That Glorious Morning of Hope

 Jesus' friends were sad. They would never see their best friend again. How could this happen? Wasn’t Jesus the Rescuer? The King God had promised? It wasn’t supposed to end like this.Yes, but whoever said anything about the end?
Just before sunrise, on the third day, God sent an earthquake – and an angle from heaven. When the guards saw the angel, they fell down with fright. The angel rolled the huge stone away, sat on top of it, and waited.At the first glimmer of dawn, Mary Magdalene and other women headed to the tomb to wash Jesus’ body. The early morning sun slanted through the ancient olive trees, drops of dew glittering on leaves and grasses – little tears everywhere. The friends walked quietly along the hilly path, through the olive groves, until they reached the tomb. And immediately noticed something odd – it was wide open.

They peered through the opening in the dark tomb. But wait. Jesus’ body was gone! And something else: a shining man was there, with clothes made from lightening. “Don’t be scared,” the angel said. But (they couldn’t help it) they screamed anyway. The angel asked them, “What are you doing here? This is a tomb and tombs are for dead people.” The women couldn’t speak. “Jesus isn’t dead anymore!” he said. “He’s alive again!” And their hearts leapt. And then the angel laughed with such gladness that they felt, for a moments, as if they had woken from a nightmare. The other women rushed home, but Mary stayed behind, How could it be true? Jesus was definitely dead – how could he be alive? Just then Mary heard someone else in the garden. Perhaps it’s the gardener, she thought. He’ll know where Jesus’ body is. “I don’t know where Jesus is!” Mary said urgently. “I can’t find him.” But it was all right. Jesus knew where she was. And he had found her. "Mary!”

Only one person said her name like that. She could hear her heart thumping. She turned around. She could just make out a figure. She shaded her eyes to see … and thought she was dreaming. But she wasn’t dreaming. She was seeing. “Jesus!”

Mary fell to the ground. Sudden tears filled her eyes and great sobs shook her whole body, and all she wanted in that moment was to cling to Jesus and never let him go. “You’ll be able to hold on to me later, Mary.” Jesus said gentlly, “and always be close to me. But now, go and tell the others that I’m alive!”

Mary ran and ran, all the way to the city. She had never run so fast or so far in all her life. She felt she could have run forever. She didn’t even feel like her feet touched the ground. The sun seemed to be dancing and gleaming and bounding across the sky, racing with her shining brighter than she could ever remember in the clear, fresh air.

And it seemed to her that morning, as she ran, almost as if the whole world had been made anew, almost as if the whole world was singing for joy – the trees, tiny sounds in the grass, the birds … her heart. Was God really making everything sad come untrue? Was he making even death come untrue? She couldn’t wait to tell Jesus’ friends. “They won’t believe it!” she laughed. She was right, of course.  (From the Jesus Storybook Bible) Peter had to go and see for himself, and ran all the way to the tomb. He then remembered that Jesus had said, "I will be killed, and then raised up on the third day." Later, Jesus came and showed himself to Peter and his other friends too, and ate with them. They touched his hands that still had the nail marks in them. Jesus appeared to more than 500 people. These people were willing to die for what they believed rather than deny that Jesus had been raised, because they had seen them with their own eyes. And so the good news began to spread all over the Roman empire and all over the world. 

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Jesus, you are Lord of all. You rescued us, and conquered death and sin and shame. Thank you, Lord Jesus! I believe. Help my unbelief. I am like Thomas, who needed to touch your hands and know that you were really raised, but Lord, give me faith. Reveal yourself to me in a way that is just as real. If you are really who you say you are, open my mind (the mind that you made) to see the reasons, open my heart... break down my pride and break through my blindness. I want to see you, and know you as the lover of my soul who came to rescue me, too!

Holy Saturday

The day after Jesus was crucified and laid in the tomb, his disciples were very sad. All of their hope for Jesus as King, as the one who would save us, were seemingly gone. And their best friend was dead, killed so cruelly, though he was innocent.

Peter was probably having the hardest time. He had denied that he even knew Jesus, and the third time he denied him, Jesus looked at him sadly, right in the eye, so full of love, and yet Peter was so ashamed of himself, he had run away. The disciples were all afraid, and were hiding. They thought maybe the same thing would happen to them, too, if the Jews hated Jesus so much.

Today, on "Holy Saturday," many people stay up late at night and attend church together, waiting for the dawn, waiting to celebrate Jesus' resurrection, feeling the anticipation, feeling the sadness that the disciples must have felt, feeling our own anticipation of Jesus' return when he comes again in power.
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Jesus, we are like your friends: we don't understand your plans very well, and we are afraid. Thank you for coming to us, finding us, in the places where we hide... we are waiting for you. We find it hard to believe your promises sometimes, and hard to have faith that the crazy world around us is under your control. Thank you that you will return again to judge everyone and everything rightly, to make everything right.

Jesus is Crucified

Today is called "Good Friday." Why is the day when our King died called "good?" Because he died for us. Today people all over the world took time together to remember Jesus. To remember his gift of love to us that cost him everything. To remember the story. This story can be found in the Bible, in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, or John 19. You can also find the "Jesus film" (1979) in hundreds of languages, and watch a dramatized version if that helps you to imagine. (This account is mostly from the Jesus Storybook Bible.)

The Roman soldiers mocked Jesus. "So, you're a King, huh?" They said. "Here's a crown, and a robe!" they laughed, giving him a crown made out of thorns and putting a purple robe on him. Then they whipped him, and spat on him, in his face. They didn't know who he really was. They made a sign that said, "Our King," and nailed it to a wooden cross. They made Jesus carry his cross to the place where criminals were killed.

Jesus had done nothing wrong, and yet he willingly took our place.
They nailed Jesus' hands and feet to the cross, all the way through. Jesus cried out: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." People mocked him: "You said you came to save us, and now look at you! You can't even save yourself!"

 But of course it wasn't true. Jesus stayed on that cross out of love. Out of obedience to his Father. Out of love for you and me.
Jesus cried out to his Father: "Papa?" He looked at the sky. But for the first time in his life, nothing happened. God had turned his face away from his Beloved Son. His Son experienced separation from God to the fullest. Tears streamed down his face, but he stayed on the cross.

Darkness covered the earth, even though it was the middle of the day. The earth trembled and shook. It seemed that creation itself would tear apart.

The full force of the storm of God's anger at sin was coming down. His anger that should have come down on us, on his people. It came down on his Son.

Jesus shouted, "It is finished!" and it was. He had done it. He had rescued the whole world. "Father, I give you my life," he said, and breathed his last breath.

Jesus' friends carried his body and laid it in a new tomb. They were so confused. "How could Jesus die? He was the rescuer... what went wrong? They didn't know anything anymore, except that their hearts were breaking.

"That's the end of Jesus" said the leaders. But, just in case, they had soldiers guard the tomb. And they put a huge stone and rolled it to seal the entrance. So that no one could get in. Or out.

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Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
Amazing love, now flowing down
From hands and feet
That were nailed to the tree
As grace flows down and covers me
It covers me
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such love, I cannot understand
why you would give your only son for me
to die, to die a criminal's death, in utter shame
but my heart knows this is how
you took away all my shame
such love has never been seen before or since

A Dark Night

(from Luke 22, Mark 14, John 18 and The Jesus Storybook Bible) Jesus knew what was about to happen. He asked his friends to stay up and pray with him. They were too tired, and they fell asleep. So he prayed alone to his Father: "Papa!" he cried out in distress, falling to his knees. "Papa, is there any other way to get your children back, to heal their hearts?" But he knew there was no other way than for him to take their punishment, their poison, into himself.
God was going to blame his Son for everything that had gone wrong, pour into his heart every sadness and pain of our hearts, and it would crush Jesus. And even more painful than that, Jesus was going to lose his Father, which would break his heart. He was going to take the punishment of separation from God that we deserved. He cried so that his body shook. But then he was quiet. Like a lamb. "I trust you, Papa. Whatever you say, I will do."

Then, he heard heavy steps. A big group of armed soldiers, and the leaders who hated him, came out of the darkness, led by Judas. Jesus' friends woke up, and he told them, "Now is the time. Everything that was written about me, everything God promised would happen is about to happen."
Peter tried to defend Jesus, and he cut off the ear of one of the soldiers with his sword. But Jesus touched the man's ear, and it was instantly healed! Jesus said, "No, Peter, that is not the right way. If I wanted to, I could ask God to rescue me with his thousands of Angels."
Jesus' friends were afraid, so they ran away and hid in dark shadows. The guards took Jesus to the leaders, who put him on trial. They asked him, "Are you the Son of God?" Jesus replied, "I Am." "Who do you think you are, to call yourself God? You must die!" Only the Romans were allowed to kill prisoners, so they brought them to the Roman leaders. "We will tell them that this man says he is the Son of God, and that he says he is a King. They will crucify him for us."

The Last Supper

(The Last Supper from Mark 14 and John 13-14 and the Jesus Storybook Bible)
Remember when God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt? They had to put the blood of a lamb over their doors to show that they belonged to God, and the angel of death passed by those houses and did not go in but passed over. Well, every year the Jews celebrated this event, called the "Passover."
Jesus and his friends also celebrated Passover, just before Jesus was betrayed and killed. His friends were arguing about who would wash everyone's dirty feet for them before the meal.

Jesus quietly took off his coat and bent down with a bowl of water. Peter said, "Not you, Jesus!" Peter didn't understand that Jesus was a Servant King. Jesus said, "If you don't let me wash away the dirt, Peter, you can't be close to me." Jesus knew that what people needed most was to be clean on the inside. The dirt on their feet was nothing compared with the sin in their hearts. Peter's eyes filled with tears as he let Jesus wash his feet.
"I am doing this because I love you. You also must do this for each other."

Now one of Jesus' disciples had made a plan to betray him to the people who hated him. Jesus knew his plan, and said, "Do what you will do, Judas... go." Judas went and told those people he'd lead them to Jesus, and he received 30 pieces of silver in exchange for his betrayal.

But Jesus stayed and spent more time that evening with his friends. He took bread and broke it and said, "This is my body, which is broken for you. Take and eat it, all of you." And he also took a cup of wine and said, "This is my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. I will die instead of you. I'll heal your hearts, and you'll be clean on the inside. So whenever you do this, remember me. I have rescued you!"

Jesus knew he was leaving to go back to his Father God. "You'll be sad for a while, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will come to you. And you'll have my Forever happiness, so don't be afraid! You are my friends, and I love you, and I will not leave you alone, ever." Then they sung a song, and walked up to their favorite place, an olive garden, to pray.

Jesus' Feet Washed With Tears

 (From Mark 14, Luke 7, John 12 and the Jesus Storybook Bible)
Jesus was having dinner with some very "important" people. A woman came in, and they all knew who she was: a big sinner! How did she dare come in to their dinner party?
She came and fell at Jesus' feet and washed his feet with her tears. She dried his feet with her long hair. The men whispered to each other, "Doesn't he know who this woman is?" Then, she did something that shocked everyone: she took the most valuable thing she had, a bottle of very, very expensive perfume, and broke the beautiful jar, pouring it over Jesus' feet. The men gasped. "What a waste!" they said. But Jesus smiled at her. "What she has done is beautiful, and will be told all over the world. People anointed the kings with oil, but she anointed me with her tears."

 He knew what the men were thinking. They were thinking, "That woman is a sinner! We are the good ones." They thought they were good enough because they kept the rules, but their hearts did not work properly.
Jesus said to them, "This woman knows she is a sinner who will never be good enough. She knows she needs me to rescue her, and that is why she loves me so much."
He told the woman, "Go in peace. Your sins are forgiven." Again, the men were angry. "Who does he think he is? Only God can forgive sins!" They did not believe that Jesus was God's Son.
Jesus said, "There was once a man who owed a lot, and a man who owed a little. The person they owed the money to forgave both debts. Who do you think loved the man more? He who has been forgiven much loves much. He who has been forgiven little loves little."
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Jesus, we would probably have been like those men who did not understand who you are. We want to be like the woman who did know, and loved you. She didn't care what anyone else thought. She knew she needed you desperately. We also need you desperately, but we spend so much time trying to convince ourselves and other people that we are OK without you. That we don't owe you much. Please break our cold hearts, like that bottle of perfume. We want new hearts that can worship you with gratitude, and give you the honor and glory that you deserve for rescuing us and being our humble, beautiful, true King.

Praise! (Save us!)

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the holy city of the Jews and their capital (one week before Easter), he rode on a donkey's colt, on that had never been ridden before. All the people shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!" Hosanna means, "Praise," but it also means, "save us now!"
They waved palm branches and put their cloaks down on the ground for him to pass by on.
They thought Jesus was going to save them from the oppressive Roman rulers. But Jesus upset everyone's expectations. He did not come riding on a war horse, but on a young donkey. He did not come to take political power, but had an even bigger goal in mind, to save the entire world. Jesus was the Messiah, the Promised One, and yet he was a Servant King, unlike any other king they had ever known.

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Jesus,
You always surprise us! Your ways are not our ways. We praise you for being our humble King who conquered not only all oppression but also sin, death, evil, and separation from God, for us and for the whole world.