This Easter

It has been a long while.

I lost my Mom last summer. A vicious form of cancer came unexpectedly and took her in only a few short months.

But this is not the end of the story.

This past Sunday evening, I sat at our church for the Lord's Supper in preparation for Easter. I had been a follower of Jesus for many years, and had taken part in many a communion. However, this time, God gave me a deeper understanding of the Cross through Mom.

I watched my Mom's body deteriorate in her fight against cancer. All my life, I only knew her as healthy and vibrant. She might have the (very) occasional cold, but I could not even remember her ever taking a sick day. About ten years ago, she changed careers and became an aerobics instructor. She was so good at it that she would be teaching multiple classes a day. She was fit. But the cancer changed the story. In a short time, instead of being strong and active, she became weaker and more fragile. Both the cancer cells and the radiation treatment took a toll on her body. The last ten days of her life were spent in a quarantined hospital room as she was being observed and treated for pneumonia. Her body became swollen as a result of fluids being pumped into her body to sustain her life. The last few days, her organs began to shut down one by one. The once lively person was slowly fading away. Her body was breaking down.

As I was sitting in the pew at my church for the Lord's Supper this past Sunday, I listened to the familiar Scripture about Jesus breaking bread with His disciples before He went to the Cross. 

The Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 

- 1 Corinthians 11: 23-25

Jesus said His body would be broken for us. For me.

Because of my Mom, I now more fully understood what it meant to have a broken body. To think that Jesus would do it for me long before I was even born from my mother's womb was too much for a human mind to truly fathom. What love was this, that Someone would love me so much that He would willingly break His body for me to save me from myself?

As I was holding in my hand the piece of bread and the sip of grape juice that symbolized his body and blood, I could only be grateful for His love for what He had done for me.

I no longer have my Mom on this earth. I can't talk to her and we can't make new memories. Some days, these thoughts sadden me.

But this is not the end of the story.

While my Mom was lying in the hospital bed and her body was shutting down, she gained a new - and eternal - life. I had the utmost privilege to lead her to Jesus a few days before she took a last breath. But this passing was not permanent. She was leaving this earth for an eternity with Jesus. She died only three months short of her 60th birthday and retirement, but she "retired" to a far better place. She went to heaven.

My Mom's physical body might have deteriorated, yet her soul had never been more alive. This is only possible because the Crucifixion was not the end of the story. Jesus died on the cross, but on the third day, He is risen! Death and sin had no grip on Him because He had victory. Today, my Mom is with Him in heaven.

Because of what He has done on the Cross and His victory, I will see my Mom again. Because of His Resurrection, we celebrate Easter. 

Happy Easter!

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ Now I have told you.”

Matthew 28: 5-7

Love Song

By Third Day

I've heard it said that a man would climb a mountain
Just to be with the one he loves
How many times has he broken that promise
It has never been done
I've never climbed the highest mountain
But I walked the hill of Calvary

Just to be with you, I'd do anything
There's no price I would not pay
Just to be with you, I'd give anything
I would give my life away

I've heard it said that a man would swim the ocean
Just to be with the one he loves
How many times has he broken that promise
It can never be done
I've never swam the deepest ocean
But I walked upon the raging sea

Just to be with you, I'd do anything
There's no price I would not pay
Just to be with you, I'd give anything
I would give my life away.

I know that you don't understand
The fullness of My love
How I died upon the cross for your sins
And I know that you don't realize
How much that I gave you
But I promise, I would do it all again

Just to be with you, I've done everything
There's no price I did not pay
Just to be with you, I gave everything
Yes, I gave my life away

Good Friday

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Romans 5: 6-8

Cheesecake

A few years ago, I began observing Lent occasionally by cutting out one thing that I usually ate or did or use, in order to help me adjust my focus during the weeks leading up to Easter.

This year, I cut out sweets (desserts, candy, chocolate etc.). I did not have much of a sweet tooth, but I did need to consciously not grab a cookie in the break room at work just because they were there, or have a bowl of ice cream at home after dinner. I had actually anticipated a more difficult time, but a couple of times after I began doing it, it was seemingly going well.

Until two weeks ago.

I was at a work-related lunch event and we were at a fancy restaurant on campus where the full buffet was served. When I was getting my soup and salad at the beginning, I passed by the dessert bar and the cheese cake looked fantastic. Towards the end of lunch, I went to get a piece of that cheesecake, without thinking twice about it. I had forgotten I was not eating sweets!

The cheesecake was great, but I did not enjoy it. I fell quite casually - all because I was not on guard and not focused. I have since then become more aware of bypassing the sweets and it has been going great. Last week, my colleague offered me a handful of candy and I had no problem saying no at all.; and there have been cookies in the break room for a few days and I just walk past them.

The point here is not how much "my effort" counts. If anything, it is about how much "my effort" does not count. It does not matter whether I skip the cheesecake or devour the whole dessert bar, if my heart or my motivation is not right. Doing something external (choosing to eat or not to eat something) is only a personal reminder for me this season to focus and to think more deeply and seriously about Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection, what He went through for me on the Cross. The cheesecake incident was a slip, yet it also was a great reminder of the wonderful grace that I was trying to ponder during this Lenten season. I was no more a Christian five minutes before eating that piece of cheesecake than the five minutes after.

God's grace is available to all who trusts Him and receives Him, whether we eat any cheesecake or not.

Happy Easter!

Jesus, the perfect God and the perfect man, was crucified on the cross - for my sins and for yours, so we did not have to pay the price for our actions. That was how much He loved us.

But death was not the end of the story. 

When the women visited the tomb where Jesus's body was, they got a message from the angel:

Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. - Matthew 28: 5-6

The tomb is empty! He is risen! 

Happy Easter!

The cross in front of our church

Dead and Risen!

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:7-8

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. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 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? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' "

Luke 24: 1-7