Folks.....It's Easter Week....and today is Good Friday....but I had to be reminded of it yesterday. In my youth there would be no playing ball or anything from noon to three on Good Friday....so what happened in my life to bring about the change where I almost passed the day up?
Well....the first thing that happened was that I encountered the glory and the majesty and the gospel of Jesus Christ....this roughly 37 years ago.....then about ten years after that.....roughly once again....I encountered the full meaning of what happened on Golgotha as it pertained to my sins....and I encountered 'Easter' morning as it pertained to my being forgiven....and I also became aware of what happened in the 16th century Reformation.....and thus the yearly observance of Easter just naturally faded away....replaced by 52 Lord's Days a year....or 52 joyous 'Easter' or 'Resurrection' mornings....but having said that....the other tradition where the majority of Christendom is.....the popular one where Wall Street closes down.....is fine....it's just no longer where I am at.
Martin Luther had been a priest and a monk for about three years when in 1510....seven years before he nailed his 95 theses on the church door....he made the long and arduous trip from Germany to Rome for the first time. He did what everyone else did in that he knelt on the bottom step of the 'Scala Santa'.....(the 28 steps....or 'Holy Stairs'...that were in the 4th century transported from Jerusalem to Rome....the steps where it is said that Jesus walked up on His way to His meeting with Pontius Pilate)....and he ascended the steps on his knees.....kissing every one....and praying on every one.
Those famous steps had been covered by wood for the last almost three hundred years....to protect the marble.....but they have now been uncovered.....for a couple of months....so that the people can actually kneel on the marble once again as they ascend. There's no surprise here but I sure wouldn't kneel on them....but I would like to see them....not because there is anything spiritual tied to Jesus....but that there is something....earthly....tied to Jesus. As for the 'spiritual' aspect....I just have to think of my own sins....the grace and mercy extended on one least worthy of grace and mercy....and the righteousness extended....or imputed....to my account....of which I had nothing to do....absolutely nothing.....no kneeling.....no good works....nothing to look back on with pride....only Golgotha....an empty tomb....and a Savior and a King.....there for me....and anyone else who looks to Him.....every day....every Friday afternoon....and every Sunday morning....every morning.....and every evening!
Well....the first thing that happened was that I encountered the glory and the majesty and the gospel of Jesus Christ....this roughly 37 years ago.....then about ten years after that.....roughly once again....I encountered the full meaning of what happened on Golgotha as it pertained to my sins....and I encountered 'Easter' morning as it pertained to my being forgiven....and I also became aware of what happened in the 16th century Reformation.....and thus the yearly observance of Easter just naturally faded away....replaced by 52 Lord's Days a year....or 52 joyous 'Easter' or 'Resurrection' mornings....but having said that....the other tradition where the majority of Christendom is.....the popular one where Wall Street closes down.....is fine....it's just no longer where I am at.
Martin Luther had been a priest and a monk for about three years when in 1510....seven years before he nailed his 95 theses on the church door....he made the long and arduous trip from Germany to Rome for the first time. He did what everyone else did in that he knelt on the bottom step of the 'Scala Santa'.....(the 28 steps....or 'Holy Stairs'...that were in the 4th century transported from Jerusalem to Rome....the steps where it is said that Jesus walked up on His way to His meeting with Pontius Pilate)....and he ascended the steps on his knees.....kissing every one....and praying on every one.
Those famous steps had been covered by wood for the last almost three hundred years....to protect the marble.....but they have now been uncovered.....for a couple of months....so that the people can actually kneel on the marble once again as they ascend. There's no surprise here but I sure wouldn't kneel on them....but I would like to see them....not because there is anything spiritual tied to Jesus....but that there is something....earthly....tied to Jesus. As for the 'spiritual' aspect....I just have to think of my own sins....the grace and mercy extended on one least worthy of grace and mercy....and the righteousness extended....or imputed....to my account....of which I had nothing to do....absolutely nothing.....no kneeling.....no good works....nothing to look back on with pride....only Golgotha....an empty tomb....and a Savior and a King.....there for me....and anyone else who looks to Him.....every day....every Friday afternoon....and every Sunday morning....every morning.....and every evening!
