He Is Risen; He Is Risen Indeed

This. is Saturday of Easter week. Maundy Thursday thoughts turned to Jesus giving last instructions to his 12 as time was growing short. He was nearing the end of His life on earth.

Good Friday. Our Lord was crucified and died on the cross. This only after he had been betrayed,  mocked, tried, beaten, scorned, and dragged through the streets. A spectacle soon to be made defiled by dying the worst death offered at that time.

Tomorrow, we will greet each other with "He is risen!" We will dress in finery, celebrate with a meal, and then things will be as usual. Or will they? Will there be those who hear the real message of Easter for the first time and respond? Will there be those who remember a parent or grandparent often referred to Easter as more than spring, bunnies, eggs, and candy? Will those memories come home to settle into a heart and become implanted there for change?

Some will forget what all the hoopla was about. Some will scoff (what's new in that?). Some will look about and smugly say, there has been "no change". Some will criticize the sunrise services, the new clothes, the celebratory dinners.

Why not celebrate? I've spent enough time volunteering in prisons of different levels of security. Even the lowest security prison emits its contents in various numbers every year, and not one soul spewed forth doesn't feel the celebration of breathing free. Not one Christian doesn't understand why we celebrate. We are breathing free.

Christ took it all. He took the betrayal, faced the arresting force, took the disbelief, took the trial, took the beating, scoffing, and death march. He took the nails, the dehydrating sun as the remaining blood dripped from his wounds, and still could forgive, promise paradise, and take care of his mother. He did that so we could celebrate. He said, "It is finished". And so it is.

Celebrate? Bet your bippy I am going to celebrate. I am breathing free. I am living free. I have One who every day helps me repent my stupid, mean actions, grants me pardon, and blesses me with another chance to try again.

Thank you, Jesus, for spending time with me each and every day. Happy Easter!