Mike Huckabee celebrates 1st Easter as ambassador at sunrise service, releases video ‘recognizing death, burial, and resurrection of Christ’
Worships at Empty Tomb in Jerusalem with his wife and hundreds of Evangelicals
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – Never before in the history of the modern Jewish state has an American ambassador ever attended a worship service on Easter Sunday at the empty tomb in Jerusalem, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.
But that’s exactly what Mike Huckabee – the first openly devout Evangelical Christian ever appointed to the post – did this morning.
What a blessing, then, it was to run into my longtime friend and to greet him and his wife, Janet, as they arrived with their security detail at the Garden Tomb in East Jerusalem just before 6 a.m.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at all to see them there, given their deep love for Jesus, but honestly I was.
And very encouraged.
After decades of wonderful American Jews serving as ambassador to Israel, it’s still sinking in that an true Evangelical follower of Jesus – and one that I know and admire so much – is now serving in this role.
The Huckabees were immediately ushered to front row seats as hundreds of Evangelical Christians from all over Israel and all over the world gathered for the service, webcast live worldwide and simulcast by CBN News.
Led by the worship team from the King of Kings congregation in Jerusalem, it was a fantastic and uplifting morning of singing contemporary Christian worship songs and classic hymns together.
After various Scripture readings from the Gospel accounts, the highlight of the service was an excellent sermon by the president of the “Walk Thru The Bible” ministry, explaining the historic truth and profound eternal significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.
The central New Testament passage he explored was from I Corinthians 15:1-6.
“Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter], and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.”
Moments after the service ended, Ambassador Huckabee posted on his personal 𝕏 account – @GovMikeHuckabee – a photo of he and Janet standing in from of the empty tomb, where more than two billion Christians around the world believe that Jesus of Nazareth was buried and raised from the dead 2,000 years ago, in accordance with Bible prophecy.
Then, on his official 𝕏 account – @USAmbIsrael – Huckabee released a video statement pre-recorded in the Old City of Jerusalem.
“Greetings everyone on this beautiful Easter Sunday,” the ambassador began. “I'm Mike Huckabee and I just arrived in Jerusalem this week as the U.S. Ambassador to the State of Israel.”
“I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it feels to have been named by President Trump to come to this holy city and to begin representing the United States of America to the people of Israel. What an amazing place.”
“Over the past 52 years, I've been here probably a hundred times. But never did I dream of coming in the capacity as ambassador.”
“An ambassador means that you are the representative – you don't have your message, you have someone else's.”
“What a perfect reminder that as we celebrate Easter Sunday, and as my wife and I celebrate our first Easter – and our first weekend here in Jerusalem on Easter – we have the opportunity to be representatives not only of our government, but also representatives of Jesus Christ, whose day we celebrate today, recognizing the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ.”
“It was here in this city where He spent His last week. Here in this city where He was crucified. And here in this city where He rose again to give all of us a real sense of hope.”
I hope you and your family have a blessed Easter Sunday and may we all pray for the peace of Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/GJC8hXqGe0
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@USAmbIsrael) April 20, 2025
“It's that hope that I genuinely believe is needed in this world – and across all of our lives – to recognize that God's presence here in this city is a remarkable reminder that God is not finished with us yet.”
“I hope you and your family have a blessed Easter Sunday. And if you come to Jerusalem, I hope you'll come see us. We ask you to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
On Friday morning, after arriving in Israel, Huckabee went straight to the Western Wall to pray and meet with Orthodox Jewish rabbis.
On Friday evening, the Huckabees had a private Shabbat dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife, Sara.
It was a tremendous honor to spend my first Friday night dinner as Ambassador with my good friend @IsraeliPM Netanyahu in Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/G9vnFXdLyb
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@USAmbIsrael) April 18, 2025
Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.
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