because God gives us the victory through Jesus Christ.
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Jesus to Thomas, who needed to see: blessed are those who believe without seeing.
Holy Week follows Jesus’ last days in Jerusalem. On Palm Sunday the crowds welcomed Him with “Hosanna to the Son of David.” On Holy Thursday, also called Maundy Thursday, He shared the Last Supper, washed His disciples’ feet and gave them a new commandment, to love one another as He had loved them. On Good Friday He was crucified; His words from the cross include “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” and “It is finished.” Holy Saturday is a day of silence at the tomb.
Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, is the reason the week matters. Paul passes on what he had received as of first importance: that “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” The women came to the tomb to anoint a body and were asked, “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” All four Gospels tell it, and Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians alike confess it.
The resurrection is not only a past event but a living hope. Peter writes that God “hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Paul can taunt death itself: “O death, where is thy sting?” For anyone grieving, Easter is the ground of the Christian hope that death does not have the last word.
Easter moves every year: in the West it falls on the first Sunday after the church’s full moon on or after 21 March. In 2027, Catholic and Protestant churches celebrate Easter on 28 March, with Palm Sunday on 21 March and Good Friday on 26 March. Orthodox churches, which reckon the date by the older Julian calendar, celebrate Pascha on 2 May 2027, with Good Friday on 30 April.
Lord Jesus, You were wounded for my transgressions, and You prayed for those who crucified You. On the cross You said, It is finished, and on the third day You rose again. Thank You that I do not have to seek the living among the dead. Give me a living hope through Your resurrection, and teach me to love others as You have loved me. You are alive for evermore; I trust You with my life and with those I love. Amen.
Matthew 28:6, “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said,” is the classic Easter verse. John 11:25, “I am the resurrection, and the life,” and 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 are also widely read on Easter Sunday.
For Catholic and Protestant churches, Easter Sunday is 28 March 2027; Holy Week runs from Palm Sunday, 21 March, through Good Friday, 26 March. Orthodox Easter (Pascha) is 2 May 2027. The two dates differ because the Orthodox churches calculate Easter by the Julian calendar.
Palm Sunday: Jesus entered Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11). Holy Thursday: the Last Supper and the washing of feet (Luke 22, John 13), then His arrest in Gethsemane. Good Friday: His trial, crucifixion and burial (John 18-19). Holy Saturday: rest in the tomb. Easter Sunday: the empty tomb and the risen Jesus (Matthew 28, Luke 24, John 20).
They are Jesus’ last words in John’s Gospel (John 19:30). The Greek word means completed or accomplished; John uses the same word a verse earlier, when Jesus knew “that all things were now accomplished” (John 19:28). It is not a cry of defeat: what He came to do, to give His life for the world, was accomplished.
Both East and West follow the same basic rule, the first Sunday after the spring full moon, but the Orthodox churches calculate it with the Julian calendar, which runs thirteen days behind the Gregorian. Some years the dates coincide, as they did in 2025 and will again in 2028; other years, like 2027, they are weeks apart.