Soul Sister Time

              On blessed Good Friday, the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) record something extraordinary that occurred in the most secret places of the Hebrew religion.  It is an occurrence that the Hebrews would pay special notice to because it was so rare and unexpected.  The implications of what it meant were most likely overlooked by the people who witnessed it, but it became very significant to the Jewish converts.  Matthew wrote about it in Mathew 27:51: At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split. Matthew tells us the direction in which the curtain was torn.  It was torn from top to bottom.  How many repairs do you imagine had been made to that curtain across the hundreds of years of use?  What was necessary to maintain an extremely thick curtain woven from very specific materials?  The Torah has all k...

              What does an empty tomb mean to you?  When you approach an empty tomb what goes through your mind?                When Peter and John approached the empty tomb, scripture tells us they believed but did not understand.  John 20:8-10:   Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)   Then the disciples went back to where they were staying .                 On Easter, we celebrate the empty tomb.  The empty tomb was the first sign of hope.  Its emptiness turned the followers of Christ mind’s back on God and His Kingdom work.  They did not fully understand what its emptiness meant.  They knew...

            One of the results from the fall was that our minds were corrupted.   Sometimes our minds won’t allow us to take in what we are seeing.   This was the case on Easter Sunday for Mary Magdalene.   I’ve been thinking about her experience at the Garden Tomb.   In the past I was so amazed that she was the one chosen to be the first to see Christ raised from the dead.   This was not only an honor for her but a validation of women by God.   Women were not even considered credible witnesses, yet God chose to reveal the risen Christ first to her eyes.             The corruption of her mind kept her from seeing Him.   Mary’s mind had a lot to take in.   When she arrived at the tomb with the other women. she found the stone rolled away and the body gone.   The men came to witness this reality and concurred that it was true—Jesus was...

            For the 40 days following Easter, Jesus made appearances at unexpected times and in unexpected places.   Some are recorded for us in the Gospels; others are mentioned in the Epistles.   Jesus likely appeared more often than was recorded.   For instance, I often wonder why Lazarus, Mary and Martha are not mentioned again in New Testament literature after the great faith they showed by having dinner with Him near Holy Week, when Mary anointed his body with the costly perfume.   They are strangely missing from the foot of the cross, but did they get a private resurrection visit?   Jesus’ love and friendship with them was so strong.             The days following the Resurrection before Jesus ascended to heaven mirror my experiences with Jesus.   Like the disciples and the women, I know He has risen; but I’m often surprised when I see Him s...

                Jesus did the hard work of the cross.   He rose from the dead.   He appeared to the disciples over a period of 40 days, then ascended into heaven and told them to wait until the Spirit came to them, which happened 50 days later on the Day of Pentecost.                 We have just celebrated our most holy day of the year—Resurrection Sunday, so what is next?                   We begin with the women who came to the tomb so early and were the first to discover that Jesus had been raised from the dead.   Their response, and particularly Mary Magdalene’s, shows us what a great mystery the resurrection is.   John 20 tells us what happened that first morning .   1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, ...