It Is Finished

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"Jesus Loves Me"

From the Gospel of John, we read:

Later, knowing that all was now completed, and
so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said,

"I am thirsty"

A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it,
put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to
Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said,

"It is finished"

With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled:

"Not one of his bones will be broken"

and, as another scripture says,

"They will look on the one they have pierced"

John 19:28-37 NIV

A Time of Darkness

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour
darkness came over all the land.
Matthew 27:45 NIV

After Jesus died, a wealthy man named Joseph of Arimathea, who
had Pilate's permission to take Jesus' body for burial, accompanied
by Nicodemus, carried the body of Jesus away. They prepared the
body for proper burial with spices and linen, and they laid His body
in a new tomb in the garden of Joseph of Arimathea. After this, the
massive stone was rolled into place, and the tomb was sealed. It was
indeed a time of darkness and utter despair for those first Christians.
All hope was gone. Feeling lost, alone, and empty, they wondered...
What were they supposed to do now, without Jesus?
What would happen to them now, without Jesus?
But there were no answers for them:

No answers. No hope.

Only fear, doubt, hopelessness

And overwhelming darkness.

That was about two thousand years ago. We are now witnessing
the dawn of the 21st century, and many people are still searching
for something to give them a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.
Through the years, people have traveled down many 'false' paths
in search of that elusive 'something' which is missing in their lives,
only to discover that the paths which they have chosen all lead to
nowhere. At some point, every one of these paths come to a dead
end, an end engulfed in darkness and despair, an end with:

No answers, no hope.

Only fear, doubt, hopelessness

And overwhelming darkness.

You see, two thousand years later, people without Jesus
still find themselves in a situation much like that of those first
believers, who felt the pain and agony of a life without Jesus:
A life filled with darkness and despair, with:

No answers, no hope.

Only fear, doubt, hopelessness

And overwhelming darkness.

Are you following the wrong path in life?

Have you come to a dead-end, where you don't know which
way to turn? Are you confused, hurt, lonely, scared? Are you
living in spiritual darkness, the darkness and despair of a life
without Jesus? Are you a Christian who has gone astray, and
have you been following the wrong people down the wrong
path? Have you lost all hope, and you can't seem to find any
answers? Well, if this were the end of the story, there wouldn't
be much hope for any of us, but the story of Easter continues.
There's more. And the best is yet to come!

Darkness

But soon fear and sadness will turn to joy,

despair will be replaced with eternal hope,

doubts will disappear, questions will be answered,

and the darkness will be overcome by

A great and glorious light !

Click on the cross image above to continue to
Part 3 of The Easter Story

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Web site created by
Marcia G. Phyfer

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