Day 186: Love At War: "The In - Between Time"
Read: Matthew 27:62 - 66
In the eleven years since I have been a Christian, I have always
wondered what was it that happened on the Saturday between Good Friday
and Easter Sunday. Where I go to church there are no worship services to
recall the events of this day which I can not help but believe was
weighing heavily on the minds and shoulders of those Chief Priests who
knew full well the prophesy that Jesus made to one and all - "On the
third day I will rise again." What if it really happened? What would
they say to the people then? Why did you not believe? Why do you not
believe now? Very tall questions that I doubt they would be prepared to
answer. What happened in the in - between time? Where is the Love now?
What of the
Disciples in the Upper Room? They are alone now and scared that their
lives will soon end just as their Master's did. Their door is locked,
waiting, anticipating they know not what. Will it be a kicked in
door and a rush of spears and swords? I can safely guess that none of
them had ever seen a resurrected Messiah? Oh boy! I pray that each of us
can just feel the tension, the struggle between these two parties. We have a unique opportunity to try to imagine, to try to get a tiny
glimpse, of what Jesus’ disciples might have felt on this “in-between
time,” the time before Jesus rose from the dead. This "In-Between Time" as Love seemed to be at war within man. Love is War! Love at War within me!
I am not doing this to be morbid or depressing – not at all! In fact the opposite is true – we feel that in order to really celebrate Christ’s victory over
death, that in order to really understand the joy of the resurrection,
we need to meditate on all the events of this weekend. We need to come
to the cross, as we did yesterday, and see our Savior who died there for
us. And we need to remember that the resurrection didn’t happen
instantaneously – there was a space of time, when Jesus’ disciples were
still around, no doubt confused, distraught, overwhelmed, not knowing
what to think. And that is the moment I want to pause and ask you to
meditate on today. Love is War. Love is at War within man!
We do not know where they
were that Sabbath day, what they did or what they even thought. We can
only imagine. We know they were not anticipating a resurrection – they
were surprised by the empty tomb, puzzled, in fact even as they looked
in on the empty tomb John records, “They still did not understand from
Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.” (John 20:9). (62)
'Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests
and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate' asking to post a guard
and make the tomb secure lest the disciples steal the body and claim
some crazy resurrection. As you ponder your struggle today, as you meditate 'Love is War', which side
are you on?
Let Us Pray For The Chief Priests and Pharisees:
Ever Wise and Most Merciful God, release us from the time of trial and
oppression, that we may witness to the eternal hope of grief becoming
joy, life rising from death, Your Love being victorious. Amen.
Let Us Pray For The Disciples: Eternal God, Rock and Refuge ... we wait
for revival and release. Abide with us until we come alive in the Son
rise of your glory. Amen.
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Read: Matthew 27:62 - 66
In the eleven years since I have been a Christian, I have always wondered what was it that happened on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Where I go to church there are no worship services to recall the events of this day which I can not help but believe was weighing heavily on the minds and shoulders of those Chief Priests who knew full well the prophesy that Jesus made to one and all - "On the third day I will rise again." What if it really happened? What would they say to the people then? Why did you not believe? Why do you not believe now? Very tall questions that I doubt they would be prepared to answer. What happened in the in - between time? Where is the Love now?
What of the Disciples in the Upper Room? They are alone now and scared that their lives will soon end just as their Master's did. Their door is locked, waiting, anticipating they know not what. Will it be a kicked in door and a rush of spears and swords? I can safely guess that none of them had ever seen a resurrected Messiah? Oh boy! I pray that each of us can just feel the tension, the struggle between these two parties. We have a unique opportunity to try to imagine, to try to get a tiny glimpse, of what Jesus’ disciples might have felt on this “in-between time,” the time before Jesus rose from the dead. This "In-Between Time" as Love seemed to be at war within man. Love is War! Love at War within me!
I am not doing this to be morbid or depressing – not at all! In fact the opposite is true – we feel that in order to really celebrate Christ’s victory over death, that in order to really understand the joy of the resurrection, we need to meditate on all the events of this weekend. We need to come to the cross, as we did yesterday, and see our Savior who died there for us. And we need to remember that the resurrection didn’t happen instantaneously – there was a space of time, when Jesus’ disciples were still around, no doubt confused, distraught, overwhelmed, not knowing what to think. And that is the moment I want to pause and ask you to meditate on today. Love is War. Love is at War within man!
We do not know where they were that Sabbath day, what they did or what they even thought. We can only imagine. We know they were not anticipating a resurrection – they were surprised by the empty tomb, puzzled, in fact even as they looked in on the empty tomb John records, “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.” (John 20:9). (62) 'Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate' asking to post a guard and make the tomb secure lest the disciples steal the body and claim some crazy resurrection. As you ponder your struggle today, as you meditate 'Love is War', which side are you on?
Let Us Pray For The Chief Priests and Pharisees: Ever Wise and Most Merciful God, release us from the time of trial and oppression, that we may witness to the eternal hope of grief becoming joy, life rising from death, Your Love being victorious. Amen.
Let Us Pray For The Disciples: Eternal God, Rock and Refuge ... we wait for revival and release. Abide with us until we come alive in the Son rise of your glory. Amen.
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Hillsong UNITED Love is War Lyric Video
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Love
is War Lyric video from the album Zion. This is not the music video -
to unlock the music video go here: http://hu.cta.gs/ZionisHere Buy Zion:
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