Luke 24:9-12

Luke 24:9-12 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

I love the Bible's description of the empty tomb. We do not see any super spiritual people, people with special insight into what has just happened. We do not hear the disciples say, "Well, of course He isn't there; remember what He said about his resurrection: For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:40) No, Luke writes that the apostles thought the women spoke nonsense. Peter, future leader of the church, ran to investigate the scene, but even he did not initially comprehend the situation: He went away, wondering to himself what had happened. Without sugarcoating the principals in this scene, the Bible depicts them as ignorant of the spiritual significance of the empty tomb--dismayed and pondering, but not understanding or believing. As finite human beings, they accepted death's finality; therefore, the empty tomb bewildered them, despite three year's of interactions with the miracle-working Jesus. If the Bible were just a script or an attempt to perpetuate a fraudulent religion, I am sure we would read how these pillars of the nascent church quickly and fully understood the significance of the empty tomb. We might read about Peter leaving the scene with proclamations of Christ's resurrection. But Luke admits they did not easily understand that Jesus had arisen. In their human eyes, Jesus was too much of a man, one who ate, drank, slept, and performed normal bodily functions. To them, Jesus was more of a man of the flesh than a Son of God who died for their sins. Soon they would realize the man they knew in the flesh had indeed defeated death; this revelation changed their lives forever.

As finite people, we Christians sometimes live as if Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead. Our attachment to this world and awareness of the vicissitudes of life dims the reality of the resurrection. Often we live as unbelievers rather than believers. Except for our most spiritual moments, we talk and act as the world does, worry about life as they do. We spend much of our time and thought life on the temporal, not the eternal. However, if Jesus is truly resurrected, and He is, He has a claim on our everyday lives. The book of Acts reveals the effects of the resurrection on the early believers. Encountering the risen Christ, they counted their lives as nothing compared with spreading this good news. They wanted everyone to know that the Christ, the Son of God, is risen indeed. He was no longer just a good, loving man who performed a few miracles, not merely a spiritual teacher with much wisdom. They knew him as the Son God for He was risen. Their acclamation, faith, and trust in Jesus and his works gave them a new life, filled with the Holy Spirit. They were no longer powerless, for they worshipped God in truth and in faith. Mighty miracles happened in their lives and the lives of those around them, for they knew Jesus had conquered death. They also knew the Holy Spirit resided in them, giving them resurrection power and strength. They were no longer just men and women pondering, wondering, about the resurrection; they became soldiers of the cross, alive in Christ, for He lived in them.

My friend, has the Daystar arisen in your life? Is He real to you, alive in you? I am sure the answer is yes, but we must keep faith burning in our souls as we allow for the reality of his presence and power in our lives. Every day, we should live as if He has risen in victory and authority over sin and death. As we grow in Christ and our attachments to Earth lessen, the things of this world should grow strangely dim. Our focus: be all that we can be for him. Our proclamation to family, friends, and neighbors: He has risen in my life, and He will arise in yours. We must ask ourselves if we have allowed the world to creep in and to dominate our living. Are our Friday and Saturday nights different from the unsaved? Where do we turn in times of trouble? Do we run to Jesus or seek comfort in destructive choices and defeating behaviors? Are we filling the air with songs of praise and living in an attitude of prayer, or are our days focused on ourselves, our needs and problems? With Christ in control of our lives, we can offer others an alternative to their empty lives. In contrast with a dying world, WE ARE ALIVE IN HIM FOR HE HAS RISIN AND LIVES FOREVERMORE. Because He lives, we live also to share his love.

Luke 24:1-8

Luke 24:1-8 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words.

Matthew 8:21-22 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen is the crux of Christianity. We are no longer bound to sin and death; we are alive evermore in the hands of God. This is our hope in Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) We who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ are alive IN HIM. He bore our sins on the cross, and we IN HIM are resurrected into new life. Our hope, our trust is in his works, not our own. This is the "good news" that believers have spread throughout the world. If we rely on any other way to eternal life with God, we take a false step, accepting an imitation, a distortion of the truth. No one's works, efforts, knowledge, or wisdom will lead him to peace and fellowship with God. Jesus alone paid the price for salvation. We do not pay the price, and no one except Jesus can pay the price for us.

False religions offer gurus who apparently pay a price to get closer to God by living ascetic lives, somewhat like John the Baptist. People think such lifestyles imbue power or insight to lead men to God or maybe nirvana. These so-called holy men claim to be intermediaries between God and man; however, the Bible clearly indicates Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. Paul told the church, For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. (1 Corinthians 3:11-13a) Men can forsake the world or mutilate their bodies to please God, but only The Lamb's sacrifice satisfies God's wrath towards sin. Christ's blood alone covers the multitude of sins carried by all. He alone cleanses us white as snow. When we were without hope, God himself literally paid for our sins. When people lift up a man, calling him holy or good, I know if we followed this person for just a few days, we would quickly see sins of the flesh, those of omission or commission. The Bible says because of sin, all like sheep have gone astray, turning to their own ways. Jesus said, “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good — except God alone." (Luke 18:19) Therefore, it does not matter how good you think you are or how you classify your life in spiritual terms, only God is good: to be good for eternity means you must trust in him.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life IN CHRIST Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23) No other man, no other idea, no other religion possesses the gift of eternal life, only Jesus. In Christ, nothing can separate us from the love of God, for the Bible says we are hidden with Christ in God. Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is IN CHRIST Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39) Although once marred with the cancer of self and sin and cast from God's presence, through Jesus' blood, we now enter into God's very presence. We stand boldly in his image before God's throne of grace, "born again" children, purchased by the Lamb of God. Therefore, if anyone is IN CHRIST, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) We will let the dead bury their own dead, for we are no longer dead but alive. We are heaven bound, new creatures. This world and all it offers will not hold us down. We are alive in Christ, headed home. With the angels, we proclaim, Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! WE ARE RISEN IN HIM, RISEN INDEED.

Luke 23:47-56

Luke 23:47-56 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

The final scene of Jesus' death was an awful one, for even the observers beat their breasts and went away in sorrow knowing an innocent man had been put to death. However, in the midst of that dark day good things, holy things, also happened: A Roman centurion realized Jesus' righteousness: he praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man." Joseph, an upright man, a member of the Sanhedrin, blessed Jesus by taking his body from the cross and placing it in his own tomb. Dedicated women who followed Jesus throughout his ministry were ready to prepare Jesus' body for burial after the Sabbath. All of these people helped fulfill God's plan for that day. All of them witnessed his death, and all of them would realize in three days that Jesus had risen from the grave. Yes, a righteous man did die that day, one who needed a grave, one who needed his body prepared for burial, but God's highest plan for Jesus was not death but life. The centurion, Joseph, and the women were all intricately involved in God's plan of life eternal and victory over the grave.

In our lives God plans for life not death. We might think our inclinations, words, and actions lack eternal worth, but in God's hands they are worth much. The centurion expressed a few words about Jesus, but through the ages, millions have read those words to the glory of God. Joseph's care for Jesus' body might not seem highly significant, but God needed that stone placed at the mouth of the tomb, so that it could be rolled away as a sign of resurrection life. The women's intentions to prepare the body of Jesus were not fulfilled. However, when they came to perform their ministrations, they were the first to discover the empty tomb, ushering in the kingdom of God. God uses ordinary lives for his purposes. And He will use every part of us if we fully commit ourselves to him. This is one of the wonderful aspects of being a Christians, part of the body of Christ: we know He uses our lives for his glory as we yield to him. We know that even the thoughts we possess can be used for his glory as we meditate and prayer and act upon the leading of the Holy Spirit.

In the morning as I prepare these breakfasts, I sometimes stumble or hesitate in believing God has something to say for the many people who read these devotions. I wonder if I can prepare a meal to help people face a new day in the Lord. As I struggle with the words, ideas, and thoughts I desire to express, I might complain to God about my inability to hear him; then as I pause in my fretting or whining, I hear his words, "I have given you the words to write." Still, I will argue, saying, "No you haven't. I don't know what to say." His answer: "Just write." So in obedience I write, and God gives me food for the day. This is our lives in a nutshell. "Just do it." Don't complain, don't argue, just do it. Some of you have people to email or call, places to go share your faith, and people to visit. God would say to you, "Just do it." Share your gifts, speak praises and compliments, express God's love to the hungry. Jacob wrestled with God, wanting a blessing, a better life. He persevered and God said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” (Genesis 32:28) Overcomers are blessed, now and for eternity. THOSE THAT DO make it to the end because God is in the life-giving business. Out of Jacob came a great nation. As an obedient overcomer, out of you and your work, God will fulfill his will as He did on that awful day of Golgotha.

Luke 23:44-46

Luke 23:44-46 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Hebrews 10:19-22 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Acts 2:24-28 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

The curtain in the temple that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was torn in two. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross ensured that all who place their trust in him may enter into the Holy of Holies. In the Old Testament, before entering the Most Holy Place, the priest had to sacrifice a bull in atonement for his own sin, and then sacrifice a goat for the sins of the Israelites. He sprinkled the blood of these animals on the atonement cover in the Most Holy of Holies. Then he could stand before the Lord with petitions on behalf of himself and the people. The blood of bulls and goats was necessary for him to stand in God's presence. Without the blood covering for his sins, he surely would die. Jesus paid the price for us to enter into God's presence by the shedding of his blood on the cross. His blood was sprinkled before the Father God evermore so we who believe in Jesus' works might stand boldly before God and call the Almighty, Abba Father. Jesus paid the price for our position with the Father as children of the Most High. He tore down the curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, making it possible for sinful man to inter the inner sanctum where God's presence dwells.

Jesus paid the absolute price of our redemption. He gave up his power to raise himself: into your hands I commit my spirit. He placed his spirit, his existence, his position, in God's hands. But in Acts 2 we see that God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death. Jesus understood the love of God; by faith, He knew, you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. God also will not abandon to the grave those who are holy in Christ Jesus, nor will we see decay, for we live IN HIM forevermore. This is our great hope, the hope of ALL WHO PLACE THEIR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. Christ's love at the cross reveals God's love towards us. He will not abandon us because He loves our very essence and paid a tremendous price for our eternal salvation. He loves us not for who we are or for what we have done; He loves us because we are bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh. From the beginning, He breathed his life into us, made us a new creation in his image. He loves us JUST BECAUSE WE ARE.

Consequently, God asks us to love our brothers. Who are our brothers? Who do we love and not hate? Who do we forgive, serve, and not kill? When the disciples asked Jesus who they should love as themselves, fulfilling the second great commandment, Jesus responds with the story of the good Samaritan, a person despised by the Jews. He tells how a hated Samaritan loves a Jewish man lying injured on the side of the road. He says to them, love as this good Samaritan loved; otherwise, love your enemies as yourselves. If we do, we love as God loves. He sends the rain on the just and the unjust; He loves both. We do likewise. At the cross, Jesus gave himself not only for the "good," but also for the "bad." Through his sacrifice, He brought all of us into the most holy place, the inner sanctum. This divine love constrains our flesh and motivates our spirits. We no longer look at the speck in our brother's eye; we love him and look to our own faults. Because of God's great love for us, He will not abandon us to the grave, but He will raise us to everlasting life. As we wait for that glorious day, we have confidence that if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:7) We do not abandon our wives, our children, our neighbors, or our enemies. We love them, THE ESSENCE OF THEM. We love them just because they ARE and because God first loved us.

Luke 23:32-43

Luke 23:32-43 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals — one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Recognizing Jesus as the door to God's kingdom, the thief received Christ's blessing: I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise. By acknowledging his guilt and Christ's innocence, he inherited the kingdom of God. What a wonderful story to see three men, dying on crosses yet conversing with each other. What a message of grace and mercy: facing imminent death, Christ blesses a condemned criminal, promising him eternal life. All three men hung in excruciating pain, with no hope of rescue or escape; nevertheless, one criminal thought about eternity while the other focused on continuing with this life: Save yourself and us! This scene accurately describes the plight of all mankind. Knowing this life passes quickly, we either look forward to a better life, eternal life, or we look out for ourselves, making the most of all this life can offer. Paul said grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:12-14) Because of God's grace, we are strangers and aliens: God-focused and heaven-bound, not self-focused and earthbound.

All of us have crosses in one way or another, and in view of eternity, we don't have much time to live. The Bible describes life as a wisp of smoke that disappears, a flower that blooms briefly and then dies. Our lives are brief, and they become shorter and seem to pass more quickly as we grow older. For children, summer seems too far away, but for the elderly, summer has passed and winter is here. Time marches quickly onward and reminds us we will die and turn into dust. The thieves on the cross faced the winter of their lives with no hope of more time, time to change, to repent, to live for God. Facing death's door, one man insulted Jesus while the other suddenly saw hope of death as a crossing-over point. Wanting something more than just a few more minutes of this life, he cried out for a future: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. The other criminal could only look back, desiring more of his sinful existence. No words of faith or repentance sprung from his lips that day; only a sneer, a rebuke, a selfish desire marked his passing into eternity.

Recognizing Christ as Lord, brought salvation to the criminal. He said the most important word anyone can utter from the heart: JESUS. This honest utterance spoke volumes to Christ. He recognized in the criminal's voice that JESUS meant Lord. The thief placed himself into the hands of Christ simply by breathing his name: JESUS. God hears the sincerity of the heart, not just our words. Many people make long confessions and construct intricate covenants with God, but He listens to the heart, not the words, deciphering the spirit and motivations of the petitioner. The Holy Spirit saw this man's honest and sincere heart and forgave him, ushering him into eternity with Christ. My grandpa recounted three incidents of people he knew who were saved in a few nano seconds. I remember his story of a drunken woman driving into the Columbia River. People rescued her, thought her dead, but after some time she suddenly revived, speaking praises to God for her salvation. She entered the Columbia a sinner, without hope, but she came out righteous, washed in the blood of Jesus. From that time on, she lived for the Lord. She met the Savior and from her innermost being said, JESUS.

All it takes for salvation, all it takes for paradise is that recognition of JESUS AS LORD. We know Jesus said the first shall be last, the last first; in other words, heaven puts all on equal footing. We all receive the same wages: eternal life with God, acceptance as his children. The day Christ looked to the beseeching criminal and heard his brief prayer, He said, "CHILD, today you will be with me in paradise. This same Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Luke 18:16-17) In simple, childlike faith, the criminal cried out, "Jesus." Each day, let us speak his glorious name with that same earnestness and faith. Peace on Earth and eternity with God will be our reward.

Luke 23:26-31

Luke 23:26-31 As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Matthew 23:37-38 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.

Do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children: as a prophetic statement, these words indicate the calamitous events the Jews would experience in the immediate future. A time approached when they would want the mountains to fall on them, when the Romans would kill 1,200,000 of God's chosen people and disperse over 800,000 throughout the world. As the Romans smashed the Jewish nation, the people would experience an extermination beyond their imagination. Earlier, Jesus wept over Jerusalem, knowing they had refused to reconcile with God during the green wood, when they were safe and yet had strength, when the temple was still in existence. How would they do when annihilation came to them and the temple would be destroyed, when it seemed as if God's hand had left them? Jesus wept, for He knew they had rejected their God by persecuting and killing the prophets who brought the word of God to them. He wept for them because they did not recognize the deliverance of the Father was at hand. Instead, they killed Jesus, the door, the only way to God. By not recognizing the Messiah when He came, they would enter a time of dry wood too terrible to consider.

If we don't know and serve God in times of peace and plenty, how will we follow him when our lives are upside down, when nothing seems right? If we don't serve God when He obviously blesses us, how will we ever serve God when He seems to ignore our prayers? Jesus wept for the Jewish people because they did not recognize God in the good times, in the green times. Sometimes, well-intentioned Christians walk away from their dedication to God while experiencing prosperity and all the world has to offer. Although blessed with money, health, and time when the wood is green, they seek more things: RV's, all-terrain vehicles, the latest electronics, vacation cabins--whatever titillates their flesh. They spend their weekends and spare time in the woods, on mountaintops, turning to material things and selfish pleasures. As Christians take more vacations and buy bigger and better things, they spend less time with God and his people. Seeking a Shangri-La, the flesh tends to increase exponentially in times of prosperity. People often promise God that if He comes through for them, fulfilling their desires, they will gladly give him a tenth and more of their money and time. But when prosperity arrives, they forget their promises to the Lord, acting as if God forgets their covenants with him. But God hears; He knows every word we have ever spoken, and our promises are ALWAYS before him. He does not forget; He remembers!

Dry wood is lifeless. We do go through dry seasons, when the wood seems to lack life, but in Christ, believers are never dead. If we don't practice faith in the green wood, the dry wood times will seem extremely hard. If we do not build altars of faith in prosperity, we will struggle in the lean times. If we are not strong in our faith, when the dry wood comes, we might even question God's existence. I am sure the Jewish people struggled with such thoughts. Christians usually experience trying seasons in their lives; however, a dry wood experience should not bring defeat, for the Holy Spirit never leaves us. When our strength is dissipated, then we must rely more on the Holy Spirit and his Word and less on our feelings. Where we are most weak, He is most strong. The companionship and fellowship of believers also help us make it through life's difficulties. We depend upon Christian brothers and sisters to hold up our feeble arms, surrounding us with gifts of love and prayer support. Jesus wept over the Jewish people because a dry season was near for them, but IN CHRIST we always have access to the fountain of youth, the living water, the green wood of God's sufficiency. The one who makes all things new abides in us. IN HIM, we find daily strength, hope, new work, fresh reasons for living. So my children, praise God in the morning, at noon, and in the night; stay green in the Holy Spirit even through dry seasons, and you will overcome by the precious blood of the Lamb.

Luke 23:13-25

Luke 23:13-25 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” With one voice they cried out, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.” But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

Today's passage reveals the Jewish people's culpability in Jesus' crucifixion. The pushing of Jesus from one ruler to the next shows very clearly it was the people who were responsible for Jesus' death, not the two rulers. In their humanity, the people Jesus came to save, to redeem, demanded his death. Both rulers washed their hands of Jesus, finding him totally blameless, not guilty of anything. Because of their anger about him not being the Messiah who would throw off the yoke of the hated Romans, they sought Christ's death. They were angry because Jesus was not the hero who would kill thousands of his enemies as David did. How could this man of peace, of inactivity, come from the lineage of David and be such a lamb. The above scriptures definitely indicate the people did not understand Jesus was God's own Son, the Messiah. They did not understand God sent him with the purpose of leading them into the kingdom of God for all eternity. For them, if he would not deliver them from oppression of this earthly kingdom, He was worthless. Away with this man! Crucify him!

In our modern day, how many of us want the Jesus we find in God's Word? Authors compose many promise books for Christians--books containing the numerous promises of what God is going to do for us today. From these promises, we assume He will deliver us from the hated Romans of our time, from the troubles, the sicknesses, the despair, and the vicissitudes of lives. Sometimes, people read a promise each day. We seek Jesus, as a child depends upon a parent, "Make it all better Daddy." What if God doesn't lead you out of the land of hardship, out of the land of troubles? Is He still alive in you? Does He still care for you? Of course He does, as your eternal Father with a plan for your life, He is leading you to the Kingdom of God. Yes, He answers prayers. Yes, He provides for us in a thousand ways. But He is not with you to establish a kingdom on Earth. His kingdom is in the Spirit, and His kingdom lasts forever and will defeat all foes. You always stand before the Father, cleansed and made holy, adopted into his family. The stars and the galaxies will seem as nothing compared to his magnificence, his glory. This is the kingdom Jesus died for on Calvary's cross, the kingdom of heaven.

The people said, if He is no good to us on Earth, then crucify him. When people face trials, we sometimes hear them say, Christianity just isn't working for me. They do not understand. Christianity works for all believers who trust in the Lamb and yield to the Spirit's leading. Yes, it is working as we love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves. Child of God, lift up your head this morning; stand tall as a soldier of the cross. CHRIST HAS RISEN, AND YOU HAVE RISEN WITH HIM. Your name is written down in the Lamb's book of eternal life. You are no longer bound to this earth. Your being will not turn to dust and blow away into nothingness over the generations. NO, YOU ARE ALIVE EVERMORE, inheriting the blissful state of eternity with God. In God's domain, He wipes away every tear; every anxiety will flee; fear will not exist because in God's kingdom, perfect love casts out all fear. REJOICE MY FRIEND. Don't accuse Jesus or crucify him in your heart because you think your lack something you want. Don't turn him away from your life. Draw near to him with a repentant heart, and He will draw near to you. Praise God forever more!