Thursday, April 01, 2010

Utter Darkness (or so they thought)


Utter Darkness (or so they thought)

It couldn’t have been any worse for the remaining 11 disciples and the women closest to Jesus of Nazareth. As they watched, their Hope was torn apart, then hung on a post in humiliation to die, and “darkness came over the whole land.”

We can’t imagine the depth of their bewilderment. The darkness over the land couldn’t compare to the darkness of their souls. Three years of walking with Him had given them excitement for the installation of a new kingdom on earth! But it was all for naught, or so they thought.

That was the human perspective, but this is the real story:
It was that ugly three-letter word – sin. Sin is what the holy God could not look upon, but He longed to fellowship with us. All of humanity had been paralyzed by sin, and our human efforts to abide by the law had proven futile, time after time.

In the greatest act of mercy, the Father offered up His perfect sacrifice on our behalf. At that moment in time, once for all, the Son took on the sin of all mankind. The curtain that separated us from the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom. The righteous God who could not look upon sin made a way for us to come to Him, and by the blood of the Lamb those who believe are made righteous, and can enter into His courts!

But that was just Friday. Wait for Sunday!
The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead. . .” And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. Matt. 28:5-7a, 8

California Family Council celebrates the risen Savior! Happy Easter!

Hat Tip:

California Family Council

2 comments:

GMpilot said...

A week ago, you told us that Jesus' last words were seven in number. But we don't even know exactly what he said.
Everyone knows the words.

Matthew 27:46: ”My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Mark 15:34: ”My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Luke 23:46: ”Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”
John 19:30: ”It is finished” (refer to the illustration at the top of your post)

But which words did he say? Some of them? All of them? None of them? I'm inclined to go with Mark/Matthew; but doctrine says all of it has to be true. How that can be, I cannot say.

This was, we are told, perhaps the second-most important event in history, and as well documented as any other significant historical event...and yet, it ain't.
But don't let that stop you. Faith doesn't need facts.

Unknown said...

"But don't let that stop you. Faith doesn't need facts."

Faith doesn't, yet a great many facts are present. Methinks you are applying a standard far different with regards to this event than to many others. I believe that if you dig into the specifics of almost any historical event researched by several historians, they will present some differences in presentation, order, and interpretation. None of that demonstrates that any of it is incorrect from a factual standpoint, but simply that different people discovered different aspects during the course of investigation. You may be able to find any number of commentaries for example on the reasons that lead up to the war between the states, yet though there are different interpretations, no one doubts that there was a war between the states though no one who witnessed it is alive today. In the same way, there is a great deal of evidence for the Bible's accuracy. You simply choose not to accept it.