Imagine and Believe

Imagine your friend whom you loved and trusted told you that soon he would be hurt badly. Imagine this friend said not to worry because it has to be this way. Instinctively you would tell him that he must not go where he knows that he will be hurt, for you love your friend. But in defiance of this advice he goes to the place where he knows all will end. You being a good friend go with him because of your love and wanting to protect him.

When you arrive at the place all looks calm and you rejoice, not because your friend was wrong, but because he is safe. Then very quickly another friend comes and shows the hooligans where your friend is. You try to protect him but your friend says he will be fine, this exactly how it must be. So you step back and watch as they beat him. Then when all seems lost you notice that your friend is smiling and he says I am doing that which I must and then dies.

You gather with your other friends and go to the local pub. You are saddened by the death of this great friend and you all show obvious sorrow. The funeral is over and the body has been laid to rest. Someone in the group makes a comment about how the dead friend saw all this coming and had said he would be okay. So everyone toasts him and remembers the good deeds he has done. You all loved him so much.

Now imagine in the middle of the meal a man comes in, whom you can't quite recognize and he asks why everyone is sad. You all recount the tales of the dead friend whom you loved. The stranger than says it is foolish to mourn someone whom said he was going to be okay, that is the way it had to be. Some of the group is mad at this strangers lack of comfort for the deceased and some here the words and understand.

Now imagine a close friend of all here and the deceased came in the door and said that someone have taken the body of your friend right from his grave. You all are mad at this desecration of your friend whom you all love. Imagine starting to head for the grave site to figure out what had happened.

Now the strangers stands before you and tells you it is okay, that your friend is safe and has come back just as he had said he would. The stranger tells the close friends that this is how is had to be. He had to suffer to save them eternal pain. Then the Stranger reveals himself as the friend who has died.

This is a great revelation for most of the friends and they accept him, because they love him and trust him, remembering that he had said he would return. It was only there grief that made them forget.

This is basically what happened two thousand years ago. When Jesus was killed as He said He would be. Then three days barely passed and He greeted His disciples. Some doubted this, Men always doubt what they don't understand, but most embraced their teacher.

Jesus had died for our us. He took the sins of the world on His back and died on the Cross so that God would forgive us. He said he came for fulfill the scripture and He had to. God gave up His Son for us and we repent for His sake.

When I think about the story above I try to figure out what I would have thought if my dead friend came back to life. I would probably have doubted, but I know that God is forgiving and Jesus would have helped me see the truth. Jesus is our passover and the His word is Truth. Through Him all things are possible and in His name all things are granted.