He's Alive!

Happy Good Friday Eve!!

Last night, we read the first part of the Easter story as a family, Starting with Judas agreeing to betray Jesus and we stopped at the end of the Lord's Supper. As my dad finished reading, I looked down to the next section's title:Gethsemane. I realized that just reading the word made my stomach flutter. Gethsemane, the exciting, edge-of-your-seat begining to the story where my GOD'S blood was spilled for ME. He had to hang, suspended by his arms with nails, for the times I'm unkind to my siblings. For the times I don't obey with a cheerful heart. For any time I've ever sinned...."He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" Issiah 53:5. I think the most haunting part of that verse is "The punishment that brought us peace was upon him". My punishment, your punishment, our punishment, was upon him, who was sinless and deserved absolutely NONE of the torturous punishment he deserved. I mean, seriously: would you take someone else's punishment of having a crown of thorns pressed down onto your head, be whipped multiple times with a piece of leather embedded with metal or bone, have your hands nailed to a cross, have to drag that cross to where a bunch of cruel soldiers told you to, have more nails through your feet, and be mocked? Of course not. I wouldn't. You wouldn't. No one would. But Jesus did. And then, on Sunday he rose from the grave. He conquered death. He truly rose from the grave, being seen by hundreds of people(500 people can't hallucinate the same thing at the same time). The angels at the tomb declared to Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Johanna "He is not here, for he has risen!" The disciples didn't steal his body, the guards would have killed them for sure. What other explanation is the but the one true one.....that He Has Risen!