![]() ![]() There is nothing more invigorating than hearing children singing energetically with joy, knowing that God Himself has ordained their voices should be lifted up in praise. Some of those children have now become the Sunday School teachers, with their own children sitting in the very chairs they sat in such a short time ago. For over thirty years now I’ve watched a generation of Wiser Lake Chapel children, including my own three, grow up in that church basement, singing the same praise and worship songs from the time they sit as toddlers on a bigger sibling’s lap, to the point when they “graduate” to the high school class. I’m reminded of this every Sunday when I play piano for the Sunday School singing time for the children at the Chapel. The grumbling of the chief priests and teachers of the law about the noisy children is met with a response from Jesus that is a reminder of what they know all too well themselves from reading the Psalms–praise from the children is actually prescribed by God and is therefore made holy. ![]() The children continued to celebrate when the adults around them were losing momentum in their faith. The children in the temple during Holy Week continued to shout and praise Jesus’ name, shouting “Hosanna!” just as they had done on the road to Jerusalem on Sunday. ![]() “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?”Ĭhildren have a gift of getting to the heart of the matter. “Do you hear what these children are saying?” asked him. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised, imperishable, and we shallīe changed…O death where is your sting?” (I Cor 15:52ff) ![]() “We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at We do not burn into nothingness, but are only renewed, until one day, raised to a glorious new reality, we are made new permanently. However, the best news is that this fire is refining. The fierce battle that seemed to be raging behind her closed eyes and slow breaths left a deep impression on me.ĭeath itself is a battle and one that requires immense effort and strength. The fear and agony of it all was much more shocking than I had ever experienced. I wrote this poem a little over a year ago, as I watched my grandmother slowly die. Take time to let that sink in before the coming morn establishes a new reality. Christ himself took time to dwell in that space. The disciples took time to be in that space. Give yourself the time and space to sit in discomfort. So do not pass Holy Saturday without a second thought. To simply say it will all get better is to ignore the reality of sin and pain that we know from experience are the realities we face on a daily basis. Lament and complaint to God is a needed and natural response. Had he or the disciples known what was going to happen, the Resurrection on the third day would not have been nearly as glorious. Joseph knew the Sabbath was about to start and he had to get Jesus down and placed in the tomb before it did or else he would be ceremonially unclean. Instead there was a deep and real despair, along with a re-entering into the daily routine. I’m so glad Jesus just took care of my sins and such.’ They were not sitting around thinking: ‘Golly, I sure feel justified now. What did Mary and the disciples feel when Jesus was on the cross? What did Joseph of Arimathea feel as he peeled the bloodied and lifeless corpse down from the tree? It could not have been deep feelings of gratitude. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.”īy Ben Gibson (originally written in 2019)ĭo not pass Holy Saturday without a second thought. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and was waiting for the kingdom of God. “Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to the decision and action. ![]()
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