Day 47: He is Risen!

 

We stood in a solemn circle at the edge of the church's garden. The warm sunlight on our backs and the birds singing all around us. They were all dressed in their frilly dresses

This is a beautiful place.  Often when people die,  we bring them to rest in a beautiful place.  Who has lost a person or a pet? What did you do after that?

They share stories of spreading ashes and funerals.  

Jesus died late in Friday.  His friends were terribly sad.  They could not leave him on the cross. So they took him down and brought him to a beautiful place like this. They set him in a cave.  But they did not have time to bury him properly.  It was too late. So they put a big stone in front of the cave and made a plan to come back to say goodbye. 

What is the day after Friday?

Saturday. 

Do you remember what Jewish people are not allowed to do on Saturday?

Um.... um.... oh. Oh oh oh. They can't work.

That's right.  And burying someone is considered work.  

So on Saturday,  they sat at home thinking about Jesus. Wanting to finish his burial.  They sat and felt sad.  

As soon as the first bit of light rose in the sky on Sunday morning all the women who loved Jesus ran to his grave to finish his burial.  But when they entered the garden they could see from a long way that the big stone was gone.

 Something was wrong.

They were afraid.  Who could have come and stolen his body? Who would even do that? 

They walked cautiously to the grave. Looking for signs of who might have taken him. When suddenly an angel in bright clothes came out and said

Jesus is not dead.  He is alive!

And when they turned.  They saw him.  He was alive! He was there in the garden alive and breathing.  

They ran to him and then they ran back to tell the disciples.

Now somewhere in this beautiful garden,  Jesus is hiding.

But there is something else. 

Jesus is the Good Shephard. And Jesus will not stop until all of his sheep are with him. So our in this garden are also 100 naughty sheep who escaped.  We need to find all of them. 

They dashed into the field. 10 sheep, 20.

34 sheep. 

57 sheep.  

82.

The sheep were tiny.  The garden was silent as diligent lookers looked for sheep.  It was meditative. The warm sun on my back,  my eyes trained on the ground. The sheep were tiny and the grass was tall.  Maybe we wouldn't find them.  

Found one!

Every couple of minutes we'd find another and everyone would cheer.

85.

91.

97.

Jesus won't stop until he brings every last one of us home. 

Alleluia. He has risen indeed.