WHAT HAS HE DONE?

Today was an unusual day, I am the middle cross that sits on a hill called Calvary.

Let me tell you, what happened to me today

Today was not an ordinary day.

I see many men die, every day, men are put to death on me.

But this was different.

There was a massive crowd, I was carried by a man who was too weak to carry me.

They were cursing this man.

What had he done?

He dropped the cross, someone was called to pick it up.

I was dragged up to calvary.

I heard the curses of the soldiers.

I heard the insults of the pharisees.

What were the pharisees doing here?

They never came

They were taunting this man, they wanted him to come down from the cross.

Even the other criminals were insulting this man, what had he done?

A sign was placed on the top, this is Jesus King of the Jews.

I heard the insults, but I heard things, I had never heard before.

This man prayed for the people insulting him, father forgive them.

Never had I heard words like this, never had I seen a crucifixion, like this.

Women stood by the cross, this man’s mother, he had someone take care of her.. what love.

But what I heard next shook me to my foundations.

MY GOD MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME AND IT IS FINISHED.

Who was this man?

这人是谁?

I heard some say, his name was Jesus.

Then one of the other criminals was speaking to Jesus, he came to faith.

The people were amazed and now the ground is shaking.

There is an earthquake, I’m going to fall.

Its dark now, for three hours total darkness.

But it’s midday, what’s happening?

The soldiers are running, but one stands there and speaks.

Surely, this is the son of God.

The friends of this man come to take him down.

His blood is smeared through my bark.

My friends, I am the cross, I saw Jesus’ die, his blood runs all down me.

I am covered with his blood.

My question is this:

What has he done?

He has saved us; he has reconciled us to God.  He gave his blood to save us, without blood there is no remission of sin.

Are you covered by the blood of Jesus?

He is real, he brings life.

The answer to the question at the top is this.

He has gained salvation through his death on the cross, we can be reconciled to God, but it takes coming to the foot of the cross, in repentance, faith and with a broken and humble spirit.

The burden of sin is taken away at Calvary.

The Father’s justice was satisfied at Calvary, the father’s love, mercy and grace were put on full display at Calvary.

Calvary is all about Christ. He gave his life for you.

The Father will draw you to the cross, the holy spirit will convict you of your sin and the precious blood of Jesus will cleanse you from all your sin.

NO ONE EVER GETS PAST ME!

I’m a really big stone.

I cover the mouths of tombs, no one can move me.

There’s been a lot of trouble in Jerusalem.

Some Jewish fanatic has been crucified today

The pharisees hated him.

There’s a new tomb in this garden, it’s owned by one of them.

I like this man, he’s called Joseph.

Hang on, someone’s coming.

It’s Joseph, he’s bringing a body.

There’re women with him and another religious man with , oh yes, I recognise him.

It’s Nicodemus, isn’t he one of them.

They say, it’s Jesus they are burying.

Yes, that’s the man.

They are laying him in the tomb.

And now they are trying to move me,

It’s taking all their strength.

But finally, I’m up against the entrance.

No one gets past me.

There have all gone now.

All is quiet.

What’s happening?

Many soldiers are here?

There is much talk, they must seal the stone and guard the tomb.

No one gets past me!

They say this Jesus is going to rise from the dead.. hahaha.

Another day goes by, it’s a beautiful day.

The first day of a new week.

Oh no! 

An earthquake, suddenly my seal is broken and I’m being rolled away.

But there’s no one there.

How can this happen?

Is it the soldiers? No, they are too scared.

They are running for their lives.

A blinding light shines all around me.

And I feel someone is sitting on top of me.

It can’t be: it is: an angel.

Someone is stirring in the tomb. 

I feel the gentle waft of glory as he walks out.

He is alive.

Here come the women, they see me rolled away.

The angel speaks to them.

They run off , but in joyful happiness.

One lady stays, she’s talking to someone.

It can’t be: it is Jesus.

More men come, one very fat and one younger.

They are amazed, they go after a while.

Next the Pharisees come.

They give the soldiers money.

Tell the people, the disciples stole him.

What are you joking?

Remember, nothing ever gets past me.

Stones obviously can’t talk, but if they could.

 maybe they would tell the story of the resurrection like this.

After all, he was an eye witness!

If you have been saved and transformed by Jesus, you are an eye witness, you know for sure that he rose from the dead and lives forever.

Praise God, Jesus is alive.

WHAT IS TRUTH

John 18:38

King James Version

38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

My name is Pontius Pilate and I am a decorated soldier who has risen to the giddy heights of Governor of Israel, when I heard, Caesar was going to give me a governorship, I thought it would be a good province, not this terrible place, only Britain is worse!.

Since I have arrived here, it’s been rebellion after rebellion, these Jews are restless, constantly seeking some kind of Messiah to free them from oppression, its written in their barely comprehensible law and prophets.

Already I’ve had to put down several rebellions, I don’t care how much Jewish blood I spill, my loyalty is to ROME and to the Roman empire. Word has got back to the emperor, that I have done this and he wasn’t happy, I’ve been warned, there are no more second chances.

It’s that time of year again, not only must I deal with millions of Jews coming to give sacrifices to their God, but deal with the Sanhedrin, let by that obnoxious man Caiphas, he really is a pain in the butt, he insists that I must let one prisoner be released as some type of good will gesture.

It’s Passover time again, I fear trouble, I hear that there is a new teacher in town, he’s already upset the priests by overturning their tables in the temple courts, wish I had thought of that, what an absolute racket!

Its the night before Passover, we have to let a prisoner go tomorrow, in our custody is Barabbas, a real trouble maker, him and his two mates will be crucified at Passover, life goes on.

It’s early morning now, sleep is difficult, thoughts swirl through my mind, my wife is having dreams, about what I do not know and to be honest, I don’t care.

Oh no, banging on the door, its my senior officer, he says that there is trouble brewing, the Sanhedrin have arrested a teacher from galilee, what’s he doing down here?

They are bringing his here, they want you to authorize his crucifixion, are they crazy?

Well, they have arrested him at midnight and he has admitted that he is the son of God. 

Oh no, not another nutter, what is it about these Jews?

Ok, I’ll come, but this better not take long.

Sir you have to go to them, they wont enter your palace because they would be unclean.

Right, you lot, you have disturbed my sleep, what’s all this about, ok Caiphas, you speak, shut this rabble up.

He says what, let me examine him, bring him to me. 

So, who are you., your chief priests say you are a king, well are you?

To be honest, his answers amazed me, I stood there open mouthed. Sometime ago, my guards sought to arrest him, they came back amazed at what he said.

A question I have always wanted to ask is what is truth?

After he has said I am the truth, he didn’t answer me, let me go back out and tell these jews, I have examined him and find no fault in him, but that is not enough to shut them up.

Sir, Herod is in Jerusalem, oh great, he is from Galilee, send him to Herod, let him deal with him, although I hate Herod, Jesus is his problem.

Maybe now I get some sleep, no, after half an hour, I am woken from my drowsiness by the words:

Herod has sent him back!

The rabble is demanding a result, this isn’t going to end well.

Ok, I am going to scourge Jesus, maybe that will satisfy them, make sure it’s painful, but don’t kill him.

My wife sends me a message, have nothing to do with this just man, doesn’t she understand anything?

What a state he’s in when he comes back from his scourging, what do I do now?  I know I’m allowed to release a prisoner at Passover aren’t I. So, I gave them a choice: Barabbas or Jesus, what an easy choice.

What, they are screaming to release Barabbas, my plan has backfired, the soldiers look at me with amazement, as I give the order to release Barabbas.

What do I do with Jesus, they scream crucify him, oh no, this gets worse.

What to do, oh I know how to get out of this.

Get me some water, I am washing my hands of all this, it’s your problem, now you crucify him.

I give the order to my centurion, crucify him with the two mates of Barabbas, and make sure he’s dead, tell me, when it is finished.

I need sleep, it’s 3pm in the afternoon, my centurion comes with a man called Joseph, he wants the body of Jesus, is he dead?

Yes, he’s dead, it was like nothing like I’ve ever seen before,  so yes you can take his body, bury him decently.

Are you a follower of his？ Aren’t you a pharisee and a member of the council? Yes, I am, but not all of us agree with what has been done.

It’s now none of my business, what a day, I need some rest.

It’s now late at night, and here comes Caiphas and his cronies, what is it now. Isn’t it enough that they have crucified their so-called king, apparently not.

They are now saying that this man Jesus

 said he would rise from the dead on the third day,  what absolute nonsense, have you ever heard anything so crazy, anyway they are worried, please let us set a guard.

Guard a dead man! Ok you have guards and also you can have some of my soldiers, changed every six hours and we will seal the tomb, he has no chance of getting out.

It’s Sunday now, Passover is past and boy am I glad, now perhaps things can get back to normal,  but my senior officer comes in, he seems to be different, he is very affected by Friday, maybe he needs some time off.

There’s talk of the tomb being opened, that Jesus is no longer there. Are you joking, what were my guards doing?

It wasn’t their fault sir, the Sanhedrin say don’t blame them, it was their guards on that watch, the followers of Jesus came and overpowered their guards and took the body and so that’s the party line, we will tell, anyway what can they do with a dead body.

But there are people who are saying, they have seen hm alive, what if this rumor spreads?, oh well it’s all Jewish religious superstition, it will die out soon.

These Jewish religious festivals come thick and fast, forty days and there’s another one, hopefully there’s no more talk of this Jesus.

It’s nine o’clock in the morning, too early, but not for the Jews, those followers of Jesus are preaching that he’s alive and now they have five thousand more followers, and then soon after 3000 more, they are meeting all over Jerusalem, thankfully they are peaceful, they seem to keep it to the Jews, anyway Caiphas and his cronies can take care of it, he placed them in prison, but the doors were opened, they were let out by a miracle.

I shouldn’t worry, I hear that one called Saul is doing my dirty work for me, the prisons are now full of these Jesus followers, he will go to Damascus to get rid of this rabble.

What, he’s now one of them and it is now spreading through Samaria, will this ever stop?

The story of Pilate is tragic, years later he was relieved of his duties as governor of Judea and by tradition he committed suicide.

He like Nicodemus met Jesus’ face to face, he had a one-to-one encounter with him. 

He choose to wash his hands of Jesus, it’s not my problem, in the UK, we call it passing the book.

Pilate made the wrong choices when it came to Jesus. 

Don’t make the wrong choice, please don’t wash your hands of Jesus.

This Easter, the answer to the question

WHAT IS TRUTH

ITS JESUS

JESUS IS THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE