The Empty Cross

Saturday dawned, and the three crosses were silhouetted against the morning sky. They were empty, for the two thieves and the radical preacher were dead already, and the bodies had been taken down the night before.

The preacher's followers were in hiding, fearful of the Romans, fearful of the Jewish leaders, heart broken because their Master had been killed. It had been a long night.

What would they do? James and John might return to their father and ask to be allowed back into the family business as fishermen. Peter had a family to consider. He had his own boat, so returning to the sea was also something that went through his mind.

But that was not what any of the followers wanted....they wanted their Lord back. How could this tragedy have happened? Wasn't He the Messiah? But he was dead!

The sun rose in the sky while the disciples were huddled in a room in the city, their shock and grief too raw for them to do anything for the moment.

Alone in the Garden

¹ After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

   “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 

² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. Now they know they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

   ¹³ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴ I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.¹⁷ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

 ²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

   ²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

   ²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

John 17: 1-26

Why Did God Make Roses?

Have you ever wondered why God made roses? You know, we learn about bugs and bees pollinating flowers and making honey and we take it for granted that they are drawn to the more colorful or more sweet-smelling blooms. But why did God make such a wide variety of beautiful blooms? Why roses???

I don't have any answer to this question, but I suspect that God just went all out when He created the plants, giving us an abundance of beauty as well as practicality. That's the kind of God He is.

He has the same desire to pour out blessings on the lives of His children. He doesn't have to bless us, but He loves us with a love the size of the universe. So, He gives us roses. And I am thankful.

Pray With Me

The finals days of Jesus ministry here on earth were drawing to a close as Passover approached.

As the cross drew nearer, Jesus spent time in prayer, agonizing over the burden he would bear, over the separation from his Father, to the point where he sweat drops of blood. He had his closest friends near, and all he asked of them was that they pray with him.

Peter, James and John, mere faulty, imperfect, frail men, could not even stay awake while Jesus prayed. And they had walked with Jesus for three years. They had seen five thousand fed with just a handful a fish and bread. They had seen Lazarus walk out of the tomb. They had seen demons flee in his presence. Yet, they did not really see, at all. And so, Jesus was alone in the garden, alone with His Father. He spent His last minutes before his arrest praying.

As we approach Passover, let us fall on our knees and spend time in prayer. May we not be like the men in the garden, too weak and too unconcerned when asked by their Lord to pray. May we find strength and power in the Lord, may our hearts be filled with a desire to do whatever is asked. May we stay awake.

He's the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star

Hosanna to the Son of David....Resurrection Week Begins with Praise

 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to Daughter Zion,  ‘See, your king comes to you, 

gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

   “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

   “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

   “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Matthew 21: 1-9

Resting In Peace

Just a country cemetery off the beaten path....markers date back to the mid 1800s. I know our bodies are just empty shells when we die, and it shouldn't matter what we do with them, however, if I had a choice, this is the kind of place I would like to put my "shell".