Endless Waiting

THE ENDLESS WAITING...

TIME STANDING STILL...

EVERYTHING IS A BLUR...

The day after Jesus' death was I'm sure one of the longest days for his disciples. I think about the women who so wanted to prepare his body properly for burial but were not able to because of the Sabbath.

I can't imagine what that day was like...so filled with sorrow... grief... anger... disbelief!

Was it all a dream? What will we do know? When will this nightmare be over...

In the Garden

One of my favorite places in Israel was sitting in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was a place where Jesus and his disciples often went to pray. There was something about the place, so peaceful, so serene. As I sat there looking at the Olive Trees and reading over and over Jesus' last visit there. (Matthew 26:36-46) The pain and anguish he must have felt really hit me...

there in the garden...

among the trees...

Olive trees that don't grow straight, their trunks are not smooth as other trees. These trees grow in twists and turns. These trees look so harsh, all twisted and gnarled...

Reading the passage again as I looked upon the olive trees...what anguish. Over and over again Jesus' plea is for the Father to take this burden from him. If at all possible may this not be the road he is to travel.

After his heartfelt plea, Jesus resigns to the fact that this was God's will ...

It was there that I realized how deep God's love truly is...

He was looked down on and passed over,

a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.

Isaiah 53 - The Message

The Shadow of the Cross

Imagine for a moment you are at the theater. The play is one that is familiar full of passion and intrigue, a story of love and betrayal. The lights have been dimmed, the actors are standing on their marks, the orchestra begins to play as the curtain is raised...

The main character is seated on a colt and begins his descent along a long and winding road. In the background stands a dark figure, undefined yet familiar. There are several people gathered around this man, something about him is different.

As he draws closer, people begin to gather...they are waving palm branches and throwing their coats on the ground before him. The dark shadow grows larger, its shape becoming clearer. The people begin to cheer and shout, the orchestra swells, you can feel the excitement in the air!

"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"

The shadow of the Cross is now prominent in the background, casting its cloud of darkness upon the man.

All throughout Jesus life and ministry the cross, the shadow of the cross, looms in the distance. It was for a very specific purpose that Jesus came into the world, to become the final sacrifice, to pay for our sins. Often times at Christmas we see symbols of a cross or a nail along with the baby in the manger, a foreshadowing of what is to come. But, always in the forethought of our celebration is the shadow of the cross. It was for this purpose that Jesus came!