Easter – Death is the Beginning of Life and Hope

 

In general people accept the death and burial of Christ but not His resurrection. Despite the fact of having witnessed many miracles of Jesus for three and a half years, the disciples themselves failed to comprehend His resurrection. Jesus reiterated the nature of His death and resurrection to them many times, yet they couldn’t quite grasp it. They can’t be blamed as an extraordinary event such as the resurrection is beyond laws of human nature, thus hard to believe.

A group of people ensured that His body is safely buried. According to Biblical records, a man named Joseph, a Jewish leader claimed Jesus’s body and placed it in a new tomb cut into a rock. The women prepared spices and perfumes to anoint the body according to the Jewish customs of the burial ritual. They waited as it was a rest day as per Jewish tradition. With all these preparations, no one anticipated the event of resurrection. Therefore, we see the different reactions of people when they faced the reality of the same. Let’s look at the crucial players in this historic event.

Pilate, the governor who was instrumental in crucifying Jesus Christ, did not expect Him to die at all. The Bible states that he was surprised that Jesus was already dead because he heard so much about Jesus’s miracles, including raising people from the dead. So he thought Jesus could save Himself from death.

The Roman Centurion witnessed Jesus giving up His spirit, felt the earth quake, saw the rocks split open and the bodies of saints rising from the tombs. They came out after resurrection, entered the holy city and appeared to many. When he witnessed these supernatural events he was fully convinced that, “surely this man was the son of God.”.

The Pharisees (Jewish spiritual leaders) who approached Pilate said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver (they meant Jesus) was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ They were worried that the disciples will deceptively steal the body and claim Jesus’s resurrection. They made sure with Pilate’s help to heavily guard the tomb. Somewhere deep down, they were sure that Jesus would resurrect as He claimed.

What the Pharisees (Jewish spiritual leaders) anticipated happened. Jesus did rise from the dead, lived for 40 days, had fellowship with His disciples, appeared to 500 more people in different occasions and finally ascended to heaven. The Bible records suddenly two men appeared and said, “men of Galilee why do stand looking upto heaven? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going to heaven.”  The Bible records Jesus’s words as, “Do not let your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe in me.. I am going to prepare a place for you… I will come again and take you to myself so that where I am you may be also.”.

This my friends is the essence of Easter. Because He lives we will live also. This is the hope we all have to trust Him and accept His forgiveness for our sins. When we invite Him into our hearts, we receive a sense of purpose in life and hope for eternity. Make a personal commitment today to follow Him. Get to know about Him by getting hold of a New Testament Bible in your preferred language.

There are also other secular sources like the records of Cornelius Tacitus the greatest Roman Historian or Pliny the Younger who held many different offices in Roman offices and became governor of Bithynia and Pontus, a region in northwest Turkey. And finally, Flavius Josephus Our third non-Christian writer is the Jewish historian. He was born around the year AD 37 or 38 and died sometime after AD 100. Josephus was commander of the Jewish forces in Galilee during their initial rebellion against Rome in AD 66. Every information in the Bible is verifiable and true. May this Easter transform you with hope and blessings.

 

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Good Friday – Celebration of A Helpless God for a Hopeless Humanity

 

Jesus’s death on the cross brings about varied emotions in people. Some sympathise over the cruel death, others condemn the cruel Roman punishment, and some saw a good, helpless man dying on the cross of Calvary mercilessly. They ridiculed and made fun of Him saying, “He saved others,” .., “but he can’t save himself!  That's the awesome story known by a strange name - Good Friday.

Recently there was a film based on real life events on one of the OTT platforms. It spoke about a group of fascists who tried to convince young girls of different religions for a suicide mission in the Middle East countries. During the course of promising and alluring young girls, they used helpless religious stories to manipulate them and join their mission. Some of the ones who fell into the trap were Christians too. This proves that they had no insight into the crucifixion story and its true essence. They are convinced to join this alternate religion by portraying Jesus who couldn’t stop Himself from being crucified on the cross, thus labelling Him as a helpless God.  The same thought process still lingers through the ages.

Its gross misinterpretation of facts. When people watching the crucifixion were mocking and deriding Jesus, they claimed “HE SAVED OTHERS”. What does this mean? This means that His purpose of coming to this earth was to warn people of their sins and He preached the message of repentance, assuring them the Eternal kingdom of God. The Bible records that “he went about doing good” healing the sick, blind, deaf and mute, healed people with leprosy and raised people from death. In the course of His life, these were not just miracles but extraordinary events. He addressed the problem of death. This is the reason the mocking of people makes sense.

However, if the story had ended on the cross where Jesus died and never rose again from death, then the story is just a mythology like all other religious mythologies. But the essence of Christ’s story is His resurrection. Jesus is the only God in entire history who repeatedly claimed, while he was alive on this earth, predicting His nature of death and most importantly that He will rise again from death. But no one ever imagined at that point of time, while He was hanging on the cross that He would in fact rise again and they dared not speak about it.

The great news is the story ended as Jesus predicted. He rose again from death leaving the world dumbfounded. He proved that only He has power over death and the provision for the forgiveness of the sins of mankind. The message is if one believes and accepts Him as saviour, he/she will not only find forgiveness of sins but one’s life is transformed with the assurance of eternity. The comprehensive historical book which is called the Holy Bible talks about Him, about the purpose of human beings and the hope present in Him. It is a life changing book with all the facts and a way to an abundant life and hopeful eternal future.

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The Big Question – Is Trustworthiness Worth Trusting?

 

We wish to be trusted by our loved ones even at times when we fail in this virtue and try to make up to them for the misuse of their trust. Trust is such a precious gift which we can offer and receive from someone else. The wisest King Solomon in the Bible states, “Many a man proclaims about their own loyalty but who can find a trustworthy person?” We all get to hear about people ranting about all their goodness and greatness, but in true sense are there faithful people who can be trusted implicitly?

The trust level seems to have gradation in any relationship. It changes over the period, or during different transactions over a period of time. At some point during the course of any relationship one of the parties takes the liberty to slightly break the trust especially when the person sees a better opportunity for self-advantage. They continue to live with the mistrust until something bigger happens that separates the two parties for good. This happens in any relationship. Most of the time people wish to stay in a relationship knowing it is not completely genuine because the person waits for a new opportunity to put their trust or he/she finds a possibility of profiting from the current relationship. We make business everyday out of everything, whether it is sacred or secular.

We all get offended when someone is not completely trustworthy as we expected. But do we check if we are worthy to be trusted completely, as an individual? Trust has become a buzz word in personal life and business world. We all walk on eggshells hoping that our trust is not broken. But the reality is, we all break trust at some point of time.

Is there someone whom we can trust implicitly? Yes, there is, Jesus the Savior. If you see Him as a religion, He is just a god of the Christians and tucked far away in the so-called holy structures. But it was never meant to be that way. He is God incarnated who is connected to our souls and indwells human beings. You can just connect with Him from wherever you are. During this time of lent season people are lost in the rituals of Good Friday, fasting as they call it in many denominations but yet far from Him in relationship. He is not present in any so called holy facilities and structures, or in a particular month or in the holy schedules and definitely not in the altars set at homes. You can reach out to Him from where we you are. Our sins have separated us from Him and once we confess our sins and failures we find forgiveness from our sins and our soul immediately connects with the Saviour. You can trust this saviour implicitly. He has answers to all and any of our problems in this world because He is the risen Saviour. This is the story of the Passion week and Good Friday.  Speak to Him and read the Holy Bible in your preferred language and you will find a best friend in Him to be trusted at all times.

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When you feel something is not right…

 

We often hear about intuition and gut feelings that prompts us especially when we are unsure of something, or we are looking for a confirmation. In such cases our gut feelings indicate us and signals us depending on how we want to go about it. But then the same feelings and intuitions can also give us a false indication when we want to get what we want by any means. Peter Kreeft states, “feelings are wonderful decorations, but they are not a foundation to build on.”.  Therefore, in such cases how do we decide what is right for us? Choices are classified as making the right and wrong ones. When we want something desperately irrespective of any cons, we want to go for it. And that happens to be the bad choices we make. You will notice that we really need to try hard to make the right choices, but making a wrong choice, especially the selfish ones, happen naturally. This clearly tells us we are not generally equipped to do good and that doing bad is spontaneous.

Anything which is not right comes with a huge promise to make us rich and happy quickly. Soon it drags the person to make a quick decision. The right ones are not easy. For doing the right thing or taking the right decision one must be in the right state of mind and heart and have a proper discretion to know if it is right in the first place. Carl Jung states this so beautifully, ‘Deep down, below the surface of the average man’s conscience he hears a voice whispering, “there is something not right,” no matter how much his rightness is supported by public opinion or moral code.’ And Carl Jung is right. Let us not forget the fact that we are created by God and therefore God has purposed a plan for our lives. The spirit of our heart constantly strives to connect with its creator and the God of the universe. When we substitute it by filling the space with gods we make and becoming a god ourselves then our conscience and intuition radar goes out of sync and gives false indication constantly, and we end up making the wrong choice always.

We are created for God and unless our heart finds the Saviour it remains restless. The Bible states this, “do not be confirmed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.”. In the age where too many options and suggestions are available, yet humans live with dichotomy and restlessness. True discernment comes from surrendering our body, mind, and soul to the living God, Christ Jesus, the saviour of the world. When the heart fails to meet the true Saviour, hopelessness overshadows and keeps a man in a state of restlessness. However you use the decision making steps effectively it will not be helpful. To understand the perfect will of God in your lives, you need to accept His invitation to receive the forgiveness from all your sins and failures, and allow your heart to make complete space to have the spirit of the Lord live in you and lead you to an abundant life which will help you make right choices not based on your feelings but by His clear guidance. This may sound philosophical and a mere religious idea, but it is not. This is about Jesus who rose again from the dead and is alive to help you find the right direction in life. Turn to God in prayer to help you and lead you to the path of sanity and truth.

 

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For all who are waiting!

Waiting when it no longer yields results pushes us into apprehension, anxiety and disappointment. We anticipate that we will receive what we are longing for and are eager to be on the receiving end at the earliest given opportunity. Unfortunately, reality is different. Waiting with a definite date of receiving gives satisfaction, provided we receive it on the expected date. But then all who just received it are also not always happy of receiving what they waited for. God in His sovereign plan incorporated the waiting in human life to give the right thing that belongs to us.

The poem by Sarah Bourns Crosby describes it beautifully:

A blessing in the longing

What if the seemingly endless delay

Is full of gifts you wouldn’t receive any other way,

What if walking in the wilderness is the point,

What if waiting in the stillness is the joy,

What if the roots need to burrow down deeper

So the fruit will be that much sweeter,

What if the waiting makes the heart grow stronger

Just as absence makes the heart grow fonder,

What if it’s less about getting to the other side

And more about the slow transformation taking place deep inside

What if the best things don’t happen overnight

And time is actually on your side,

What if you really (truly) are not in control

And all you can do is let it unfold,

What if God hasn’t forgotten His plans for you

He’s simply inviting you to lean in and pay close attention to what He is about to do,

What if, when it seems like nothing is happening at all,

That’s right when God is saying, I Am Still Faithful,

What if it looks really different than you thought it would,

But even then, it could still be really, really good.

 

What we want to receive and actually receive may not exactly be from God but then the Bible assures us that ‘every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”. God the father loved us so much to send His only son Jesus as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of mankind to make a provision for us to trust in Him and be saved. Therefore, every necessity and gift will to be endowed to those who learn to wait not just for something good as one defines, but receive it from the creator of the universe believing in His sovereignty. We can count on Jesus because of who He is. Don’t lose heart. The greatest thing we all need to receive is the salvation. It cleanses and delivers us from all the wrongdoings and sin to give each one of us the heavenly inheritance as well as all you need here. You can pray to Him in your own words. You will never be disappointed!

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