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Reflections

The Joy of Easter

Without doubt, Easter is the high point of the Christian year. Nothing compares with the joy of Christ’s resurrection. It is right that we celebrate it annually.

Today is the first day of Holy Week, the week preceding the crucifixion and resurrection. Remember the old spiritual: Were you there when they crucified my Lord?  Sing it with me as we walk through the events of the Passion.

On the day we call Palm Sunday the crowds “joyfully praise” Him as He rides triumphantly into Jerusalem. Surprisingly, Jesus accepts their adulation, saying, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”  However, Luke tells us Jesus saw the shallowness of their praise. As He approaches Jerusalem He weeps because of the unbelief of the city.

Were you there? Did you feel the enthusiasm of the crowd, thinking Jesus was going to be king? Did you wonder why He wept? Were you afraidof those who opposed Him?

On Monday, Jesus enters the temple and exhibits radical behavior. Instead of teaching in His usual manner, He strikes out at the money changers, overthrowing their tables. “You have made my Father’s house a den of thieves,” He cries.

Were you there? Did you understand what was happening? Did you publicly identify with Jesus, or withdraw from Him in embarrassment?

On Tuesday and Wednesday while He preaches, his disciples are quiet while religious leaders challenge Him.

Were you there when He gave such cogent answers? Where does He get such wisdom? Surely He is the Christ. Are you worried what the religious leaders think?

Things happen fast at the end of the week. Jesus seems unusually subdued during the Thursday evening meal. What does He say to Judas? Did you hear? When we all walked to the garden, it was dark. Did you see where He went to pray?

What is that loud noise, those torches and lights and swords? Why are the soldiers coming? Is that Judas leading the pack? Where are they taking Jesus? Perhaps we’ll know tomorrow.

Just as tomorrow becomes today, it happens. Jesus is delivered for crucifixion. How can the mood of the crowd change so rapidly! On Sunday they shouted His praises, lauding Him as King. Today they shout to crucify Him along with common criminals.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there?
Oh, oh, oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble…

The storm was merciless. Have you ever seen it so dark? Look, in the somber light some men are moving toward His cross. Are they taking Him down? Where are they taking Him? Is that Joseph, the rich man from Arimathea? Is he with Nicodemus, one of the rulers of the Jews?

Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb? Were you there?

The storm is over but the darkness does not leave for the entire weekend. Peter and the others are hidden somewhere, afraid they might be the next victims of the crowd. You and I—what should we do? Stay in town until after the Sabbath and then go back to our old lives before we met Jesus? But what is there to go back to? Let’s go for a walk in the garden early this morning before we leave town.

Who is that running? What is she saying? She has seen Jesus! He has risen from the dead! The Lord is risen, indeed! We heard Him say that many times, but it never made sense. Let’s go see for ourselves.

Were you there when He rose up from the dead?
Were you there?
Oh, oh, oh, I feel like shouting Glory, Glory, Glory!
Were you there when He rose up from the dead?

Point to Ponder

The events leading up to Easter can become so familiar that we become insensitive to their meaning. This week, as you walk through the days before Easter, try to place yourself in the events of Holy Week as they happened.

Ask yourself honestly, where would you have stood in the crowd? Hopefully, even if we were with Peter, warming ourselves by the unbelievers’ fire, we would have been there on Sunday morning and heard the proclamation, “The Lord is risen indeed.”

Let the significance of each event this week become real in your own life. Try to experience with those early disciples the unspeakable joy of that first Easter.

PEGGY MUSGROVE is a licensed Assemblies of God minister. She is also a speaker, freelance writer, author and prayer group leader. Her latest book, Musings of a Maraschino Cherry was released in 2004.. You can visit her at www.musgroveville.com.

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