Could Anything Good Come? SUSAN HARRIS

 This week we celebrated our Lord upending death and rising alive. Three days before we remembered the grief of His brutal, torturous death. Crucify him. Crucify him. Another group wept for His release, for this man in whom was found no fault. Death. A binary option in favour of the masses in AD 33.

This year is 2020 and a new plague has overtaken the world, bringing death involuntary. And polarized opinions. To close borders or not to close. To shut down the economy or not to shut down. To reopen the economy or not to reopen. To hoard toilet paper or not.

Most people are frightened. Many are angry. Several are unaffected. Some are sage-like. A huge number defy the calls for distancing and state of emergency mandates. Everyone is susceptible to the coronavirus. 

The world, nay our own neighbourhoods, have become melting pots of housebound, home offices, party halls, and place of worship. The media got hold of a few people buying toilet paper in some part of the world and made it front-page news. Television and social media consequently played streams of clips of shopping carts of reams. This group, in effect, induced panic-buying. To a world that had been cheated of the truth of the coronavirus outbreak, the masses were taking no chances with a probable toilet paper shortage. They had no control of the genetic code of the virus but they sure had over bathroom tissue. Then same media tried to shame those who purchased. 

The Pharisees had spread hate news about Jesus. They had reframed His goodness as evil. The media of His day carried the sign in Pilates’ unique font, JESUS OF NAZARETH KING OF THE JEWS. Written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. 

But whereas pandemonium buying of ultra soft would cease, Jesus’ fate was irreversible. 

First, distanced emotionally by a betrayer. Then distanced physically from the ones He loved and who loved Him. Singled out for death. 

Then the shutting down came. Stay at home and only go out for food or medicine. 

The worship of celebrities strangely died. Devoid of the glamour and glitter they were hardly recognizable from their abodes. Their influence dissipated like dew in sunlight. 

That Friday evening in AD 33 after a bitter vinegar drink, Jesus said, “It is finished”. Every organ shut down, and despair gripped the ones who loved Him. Darkness filled their world. 

Essential workers embrace the darkness of the possibility of contracting COVID-19 from the ones they serve. 

The disease has stripped status and equalized people as no one could have imagined. 

Calvary has equalized the spiritual fate of every person born. It’s level ground for any body shape or bank account.

Church buildings, the arena for grace, morphed into breeding grounds for outbreaks. But while all things are not good, all things work for good (Romans 8:28). Astute leaders turned to online services and just like that, in a wink the Millennial generation is reached. 

Picture of Jesus by 8-year old Akiane
Kramarik as He looked in her dreams.

John 1:6 asked the obvious of the day - Could anything good come from Nazareth? 

Last week's remembrance attests. Go to Calvary and see. The spiritual awakenings that sweep the globe during COVID-19  is a testament. Hearts return to their maker, faces lift up, and so-called atheism has been eroded.

The true source of power has been recognized. It lies not in an employer who cannot give life or spare the loss of his own. It lies not in an agent who gauges by the number of followings on social media. Stripped, they grapple for their basic survival. The modus operandi has changed. Nothing or no one will be the same. 

Only Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) 

If you have not invited Him into your life, a sincere asking through the simple prayer below will make Him your Lord and Saviour. 

"Dear Jesus, I have sinned and I need your forgiveness. I invite you to be my Saviour and Lord. Help me to be the kind of person You want me to be. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sin and for giving me eternal life. Amen."

I invite you to view an 18-minute clip of my Easter special that I taped for my show ETERNITY. It’s found at: https://youtu.be/Cq6OQEWM-aI

Here’s what you can find when: 

30s – Cartoon video It’s A Happy Day – for kids and any age. 

4:27 Song video In The Garden (I put this together with lots of flowers) 

7:46 Reading John Chapter 20 – the Resurrection story 

12:48 – Christ The Lord is Risen –chimes (I put this together) 

14:38 – Call to Salvation and prayer 17:08 – This music is my brother’s who has long passed away. 

SUSAN HARRIS is the host of ETERNITY on cable television in eastern Saskatchewan. If you would like to view inspirational videos, stories for clips, and cute animals, check out her YouTube channel and subscribe at:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB30i05nvacFIJ1ciaQ0ClA

Website: https://www.susanharris.ca