THE DAY THAT CHANGED HISTORY - by Eleanor Shepherd

           

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            I am trying not to panic. I have to post a blog for the most important day of the Christian year and I cannot think of a thing to say. What a terrible time to run into writer’s block! It just seems to me that anything original that I might want to say on the topic has already been said, and more eloquently that I could express it. Yet I want to somehow stir people to realize this magnitude of the event that we celebrate today that changed the course of human history. All I can do is reflect on the events of that incredible moment in history.

            Until that day, hope was illusory and the threat of death hung over each person who was born from the day they entered this world until their pilgrimage was over. The hints of the stupendous change rang in the air when Jesus while suffering His deep agony on the cross promised the fearful, yet repentant criminal on the next cross, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.” The threat of the unknown darkness following death began to lose its grip. 

            

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Then on Easter morning, the gates to a glorious life beyond this one were swung open, as Jesus left the darkness of the tomb and the realm of the dead where He had been since the crucifixion and proclaimed victory over the last enemy – death. It could no longer hold Him and His words to His followers took on the ring of truth. “I am going to prepare a place for you, and when the time comes I will come and take you to be where I am.

            The women anxiously made their way to the tomb to try and show some final acts of kindness by bringing their spices to anoint His lifeless body. They had no idea of the surprise that God had in store for them. Not only was the humungous stone that sealed the entrance to the tomb rolled back for them, there were also extraterrestrial messengers awaiting them with the news that Jesus no longer needed their care. He had risen from the dead and was going to meet His disciples in Galilee. They could hardly believe their ears or their eyes. 

            Mary could not. So she remained in the cemetery to search for the One who had transformed her life. She was not disappointed. She met Him, although in her fear and grief she mistook Him for the groundskeeper. However, when He spoke her name, she recognized Him and was overjoyed.  Then her feet took wings as she ran to where she knew His disciples would be to share the news with them. At the time, I expect, even she did not know that everything was changed by His return from death. 

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            Hearing the news, the closest friends of Jesus, had to see for themselves what had happened. Was Mary hallucinating in her desire to see Jesus who she loved so intensely, or could it really be true? They took off running along the same path that Mary had just taken and stopped outside, filled with trepidation, before entering an empty tomb, with fresh grave clothes neatly folded, clean and ready for someone who would need them. However, if the next occupant of the tomb were a follower of Jesus, this would only become the resting place of the shell that was his or her body. 

            In the movie currently in the theatres called Paul – Apostle of Christ, there is a scene where Luke speaks to those with him, who know they will be martyred the next day. They ask him what it will be like. He replies, “It will be terrible for a few moments, then it will be wonderful for eternity. You will be in the presence of the Lord and freed from all pain and sorrow forever.” This is the hope promised by the Resurrection of Jesus. 

            

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            And so it has been down through the centuries, for those who have finished their sojourn on this earth and have during that journey decided to follow the One who knows the way to eternal life. At the end of their days they enter into the perfect place He has prepared for them. 

            This hope is not only something worth dying for, it also offers something worth living for  - living to share the love and joy and peace that come to a heart anchored in a hope available to all

Word Guild Award
2011

Word Guild Award
20

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