Roscoe Moss Company

Praying For Rain Easter 2022

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As I write this it’s Good Friday, April 15, 2022. For a kid growing up in Clovis Easter always meant just a couple of weeks until the second only to Christmas best holiday ever – the Clovis Rodeo – always the last weekend in April. I haven’t competed in rodeos for more than 40-years but many mornings getting out of bed reminds me of a big, black and white paint at Santa Maria 1977 (in my memory this horse was so huge it made a Clydesdale look like a Shetland Pony.) That bronc threw me so hard my right shoulder plowed a furrow in the arena and it tore the sleeve off my shirt. I was sore a couple of days, but I was 17-years old and it didn’t last long. Now it’s come back to visit me along with my back from the car wreck, my hip from the broken fence/bull incident and my neck from that butt whipping I didn’t deserve. I’ve also stepped on nails, smashed my thumb with a hammer and bumped my head hard enough to cause it to bleed.

While I may have placed myself in a position to receive those injuries it wasn’t a willful act. I didn’t get on that bronc knowing for certain I was going to get hurt. I didn’t get in that car knowing it was going to crash. Any suffering I experienced wasn’t for you. Not one drop of blood I’ve shed over the years was of any benefit to you nor your blood for me. I suspect you know where I’m going with this.

About 2,022 years ago last night Jesus didn’t sleep. He knew during the Last Supper something was up and he knew one of the men closest to him was his betrayer. He was not in a calm restful state after dinner. He was in a garden praying intently, so intense blood mixed in with his sweat. A group of enforcers working for the law confronted him. John Chapter 18 says Jesus asked them who they were looking for and they said Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus said, “I am He,” and these men fell backwards to the ground.

Think about that for a moment. You’re a part of an armed guard, a force tasked with taking one man into custody. My guess is starting out the confidence level on the side of the guards was much higher than on Jesus’ side amongst the disciples. What changes when you’re hit by the word? As surely as God said, “Let there be light” and the universe became – easily the most powerful words of all time – that same divine force knocks you off your feet. In a moment your companion Malchus gets his right ear cut off and this same man who knocked you down with just words reaches out and heals the wound.

Jesus hasn’t slept. Didn’t get any coffee. Instead he was questioned by authorities who had perpetuated the perversion of God’s law, turning it from its very essence, love God with all your heart and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. If you can’t do the first, you’ll not do the second. The Sanhedrin sat atop a system that placed observance to the minutia of the law above the essence. They turned God’s grace into a commodity that could be earned. Is it possible while questioning Jesus these men felt fear? Was their pride threatened and did they cover up that weakness with anger and violence? They began hitting Jesus.

The Sanhedrin wanted him dead so they sent Jesus to the Romans. Under Roman rule capital punishment was reserved as a Roman prerogative. Pilot and Jesus had a conversation that yields one of the fundamental questions of all time. Jesus tells Pilot he is a King but not of this world and comes to bear witness to the truth. Pilot asks him, “Quid est veritas?” Latin for, “What is truth?”

Next Pilot tells the Sanhedrin and the mob forming around them he finds no fault in Jesus but they howled to have him crucified. Pilot had Jesus flogged, whipped until the flesh was tattered. The soldiers placed a crown of thorns on his head and put on him a purple cloak signifying royalty. Pilot paraded him before the crowd and washed his hands of the matter. This was about noon. Pilot gave Barabas freedom and Jesus was taken to Calvery and hung on a cross.

The Bible tells us while nailed to the cross Jesus said, “It is finished” and gave up the ghost. This is interesting because Jesus’ death is unique. As created beings men die. We can end our lives with suicide, but even in that drastic condition God still determines the number of our days. We can’t willfully give up the ghost. Only the Creator in human form could do so.

So Jesus died. He was taken to the tomb and on Sunday morning Mary Magdalene discovered the rock covering the entrance to the tomb was rolled away. Jesus laid down his life and took it back up again.

His blood is the only blood that can atone for our sins. And he gave freely because we can’t earn it, ever. Once I shared here about a song from an Australian band named The Angels. They were not a Christian band and in fact played in the same vein as ACDC, that churning 8th note guitar rhythm. In one of their songs there’s a line, “Jesus take the blame.” Whether this bunch of Australian rockers meant to be theologically correct or not, I think they hit the nail on the head with that line. Jesus took the blame and changed everything. That’s good news. Happy Easter to you and your family.

Emergy

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