Good for the world Friday

Peace

'Peace' (in English)

to all in Canada, the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand

 and Great Britain

c. 1917

I'm afraid I don't have much time today for my blog,

but I really wanted to share at least a few things.

Today is a special day.

A day when sin was conquered.

A day when we no longer have to try and live up to a perfect God,

but can be seen by God as perfect,

through the curtain of Jesus' blood.

Blood that He freely shed for you.

For me.

What a relief!

I don't have to do 'good works' or be a 'good person'

and then hope I have been 'good enough' to enter heaven.

With Jesus' sacrifice, freely given, and His death-

He carried my sins.

Your sins.

So that I may stand before the Perfect God, the Holiest of Holy

and say

yes!

I am your child!

I know I have sinned, and I know that You sent your Only Son to the earth,

just for me!

So that today when I stand in Your presence,

You know who I am

and You welcome me into Your home.

No worrying or hoping for me.

I know Who loves me, and exactly where I will be after I die on this earth.

Whew.

What a comfort.

c.1912

So, today is a day of sorrow for what Jesus had to go through

and a day of rejoicing.

I like to focus on both.

and of course, Easter is the day of Rejoicing

when Jesus conquered not only our sins, but death as well!!

:0)

c.1897

Here is a charming paper doll set from Germany:

I like this one because although some of their clothes are patched and worn,

these kids still celebrate with flowers and baskets of gifts.

Here is a coloring page that reminds us of Jesus death:

produced with permission from Gospel Light

This next painting is by Giotto, entitled "Lamentation", circa 1308.

I like it because it shows something that we, in all our focus on ourselves,

forget sometimes.

That the angels cried at Jesus persecution and death.

They cried because God prevented them from intervening.

Giotto's 'Lamentation', c. 1308

Caravaggio's 'La Deposizio ne di Criso'

Andrea Solario's 'Lamentation', c. 1505 - 1507

You know, that's really the symbolism of the Easter egg -

the egg is broken open and there is new life

a baby chick or a baby duckling

new, fresh, alive and ready to live!

That is us -

covered up with shell (sin) and in the dark.

Jesus breaks open our shell

and we are there!

New, fresh, alive and ready to live for God!

Well, perhaps I have given you a few things to think about.

Have a blessed Friday,

with anticipation for the Resurrection Day!

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A Dark Good Friday

Greetings!

Today I would like to explore the Good Friday that many Christians celebrate.

It centers around Jesus Christ being beaten almost to death by several groups of people who had made false charges against Him, and then taken to a hill above Jerusalem to be crucified with 2 other criminals.
On a Friday.

This happened around 200 years ago, yet still is alive and current to all of us.

Handel's 'Messiah'

As Paul Harvey would say:

".....now here's the rest of the story..."

Central in the history of Jesus dying while on a cross is that

G-d turned away from His only Son.

I think this was the greatest grief that Jesus could have born.

Earth reacted to this in many rather stunning ways.

There blew in a sudden and severe storm,

turning the sky so dark that it looked like it was night.

There were loud claps of thunder.
The ground shook like an earthquake.

It shook so severely that many tombs that had been sealed broke open.

But wait....there's more!

There are reports all over Jerusalem that loved ones that had died...

 and been buried...

are alive!

They are knocking on doors to see their loved ones again!

Wow.

AND, the seamless curtain that hung in the Temple,

that separated the people from the awesomeness of Y'weh -

split from top to bottom!

To demonstrate how important this curtain was,

the priests would draw "straws" to see which one

had to go behind the curtain every day to wait for Y'weh to speak,

 or to perform religious ceremonies.

They knew the power of their Y'weh,

so the chosen priest would have a rope tied around his waist,

just in case G-d struck him dead.

The rope was to pull him back to the 'people's' side.

Wow again.

c. 1550, Michelangelo sketch

What an incredible event,

and how sad for the followers of Christ that He died in such a horrible way.

....But now for the rest of the story....

c.1900

Jesus' body was taken down from the cross by some friends.

One of His friends lent space in a tomb, because Jesus was too poor to own one.

A pet peeve of mine:

People that leave Jesus on the cross.

check out the dates these were painted:

c.1308, Giotto's 'Lamentations"

c. 1505, Andrea Solario's 'Lamentation'

and a modern coloring page for children:

All of His disciples and followers and at least a few members of His earthly family were sad and grief stricken. They were scared. They were at a total loss.

Why would anyone call this Good Friday?

It sounds more like Dark Friday to me.

But...

Oh yeah, you have to wait for more,

just as Jesus' disciples had to wait too!

by Spencer Williams

see you tomorrow!

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com