Praise God, Holy Week did not end with Jesus on the cross. Good Friday is not the end of the story. Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. On the third day, He rose again. That part of the story ends in the victory of Easter. The cross is empty because Christ is risen. It is true, and as the apostle Paul notes, essential, that Christians worship a risen Christ: “For if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:14)
As we have been taking this Journey to the Cross we have been reminded of the emotion of the Last Supper, the agony in Gethsemane, the denials of His closest disciples, the interrogation of Pilate, and the lonely way to Golgotha.
We are mindful that though the cross was coming, so was the empty tomb. The dark story of Good Friday will indeed be answered by the light of Resurrection morning. It was on the cross that Christ most intimately bound Himself to humanity. It was “for this hour” that Christ Himself declared that He came.
On the cross, uniquely, we find the one whose self-sacrifice transformed all suffering and through that darkness we find in the light of Easter the one who forever lifted the finality of death. Remember the story is not over yet. We are playing a part in it even now. Live like you know He is alive and coming back soon!
Blessings,
Rick