On Good Friday I had the opportunity to attend The Passion produced by the Regina Apostolic Church, complete with live animals and ensemble. It ran for three days with solded out audiences. Not bad for the first attempt at such a huge undertaking. Viewing the play has a way of renewing the hope of the power and wonder of Passion Week. I so often get caught up with non-essentials.

Today being Easter Monday the events go on. As on the first Easter there are mixed emotions today as to what actually took place. One thing for sure, the followers of Jesus were not expecting a resurrection. The good thing about that is it could not have, therefore, been staged.

Consider their reactions: So the women left the tomb in a hurry, afraid and yet filled with joy ...
But the apostles thought that what the women said was nonsense, and they did not believe them.
When they saw him, they worshiped him, even though some of them doubted.


The bad thing is that Jesus had instructed and forewarned them of what would happen. It fell upon deaf ears. But then, how would a resurrection from crucifixion look like?

Yes, the range of emotions among friend and foe ran from low to high to everything in between; an emotional upheaval. No different from today whenever the claims of Jesus come up on radar. I suppose that's one reason why queer things such as The Gospel of Judas periodically pop up.

Twenty centuries after He first appeared, Jesus Christ remains as fascinating and compelling as ever. No other person has left so profound an impact on the course of human history. No other person has been so revered, so despised, so controversial.

We question everything about Jesus because, quite honestly, the answers has relevancy to our own lives and mortality. We seek to know about Jesus because in reality we are seeking ourselves. We want a reason for our living. For the disciples and friends of Jesus honest doubts led to honest faith. The hallmark of discovery came as Jesus revealed and opened their understanding of the Scriptures concerning Himself. It can be the same for us. For His committed enemies, well, they are still burrowing around tombstones.....

April is Cancer Month. Cancer has invaded every family or acquaintance. It strikes fear in us. But cancer is so limited in many ways. It cannot cripple love. It cannot shatter hope. It cannot corrupt faith. It cannot eat away peace. It cannot destroy confidence. It cannot kill friendship. It cannot shut out memories. It cannot silence courage. It cannot invade the soul. It cannot reduce eternal life. It cannot quench the human spirit. It cannot lessen the power of our own resurrection ... all because of the power of HIS Resurrection (Phil. 3:10)

I don't know whether we are that afraid of cancer or any other dreaded disease as much as we are of our own mortality, of dying and death, both unknowns. That's what frightens us most, the unknown. Though death threatens us from every side, we still know virtually nothing about it because we haven't been there. We can't get there to see what's in store, much less come back and tell about it.

Some people have reported near-death experiences .... a light at the end of a tunnel, a vision of a river, a stairway of light, or even talking with a spiritual being as in a dream. But near death is not the same as being dead. Jesus, however, has been there. He says, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave (Rev. 1:17,18). Yes, He hold the keys of death. He broke out of death's prison and took the keys with Him. Although some, like Lazarus (John 11), had died and come back, they didn't have the keys -- so they eventually died again.

Death also scares us because it interrupts our normal pattern of life, leaving many things unfinished. Of the young we say, "He still had so much to do" or "Her life is ended, not finished." The aged look back at missed opportunities, unmended relationships, and other shortcomings. Their lives may be over, but they don't seem finished.

Jesus died when He was finished with His mission. God created humankind to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. But they fell into sin, their work unfinished. Jesus came to finish that work -- and more, to buy back all who believe in Him for eternal life. That gives hope.

Ultimately, that's what we all search for: HOPE. And Jesus inspires hope. That's why we -- and I -- keep coming back to Him, as noted above. We hope there is something to Him; even if it's a hope-so hope. Somehow, without Christ, life is incomplete; with Him, somehow all comes together to make a perfect and completed life.

Of hope Chuck Swindoll writes, "To hope is to anticipate. It is more than dreaming, however. It is possessing within ourselves an expectation that someday there will be the fulfillment of that desire. It will become a reality. Hope always looks to the future. It's always on tiptoes. It keeps us going. It makes a dismal today bearable because it promises a brighter tomorrow.."

Hope is vital to our daily walk through life.
Hope comes from the Holy Spirit of God.
Hope in God is eternal; hope in the things of this world is temporary.
Hope is meant to be shared.

So, where will we look for hope? It can be found in the faith we have, or lost, or rejected, or despised.

See ya again.