Death and Jesus Meet

There wan't ONE recorded person alive that ACTUALLY BELIEVED that Jesus would be raised back to life. NOT ONE. Not the contemporary prophets, not the people of great faith, not his closest friends, not his most loyal followers, not one.

Anyone?

I suspect that many with Him had a GREAT FAITH and a HOPE that a miracle would occur during the Passover, and the prayer time in the garden, and the trial, and the beatings, and the long walk to the place of the skulls, and the even in the final moments as the man hung on the cross...there must have been those present that KNEW...just knew that something would happen.

But nothing did. NOTHING.

Hope died and the dreamers lost their dreams.

A son, a friend, a new beginning became an end.

Death won. Lights blinked out. The creation lost its creator. Ugly. Small. Alone.

Days turned to tears and the dreamers finally crept home.

Nobody believed. NOT ONE. Not a child. Not a centurion. Not a disciple. A prophet. Not one.

Where were the angels? Where was the back up? The power turned off and everyone went back to their houses. OVER. Done.

A day goes by, then another, then another...Where do we go now? Back to our families? Back to the tax booth, the fishing boats, and the churches? Back to work? What is there to return to after this?

JESUS opened his eyes. He stood and stretched his arms. He looked at the scars that remained and remembered the war.

JESUS SPEAKS. Oh, Death, where is your sting?

DEATH REPLIES. I'm sorry, this has never happened before. You've broken the system. How are we supposed to figure any of this out? How are we supposed to continue?

JESUS SMILES BACK. That's right, everything's changed. Easter.

DEATH SAYS. Maybe we should keep this quiet. Just between you and me.

BUT...DEATH IS TALKING TO AN EMPTY ROOM...JESUS HAS ALREADY WALKED OUT. 

EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED.

Death swallowed by triumphant Life!

Who got the last word, oh, Death?

Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?

It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin it's leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of life, all three--sin, guilt, death--are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. 

Thank God!

written by Eli Shackelford

An Easter Haiku

love

by lindsay

palm. praise. sing. loud. shout.

hosanna. sing. hosanna.

crowds. cheer. sing. honor.

despair. dying. pain.

sin. shame. hate. nails. wood. thorns. tears.

breath. death. gone. lost. waste.

tomb. clothes. angel. stone.

empty. wonder. elation.

found. king. hope. live. alive. love.