Day One-Crucifixion

“Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him…And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.” – Mark 15:19-20

 “For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life?”–Romans 5:10.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. – Ephesians 2:8 

The Crucifixion of the Christ

On trembling legs, He dragged the cross
To the hill where He would die.
He knew He’d been abandoned
Was not surprised He’d been denied.
They kicked Him and they beat Him
With murderous intent|
He was Humiliated just for Sport
As the crowd cheered for His torment

Slowly, He moved up the hill
In response to the lashe’s painful urge.
His cries and moans kept the beat
For His unholy funeral dirge.
The Son of God could not be recognized
Beneath bloodied face and swollen eyes.
Nor, could His disciples understand
How He could be crucified.

The disciples looked on in confusion
Wondering why He wouldn’t fight.
They knew, with very little effort,
He could destroy them all outright.
They thought He’d come to wage Holy war;
They had believed He was the One.
But when He cried out, “It is finished.”
They knew their dream was done.

They laid His tortured body down
In a borrowed tomb as cold as ice.
With heavy hearts and teary eyes,
They gazed upon the fallen Christ.
It seemed wrong to leave His body
His flesh bloodied, bruised, and torn;
But it was Sabbath preparation day,
So, there was just no time to mourn.
Linda Troxell © 04/12/19

The story of the crucifixion causes many warring emotions for me. I can barely stand to think of the Son of God, His already battered body, carrying a cross to the place where He would die. Picturing anyone enduring that kind of pain and humiliation would be painful for me. I don’t like to see people hurt. Actually, I can’t stand to see any living thing hurt.  Well, maybe spiders.

Before you start thinking of me as very kind and gentle, I have to say that I don’t think that’s the whole story. I try to be kind and that is partly why I don’t like to see anyone experience pain. I must admit, however, that it’s probably more a case of over-identification than it is kindness.

You see, I spent so much of my life feeling like, and allowing myself to be a victim, that when I see someone victimized I over-identify with them. In that sense, I’m really feeling bad for myself rather than the true victim. But it’s different when I picture Jesus being taunted and beaten, being mocked and spit on. “Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him…And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.”   Mark 15:19-20.

This is God, our God, the one who is all good and all-holy, being subjected to disrespect and violent punishment. This is God come to earth as the name above all names, the name to which every knee will bow being persecuted for nothing more than being kind and inclusive and for healing the sick and providing for the poor. It breaks my heart.  [t]hat at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and those on earth, and of those under the earth,-Philippians 2:10

When I contemplate it, or when I see it depicted as in The Passion of the Christ, I am conflicted. I want to scream, “No, don’t do it, don’t put yourself through all of that for us; we don’t’ deserve it.” I wish I could go back in time and stop it. I want to go back and save Him. But then, I know that Jesus didn’t need saving, He was never a victim. His torture, His pain, and His death were all part of God’s eternal plan in which Jesus participated freely.

Contrary to being a victim, Jesus came in order to rescue us, the victims of sin. He knew He would be beaten and that there would be incredible pain. He anticipated the agony of hanging on a cross gasping for every breath. Still, He was ready to submit to the will of the Father by enduring all of it to pay the penalty for our sins.

Jesus knew forgiveness of sin was mankind’s greatest need because sin separates man from God. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.-Romans 6:23.  Even knowing He would be dying a sinner’s death, Jesus was still willing to submit to the Father’s will.

But, just before He was arrested, in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to his Father asking to be released from this obligation. “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will”—Matthew 26:39.  If Jesus came, willingly, to die for our sins, knowing He would have pain, would be ridiculed, and would hang on a cross until He died, then what moved Him to pray to be released from His mission?

Of course, Jesus wasn’t looking forward to the pain and the humiliation. And as He prayed in the garden, His closest disciples, whom he had asked to stay awake for company and security, were sleeping. He must have felt alone and conflicted about what He was walking into.

Perhaps, for the first time, He really thought about the pain of His spirit being separated from the Father. * He would have known the pain would be unbearable, even for a short amount of time. Certainly, He would have dreaded it. All of this may have been what prompted Jesus to ask His Father, if it would be possible, to release Him.

But in the end, He was willing to suffer for a short time so that we would not suffer for eternity. I think that many of us if we have thought about it at all, have underestimated the severity of the pain that Jesus endured while separated from His Father. * We just can’t understand the magnitude of the sacrifice He made by leaving paradise and coming to earth; by separating from the light of God to be in the darkness of sin.

Death has two dimensions. One dimension is physical death, and the other is spiritual death. Physical death is the separation of the spirit from the body. This happens to everyone, we all experience physical death; sooner or later our spirit must separate from our body. This is not the death Jesus was dreading.

Spiritual death, on the other hand, is the separation of the spirit from God. If at the time of our death, we have unredeemed sin, we will experience spiritual death. We will be separated from God for eternity. This is Hell.

It is this separation from the Father that Jesus came to prevent by offering Himself as our substitute and dying to redeem our sins.  Because Jesus died while in our sin, He experienced the penalty we should have experienced upon our death. He experienced separation from the Father*, spiritual death. This is the agony Jesus was dreading; the cup which He prayed to be taken from Him in Gethsemane.

This gives a better sense of just how much Jesus sacrificed for us. But going a little further, I think that we should also have a better understanding of the purpose for which He sacrificed. You might think that you know the answer to this. But chances are you only know part of the answer.

If asked, I think more than 90% of Christians and non-Christians alike, would say that the purpose of Jesus’ incarnation on earth was to die on the cross to pay for our sins. I think this might be a point of confusion for many of us. Redeeming our sins was not the purpose of Jesus’ life on earth.  

To be sure, the redemption of sin was a step needed in the process of reaching the purpose, but it was not the purpose itself. Think of it like this. When a parent punishes a 2-year-old child for running into the street, the purpose of the punishment isn’t actually to punish at all. However, the punishment is a necessary first step in obtaining the final purpose of preventing the child from repeating the behavior. It isn’t a successful strategy, but that’s a whole different conversation. 

If the redemption of our sins was the only purpose for Jesus’ suffering, I’m not sure He would have agreed to the plan. After all, history shows that when given a new start, mankind tends to simply repeat sinful behavior until we are back in the same situation. Similar to the two-year-old continuing to run into the street. But forgiving sin wasn’t the purpose.

Staying with the comparison of the toddler, the forgiveness of sins was merely a necessary first step in fulfilling the purpose of reconciling man with God. Before reconciliation was possible, of course, man’s sins had to be redeemed. Jesus did die on the cross for the forgiveness of man’s sins. And not just for present sins, but for future sins as well. However, that was not the purpose of His incarnation.

To sum it up, the reason for Jesus to come to earth was the forgiveness of man’s sins, but only so He could accomplish His purpose for coming to earth, to reconcile man with God. The death of Jesus was the bridge by which reconciliation was possible. “For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life?” Romans 5:10.

And that gift is still available today. Our sin can still be forgiven by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ; thereby reconciling us with God. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. – Ephesians 2:8

You might think that I’m splitting hairs by making such a distinction between Jesus coming to forgive our sins and coming to forgive our sins and reconcile us to God. But let me tell you why I disagree. for a few reasons.

First, because it’s actually the facts. Second, telling half of the story doesn’t give God the glory He deserves. If we tell an unbeliever only that Jesus came to earth as a human so our sins could be forgiven, he or she might rightfully wonder why that was necessary. If asked we must know how to answer.

The answer is, that God, in His love for man, desired that man live with Him eternally. For this to happen, first God and man had to be reconciled through the death of God’s only Son. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. -John 3:16. However, because God cannot abide in sin, before reconciliation was possible, the sins of mankind had to be redeemed. Now, that gives God His full glory.

And last, and perhaps most importantly, if we don’t tell the full story, we do not fully honor the sacrifice Jesus made for us. In teaching this primary element of the Christian story I believe we do not often enough emphasize the importance, the magnitude, and the agony of the sacrifice Jesus made for mankind.

So, on this eve of resurrection day, as we prepare to honor our Lord for this incredibly generous and loving gift, and as we mourn His pain and suffering and His human death, let’s remember the entire meaning of His gift. He didn’t take our place and bear our punishment for sins He never committed simply so we could have a fresh start. He did these things so we could be seen to be sin-free in the eyes of God, thus allowing us to be reconciled with our heavenly Father. 

*A Footnote

I know there is some controversy about this point. Some say that Jesus was never separated from the Father. However, I believe, as many experts do (The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the Gospel Coalition, and others) that as Jesus died on the cross all of man’s sins were literally put on Him. Because sin cannot exist in God’s presence, at that moment He was temporarily banished from the presence of God. This made Him the final sacrifice for our sins. If you believe differently, I respect your belief. There are differing opinions among experts and among those of us who are seekers as well. But there need not be animosity. There is plenty of room in the Good News of Jesus Christ for all of us. And we can love one another as Jesus loved us, without agreeing on everything

Day Three-Resurrection

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while he was still with you in Galilee? – Luke 24:6

 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. -Romans 6:9.

“And If Christ has not been raised, your faith doesn’t mean anything. Your sins have not been forgiven … do we have hope in Christ only for this life? Then people should pity us more than anyone else.-1 Corinthians 15:17-19

Christ is Risen!

In the morning, when she returned
Mary found the tomb with open door
Inside an angel sat
And there were grave-clothes on the floor.
The angel said, “He’s not here.
You should search for Him among the living.
For, just as He told you it would happen,
Today the Son of God is risen.”

When the risen Christ appeared to her,
Mary’s heart swelled with love and fear.
Either she was going mad,
Or, her Rabbi was standing here.
When He saw that she was frightened,
He said, “Touch me, you’ll see that I’m a man.”
Then He said, “Tell my men to go to Galilee,”
“I’ll meet them there as planned.”

His resurrection brought a new covenant
Changing our salvation from law to grace.
No more need to earn redemption
And the sting of death has been erased.
With all sin redeemed, His work was done,
So, Christ ascended to the Father.
He went to prepare a place for us
Where we’ll drink His living water.

We know not when God will call us;
Could be a hundred years or tomorrow.
But we know to wait patiently on God
Is to live eternally without sorrow.
Linda Troxell ©/21/2019

On the day after the Sabbath three of Jesus’ followers, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome came with fragrant oils to finish anointing the body of their beloved Rabbi in preparation for His burial. They had not been able to finish the job on the day He died because Sabbath was upon them. So, they were anxious to finish now.

As they walked to where Jesus’ body had been laid three days ago, they were worried that they would not be able to roll the heavy stone away from the mouth of the tomb. But then, as the tomb came into sight, they saw that it was open.

The three women were confused; wondering if they had lost their way. Staring at the large rock beside the entrance to the tomb they thought.  “We cannot be in the right place.” They hurried in and saw that the tomb was empty except for grave clothes laying on the floor.

The women were stunned as they stood in the middle of the tomb, trying to make sense of what they were seeing and wondering what could have happened to His body. Suddenly, two men appeared in the room. They were both dressed in clothes as bright as the sun. The women were frightened and they bowed to the men, as one of them said, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while he was still with you in Galilee? – Luke 24:6

This is an astonishing story. But then the whole story of Jesus is astonishing. A simple carpenter from Nazareth, He had never been trained in the Torah; but somehow, He still drew large crowds when He taught. A man who claimed to be the Son of God, performing miracles His detractors could not explain.

The Pharisees were enraged by the crowds who sat at His feet when He taught in the countryside. The people came by the thousands to learn from Him and watch Him heal the sick and make the lame walk.

These things made it difficult for the Pharisees to dispute His claim of being the Son of God. Consequently, He was an ever-growing problem for them.  They were sure that without Him their lives would be normal once more.  So, through manipulation, dishonesty, and coercion they arranged for his death.

They watched as He was crucified and died upon the cross. They witnessed the centurion run his sword through Jesus’ dead body. When no blood flowed from the wound, they were satisfied that the body removed from the cross was dead and it was that of the Nazarene. So, imagine their shock when, after Sabbath, they were told His grave was empty!

The Pharisees went to see the empty tomb for themselves and they wondered how they could explain this. It had been difficult to explain how this imposter, who passed Himself off as the Son of God, had healed illnesses, exorcised demons, and made the lame walk again.  Now, this! How much harder, they wondered, would it be to convince the people, who wanted to believe in Him, that He had not risen from the dead?

The Pharisees were learned men, reasonable men. They didn’t believe for a moment that this carpenter had risen from the dead. They knew the simple explanation was that the body had been stolen from the tomb by his followers. They simply needed to find the body to expose the hoax.

2000 years later we know, try as they might, the Pharisees were unable to prove the resurrection a hoax. There were too many facts supporting the validity of the event.

For example, in that culture, at that time, women had little credibility. So, if this was a manufactured story, certainly it would have been a man, someone credible, who discovered the empty tomb. In the eyes of the Pharisees, that it was women who made the discovery only diminished the validity of the story.

Then there is the Pharisee’s theory that the body was stolen from the tomb. The Romans were certainly pleased by the death of Jesus. It was just what they needed to stop the agitation that gripped the city.

However, they were aware that this supposed Messiah had promised to resurrect Himself. This led them to believe that there might be an attempt to steal the body. So, they took extra precautions to prevent this. They posted a highly trained guard unit at the tomb. These men were under threat of severe punishment, possibly even death if they allowed the body to disappear.

But when it did the Pharisees were ready with two different theories for how the body was stolen from the tomb; either the guards fell asleep or the followers of Jesus bribed them to look the other way. Knowing their lives might depend on keeping the body secure, it is unlikely that the guards would fall asleep. If they wanted to sleep it makes better sense that they would have taken turns sleeping.

For the same reason, it is unlikely that the guards could be bribed to look the other way. How much money do you suppose it would take for up to 10 Roman guards to risk their lives by allowing anyone to steal that body? Whatever the price, it was sure to be more than Jesus’ followers could pay.

These are only two of the many reasons that the resurrection could not be proved a hoax. But as we know, the most persuasive evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is His appearance before many, many people after His death.

According to Paul, without the resurrection, all Christian preaching is empty and the faith of the believer is worthless. Because Christ is the object of the faith, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is central to Christianity.  In the New Testament, it was mentioned over one hundred times.  And it was the point of all of the sermons in Acts. 

Resurrection is the good news of the gospel. But if Jesus wasn’t resurrected, then He isn’t who He said He was. The whole of Christianity rests on whether or not Jesus rose from the dead. If He lied and did not rise then it is all a lie. He is not the Son of God but a charlatan. Or, worse the son of Satan. If He wasn’t lying then none of it is a lie; He is the Son of God and we are all saved.

Now that we know that the truth of the resurrection is central to Christianity, we understand that all of the Christian faith rests on whether or not Jesus was resurrected. What, exactly, does the resurrection prove?

The Bible tells us that the resurrection proved that Jesus is the Son of God, [a]nd was shown to be the Son of God when He was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.- Romans 1:4 (NLT) We, Christians, tend to talk more about the crucifixion than we do the resurrection. But the fact is that dying on the cross did not prove, in itself, the deity of Jesus. He was shown to be the Christ by fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies and by rising from the grave. So the resurrection proves that Jesus is the Christ.

Rising from the grave proved Christ’s power over death. It tells us in Romans that, For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him.  Romans 6:9.  In Christ’s victory over death, we too are victorious.

We are told in Ephesians that God gave us new life through Jesus. And He raised us up with Him seating us in God’s Kingdom. (Ephesians 2:6)  The resurrection proves that Jesus has power over death and through Him, we have eternal life.

And my favorite part, which I saved for last, the resurrection defeated God’s biggest enemy. There is nothing the Devil fought for harder or anything he wished for more than to overthrow God’s Kingdom. He used every trick he had and all the cunning he could muster toward that goal. At the cross, he must have thought that he had finally won.

There was his nemesis nailed to a cross. Hearing Jesus say, “It is finished.” must have been the high point of Satan’s life. I wish I could have seen his face when Jesus Christ rose from the grave proving that what was finished was the power of sin and death.

It must have been glorious.  The resurrection proves sin and death no longer have power over those of us who accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

To sum it all up, the resurrection is vitally important because if Jesus isn’t who He said He is, there is no forgiveness of sin for anyone. And If He has not risen those who died believing in Him have no hope.

For, as Paul told us if our hope is only for this lifetime, then, Christians are to be pitied above all people.  “And If Christ has not been raised, your faith doesn’t mean anything. Your sins have not been forgiven … [D]o we have hope in Christ only for this life? Then people should pity us more than anyone else. -1 Corinthians 15:17-19

But what do the scholars say about the resurrection? Did it really happen? There are differences of opinions between scholars as to the authenticity of the resurrection. It seems the stumbling point for those who dispute it is that they don’t believe in miracles, and the resurrection, if authentic, could only be a miracle.

That seems like circular reasoning to me. If a person has a firm belief that there are no miracles, what evidence to the contrary would that person find valid? It seems that they are saying, “I don’t believe in miracles, therefore, there are no miracles because I don’t believe in miracles.”

Jacob Kremer, a New Testament scholar, says that by far, those who are experts in the New Testament and specialize in the study of the resurrection, firmly believe in the reliability of the Bible’s statements about the empty tomb. But an empty tomb does not prove the resurrection. There are many theories about the empty tomb that don’t include the resurrection of Jesus. Although, as Kremer says, they have little credibility.

These theories, at their core, differ very little from those put forth 2000 years ago. They all include the body being stolen. But no one puts any stock in these theories simply because no one had a motive to steal the body.

The Jews and the Romans wanted to suppress this movement; they wanted to prove He didn’t resurrect. And the apostles were being beaten and killed for preaching this message. People are sometimes willing to give their lives for a sacred cause, but who would give their lives to defend what they know is a lie?

But, even so, knowing the tomb was empty doesn’t prove that Jesus has risen. And although many people claimed to have seen Him after His death, those are just claims. Just because someone says they saw Him doesn’t mean they did.

However, regarding those who claim they saw Jesus after His death, there are only three conclusions we can come to. The people who claim they saw Him are lying, they hallucinated, or they saw the risen Christ.

Let’s look at lying first.  As I mentioned above, the apostles were being severely persecuted, even to death, for their belief in and preaching of the resurrection. It simply doesn’t make sense that they would risk their safety, even their lives, to defend a lie. And even so, there were just too many people who claimed to see Him for the theory of a lie to hold up.

Let’s be reasonable, for it to be a lie, first, someone would need to formulate the story. Then they would have to gather 100 people together. Next, they would have to convince up to 100 people to agree to tell the lie. And finally, 100 people would have to actually tell the lie. For what reason? As anyone who has tried to keep any kind of secret knows, the more people who know the secret the less chance it will remain a secret.

To sum it all up, the resurrection is vitally important because if Jesus isn’t who He said He is, there is no forgiveness of sin for anyone. And If He has not risen those who died believing in Him have no hope. For, as Paul told us if our hope is only for this lifetime, then, Christians are to be pitied above all people.  “And If Christ has not been raised, your faith doesn’t mean anything. Your sins have not been forgiven … [D]o we have hope in Christ only for this life? Then people should pity us more than anyone else.  1Corinthians 15:17-19

But what do the scholars say about the resurrection? Did it really happen? There are differences of opinions between scholars as to the authenticity of the resurrection. It seems the stumbling point for those who dispute it is that they don’t believe in miracles, and the resurrection, if authentic, could only be a miracle.

That seems like circular reasoning to me. If a person has a firm belief that there are no miracles, what evidence to the contrary would that person find valid? It seems that they are saying, “I don’t believe in miracles, therefore, there are no miracles because I don’t believe in miracles.”

Jacob Kremer, a New Testament scholar, says that by far, those who are experts in the New Testament and specialize in the study of the resurrection, firmly believe in the reliability of the Bible’s statements about the empty tomb. But an empty tomb does not prove the resurrection. There are many theories about the empty tomb that don’t include the resurrection of Jesus. Although, Kremer says they have little credibility.

These theories, at their core, differ very little from those put forth 2000 years ago. They all include the body being stolen. But no one puts any stock in these theories simply because no one had a motive to steal the body.

The Jews and the Romans wanted to suppress this movement; they wanted to prove He didn’t resurrect. And the apostles were being beaten and killed for preaching this message. People are sometimes willing to give their lives for a sacred cause, but who would give their lives to defend what they know is a lie?

But, even so, knowing the tomb was empty doesn’t prove that Jesus has risen. And although many people claimed to have seen Him after His death, those are just claims. Just because someone says they saw Him doesn’t mean they did.

However, there are only three alternatives for the claims of those who say they saw Christ after His death. The people who claim they saw Him are lying, they hallucinated, or they saw the risen Christ.

Let’s look at lying first.  As I mentioned above, the apostles were being severely persecuted, even to death, for their belief in and preaching of the resurrection. It simply doesn’t make sense that they would risk their safety, even their lives, to defend a lie. And even so, there were just too many people who claimed to see Him for the theory of a lie to hold up.

First, someone would need to formulate the story. Then they would have to get up to 100 people together. Next, they would have to convince up to 100 people to agree to tell the lie. For what reason? As anyone who has tried to keep any kind of secret knows, the more people who know the secret the bigger the chance that it will be revealed. With upwards of 100 participants in this lie, someone would have spilled the beans.

The theory of Hallucination doesn’t hold up any better. Granted, there have been cases of shared hallucination; however, they have been between two or three people, not up to 100. And hallucinations generally are auditory, olfactory, or, less voice visual; but as far as I know, never all three. 

It’s not plausible for that many people to have the same hallucination of Jesus, some at different times and places.  No, the lying doesn’t make sense and the shared hallucination makes even less sense. That leaves us only with the truth that they saw the risen Christ.

We will never change the mind of those who are determined to believe the resurrection is untrue. But then why would we try? Someone who makes up their minds about what they believe based solely on their own understanding supported by nothing else is too attached to their disbelief to change their mind.

However, there have been some very good thinkers who have set out to prove the resurrection did not occur. They considered all of the tedious research in their journey to debunk the story that Jesus rose from the dead. When these authors were finished collecting all of the research they could find, they were left with facts that overwhelmingly pointed to the truth of the resurrection.

And even more surprising for them, after carefully weighing all of the facts they were convinced of more than the validity of the resurrection. They were also convinced to give their lives to Jesus Christ. Of course not all researchers became Christians. But they were convinced by the evidence that those who claimed to see the risen Christ actually saw something, and that those people were convinced it was Christ.

Below are some scholars who were converted through their research.

Surprised by Joy—C. S. Lewis’s autobiography, in which he recounted his reluctant trek from atheism to Christianity.

Jesus Rediscovered and Chronicles of Wasted Time—books in which Muggeridge, a former editor of Punch magazine and a provoking analyst of modern culture, traced his journey from skepticism to Christianity.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1888), written by Lew Wallace as a new believer in Christ (adapted to film five times, with the best of these being the 1959 Award Winning movie starring Charlton Heston)

There is really very little disagreement among scholars and others who have seriously researched the basics of what we Christians believe. No one disputes the fact that Jesus was a real historical man.

There is very little disagreement that some of His actions were, if not miracles, at least supernatural. It is very well documented that He was crucified along with three criminals on a hill called Golgotha.

And, of course, most importantly, as to the question on which all of Christianity rests, there is a preponderance of evidence pointing to the validity of the resurrection of Jesus

Let’s Pray

Father, we are here on what we now call Holy Saturday. A day in which we do not despair for we know that our Lord rose from the tomb and after tying up loose ends, He ascended to rule with you in heaven.

But O, Lord how those on that first Saturday after Jesus died must have grieved. How they must have fought to not give in to hopelessness. But you know Lord, we, even knowing of His resurrection, are still susceptible to hopelessness at times. Lord, we ask you now when we are in the middle of holy days when we are meditating on your faithfulness when we are secure in knowing that you have a plan for each of us even when we can’t imagine what it is, we ask you now to remind us when we get to those days in the valley and we begin to entertain the enemy’s lies of what we knew and believed in times that we called better days. But Lord, in truth there are no better or worse days, there is only weak and strong faith. Because in truth you are always right here beside us. Your love never changes, your support never changes and our need for you never changes. We need you every bit as much on our “best” days as we do on our “worst” days. Help us to remember that as we worship you in gratefulness, Lord. Help us to remember that we are grateful for the crucifixion because it brought the resurrection. And help us, that every day leading up to this holy Easter time were days when your plan was true and when you held us in the palm of your hand and protected us. We thank you for your love, Lord, for your grace and your faithfulness. We thank you that you chose us to be part of your family. Lord help us to always pray for your will to be done, especially when we start to think we know better. We pray this in the mighty and brilliant name of Jesus,  Amen 

Points for Pondering and Prayer or

Perhaps for Putting Pen to Paper

Does reading about, hearing about or seeing a depiction of the abuse of Christ bring up strong emotions for you? If so name those emotions and perhaps write a bit about them.

Were you taught, or do you believe, that Jesus actually was separated from the Father for a short time as He died on the cross for our sins?

Whatever you believe, have you had an occasion to discuss your beliefs with someone whose beliefs are different from yours? If so, write a bit about how it went.?

Have you ever had a difficult time believing the resurrection of Jesus is actual fact? Does anyone close to you feel differently? Have you discussed it? Write a bit about that.