Psalm 130 ~ with the Lord there is steadfast love

1 Corinthians 9:24

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

Psalm 130

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!

For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities!




My husband competes in Disc Golf. He is good. He goes to the National World Championship, Masters, and Texas States. He feels privileged to play. He does not win the National Championships. But he wins A tiers and B tiers and C tiers. And then he does not win. Today we were talking about a man who generally throws a 1,000 rated round and this last time, this good man threw an 820. Why this young man was really, really discouraged that day.

And a family member was telling me she quit cycling competitively because her score was good, about the exact same number every time. She said it was not so much fun. No variation. Not winning, not loosing, just towards the front - no variation.



Now this last month, allergies have assailed me. I have been taking antibiotics for my ears and have some ringing and a lot of dizziness. Prayers are appreciated. My birthday saw me contemplating the month of ill health.



We have talked about Blue Easter. Well I have been reading about people saying they have this Blue Easter. And realize a critical portion of our destiny is our set backs.


Attitudes.
Jesus let Judas be part of His ministry. Jesus knew that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord. Jesus created a new Heaven and a new earth.

Jesus has taken Creation God says is Good and Made Perfect Paradise He brought His Father.


1 Corinthians 15

16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.



Today I woke up to headache and dizziness. I felt so blue. And I decided, I knew the Will of God was to keep me going. And if I felt headache or dizziness, life would continue. I began to internally sing Psalms thinking about the fulfillment of God. Suddenly my health was on the second stage and the Goodness of God was front and center.

The Good News is Good News.

Life is Psalm 107. We are meant to learn to surf the waves. That is part of the Plan. The Child of the Most High can do all things through JESUS THE CHRIST. Our thoughts are part of the process. We can learn to be dissatisfied with what is good. We can let a glitch sink us. We can look to the goodness of God.

All things work together for those who love the Lord.

We can hope for the mercurial favor of others. We can rest on what God does not mean to have permanence. We grow in difficult times - during the lag. We listen to what God would tell us about Faith, Hope. Love.

Most Christians in the Light of Christ want to bless their loved ones and feel that we are so small. When we pray and God gives us REASONS To PRAY then we are developing our Relationship with God the Father. And then that pressure goes into prayer and the hose is going to make the prayer and the water go further.

All the people in the Scriptures had reasons to pray. And without those problems, their life would not be so interesting to us. We see God helps us. And we will keep on praying - and those replies give us Hope to go with God further in the Journey.

My loved one has felt that he is cycling in place and the problems were gaining on him. His face was sad, he told us he was sad. We really gave solutions and every one was rejected. There was not much to do but pray. Pray. Fast. Pray for a Longggg time. And he was going to a city to visit where he wanted just to go. His trip with friends was cancelled. And the next week his boss invited him to a conference to the same city - all expenses paid. They were to meet clients and go to 5 star restaurants - except this time - all was provided. During this trip he received a 25% raise and motivation to get more education. His efforts were affirmed. His face relaxed. He had been blessed by Father God. New ideas and new hope had arrived. Father God had given him the difficulties for the blessing to be enjoyed.

If we don't pray, we don't see the answers. Your prayers for my ears and dizziness is appreciated.

Life is made richer when we care deeply for one another. Your prayers for my husband's 3 damaged brain lobes is appreciated. To see him every day seek meaning is inspiring. To see challenges reached for and honest discussion of limitations. We Thank God for HIS Word of Life and Mercy.

This is where Jesus was there for Peter.


When Holy Water of God is made the Prayer goes like this:

Father God, In Your Good Creation, Your Holy Spirit moved over the waters.

Through the waters, You led the Children of Israel to safety and led them with dry feet - these the feet without even shoes.

In the water, Your Only Son chose to be obedient and baptized. Your Love was Shown to Your Beloved Son.

On top of the water Jesus walked and immediately reached for Peter, who had fallen.

Even in His Healing, Jesus made saliva and cured blindness.

In Holy Water, we ask to be named in Heaven and in earth, to receive Jesus' Holy Spirit.

We ask Father God. We pray this day for all baptized in Jesus to know again His Living Water in all of their being, and down to the small cells in our bodies. To feel Your Love, Joy, Peace, Gentleness, Encouragement. That this day forward and all our days see the Blessings of this day. Amen in Jesus and cover those we Love and the People You have given us. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Psalm 130 ~ hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast Love, and with Hm is plentiful redemption.

Finding your rhythm to run the race God wired you to run in His Plan of Jesus as Lord.

Psalm 130

A Song of Ascents.

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2  O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
 6my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

We have looked at the Miraculous life of Jesus. He has died and come back.

What does Easter Monday look like?

1. We need Easter Monday to be a Holiday. A Holy Day. We gather as families to say we have lived together, we will die together, Jesus is Lord. We need this day to travel and gather. (Oh Caaaanada!!!)

2. Because Easter Monday had the Lord's Family and His Disciples gather.

3. The truth is Easter Monday has emotion for all of us.


Colossians 2

2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you
and for those at Laodicea
and for all who have not seen me face to face,

2 that their hearts may be encouraged,
being knit together in love,
to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery,
which is Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit,
rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Emotional Easter Blue Monday  ~

a. Some people have attended Church for the first time in a long time.
They wonder why they are far off. Denial. Avoidance.

b. Some people have worked hard for Easter to happen.
For their families, for their ministry for the Lord, for their job. Did this meet their expectations? Approval of other people. Fatigue.

c. Has the Grace of God changed us? Self doubt.
Are we New Creations in Christ? Seemed like the same ol Story. Are we rotten?
We fall in many, many ways.

d. Why do our lives look so different than we hoped. Disappointment.
When so many of us grew up with strong expectations of goodness and the culture and the television has impeded upon our expectations.

e. We caused Jesus to die? Fear.
Are we worth the effort?
Unless we except the Gift of Jesus, we have a looming gift
we will not open or rejoice in.

f. They didn't show up. Loneliness.
They are rotten. And you tried. And you didn't try effectively. And you never knew how to try.
You were self-righteous.


g. Maybe you have false guilt. A terrible trap not of God.


4. We Know by Faith we are in Grace of God.

If you spent time thinking about how hard this is for Jesus, you still have some grief that Jesus was separated from God for carrying our burdens. Yes, after Easter we know the Disciples were adjusting to their questions and misunderstandings. The family of Jesus and His Disciples were not processing what happened. They had seen all the miracles and had spent a lot of time being in awe, in joy, in hope and confusion.

5. God is giving us the tools to deal with this emotion. The Gospels - the Word of God - want us Strong. Father God hopes for us to have a Framework, where His Holy Spirit comes to our framework. Our Framework is Love, Faith. Joy, Peace, Patience, Encouragement, Gentleness, Dignity, Self-Control. Team work.



So let's look at Easter Monday ~

The tombs have opened. Old and gone memories and people have shown up.

Doubt. Thomas has said he would go with Jesus. But who is this?

The sisters of Jesus Christ are not mentioned.






How will we live, lean into and rejoice that Jesus has died. Believing He lives in us and Lives Today in Events of Prayer, in Hope, Faith, in us, in the Light of Mankind.



Acts 11
‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’


Jesus says again and again He saved a household. This has to do with hope and continued prayer. Salvation if from God. Draw close to Jesus confidently - He meant you.

Be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Let the Power of the Holy Spirit give you this day.

This day is given to you. Each gift has the mercies of God. Find the sufficiency of God with Gratitude. Find the tools from God Today.



Plan on this:

Hebrews 12:12
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

Hebrews 35
1The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
2it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.

3 Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God


When Moses was tired, he told people he needed the help.

Exodus 17:12
When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset.


Acknowledge the Victories God had given you:

Job 4:3
Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.

Remember and text yourself the Wonder, the Love, the Possibilities
of the Living Father God and His Son Jesus, His Holy Spirit.

Daniel 10:18
Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength.

Try. God will give us persistence, diligence, patience, HOPE:

Job 16:5
But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

2 Peter 1
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world


Today Is Sufficient to take on something in prayer or a life improvement project. To save someone.


Caiaphas' Tomb was Found. And in his tomb were found 2 crucifixion nails.Why? We don't have to know

We have to know We are FREE in Jesus Christ.

We will be GIVEN His Salvation. We will be with Jesus in Paradise.

Peter knew this. Past the misunderstandings, the imperfections, the trouble, the self-doubt, the awe, the confusion.

John 6:68
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the Words of Eternal Life."


The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Peter and the Disciples began to recover from Jesus' loss and then recover from forgiveness undeserved, and recover from the reality and not the supposition. Jesus gave them work to do and they went forth and Did His Good Works.


Father,
You have Good Works prepared for us.

We are so very grateful for Your Mercy and Redemption.

Please give this to the People I love and the People You have given to me. Heaven is at hand. Paradise in Jesus is here. I believe the Promises of God.

Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Exodus 15:1-21 ~ He has triumphed Gloriously

The Ipuwer Papyrus is  called The Admonitions of Ipuwer In the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Netherlands. The sole surviving manuscript dates to the later 13th century B.C. (no earlier than the 19th dynasty in the New Kingdom). This was found at the base of the Pyramids and acknowledged by all to be authentic.

Exodus 15:1-21

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,

“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider ^[chariot] he has thrown into the sea.

² The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father's God, and I will exalt him.
³ The Lord is a man of war;
the Lord is his name.

⁴ “Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
⁵ The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
⁶ Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.

⁷ In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.

The Ipuwer describes the plagues and the slaves left through the Sea and with Egyptian gold. The Pharoah's army died in a freak wave of some really strange weather.

⁸ At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
⁹ The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
¹⁰ You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

¹¹ “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
¹² You stretched out your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.

¹³ “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;
you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

¹⁴ The peoples have heard; they tremble;
pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
¹⁵ Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
trembling seizes the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
¹⁶ Terror and dread fall upon them;
because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone,
till your people, O Lord, pass by,
till the people pass by whom you have purchased.


¹⁷ You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain,
the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.

¹⁸ The Lord will reign forever and ever.”

¹⁹ For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. ²⁰ Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. ²¹ And Miriam sang to them:

“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

 "The Ten Commandments"  Paramount Pictures released this on October 5, 1956 Directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starred Charlton Heston is well worth the time. We always think of the Movie industry as being profit related, but Mr. DeMille approached this film thinking of it's significance.

Cecil B. DeMile  had a great job and would probably be very grateful each year his work is shown on television. And saddened at the lack of Easter representation of Jesus at Easter. It was enormously well done for 1956, but could use some revamping today. 

Cecil B. deMille was persuaded to cast Charlton Heston as Moses in his movie-epic, The Ten Commandments, based on Heston's purported physical resemblance to Michelangelo's Moses.

Michelangelo's Moses located in a small Church called St. Peter's in Chains, Italy. Visitors can look for the chip on Moses' knee which was, according to one story, the result of Michelangelo's hurling his chisel at the statue. The artist, in awe of the life-like qualities that emerged from the marble as he worked, is said to have thrown the chisel and screamed at the statue, "Perché non parli? (Why don't you talk?)

This is, of course, about Jesus as God.








The Exodus was a tremendous Work of God.
Work for the Children of Israel.
And later, Cecil B. DeMille.

Easter.







Easter never passes when I do not think of Simon of Cyrene. 

Good Friday was a work day for Simon of Cyrene. Simon was working in the fields. Why did he come in from the fields?

A strange phenomenon happened from noon to 3 p.m. — normally the brightest part of the day. Luke tells us that darkness fell “over the whole land” Luke 23:44

The Scriptures point to the Cross. Jesus, like the Children of Egypt, extended beyond just the borders of Israel. Jesus might have had a foreign accent being a child raised in Egypt. But the Plague of Darkness has been seen before.

Exodus 10:21-23 Ninth Plague.

21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. 23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. 

God did not need darkness for 3 days as the Light of Christ was not to depart. Jesus tells us He will not leave nor forsake us. Death was not holding Jesus.


And Simon of Cyrene is sent home from the fields. To encounter God. Proving again Salvation belongs to the Lord. I almost always cry at Easter. We are all Simon of Cyrene.

Would carrying the Cross change the life of Simon?

Cyrene is Simon's home town. Cyrene, Libya is located in northern Africa. Cyrene, a Greek colony, also had a Jewish community where 100,000 Judean Jews had been forced to settle during the reign of Ptolemy Soter (323–285 BC) and was an early center of Christianity.

Coincidence ~ Cyrene becomes an early center of Christianity.

Coincidence ~ Acts 11:20
Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.


Coincidence ~ Romans 16:13
Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.

Coincidence ~ A burial cave in Kidron Valley discovered in 1941 by E. L. Sukenik, belonging to Cyrenian Jews and dating before AD 70, was found to have an ossuary inscribed twice in Greek "Alexander Son of Simon."

Simon wanted the joy of determining valor, after carrying the Cross of Jesus of God. This would not be coincidence and would be encountering the Man of God who had made "all were healed", the lame Walk. The deaf Hear. The blind See. And the poor have Good News. A Man, a King of Kings, Pilate said was innocent.



Josephus describes it as “the most wretched of deaths.”

Seneca argues that suicide is preferable to the cruel fate of being put on the cross.

Cicero called it “crudelissimum taeterrimumque supplicium” - a most cruel and disgusting punishment and he further suggested that the very word, cross, should be far removed not only from the person of a Roman citizen, but also from his thoughts, his eyes and ears.

omans regarded crucifixion with horror so did the Jews. They made no distinction between tree and cross.

“Anyone who is hung on a tree is under Gods curse.”
Deuteronomy 21:23


The practice of cruxifixion was discontinued by the Emperor Constantine.
+ God Bless Constantine.
Why we call his second empire 'Byzantine' is beyond me. This ought to be called "The Constantine Roman Empire" lasting a thousand years. Constantine witnessed the week long horror of Jesus' brothers' descendants put to death by torture and then crucifixion for refusal to yield Jesus as King of Kings - Savior.

The cross was made of an upright post called, stipes and a horizontal bar called patibulum. Several variations were in existence and crucifixion practices often varied in a given region in accordance with the preferences of the executioners.

If the patibulum was attached two to three feet below the top of the stipes, then the cross was called the “low tau” as compared to the “high tau” where the patibulum was attached to the top of the stipes. Actual trees still in the ground whether dead or alive were also used with the branches serving as the crossbar.

King of the Jews.
An additional block called the suppendaneum was used for the transfixion of the feet in later times. The titulus or small sign, stating the victim’s crime, was usually nailed to the cross above the victim’s head. The final part of the cross was the sedulum a horizontal wooden block serving as a crude seat, and it was attached midway down the stipes. The weight of the entire cross was probably over 300 pounds (136 kg) while that of the patibulum ranged between 75 and 125 pounds(34-57kg) It is highly likely that only the patibulum was carried by the victim and this was placed across the nape of the victim’s neck and balanced on both shoulders.


When we say Jesus carried His Cross. I think the Scriptures meant "He carried His Cross." Until Simon of Cyrene was put into carrying this for The Lord Jesus.








Jesus tells us we must carry our Cross. Jesus tells us we will have troubles. If we are grafted into the Salvation of Jesus.


Ethiopians carry walking crosses. As they walk - they carry Jesus Christ with them in their thoughts.

Some people feel wearing a cross is too showy.

We certainly want public officials to wear a badge or name tag. The Easter season is a good time to display your thanks to Jesus Christ, Lamb of God, Savior!

In You, Father God, and in Your Son Jesus Christ - we place all of our concerns for ourselves, the People we Love and the People You have given us. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Mark 15:29 ~ in three days

Mark 15:29

Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days

John 10:18
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.

Matthew 24:2
"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

The Temple Mount is surrounded with the Temple Stones Jesus said would be thrown down. Many governments have come and gone. The 6th Century saw the crowds gather to rebuild the Temple and have this effort destroyed by earthquake. 2,000 years later - the stones Jesus spoke of are here.



Jesus told us walls would fall. And Scriptures repeat and repeat. All the Scriptures point to Jesus the Messiah and then His Cross carried for us. After the Cross, the Scriptures point to the reunion with Jesus the Christ of His Father and ours.

Jericho is also the story of walls falling.

The people who have returned with miraculous news of life after death say the walls suddenly fall away and what we have is Jesus saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

Jericho walls show the Biblical portrayal has accuracy. The Scriptures point again and again to truth.

This is not if we like what Jesus and the Word has to say. Our ideas and thoughts vanish from the earth. The Word of God remains. What we have to know is Jesus defeated Death. This earth exists in a void of life called space. This life is possible because all things are possible with Father God. Eternal life is a Promise from the Author of Life - Father God, His Son Jesus and His Holy Spirit.


One day, our lives will change.

Jesus tells us His desire is to save the world. Genesis begins with a day of God, Peter tells us are Thousands of Years. And in the Creation event God tells us He sees His Creation as Good.



Joel 2:32
And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.

Acts 2:21
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.


Romans 10
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation

Matthew 10:32
"Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.

Luke 12:8
"I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.



Father God,
Jesus is Your Word manifest as man. The Light of mankind has visited us. Forgive our wrongdoing, cover with Your Name - sin. In Your Great Love, we want to be saved. Please make our Soul a place for Your Son and Your Holy Spirit. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Thank You, God. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Cast Your Nets Ministry in the Philippines

Luke 23:48-56 ~ The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how His body was laid in it

'Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.'

Luke 23:48-56

The Women at Jesus' Tomb, painted by James Tissot

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible

48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things. 
 

50 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Matthew 27:62-66
62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.


After a death, a severe blow - a tragedy, we know people pray. We know because we are fortunate to live in a time the city television news crews record people saying - they prayed and prayed to God.

Mary, His Mother, John - the beloved disciple and His Mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome, the women from Galilee, and there were also many other women who came up with Jesus to Jerusalem. They had stood at the Cross of Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.

What did they do on the last Saturday Sabbath. Passover. Holy Saturday. What was the first Easter Vigil? It is known -from the beloved disciple, John's writings. (John wrote in John's Gospel, in John 1,2 and 3, and Revelation.) It was not hard for John to Believe the end of the world - they had all discussed, personally, with Jesus - the end, was near. John, in the Scripture writings, had seen evil triumph. John had witnessed Jesus' Glory as the Son of God. John referred to this Glory seeing Moses and Elijah, hearing the Voice of God proclaim Jesus as His beloved Son, so 16 times in John's Gospel he speaks of Glory without breaking his promise to Jesus not to reveal it directly. John had witnessed the Son of God cry out His feeling of abandonment from God and he heard Jesus cry out His forgiveness. John was permanently shaken by the Glory and the evil.

In the midst of feeling like supreme evil had triumphed over The Messiah, what do we know was recorded? The crucifixion records what drowning, shocked survivors clung to with all their might during the first Easter Vigil. They looked at what their soul could cling to. This is what they clung to in the hope, the consolation they were seeking from God Almighty's power and mercy:

Matthew 26:53
Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?


Matthew 27:

32 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.

34 they offered him [Jesus] wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.

45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised

53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

55 There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.


Matthew 28:
11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.


Mark:

18 And they (soldiers) began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”


Luke:

27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.

28 But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
40 But the other [thief, one of the two with Christ] rebuked him [first thief], saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

43 And he [Jesus] said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.

49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.

56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.


John:

19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.
36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”

38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.





Holy Saturday was a time of fear and waiting. Jesus understands in life when we worry and have concerns. The Disciples of Jesus were in question and concern a large portion of the time. Jesus never dismissed His Beloved for having emotion. Jesus is in complete understanding of people in need of His attention in prayer. Jesus brings us Father God. Father.

The Gospels have personality. Each Gospel is indeed written by the Person who declares the authorship. Just as Papyrus 46, all 300 intact chapters of the New Testament were probably in existence during the life of John the Beloved Disciple.

Bishop Papias of Hierapolis interviewed John on Patmos Island and asked him what he thought of the other Gospels. John said he agreed with all of them and saw them as accurate.

The Gospels present Jesus in the way this person came to faith. The orderliness of the events make complete sense to the author of the Gospel in the Power of the Holy Spirit.



Holy Saturday has a message. We wait a lot in life to have results and to find knowledge. To grow. This is the time where we start trusting Father God. The disciples found enough courage for the day to gather to pray and begin to start looking for Jesus. After they prayed.




More blessed are the eyes that have not seen, and yet believe.

We are so fortunate not to have lived to be hiding from Jesus' death. We are blessed indeed to be part of His Promises.

Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †