Open and Empty

This is a repost from April 11, 2009--and it's still true in 2012!

The word “gospel” is from a word meaning “good spell” or “Glad tidings; especially, the good news concerning Christ.” When you think of the good news of Resurrection Day, the result is nothing less than “WOW!”

The darkness leading up to that morning was appalling. The very light of the world had been snuffed out and locked in a prison of death behind a huge stone guarded by a legion of soldiers. The men who could carry His message were hiding in darkness behind locked doors, terrorized by what they had seen.

Women, whose love and compassion habitually outweigh their wisdom, would let nothing stop them from honoring their Lord, even if all they could do was to give him a respectful burial. It mattered not to them that it was politically and religiously unpopular and physically difficult or dangerous. (Remember that huge stone and un-friendly soldiers.) Still, as women do, they thought with their hearts rather than their heads.

But, it was so dark since Jesus was gone. The light of the world was gone. Hope was gone. God was gone. Hope was gone, yes, but love was still alive. Laying despair aside, they still loved and that love would not be denied or restrained by fear. They needed to see Him, to fulfill one final act of love even in death.

If there weren’t enough difficulties, they experienced an earthquake near the tomb. Isn’t that like God? The challenge was really the answer. I suppose the earth shook when the angel kicked the stone open. (At least, I would have kicked it, if I were that angel.)

Suddenly, good news! The grave was open and empty! The light of the world rose even brighter. Can you visualize the emotional shock those women felt? That was better than the Red Sea opening. They couldn’t stop smiling. I imagine that Jesus couldn’t stop smiling, either. I hope he has been smiling ever since. I also hope because of the love of his welcoming committee that morning, he will be eager to come back for the rest of us.

♫ Lord I lift your name on high
Lord I love to sing your praises
I'm so glad you are in my life
I'm so glad you came to save us.

You came from heaven to earth,
to show the way
From the earth to the cross,
my debt to pay
From the cross to the grave,
From the grave to the sky
Lord I lift your name on high. ♫

Open and Empty

The word “gospel” is from a word meaning “good spell” or “Glad tidings; especially, the good news concerning Christ.” When you think of the good news of Resurrection Day, the result is nothing less than “WOW!”

The darkness leading up to that morning was appalling. The very light of the world had been snuffed out and locked in a prison of death behind a huge stone guarded by a legion of soldiers. The men who could carry His message were hiding in darkness behind locked doors terrorized by what they had seen.

Women, whose love and compassion habitually outweigh their wisdom, would let nothing stop them from honoring their Lord, even if all they could do was to give him a respectful burial. It mattered not to them that it was politically and religiously unpopular and physically difficult or dangerous. (Remember that huge stone and un-friendly soldiers.) Still, as women do, they thought with their hearts rather than their heads.

But, it was so dark since Jesus was gone. The light of the world was gone. Hope was gone. God was gone. Hope was gone, yes, but love was still alive. Laying despair aside, they still loved and that love would not be denied or restrained by fear. They needed to see Him, to fulfill one final act of love even in death.

If there weren’t enough difficulties, they experienced an earthquake near the tomb. Isn’t that like God? The challenge was really the answer. I suppose the earth shook when the angel kicked the stone open. (At least, I would have kicked it, if I were that angel.)

Suddenly, good news! The grave was open and empty! The light of the world rose even brighter. Can you visualize the emotional shock those women felt? That was better than the Red Sea opening. They couldn’t stop smiling. I imagine that Jesus couldn’t stop smiling, either. I hope he has been smiling ever since. I also hope because of the love of his welcoming committee that morning, he will be eager to come back for the rest of us.

It was Good

Tomorrow is Good Friday. As a child, I thought that was a strange title for the day that a man named Jesus, whose birth we had celebrated a few months earlier, was nailed to a cross to die. It always made me sad to think that the Son of God was treated so badly when he came to our world. Why should He have to be killed? That Friday did not seem to be at all “good.”

And then, I read the bible. I learned that the day Jesus died was extraordinarily “good”--certainly not in the short term; but in his dying and subsequent resurrection, he became the most powerful authority in the universe. In Matthew 28:18 we are told that Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

I learned by studying Genesis that God gave great authority to Adam; it was then handed over to Lucifer, the serpent, until that transgression, that debt was paid. In order to maintain any relationship with sinful man, God needed to cover them with garments of skin. Now garments of skin are not like wool sheared off a sheep that can grow back. There’s only one way to get a leather coat. It requires the death and blood of an innocent animal. (Like donating for a ham and egg breakfast--which animal would you rather be to make a donation, pig or chicken?)

So that is history in a nutshell: (Step 1) transfer authority on earth from God to man; (Step 2) authority kidnapped by serpent from man through sin; and (Step 3) restore authority through a paid ransom of God’s own blood from the body of his son. But before we could ever understand the great price for that last step, a fuzzy picture of step three would be seen over and over again.

In Exodus, we see that God began Step 3 in a plan for a nation of people who shared a blood covenant. God himself instructed them for Passover--to take a lamb, paint its blood as a covering over their doorways, and eat its broken body for strength to leave the servitude of cruel masters. For thousands of years, including yesterday and today, April 8 and 9, in 2009, that nation is still celebrating Passover. They celebrate lambs being killed for them.

Tomorrow, as Jesus’ kingdom people, we will celebrate God’s lamb being killed for us. In case we are slow to catch on, John 1:29 tells us directly that Jesus was “the Lamb of God.” God’s lamb was killed following his Passover meal in which he established the “new covenant.” This covenant also has the blood and the broken body of the lamb. Are you getting the picture of communion? Good Friday was the culmination of Passover, and it was wonderfully good--by far the very best day that history had seen up to then. It was step three.

But God wasn’t finished. Three days later, Jesus became like Aaron’s rod that was dead but sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced almonds. He arose and walked out of the tomb with a new, never-ending life. The ransom was paid and step three was completed.

Christmas was incredible when God personally came to planet earth; Good Friday was astonishing when God personally paid a ransom for you and me; and Resurrection Day or Easter was awesome as the great God of the universe personally crowned his son Jesus King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Hallelujah!! Happy Good Friday.