Mark 15 & 16

***Mark 15***

I looked up the definition of forsaken this morning. To forsake means "to leave someone who needs or counts on you."

To be in a time of desparate of need and have everybody your counting on abandon you.

That is how Jesus felt while the nails were tearing his body and he was struggling to breathe. This was something Jesus had to do on his own... no help was coming from anyone.

Have you ever felt abandoned? Ever felt alone? It's a terrible feeling... it makes every challenge more daunting, it strips us of hope.

But an important thing happened when Jesus died... the curtain of the temple was torn in 2.

That curtain was supposedly the divided between where we live and where God lives. In his lonely, painful death, Jesus opened the door for God to come out of the temple and be with us wherever we are.

The promise then is this, we are never forsaken. Although we may feel that way sometimes, God promises to be with us at all times, from now until eternity.

Somedays it is hard to see God though.

Last night one of our presenters was talking about how good it was to see the sun... she lives in Chicago and it has been cloudy for a loooong time... and she forgot about the sun.

God is like the sun, always there, always providing light and warmth. But sometimes our lives are so clouded with junk that we can not see the sun, we can not feel it's warmth or see it's light.

In those times we need to pray for better weather... or go to where the sun is shining brightest.

***Mark 16***

"When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, the did not believe."

Well we are finished with Mark. I don't about you but I think this is a fascinating story... and what an ending. It reads like something that C. S. Lewis might come up with.

The end is what is so hard to believe. Miracles are one thing, but to be dead, and then to be alive again is impossible.

It's almost impossible to believe. Death is permanent.

But that's why this story is so beatiful.

God is able to take the darkest day in human history (Good Friday) and turn it in to the most beautiful day in human history (Easter Sunday).

God is able to take the permanent (death) and make it temporary.

And this is not just for Jesus, but for everyone that believes. Our deaths are not permanent, they are just a passing through to a better life.

Believe in the resurrection... believe that Jesus was resurrected... believe that you will be resurrected.

See you Tuesday!