The Day After Easter

How a sponge soaked in vinegar offers the clue to a misunderstood kindness.

Message From a Cross

Today is the day after Easter Sunday. This post applies for any day after Easter.

In the year AD 33, a man was put to death in a way that expresses the full cruelty of Imperial Rome. Beaten. Crucified. On full display, after being forced to carry the weight of the tools of his annihilation to the site of his ultimate demise.

Whether or not you consider the events of Jesus’s death to be holy to you, there is a powerful lesson in them. A man went bravely to his death. His last words say it all, “Forgive them father, for they know not what they do.”

He died willingly, believing he would absolve mankind for our sin.

And then, from this loss, he lived again. Because he lives, he offers new life, eternal life.

The Day After

Take this day, the day after Easter, as a moment to reflect on the beauty of new beginnings.

No matter what has happened, no matter what you’ve done, or left undone, no one is beyond redemption.

Even in the brutality of Jesus’ execution there is evidence of mercy.

Kindness

All four gospels record the story of the Roman soldier. As Jesus was dying on the cross the soldier offered him a sponge soaked in vinegar. What has been interpreted as an example of cruelty is in fact, the opposite.

Roman soldiers drank vinegar wine (posca) to reduce their thirst. They were provided a rationed, daily supply. Why would a soldier, whether on his own or at the direction of his immediate superior (centurion) take a portion of his own limited ration and give it away?

Giving Jesus the sponge was an act of mercy, quite possibly at great risk to the soldier.

There is good in all of us. There is hope for all of us.

Allow today to mark a moment of rebirth. Of rejuvenation. Of re-emergence.

Tell yourself that you’re not going to wait any longer to demand the best of yourself. Don’t choose to be better tomorrow.

Choose today.

A New Day A New Life

It is a new day, and it can be the beginning of a new you.

“Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not ‘mine,’ but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.” Galatians 2:20, the Message

The Christian faith is a resurrection faith, rooted in an eternal reality. Not even death itself can prevail against the sovereignty and love of the Creator God.

In rebirth, we change.

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