March is a month that can’t seem to make up its mind.
The trees are budding and the daffodils are out but we’re lashed with storms and there’s even snow on the hills. Has Spring sprung or are we still in Winter?
Those of us impatient to get into the garden are not worried. We’ve seen it every year. We’re confident that the evenings will keep stretching, the days will get warmer, the darkness will give way to the light. It’s almost like some higher hand has built into the natural seasons an annual reminder of a spiritual truth, that cold death is not the end, but a temporary interruption.
Christians smile for we believe in a wise Creator and the resurrection of our Master!
Reading the accounts of the New Testament witnesses, we might get that ‘March’ feeling. The King has arrived to the capitol amid cheering crowds, quickly dealt with corruption by ejecting crooks from the Temple and daily welcomes little children and those in need of healing and love. Spring surely?
And yet Winter refuses to give up. It’s difficult to miss the sense of foreboding in the bullying authorities and Christ’s clear predictions of what lies ahead or to feel His dread as He sweats blood in Gethsemane. This Passover week sees the struggle intensify as forces both human and demonic hurl every cruel thing imaginable at the only One Who never did wrong.
Jesus is now composed, surrendered to the Father’s will, committed to save the lost world He loves. He knows without the shedding of His blood there can be no atonement. And He knows Sunday is coming. This story will not end in defeat but in victory over evil and the promise of resurrection glory.
For two millennia now the world has witnessed resurrection, not just in the faithful arrival of Spring but in the continued spread and influence of Christianity worldwide. Even if it seems to be waning in one place, it sprouts up in others. Even if some individuals/congregations/nations appear to fall back into Winterish ways, the risen Lord will not be defeated. He will build His Church, raising up fresh disciples in each new generation, people redeemed by His blood and granted new birth in the Spirit, people eager to share this message of new life to the ends of the earth!
Encouraged by Spring, Scripture and countless thankful testimonies, we can rest assured that Jesus’ promises concerning His return in glory, judgement and eternal life can also be trusted and celebrate once more this Easter: ‘Hallelujah, what a Saviour!’
The trees are budding and the daffodils are out but we’re lashed with storms and there’s even snow on the hills. Has Spring sprung or are we still in Winter?
Those of us impatient to get into the garden are not worried. We’ve seen it every year. We’re confident that the evenings will keep stretching, the days will get warmer, the darkness will give way to the light. It’s almost like some higher hand has built into the natural seasons an annual reminder of a spiritual truth, that cold death is not the end, but a temporary interruption.
Christians smile for we believe in a wise Creator and the resurrection of our Master!
Reading the accounts of the New Testament witnesses, we might get that ‘March’ feeling. The King has arrived to the capitol amid cheering crowds, quickly dealt with corruption by ejecting crooks from the Temple and daily welcomes little children and those in need of healing and love. Spring surely?
And yet Winter refuses to give up. It’s difficult to miss the sense of foreboding in the bullying authorities and Christ’s clear predictions of what lies ahead or to feel His dread as He sweats blood in Gethsemane. This Passover week sees the struggle intensify as forces both human and demonic hurl every cruel thing imaginable at the only One Who never did wrong.
Jesus is now composed, surrendered to the Father’s will, committed to save the lost world He loves. He knows without the shedding of His blood there can be no atonement. And He knows Sunday is coming. This story will not end in defeat but in victory over evil and the promise of resurrection glory.
For two millennia now the world has witnessed resurrection, not just in the faithful arrival of Spring but in the continued spread and influence of Christianity worldwide. Even if it seems to be waning in one place, it sprouts up in others. Even if some individuals/congregations/nations appear to fall back into Winterish ways, the risen Lord will not be defeated. He will build His Church, raising up fresh disciples in each new generation, people redeemed by His blood and granted new birth in the Spirit, people eager to share this message of new life to the ends of the earth!
Encouraged by Spring, Scripture and countless thankful testimonies, we can rest assured that Jesus’ promises concerning His return in glory, judgement and eternal life can also be trusted and celebrate once more this Easter: ‘Hallelujah, what a Saviour!’
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