“Amelia dug up a worm,” Thomas announced as I turned from pushing Timothy and Ezra in the swings to be sure my mulch bed was still intact. They knelt in front of their toy excavators, eyes trained on something between them that I could not see. “Are you sure it’s a worm?” I asked, wary of snakes as the spring temperatures have regularly approached eighty. “May I see it?” “We flicked it over there,” Thomas replied, glancing over his shoulder toward the Adirondack chairs. “What did it look like?” I continued to question, getting two different replies as I scanned the ground for anything wriggling. I attempted to describe the differences between a snake and a worm by pointing out color and shape and by demonstrating movements with my fingers. I never did locate their worm which further convinced me that it was most probably not a worm, having escaped so quickly and so completely. I coaxed all four grandchildren toward the porch with the promise of snacks and they munched happily while watching the earth moving equipment working across the street.
The little boys and I had raced a mammoth bulldozer in its circuit from loading zone to dump site earlier that morning. We waited by the mailbox, counting scoops until a beep from the track
hoe signaled the driver that his load was full. We circled left around half the neighbor’s drive as the dump truck circled the excavation site, shifted into reverse and backed into place. Ezra and Timothy stared wide eyed, barely moving until the giant bucket dumped and began lowering. “Go fast!” Timothy reminded me as I turned blue car back toward the mailbox. We sped downhill and around in time to watch the process begin again.
Our grandkids have enjoyed watching the cleanup and now the landscaping of our acreage across the street for the past year and a half since Hurricane Helene tore through our state. They love the huge equipment and they never tire of the red clay that makes most excellent mud. Our adventures together, punctuated by their shrieks of laughter, make it almost bearable for me but I am ready to see green grass taking root and we’re nearly there! The waiting has been challenging, I won’t deny it, but the reward is coming.
“It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 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.
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 himself 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.”
Luke 23:44-56 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/luk.23.56.NIV
How in only three years since Jesus had called his first followers and His public ministry had begun had it come to this? John gives us the answer. Jesus was the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the earth, come to take away the sins of the world. (Revelation 13:8, John 1:29)
“(This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe.)
These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and “They will look on the one they pierced.””
John 19:35-37 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.19.35-37.NLT
Passover, commemorating God’s rescue of Israel from slavery in Egypt set the stage for One final sacrifice. “With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.” (Hebrews 9:12, 14) How could they not see it? How could they not recognize Him? Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews came to question Jesus secretly.
“He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.
We know that God is with you.
If he weren’t, you couldn’t do the signs you are doing.””
John 3:1-2 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/jhn.3.2.NIRV
“Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me.
The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name.
But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep.
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.
No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else.
No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”
Once again the people picked up stones to kill him.
Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works.
For which one are you going to stone me?”
They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy!
You, a mere man, claim to be God.”
Why do you call it blasphemy when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’?
After all, the Father set me apart and sent me into the world.
Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work.
But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me.
Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.””
John 10:25-33, 36-38 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.10.25-38.NLT
There was no shortage of miracles. Jesus gave sight to a man born blind and voice to a deaf-mute. He cleansed lepers, gave strength to weak limbs and raised a leader’s daughter and a widow’s son. What evidence are we missing when, like the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus’s day, we refuse to see what is happening right in front of us? Jesus did not hide His healing. Scripture points to the presence of rulers and religious leaders during many of His miracles including the raising of Lazarus. Rather than standing in awe, they began plotting how to kill Lazarus again in addition to killing Jesus.
“Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
“Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”
But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
So Pilate released Barabbas to them.
He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment.
They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.
They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter.
Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!”
And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it.
When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again.
Then they led him away to be crucified.
After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.
A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery.
“Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days.
Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus.
“He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself!
So he is the King of Israel, is he?
Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!
He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him!
For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.”
Matthew 27:22-23, 26-31, 35, 37-44 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.27.22-44.NLT
“Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.
At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened.
The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.
They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.
The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened.
They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!””
Matthew 27:50-54 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.27.50-54.NLT
When Jesus gave up His Spirit, the earth quaked. Tombs split open and the dead were raised but even more importantly, the curtain that separated the holy place in the temple from the most holy place tore from top to bottom. Where for centuries the High Priest passed this covering only once a year to make atonement for the people with the blood of a spotless lamb, Jesus, our Great High Priest removed the middle man, allowing me to come boldly into the presence of God, my Creator, by His perfect blood shed for me. That is earth shattering indeed!
“Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake!
For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it.
His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow.
The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.
Then the angel spoke to the women.
“Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
He isn’t here!
He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen.
Come, see where his body was lying.
And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee.
You will see him there.
Remember what I have told you.”
The women ran quickly from the tomb.
They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message.”
Matthew 28:1-8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.28.1-8.NLT
“And then He told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”
Mark 16:15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.16.15.NLT
Easter Sunday is coming. We remember the sacrifice of Jesus and His glorious resurrection. Who do you need to tell that Jesus is God the Son and that He is coming again?
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
So be truly glad.
There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.
These trials will show that your faith is genuine.
It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.
So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
You love him even though you have never seen him.
Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.
The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”
1 Peter 1:3-9 NLT
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