Darkness Covered The Land

I am remarkably non-motivated this morning. Imagine then how the disciples following Jesus of Nazareth felt on this particular day with their Lord in the grave. The world and its prince rejoiced; "Savior, what savior?" they may have said as the priests and Pharisees declared their troubles at an end with this man from Galilee. Many persons throughout the ages have noted a strong capacity in humans to do or think what is worst for us. Pilate asked "What is truth?" of the Man who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." The very Man who stood before Him at the judgment seat was the truth Pilate sought. The religious leaders who looked for the coming of Messiah demanded that same Roman governor execute the Messiah. On this day, many a doubt probably crossed the mind of all the disciples save the one who took his own life. Darkness of a most unfaithful sort indeed covered the land on this day. Yet, what was that light shining in the darkness?

Of course the very worst thing for our eternal life is to reject the very One who holds victory over Death and the grave in His mighty hands. As the new day dawned on a Sunday, Mary Magdalene found a certain tomb standing open that had held the body of a certain dead Savior. Something had gone very wrong with the plans and partying of the world's powers. John and Peter looked into the tomb and found only empty grave clothes and a folded hat. The Roman guards were fled, and then bribed and ordered to spread a lie. Darkness fought back with its usual methods, but the Light had shined forth from a tomb of all places.

Mary asked a 'gardener' what he had done with her Lord's body. Probably not a question the gardeners of the graveyard district received on a regular basis. One would not expect them to play practical jokes on the recently deceased or their grieving relatives and friends. With earthquakes, darkness at midday to afternoon, torn veils in the temple, believing Romans, and forgiven thieves, a person might expect Mary and the disciples to be ready for what happened. Furthermore, Jesus himself told them He would rise again on the third day. Yet, even with all of that they were caught in that spiritual and mental gloom. We surely have trouble believing what is best for us!

Several times and to many people, Jesus would show himself risen over the next month or so, yet they had trouble believing in the Risen Lord. What if Jesus had showed himself to Pilate late one night a week or so later? Maybe those records were classified by the Roman government and buried in a deep vault somewhere. Our Lord had the opportunity to do some ornery things for a while. Imagine our Risen Lord visiting poor old Caiaphas once or twice a day for a month just to say, "Hey!" Meh, probably wouldn't have worked when even those who were intimate with Jesus had trouble recognizing Him in His risen state. That resurrection must be some change; I look forward to it.

Have a wonderful Resurrection Day in Christ Jesus!

Bucky