He has Risen!!!

Today is the celebration of the most pivitol event in all of history, Jesus' resurrection! He told the disciples He would be back in three days and He did what He said He would do.

My family has a tradition of watching "The Passion of Christ" motion picture every year on Good Friday. We are drawn into the clash that occured on Calvary thousands of years ago. When you really think about it, Good Friday was really "dark" Friday. Good Friday is good because of what happened three days later on Easter Sunday. That dark day thousands of years ago, there was the ultimate battle staged. Satan was going to use the people to crush this "opposer of the status quote" (Jesus) and do a public display of humiliation and torment to Jesus on the Cross. When we put ourselves into the scene at the time, it was sad,.... horrible,..... guesome,....disgusting, .....frightful to say a few words. The disciples have been spending years with Jesus and now all of a sudden Jesus the "rebel" or "alledged outlaw" is gone. Now the crowd is turning on the disciples. Look at Peter, even in his dispair, he denied being a follower of Jesus three times after watching the crushing scene of the crucifixtion. Jesus predicted Peter's denial. Talk about humiliating!

Between Friday and Sunday, there is an element of shock. They may have been saying "what should we do".... "Is he really coming back, like he said?".... "That death looked final to me?"

Now here we are on Sunday, still in shock and in Matthew 28 an Empty Tomb is found. Where is Jesus' body? The angel who rolled back the stone said to Mary Magdalene and Mary in verse 5:

" Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you."

Jesus was really on trial, was He the Messiah or some imposter? Satan and the corrupt power structure at the time thought they crushed this uprising for good. But the battle just started on the Cross. The battle is for our hearts. Do we accept Jesus as having loved us so much to die on the cross for us..... or is it just a fable. Will you embrace the blood shed on the cross for your sins? Will you allow Jesus to come into your life and turn over some tables and be a rebel? When we do this...there becomes tremendous depth of what Jesus did on the cross.

We can be so proud of our Savior and put full faith in what He says and who He is . His plan and Jesus' Way was not crushed on the Cross, it was bolstered beyond belief! God's glorious efforts are alive and well thousands of years later.

There is so much to be thankful for this Easter. Happy Easter everyone! He has RISEN!!!