After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 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. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: `He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
Matthew 28:1-7
This journey through Christ’s last day leading up to cross by way of these fourteen stations has been very moving for both Dave and I. The agony of that day could be seen from the start as Jesus prayed in the garden. He spoke to His disciples, “my soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death...” This was His choice to walk this path, to hang upon the cross, to endure the weight of sin, and experience the separation from the Father. It was important for Dave and I to take the time to dwell in this day of Jesus’ life to try to understand it.
As I awoke the morning of our stations walk at Golden Ponds, I was greeted by this feeling of apprehension as to what lay ahead with this walk, the weather, the reactions of people and about the fact that we were proclaiming this message out loud in a city park. The several weeks of preparation for this walk through the stations made us more aware of the depth of emotion in this story. The end of my walk around the stations on Saturday night, would not lead to being nailed to a cross, but the sense of the weight of this story was upon me. I was drawn to prayer often for this walk and particularly Saturday I felt the need to pray hard. If only for a moment I had a small glimpse into that awful, terrible, dark day for Jesus.
We were grateful to have over 50 people join us on this quiet walk. At the start it was cold, and then snow started gently falling. The snow gradually increased with each station and by the 7th station it was coming down hard enough to restrict our visibility. This is where we began to carry the cross from station to station. By the 10th station where Jesus dies, the snow was coming down in little pellets that stung the skin. But all this paled in comparison to what Jesus endured. By the 14th station where Jesus is laid in the tomb all of us were feeling the affects of being out in the cold for the hour. It was fitting that we had this walk on a day like this.
But this I believe in my very soul, the story did not end there in the tomb at the 14th station. It was good for us to dwell there and try to live there for a moment…the disciples and followers of Jesus had hour upon hour of that sorrow and pain of seeing their Master die on the cross. But Sunday did come. Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus conquered sin and death and has given us this same hope. Yes, it was good to dwell in His journey because we still face the difficulties always present in this life. We live in a fallen world. This resurrection, though, gives us power to live a life of joy and hope for the future. Nothing of this world can give us that. Will we continue to get pummelled and wounded by this world? Yes, undoubtedly. But we have a rock to hold on to.
Jesus is alive! He has been raised and we can rejoice in that. He did not do this for Himself, but for me, for you.
God be praised.
Scott for Wellspring Copyright 2008
