SCRIPTURE “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. Matthew 28:13-15
THOUGHT It’s the stuff of horror movies: the slain king of a rival faction appears to haunt those who killed him. Only, in the movies, the apparition looks gruesome, and misses no chance to terrorize his foes.
The case of Jesus is far different – not the story of a tortured ghost, but of a flesh and blood, resurrected God-man whose scars you could touch; who could be eating one minute and walking through walls the next; a tender fisher-of-men who didn’t waste time after resurrection frightening his foes, but loving his followers instead. Why? Because he knew that he had already overcome the enemies that needed conquering (Rev. 1:18).
But, still, don’t you wonder what fear seized Herod’s heart when word got out that the soldiers left to guard Jesus’ tomb came back, terrorized at his disappearance? The “King of the Jews,” as a Roman sign declared his crime to be, was now a dead king walking, and both Roman and Jewish governments needed answers; so as power-mongers and governments will, they bought them with hush money. First, they purchased his betrayal to death — then they had to purchase a story to keep him that way!
Perhaps it is a worn cliché, but the truth is still stranger than fiction.
SONG Christ is Risen, Matt Maher https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IExdrZGQVeI
PRAYER Lord of Resurrection, you defied the odds, and you defy imagination. A dead king, alive again, walking with your followers still. We are amazed and grateful, King Jesus!
“While Lent is the journey into the most significant event of human history, the three great days [Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Saturday night Great Paschal Vigil] are a life-changing experience of God’s saving work in history. For Christians there is no time throughout the entire Christian year that is more crucial than the three great days. These are days to be set aside to enter into a worship that is the source of our entire spirituality, a moment in time that defines all time for Christians, a moment in time that is the very sum and substance of our spirituality for every season, every week, every Sunday, and every moment of every day. . . . It is imperative for the church to go beyond its present practice to recover the fullness of the three great days and to impress upon us all how important these days are, not only as historical events to be remembered but as events to be lived in our own dying to sin and rising to the new life of the Spirit. For herein lies the source and energy of our spiritual lives.“
Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Time Forming Spirituality Through the Christian Year
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Blogger Amy Clemens is the author of Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. In it she explores childhood sexual abuse and how it impacted her faith (or lack thereof) for four decades. You’ll find not only her story, but better yet, the Big Story of God.
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