For Christians around the world, this weekend is a time of reflection and celebration. Firstly, with the remembrance of Good Friday when Jesus Christ died on the Cross at Calvary. This is followed by Saturday, a day marked by absence and uncertainty, broken with the miracle of Christ’s resurrection on Sunday morning in which we declare the words uttered by the angel on that wonderful morning, “He is not here: for he is risen”. The incredible truth of Resurrection Sunday is that death was defeated; sin was conquered; new life is ours to receive also.
Before He died, Jesus spoke about the times that would develop after He had departed. This included Jesus lamenting over the destruction that would be caused by the enemies of the Jewish people by trampling Jerusalem, and Jesus wept over Jerusalem as he foresaw what would happen to God’s holy city. If the mistreatment of Jerusalem and the Jewish people moved Jesus to tears, it should also stir us to have a heart for what He too clearly loved.
It is understandable that as we look at the world today we will experience various emotions – perhaps confusion, fear, or uncertainty. Or maybe anger, frustration, or sorrow. Yet as believers in Jesus, let us take hold of His words leading up to His death: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
This Resurrection Sunday, let us enter into the full assurance that Christ has overcome the world. May we experience this miraculous peace and commit to share it with those who we meet. Our heart is burdened for the Jewish people at this time. Our heart is sorrowful for the mistreatment of Jerusalem – and Israel as a nation – by delusional politicians and others in positions of authority who have rejected God’s truth. We witness the horrific tragedy being inflicted by Israel’s enemies upon God’s people and ask ‘how long until Israel’s hostages are released’; ‘how long will it be until Israel’s enemies are defeated’. But we must take comfort. As we pray, we will do so from a position of victory, with hearts full of hope, with a trust strengthened by courage, with a conviction that God will defend His people – and we will never, ever stop praying for the ‘peace of Jerusalem’.
Thank you for praying with us today.
