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In this blog post, we will continue our mini-series where we discuss why we celebrate Easter.
Yesterday were the day when The Lord, Jesus Christ gave us the Sacrament of The Holy Eucharist and were betrayed by his disciple and close friend, Judas which lead to the arrest and interrogation by Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor.
In the Middle Ages in Europe, the events of that Passover made Christians commit horrific acts called pogroms against their Jewish neighbors. Unfortunately, the accusations made in Middle Age Europe are still alive in the Middle East today.
Chi Rho Dating.COM wishes to firmly express that we do not believe that the Jewish people are neither collectively nor individual guilty of any of the fabricated accusations that have the historical roots back then and took it’s worst form in the Nazi death-camps in the 1940s.
They are wrong, anti-semitic and should be pushed back into the dark chamber in human history where they belong. This is also the reason why we do not expressively mention them on this blog since we don’t like to fuel these misconceptions.
Chi Rho Dating.COM wishes to express the full gratitude to the Jewish people for giving us monotheism (Is 44:8, Deut. 6:4), the Hebrew Bible and most importantly: Jesus of Nazareth, who we believe to be the Messiah as Christians.
For us, it is clear that each and every one of the disciples (Judas included, no one excluded) and of course the first Christian theologian, Saul (better known as St. Paul) were Jews.
Paul was also taught by the great Rabbi of the Sanhedrin, Rabbi Gamaliel as well as the great Rabbis of the Talmud and later leaders of the Sanhedrin, Hillel and Shamai were.
We also wish to express the unconditional support from our side of the state of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East today with the eternal and undivided capital of Jerusalem.
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The Way Of The Cross: Jesus Christ And God’s Love For All Humanity
According to the Gospels, Jesus were condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor during the festival of Passover.
However, there is a discrepancy about the time of Jesus’ death on the Cross. According to the Gospel of John it were at the same time as the Passover lamb were slaughtered but according to Matthew, Mark and Luke (dubbed by Biblical scholars as “the Synoptic Gospels” since their views on different events in the works and life of Jesus are mostly the same) it were the day after Passover.
So when did it happen? Well, here we would suggest that we go with the three that says the same: the day after Passover.
Passover is a Jewish festival that is a celebration of the deliverance by God through Moses from the slavery in Egypt.
This should serve as a reminder for us Christians, not just that everyone mentioned here are Jews but also that when things or moments seems to be dark and that evil will prevail, then God turns events around and lets His light shine throughout the World and the darkness can never put it out and God will show who is the true God and who reigns in the Heavens supremely.
Remember that this day is called Good Friday in English and that it is for a very good reason. Even though it starts badly things turns out to the better on Saturday night.
The betrayal of Judas and the trials and torture of Jesus by the Romans were of course not any human’s fault, neither collectively nor individually. It was all a part of God’s grand plan for His creation and especially for all humanity.
Why? So that God could show us how much he cares for us and so that Jesus, our Eternal High Priest, and Savior, could atone for all of our sins and transgressions: for yours as well as for ours, for all humans back then (including Judas) and now and in all eternity.
There are many proofs for this throughout the Bible that comes to mind and we like to share some of them with you:
“It was our sins he bore” as the Prophet Isaiah writes in chapter 53 (especially verse 4-5) of his prophecy.
In the first Letter of John we can read that “God is love” (1 John 4:8 and 4:16) and He shows this loving kindness by sending His only Son to the World but not so it would be condemned, rather saved through Him according to the Gospel of the same disciple (John 3:16-17).
We can also read the 22nd Psalm (verse 9) by King David: “Already in the womb, I was cast upon you”.
This, of course, means that we, all Christians are cast upon the cross of Jesus Christ, and washed free from our transgressions and sins in His blood, the Lamb of God, so that we will become as white as snow, as little children who will call God “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6).
The Love of God always goes through Golgotha (which means “The Skull” in Aramaic). This is why we should always love our enemies, pray for our persecutors (Matthew 5:11) and remember that hate is never good: only God is.
Humanity Cries: God Intervenes And Answers
Whenever we, the crown of God’s beloved creation cries out to our Father who reigns supremely in the heavens. God always answer us, when we pray, when we make pleas for different things that we care about, He listens intensively.
Sometimes, however, the answer might not be when we expect it or in a manner that we expect the least but God truly hears prayers and answers them.
The people of Israel suffered during the slavery of Egypt, during the Babylonian captivity and during the Roman rule of their ancestral country.
They cried out to God who sent his beloved people, the Israelites helpers who would deliver them from oppression: Moses against Pharaoh, Cyrus against the Babylonians and of course Jesus against the Romans.
What were so different during these three divine answers the answer God delivered each time: Twice he sent human messengers (Moses and Cyrus) but on the third occasion He sent His Son. Not for judgement as the previous two but for the deliverance of nations and people throughout the world.
The Son were primarily sent to the Israelites and only secondarily to the rest of humanity but as Paul puts it: “There is neither Jew nor Greek” (Gal. 3:28). This, of course, does not mean that we that are not of Jewish decent should see ourselves as a secondary class citizen in the coming kingdom.
No, because we are of Jesus decent and since Jesus is a Jew we are incorporated in the vine branch that goes all the way back to Abraham, yes even to Adam.
Jesus is the second Adam that has atoned for the sins of all humanity. On the cross one thing becomes obviously clear: We are one humanity united under the One God.
No one could foresee the future that Rome, the empire that crucified Jesus would eventually perish and that the cross would win and unite all nations of Europe. When He will return, no human will know yet. We can only pray and wait.
Today we are standing together with the women on the foot of the cross where Jesus just took his final breath. It is the same breath that God put inside Adam and Eve once in the beginning of human history, in the garden of Eden.
The breath will be transformed but we are not there yet. We are leaving them with tears running down their cheeks, in sorrow, and in despair. With the body, taken down and put in a borrowed tomb to keep it away from the scavengers circumventing unclaimed bodies.
The death has come, it is a real one, not a shine nor show. Everything has become silent, everything is mute. Only animals are out, it is Sabbath, the day of rest.
When we will be put to our final rest, we know that it is not the end. The women didn’t know it back then, not the Roman soldiers, not the people who witnessed the execution of Christ, not anybody knew that they have seen God intervene once more in history.
Now we want to wish you a continuous Good Friday and end this blog post with a small prayer:
Blessed are You, Lord our God,
who has sanctified us through the blood of Your only Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Next blog post
Our next blog post in this series will be published on Sunday the 5th of March.
It will be about the most important aspect of the Christian faith: The Resurrection.
Until then,
The Chi Rho Dating Group
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