Scripture References: Isaiah 53.10-12
The Suffering Lamb – Continued
Tread softly around the cross, for Jesus is dead. Repeat the refrain in hushed and softened tone. The Lord of life is dead. The lips that spoke forth Lazarus from the grave are now stilled in the silence of death itself. The head that was anointed by Mary of Bethany is bowed with its crown of thorns, blood streaming from His brow. The eyes that wept over Jerusalem are glazed in death. The hands that blessed little children are nailed to a tree. The feet that walked on the waters of blue Galilee are fastened to a cross. The heart that went out in compassionate love and sympathy for the poor and the lost of the world is now broken. He is dead.
The infuriated mob that cried for His crucifixion gradually disperses. He is dead. The passersby who stopped just to see Him, go on their way. He is dead. The Pharisees, rubbing their hands in self-congratulation, go back to the city. He is dead. The Sadducees, breathing sighs of relief, return to their coffers in the temple. He is dead. The centurion who was assigned the task of executing Him makes his official report to the Roman procurator, “He is dead.” The soldiers who were sent to dispatch the victim, and seeing the man on the center cross was certainly dead, didn’t break His bones but pierced Him through to be sure of His death. He is dead. Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus of the Sanhedrin go to Pontius Pilate and beg the Roman governor for His body because He is dead. Mary, His mother, and the women with her are bowed in sobs and tears. He is dead. The eleven apostles, like frightened sheep, crawl into eleven shadows to hide from the pointing finger of Jerusalem and they cry that He is dead. Wherever His disciples meet, the same refrain is sadly heard: He is dead. It would be almost impossible for us to enter into the depths of despair that gripped their hearts. Simon Peter, “the Rock,” is a rock no longer. James and John are “sons of thunder” no longer. Simon the Zealot is a zealot no longer. Jesus is dead. The hope of the world has perished with Him.
He Is Alive!
Then men stopped dead in their tracks. A message leaps from mouth to mouth like liquid fire. An angel says, “He is alive!” Mary Magdalene says, “I have seen the Lord!” Simon Peter is filling Jerusalem with the bold and courageous announcement: “He is alive, He is alive!” All up and down the highways of Judaea, along the shores of Galilee, beyond the coasts of the great Mediterranean, on the road to Athens and Rome, in every poor man’s cottage and in every rich man’s palace, there is that glorious news: “He is alive, He is alive!”
The bitter seed brought forth a beautiful and precious flower. The cross magnifies our exalted and risen Lord. Every point in that crown of thorns is now a diamond in His diadem. The crimson of His life that was poured out stained His royal robe with purple. The iron nails of the cross and of the spear are now the rod of His scepter by which He will rule the nations of the world. The wood of the cross is His identity with all humanity. The most sacred spot in the earth is Mount Calvary where He died. The cross itself is the symbol of the Christian faith and our hope in the world that is to come.
If He is alive, where is He now? There are almost two thousand years of the record of His living. Where’s the proof? Where’s the evidence? Had every man in the Roman Empire seen Him walk out of that grave, had Caesar and all of his officers witnessed the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week, had Josephus, Tacitus, and Suetonius recorded in their historical annals the eyewitnesses of the living Lord, it would not be proof as corroborated as the evidence that we have today in our very lives.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
You must be logged in to post a comment.