Today Easter Sunday, God is Risen! He is alive! Alleluia!
Breaking from our previous weeks of discussing current political affairs, let us reflect on our personal and spiritual journey to claiming God’s promise of eternal life.
We go back a week earlier when we witnessed the fickleness of our reliance on material and secular matters. Long before Jesus had his triumphant entry to Jerusalem, the prophet declared, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” (Matthew 21:5)
So as scriptures record, the people who welcomed Jesus put their coats on the road, and many cut palm branches enough to be held bay the palm of one’s hand. And welcomed Him with shouts of praise and Alleluia, signifying their acceptance and belief that Jesus was indeed the real Son of God. They perhaps presume he was on his way to the Temple to claim his throne.
As it turned out, the people’s belief in Jesus was short-lived, and fell to the influences of the dark forces opposing Jesus’ mission to “bring all men to me”.
The Chief Priest and Scribes began to plot ways of getting rid of Jesus. They tried entrapment by having Jesus answer what were considered difficult questions or forcing Jesus to give a heretical answer. All this left the Chief Priest and Scribes red-faced as Jesus truthfully answered, but evaded all the traps they set for him.
Finally, they succeeded in negotiating with Judas Iscariot, one ofthe trusted disciples of Jesus.
It did not take long until a crowd of people mustered by the Chief Priest and Scribes came upon Jesus and his Disciples at the Garden of Gethsemane.
At that time, Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me. But all this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures of the prophets.” (Matthew 26:55-56)
Today, we commemorate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And almost all who claim to be believers shout praises of joy and Alleluia! A very quick change of heart within a week’s time. Just like Judas, and even another staunch believer, Peter.
We all succumbed to the dark forces surrounding us. Some temptations give in to a perceived need. Others sin because of greed, sometimes from ambition. While others have become discouraged in disbelief.
We do not give much thought to the miracle of the Resurrection. First, it is a fulfillment of God’s promise.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”(John 3:16-21)
No one has lived through life trouble-free and perfect. We all have our share of trials and tribulations. Some are highlighted here in the pages of the MetroPost. More, like us, bear our pains and troubles in the shadows.
For the last eight years, I have been on a menu of weekly dialysis. Before that, I survived my first massive heart attack at 43, and subsequently, four more angioplasty procedures over the last 25 years of my life.
And yet, after all these years, I remain hopeful in the future of an Eternal Life. And God has kept his promise.
While I await my final reconciliation with Him in the meantime, He has blessed, and has surrounded me with a loving and supportive family. So I do not lay blame on Him for my illnesses and difficulties, and especially for my sins.
Every morning, I am greeted with a warm, caring, and affectionate smile from my wife Marietta, a sign of God’s love reaching out to me in the flesh. God’s love through Marietta has made my life complete and worthwhile inspite of my physical limitations.
Many still doubt that sinners like us cannot be redeemed and reconciled for what we have done.
But the promise God gives us is always present, and for the future. He does not look back. He does not remember.
The sacrifice of Christ dying on the cross washed away all our sins. It opens the door to reconciliation with our God. “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.(Matthew 12:31)
So take heart. We are God’s beloved. Clasp this faith in the palm of your hand. This is the measure of your belief, and transforms the doubts after Palm Sunday into the continuous victory of Easter!
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