Heading Home

Standing over the blistering heat of the fire, as sweat trails down his dirty face, the smith fans the blazing flames with his bellows. As he finishes the hammer he is working on, he gives it a thorough check, making sure it will meet the critical eye of the centurion. As a smith for the Roman army, all his work goes into the hands of the soldiers.

After the centurion picks up the ready tools from the smith and approves them, he sets out to deliver them to his soldiers. On his way, he gives the hammer to one of the best soldiers under his command. The soldier’s use of the hammer this day? Crucifixion duty.

The soldier has endured the burden of this duty before. He hates this gruesome task.

Under the strain of this assignment, he ambles his way to skull hill, better known as Golgotha, where he joins the centurion and the other three soldiers already there. Standing there chatting with them, he hears that three prisoners are coming to be crucified. One of the prisoners is his charge.

He waits.

Standing there, he realizes that what he is about to do is the antithesis of the weather: it is one of those breathtaking, spring days that warms and rejuvenates the soul. Rivulets of white stream across the azure sky. A gentle breeze distills the fragrance of the flowering blossoms into the air.

Yet, impending gloom hangs in the air.

A large, jeering crowd, intermingled with a great many mourners, moves toward the hill on the Via Dolorosa. Three men bent under the weight of their own crossbeam trudge their way up the hill. A short distance behind them is another man, whipped beyond recognition, stumbling with agonized effort every step of the way. So disfigured and injured that another man carries his crossbeam for him.

This bloodied mess of a man now stands before the soldier. He wonders: Who is this man? What could he possibly have done to deserve this horrible beating? Surely, he wasn’t a soldier for he wears no hobnailed boots; he’s merely an ordinary sandaled man.

Sweat beads up on the soldier’s forehead. His heart races. His tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth.

The other soldiers, now finished crucifying their two prisoners, help tie the soldier’s prisoner to the crossbeam while the soldier readies his nail-spikes and his hammer. He bends down, steadies the nail in one hand and draws back his hammer in the other hand.

But before he can bring it down on the nail, he glances over at the prisoner. Peering at him, through the streaks of blood covering his face from the thorny crown twisted onto his head, are eyes of piercing kindness he has never seen before.

The centurion yells the soldier’s name, startling him. “Get on with it!”

The soldier turns his head away to focus on the nail. He forces himself to do the job he was ordered to do. His stomach churns and he feels like retching.

Completing the nailing of this man to the crossbeam, he looks down to see that he is splattered with blood and his hammer drips with the red life of the man.

The other soldiers fasten the man to the upright beam and the crucifixion is finished. The soldier looks up as he hears the man say, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

The soldier realizes now who this man is. Jesus. This is Jesus, the one everyone is talking about. Forgive? How can He forgive me for this horrid act?

He spins around as he hears the religious teachers and priests mocking this man on the cross. “He saved others, but he can’t even save himself! The King of Israel, is he? If he comes down from the cross right now, we will believe him! Let God rescue him now if he wants him, if he is the Son of God.”

One of the other criminals hanging next to this man Jesus says, “If You are the Christ, then save Yourself and us.”

But the other criminal rebukes him, “Don’t you even fear God as you’re dying? We surely deserve to die for what we’ve done, but this man? He hasn’t done anything wrong.” Turning to Jesus, he says, “Remember me when you enter your Kingdom.”

“Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” Bowing His head, Jesus says, “It is finished! Father, I commit My Spirit to You.” And He breathes out His last breath.

“Surely, this was a righteous man,” says the centurion, shaking his head, and then solemnly orders the soldier to stand guard.

Stand guard? I just want to get out of here. What have I done? So distraught that he cannot bear to look up at the naked body of this man on the cross, he lowers his eyes to the ground. He notices the bloody hammer still in his hand. He throws it down and backs away in horror.

Shame overwhelms him. He falls to his knees in regret.

Another soldier picks up the hammer and tries to give it to him. “Here’s your hammer” is met only with silence and a stare. He won’t touch it.

The next morning, the centurion finds the soldier dead.

~The hammer that dripped blood? Had my name engraved on it.

“Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;Buried, He carried my sins far away;Rising, He justified freely forever;One day He’s coming – O glorious day!”

~Thank You, Lord, for without Your suffering and death on the cross, I would have no resurrection joy!

~~In my joy, I agonized over this post. I know you understand why.


Participating today with...

Christianwriters.com on the topic of Joy. Please visit the other participants listed in the right sidebar.

In the chilly dampness of the early morning hours, the woman gropes her way through the dark city streets of Jerusalem. Carrying only a small oil lamp to light her way, Mary Magdalene is joined by Joanna, Salome, and Mary, the mother of James. Leaving the city, they wend their way to the dew-moistened garden where Jesus had been buried.

Dressed in their mourning apparel and blurry-eyed from their tears of grief, they enter the garden of the tomb, carrying the spices to anoint Jesus’ body.

The first glints of sunlight peek over the horizon as they approach the tomb. The ground shakes violently as an angel appears and rolls back the large stone covering the tomb’s entrance. The angel says, “Do not be afraid; Jesus is not here. He is risen! Go and tell the others.”

Terrified, Mary Magdalene rushes to get Peter and John and returns with them to the tomb. With their hearts pounding in fear and lungs struggling for air, the men enter the tomb and frantically survey the surroundings until their eyes rest on the stone slab, where only the death cloths lay.

Seeing that the body of Jesus is not there, the disciples rush back to tell the others.

While the other women wait outside the tomb, Mary Magdalene stoops down to look inside. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she turns to leave and encounters a man, who asks, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”

Assuming him to be the gardener, “‘Sir,’ she asks, ‘if you have taken Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will go and get Him.’” (John 20:15 NLT)

“Mary,” He whispers compassionately.

Recognizing a familiar voice, she gasps, “Rabboni!” and falls at His feet in worship.

I have been a Mary Magdalene. . .a follower of the Lord yet not being able to find Him. I wandered around for relentless hours, with stinging tears spilling down my cheeks, weeping in pain, sorrow, and loss. I searched the tomb of the world and found it emptied of dreams, hopes, and purposes.

My restoration came when I realized my Saviour had stood beside me all along, compassionately whispering my name. When I heard His loving voice, I fell at His feet in worship.

Have you ever been a Mary Magdalene? Do you weep over loss of dreams, hopes, or purposes? Pain, sorrow, or circumstance? Do you stand at the tomb, wearing the grave clothes of mourning, wondering where Jesus is?


Just as Mary Magdalene met Christ in an unexpected way, so your Easter experience comes to you in your hour of despair. Jesus will be there beside you to comfort you, compassionately whispering your name and asking, “Why do you weep? Whom do you seek?”

Jesus always brings you hope of resurrection as on that first Easter morn. He comes to lift you up, to wipe away your tears, to release you from your pain, to remove your grave clothes of fear and depression.

Jesus says to you, “Do not wear the grave-clothes stained with the tears of grief. Come into My garden of beauty and I will give you the robe of Easter’s resurrection gladness. Take My Hand and let Me lead you along the path to life everlasting. I gave My life that you might live eternally with Me.”

He says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 NKJV)

Do you believe this? Then, weep no more! Fall at His feet and worship Him!

May you know the power of Christ’s Resurrection Life in a deeper way this Easter season.

This is an inspirational video of celebration. I hope you’ll watch it.





Today’s post is part of the Christian Writers Blog Chain on the topic of redemption/resurrection. Check out and enjoy the other contributors’ posts in the left sidebar.

Learning a trade from a father was essential. A tradition of following in a father’s footsteps. And so this young man obeys.

In the humble beginning of his apprenticeship, he is learning from his father to carve out the design of the wood, to press his hands against the wood and feel the grain, and to carry stacks of wood.

Still a young lad and learning his trade, he needs the direction of his father’s callused hands to guide his unskilled hands, which now need a little rest.

Stepping away from the carpenter’s bench, he walks outside the shop to take a break from his work and stretch his back.

Standing in the warm, noon sun, he picks at another of the daily splinters in his hands, as the rhythm of the hammer pounds in the background. Extending his arms toward the sky, he says a prayer of thanksgiving to God the Father.

He breathes in fresh air to rid his nostrils of sawdust. First shaking his head to dislodge more sawdust tangled in his hair, he then removes his sandals and shakes out the wood shavings.

As the sun’s warmth soothes his aching muscles, he wonders when he first loved the savory aroma of wood. From the stories his father has told him, he decides the first whiffs seeped into his memory from the wooden trough at his birth.

When would Jesus realize all these things were harbingers of agony upon a wooden cross?

Did that dreadful day of agony revive all those fragrant memories of His childhood? What did those harbingers herald?

* Stepping aside from His carpenter’s life means stepping into His glorified life.
* The sawdust that clung to His hair is now exchanged for a crown of thorns encircling His head.
* Stretching His sore back could never compare to the excruciating pain from the flesh-revealing stripes received from a scourge.
* The removing of His sandals rid them of sawdust; now removing them reveals His feet for torture.
* The wood He once carried strengthened Him to carry a cross-beam along the Via Dolorosa.
* His hands, once suffering splinters from pressing against the grain of the wood, now feeling pain as shards puncture them from bearing the weight of the wooden cross-beam.
* The hammer that pounded in the background now pounds in rhythmic timbre upon the nail heads, piercing His hands.
* The memory-scent of the wood, embedded in His nostrils, infuses His soul as the punctured wood releases that familiar fragrance.
* The fresh air He so easily breathed in now barely makes it into His nostrils as He struggles to breathe.
* His muscles that ached from work now throb from the pain of crucifixion, which no soothing sun can ever relieve.
* His arms extended once again...in prayer to His Father.

Following His heavenly Father’s guidance, this young Man obeyed...unto death.
The scent of the wood released from obedience.
A sweet aroma to the Father.

Whipped...lashed within an inch of His life.
Mocked...crowned with thorns.

Slapped...beard ripped from His face.
Bound...nails pounded into His flesh.

Ridiculed...garment gambled for at His feet.
Pierced...in His side, and in His heart.

He sighed His last breath...
“It is finished.”

Now, it is time to bury Him.
But who will take Him down from the cross?

Who removed those gruesome nails from Jesus’ body?

Walk with me and let’s see...

Evening approaches. Clouds blush in the western sky as the sun begins to slide into the distant hills. It’s Preparation Day, the day before Sabbath.

A somber atmosphere hangs heavy in the city. Hearts sting from the ghastly sight of Jesus body being nailed to a cross as a common criminal.

But now, who will take down His body? He must be buried.

Appearing with boldness before Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus is Joseph of Arimathea. A rich man. A prominent member of the Sanhedrin. A secret follower of Jesus waiting for the kingdom of God.

What? Pilate summons the centurion. Jesus is dead? Pilate asks. The centurion replies in the positive. Pilate then gives Joseph permission to take Jesus’ body and bury it.

The day is growing short. Joseph rushes to the market for some linen burial cloths. Nicodemus joins him, helping to carry one hundred pounds of burial spices.

Hearts throb while lungs heave in their chests as the two men flee toward Golgotha.

Joseph takes a deep breath. Remove the nails? How can I do this?

Tears of deep grief fill his eyes and spill onto his cheeks. With trembling hands, Joseph extracts the bloody nails driven for the sins of man. First, from Jesus’ feet.

He finds a nearby ladder and timidly climbs up. He releases the cords of hate that tied Jesus’ wrists to the offensive cross beam. Next, he struggles to remove the nails...from one hand, then the other.

The Savior’s lifeless body plunges into the arms of Nicodemus.

Kneeling beside Jesus’ body, the men delicately wrap each linen strip with the spices around His body. Their arms and legs strain from the weight as they then carry Jesus to a newly hewn tomb in the garden.

After laying His body inside, the men back out of the tomb, bowing in reverence. Joseph rolls a large stone against the entrance of the tomb. The men walk back to the city in silence.

It is finished. Or is it?

"…you were not redeemed with corruptible things…But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ.”(1 Peter 1:18a NKJV, 1 Peter 1:19a Amp)
I love some of those commercials that show an item, then list the price of something and, at the end, list something that is priceless.

That’s our redemption: priceless! Priceless...in the sense that we could never repay Christ for the redemption we have received.

But for Him: a very costly price. His life. But still...an unmeasured, priceless gift to us.

Jesus Christ released His earthly life to die an excruciating death on a cruel cross. Is there a greater sacrifice? The disciple John wrote, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13 NLT)

You are that special friend of Jesus; you are worth every drop of blood that He shed and paid for you. If you have accepted that sacrificial offer, you are the precious Bride of Christ, the Beloved Bridegroom.

Jesus paid the asking price for His Bride, “a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time,” (Heb. 10:12a Amp) “who gave Himself a ransom on behalf of all.” (1 Tim. 2:6 NKJV)

The Greek word for ransom, in the above verse, is used only this once in the Bible and means the redemption price of a slave or captive, that which is offered in exchange for another.

In that covenant exchange, Christ suffered death in our stead that we might walk in newness of His risen Life. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10 NKJV)

Redeeming us from our sins and ultimate spiritual death, Christ became our Kinsman-Redeemer, for He “purchased our freedom [redeeming us] from the curse (doom) of the Law [and its condemnation] by [Himself] becoming a curse for us.” (Gal. 3:13 Amp)

The Greek meaning of the word used for redeem, I think, beautifully describes what Christ did for us. It means to ransom, to rescue one from loss to improve opportunity, to purchase one for his freedom from another’s power by paying a price to recover him, or to buy up for one’s self or own use.

He exchanged His life for yours. He redeemed your life to improve it, to give you abundant Life. He purchased you from the power of the enemy, redeeming you from a life of drudgery, from servitude to sin, from eternal loss, as He said, “So that anyone who believes in Me will have eternal life.” (John 3:15 TLB)

Great agony and heartache were the price of your redemption. Truly you are not your own. You were bought with a price.

Love and redemption: priceless!

May you know that Eternal Life that surges through your precious, blood-bought soul. And may the Lord reveal to you His presence in some special way this Easter season.

Standing at a distance, she gazed at the man’s crucified body, dying on a cross, as her heart pounded in agony. Deep sobs heaved her chest. Her knees began to buckle.

What brought her to the cross? A mother’s love. For this was Mary’s son, dying for the world.

John the disciple, who had leaned upon this Divine Man so many times, stood with Mary, in utter dismay.

What brought him to the cross? Genuine love and deep gratitude.

With John and Mary stood Mary Magdalene, trembling. Tears of grief streamed down her cheeks.

What brought her to the cross? Love, for the forgiveness of the sins in her life, for scripture says, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.” (Luke 7:47a NKJV)

Kneeling on the ground at the foot of this Man’s cross, the soldiers cast lots for His tunic.

What brought them to the cross? Their duty. And now their greed.

Two thieves hung on either side of this cross.

What brought them to the cross? Violation of the law.

Simon the Cyrenian was there.

What brought him to the cross? Bearing the burden of the cross to the hill of sacrifice.

The multitude gathered, murmuring to each other.

What brought them to the cross? Anger. Belittlement. Wonderment. Doubting.

The chief priests stood with the scribes, poised in pride and defiance.

What brought them to the cross? To mock Him, thinking it all utter foolishness.

What did all these have in common? They all needed the very thing for which this Man Jesus was dying on the cross: Salvation and the forgiveness of their sins.

Some accepted it; some rejected it. Paul later wrote to the Corinthians, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18 NIV)

What brings you to the cross? Love? Gratitude? Grief? Duty? Violation of God’s Law? Bearing a burden? Anger? Belittlement? Wonderment? Doubt? Pride? Defiance? Mocking?

Do you come weeping in pain, sorrow, or loss? Emptied of hopes and dreams? Feeling lost in your circumstances?

Without the cross, there would be no Garden of Easter Gladness…to lift you up, to wipe away your tears, to remove your grave clothes of fear and depression.

Walk that trail from the cross to Easter’s Garden of resurrection. See your Saviour Jesus standing there, waiting for you.

He compassionately whispers your name and says, “Do not wear the grave-clothes stained with the tears of grief. Come into My garden of beauty and I will give you the robe of Easter’s resurrection gladness. Take My Hand and let Me lead you along the path to life everlasting. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I gave My life that you might live eternally with Me.”

Jesus always brings us hope of resurrection as on that first Easter morn. He says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 NKJV)

Do you believe this? If so, weep no more. May you experience the salvation and forgiveness of the cross, the power of the resurrection, and embrace the risen life in a new way this Easter season.

What brings you to the cross? May it be...Genuine Love.



~~This is part of FaithfulBloggers.com for their writing project The Death, Burial, and Resurrection.

“May Your kingdom come soon.”Matt. 6:10a NLT

(This is the third part of The Model Prayer series.)

Kingdom...the territory subject to the rule of a king.

Kingdom is rule, dominion, royal power, kingship, and sovereignty.

To give you some idea of the kingdom, I recently posted a great kingdom analogy. In case you missed it, click here.

But what is God’s Kingdom? It is the rule of God upon a heart. Paul said, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 14:17 NIV)

He also said, “The kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” (1 Cor. 4:20 NKJV) The Kingdom is not in the excellence of our speech but in the influence of our power. In other words, it is the powerful influence of divine truth on the hearts and minds of others.

Where is the Kingdom? Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 10:7 NKJV) At hand, where? “The kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you].” (Luke 17:21 Amp)

How does one get into this Kingdom? Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matt. 18:3 NLT)

And the only way is the straight and narrow way. Jesus said, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” (Matt. 7:13-14 NLT)

That gate is the cross of salvation.

What keeps one out of the kingdom? Of course, the first would be to not accept God’s Kingdom rule into your heart in the first place, to refuse Jesus’ salvation.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:20 NKJV)

He also said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21 NKJV)

Oh, to hear these words, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matt. 25:34b NKJV)

Poor indeed is the heart that does not know the extent of the love, forgiveness, and power of God’s Kingdom.

“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:10-12 NKJV)

Lord, Your Kingdom come...into many hearts!