Elliott's Muses

We just got home from our trip to England where we saw our daughter, Lindsay, son-in-law Pete, and our grand-kids, Raewyn and Theo. It's hard to say all that went on; but suffice it to say, we had a great time.  The kids are age 2+, which means they are energetic, emotional - able to go from happy to sad in a moment's time. NOW, their parents are phenomenal.  They do a great job of being parents to two highly energetic little kids. I think our grand-kids are amazing...but then I think all of our grand-kids are amazing! I just wanted to make a note to say we're back, and it was a great trip! Peac

To all of you who have journeyed with me during this Lenten season, we've come to the end...which ironically is the beginning for us. He is Risen... He is Risen Indeed Luke 24:1-12 (NIV) 1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" 8 Then they remembered his words. 9 When they came back from t...

Each of the Gospels speak one or two sentences about what happened after Jesus' death on Friday afternoon before early Sunday morning. The first thing that happened was the body of Jesus was taken by two followers of Jesus - interestingly, neither of which was called a disciple.  These two were probably well enough connected that they could get Pilate's permission to take Jesus' body and prepare it for burial. John 19:38-42 (NIV) 38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucif...

It was prophesied of the Messiah that he would be a suffering servant who would be " numbered with the transgressors " (Isaiah 53:12).  Yet, in all of this, Isaiah prophesies that it was God's purposes that all of this occur.  That same verse in Isaiah makes it clear:  " for he bore the sin of many ". As Jesus hung upon the cross he spoke seven words/phrases...all of which revealed his character and his purposes.  We looked at the first three in yesterday's blog.  The final four were these: The 4th words were from  Matthew 27:45-46 (NIV)  45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The saddest part of this whole crucifixion is this - Jesus' abandonment in this whole work by His Father...he was alone.  He had told his disciples that he didn't do an...

As the soldiers led Jesus away, he carried his own cross - until he could handle it no more.  Then they put it on another, Simon from Cyrene.  They laid the cross down and stretched Jesus' body across with arms stretched out wide.  They nailed the joint between the wrist and the hands - the pain must have been excruciating.  They nailed the joint between the ankles and feet, again with excruciating pain.  The place is called Golgotha,  the place of skulls.  Two others, robbers, are crucified alongside of him, and the witnesses include Soldiers, Jewish authorities, and his disciples. John 19:17-22 (NIV) 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 Here they crucified him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the p...

John doesn't record that Jesus was first sent to Herod, and Herod found no basis for Jesus' arrest, much less to crucify him.  The crowd had yelled for Barabbas to be released, and so Pilate presumed that if he just did something publicly to show the Jews that he was not going to tolerate anyone they despised, they would be mollified. John 19:1-16 (NLT)  1  Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. 2  The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. 3  “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face. 4  Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” 5  Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!” 6  When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify...

As the early morning light began to break, Jesus stood before the corrupt, but powerful, high priest, Caiaphas.  John has little to say about it.  According to John it was a short trial, and soon Caiaphas, knowing he could not order Jesus to be executed, sent him to Pilate - the Roman governor. John 18:28-40 (NLT) 28 Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover. 29 So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?” 30 “We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted. 31 “Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them. “Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied. 32 (This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die.) 33 Then Pilate w...

It's Monday of Holy Week, and throughout the week we'll walk through the events that lead up to Jesus' death on the cross.  To get to the cross people had to look at Jesus and ignore his life.  Yesterday was Palm Sunday, and the crowds had welcomed Jesus as the "Savior"...their Savior.  The problem was that they were out for their own interest and had no desire to embrace God's purposes - that Jesus' death would be for the whole world. As the week went along Jesus had various interactions - but on Thursday evening he celebrated Passover with his disciples in the Upper Room.  He left that room with them to walk through the Temple area and head to the hillside outside of Jerusalem to a garden called Gethsemane.  There he is arrested as Judas leads the guards to the place he knows Jesus will be.  They bound Jesus, the others all scattered, and they led him through the same gate and then taken to the Palace of Annas...the real head behind the Jewish leaders. ...