>> today on "christian world news" celebrating the death and resurrection of jesus christ. jewish prophets predicted the events of holy week hundreds of years before they took place. today more than a billion call themselves followers of christ. >> plus easter at the white house. why president obama says faith is crucial in these turbulent times. >> and the powerful life of christ on rare display. how a 19th century artist painings dramatically portrays the life and teachings of the savior.

and welcome to our special easter edition of "christian world news" hello everyone i am george thomas. >> and i am wendy griffith. the white house became a place of worship this week. president obama invited christian leaders from across the u.s. to celebrate the resurrection of jesus christ. white house correspondent jennifer wishon reports. >> reporter: in the midst of heavy national debates and busy schedules, president obama says it is important to keep things in perspective. >> president obama: during this season, we are reminded there is something about the resurrection of our savior jesus christ that puts everything else in perspective. >> easter prayer -- christian leaders from across the country gather to pray.

>> christ has risen let us all say amen. squeeze your neighbor's hand and say amen again. new nuch and celebrate the resurrection of christ. >> words of isaiah, he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our inequities, chastisement of our peace was upon him. with his stripes we are healed. this magnificent grace, this expansive grace, this amazing grace calls me to reflect. it calls me to pray. it calls me to ask god for forgiveness, for the times that i have not shown grace to others, those times i have fallen short. >> this is a wonderful way to start holy week, having our leader resite the scripture of god. >> susan johnson cook says it

has been a tough year, americans can find hope in jesus. >> resurrection means hope for us as believers, never give up, no matter what you are going through on the other side the stones can be rolled away. >> many of the christian leaders at the prayer breakfast work with president obama through office of faith-based initiatives and neighborhood partnerships. jennifer wishon cbn news, the white house. >> people from all walks of life in countries around the globe are celebrating easter. they are celebrating events foretold hundreds of years before they took place. >> in psalm 22, king david described the violent death jesus would suffer. the death and resurrection of the messiah. gordan robertson.

>> reporter: death by crucifixion. for murders and thieves, it was the ultimate punishment. >> this was worse than someone going to the electric chair in the ancient world. >> for a jewish man who claimed to be the messiah, it was the ultimate sacrifice. >> there is a traditional jewish teaching that says the death of the righteous atoned. to this day when a famous rabbi dies, people say may his death be an atonement for our sins. there is only one righteous enough, only one. >> the death and resurrection of jesus christ. a story told by jewish prophets hundreds of years before it happened. >> all of these passages of

scripture we so easily understand as messianic had to be read very new and fresh by jesus and by his disciples. that was not how the rest of the world was reading it at the time. >> on the day of his death, jesus stood alone before his accusers, his disciples fled just as zechariah written 500 years earlier. strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. throughout his trial, jesus remained silent. isaiah compared him to a lamb led to the slaughter, he was oppressed yet he open not his mouth. jesus was sentenced to death and handed over to roman soldiers. king david described the scene a thousand years, dogs have surrounded me abapd of evil men

has encircled me. isaiah listed the specific ways jesus would be tortured. i offered my back to those who beat me. my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. i did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. crucifixion didn't exist when david wrote the psalms. yet his details are amazingly accurate. first the soldiers nailed jesus to a cross. piercing his hands and feet. david paints a vivid picture of jesus' agony. all my bones are out of joint, my heart melted within me. my strength is dried up and my tongue clings to my jaws. in another psalm david predicts the soldiers response. they gave me gal for my food. for my thirt, they gave me vinegar. psalm 22 says the messiah would

be ridiculed. david's exact words shouted at jesus by roman soldiers, jewish priests and even the thief crucified with him. let him rescue him. double prophesy from the psalms, they divided jesus garments into 4 parts, then cast lots for his tunic, a seemless garment they couldn't divide. historians say they played like this, a roman gambling game called king for a day. 2,000 year later, the romans crucified 2 thieves with jesus fulfilling isaiah's prophesy he would be numbered with the transgresers. through it all jesus prayed for his executioners. father, believe them.

here again he fulfilled the words of david, they have fought against me without a cause, i give myself to prayer. at noon that day, the sun grew dark just as amus predicted 700 years earlier. historians as far as rome and greece wrote about it. jesus cried out, echoing the words of king david, my god, my god, why have you forsaken me? soon after that he spoke his last words, another phrase from the psalms, into your hand i commit my spirit. roman soldiers broke their victim's legs to make them die more quickly. when they got to jesus, he was already dead. fulfilling the words of the psalmist, he guards all his

bones, not one of them is broken. at the end of the day. a wealthy man went to pontius pilate and requested the body of jesus. joseph was a secret follower of jesus. and a member of the same council that had convicted him. joseph buried jesus in his own tomb fulfilling isaiah's prophecy. they made his grave with the riched death because he had no done no violence. >> a rich man put jesus in his tomb and isaiah 52, how do you prolong your days? one word resurrection. >> three days later, jesus rose from the dead. jesus as the propheted has written. in the psalms, david said you will not abandon me to the

grave or let your holy one see decay. hosea predicted he will revive us, he will raise us up that he will remain in sight. >> psalm 22 talks about a deliverance that is such that the ends of the earth will praise god. tell me someone delivered from death in an extrodinary way the ends of the earth praise god. when we read the skrit scriptures rightly, we see these things miraculously pointing to the messiah. >> prophesies are woven throughout the old testament. only one man in history fulfilled them all, today more than 2 billion people around the world call themselves followers of jesus. >> this jewish jesus movement has been supernatural. he is the most influential jew ever lived. when he came and died and rose,

people say that is him. more people have come to worship the god of israel through this jew named jesus than anyone else who ever lived. >> incredible. >> that is incredible. much more to learn about the life and death and resurrection, you can find it at cbn's website, more of gordan's stories and teachings from bible scholars and preachers. >> you can take a video tour where jesus walked. find it on the link at cwnews.org. up next a rare 19th century art exhibit about jesus now on display, how o the artist's life was changed by a supernatural vision of christ.

>> a rarely seen art exhibit brings a fresh understanding of the life of christ just in time

for easter. heather sells shows us how a revival in the artist's own life leads to a unique take on the artists pictures. >> reporter: these 19th century water colors extremely light sensitive and easily fade. the collection is considered a treasure. not only for art lovers, for anyone wanting a better understanding of the life of jesus. that is exactly what motivated painter james t. sow. >> he is trying to create as truth an image of the original story as he could. >> he was known as a high society painter in paris and london. then he experienced a vision of christ. for him that changed everything. >> he turns his back on the material world and embraces a new spiritual goal. >> in the late 1800s, his

depictions were the first attempt to portray the savior. he made 350 water colors. >> in the 1880s, he sketches obsessively, the people there, landscape, setting. he becomes an expert on daily life in the holy land. >> the artist brings a fresh take on the familiar images like this painting of the crucifixion. >> you are at one with christ looking down from the cross looking at his family, followers, his tormenters, all assembled in front of him. >> many viewers appreciate his attention to detail. tsew produced the miniature gems for public viewing and later publication of the story book it became known as the t. sew bible. >> it was amazing. >> jeff harrison says response

to the original exhibition in paris was overwhelming. some went on their knees as in a pilgramage. today people that are not religious say the works move them. many criticized the work saying it was too realistic and detailed. his response, the spirit is in the detail and in the truth. heather sells, cbn news. >> phenomenal. you can view a fum number of his works at cwnews.org. a sculpture of jesus called lam of god has been displayed all over the country at easter time. the story of the artist behind his, tim branson explains. >> brenda angel ever had an art class. yet she created the stunning 16-foot statute of the

crucifixion of jesus. the idea came to her in a dream when she was in college. >> i was there watching him being crucified and i heard i want you to sculpt what i just showed you. i woke up. i had an urgency. i need clay in my hands now. >> she asked a professor for helped. >> he say you can't take it home. i will not help you build an armature. he laughed at me. he said you will not be able to do this. >> despite her lack of training, she pressed on, began with the rib cage. two weeks later the art professor looked at her progress. >> he took the plastic bag off and his smile left. he didn't have a joke. he said you are a child prodigy but you are an adult child prodigy. i have been skulting over 20 yeers and can't do this human

form. >> for over decades brenda continued. his face swollen, body beaten. >> i wanted it to impact people the way the dream impacted me. the look in his eyes, amount of love in his eyes, i can't explain in words the way he looked in the dream. >> because of its vast size, each piece of jesus' body had to be skulted separately. when the time came for her to assemble her creation she was amazed. >> all of the muscles, everything lined up. it was a miracle. stuck it on there, it was all perfect. it was totally god ordained. he directed my hands. >> brenda calls the structure lam of god from texas to new york city. the sculpture can be seen at cross roads community church in oklahoma. >> easter to me is important.

it is him being god all over the place coming out of the grave and being alive and healing us. it is just knowing no matter what goes on around you that you were always loved by god. the peace of god surpasses all understanding. his love is even so much more. i don't have words to express it. >> that is beautiful t. creative power of god flowing through one of his followers. wait until you see what is next, powerful resurrection story told in a way you have never seen before.

>> at a young age joe castillo discovered his gift for art when he became a christian, he used it to share christ. >> joe uses a different tool to tell the stories, he uses sand.

take a look at the easter story like it has never been shown before. >> story, of course starts out in the garden of gethsemane out in jerusalem. christ took his disciples. to pray and he knew what he was facing, although the disciples did not. he was taken before the -- the court. he was mocked. he was beaten. and he was subjected to scourging and after all of those torments, and those

wounds, he was so badly beaten that he needed help. in carrying the cross. he was wear ago crown of thorns that had been placed on his head mocking him as king.

hanging on the cross there, when he spokes the words, forgive them, for they know not what they do. grave where he lay, they had rolled a large stone over the opening. and some time in the night the grave had been opened. the man that everyone thought was dead had risen from the dead. and the tomb was empty, and

christ wanted to be there, not to be any doubt at all. and so he actually appeared. to his disciples. and showed them the wounds in his hands. and in his side. and so they would believe. that he had come back from the dead. >> we'll be right back.

>> finally this week you may remember this story we ran on "christian world news" last easter. >> 1300 members of faith church in budapest, hungry celebrated

with this public dance. youtube video is going global. believers on 5 continents organizing their own resurrection dances training videos provided by the hungarian church. churches in 65 cities plan to celebrate jesus' resurrection with this joyful dance. i love the bright colors. you can dance. >> sure can. that is all for this week. we want to share you with a very happy easter. >> we end with this. god bless you. [music playing].