"What a wild time we are living in," is something I find myself saying daily. These are truly unprecedented times. As I look back over the last three months of the new decade, I can't believe it. Everyone was going into the new decade with a renewed sense of hope for their futures and in like fashion the corona virus came with a renewed sense of fear. The corona virus has knocked the air out of the new decade. People are without jobs and human contact. Thousands of years ago there was another time when death had seemed to knock the air out of the hope of a Savior. There were three days where it seemed darkness had overtaken the light, death had overtaken life, and God had forsaken His Son. In present times, fear has overtaken joy, disappointment has overtaken hope, and doubt has overtaken faith.
I know people are facing depression, anxiety, loneliness, and fear. These are scary times: people are losing their jobs, people don’t know how they are going to pay their bills, people have lost half of their retirement savings, people are scared to leave their homes, and people are distancing themselves from each other to stop the spread of the virus. These are very normal emotions and feelings to have in this time. Jesus days before He was to be crucified He prayed this prayer, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) Jesus knew the pain and He would endure and He was in anguish. “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”(Luke 22:43-44). Anguish means a severe mental or physical pain. Jesus was in anguish. If you think Jesus understand the emotions you are feeling right now, then you are mistaken. Jesus knows the pain and the fear you are experiencing during this season. Even after an angel from heaven came to strengthen Him, He was still in anguish. His fear didn’t disappear but He was able to stand up and face the suffering ahead. In the same way, even in the midst of your depression, your anxiety, your fear, and your loneliness you can stand up in the strength and face the corona virus. “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.”(2 Timothy 1:7)
Jesus would go on to be betrayed by one of those closest to Him, beaten and whipped until He unrecognizable, spit on, stripped of His clothes, nailed on a cross, cursed, and die on the cross. He endured the punishment He didn’t deserve and bore our sins so we can experience a relationship with the Father. “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 said this, he breathed his last.”(Luke 23:44-46) The sun stopped shining and darkness fell over the land. Hope seemed to have disappeared into the darkness. The world looked dismal as it does now.
Three days later: “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.”(Matthew 28:5-6) HE HAS RISEN. THE GRAVE IS EMPTY. THE CROSS HAS SPOKEN. Jesus conquered death and set us free. Easter reminds us of the hope we have in Jesus. Billy Graham said, "The thing that kept Christ on the cross was love, not the nail." No greater love has or will ever be shown. Easter could not have come at a better time. We could all use a reminder of where our hope comes from - the risen Son of God. You can live in joy even in the face of death. You can live in joy even in the face of the corona virus. Fear doesn’t get to control your life. Fear doesn’t get the final word. You aren’t fighting for victory but you are fighting from victory – Jesus has already won.
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