WHAT IF WE LEFT BECAUSE OF THE BAD WEATHER

The early morning hours are my favorite time of day at my parents’ home in south Louisiana. Sipping coffee, quiet conversation, journaling, and reading a daily devotional with Mom. I love sitting with her and hearing her take-aways of the author’s work. She often dives deep for the gems of revelation leaving me enough time only to scribble her thoughts down on paper. (Thank goodness for shorthand.)

One morning after reading the devotional, only weeks after my dad’s passing, my mother’s insight took a profound, passionate turn from the author. I was encouraged because our family was experiencing great grief, and she had been very quiet. From her heart she spoke, “At Jesus’ crucifixion many walked away because the weather became bad, the skies drew black, and so their experience ended with the cross. To them it was over. As they ran for shelter, Jesus was left hanging on the cross like a common criminal. And, to them, it was done.”

“But for Mary and Jesus’ brother, and those who stayed behind through the earthquake, ‘the story’ was just beginning. Mary wept because the son she raised and nurtured had now experienced the hands of injustice and the horrors of mankind; YET she knew not to trust what her eyes saw. Though she grieved her loss, she knew there was more. Though the day became as night, and the earth shook, those who stayed got to see ‘the more,’ the glory, the fullness of forgiveness!” 

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land…the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked; the rocks split. (Mathew 27)

I was speechless at Mom’s revelation. Lost in her eyes, I could see she was deep in thought, and there was more. She continued, “If I came across a man that ‘settled’ by rushing away for shelter, I would need more than my smile. My job is to be an ambassador of Christ and to share authentic love of forgiveness. I need to paint the pain of the cross but also the brilliant brushstrokes of Jesus’ resurrection. If we understand this truth, then we will live here with the ideal of heaven and the glory of God.”

We talked a while about her thoughts and a few of my own. And with what seemed like agonizing awareness, Mom added, “We forget that every gouge Jesus bore is my sin! MY sin! Each whip is MY sin! We need to revisit the cross! ‘God, You are letting this happen to You! I know You said it is Your Son, but it is You on the cross! Jesus—but also You! Tortured beyond comprehension; flesh ripped from your body; nailed to a cross making it impossible for You to breathe; hung to die for me! Are You so full of wrath that You lowered Yourself to a piece of meat?’ No! God needed to satisfy our nonsense and show us there is only one answer, and it’s the Risen Christ. If we take away the Risen Christ, what do we have? We have not really believed! The purpose was to bring us back to Him—and the Risen Christ does that."

 “We are not left with ‘a story’ of the cross. If we are believers, we can experience the cross, and more so, the Risen Christ and the fullness of forgiveness. There are those who still say, ‘The cross is enough.’ But NO! We need the reunion in its fullness. This Wonder of Wonders giving us a chance at new life. Jesus—heaven on Earth! Christ’s death—but the fullness of His Resurrection. And the glory of God—the finished picture!”

Did you leave short of the resurrection? Did you leave because of the bad weather? Does your faith end with the cross? Or have you allowed yourself to experience the fullness of forgiveness, the fullness of Christ’s resurrection, and the glory of God?