Hosanna Restoration Church

This week I have tried to imagine being present when Jesus was arrested and hoping I would not have run away. I never want to deny my Lord. I also have tried to imagine being there as they tried Him. I could imagine the knots in my stomach and thinking or maybe even shouting for Jesus to say the word; to at least say something. Would I have just stood there or would I have ran to his side and smacked that guard that smacked Him.

Then there is the question of what in the world would I do or feel as they whipped my Lord and beat Him till he could not be recognized? At what point would I go numb as He was dragged to the place of His crucifixion? Would I be screaming with each strike of the hammer driving the nails into His sinless body? Oh what a love he displayed.

Of course there is no way to really know what I would have done, but there is something that I can do now. I can live the life that He gives. I can now live the life that He has given by the Holy Spirit. He is able to complete what I commit to Him! Just as Jesus completed the plan for His life, God has empowered me (us) to complete the plan for my (our) life. For us to do any less is like running away in the garden, denying when questioned, or deserting in troubles times.

Jesus told Mary not to cling to Him until He had gone to the Father. Well he has gone to the Father now. We need to cling to Him now, just as she wanted to cling to Him then. Remember, she was there and she knew the despair and hopelessness as she watched Him die. She knew the emptiness of wondering what in the world she was going to do now. There was no one in the group telling everyone that He was going to rise from the dead. They all watched Him die and with Him all their hope had died as well. She did not go to the tomb to see the risen Lord. She went there to take care of a dead body. These were the thoughts that consumed her and we could write many books listing the thoughts of all of the other followers.

We are so fortunate that we have the rest of the story to build our lives upon, and we must now live the life that He gives. Death has been swallowed up in victory. He has given all we need so that we can always triumph in Christ Jesus. We know that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. We know that He is alive. We can receive the Holy Spirit. We can walk in power.

We cannot live those days with Jesus, but we can live everyday of the rest of our lives with Him! Oh my friends, let’s make each day a celebration of our risen Lord. We can rise up in the morning giving thanks and receiving a greater measure of His life each day. We can confirm that His life, death, and resurrection were not in vain. We can show the world that He lives and that He is not some myth.

We do not have to stand idly by as the devil attempts to remove Him for our society. We can do something about it. Just as it was for death that He came, it was for life that He arose. Our lives!