FROM SUNSET TO SUNRISE (written by my mother, Ruth Martin) When Jesus died, Joseph and Nicodemus found courage they had not possessed when He was alive. They asked and were given permission to take his lifeless body for burial. They reverently took Him from the cross, hurriedly wrapped Him in strips of cloth in which they distributed a hundred-pound weight of spices and laid Him to rest in the private tomb of Joseph in a nearby garden. By now it is almost sunset, end of the Jewish day and their strict law had been carefully, if hastily, observed. I can imagine they stood looking silently into the darkening tomb for their last farewell. The women who had followed stood nearby marking the place where they would return later to give the Lord a proper burial. As the men rolled the great stone across the doorway, the grating harsh sound tore at their hearts as if even nature was groaning in grief. Finally, the last rays of sunset faded, the dying sun sank from sight . . . and the Light of the World was left alone in total, utter darkness. Sealed from sunshine and moonlight and starlight, from lamp light and candle light, He Who had sprinkled a trillion-trillion bright stars into the velvet sky . . . He Who had stood at Creation and flung the sun and moon and planets into their orbits . . . He Who said Let there be light. . . now lies in a cold stone tomb, shrouded in black, black darkness. Alone. That darkness, like deepest midnight, settled into the minds and hearts of those who had followed Him for three glorious years. Their hopes and dreams and plans had suddenly been dashed to the ground in shattered pieces. Their deepest beliefs had been shaken to the very roots of their souls. Their world had been turned upside down. They moved as in a black fog, shamed at their own fears that had made them dessert Him like cowards - longing to be near Him once more, to ask His forgiveness. Ah, but then came THAT MORNING (the first day of the week), just as night was fading into a grey misty Dawn, pale rose-tinted fingers began to touch the skyline of Jerusalem, and suddenly the eastern sky was ablaze with glory . . . SUNRISE . . . and the earth began to shake and rumble and the stone before the tomb began to shake and suddenly there was an angel who with one hand pushed the huge stone aside as a withered leaf and sat upon it, and brilliant sunlight poured into the tomb where they had laid Him, illuminating every nook and crevice with radiance. BUT JESUS WAS NOT THERE . . . only His discarded graveclothes, a mute testimony that He was no longer bound by Death and the grave, no longer among the dead. He Who is LIGHT had returned, banishing into the morning sunlight the black night of eternal Death, bringing Life eternal to all who believe in Him. None who believes in Him will ever have to go alone into the Valley of Shadows. He Who conquered Death will walk with us into the indescribable glory of Eternal Day, where Jesus is the Light and where there is no darkness at all. HALLELUJAH! We have all at some time, tasted bitter grief and loss, and disappointment, plunged into emotional darkness and grief. But when we know Jesus, the Risen Lord as our own Lord and Savior there is Light in our darkness. Sometimes it seems that all is pain and suffering and death, and destruction and failure and loss. But in Jesus, Tomorrow will come. Morning will break. There is a Promise - from death will come Life, from pain will come Healing, from fear will come Courage, from despair will come Hope, from mourning will come Joy, from defeat will come Victory. The long night is over. Sunrise awaits . Sunset has faded, night has disappeared, swallowed up by the brightness of Tomorrows SUNRISE. ©RuthRMartin March 8, 2006. All rights reserved.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 02:51:34 +0000