As this is being read just days before Easter Sunday (Thursday the 18th online, Friday the 19th in print), imagine what was taking place 2,000 or so years ago in the life of Christ. Perhaps as you are reading this on Thursday on the web. Christ would be having what we call “The Last Supper.” It will be where Christ announces His betrayer is at the table. The meal will be the launching pad for what many Christian denominations call “communion” or “The Lord’s Supper.” History is about to shift and over the next 2-4 days prophecies will be fulfilled. This is just Thursday.

Maybe Christ is being betrayed by Judas as you read this. Maybe he has already been taken into custody. Maybe you are reading this on Friday and Jesus is on trial. Or perhaps right now he would have been beaten and tortured. Perhaps as you read this He would have been hanging from the cross. Maybe by the time you read this Christ would have been in the tomb. This is just Friday. Perhaps you are reading this on Saturday and enjoying a day off from work. It was probably during this time that many disciples felt their hopes and dreams crushed. They may have been in mourning and disbelief. Maybe some spent their Saturday in hiding and waiting word if Jesus had truly been resurrected. Some may have simply fallen away being of the mindset that maybe they were wrong about this Jesus whom they thought to be the messiah.

Are you a day late with the devotions found in The Farmville Herald? Are you reading this on Easter Sunday? If so, then as you are reading this the disciples may have been rushing to the tomb to see if Jesus truly had come back to life. Maybe the disciples are scouring the city looking to see where Jesus had gone to. Those in hiding may be out once again. The Romans Guards are explaining to their bosses what went wrong. Soldiers are out looking for the missing body. This is Sunday. Palm Sunday, the Triumphal Entry. Easter Sunday, the miraculous resurrection. Celebration to celebration with a great deal of conflict, suffering, hurting, and heartache in between.

As you finish reading this it is important for you and all people to remember, sometimes we are celebrating and sometimes we are suffering. Christ knew both. But it is through his death and resurrection that hope can be found, salvation can be obtained, and eternal life can be achieved. The most miserable three to four days in the life of Christ provided the best of eternal days for all who have come since who choose to believe in Him, accept Him as savior, and make Him Lord of their lives. One week, 2000 years ago, our eternal future was being written. Celebrate the life, death, & resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. He IS Risen!

REV. BARRY VASSAR can be reached at fitzgeraldmemorial@gmail.com.