He died that you and I might live.  He was stripped that you and I might be robed.  He accepted thorns that you and I might wear crowns.  He was cast out of the city of David that you and I might enter into the New Jerusalem, the city of God.”
–William Henry Biederwolf

“God is at war with sin in every man, and with every man who is sinning….  Man hates God because God hates man’s sin.”
–G. Campbell Morgan

They were jumping with glee–the schemer and his minions.  Evil has won, darkness has pervaded, and Satan is mightier than the Son.  Despair will now reign over the earth, and perversion will run rampant.  No one will be safe; no one will  have hope.  Hope has vanished in the tomb.
Jesus has died and no one has ever defeated death.  Well, maybe Lazarus, but that is now only temporary and with the death of the Son, Lazarus will soon die again.  But then, as the old preacher shouted, “Sunday’s comin'”  There was something happening, not only on earth, but in the cosmos.  “The stone moved, the Earth shook…” (Donnie Sumner) and hope will begin to blossom.
Evil was rattled, Satan’s plans were thwarted, for now there was One, who was once dead, but now is alive, that broke the chains of death.  Death and the grave could not hold Him for He rose triumphant.  Truly, He could say,
        
          “Death, where is your victory?
           Death, where is your sting?”
               –1 Corinthians 15:55 (HCSB)

Jesus was executed on a cruel cross, but at the time only He realized that the cross was the way to victory.  He would cast off mankind’s sin and rise in glorious victory.  Now we can sing,

          “Mercy was great and grace was free,
           Pardon there was multiplied to me,
           There my burdened soul found liberty,
           At Calvary!”

“For he himself endured a cross and thought nothing of its shame because of the joy he knew would follow his suffering; and is now seated at the right hand of God’s throne.”
–Hebrews 12:2 (Phillips)

Sin is deadly.  It is the one thing God won’t tolerate.  The war between good and evil is to the death.  And you lend yourself to sin without knowing to what dirty enterprise you have sold yourself…until you see that cross.”
–William E. Sangster

“Written across Calvary is sacrifice; written across this age of ours is pleasure.  On the lips of Christ are the stern words, I must die.  On the lips of this age of ours, I must enjoy.  When I think of the passion to be rich and the judgment of everything by money standards, of the feverish desire at all costs to be happy, of the frivolity, of the worship of success; and then contrast it with the ‘pale and solemn scene’ upon the hill, I know that the offense of Clavary is not ceased.”
–George H. Morrison

What happened to the other sword? Luke 22 shows that the disciples told Jesus that there were two swords. We can surmise that Peter took one, but what happened with the other one? Did Thomas pick it up? Remember, he was the one who said that we might as well go with Jesus to Jerusalem and die. I don’t think he was a fatalist or pessimistic; I think he saw the real picture and was able to gauge the situation. Perhaps one of the “sons of thunder” picked it up. James and John, rough fisherman and friends with Peter, one of them might have it. Maybe Judas grabbed it so that one of his comrades wouldn’t commit a life-threatening mistake.
Peter gets a rough break at times. He is known for his outbursts, for his doubt and sinking in the sea, for his denial of Jesus, and even in the Garden for his attack on Malthus. Where was the other sword? Was Peter the only one left at that time? When the soldiers appeared the other disciples might have slipped away in the darkness. Yet Peter, not necessarily realizing what he was doing, did try to protect his friend.
Now that sword must have been sharp. It sliced right through the ear of his target. Whoever had it before had honed it to a razor edge. Peter was to learn later that the sword he was to wield was even sharper for it was the Word of God. It is used to cut to the marrow of the soul, not the bone. Jesus said that He came to bring a sword to the earth and He would use it in the next few hours. That sword is still dividing the earth, maybe more so today than any time in history.
One of the things that the crucifixion and resurrection did was to divide the inhabitants of the earth. There would be those that would shun the Gospel and the message of redemption through God’s Son, but there would also be the others who would accept salvation. Another note, John sees Jesus, the Lord of Heaven, in the first chapter of Revelation sees a sword coming out of His mouth. It is said to be a sharp sword.

“Then Simeon blessed them and told His mother Mary: ‘Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed—and a sword will pierce your own soul—that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.'”
–Luke 2:34-35 (HCSB)

This is holy week.  No, the week and days itself are no holier than any other week, but the events that took place were touched by the holy One.  This was the week that Satan and evil tried to destroy the Son of God.  This was the week that they took Jesus to task, and tore at His human body.  This was the week that sent Jesus to the grave.  Jesus was dead; there is no question about it.  It was sin that killed Him; your sin and mine.  There are no thoughts in death, but the soul continues to live.  After death–what then?

          “Low in the grave He lay–Jesus my Savior!
           Waiting the coming day–Jesus my Lord!”
                    –Robert Lowry

I cannot get my mind around the those three days in the tomb.  The questions that must have been in the minds of the disciples.  The events that were happening in the realm of the supernatural, what were they?  I have read and heard suppositions of what took place, but we really do not know.  Were the demons celebrating or were they fearful?  Did evil really think they could destroy God?  Did they think that by destroying the “God-man” they were victorious?  Talk about Jesus taking something meant for evil and turning it around into glorious victory!  Did they really think that by sealing the tomb they could stop Power itself?

          “Vainly they watch His bed–Jesus my Savior!
           Vainly they seal the dead–Jesus my Lord!”

I don’t think that Jesus laughed.  I don’t think He even gave a shout.  However, I do think that there was a supernatural explosion that took place.  The earth shook when He tore the bars away. There was a shaking on the earth, but it was even greater in the supernatural world.  Released in the presence of God were the saints of the old covenant.  Their faith was in this day; the day the Messiah would claim victory.  They had seen the types and symbols, but now, here He was in His splendor and glory.  Was there a smile on His face?  I believe that the supernatural forces saw the same picture of Jesus that John wrote about in the first chapter of Revelation–the supreme power of the universe–Jesus Christ, the resurrected Lord!

          “Death cannot keep his prey–Jesus my Savior!
           He tore the bars away–Jesus my Lord!

I seldom get to hear this song anymore.  The church has become too enlightened, too sophisticated to sing this glorious hymn.  However, it is my favorite and it is one of those that sends the shivers up and down my backbone.  Victorious is our Lord and Savior for He arose the Victor from the grave, hell, and the dark domain.

                    “Up from the grave He arose,
                     With a mighty triumph o’er His foes;
                     He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
                     And He lives forever with His saints to reign,
                     He arose!  He arose!
                     Hallelujah!  Christ arose!”

We should go back to the greeting of those in the early church.  When they would happen to meet each other one would say, “He is risen!”  To which the other would reply, “He is risen, indeed!”

I almost never take the complete thought of a person and copy it for a Paine.  One reason is that there are few out there that I trust, the other is that I like to give my own thoughts on a subject.  Sure, I’ll use ideas and thoughts from others, but most of the time it comes from my gray matter.  However, Dave Roever is an exceptional person, and I wanted to share what he wrote in his newsletter.

“Tired of the political trashing going on in America?
It never seems to end. I just want a break for a while. I’m as patriotic as a man can be, but with all the clamor going on for so many years from both sides of the aisle, it leaves me exhausted. I don’t watch the news like I used to. I don’t even read the headlines. I just didn’t know people could be so downright vulgar and disgustingly self-righteous.
When I find the time to watch television it’s funny to discover that the old westerns are the cleanest. However, I can’t help but laugh when I see the never-ending shootings, hangings, and fist fights that were brought to the big screen forty years ago. Why is it so funny? It is a different social engineering agenda today, but the violence is more intense than ever. Unfortunately, it is reflected in our society through our youth. The murders in Chicago are the product of a festering sore brought on through the same source that started it all … Hollywood with the portrayal of continual violence followed by their hypocritical outcry of the evil gun industry. I absolutely abhor violence, but the combination of hatred in politics and the violence in the movie industry mixed with the numbing conscience of sexual debacle, is a devil’s brew of insurrection in the cauldron of the human mind.
It is in the mind, indeed, where the battle for the soul and spirit takes place. Paul wrote in the New Testament that it is with the mind we serve the law of God and that we are transformed by the renewing of the mind.
There remains one and only one solution. It is not the cutting off of the hands of the thief. It is not an eye for an eye. The solution is the spiritual awakening of a dying conscience in a sleeping giant.
In other words…we need Jesus. Why Jesus? Why not Sharia law or no law at all? Because any law that does not teach forgiveness can only exacerbate the problem. Jesus came for that purpose, above all … to forgive. Until we find it in our hearts to forgive we cannot be forgiven. Then and only until then can we address the issues of our sick society. The law of the New Testament is written in the heart and mind, not in stone.
What people fail to realize is that the law of the spirit that holds us down is not a restraint. It is in fact, a liberty.
The story is told of a little boy who was flying a kite. The kite said to the boy, “Let out the string! I want to go higher!” The boy complied and let out more string. This continued several times until the was no more string to be let out. The kite then demanded of the boy “Cut the string so I can go higher!” The boy cut the string and everyone knows what happened next. The kite began its long fall to eventual destruction. The kite’s tail was caught in an electrical power line where everyone could see the disastrous consequence of the law of nature, which is no different that the law of the spirit. It’s a law. It is not negotiable. It is, simply put… THE THING THAT HOLDS YOU DOWN IS THE THING THAT HOLDS YOU UP!
The current mindset of “Don’t tell me what is sin! ” and, ” Whatever feels good, do it,” has a predictable outcome. It will wind up with its tail caught in the high line for everyone to see its sad end.
No law … no freedom. It’s that simple.”

What an time we live in!  Stay true to God’s Word!