To Believe

Often things are not as they appear to be. For example, these three girls were looking fine in 1997, but they were nowhere near as grown up as they were pretending to be. Over the years I’ve watched Courtney, Caitlynn, and Hannah all grow into beautiful young women, although they still aren’t quite grown up yet and I doubt they will ever dress like this, even when they are. (Hannah, far right, says she would wear animal print flats, but that's about it.)

The older I become, the more firmly I believe we have to go through Holy Week to get to Easter. We have to put ourselves in the picture with Jesus and His disciples during this Holy Week to understand the magnitude of the gift of Easter. And things certainly were not as they appeared during that week that changed the world forever.

What appeared to be a triumphant march into Jerusalem on the very day Jewish families everywhere chose their perfect Passover lamb was, in reality, a death march. What seemed like a typical Passover meal in an upstairs room turned into a last supper. What masqueraded as a fair trial was actually a thinly disguised plan to placate an angry mob and get Pontius Pilot off of the hook politically. And what seemed like the end of all of His followers' hopes and dreams, with the Christ hanging on a cross between two thugs on a hill at Golgatha, was in truth our saving grace.

Was it any wonder the disciples were confused right up to the very end? Even though Jesus told them everything that would happen well in advance, it was simply unfathomable that He would be crucified. After all, He was God incarnate…the Messiah they had been anxiously awaiting...even though that was not how He appeared to everyone.

And so it’s no surprise that when it was apparently all over, and Jesus was sealed in His tomb, it seemed as if the final chapter had been written. And when then women found that the stone had been rolled away on what we call Easter morning, it certainly seemed as if someone had stolen His body. I can’t imagine their heartbreak in that moment. But then, in the greatest coda ever written in the history of man, the angel proclaimed Jesus’ resurrection, and turned their world (and ours) upside down.

On this Good Friday, I’m reminded of a message I haven’t heard in a long time. Tony Campolo’s signature sermon is titled, “It’s Friday But, Sunday’s Coming,”, and you can listen to it here. It’s a wonderful reminder to anyone who can’t see beyond what entangles them today. No matter how bad things may seem, if you will look beyond the tomb, you’ll see the reality of Easter. I promise you, Sunday’s coming!

To Believe (John 19-23, The Message)

Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, "Peace to you." Then he showed them his hands and side.

The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were exuberant. Jesus repeated his greeting: "Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you."

Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. "Receive the Holy Spirit," he said. "If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?"