By: Carole L. Haines
Aaaaah, Easter Sunday! I awoke at 4:30 in the morning, not by choice, but I believe He awakened me. I lingered a bit longer and then began to gather the white linen cloth and the flowers to dress the cross. Not too cold outside for a mid-April morning. I lift the Crown of thorns and the Black drape of mourning from the cross. I carefully drape the White cloth of Life from arm to arm on the cross and hang the flowers of Life where His head had hung just two days before. It is the third day, and as the women of old, I symbolically go outside to find that He is Risen indeed. Aaaahhh, The Glory that is Easter. We will close our look at The Sufferings of Christ with the Victory that is the Resurrection:
7 How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
They shout joyfully together;
For they will see with their own eyes When the Lord restores Zion.
9 Break forth, shout joyfully together, You waste places of Jerusalem;
For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared His holy arm In the sight of all the nations,
That all the ends of the earth may see The salvation of our God.
(Isaiah 52:7-10)
“It is finished!” Jesus said this from the cross just as He died. Now the suffering was over, the glory seed was planted and on the third day, He rose again from the grave. And the Glory of Easter is also described in detail in Hebrews Chapters 9-11, a great reflective read for Holy Week. In these chapters we learn that Jesus will never again have to suffer. He suffered once for sin and is now seated at the Right Hand of God. Because of His Perfection, He only needed to offer Himself once for all time, our Spotless Lamb has been sacrificed for us. Our Precious Savior has risen again. Sunday is here, Resurrection Day is upon us. The Sun is rising on a new day because the veil has been torn in two, Jesus has made the way for us to enter in God’s presence as His own children. He has restored all who will believe in Him through the Cross of Christ. We are victorious in His Resurrection, awaiting His Return.
So, in summary, Christ knows what it is to be rejected, to be an outcast. He has been tempted in every way as we have, so He can show us the way to escape temptation. He has carried all our sorrows and griefs. He has suffered for our sins on the cross and taken them away. He has opened the way for us to experience God’s peace and joy. His Love and Word bring healing to Body, Soul and Spirit. He has opened the way for us to be God’s Children, He has called us friends. This is just a glimpse of the Glory that is Easter, the rest will have to wait until we see Him again in Heaven or in His Glorious Return Rejoice, Dear Believer, It is Finished, He is Risen. For Such is the Love of God.
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