philos
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memoria

Easter

It's Good Friday today, & it means so much to all those Christians out there.. Today is the day we are reminded- even more vividly- of our Saviour, our Redeemer, and our Rock.

Know what? Even when we forget or reject Jesus, He never shuns us. He loves us as we are- sins & all. Isn't that amazing? It's great to be able to praise and worship such a wonderful God!

The Story
Jesus knew that He was about to be cornered, arrested and taken away to be crucified. But why didn't He just escape from it all, & run away? Instead, despite being on the receiving end on rough treatment and 'death', Jesus never stopped loving those who betrayed Him and hurt Him. Even when He died on that cross, He prayed "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing." He never let their rejection of Him affect His love for them.

Not only was Jesus set up by people, but also betrayed by one of His close friends- Judas. When Jesus chose Judas to be one of His disciples, He knew what Judas would do to Him. But did Jesus stop working closely with Judas for 3 years, or did He exclude Judas from the passover meal? No. Right up to the last moment Jesus left a way open for Judas to repent. Sadly, Judas betrayed Jesus, and led an armed gang to arrest the Friend whom had been so loyal to him.

They put Jesus on trial, and repeatedly tried to provoke Him by making up false accusations, and then started punching Him and spitting. Jesus didn't fight back. 'I [Jesus] offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from the mocking and spitting.' from Isaiah 50:6. In the heat of the moment Jesus didn't react in anger. He shames those who hit Him by not offering any resistance. Such meekness is not a weakness- it took enormous strength of character not to fight back. And when they hung Him up on that cross, when He rose again from the dead, He didn't go after those who hit Him to get His revenge. He took it all, forgiving those who betrayed Him.

Jesus died from a "broken heart"- literally, and in the sense that His heart was crushed by the weight of our sins. Jesus's death wasn't a defeat, but a victory. He rose again on the third day, showing all those who sneered at Him that He is the one true God. Hooray!! For Christians, death isn't necessarily something to be feared, and we know that Jesus has rescued us from the death penalty of sin!

Even though Jesus knew people would lie about Him, He still came to earth to die for them. He willingly took all that hurt so that we could be forgiven, and live forever.

And now, all I want to say is: Jesus is Alive! He lives! :D

Happy Easter friends.

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