This is Good?
This weekend is Easter. It was my plan to write a daily thoughtful theme to prepare us for another holy celebration. Then life kicks me in the shins yet again, and I am forced to just read others' thoughts for the week. Still one niggling fragment to ponder remains - how much do you think about the phrase - Good Friday?
Good Friday - how is this a good thing?
I have always loved the Easter holidays. As a child, I looked forward to Palm Sunday. The day Jerusalem thought Jesus came to conquer the Romans. Palm Sunday to a child was intriguing because we would march up the aisle waving palm branches singing Hosanna. It felt like a parade for little people. I imagined I was back in the day, following Jesus on a donkey, and I felt so much smarter than the crowd back then because I knew something they did not know.
Only a week later, the crowd changed their tune. The very same crowd who sang Hosanna, turned into an angry mob. Their confusion as to who Jesus was made them blind to the truth. They thought they knew how this should turn out. They thought Jesus was the answer to their government problem. But Jesus knew something they did not know.
The friends of Jesus were confused as well. They were just praying in the Garden and soon an angry assembly is dragging Jesus to be tried in a court of law in the middle of the night. They didn't understand that Jesus knew something they couldn't understand, yet.
Then we look at Mary, mother of Jesus. We haven't heard where she was for awhile, and we are not told how long Joseph hasn't been around. When Jesus tells John to take care of her, we realize she is a widow with none to provide for her.
She has already felt the sting of death. Her faithful, loving husband is no longer by her side. Joseph, the stalwart protector who cared for them in the very beginning, even when it looked bad. I don't think we have any idea how serious the consequences were for marrying a pregnant girl. She has had a difficult road to walk already. Raising a child who is really the King of the universe. I wonder how often she was in awe of the child she carried and watched grow up to become a man. I wonder if she had dreams for how it would all plan out? But she didn't know what Jesus already knew.
Good Friday - it's not over yet
I used to love Easter weekend. It came with frivolity and celebration and children and treats and palm branches and my son Nathanael's birthday, too. Until Friday was the last day I saw my son alive. In my mother heart, I could not bear to see another Saturday. It was a day I wish could be erased from my memory and the history books. I could not see a single thing good about Fridays or Saturdays. It tore my heart and left it laying in the dirt. Now I understand what Mary felt on that terrible Friday.
The heart of a mother watching her Son die, knowing there is nothing you can do to stop it. Thinking how can this be? I thought I understood the plan to work out differently?
It may look like Friday night - But Jesus knew something she didn't know yet.
It has been awhile now, I can't recall and I don't want to think about it too long - but Saturdays don't set me in a tailspin anymore. Not like at first. The ache is still there and always will be, how can it be any other way? But because I am beginning to see, I remember, I can trust that God knows something I don't know, yet.
Now everyone knows how the story of Jesus on the cross turns out. Sunday morning shines bright and clear with angels announcing -"He is not here! He is risen!"
Our Lord and Savior didn't come to fight the Romans and take over the government. His fight was much bigger than that. When Jesus died and the disciples and Mary didn't see him for a couple of days, He was not taking a nap. He stormed the depths of hell and took back the keys of sin and death. Satan may still hold the cell doors of death open, but he can't keep it locked.
We will see our loved ones again! Jesus has already won the war!
So until we cross over that river dividing now and eternity, we can say - it is a Good Friday, because God knows something we don't know, yet!
From John chapters 18-21, Revelation 1:18, John 5:24
Stories written from the journey of my life by: Sue Leerhoff Brick by Brick
I have always loved the Easter holidays. As a child, I looked forward to Palm Sunday. The day Jerusalem thought Jesus came to conquer the Romans. Palm Sunday to a child was intriguing because we would march up the aisle waving palm branches singing Hosanna. It felt like a parade for little people. I imagined I was back in the day, following Jesus on a donkey, and I felt so much smarter than the crowd back then because I knew something they did not know.
Only a week later, the crowd changed their tune. The very same crowd who sang Hosanna, turned into an angry mob. Their confusion as to who Jesus was made them blind to the truth. They thought they knew how this should turn out. They thought Jesus was the answer to their government problem. But Jesus knew something they did not know.
The friends of Jesus were confused as well. They were just praying in the Garden and soon an angry assembly is dragging Jesus to be tried in a court of law in the middle of the night. They didn't understand that Jesus knew something they couldn't understand, yet.
Then we look at Mary, mother of Jesus. We haven't heard where she was for awhile, and we are not told how long Joseph hasn't been around. When Jesus tells John to take care of her, we realize she is a widow with none to provide for her.
She has already felt the sting of death. Her faithful, loving husband is no longer by her side. Joseph, the stalwart protector who cared for them in the very beginning, even when it looked bad. I don't think we have any idea how serious the consequences were for marrying a pregnant girl. She has had a difficult road to walk already. Raising a child who is really the King of the universe. I wonder how often she was in awe of the child she carried and watched grow up to become a man. I wonder if she had dreams for how it would all plan out? But she didn't know what Jesus already knew.
I used to love Easter weekend. It came with frivolity and celebration and children and treats and palm branches and my son Nathanael's birthday, too. Until Friday was the last day I saw my son alive. In my mother heart, I could not bear to see another Saturday. It was a day I wish could be erased from my memory and the history books. I could not see a single thing good about Fridays or Saturdays. It tore my heart and left it laying in the dirt. Now I understand what Mary felt on that terrible Friday.
The heart of a mother watching her Son die, knowing there is nothing you can do to stop it. Thinking how can this be? I thought I understood the plan to work out differently?
It may look like Friday night - But Jesus knew something she didn't know yet.
It has been awhile now, I can't recall and I don't want to think about it too long - but Saturdays don't set me in a tailspin anymore. Not like at first. The ache is still there and always will be, how can it be any other way? But because I am beginning to see, I remember, I can trust that God knows something I don't know, yet.
Now everyone knows how the story of Jesus on the cross turns out. Sunday morning shines bright and clear with angels announcing -"He is not here! He is risen!"
Our Lord and Savior didn't come to fight the Romans and take over the government. His fight was much bigger than that. When Jesus died and the disciples and Mary didn't see him for a couple of days, He was not taking a nap. He stormed the depths of hell and took back the keys of sin and death. Satan may still hold the cell doors of death open, but he can't keep it locked.
We will see our loved ones again! Jesus has already won the war!
So until we cross over that river dividing now and eternity, we can say - it is a Good Friday, because God knows something we don't know, yet!
From John chapters 18-21, Revelation 1:18, John 5:24
Stories written from the journey of my life by: Sue Leerhoff Brick by Brick
Comments
Post a Comment