Risen Indeed

Risen Indeed Copyright Doug Blair, Waterloo ON, 2019 Raised to Life

He did it

And they had left that Room

Upper Room with

A heaviness that topped

The evening’s meal.

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I had wondered what

Had held their interest

For the hours of Passover.

(Youth in bedclothes

Starting to comprehend

The great Hope.)

The song, the journey

To the chilly garden.

His prayers alone

And in dreadful conflict.

The arrest‌the overmuch

Gaggle of troops

And Judas.

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The bloody Friday

And the shame of it.

All of us heavy and sore amazed.

But then the third day.

He did it just like he said.

Up and going strong.

Surely God and glorified.

And our confidence – without equal.

(all thoughts of the young lad trailing silently in Mark 14: 50-52 )

Sliding into Darkness November 17, 2009

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The Traitor

“Judas also… knew the place… Judas then, having received a band of men cometh thither.” J ​ ohn 18:2,2 Every new line in the story of the betrayal shows new blackness in the heart of Judas.

Going out from the supper-table he hastened to the priests, and was quickly under way with his band of soldiers. He probably first hurried back to the upper room, where he had left Jesus; not finding Him there, he knew well where the Master had gone, and hastened to the sacred place of prayer. Then the manner in which he let the officers know which of the company was Jesus shows the deepest blackness of all: he went up to Him as to a dear friend and kissed Him — kissed Him over and over, and with feigned warmth and affection.

Let us remember how the treason grew in the heart of Judas, beginning in greed for money, growing into theft and falseness of life, ending at last in the blackest crime

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the world ever saw. The lesson is, that we should watch the beginnings of evil in our hearts.

A picture in the royal gallery of Brussels represents Judas wandering about on the night after the betrayal. He comes by chance upon the workmen who have been making the cross on which Christ shall be crucified to-morrow. A fire near by throws its light full on the faces of the workmen, who are sleeping peacefully while resting from their labour. Judas’s face is somewhat in the shade; but it is wonderfully expressive of awful remorse and agony as he catches sight of the cross and the tools used in making it, — the cross which his treachery had made possible. But still, though in the very torments of hell, as it appears, he clutches his money-bag, and seems to hurry on into the night. That picture tells the story of the fruit of Judas’s victory — the money-bag with the thirty pieces of silver in it (and even that he could not long keep), carried off into the night of fiendish despair: that was all.

(A daily entry in "Come Ye Apart" by J.R. Miller)

Why Should I Gain from His Reward?

The hosts of Heaven wept

The Father held His ground

The Saviour hung in shame

With coarseness all around

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The crowd saw only loss

Disciples hid from view

A Mother watched her dreams

Dismissed like morning dew.

And all the Man had said

And all that He had done

Could not prevent the hate

That stopped a mid-day’s sun

He begged on our behalf

That light would come, and soon

And mercy for our crimes

This great Plan to atone.

Now I have heard the tale

And I have sensed my debt

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And I have mourned this Cross

Still, I am hopeful yet.

Just as a priest of old

By strictest ways and means

Christ bore me on His heart

And I am rendered clean.

I cannot comprehend

‘Twas me for whom he died

But at Redemption’s end

His pain, full satisfied.

Emmaus November 15, 2009 "We have seen Him! Miriam, it was wonderful. Cleopas and I were walking the road to Emmaus. We just needed some time together to deal with the events of the last few

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days in Jerusalem. Some small business there provided the opportunity for a quiet journey.

We felt intense heaviness and disappointment. We had heard the Nazarene in the Temple. On the Mount of Olives. Wonderful, frightening words of a coming upheaval followed by a Golden Age. Admonitions to remain vigilant, clean, helpful. Just like the man himself. Surely you had heard, Miriam, of his many deeds of mercy. How he would lighten up a crowd. The many healings. That fellow Lazarus over in Bethany.

And such Messiah talk!

But this was the third day. Some women had reported that his body was missing from the tomb. No one knew where he was or who had taken him. Our spirits were heavy. It was hard to let go of the dream. Liberation for our people.

Suddenly we were joined by a pleasant looking man who asked if he might walk with us. He seemed a good listener. For a while he just let us initiate the conversation.

Things turned to our disappointment with recent events. The humiliating capture, torture and death of the rabbi Jesus.

That really sparked a note of interest in him. He even rebuked us for our attitude! We then got a lesson from the scriptures on how Messiah would suffer immensely before entering into his glory. Quite impressive.

Soon we were at the village and it seemed right to us to invite this man for dinner and rest for the night at our lodging.

Then something amazing happened at the meal. It was as if he took over the position of host. He took the serving of bread. Offered up a simple but moving prayer. Broke

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the bread. We took a closer look at those hands. Scar marks. Punctures. A closer look at his face, his eyes. Captivating. Alive! It was Jesus!

As I tried to say something, he disappeared. Gone! Vanished!

Miriam, we have seen great things. Our joy compelled us to take to the road immediately, nightfall notwithstanding. Return to Jerusalem. Seek out his disciples with this good news. He is risen. He is risen indeed."

Note:​ I have long been fascinated with a famous painting by Robert Zund showing an elevated bird's eye, or God's eye view of those three men walking the road. Here was the infant Church. Two gathered with Jesus in their midst. The courteous humanity of the visitor. His companionship in travel. His willingness to receive their ministrations. To share the intimacy of a meal and the common blessing of bread.

The ever presence of those wounded hands. The arrivial of the supernatural so "naturally". The corroboration of all of prophetic scripture to his finished work. The warm hearts confirming the awesome yet available comfort and input of Deity

The picture which I have shown above has been cropped to give better detail to the three men. The original has a much higher and all-encompassing point of view. As God perhaps would have seen it. I can hear Him saying, "That's right Son. Tell them.

Initiate your Church. Just as we saw it from before the foundation of the world."

Bread and Wine​ ​His Earth Walk​ ​Joy​ ​Word of Life

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Ephesians 1:

18 T ​ he eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 ​And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 W ​ hich he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 F ​ ar above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

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