Easter

John 18:11-13

“Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,
And led him away to Annas first; “

With the business of Easter I want to keep this brief, as well as wish everyone a blessed Easter. For in that the Lord has risen, we truly have a hope that is eternal that the events in this world cannot take away. Our hope is completely independent of the affairs of this life, for it is God himself who keeps it.

There are countless sermons that can be preached, and should be preached, from the account of the Lord’s Crucifixion and the events leading up to it and the events afterwards. In reviewing the account I have selected these very few versus and in studying them some truths become very evident.

“the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” What is the evidence that I am a believer, is it not that I obey my Father? Christ is our chief example of what it means to obey, for He obeyed unto death. I find that our commitment to the Lord can be quit shallow. As long as things go well, we are all in. However take away the blessings, usher in “Job’s trials” or mundane work as Moses had tending sheep for forty years, or having your life threatened by an insane King and our story changes. We have such a comfortable life here  compared to most of the world, that we interpret comfort and ease as a sign of God’s blessing. What if the opposite was true? That trials and afflictions was when the Chief Designer of our soul actually had his hands on us as He carefully is molding us in the fire, removing the dross and shaping us into a ring that represents the vow of marriage? What then would be our attitude towards trials and severe hardship, would it change?

him,” To bind the hands of the Almighty who just by speaking knocked them over. He created the universe and all that is in it with the spoken power of His Word, only man did He ” fashion into His own image Gensis 2:7 ( the word ” to fashion” implies the use of His hands).  Puny man, so ignorant of who is in their presence. God forgive us when through our ignorance we too bind His hands through disbelief.

“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” I have often wondered about this verse. What was the emotion, the feeling when God became two distinct entities? It had never happened before in eternity past nor would it ever happen again in eternity future. An emotion, a feeling that the God head had never experienced. I know the pain of being separated from a love one, it really hurts! I would rather be hit hard than to try to live with a broken heart. Fortunately for humanity that the Trinity became reunited once again after death, after the ultimate sacrifice was paid.

“And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;” Glory to God, the evidence of our sin paid in full. No longer would my sin be a curtain ( separation) between my Lord and me. That with a repentant heart I myself can come to the throne with the blood of the Lamb ushering me in. The curtain was torn by God’s own hands, from top to bottom, not from bottom to top. Such a freedom we have knowing that we do not need to be controlled by our sin nature. Amen