Easter Saturday
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…"
While we readily recognize this quote from Dickens masterful work, The Tale of Two Cities, in it we can compare the confusion, not between London and Paris, but between hope alive and hope destroyed.
"Where's God? His Son, or so we'd been led to believe, has just died a terrible, cruel death on a cross and has been dispatched, rather unceremoniously, in a borrowed, stone-cold tomb. And oh, those three hours; darkness like I'd never experienced before. It seemed as if God had turned His back on Him who claimed to be His one and only Son."
Indeed! The age of wisdom has turned to the age of foolishness. The very idea...the epoch of belief in Jesus, of Nazareth; the epoch of incredulity - that Cross. There seemed to be such light in Him...but the darkness; it was so dark. Our spring of hope, now dead, has truly become our winter of despair.
Wait? He said to wait! But for what? "...we had everything before us, we had nothing before us."
Saturday's stillness seems eerily alone.
Showing posts with label Crucifixion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crucifixion. Show all posts
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Friday, April 3, 2015
Friday - The Right Time
Easter Friday
Crushed! Smashed! Over and done! "What were we thinking?!?" Those must have been some of the thoughts racing through the disciples minds on that "Good Friday." I'm sure it seemed anything but good to those who loved Jesus as they literally ran for their lives. What must it have been like to witness the last three years of their investment, now being drug away in chains?
Why Jesus? Why now? Because He was about to do something for us that neither they nor we have the capacity to do for ourselves.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8 (ESV)
So when is the right time for us to follow Christ? The moment we realize the price of our sin, we surrender ourselves - everything we have, everything we are, to the Lordship of Christ. It is at that point for us, that it indeed becomes, Good Friday!
Crushed! Smashed! Over and done! "What were we thinking?!?" Those must have been some of the thoughts racing through the disciples minds on that "Good Friday." I'm sure it seemed anything but good to those who loved Jesus as they literally ran for their lives. What must it have been like to witness the last three years of their investment, now being drug away in chains?
Why Jesus? Why now? Because He was about to do something for us that neither they nor we have the capacity to do for ourselves.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8 (ESV)
So when is the right time for us to follow Christ? The moment we realize the price of our sin, we surrender ourselves - everything we have, everything we are, to the Lordship of Christ. It is at that point for us, that it indeed becomes, Good Friday!
New Evidence of The Old Story
Easter Thursday
Maundy Thursday. The name comes from the Latin word, mandatum, which means "a new commandment," which we find in John 13:34-35 when Jesus said,
"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
John 13:34-35 (NLT)
God loves you. It can sound so...hollow, so empty. What does that mean? How do we know? Jesus told us that they, the world, will recognize this great love. But how? Proof positive: love for one another. The change of Christ is the change of life. No longer am "I" #1; God is...and you are. The New Commandment was the fulfillment of the old story. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son..." When we live out loud, Maundy Thursday's marching orders from the Lord Jesus, they will see through us that, "...whosoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life."
Exhibit A: You and me! As the old saying goes: The proof's in the puddin'! Amen & Amen!
Maundy Thursday. The name comes from the Latin word, mandatum, which means "a new commandment," which we find in John 13:34-35 when Jesus said,
"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
John 13:34-35 (NLT)
God loves you. It can sound so...hollow, so empty. What does that mean? How do we know? Jesus told us that they, the world, will recognize this great love. But how? Proof positive: love for one another. The change of Christ is the change of life. No longer am "I" #1; God is...and you are. The New Commandment was the fulfillment of the old story. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son..." When we live out loud, Maundy Thursday's marching orders from the Lord Jesus, they will see through us that, "...whosoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life."
Exhibit A: You and me! As the old saying goes: The proof's in the puddin'! Amen & Amen!
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
The Rejected Savior
Easter Wednesday
(Luke 19:41-44)
There He was, weeping. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, weeping. Why? Because Jerusalem, the symbol of that which represented the people of God, had rejected Christ as their Messiah. They wanted Him for what they could get from Him - an earthly king who would free them from Rome's tyranny. Yet they rejected Him for who He was sent to be: their Messiah...their Savior...their Redeemer.
How many today reject Christ as Lord, wanting Him instead to be their savior, not Savior. What's the difference? If Jesus is only savior of our lives, then His lament over Jerusalem would apply to us as well. If He's only savior, then we want the kingdom but not the King. We want our problems fixed while refusing to bow to His Lordship. It is shouting Hosanna one moment and crucify the next.
If Jesus is Savior, however, then everything changes! And oh how wonderful those changes are when Christ becomes our personal, life-giving Savior, our Guarantor of eternal life as we submit to His Lordship over all. (See John 10:28)
(Luke 19:41-44)
There He was, weeping. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, weeping. Why? Because Jerusalem, the symbol of that which represented the people of God, had rejected Christ as their Messiah. They wanted Him for what they could get from Him - an earthly king who would free them from Rome's tyranny. Yet they rejected Him for who He was sent to be: their Messiah...their Savior...their Redeemer.
How many today reject Christ as Lord, wanting Him instead to be their savior, not Savior. What's the difference? If Jesus is only savior of our lives, then His lament over Jerusalem would apply to us as well. If He's only savior, then we want the kingdom but not the King. We want our problems fixed while refusing to bow to His Lordship. It is shouting Hosanna one moment and crucify the next.
If Jesus is Savior, however, then everything changes! And oh how wonderful those changes are when Christ becomes our personal, life-giving Savior, our Guarantor of eternal life as we submit to His Lordship over all. (See John 10:28)
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