REFLECTION ON THE PATH OF JESUS

EASTER IS NEARLY UPON US ! IT IS TRULY A SPECIAL TIME OF YEAR FOR EVERYONE IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. IT IS THE TIME OF JOY, OF NEWNESS, OF HOPE. IT IS WHEN WE CAN LOOK FORWARD, NOT BACKWARD. JESUS GAVE HIS LIFE FOR US ON THE CROSS THAT WE MIGHT NOT BE JUDGED, BUT RATHER KNOW THAT OUR SINS AND UNWORTHINESS WERE TAKEN ON BY HIM, THAT WE MIGHT OVERCOME JUDGEMENT AND DEATH, AND BEGIN ANEW IN ETERNAL LIFE WITH HIM. HIS RESURRECTION IS OUR RESURRECTION. WE ARE HIS FOREVER, ONCE WE ACCEPT HIM AS OUR SAVIOR, LORD, AND KING.

I LIKE TO SPEND THE WEEK OF EASTER THINKING ABOUT JESUS, AND SPECIFICALLY ABOUT HIS LIFE AS HE APPROACHED HIS SUFFERING, JUDGEMENT BY ROME AND THE JEWISH PRIESTS, AND ULTIMATELY HIS CRUCIFIXION. THE DAYS LEADING UP TO HIS DEATH MUST HAVE BEEN BEYOND DIFFICULT. HE KNEW WHAT HIS PATH HELD, AND AS A MAN, TO KNOW THE SUFFERING YOU WOULD GO THROUGH AND THE SURENESS OF YOUR DEATH WOULD FRANKLY BE TERRIFYING AND UNBEARABLE. HOW COULD HE POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FACE IT ? WE KNOW THAT IT WAS A STRUGGLE. HE PRAYED FOR THE FATHER TO TAKE IT AWAY FROM HIM. HE PRAYED SO HARD THAT HIS SWEAT BECAME “LIKE DROPS OF BLOOD FALLING TO THE GROUND”. “ FATHER, IF YOU ARE WILLING, TAKE THIS CUP AWAY FROM ME-NEVERTHELESS, NOT MY WILL, BUT YOURS BE DONE” Luke 22:42. ALSO DURING THIS TIME, HE WAS VISITED BY AN ANGEL, WHO GAVE HIM STRENGTH…..AND THEN, HE WAS ARRESTED, AND HIS FATE WAS SEALED. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE ANGST AND FEAR THAT HIS DISCIPLES MUST HAVE FELT. DESPITE ALL THE TIME THEY HAD SPENT WITH HIM, HOW COULD THEY NOT BE OVERWHELMED WITH FEAR AND ANGER ? WE KNOW FROM THE SCRIPTURE THAT ALL THESE EMOTIONS AND MORE WERE TRULY FELT. SO, TAKE A MOMENT AND PUT YOURSELF IN THAT PLACE. IMAGINE THE SCENE, AND IMAGINE HOW YOU YOURSELF WOULD FEEL…..

I AM IN ISRAEL. I AM STANDING ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. MY HEART RACES, BECAUSE I CAN SEE ALL OF THIS STORY UNFOLDING BELOW ME. THERE ARE MANY JEWISH TOMBS LINING THE HILLSIDE ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, AND ACROSS I CAN SEE THE WALLS AND THE EAST GATE OF JERUSALEM, WHERE JESUS WILL TRIUMPHANTLY RETURN WHEN HE COMES AGAIN. I AM OVERWHELMED AS I THINK ABOUT HIM, AND I SHAKE MY HEAD. THE EAST GATE HAS BEEN FILLED IN WITH BRICK IN A FUTILE ATTEMPT TO STOP HIM FROM ENTERING JERUSALEM…..IT WON’T. I START DOWN THE PATH TOWARD THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. THE PATH IS STEEP, AND I REALIZE HOW MANY HAVE WALKED THIS PATH BEFORE ME. THEN, THERE IT IS. THE GARDEN, A BEAUTIFUL PLACE, FULL OF TREES. OLIVE TREES THAT ARE OLD AND TWISTED, OH THE THINGS THEY HAVE SEEN. IT IS A TRANQUIL PLACE, PEACEFUL, WITH FLOWERS AND A QUIET REVERENCE IN THOSE HALLOWED GROUNDS. I TAKE A DEEP BREATH….THIS IS WHERE JESUS SPENT SO MUCH TIME, AND WHERE HE PRAYED. SOON MY JOURNEY TAKES ME TO THE SOUTHERN STEPS OF THE TEMPLE. I LOSE MY BREATH, AND I AM OVERWHELMED. I CAN FEEL JESUS AND HIS PRESENCE, AND I CAN FEEL THE HOLY SPIRIT IN A STRONG WAY, AND I WEEP. I WEEP IN JOY. I KNOW MY SAVIOR IS ALIVE, AND I KNOW THAT SOME DAY I WILL BE ABLE TO HEAR ABOUT HIS LIFE, HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS ANSWERED, AND EMBRACE HIM IN A HUG THAT I LONG FOR SO MUCH. LATER, TOWARD EVENING, I VISIT THE GARDEN TOMB. THERE ARE VARIOUS THEORIES ABOUT WHERE THE ACTUAL TOMB OF JESUS WAS, BUT FOR ME, IT FEELS RIGHT. I ENTER, AND I WONDER….IS THIS WHERE YOU WERE LORD ? I SEARCH FOR MY FEELINGS, AND THEN I SEE AN OLD SIGN ON THE WALL. “ HE IS NOT HERE, FOR HE IS RISEN” !

MY SAVIOR IS RISEN. DEATH HOLDS NO VICTORY. MY SINS ARE FORGIVEN. I AM BORN AGAIN. I AM HIS FOREVER, AND HE IS MINE.

I AM SO THANKFUL TO BE A FOLLOWER OF JESUS. LIFE GIVES US SO MANY CHOICES, AND GOD HAS GIVEN US THE FREE WILL TO DECIDE FOR OURSELVES WHAT WE SHALL BELIEVE, AND WHAT WE SHALL MAKE OF OUR LIFE. TAKE SOME TIME AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOUR LIFE HOLDS. WHAT IS OF MOST IMPORTANCE ? IS IT TRULY COMPLETE ? I CAN ONLY TELL YOU THAT FOR ME, I AM AT PEACE, AND MY DAYS OF WORRY AND LOOKING FOR PURPOSE ARE OVER. I’M A LONG WAY FROM BEING DONE IN MY GROWTH AS A DISCIPLE OF JESUS, BUT I KNOW THAT I AM HIS ! HE IS MY PURPOSE !

MAY THIS EASTER BE FULL OF HOPE AND JOY, AND MAY YOU FIND THE INCREDIBLE LOVE OF CHRIST IN YOUR LIFE. MAY HE BE YOUR WAY, YOUR TRUTH, AND YOUR LIFE ! SHALOM, PEACE, AND BLESSINGS. JA

IT WAS NOW ABOUT NOON, AND DARKNESS CAME OVER THE WHOLE LAND UNTIL THREE IN THE AFTERNOON, FOR THE SUN HAD STOPPED SHINING. AND THE CURTAIN OF THE TEMPLE WAS TORN IN TWO. JESUS CALLED OUT WITH A LOUD VOICE, “FATHER, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT”. WHEN HE HAD SAID THIS, HE BREATHED HIS LAST. Luke 23: 44-47

HE IS NOT HERE, HE HAS RISEN. REMEMBER HOW HE TOLD YOU, WHILE HE WAS STILL WITH YOU IN GALILEE. THE SON OF MAN MUST BE DELIVERED OVER TO THE HANDS OF SINNERS, BE CRUCIFIED AND ON THE THIRD DAY BE RAISED AGAIN. Luke 24:6-7

JESUS ANSWERED, “ I AM THE WAY AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME. John 14:6