M t td am e
The earth quaked. The rocks ripped asunder. God’s own temple bowed to its doom and the veil rent itself in twain. The disappointment was bit ter; the despair abject; the frustration devastating and total. We have just been through the valley of death. We have touched the rock bottom of desolation, darkness and despair. But if the night is at its darkest, the dawn is at hand. Like unto the traveler in a desert, there is the oasis to give him renewed strength. Hope is highest when the going is hardest. Even as we are re living the story, the dawn is already glimmering. While the cross marked the end of the old creation, it also marked the beginning of the new. The cross is not a symbol of defeat; it is that of victory. But Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. The battlefield where He seeks victory is neither Jerusalem nor Rome. It is in our hearts. He began with His doubting disciples. We have seen how frustrated they were. They sorely needed an assurance and the only one given them was the cross. They expected to find Him on David’s throne, but instead buried Him in a grave. They were undone; the future seemed black. Yet all the while the assurance was there. As soon as Simon Peter blurted it out that He was the Christ, He began to prepare them for what was going to take place in fulfilling the Scriptures. He foretold His own resurrection, but they disbelieved it! The importance of Christ’s resur rection was fully realized by His enemies. They bribed the guards to say that His disciples had come in the night and stolen His body while they slept. It was also realized by His disciples. After Christ’s resurrection they concentrated their whole atten- THE KING'S BUSINESS
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Free China's First Lady T oday as we are assem b led in worship and in solemn commem oration of pur Lord’s Passion, throughout the world millions are doing the same. Our voices mingle and our hearts beat in unison. We try reverentially, though inadequately, to feel with Him as He felt Himself more than nineteen-and-a-half cen turies ago. To taste something of the awfulness (using the word in its original sense) of the situation, the horror of the cup, and the triumph of faith justified. Let us in our im agination briefly relive the more crucial moments in that eventful week. There was His triumphal entry in to Jerusalem, and then the Garden of Gethsemane. “ O my Father,” He cried, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” Never was He more human than when He uttered that supplication. Nor never was He in greater need of human sympathy and support. But His disciples slept. O! the utter loneliness of His soul! “ My soul is e x c e e d in g sorrowful, even unto death,” said He to them. Next, at the trial. He was sold for money by Judas. The Jews who had 6
been shouting only five days ago: “ Hosanna to the Son of David: Bless ed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest,” now howled for His blood. “ Crucify him! Crucify him!” Now the supreme moment: On the tree, nailed by. His hands and feet, dying a slow, agonizing death. His thoughts were ever thoughts of love. He interceded for His persecutors: “ Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” He was in un speakable agony, for He cried out to God: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” If we can hardly bear to recount the story even at this distance of time, what must have His disciples felt then! They had built up their hopes so high and expected so much! Didn’t angels announce the good tidings of His birth? Didn’t the wise men from the East proclaim Him bom the King of the Jews? Didn’t He even raise up the dead, for, lo, there walked Lazarus? But now the defeat was complete. The living God Himself died, as they thought, before their very eyes! Even the heavens were in despair. The sun darkened.
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