Alone

Alone

Good Morning Friends,

The narratives regarding all the happenings at the tomb of Jesus are difficult to reconcile from one Gospel to another. The multiple trips and references get confusing. My purpose this dark and quite morning is not to resolve them. Sorry if you were hoping for that kind of clarity of thought. Instead I want you to imagine with me Mary alone at the tomb.

I want you to imagine how she earlier had reflected on the suffering of Jesus during those last tragic hours that preceded His death on the cross. I want you to imagine a heart searching quality in her intended purposeful action as she came to the tomb in the dark to discover that she was not alone at all. It is here she discovers the Will and Testament of Jesus in the form of a gardener.  It is here that she discovers that death could not hold Jesus and that this new Adam desired to breathe into her and us the new life of his workmanship… a new song that helps us to remember the melody to the song sung by angels at Jesus’ birth. Friends, Mary was a witness that never ever again need Jesus nor we be Alone.

Scripture: and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”  But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.  As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.  “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Mark 16:3-7 (NIV)

It is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1 (ESV)

Message: Maybe this morning I am writing about the thought of Justification by Faith Alone. Then again maybe I am writing about Jesus on the cross separated from God who in faith acted alone so we would never have to be alone. This morning I do not really feel compelled that I have something to say as much I feel that I must just keep writing in faith and that the action of faith alone, this trusting to God, will make something of it all. Here the words write the words as something alive. Here we can discover the similarity in the uncertainty of the creative process and that of the experience that Easter Sunday as the faithful approached the tomb. Both seek to discover a desire that compels action… both call upon us to make the unknown known. Friends, alone the Savior prayed at Gethsemane. Alone he stood before Pilate’s judgment. Alone he wore the crown of thorns. Alone he suffered through rejection. Alone he hung upon the cross. Alone…now very alone he took on our sins and died. Alone so we might all become one. Friends, Jesus alone is worthy. He died for our sins as an act of faith alone. Thankfully Jesus has bequeathed to us, his heirs, the right to choose to live a new life too.

Pray we experience the death of our faith resurrected through the power of Christ in us. Pray that the will of Christ is manifested in our actions and blessed by the Holy Spirit and the Father for His Holy purpose. Pray we give our all in gratitude for this matchless love. Pray we realize the most important of gifts… salvation. Pray we understand the might power of love…the law of the new creation.

Blessings,

John Lawson