“And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.” Mark 16:6
We had a Good Friday service at our church last night and I was very touched by the experience. It wasn’t a dramatic production; it was just a simple service that described the truths of the crucifixion and resurrection. We would hear a reading of scripture, meditate on that scripture for a short time, sing a song that related to the scripture and then do it all again. We did that several times and then ended with communion. It was small crowd of people, typical of any church happening outside of Sunday morning, but as I listened the scripture readings, sat quietly pondering their words, and sang (the best I can), I found the emotion overwhelming.
I think I was struck by the greatness of the sacrifice that Christ made for me. Jesus knew that His ministry would be punctuated with pain that no man had ever felt, nor would ever feel again. Yet, with that ahead of Him, he loved and served others, and then went willingly to the cross. As I realized that, it was overwhelming. Tomorrow morning we have a Sunrise Service at the Wildlife Safari and I am sure I will be touched once again. But last night’s experience is not typical. Too often I take the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for granted and instead of being moved by His sacrifice, I just go through the motions.
Romans 10:9-10 is one of my favorite verses and I can rattle it off without even thinking and unfortunately, sometimes I do. “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Christ did all the work and we, if we choose, receive all the benefit. If the resurrection had not taken place the world would not be the same. We would not have our calendar, we would not celebrate Christmas, Good Friday would not be good, and no one would have the opportunity for eternal communion with God. So tomorrow I don’t want to go through the motions; I don’t want to sing songs without listening to the lyrics; I don’t want to listen to a sermon while my mind flits somewhere else. I want to feel what I know- Jesus is Risen; He is Risen indeed, and He has gone to prepare a place for me.
Have a wonderful Easter.