If today was the day of 33 AD, these exclamations would be your appraisal of the events of that historic Friday:   Finished!  Epic life ended!  Last chapter of a miraculous life has closed with a tragedy!

The Messiah you had been following had been nothing more than a grandiose dreamer and your dream had ended in a nightmare.  In stunned silence and in a state of shock, you would have wondered:  What now?  How could all of this happen?  How could so many people have believed a lie?

A cloud of despair was hanging heavily on the hearts of those who had believed.  Friday had been an arduous day, but at least there had been a lot of activity.  When they woke up Saturday morning, they hoped that yesterday was just a bad dream.  When they looked into the sunken eyes of the other disciples, reality hit them hard in the face:  Their Hope had been crucified, and He was dead; and, Saturday seemed like it would never end.

From the today of those disciples to the present hour, there is a perceptional gap that is every bit as deep as it is wide in years.  Because we have the benefit of history, we look forward to Sunday and Easter with eager anticipation.  All they had was a form of spiritual PTSD and the stench of death.

On the next day there was a dramatic change. There was an encore to what they thought had been the final Act, and it was announced to those few devoted women who went to the tomb:  He is not here; He has risen!

The fact of the resurrection turned men of cowardly hearts into courageous soldiers of the cross, and in a few short years the infant church shook Rome.  This is the power of hope.

Tomorrow is the next day, and it is a day of hope; and, every next day is a day of hope when it is a day full of the presence of God.

Yesterday I met with a heart-broken family that has endured the tragic loss of an 18 month old child.  Today, the family and I will gather with many of their friends to say goodbye to little Jayla.

Today is Good Friday.  It is the day that we pause to remember the death of Jesus Christ on the cruel cross of Calvary.  If it were not for the death of Jesus and His resurrection a few days later, I would be left speechless.  I would have no words of hope or comfort to share with this family.

The hope that is ours today, and the hope that comforts people who experience their own personal tragedies is found in one of the early church documents.   The message of the Nicene Creed is this . . . For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

As you read that quote from the Nicene Creed, I hope you felt the impact of the first three words:  For our Sake.  Jesus suffered, bled, and died for our benefit. 

As we gather at the graveside today, the atmosphere will be heavy with sorrow.  Something else will be present too–the refreshing breeze of hope will be there.  In the 4th chapter of I Thessalonians, Paul says that the believer sorrows not as others who have no hope.

As you go about your business today, pause to say a prayer for the family of Jayla.  Do something else:  Pause another second, and thank God for the hope we have in His Son.

A common practice of mine is to read several different Bible translations when I’m studying a passage of Scripture.  Even though I am well-acquainted with the Sermon on the Mount, I decided to read it again.  Today, I read it from The Message.

I like this interpretation of Matthew 5:3:  You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

I think many of a person’s problems can be explained by this verse:  There is too much ME and not enough of THEE.  One of the underlying principles of Paul’s theology is the old nature is to be crucified daily, so Christ can rule.

When Christ rules in our lives, multiple blessings are ours to claim.  One of these blessings is the extraordinary love of God.  According to I John 4:11,  the love of God dwells in us deeply.

John writes about the result of Christ’s loving presence:  God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love (4:17-18).

Everything that Jesus did, He did out of love.  He lived the sinless life that we could not live, and He died the death that only He could die.  And, He did all of this when the time was just right.

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him (Romans 5:6-8).

Here’s a thought to keep you thinking:  When a person comes to the end of his rope, is he to struggle in his own strength, or is he to let go and let God get going?

A few months ago Patrick Greene, an atheist, had planned to file a law suit.  Greene was disturbed by a nativity scene on the lawn at the Henderson County Courthouse in Texas.

Greene decided to not sue after he discovered he was going blind.  Through the problem with his eyesight, he discovered something else.  Greene was befriended by the Christians he had been opposing.

Greene told the Christian Post:  “No Christian has ever acted this way in the entire time we’ve been married.  These are the first actual Christians we’ve ever met in our lives.”

I would imagine that Mr. Greene has been exposed to the words of Christianity several times in his life.  This is truly a case where actions have spoken louder than words.

This incident reminds me of the words of the Apostle John:  Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.  

I hope this thought keeps you thinking.

There are many places in the Bible where the subject of faith is discussed.  A few of these places speak of the need to have childlike faith.

This kind of faith is seen in the eyes of a child who believes in the power of his father.  When the child is tossed into the air, he trusts in his father’s strength to catch him.

How strong is your faith?  What do you see when the storms of life come your way?  Do you see insurmountable problems, or Noah’s rainbow?

When you find yourself in a den of despair, do you feel like you are about to be eaten by lions or does your eye of faith see Daniel’s angel?

Even though there were lapses in the life of Abraham, his life for the most part was one faith experience after another.  The pivotal moment came when God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac.  As he was starting the trip up the mountain, he instructed his servants to stay behind, and said:  The lad and I will go yonder to worship, and we shall return.

Did you notice the pronoun?  Abraham used the plural pronoun we which indicates the presence of faith.  He didn’t how God would accomplish it, but he believed Isaac was the promised child and would somehow live on.

Then, there is the Apostle Paul who  lived a power-packed life that was faith-based.  He said:  I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.  Notice 5 things in Paul’s statement: In connection to himself, Paul used the words,  know, believed, persuaded, and committed.  In rgard to to the role of God, Paul said:  He is able to keep.

The essence of Paul’s statement is this–He knew the secret of abiding in Jesus (John 15).  When you abide in Him, you can confide in this:  He is able and He will keep you.

I hope this  thought is enough to keep you thinking.