It is Easter Weekend and millions around the world will celebrate the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus. A man who changed the world by living so radically different, that those who followed Him closely were blown away by what He said and did. He challenged not only the way they looked at the Mosaic Law, but how loosely they obeyed it. He came to bring us as sinners to repentance (Matthew 9:13). As we come together as one in heart, members of different denominations but all with One Lord, the magnitude of so many putting their Hope in One Man should shake the world.
I pray that we are transformed in our hearts this Easter and will change this world by our Love for one another. Though we are spread out across the globe, we are all familiar with the need for Salvation that only comes from Him. We may not all struggle under persecution or be counted worthy to die for our faith, but we have a Savior who promised us trouble and to be with us in the midst of it. Our actions when faced with trials, persecution and tragedies are one way to show the world that our Faith is in Him, the One who holds us together when we should be falling apart.
God’s Love for us and His Great Rescue Mission was not without peril and not without the need for the death of the Savior. After thousands of years of sacrificing animals for the forgiveness of their sins, now this One Man would do what no one before could (Hebrews 7:26-28). Romans 5 tells us that we are all made sinners as we are born into this world. That one mans’ sin (Adam) would lead to death for the many, but by another man’s death (Jesus) many more would be saved. This is the replacement we needed to reconciled to God. He did not have to do it, but He did. This should be proof enough of His Love for us. That He would give His One and Only Son to die in our place.
As we listen to, read or watch the events of the Passover Week unfold, may we allow ourselves to let the facts sink in. To know the Love with which He endured all of the suffering He would endure at the hands of the Roman soldiers. To hear the crowds that sang Hosanna on Sunday, shout for Him to be crucified on Friday. The King no one wanted, would be beaten and spit on, whipped and crowned with thorns, given a purple robe which would stick to His back with its’ deep wounds and gashes. Made to carry a cross of wood, our cross of wood, for miles. Led up a hill to be laid down and nailed to their means of execution. Stripped naked and then Lifted Up in a public display of humiliation and shame. Hung up like some sort of carcass and unrecognizable as a human form. Laying down His Life for all of us and the weight of guilt that we should have for all of our sins that this innocent man died for. Scratching His back on the post as He pushed up to breathe and sinking back down into a more crouched position of some sort of rest. Suffocating and Drowning in His Own Blood, He would push up again to cry out from the cross. "Father forgive them, forgive them all". One man dies so that all might live.
A borrowed tomb, to lay Him in. Women hurriedly trying to prepare the body before dark. The world was dark. Satan and Sin had won, or so they thought. The darkness remained even as the sun shined the next day. The disciples all scared and hiding in the Upper Room, waiting, examining their actions of the previous days. They had not understood, they had all ran. They had, in their own way, betrayed their friend. He needed them in the garden and yet they had slept. The guards came and they ran off. The closest ones watched that night’s events from afar. Now as they were despondent, torn in their hearts by the loss of their friend and their cowardly acts, now what were they going to do? There was silence, but in their hearts there was shouting and blame. Their thoughts about Judas were colliding with the reflections of their own actions. We are all to blame they thought. We are all to blame. A good man has died.
As the women made their way to the tomb on the first day of the week, something was different. A stone rolled away. A tomb was empty. His face cloth lay folded neatly and his burial shroud laying their like an unmade bed. Where was He? Who had taken Him? Why would He not be here? But there He was and He was talking to her! How could it be? He was Alive? He was Alive! The disciples were quickly told, but it was hard to believe. Until He walked through the locked door. One felt his nail scars and the pierced side. We must all do the same. Whether through the memory of His Suffering on the Cross or while rubbing the scars of our own sin and shame. He took our place. This cannot be forgotten. All for Love He did this.
As we celebrate the “Good” of Good Friday and the “Happy” of Happy Easter, let us not forget that He paid a price that only He could pay for a debt that He never incurred. Exchanged His life for so many of ours. Our sins can be forgiven. We can be reclaimed and brought into His Kingdom. A Loving King. A Suffering Savior. Let us remember this weekend and the Proof of His Love.
I pray that we are transformed in our hearts this Easter and will change this world by our Love for one another. Though we are spread out across the globe, we are all familiar with the need for Salvation that only comes from Him. We may not all struggle under persecution or be counted worthy to die for our faith, but we have a Savior who promised us trouble and to be with us in the midst of it. Our actions when faced with trials, persecution and tragedies are one way to show the world that our Faith is in Him, the One who holds us together when we should be falling apart.
God’s Love for us and His Great Rescue Mission was not without peril and not without the need for the death of the Savior. After thousands of years of sacrificing animals for the forgiveness of their sins, now this One Man would do what no one before could (Hebrews 7:26-28). Romans 5 tells us that we are all made sinners as we are born into this world. That one mans’ sin (Adam) would lead to death for the many, but by another man’s death (Jesus) many more would be saved. This is the replacement we needed to reconciled to God. He did not have to do it, but He did. This should be proof enough of His Love for us. That He would give His One and Only Son to die in our place.
As we listen to, read or watch the events of the Passover Week unfold, may we allow ourselves to let the facts sink in. To know the Love with which He endured all of the suffering He would endure at the hands of the Roman soldiers. To hear the crowds that sang Hosanna on Sunday, shout for Him to be crucified on Friday. The King no one wanted, would be beaten and spit on, whipped and crowned with thorns, given a purple robe which would stick to His back with its’ deep wounds and gashes. Made to carry a cross of wood, our cross of wood, for miles. Led up a hill to be laid down and nailed to their means of execution. Stripped naked and then Lifted Up in a public display of humiliation and shame. Hung up like some sort of carcass and unrecognizable as a human form. Laying down His Life for all of us and the weight of guilt that we should have for all of our sins that this innocent man died for. Scratching His back on the post as He pushed up to breathe and sinking back down into a more crouched position of some sort of rest. Suffocating and Drowning in His Own Blood, He would push up again to cry out from the cross. "Father forgive them, forgive them all". One man dies so that all might live.
A borrowed tomb, to lay Him in. Women hurriedly trying to prepare the body before dark. The world was dark. Satan and Sin had won, or so they thought. The darkness remained even as the sun shined the next day. The disciples all scared and hiding in the Upper Room, waiting, examining their actions of the previous days. They had not understood, they had all ran. They had, in their own way, betrayed their friend. He needed them in the garden and yet they had slept. The guards came and they ran off. The closest ones watched that night’s events from afar. Now as they were despondent, torn in their hearts by the loss of their friend and their cowardly acts, now what were they going to do? There was silence, but in their hearts there was shouting and blame. Their thoughts about Judas were colliding with the reflections of their own actions. We are all to blame they thought. We are all to blame. A good man has died.
As the women made their way to the tomb on the first day of the week, something was different. A stone rolled away. A tomb was empty. His face cloth lay folded neatly and his burial shroud laying their like an unmade bed. Where was He? Who had taken Him? Why would He not be here? But there He was and He was talking to her! How could it be? He was Alive? He was Alive! The disciples were quickly told, but it was hard to believe. Until He walked through the locked door. One felt his nail scars and the pierced side. We must all do the same. Whether through the memory of His Suffering on the Cross or while rubbing the scars of our own sin and shame. He took our place. This cannot be forgotten. All for Love He did this.
As we celebrate the “Good” of Good Friday and the “Happy” of Happy Easter, let us not forget that He paid a price that only He could pay for a debt that He never incurred. Exchanged His life for so many of ours. Our sins can be forgiven. We can be reclaimed and brought into His Kingdom. A Loving King. A Suffering Savior. Let us remember this weekend and the Proof of His Love.
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