He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16
Jesus spoke to them and said, “And these signs will follow those who believe. In My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink of anything deadly it will by no means hurt them, they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.”
Do you believe that the Lord is risen? Are you telling the world the Good News?
This is what Jesus commands to us do, to tell the world the Good News that he is alive. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
After Jesus rose from the dead it was hard for others to believe. He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went to the disciples, who were grieving and weeping, and told them what had happened. But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn’t believe her. Perhaps they had forgotten his promise.
“Afterward, Jesus appeared in a different form to two of his followers who were walking from Jerusalem into the country. They rushed back to tell the others, but no one believed them. Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. And then he told them, to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”
Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Luke 24:5
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee that the Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again? Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. Luke 24:1-9
ALLELUIA! DEATH COULD NOT HOLD HIM, THE TOMB COULD NOT HOLD HIM, HE IS RISEN, THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED!
He is risen! The Lord is risen indeed? Alleluia! Let us celebrate the joys of Easter!
THE GREAT EASTER VIGIL IS ON!
Today is Holy Saturday when we begin the great Easter Vigil. Jesus was laid in the tomb, but we know that even a sealed tomb could not hold him. Therefore, we keep watch for the resurrection of Christ. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!
Today is Good Friday? Many would question this day and would wonder what was so good about this day. But it was good, in that Christ, gave his life for us. With a thief on his left and right and encircled by a crowd of onlookers, Jesus gently and willingly stretches out his hands and accepts the torture of the nails. In the midst of this most intense agony, his heart remains on his people. “Father, forgive them, he prays, for they know not what they do.”
Jesus did not immediately die when they nail him to the cross. He suffered for three long agonizing hours first. The giver of life, who stood side by side with the Father at the moment of creation, was now dead. His mission on earth was nearly accomplished. He gave up his spirit, and gave us his life! When the crowds finally went away, a few of Jesus’s followers were brave enough to ask for his body so they could bury it. Two men carefully remove the body of Jesus from the cross and lay it in the arms of his waiting mother. Tears run down Mary’s cheeks as she holds the son given to her so many years before. Mary and the friends of Jesus prepare his body for burial and lay it in a tomb cut from solid rock and seal it. They have forgotten or perhaps failed to believe, the promise Jesus made to them, that he will rise from the dead.
Today is Holy Thursday. Jesus can now see Golgotha in the distance. He knows the end is near. He is parched and dry, so weak from the loss of blood and the sheer pain, that he can barely stand, much less carry the heavy cross. He falls again for the third time. Still, his executioners mercilessly urge him on.
Jesus finally reaches the top of the hill, the place of his death. His reward for completing this part of the journey is to be savagely and brutally stripped. His open wounds cling to his garments, so the pain is excruciating as the soldiers rip his garments from his body, taking flesh and blood along with the clothes. Imaging the humiliation, how foolish Jesus felt. Has anyone made fun of you for your belief in Jesus Christ? How did you, or how would you respond?
As Jesus walked along the road toward his death, some people laughed, some stood in silence and wondered who he was. Some cheered; but one group of women seeing him hurting, tired, and beaten down, cried. This small act of faith and courage in the face of hardship supported Jesus in his grief, perhaps at a time when he needed it most.
Are we sympathetic to the plight of others? How do we react when we see others been taking advantage of, others beaten and downtrodden? Do we laugh, do we cry, do we cheer, do we stand by in silence? Are we so stiff-necked and hard-hearted, unable to show compassion? There are so many things in this world that makes us sad, that makes us cry, but, is there anything that we can do to help? Let us strive to do little acts of kindness to one another.
One could only imagine how hard Jesus’ journey to Calvary was. He was wracked by pain, but he has been comforted by the care of Simon and Veronica. He continues on his journey, feeling the rhythm of the road beneath his feet. As he falls again, all the pain is renewed. A jolt of agony shoots through his body, but, he rises again, and continues on his way. He is thinking about us. Who else but Jesus, was able to do this for us out of love?
When have you felt like giving up but chose not too? How did God give you strength? I am sure that all of us could remember a time in our life when we were weak, when we felt like we could not go on, but after praying to God and asking for his help found the strength to go on. If you have such a story, share it!