Hi there friends,
Cool mornings are giving way to warm sunny afternoons, a layer of pollen covers everything, birds are feeding their babies outside my window & flowers are bursting forth with pink, yellow & white blooms. These are all beautiful signs of spring. I love spring and everything associated with it – signs of new life, sitting out on our back deck in the evening & Easter.
Easter brings with it so many emotions – from the sadness of Jesus’ death on the Cross to the jubilation of His Resurrection. Recently I was watching the movie The Passion of Christ and was struck by a view point I had not thought about in a long time. During the flogging scene (which is incredibly hard for me to watch) the camera focuses on Mary, the mother of Jesus. My heart absolutely broke in two as I saw the grief on her face.
As a mom I briefly let myself imagine the heartache and agony she felt watching her son beaten and hung on the cross. The thought of being in her position was almost too much to bear. I couldn’t fathom the distress and pain she must have felt. In John 19:25-27 we see the only glimpse of Mary at the Crucifixion.
“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene, When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.”
While this passage doesn’t go into detail of Mary’s heartache, I envision her reaction… crumpling to the ground desperately pleading for His release, begging God to save Him and knowing there was nothing I could do to keep these events from happening. My mind also thinks about how God must have felt during these dark hours watching His Son die on the cross and watching and hearing Mary cry out to Him to save her son. I believe we see a glimpse of God’s anguish in Matthew 27:50-51.
“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. As that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.”
For me, I know that if I were to watch my son take on the sins of the world, be beaten and crucified; my world would be rocked and my heart would be torn in two. But it was during this time that the barrier between God and man was removed and the curtain being torn in two is that symbol of the barrier being removed.
As much as I know placing Jesus on the Cross hurt God I know that it is proof of God’s incredible love for me and for you my friend. Because of His glorious love for us He was willing to sacrifice His Son to save us from our sins and bring us into a relationship with him. A relationship in which we are completely free to approach Him.
And with Jesus’ Resurrection we know that although we have death through sin we live eternally in the forgiveness of our Lord and Savior. How incredible is that my friends! We may grieve over the death of Christ but we rejoice in knowing that HE IS ALIVE!
“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: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ Then they remembered his words.” Luke 24:1-8
So during this Easter weekend as you grieve the death of Jesus and rejoice in His Resurrection remember God’s love was so extraordinary for you that He gave His Son for your sins so that you may have eternal life (John 3:16). Happy Easter my friends!
In His Calm,
