Calvary Church

It is my regular early Tuesday morning at Starbucks. We have entered into Holy Week. We take special time to remember those last seven days of Jesus’ earthly life. Death for Jesus was different in that He knew the day He would die. It was like an appointment He had written into his blackberry. It didn’t come as an unexpected accident. Most of us would probably choose not to know the day of our death. Last April 19th, I went to the doctor for a routine check up. It turned out to be anything but routine. I left his office wearing a heart monitor. My heart was beating 192 times a minute. He told me I had Atrial Fibrillation. I had never heard of it. I went out to the car wired up to the monitor and just sat there for several minutes. The possibility of death sooner rather than later struck me pretty hard. I have learned since, that this condition is very treatable, for which I am very grateful. Death will come to us all, but we don’t want to know the date. But, Jesus made this last trip to Jerusalem knowing exactly when and how He would die.

And, yet, there was a part of Jesus that didn’t want to die any more that we want to die. In Gethsemane, as the Cross was only a few hours away, Jesus struggled with the pain of being crucified. Crucifixion was a horrible death reserved by the Romans only for the worst of criminals. But, even more, it was the pain of “being made sin for us” that caused Jesus to “sweat drops of blood” that night. He prayed to the Father, “If there is another way to gain salvation for the world, other than the Cross, let’s do it the other way. Nevertheless, not my will, but Your will be done.”

The worst moment for Jesus on the Cross was that moment shortly before He died when the judgment for all our sins came crashing down on Him and He cried out, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?” We don’t comprehend the darkness He experienced in that moment when He took the Judgment of God for our sins. But, it was at that moment He “broke the back” of sin’s power. Jesus then cried out, “It is finished!”

What was “finished”? The plan of God to redeem us from our sins! Now we all have an opportunity to be forgiven for our sins, and to personally experience the Presence of Jesus Christ in our lives. This is the Good News!

May you and yours have a great Easter celebration.